Disclaimer : I don't own the characters !


Cedar-Sinaï Hospital - Room 204 !

Concern had first gripped Chris when Street's S.O.S arrived on her phone, giving way to fear when she learned he had been shot in the stomach. And then, a brief relief when she saw him on the stretcher, alive. She had spent the whole trip to the hospital holding his hand, which she had to let go when the doctors took over. The wait was long, almost endless. She could barely sit still for more than thirty seconds when she immediately got up to pace. It had lasted more than an hour before the surgeon came to find her to tell her that the young man was going to recover. It had taken her a good ten minutes to calm her frantic heartbeat, and to pick up her phone to update the team. She learned from Luca that the shooter was just an underling hired by Dustin Shepard. She wasn't angry that neither Hondo nor Hicks had called her to go to the attorney. All that mattered to her was making sure her man was going to pull through. She wouldn't have been good for the team, in her condition. Hondo had made the right decision in going to arrest Shepard without telling her.

Street had been taken up to a room, after waking up from surgery. He was still groggy, dozing here and there, until he felt a hand in his hair. Even in semi-consciousness, he recognized the touch of Chris, whose name he mumbled.

"I'm here !"

A few seconds – even minutes – passed before he managed to open his eyes. He wasn't in too much pain. He barely felt a twinge in his stomach, but that must have been the morphine. He met Chris' eyes, both worried and relieved.

"Hi, handsome brunette." she smiled at him, still stroking his hair. "Do you remember what happened ? »

"I…I got shot." he said, his voice cracking.

Chris stood up and brought him a glass of water. She helped him take a sip, which did him good.

"Thank you !" He rested his head on the cushion, and coughed. "Who… who did…"

"Shepard !" replied Chris, who sat down next to him.

"Shepard ?" Street repeated. "Molly's boyfriend ?"

"He hired a small strike to kill you." Chris explained. "He didn't digest that you humiliated him at the restaurant."

"But it's been four months." he growled.

"And he thought Molly would fall into his arms again if you weren't around anymore." Chris continued.

Chris smirked before standing up and leaning in to kiss him.

"Hmm, i feel much better." he said.

"I knew it. "she smiled, giving him another kiss before sitting back down.

"How come you didn't go and arrest him ?" Street asked.

"Hondo kept me away." she answered. "And he was right. I'm way too involved in this story. I would have killed him."

The young man does not contradict her.

He closed his eyes, and let himself be lulled by the gentle caress of Chris's thumb on the back of his hand. He must have fallen asleep, because he heard whispers when he opened his eyes. The whole team was there. Hondo, Deacon, Luca and Tan.

"Hey guys !" he breathed.

"Sleeping Beauty is waking up." Luca joked.

Street showed him the middle finger, triggering his best friend's hilarity.

"How are you feeling, kid ?" Hondo asked him.

"Alive !" Street replied. "I'm sorry, I know I screwed up by taking a detour."

"Don't, you followed your instincts." the chief stopped him. "Without that, we might never have known that Shepard put a contract on you."

"Please, he hired an idiot." said Street, who told them how he realized he was being followed. "Again, I'm sorry."

"Apologize again and I'll shoot you." Deacon warned him. "The case will quickly be closed with all the evidence we have gathered. It won't even make it to court."

"He's dumb enough to want to give it a shot even though he sold himself." Luca said.

"Just hoping it doesn't go that far." Hondo said. "We'll go back to HQ, and let you rest I have a report to fill out, but we'll see you again tomorrow."

"Thanks guys !"

Chris had to leave with the rest of the team. Street was no longer in danger, and the hospital would notify her if there was a problem. On the doorstep, she turned one last time to the young man, who smiled at her and waved.

"I'm fine, Chris. " he said to her. "Go to work, see you tomorrow."

"I love you !" she told him.

He replied with the same, before clearly showing signs of fatigue.

"Chris !"

She turned around, to see that Hondo had stayed behind to make sure she followed them. After one last glance at Street, who had clearly fallen asleep, she joined her boss.

"I know it's difficult, but he needs to rest." Hondo told him.

"I know, I just blame myself for joining Erica instead of riding with Street like I do every morning." she confessed, as they met the rest of the team near the elevators. "If I had gone with him…"

"So Ramirez wouldn't have followed Street and waited another moment to go after him." Hondo said. "Blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault won't do you any good. Tell yourself that the man who started all this is going to spend time behind bars, and that Street is alive. It's all that matters."

"Hey, if you need to vent some of that anger and guilt you're feeling, we get in the ring anytime you want." Luca told her.

"I think it will do me good." she nodded.

Indeed. Arrived at HQ, she went to put on her sports clothes, put on her gloves and began to let off steam on the punching bag, soon joined by Tan and Luca in support. While the three officers worked out all their stress in the weight room, Hondo filled out his report, adding everything Street had added during his visit to the hospital, signed it, and took it to Commander Hicks.

"How's Street ?" was the Commander's first question.

"Tired, but alive." replied Hondo. "According to the doctor who operated on him, he was very lucky. The bullet did not damage any vital organs or cause any bleeding. It should be up in a month."

"I'm counting on you to get him back in shape when he comes back." Hicks said.

Hondo nodded before handing him his report.

"Where are we at with Shepard ?"

"He is with his lawyer, and when he was presented with the evidence with Lynch, he himself advised his client to plead guilty." Hicks explained. "Lynch and Rocker collect his confession."

"Well, it will save him one more humiliation in a losing trial." Hondo said.

Street spent the rest of the day sleeping. He was only allowed to get up from his bed to go to the bathroom, but notifying a nurse in case his stitches were to jump, or he felt unwell. Luckily for him, that didn't happen. The day after his hospitalization, he felt better despite having been shot twenty-four hours earlier. He was so bored. There was nothing to do except watch TV, but that didn't really appeal to him. All he wanted was to be home with Chris. Without his phone, he couldn't check in on the team. He wished he could talk to Chris so badly. He was even ready to listen to Luca blabbering on his latest conquest, he was so bored to death. Other than sleeping, there was nothing to do. The doctor came by mid-morning, and in view of the healing and the seriousness of the wound – he had been very lucky that no organ was affected – the young man could be out within two days. Good news, even if he could not return to work for a month.

Knock knock !

With the bedroom door open, so the nurses could keep an eye on him in case something went wrong, he only had to look up to see his visitor. Or rather his she-visitor. Annie's smile made him smile back. Finally a familiar face !

"Hi, Annie !"

"How are you feeling ?" she asked him, approaching the bed.

"Less in the heat, but I am bored to death." he answered. "I only want to get out of here, but I have to wait two days."

"It will pass quickly." she reassured him. "Chris packed you some stuff. She wanted to come, but a child was kidnapped. I do not know more."

"Work first, I understand." Street said. "What did you bring me ?"

Annie lifted a gym bag, put it on the chair by the bed, and opened it.

"Your toilet bag, some clothes if you ever want to get rid of that blouse that must be itchy." she enumerated. "Your phone."

She took out the device and the charger. Street grabbed his cell phone eagerly, squeezing a chuckle out of Annie. He was on, fully charged, and he had received several recent messages from the whole team, as well as Rocker and Erica, wishing him well and that everyone missed him. He would respond to them later, including Chris who had simply sent him It sucks to sleep without you. Yeah, that sucked a lot.

"Here, this will help you pass the time."

Annie pulled out of the bag the book that Street had intended to start the day before before he was shot.

"Finally, I'm going to stop fucking get bored." he breathed, before grimacing. "Sorry !"

"Oh, it's fine." she said, waving her hand. She closed the bag before asking, "Do you want me to get you something… edible ? It's almost noon and I suspect very well that you won't eat much of what the nurses are going to bring you."

"That would be really great." he said. "Are you sure you don't mind ?"

"Not at all." she reassured him. "The kids are at school, and it is completely normal that I take some time to take care of a friend. Tell me what do you want ?"

"Um, whatever, as long as it doesn't come from the cafeteria." he said.

"I'm taking care of it !"

She leaned down to kiss him on the forehead with that maternal side that made her the wonderful woman and mother she was, then she left. More than happy to have something to really take care of, he took advantage of Annie's departure to respond to his friends and colleagues. He sent Chris – who must have been hard at work like everyone else – a long message that he hoped would make her smile and lift her spirits. He knew her well enough to know that she must be feeling guilty for going to breakfast with Erica instead of going to work with him.

I know you think what happened to me is partly your fault, and you're wrong. I love you, I miss you, and I only want you to be with me so I can kiss you.

He sent the message, picked up his book and started reading. He was at the end of the second chapter when there was a soft knock on the door. Thinking it was Annie announcing her return, he looked up with a smile, but his smile faded.

She saw it clearly when he recognized her. She had been very hesitant to come and see him. A part of her knew perfectly well that she was not welcome in this hospital room, but she had to see him at all costs. That she sees for herself that he was fine after what her ex-lover had done. When she saw Hondo and part of his team enter the meeting room, she felt a knot in her stomach. When the S.W.A.T. happened, it was never for nothing. She hadn't wanted to believe that Dustin could have done such a thing, but her father had shown her the evidence, in confidence, and she hadn't been able to hide her face any longer. She had stopped sleeping with Dustin after Street caught them, and had broken up.

"Hello, Jim! »

"What do you want, Molly?" he asked, keeping his composure.

He grabbed his phone and texted Annie, letting her know he had the unwanted visitor, specifying that it was Molly.

"No need to call in the cavalry." she sighed.

"I don't really want to see you." he said, as he received Annie's response.

"Jim, what can I say or do to get you to forgive me and talk to me ?" she implored as she entered the room.

"Nothing !" he answered. "There's nothing you can do, Molly. And if you came expecting me to leave Chris, you're wasting your time. I'm in love with her."

"You loved me too." Molly reminded him.

"That's true, but it's not the same." Street said. He sighed. He hoped this would be their last conversation. "Molly, even before you started cheating on me, things weren't really right between us. It wasn't like the beginning. I realized that, but I hoped it was just a passing fancy. But it wasn't. My job started to get heavy on you, and you did what you did. You are not made for this life, and we would not have been happy in the long term, you and me. I know it, and you know it too."

"And with Chris ? You think it will last in the long term but you are wrong." Molly said. "She loves her job as much as you do, and you'll never be able to have a real family life."

"You are the one who is wrong." he replied. "What happens between Chris and me is none of your business. What's going on in my life ceased to concern you the moment I learned that you were fucking with the guy because of who I am in this hospital bed."

"Jim, I'm so sorry." Molly said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry and..."

"Stop !" He wasn't angry. He was just tired of having this conversation every time they saw each other. "Stop it, Molly. You wanted to know how I was, I'm fine. Now leave !"

"Jim…"

"I think he asked you to leave."

Molly jumped. Annie entered the room and stood next to the bed where Street was lying. She gave him a paper bag from a salad bar near the hospital.

"You're lucky I didn't get very far." she told him, smiling.

He thanked her, and waited until she had slid the table over to him to unpack the bag. His stomach growled in satisfaction as he unwrapped a pasta salad containing lots of condiments and pieces of chicken. Her face suddenly full of determination, Annie motioned for Molly to follow her out of the room, and she waited until she was out of Street's ears to face the young woman.

"Out of respect for your father I'm going to be polite to you, but I'm also going to be very clear." she started to say. "I don't accept what you did to Jim. I know I'm not his mother, but I learned to love him as if he were part of my own family. In fact, he's my family, and you hurt him. He has expressed to you several times the wish that you no longer approach him, but you seem not to want to take it into account."

"I still love him." Molly said.

"No, Molly. It's not love." Annie contradicts her. "If you were really in love with Jim you would have taken the time to talk to him about how you felt instead of going to sleep with another man. You have to accept that everything is definitely over between you. He's happy with Chris, and I have no intention of letting you ruin what they're building."

"It will never work between them, Annie." asserted Molly. "They do the same dangerous job."

"On the contrary, I am certain that it will work very well." countered Annie. "And anyway, Jim's life isn't about you anymore. If you don't want to deal with Chris next time, I urge you to move on once and for all and drop any idea of getting Jim back. "

Annie had nothing more to say to the young lawyer, so she returned to the room, a smile plastered on her face.

"So, did I choose well ?" she asked, pointing to the salad he had devoured in half.

"Oh yes !" he said, wiping his mouth. "Couldn't help it, huh ?"

"What ?"

"Your little chat with Molly in the hallway." he said. "I may not have heard anything, but I know you well enough to know that you have been chomping at the bit for weeks."

"Yes, I told her to leave you alone and that your life was no longer about her." She put the gym bag down so she could sit in the chair. "I sincerely believe that you and Chris are made for each other. It won't be easy, but I believe in you. You are crazy about each other, and I know that you will succeed in building a bright future."

"I could never ask Chris to give up her career." he said. "I'm not like that."

"I know, and that's why you two will do just fine." she smiled at him. "Okay, I have some errands to run, but call me if you need anything."

"Thank you, Anne. It was good to have a visitor." he said.

She stood up and shook his hand affectionately, before leaving. Street finished eating, then called a nurse who helped him into the bathroom and changed. He swapped his horrible blouse for jogging and a hoodie. Once again lying in bed, he said to the nurse :

"I hope I don't get yelled at."

And pointed to the paper bag that had contained his lunch, which had come from outside.

"No, don't worry !" she smiles. "I'll be back in an hour to change your bandage."

"Okay !"

The nurse picked up the paper bag and threw it in the trash, and left the room, rubbing hydroalcoholic gel on her hands. Street lowered the headboard so he could lie down fully, and closed his eyes. Molly's unexpected visit had exhausted him. All he wanted was to see Chris, but she was on important business so he had to wait. He didn't know exactly how long he had slept, but when he opened his eyes again, the most beautiful sight presented itself to him. Chris, sitting on the chair, which she had brought closer to the bed and, her head resting on her crossed arms on the mattress, and above all, asleep. Picking up his phone, Street saw that it was past six, and if Chris was there, that meant the investigation was over and the kidnapped child had been found. With his left hand, the young man gently woke Chris up by stroking her hair. She stretched under the sensation, sat up and couldn't resist yawning.

"Hello, my love !"

"H'llo !" she replied, mumbling. "Have you been awake for a long time ?"

"Just now." he answered. "How did your investigation go ? Have you found the child ?"

"Yeah, it was his dad who took him after he beat up his wife because she wanted to leave him." she said standing up. "I'll be back !"

She went to the bathroom to splash water on her face.

"You could have woken me up when you arrived." he told her when she came back to sit next to him.

"You looked so peaceful. " she says. "So when are you going to be able to go home ?"

"In two days." he answered. "Did you get my message ?"

"Yes !" She managed a faint smile. "I know it's not my fault but..."

"No buts !" He held out his hand, which she took and sat down on the edge of the bed. "It happened, I'm alive, and the shooter and Shepard are going to jail. I need you to be one hundred percent focused, Chris, because I'm going to spend a whole month worrying about you when I'm not on the field with you. Stop feeling guilty and come kiss me."

So Chris leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

"It's better." he breathed. "I can't wait to go home."

"I will take good care of you." she promised him.

"You will be my personal nurse, right ?"

"Yeah !" she smiled, before saying : "I know Molly came by."

"Oh !" he said. "I was going to tell you about it."

"It's okay, Annie told me everything." Chris said. "I'm not going to get upset. Either way, she won't get you back."

"And I've told you many times, I don't want to go back with her." He brought his hand up to her face. "You are the one I love, and I want to spend my life with you, Chris."

She gave him a stunning kiss, which nailed him to the bed more than he already was.

He was later visited by the rest of the team, who brought him real food prepared by Hondo's mother.

"Don't lose your muscles, pretty boy." Luca had teased.

When visiting hours were over, only Luca and Chris remained.

"Try not to drive the nurses crazy." Luca told him.

"At least I'm not afraid of needles." Street replied.

Chris rolled her eyes at their bickering. She ended it by kissing Street as he was about to retort to another joke from Luca.