Jeffrey stumbled out of the shower to the sound of his cell phone ringing. By the time he got to it, the ringing had stopped. He called his voice-mail, afraid that the call may have been from the hospital. "You have four messages…"

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"We went over the rape kit again…" the young CSI looked up at Gus as he spoke.

"And?" Gus said.

"There were no signs of latex… lambskin… or anything else that the perpetrator would've used if he had penetrated the victim… however…"

"However?"

"I found a small amount of residual gunpowder…"

"Gunpowder?"

"It appears that the victim was sodomized with the barrel of a gun. A gun that had been recently fired."

"Recently, meaning…"

"Probably in the last few days…"

"Is there any way for you to be able to tell what type of gun was used?"

"No, there is really no way to determine that…"

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"Where the fuck are you O'Neil? We need to discuss your assignment. I heard all about that little information leak. I hope that you and Aituro have managed to get it contained by now… I don't want to have to kick you off of this case… Would you please call me? Jesus Christ, O'Neil… You better have a damn good excuse for not picking up this phone…" Jeffrey sighed as he hung up his phone. All four messages were basically the same. But he didn't really have time for his boss right now. He needed to get back to the hospital. He needed to get back to Sandy. Of course, first he needed to get dressed.

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As she watched her son sleep, Reva couldn't help but think about the things that Jeffrey had said. If her son really was in love with him… Sandy must've known all along that Richard wasn't his father. But how could he have found out?

Sandy groaned slightly as he awoke.

Reva looked into his eyes, worried. "How are you feeling?" she asked, before realizing that it was a stupid question.

"Hurts…" Sandy mumbled, not able to say much.

"Do you want me to tell Ed to up your morphine drip?" Reva asked, hating to see her son in pain.

His eyes darted around the room as if he was looking for something, or someone. "Jeff…" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"He'll be back soon…" Reva answered.

Sandy groaned again as he tried to sit up in the bed.

"Do you want me to tell Ed to up your morphine?" she asked again.

Sandy nodded slightly.

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Jeffrey was halfway through buttoning up his shirt when he heard the knock on the door. He ran to the door and opened it.

"Damn it O'Neil why aren't you answering my calls? I've been calling you all morning." The man pushed his way past Jeffrey, walking into the suite.

"I'm kind of busy right now…," Jeffrey said.

"Well, whatever it is…" the Assistant director replied. "I'm sure that it can wait…"

"I need a few days off…" Jeffrey said.

"No! Absolutely not! We need you to get back on this operation right away."

"What the hell do you expect me to do right now? You already know that they are making the drop off next week. Just give me a break, all right, I have more pressing issues to take care of right now…"

"More important than catching the men responsible for what happened last night?"

"I have to get back to the hospital!"

"No, O'Neil, you don't! Just what exactly do you think that you can do for him there, huh? That's right, absolutely nothing! You're not a doctor, you're an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation!"

"Yeah… Thanks… I know what I do for a living. All right… Now I gotta go!"

"Are you defying my orders?"

"And what if I am?"

"You're really willing to risk your job for this kid?"

"He's not a kid!"

"Don't bother me with the semantics, O'Neil! We need you on this case!"

"Why can't Aituro handle it, huh? Just for today?"

"Aituro is busy trying to prove your innocence! If you hadn't been screwing around with some kid…"

"I'm leaving…" Jeffery said. "I'll handle the case when the drop off is made…"

"O'Neil, we need to make sure this goes down right!"

Jeffrey pushed his boss aside, in an attempt to move past him, but the Assistant Director quickly turned the tables, pushing Jeffrey against the wall.

"Listen to me O'Neil! You are my best agent and I can't afford to lose you right now! Do you understand me?"

"I almost lost him!" Jeffrey said. "Do you have any idea what that is like? Do you have any idea at all? I almost lost him! He is lying in a hospital bed… He almost died because of me! He almost died because of this stupid case!"

"You cannot drop this case because of some kid!"

"Drop this case? You think that I want to drop this case!?! No, I am going to work this case, all right! I am going to see that the men responsible for this are put away for good! I just need today! Please, just give me today!"

"All right… All right…" the man sighed, tired of trying to argue this. "You… go to the hospital… See the kid… Do whatever you need to do… I'll have Terrier do the surveillance for today… But O'Neil… You need to be there tomorrow. You are the one running this case. You are the one that needs to take care of this…"

"Fine." Jeffrey said. "Tomorrow…"

The Assistant Director loosed Jeffrey from his grip. "We're going to get them…" he said. "If you stay on this… We're going to get them…"

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