Disclaimer-I do not own any of the characters or the show, but that would be really cool if I did. Of course…then the whole thing would be Martin and Sam…

A/N-I love Without a Trace and I love the fact that Samantha and Martin are together now. I have missed a lot of episodes throughout the show though so if I mess up some details just let me know in a review and I'll do my best to fix it.

Chapter Two: Waiting and Watching

Samantha rode all the way to the nearest hospital holding onto Martin's hand although he was completely unaware. She tried not to worry but seeing the blood all over his shirt and the continous paling of his face did not help in the slightest.

"Why isn't he waking up?" she asked trying to keep the anxiousness out of her voice but to no avail. The EMT looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. She knew her feelings were written all over her face but she didn't really care at this point. Martin, the best person she had ever known was lying, unconscious in an ambulance.

"What if he never wakes up?" Sam thought. It shocked her so much that she instantly pushed the thought from her mind but felt the corners of her eyes sting with potential tears. She would not allow herself to cry, not until she knew something concrete. "I'm just overreacting," she told herself.

"Is there a reason that you care so much?" the smug looking EMT asked her. There was a moment when she seriously considered giving him the finger but thought better of it. She shook her head.

"I know what you're thinking, but you're way off track. He's been my co-worker for almost three years now and I'm just really worried." She knew that he didn't believe her but something triggered a memory as a conversation she and Martin had had earlier that morning came rushing back to her.

"Morning," she said smiling at him. He was sitting at her table drinking a cup of coffee and reading the sports page. He immediately turned to her and returned the smile. It wasn't any smile though, it was the one that he reserved especially for her. His eyes lit up and it seemed as if everything had disappeared for him except for her.

"Morning." She leaned over and kissed him and the sweetness of his lips reminded her of the previous night of passion they had shared. He smiled into her kiss and she pulled away and gave him a questioning look.

"I love it when you've got morning breath." He smiled at her again and she laughed.

"Sorry," she said but he kissed her again and she instantly felt higher than she had been only moments ago. He usually seemed to have that effect on her and it drove her crazy. How did he have this control over her without even trying? He could get anything he wanted by merely looking at her and yet he never asked for anything…well, maybe just one thing.

They drank their coffee silently before she went to shower.

"See you at work," she said, knowing that Martin had already showered and would catch a cab back to his apartment to get dressed and still beat her to the office.

The office, she stopped and turned around just as he stood up to go and get his keys and phone. She kissed him again, this time with more passion. When she pulled away he asked,

"What was that for?"

"I just wanted one for the road. Sometimes it kills me to try and keep my hands off you around everyone else and I can just tell, today will be one of those days." She smiled at him, thinking that he would find this funny, but was shocked to see that there was hurt and a hint of anger behind his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I was just wondering...why can't we tell everyone? I mean, we don't have to make out in the middle of a meeting or anything but would it be so bad to get it out in the open. I mean, Danny is already asking, it won't take too long for Viv and Jack to figure it out either."

He sighed when he saw her body tense up as it always did on the rare occasions that he chose to push this subject. She looked away for a moment, deciding how to handle the conversation this time but then looked directly into his eyes.

"I'm just not ready to. It's the office, it's nobody's business if we're seeing each other or not." She knew that each word she said was causing him more pain but for some reason the thought of flat out telling Jack, Vivian and Danny that she and Martin were together scared her.

"Why is that Sam? Why aren't you ready?" She shook her head in disbelief like she always did whenever he wouldn't drop it which was more and more often these days. When she didn't answer he continued questioning her. "Are you ashamed of me? Are you regretting that you ever invited me over?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" she half shouted at him and slammed her empty coffee mug down on the coffee table. "If I had regretted it don't you think I would have ended it, let's say five or so months ago?"

"Fine, maybe you're not ashamed of me. What else could it be? You think you can do better than me? I mean, you did have Jack, right? He was willing to do this with a wife, kids and job at stake. Or is it just Jack, Sam? You're afraid that if you tell them about us then it will really be over between the two of you." He hadn't meant for it to go there, he had never brought up her relationship with Jack before, at least not to use it against her. True, he had asked her about what went wrong but that had ended with him promising never to hurt her the way that Jack had. He had never let on that he thought she preferred Jack to him or that he was jealous at all.

"I can't believe you just said that to me," she said quietly after a long pause. "I am not a suspect in one of our cases Martin, you can't interrogate me as if I've done something terribly wrong." She looked at him knowing that he was regretting bringing Jack up but that he was probably relieved to have finally said it. "I'm through with this right now, I'll see you in the office and we can finish this conversation later." She turned on her heel and stalked to the bathroom leaving Martin feeling deserted and angry.

She stood right next to the door, listening for his reaction. Twice that morning he had shocked her now. He didn't scream or throw anything. She could hear him breathing deeply and knew that he was fighting very hard to contain himself but he didn't lash out at all. He was so different from any other guy she had ever dated. He didn't even slam the door on his way out. She heard him pick up his keys and walk into the bedroom to collect his clothes and then quietly close and lock the door.

The whole day it had been quite tense between the two of them. Once or twice when she would be in the break room he would walk in and try to say something but she silenced him by saying that they shouldn't talk about it when the others can hear. For the first time since she had started dating Martin, she truly regretted that they worked in such close proximity. How could she have forgotten what it was like to be upset with someone and not show it without rising questions. She knew that Martin was probably having an even harder time because she had hurt him this morning.

She snapped out of her daze when the EMT told her to open the door and move out of the way.

"His blood pressure is dropping rapidly. We need to get him inside right now. Go to the waiting area in the lobby of the ER, tell them you're waiting for Martin Fitzgerald and the doctor will come and notify you as soon as he is stable." Fear took hold of her whenever she looked down and saw that Martin's lips were completely white. She nodded silently, not completely trusting herself to speak.

She watched them run his body inside telling people to move. She stood there, not moving and silent for a while until the driver told her that if she didn't move he would run her over. This time she did give the guy the finger but moved and walked towards the lobby entrance.

She could hear her footsteps echoing in the empty and tiled hallway. The waiting room was very bright and it was silent. There was only one other person in the room and he was sound asleep, spreading out over four of the very uncomfortable chairs. She thought this must be very strange, an empty ER in New York City.

She was only there by herself for fifteen minutes before she heard the voices of Danny and Vivian echoing through the hallway. She was happy to see them because she really needed something to distract her from the horrible thoughts that were reverberating off the inside of her skull just like the snores from the sleeping man bounced off of the walls.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Danny asked when he saw her. Vivian had walked to the front desk to see if there was any information on Martin's condition.

She gave a small nod and a weak and insincere smile. "I'll be okay as soon as I find out if he's…going to be at work next week." She finished off unconvincingly. Danny gave a small knowing nod letting her know that he understood what she meant and left it alone.

Vivian walked over to them now. "They don't know anything yet," she announced answering Samantha's unasked question and sitting down on her other side. "How was he on the way over?"

Samantha took a deep breath before answering. "Well, he was okay at the beginning. I mean, he was unconscious but as we got closer he continued losing blood and they had to rush him in. His face was so white, it scared me. He looked…dead." Vivian put her arm around Sam and Danny held her hand.

"He's going to be alright," Danny said confidently. "I mean come on, when has Marty ever given up on anything. He's too damn persistent to just die now." The casual way he talked about Martin's potential condition made Sam laugh.

"Where's Jack?" she asked, finally noticing that he had not walked in with the other two.

"Oh, he had to do at least the primary report before he could come over. He said he'd be here in about an hour." Sam nodded wondering if she would have stayed to do a primary report if she was not involved with Martin. That thought scared her and made her feel like a horrible person. She knew that Martin had stayed with her after she had been beaten even though she was not seriously injured at all, just bruised pretty badly.

"Samantha Spade?" A man wearing a long white coat said as he walked around the corner. He was young and had a handsome face with curly brown hair.

All three stood up and she knew that she was probably squeezing Danny's had so hard that he would soon lose feeling in his fingers.

"That's me," Samantha said, her voice shaking violently. Vivian looked quizzically at Sam but she paid no attention. Her entire being was urging the doctor to tell her that Martin would be okay.

"Doctor Kincaid," he said holding out his hand to her. She shook it impatiently as she thought, "I don't care who you are, just tell me he's going to be okay!"

"Are you the wife? Or girlfriend perhaps?" he asked. She couldn't believe that he was making small talk when she was under the impression that Martin was in the room fighting for his life.

She shook her head and replied, "Um…no, just co-worker, close friend, you know." She tried to make her answer quick so that he would continue on with Martin's diagnosis.

"I see, well, Martin should be fine. He lost a lot of blood but the gun shot itself won't leave any lasting damage. He will need to do some physical therapy and I presume he will not be able to go out into the field for a few months until his shoulder has completely rebuilt itself."

"Is he awake now? Can we see him?" Vivian asked, clearly irritated with this doctor's informalities.

"Well, I can allow you to go into the room, but his consciousness is really the only complication we came across." Samantha thought that her heart had stopped. He wasn't okay, there was something wrong with him. "Martin seems to have experienced a very large and forceful hit on the head. He experienced a concussion and we cannot seem to wake him up. He is in a light form of a coma." At these words, Samantha's legs gave out and she had to sit back down. The tears were threatening to spill over again and she was relieved that the other two were still staring into the doctor's face. "I don't expect him to be in it for too much longer. His body is just recovering from extreme trauma. I believe he should be awake within a week. There will be no lasting brain damage luckily."

"Can I see him?" Samantha asked, shocking the other two. She had not spoken since the doctor had asked her about her relationship with Martin.

"Of course," Doctor Kincaid replied. "I'm not sure what good it will do, but you are free to stay with him as long as possible. We usually do not restrict people in the ER to visiting hours." He smiled at her but she didn't notice and had blocked out the rest of his answer.

"Viv, why don't we go home. We'll come and visit Marty tomorrow. I'll call Jack and let him know." Vivian nodded her head and Danny looked over at Sam. "You sure you don't want a ride home now?"

"No thanks, I'll call a cab later." She smiled gratefully at him and bid farewell to Vivian as she followed the doctor to Martin's room.

When they got to the proper room, Samantha simply stood in the door way. The doctor went in and began checking his vitals once more. She noticed that his face held more color and was thankful that he no longer looked like a corpse. In his right arm he was hooked up to an IV and the left arm was transferring more blood into his body. He looked so helpless, lying in the stark white bed. She usually liked to stay awake after he had fallen asleep and watch him as he breathed deeply. She didn't like this though. He still had the peaceful look but there were no signs of life except for the steady rise and fall of his chest.

She slowly made her way to his side. She touched his face tenderly and then held onto his hand. Doctor Kincaid pulled up a chair for her and she sat down her eyes once again unable to leave Martin's motionless face. She kissed his hand and merely nodded whenever the doctor notified her that he would be back within the hour to check his status.

Once he left, all inhibitions were gone and Samantha had nothing holding back the tears anymore.

A/N-Hope you liked it. It's a bit longer than I intended but I think it's pretty good. Yay! I love Martin and Samantha. He better not break up with her on the show. That look he gave her at the very end was a little unreadable, and it scared me.

Leave me a review and let me know what you think!