"What are you doing hear?" Sydney asked, obviously shocked.

"Are you kidding me? I wasn't about to stay home and let you be here all alone when I knew you would need someone." Gage replied with a softness she had never heard from him before.

"Thanks for coming Gage. The doctor hasn't come out for a while now so I don't know what has happened yet. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. He's always been there for me, and now, when he needs me, there isn't anything I can do for him." She said as tears filled her eyes once again and she placed her head in her hands.

"Shh, Syd it's going to be ok. Don't worry. It's probably nothing big. And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here with you until you get bored with me. And even then, I'm still not gunna leave you." Gage said as he put his arms around her and tried to lighten the mood.

"Thanks Gage, I can't even begin to tell you how much that—"

"Ms. Cooke? Sorry to interrupt but your brother is out of surgery now and I hate to tell you, but it's not looking good. This wasn't just a regular car accident. It appears that your brother took a bullet through the upper right chest first and then lost control of the vehicle. The bullet punctured his lung and he has lost a lot of blood. He also has a concussion and a few broken ribs. He is currently unconscious and the next 24 hours will be critical. The police report said there was a bullet hole in the front windshield and it looked like it was deliberate. I'm sorry, I'll contact you if there is any change, but for now, you should probably go home and get some rest. There is nothing you can do now but wait."

"Ok…. Thanks doctor." The words tore though her like a knife. She would have fallen to the ground if Gage wasn't there to support her.

"Come on Syd, let me take you home. We can get your car tomorrow. You need to rest so that when Tony does wake up, you'll be fully energized to help him find out who did this." Said Gage.

"Ok." Sydney said, barely above a whisper. By now, her mind was flooded with thoughts and emotions that seemed to take over her whole body. She hardly noticed when Gage put his arm around her shoulder and walked her to his car. Only when they reached her apartment did she finally snap back to reality.

"Alright, so would you like me to pick you up in the morning and take you to the hospital or would you---"

"Could you maybe…. stay with me tonight…." Sydney said with tears in her eyes, not wanting to be alone.

"Of course, whatever you need." said Gage as he pulled the car into a parking space and walked up with Sydney to her apartment.

As they entered her apartment, Gage immediately said he would be on the couch if she needed anything but Sydney insisted he sleep in her bed with her because the couch was rather small and not a pull out.

"Sure, whatever you want me to do." replied Gage.

As they slid into bed, Sydney's back to Gage's front, he heard her crying and draped his arm around her waist providing a silent comfort in which she gratefully accepted and in turn, she rolled over to face him and fell asleep in his arms. The night had really taken a toll on her as her brother lay fighting for his life in the hospital and unpleasant past memories were resurfaced.

It had only been about an hour into their sleep when Sydney started whimpering in her sleep as strangled 'no's' passed her lips. Suddenly as if out of nowhere, Sydney started to cry and struggled to break free of Gage's embrace, not knowing it was him.

"Syd, Syd…shhhh, its ok. It's me, it's Gage. " said Gage over her cries in his attempt to calm her own, trying not to worry too much, or at least not sound worried.

"G- Gage...I'm sorry I…I thought you were someone else…" she replied not even thinking about what she had just let slip.

Gage's worry was plainly obvious now as he asked her what was wrong. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to hear from his beloved partner.

"Someone else? Syd…what do you mean?" said Gage almost in a panic.

"It was a long time ago. It doesn't matt---"

"Talk to me Shorty. Tell me what's wrong. And don't tell me that it doesn't matter because it DOES matter. Whatever it is, it's clearly still tormenting you. Now, tell me what happened." Gage said sternly but softly as he prepared himself for Sydney's story.