Disclaimer: Same as usual, own nothing, all the property of CBS and Anthony Zuiker

AN: Firstly, I must apologise for not writing this sooner. Uni preparations, trying to see as much of my friends as I can before we all go away, and finally writer's block have all conspired against me. But it is now finally written. I think this will be the final chapter, unless I have any sudden urge to write more, although there may well be a prologue appearing with the crime scene/shooting sometime in the future. Many thanks go to Cunnane, for unofficially beta-ing this chapter and pointing out all my stupid mistakes. Then a thousand thank yous to everyone who has reviewed, it is such a high to know that people enjoy what I write. As always, reviews are welcomed and appreciated! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

Chapter 3

Flack blinked and rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.

When he opened his eyes, however, he found out that Danny's eyes were shut. He made a disgruntled face; first he'd torn his stitches, now he was hallucinating? Was it possible for his day to get any better?

When the blue eyes appeared to open again, he was sure it was his eyes playing tricks on him, this time, however, Danny's eyes stayed open, and Flack allowed himself to believe that Danny might actually be awake.

"Danny?" he ventured.

Danny raised a weak hand in response.

"Take your time, why don't you?" Flack said gruffly, unable to completely mask the relief in his voice as he stood up to press the call button before moving to hover over Danny.

Danny blinked at him, eyes hazy and confused, obviously having no memory of what had happened.

Flack hesitated, unsure of what to tell Danny, unsure if it would upset him and cause a setback. Before he was forced to make a decision, the nurse walked in.

"Hi, Danny, I'm Nurse Jones. Its good to see you awake, you're in Mount Sinai hospital…do you remember what happened?"

On Danny's small shake of the head, she continued,

"You were shot twice in the chest…and were it not for your friend here, you may not have made it."

Flack looked down at the ground in embarrassment, willing for an interruption of some kind. As if someone was reading his mind, the door opened and a doctor walked in.

The doctor walked straight over to Danny, and started exchanging what Flack presumed were Danny's vitals and other medical information, the long words and numbers going straight over his head.

"Right, Mr Messer, lets get you off this ventilator shall we?"

At Danny's emphatic nod, the doctor laughed.

"That seems to be the response most patients give. Ok, if your friend could just step out for a couple of minutes, we'll see what we can do for you."

Flack stared at the doctor, who stared right back and inclined her head in the direction of the door. Seeing that it was a battle that he was not going to win, Flack walked out the room, a disgruntled expression on his face. He'd barely left Danny's side when he'd been asleep, and as soon Danny was awake, he'd been forced out the room.

He paced the corridor for a few minutes; the disgruntled expression still firmly affixed on his face. It immediately disappeared when he realised that Mac and the rest of the team didn't know that Danny had woken up. Flack grabbed for his cellphone, and was about to punch in the number when he remembered that he wasn't allowed to use it in the hospital. He looked around for a payphone, or a corridor, just something that he could use to call the crime lab and let them know. But nothing was forthcoming.

"Dammit!" he muttered under his breath. Sometimes he was convinced that someone was out to get him.

The door to Danny's room opened behind him, and the doctor walked out. Flack immediately forgot about calling the lab, and concentrated on the doctor.

"Is he ok? Does he remember what happened? How long will it take before he's back on his feet? Is he in pain? Can I see him?"

The doctor held up her hands as Flack paused for breath.

"Right, in answer to your questions: he's going to be fine. I don't think he remembers all of it so be prepared to answer questions about it, but be careful with your detail as it may upset him. How long before he's back on his feet? I should think that it'd be a couple of weeks before we can release him but that depends. No, he's not in pain, he's on medication to counter it, and yes, you can see him now. Anything else? And is there anyone that you want us to contact?"

Flack let out a breath that he didn't realise he was holding.

"Umm yeah, could you contact Detective Mac Taylor at the crime lab for me please? He wanted to know when Danny woke up. Thanks."

The doctor nodded and shooed him in the direction of Danny's room.

"Go on, go! Just go easy on him though, ok? Don't upset him or let him over exert himself."

Flack was halfway through the door before she'd even finished talking.

Once he was in the room, he went and stood at the foot of Danny's bed, watching as the nurse finished making notes on Danny's chart.

On subtly observing Danny, Flack was glad to see the slightest hint of colour in his cheeks. It hadn't been right seeing Danny all pale and motionless, so to have him awake and with colour was a step back towards normality.

As the nurse finished her notes and walked out, Danny spoke.

"It's rude to stare, ya know," he said hoarsely.

Flack felt his cheeks warm. Smooth, Don, so much for subtle!

"Sorry," he said gruffly, "I just needed to make sure you were really ok."

Danny nodded, and lay back against his pillows, letting out a sigh as he did so.

"So, how long I been out?" he asked.

"Uhh…about a day and a half? Give or take."

"You been here the whole time?"

"Yeah, I got time on my hands…why?"

"You look like crap."

Flack looked at him incredulously.

"Excuse me?"

"You. Look. Like. Crap," Danny repeated slowly, a smirk playing about his lips.

"Take a look in the mirror, Messer, and that's the last time I ruin my best suit savin' your ass!" retorted Flack indignantly.

The smirk on Danny's face faded, and he looked at Flack with a serious expression on his face.

"Seriously, Flack, Thanks. The doctor said that you pretty much saved my life…not that I remember much of what went on. But I guess that's a good thing, isn't it? Or maybe it isn't, I forget…"

It was Flacks turn to smirk as the medication started to kick in and Danny started to ramble.

"Yeah, It was really, really nice of you to ruin your suit for me, I 'preciate it…"

Danny trailed off as the medication took further hold of his body. Flack sat back and watched as Danny's eyes turned hazy, and then eventually closed. He smiled as he sat down, knowing that if Danny was able to make rude comments, he was on the mend.

He decided to hang round until Danny woke up again, and until the rest of the CSIs arrived. He knew that he should go home and get some rest, but hey, he had time for that later.

Flack blinked and rubbed his eyes, determined not to fall asleep as once again, he settled in to wait for Danny to wake up. Typically, he was bored five minutes later, and even contemplated poking Danny until he woke up.

He smirked and shook his head, wincing as the movement jarred his now re-bandaged shoulder, wondering once more how time had the ability to go so fast and yet so damn slow.