The two couples parted ways Danny and Maddie decided to grab some dinner somewhere, while Don and Aiden elected to walk around the city for a bit longer. Maddie took Danny's arm as they strolled down the street and was surprised when he smiled almost shyly at her. She looked curiously up into his blue eyes, knowing he had wanted to say something to her on the observation deck and wondering if he was going to say it now.

He didn't, instead steering the conversation toward food. They were walking past a jewelry store discussing where to eat when Danny stopped and squinted at the front display window.

"I think someone's in there," he said quietly, unholstering his gun.

"Danny, what are you doing?"

"The job never stops," he told her.

"I know that feeling," she returned.

"Stay here," he said.

He stepped carefully toward the door of the jewelry store with his weapon drawn, and she pulled her cell phone out of her purse, ready to call 911 if needed.

"Be careful!" she called quietly after him.

Shadowy figures moved inside the store and Danny nudged open the broken front door, raising his gun in their direction.

"NYPD! Stop what you're doing!" he yelled.

Maddie stood outside the jewelry store, trying to see what was going on while keeping out of sight of those inside. She could hear the noises of people running away and saw Danny advancing slowly forward, but without any other lighting her vision was limited. His was as well, and he didn't see the assailant still left in the lobby of the store until it was too late.

The unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out, and Maddie saw Danny crumple to the floor.

She ran toward him, screaming his name. "Danny!" He was still conscious when she got to him, but was bleeding badly from his shoulder. "Oh my god, Danny!"

"I'm alright," he told her, struggling to get up.

She gently pushed him back down onto the floor. "The hell you are. Stay still, Danny, you've been shot..."

She couldn't see much in the weak moonlight that filtered through the display window, but could feel the blood oozing from his shoulder. She quickly stripped off the little crocheted sweater she was wearing and pressed it against the wound, trying to stem the bleeding while searching for the cell phone she had dropped in her hurry to get to him.

"What happened?" a voice asked roughly from the doorway.

"Don! Call an ambulance...Danny's been shot..."

The young detective did just that and Aiden rushed over to lend a hand.

"What can I do?" she asked Maddie.

"He's going into shock...elevate his feet..."

Aiden pulled her coat off and folded it up, trying to remain calm as she placed it under Danny's feet. "We heard him yell all the way down the block, and came back to see if everything was okay..."

Maddie shook her head, pressing down harder on the wound. "We were trying to figure out where to eat when we walked by this place. The front door was broken and there were people inside..."

"The ambulance is on its way," Don reported, flipping his phone shut. "Mac and Stella will meet us at the hospital."

"Danny, you hear that?" Maddie asked him. "The ambulance is comin'. Hang in there, slugger, you're going to be just fine."

He smiled weakly. "I told ya I was okay..."

Don, Aiden, and Maddie tried to return his smile, but all three failed miserably. His eyelids fluttered a little, then closed.

"Danny? Danny!" Maddie called. "Don, check his pulse."

He slid his fingers along Danny's neck and found the appropriate spot. "It's weak, but it's there."

Maddie and Aiden exchanged relieved looks, but both women knew it wasn't over yet.

"You two know CPR?" Maddie asked quietly.

Don and Aiden both nodded.

"Good. If the paramedics don't get here soon..."

"Here they are!" Aiden exclaimed, jumping up from her place at Danny's feet and waving as flashing lights stopped in front of the building. "In here!"

The EMTs hurried in and took over, loading Danny quickly into the ambulance and rushing him to the hospital. Uniformed police officers arrived right behind them and began taping off the store and securing the scene. Don arranged for a squad car to take Maddie and Aiden to the hospital, but stayed behind an extra few minutes to make sure every procedure was followed to the letter.

The two women sat together in the back of the police cruiser gripping each other's hands all the way to the hospital.

"He's gonna be okay," Aiden said, trying to sound convincing. "He's a tough guy."

"He has to," Maddie replied, trying to smile. "Who else am I going to drag along the next time you and Don want to double date?"

Aiden laughed, tears forming in her eyes, and Maddie held her hand a little tighter. The squad car ran lights and sirens all the way to the hospital, and within minutes the two were hurrying through the emergency room.

Mac and Stella were waiting for them at the reception desk.

"Mac," Maddie cried, seeing him first.

"Maddie…"

She looked terrible. Her face was pale and drawn, her hair falling haphazardly from the pins that held it up, her hands, though they had been wiped off, still showing traces of Danny's blood. But it was her eyes that caught Mac's attention. Her normally bright, smiling blue eyes were dull and fearful.

"How is he?" she and Aiden asked simultaneously.

"Why don't you two sit down…" he began.

Maddie shook her head. "I don't want to sit down. Just tell me how Danny is."

Mac frowned. "The bullet entered his shoulder and nicked an artery…"

Aiden sucked in a breath. "Oh my god…"

"…he lost a lot of blood, but damage to the surrounding tissue was pretty minimal."

"Nerve damage?" Maddie asked.

Mac shook his head. "The doctors won't know until he comes out of surgery."

"Is he gonna…" Maddie's voice cracked and she nearly choked on the words "…is he gonna pull through?"

Mac shook his head again. "If they can stop the bleeding…if he hasn't already lost too much blood…if his heart can handle the stress it's been under…"

The fear in her eyes grew and she sank slowly into a nearby chair. Aiden sat beside her, and the two women shared a look. Was it really only an hour ago that they had been giggling over Don's compliments at the restaurant?

A few minutes later Don arrived at the hospital with an update on the preservation of the crime scene.

"Everything's taped off, and I have ten armed officers guarding the building. No one even sneezes until you say so," he told Mac. The elder detective nodded his approval, and Don turned his attention to Aiden. He took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm securely around her, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder as they waited for news.

Mac was torn. He knew the scene needed to be processed as soon as humanly possible, but Danny's life was on the line. He had gone when the call came in during Maddie's attack and had felt awful, as though he had let her down by leaving. And Danny was his responsibility, his hire, almost a younger brother he couldn't leave. At the same time, though, he wanted to do something, to work the case, to make sure everything was done exactly as it should be.

Stella placed a hand on his shoulder, interrupting his musings. "Danny's in surgery, and it'll be a while before they know anything. Sheldon's on his way over, too." She paused a moment before continuing. "Unless you have any objections, I'll head over and start the walk-through. You can stay until you hear something..."

"You sure?" he asked.

She nodded firmly.

He didn't reply in words, but the expression on his face was all Stella needed to see to know her plan was a good one. She said her good-byes and quickly left the hospital while the other four made their way up to the surgical floor, planting themselves numbly in the waiting room. Mac made one quick phone call to let Sheldon know where they were at, then resumed his place in a chair, waiting.

Hours later—or was it days?—a doctor dressed in surgical scrubs walked tiredly over to the little group.

All five stood, but allowed Sheldon to speak first. "How is he?"

"Well, he was pretty touch and go for a while," the doctor replied. "He lost a lot of blood, as you know, but we managed to stop the bleeding and repair the artery. If no other complications arise and he takes it easy for a while, he should be good as new in a couple of months."

Five relieved faces smiled at the doctor and each other.

"Can we see him?" Aiden asked.

The doctor shook his head. "He's still out from the anesthesia. It'll be a couple of hours before he's ready for even a short visit. Go home and get some sleep," he told them. "He should be lucid later on this morning."

"Thanks Doc," Mac said. The doctor nodded and headed off to catch a few hours of sleep himself, and Mac turned to the group. "He's right—we should get some sleep."

Don shook his head. "I know I'm not sleeping tonight. Not till I get the guy that did this to Danny."

"Me neither," Aiden added.

Mac held up his hand to stop them. "Go home. Sleep. Stella did the preliminaries on the scene, and we'll finish up in a few hours. Come in to work rested and thinking clearly so we can nail this guy."

The other two detectives frowned, wanting to stay with their friend until they could see with their own eyes that he was okay.

"Mac's right," Maddie agreed. "I'll stay here and call you, all of you, if there's any change." Aiden started to respond, but Maddie stopped her. "You have the opportunity to catch this guy," she explained. "I can't. All I can do is stay here with Danny. So go…get some sleep, eat a good breakfast, and get the SOB that did this to him." Her words were fiery and helpless all at the same time, and the three police officers knew they had a job to do.

Sheldon spoke when Maddie was finished. "You need to sleep, too, you know," he admonished.

"I know, I'll sleep," Maddie promised. "Now go on, get out of here."

Hugs were exchanged and promises were made to call if there was any news on either end. Don slid an arm around Aiden and led her to the elevator, with Mac and Sheldon following a few steps behind. Maddie watched them go and sighed, looking around the empty waiting area for a place to sleep. She found a couch over against a wall and stretched out, closing her eyes.

More time passed before a nurse came in and shook her awake.

"You're here with Detective Messer, right?" she asked Maddie.

Maddie nodded groggily. "Yeah. What happened? Is something wrong?"

"Everything's fine," the nurse assured her. "He came out of the anesthesia just fine and the doctor says everything looks good so far."

Maddie exhaled slowly, relieved.

"They're moving him from the recovery room now. He's gone back to sleep, but you can sit with him if you'd like to."

"Thank you," Maddie replied, knowing the nurse wasn't supposed to let her see him until visiting hours. She followed the nurse into a different wing of the hospital and stopped outside a closed door.

"In here," the nurse told her. "If you need anything, just let us know."

Maddie smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she said again.

She pushed open the door and crept quietly into the room. Danny lay on his back, stripped to the waist except for the layers of white gauze taped to the front of his shoulder and the leads from the heart monitor pasted to his chest. His right arm was tied to his upper body with the forearm resting across his abdomen in a blue sling to keep it from moving. An IV flowed from his left arm and he looked pale, even in the weak light that was just beginning to appear in the window.

Maddie pulled a chair over to the bed and sat beside him, taking his free hand in both of hers. She had remained calm all night, but now felt tears forming in her eyes.

"Danny…" That was as far as she got. All the emotions she had quelled since the first noises at the jewelry store poured out of her and she cried harder than she had ever cried before, burying her face in the blankets as sobs wracked her body.