AN: I 'm so sorry this took so long, I never meant for it. I moved twice in the last month, and will probably be moving again, so It's just stressful, on top of the fact that I got my computer taken from me and just today got it back. Some crazy hectic shit going on, but oh well, I will get you another chapter as soon as I can.

Her tired eyes smiled as the rest of her face could not. I brought my hand back to hers, and rubbed my palm along her cold skin.

A single knock announced the doctor, Doctor De Jong, as he came through the door. A crooked smile crossed his face.

"Officer Sanchez, it's great to have you back on our side." He said as he pulled that little light thing from his pocket.

"Follow it with your eyes." And he drew the light across her face. "Good, good." He switched it off and pulled his stethoscope out.

"Officer Sanchez, do you remember what happened?" He asked. Her head shook left to right gently, saying no. His face took a solemn expression.

"Fifteen days ago, you were on an assignment, and got shot four times. You sustained very serious injuries." I looked away from him and back down to Chris, trying not to relive the moment. But I couldn't shut his voice out. He described exactly what each bullet did, how the one in her leg made the bone splinter, and how her arm's muscles had been ripped apart. His words weren't that graphic, but they didn't have to be. My stomach churned with each sentence. When he got to the big stuff, I couldn't handle it. I felt myself jump from the chair next to the bed, and mumble something as I walked out of the room. When the door shut, my head went to the sky, and I leaned my back against a wall. I don't really know how long it was before a hand touched my shoulder.

"Street" My head jerked to see Deke standing at my shoulder.

"Hey Deke." I yawned.

"Hondo called, and I called in some favors to get out of work today." He said, "How's she doing? She awake?"

"Yeah, she's awake," I mumbled.

"Is she talking?" he proclaimed excitedly.

"No, the air tube in her throat won't let her."

"Ok," He nodded, "But why are you out here?"

"Doctor's talking to her." I answered simply. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't handle it.

"I see, you want to leave her to her privacy." He laughed.

"I'll go back after he's done, I just want to talk to him alone for a second."

"Here's your chance," He said, gesturing towards the tall doctor as he ducked through the door. I jogged to get next to him as he walked away.

"Excuse me. Dr. De Jong?" I asked, trying to flag him down.

"Yes?" He answered and wheeled around, catching me off guard as I smashed into him and fell to the ground.

"Doc, I'm so sorry, I was-"

"It's no problem," He interrupted, offering a hand to help me up. "You're Mr…?"

"Officer Street," I explained.

"You're Officer Sanchez's partner, yeah, it must have been hard to have to listen to that." He said referring to earlier.

"Yeah, no, I mean, I just was, I had to make a phone call," I stuttered.

"Don't worry, I understand," He nodded, "What did you want to talk about?"

"I was…look, is she going to be ok?"

"You're partner is improving greatly, but she's got a lot of work cut out for her." He said, crossing his arms.

"But when's she coming back to work, is she's going to get back like how she used to be?"

"Well, I won't go in to all the details, but you know her injuries, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I brought my hand back up to my forehead, realizing that I was nervous.

"Ok, well, to put it bluntly, she'll never be back to one hundred percent and with the subject of her going back into police work, it's not going to happen." He answered solemnly. I exploded.

"What?"

"There was nerve damage in her right arm, which I understand is her dominant hand, and only time will tell, but there will most likely be difficulties in that arm, and that shot in the leg is almost definitely going to leave a permanent limp."

"Did you tell her that?" I griped.

"Officer Sanchez is aware of the fact that returning to work is not a possibility."

"Ok then, thanks I guess Doc." I said and waved him away as I turned my back. Deke was standing there waiting for me, staring at the opposite wall. When he heard my footsteps, his head snapped up.

"What's up?"

"She's not coming back to SWAT." I sighed angrily.

"She's what?" He said, confused.

"She's not coming back," I said, collapsing into the chair closest to him. "God damn it Deke, she's off SWAT, and she's going to be scarred for fucking life. She'll never be the same." I felt the incredulity rise in my voice.

"Hey, she'll be ok," He said, shaking my shoulder, "She'll get through this shit, and she'll be the same person, she doesn't need SWAT to be who she is."

"I know, I know, it's just, I know it was important to her," I explained.

"She'll be fine Street, stop stressing yourself." I sighed deep, and stood back up.

"Let's go see her. That's why you're here anyways, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." He followed me back into her room. She was asleep again, and I didn't want to be in there all of a sudden, so I went back into the hall and wandered off. I needed some time to myself to process what I had been told. If Chris wasn't coming back to SWAT, it meant I would be getting a new partner, and that was something I did not want, definitely. Chris was one in a million, and a member of the team I could never replace. Plus the fact, I wouldn't get to see as much of her at all if I was on SWAT and she wasn't.

I ran into Hondo on his way out of the elevator.

I mean I literally ran into him. I scrambled to my feet, and helped him up.

"Geez Hondo, I'm so sorry, I didn't meant to...I mean that's the second damn time today..." I rambled.

"It's ok, I've had worse happen to me," Hondo said simply as he brushed his elbows off. "So how's Sanchez?"

"She was awake, but she's back asleep now." I said simply. He nodded, and gestured towards the door. "I'm heading in there, you coming?" He asked

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a minute," I said waving my hand in the air and bringing the other to my neck. He nodded again and went to her room. And I sat down in one of the many chairs in the hallway. I rested my neck back, and felt my face screw together. I didn't know what to do anymore. Chris was supposed to get better and come back to the team. She wasn't allowed to not be there anymore. I must have sat there for an hour before it struck me plain as day. I had already spent over two weeks of my life in this hospital for her, why couldn't I go in and look at Chris now?

"It just Chris you idiot, what are you afraid of?" I sighed to myself and stood back up to go see my girl.

When I crossed the room's thresh hold, I saw that the breathing tube in Chris's throat was gone, and replace by an oxygen mask. On anybody else, it probably would've made them look like a dork, but, at this moment especially, Chris was as beautiful as I had ever seen her. All I saw was her, Christina Sanchez, plain as day. Her open eyes locked with mine, and I saw a tired smile hit her face. I came up by her side and smiled crookedly at her.

"How you feeling Sanchez?" I sighed softly. I didn't care if Hondo or Deke or even Chris's mom was in there with me. I was talking to her now. She was about to answer when she realized she still had that mask on her face. She brought her left hand up and pulled it down. She cleared her throat and whispered to me hoarsely.

"Heard you been...next to me...for two whole weeks." She wheezed.

"Best two weeks of my life," I grinned sarcastically. I took a hold of her hand.

"Good...to have...ya here Jimmy," she sighed. She took her hand back up to her face and pushed at the oxygen mask, but it didn't quite get to her face. I took the liberty of putting it back on for her, but before my hand came off of it, she tried to pull it off. So i took it off for her, and she added one more thing.

"I want to see...my kid." She gasped. I nodded, and placed the mask back on her face.

"Hey, no more talking," I commanded. Her eyes agreed with me. And I saw the pain course through her face and worried until her eyes opened slightly back up.

"You get better now Sanchez, you hear?"