A/N Thank you for the reviews! This chapter is a little longer. Please R&R and let me know what you think!
Chapter 2 Life Hanging in the Balance
Danny and Lindsay run up to Mac as he lay lifeless on the ground. He has blood coming from the back of his head. Danny leans down and checks Mac's pulse as the paramedics come over with the stretcher. Lindsay breathes a small "thank you" at the fact that they had an ambulance on the scene in case the girl jumped.
Stella is screaming Danny's name from the roof, Danny can hear someone screaming, "Oh My God!" over and over in the background. Flack yells at Danny to tell them something.
Danny looks up and with the shakiest voice Lindsay has ever heard yells, "He's got a pulse. He won't respond. You guys better come down here.We need to get to the hospital."
Danny reaches over and takes Lindsay's trembling hand as they watch the paramedics load Mac up and wait for the others to get to the bottom. "You OK, Montana?" Danny inquires shakily. Lindsay squeezes his hand. "Yeah. Are you?" Danny simply nods and chews his bottom lip. He knows he should let Lindsay's hand go but at this moment, he needs someone to hold on to and he figures that she may need that stability as well. He isn't sure who is shaking more, Lindsay or him.
Stella and Flack come running towards them. An officer comes behind them with Ashley who is still screaming and crying in their custody. Stella is about to literally fall down. Danny tells Lindsay to stay with Stella and he walks over to Ashley. Danny says to her, "Listen to me kid. Mac's gonna be OK. I want you to go with Detective Flack and as soon as we can, we will come back and get some more information from you." She looks up at Danny with tears streaming, "I'm so sorry. He was just trying to help me." Danny swallows the anger that rises up in his throat. "Yes he was. Don't make it in vain. Go with Flack and do exactly what he tells you." Ashley nods her head and as Flack takes her he says to Danny, "I'm coming to the hospital as soon as I can. Call me, Messer." Danny nods, "I'll call ya man."
Danny loads the girls up and drives them to the hospital. Lindsay and Stella are in the back seat and Stella is just looking out the window with tears streaming. Lindsay has both arms around Stella and she is crying too. Danny knows he needs to say something but he is so afraid that if he opens his mouth, he will lose all composure too.
Danny tries to reign in his thoughts. He cannot believe that their leader is possibly dying. Four friggin stories! His head was bleeding so badly! How can he survive this? What would they do without Mac? Mac is always so calm, cool, and collected. Mac is the strong one. My God, he looked so lifeless. Why the hell are these people driving so slow! He's got to be OK. I can't imagine not working for Mac. Even though I've fought with him, I want to be just like him. I need him to teach me! I've got so much left to learn from this man!
Lindsay tries to figure out when everything got so out of control. She and Danny got the call to come to a jumper on the roof and as they are getting out of the SUV, they see Mac trying to catch a falling teenager and lose balance and fall himself. Good God, he didn't even scream! Lindsay can still remember that he looked straight at them. Danny took off in a run like he was going to catch him in midair. She couldn't even move. Then she heard Stella and the girl both screaming. Hell, maybe she was screaming too. If only she could get Stella to stop shaking. She is really worried because Stella isn't saying a word. Lindsay almost feels like an outsider because she is the new one in this crew. Stella and Danny have known Mac for longer and she knows they are terrified. She knows this because her own heart is pounding out of her chest. Her fearless leader, the one she admires more than anyone she's ever worked with or for is hanging in the balance. She can't even entertain the thought of him dying. Oh my God, he has to be OK!
Stella wonders why she can't form a thought in her head.
My God, I cannot even think straight! I should have grabbed him! It happened so fast! He was over before I could even think twice. Is he going to die? Oh God, please listen to me. I will do anything…………ANYTHING………..don't let him die! He is the only person in this world that I truly trust. He is our leader. He is the glue to this team. God, we need him. I need him. There is so much that I've never had the guts to say. God please, give me the chance to say it. If you will let him live God, I won't be afraid. I'll tell him how much I need him. I'll tell him that I am in love with him. I'll come clean God. I won't waste any more precious time. Please just let him be OK. God I beg you with all that I am.
A sob escapes from Stella and Lindsay squeezes her tighter. Danny looks in the rearview mirror. "We're here Stell! I'm pulling in the parking lot now. Hang in there. Mac's gonna be OK."
Danny parks the car and helps the women get out. The three CSI's quietly and quickly walk through the door. Sheldon Hawkes comes in right behind them. "My God, what happened?" he says. Danny fills him in quickly with the short version while Lindsay asks at the desk about Mac. The nurse guides them to the family room and tells them she will get the doctor. Stella goes through the door and breaks down. "We are in the family room! This is where they bring people to tell them their loved one is dead. He cannot be dead!" Sheldon grabs Stella into a bear hug. "Stella. Calm down. Let's sit down. They know who we are and want to give us privacy. That's all. Let's just sit down and wait a minute." Sheldon sits Stella down and keeps a hand on her knee. Danny and Lindsay sit on the opposite couch, neither knowing what to say. Sheldon looks to Danny. "Danny, how bad was it?" Danny shakes his head, "I don't know man. There was a hell of a lot of blood. I kept saying his name and he wouldn't answer me. I even slapped his face a little without moving his head and he didn't respond to me at all." Sheldon let out a breath. "Where all was he bleeding from?" Danny raked his fingers through his hair. "From the back of the head. There was so much blood." Sheldon said, "Any other blood?" Danny got up and started to pace. "No, Hawkes! That's all I saw! God, isn't that enough?" Sheldon quietly says, "Yeah, Danny, that's enough. I'm just trying to gage how bad this is." Lindsay watches Danny pace and then asks him to come back and sit down. He looks over at her puppy dog eyes and sees the fear radiating through them. He goes back and sits down next to her. She reaches over and takes his hand. He looks over at her and she looks a little unsure about the move. Danny gives her the smallest smile he can muster and squeezes her hand.
The doctor walks in and the entire group seems to hold their breath. The doctor looks around the room. "Is anyone here family?" Danny stands up and says, "With all due respect sir, we are all his family and the only family he's got right now." The doctor nods his head and continues, "He has a pretty significant head injury. I am blown away that nothing is broken. His left shoulder was dislocated, but we were able to pop it back into place without any effort. There is some swelling on the brain already and I can't rule out possible bleeding. The next 12-24 hours will be critical." Sheldon is trying to take everything in. Stella looks up and asks with more strength than any of them knew she had, "Is he going to die, Doctor?" The doctor blows out his breath. "Ma'am, I can't honestly answer that yet. Like I said, the next few hours will be critical. We will know more when and if he regains consciousness. I'll do another CT Scan in a few hours. What I can tell you is that he is healthy and strong and I'll do everything I can to save him."
"Can we see him?" Danny asks. The doctor hesitates. "Let my nurses finish cleaning him up and if I can get him stabilized………..then in a few minutes I'll let you come in one at a time for just a minute or two each. Is that fair?" They all nodded silently.
Stella shaky hand goes up to her mouth. "He's alive. Oh thank You God, He's alive!" Tears begin to stream again. Danny looks to Sheldon. "What can you tell us beyond what he did?" Sheldon thinks for a moment. "Not really anything. It will be touch and go until they can gage how bad the brain is going to swell. There isn't a lot of room up there for swelling. Mac is strong though. I think he will fight this." Each of the CSI's sit quietly and wait.
Danny remembers that he needs to call Flack and needs to call the office. He is a little surprised at the irony. He always assumed that if anything ever happened with Mac that Stella would take over. As he looks over at his mentor and friend, he knows that is not going to happen. He dials Flack's number and hears it ring outside the door just as it opens. "I'm here," Flack says. He sits down and Sheldon gives him the update. Danny calls the office and asks them to pass the word and have everyone stay away until they know more. He hangs up his phone and feels such a weight on his shoulders. He knows that they've called in the other shift but tomorrow they will be expected to be back at work. At least some of them.
"How's Ashley?" Stella asks quietly. Flack looks incredulously at Stella. "She's upset. She knows this is all her fault," he replies flippantly, "Are you worried about her?" Stella gives a half laugh. "No, I'm pretty pissed at her, but if I go in there and Mac wakes up, the first thing he will ask me is how Ashley is." Flack looks at his feet. "You're right about that," He says as he gives Stella a small smile. Stella has a single tear rolling as she says in a powerfully strong voice, "Mac's life may be hanging in the balance, but he'd do it all over again to save the teenager. We can't blame her and be angry because Mac wouldn't be."
To Be Continued…………….only if you read and review! More Danny and Lindsay in the upcoming chapters!