Waiting

It was early evening by the time Sheldon Hawkes and Stella entered the ICU waiting room at St. Augustine's Memorial Hospital. In the wake of Danny's shooting, Mac had ordered the two CSIs to finish processing the crime scene Lindsey and Danny had started.

The waiting room was surprisingly quiet; only Mac Taylor, Lindsey Monroe and Donald Flack were seated in the fabric-covered chairs clustered in a semi-circle in the far corner. The wall-mounted TV was muted, and Meredith Viera soundlessly congratulated a contestant who correctly answered a question about Washington Irving. Stella took a seat next to Mac.

"How is he," she asked, her gaze flicking to Lindsey, who sat huddled in a chair closest to the picture window.

"He's stable," Mac replied, shrugging and shifting in his seat,

"But he's not regained consciousness; that could take a while longer." He was watching Lindsey's reaction to his words.

She seemed to be trying to hide inside her windbreaker, pulling the collar up against her cheek as she stared out the window at the grey autumn skies above. Stella and Mac exchanged looks before Stella stood, crossed over to Lindsey, and sat down in the chair next to her. Carefully, Stella put a hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked, and Lindsey nodded, fiercely swiping at the tears that were drifting down her cheeks.

"He's going to be okay Lindsey," she said, and Lindsey sighed, her chin quivering.

Stella echoed her sigh, placing a comforting arm around the younger woman's shoulders.

"Danny's a tough kid; no matter what it is, he always seems to be able to pull out of a bad situation."

Lindsey turned to look at Stella, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"He kept asking me to do something for him, but all I could do was try to keep the bleeding down, and call for help." She said, and Mac spread his hands apart in a gesture of helplessness.

"But you did the right thing, Lindsey. What happened was a bad deal, but second-guessing yourself won't help him." Stella hugged Lindsey briefly and then smiled.

"Danny wouldn't want you to second-guess," she said, her smile forced, but her eyes troubled.

Deep down, Stella was wondering if they'd be attending a funeral in the next few days. Surely Danny would be fine; yes, he had been shot in the chest, but they'd stablised him, loaded him up and raced him to the hospital in record time. Even the trauma team had said Danny was doing amazingly well for the amount of blood he'd lost. But Stella's heart was still heavy, fear and dread causing her to feel as though a black cloud had settled over her and was pushing her down with its weight.

Mac watched the two women and wished he had some words of wisdom to help them to feel better. He knew Stella was worried; she'd been uptight and agitated ever since they got the call that there was trouble at the crime scene Danny and Lindsey were working. Mac was the team leader in a way; he couldn't let them see just how worried he himself was about Danny. But now, as he listened to Stella's optimistic assurances, he wasn't so certain of Danny's future anymore.

"Detective Taylor?" A deep male voice broke into his thoughts.

"I'm Taylor," Mac responded, rising.

The doctor was in his fifties; with graying hair that was thinning around the temples, and unusually dark blue eyes.

"We've got your officer in a room. He's breathing on his own, and everything looks good." The doctor informed them.

"Is he going to be all right then?" Asked Hawkes, and the doctor nodded.

"He's still unconscious, but his vitals are normal and everything checks out fine." He said and looked around the room.

"You can go see him, but only one at a time, and no longer than ten minutes tops," the doctor instructed, and at everyone's agreement, left as quickly as he came.

Mac looked around the room at his colleagues.

"Who wants to go first?" he asked, and looked at Lindsey.

"Lindsey?" he asked, but she shook her head.
"You first, sir," she said and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I won't be long," Mac replied, adding; "I'm sure there's others of us who would like to see him too." With that, Mac winked at Lindsey and walked away, leaving the others to stand quietly in the waiting area, thankful that their friend was still in the land of the living.

…..to be continued.