Chapter Three
Danny and Lindsay arrived at the hospital, Danny was immediatly rushed towards the emergency room. He was forced to let go of Lindsay's hand.
"Sir, i am afraid you are going to have to let her hand go."
"Wait, Danny, i love you soo much, you better pull through this, please."
Lindsay was crying, she was stroking Danny's hair and kissed him gently on the cheek.
Danny just smiled.
"You know me Linds, a pack of wild dogs."
This made Lindsay cry even more, she let go of his hand and watched him being wheeled into the emergency room.
By this time Mac, Stella and Flack had arrived and were watching a emotional Lindsay say her "See you soon" to Danny, they finally clicked there was something going on with them, Flacks heart sank.
"We cant just leave her like this, i am gunna take her to get a coffee."
Stella walked towards Lindsay and took her by the hand, it was covered in Dannys blood.
"Come on Lindsay, lets get you cleaned up."
Lindsay was unresponsive, she just walked with Stella.
"Flack i want to have the guy who did this arrested before Danny is out of hospital, do i make myself clear?"
"Crystal...he is gunna make isnt he Mac?"
"I honestly dont know Flack, the damage was extensive, i just pray to god he doesnt become a case file on my desk."
Flack and Mac exchanged looks, they both were praying to god that Danny made it through.
Several hours had passed, Lindsay was still sat outside Danny's operating theatre. He had been in surgery for over 5 hours.
Stella was walking up the corridor with 2 cups of strong coffee in her hands, she came over and sat beside Lindsay, her eyes focused on the floor infront of her, transfixed.
"Here you go Lindsay."
Stella passed Lindsay a cup of coffee, Lindsay accepted graciously.
"Thanks Stella."
"He is gunna be ok Lindsay, Danny's a fighter."
Lindsay broke down again.
"Stella, i never thought it would be this hard, and i didnt think it would take something like this to prove how much i really love him."
Stella put her arm around Lindsay.
"He knows that your here, and to be honest, i have never known Danny to look at someone the way he looks at you."
Lindsay looked up at Stella, her eyes filled with tears.
"I cant imagine that, when i first came here i thought it was going to be hard to fit in, but i dont know why but Danny made it easy, sure he poked fun at me, but it made feel as though i belonged, and just being colleagues wasnt enough, we had to be friends. And then just being friends wasnt enough, we both wanted more, and here there we were, more than just friends."
Stella smiled.
"How long have you been in New York?"
"I moved here a couple months before i took the job, i needed a change of environment. I found it, i actually met Flack in a bar before i came to CSI."
"Did you, you both kept that secret."
"We didnt think it was that much of a big deal, and i knew that if i told Danny, he would get jealous, he saw me and Flack talking this morning and it was obvious that he thought that something was going on."
Stella took Lindsay's hand.
"Danny knows you better than that, we all know that you wouldnt do that, and we all know Flack wouldnt either."
Lindsay held her head in her hands.
"Whats taking them so long in surgery?"
"How long has he been in there?"
"Five hours, coming up to six."
"And you've been sat here the whole time?"
Lindsay nodded.
Mac, Flack and Dr Hawkes were making their way up to where Lindsay and Stella were sitting, when a surgeon emerged from the operating theatre, looking around.
Lindsay and Stella stood up, Lindsay looked him deep in the eyes.
"Miss Monroe, Miss Bonasera, We have done all we can do for Mr Messer at this present time, we have managed to control his bleeding but he has lost alot of blood, because of this we are afraid he has slipped into a coma."
Lindsay didnt say anything, she couldnt, but she could feel tears fall from her eyes.
"Is there any sign of him emerging from his coma any time soon?"
The Dr looked down at the floor, wiped his brow and answered Stella's question.
"We cannot determine at this time the extent of Mr Messer's coma, we will only have a better idea after we have run some preliminary tests, but we think it would be best if we left these until Mr Messer has had some time to recover from his operation."
"Thank you Dr, you have been most helpful."
The Dr looked Lindsay, she had managed to keep her tears in her eyes this time.
"Miss Monroe?"
"Yes."
"Would you like to follow me to the intensive care unit, you can wait for Danny's arrival."
Lindsay said nothing just nodded, the Dr turned to the rest of the team.
"I think it best Mr Messer has only one visitor tonight, he has been through quite an ordeal."
Mac, Stella, Flack and Dr Hawkes all nodded in agreement, and they all knew who Danny' one visitor should be tonight.
Stella walked up to Lindsay.
"Did you want me to wait around so i can give you a ride home?"
Lindsay shook her head.
"No your ok i will catch a cab when i'm ready, i will ring you when he wakes up..."
She scorrected herself.
"...if he wakes up."
Stella grabbed hold of Lindsay's shoulders, to the point she was shaking her.
"Her WILL wake up, he has got you to wake up to."
Lindsay looked away, trying to take comfort from Stella's words.
The Dr, placed a comforting arm around Lindsay and escorted her down the hall. Stella turned to look at Mac, Flack and Dr Hawkes.
"Why Danny, after everything."
Flack took a few steps towards Stella, he took hold of her by her shoulders and ushered her towards the exits. Flack and Stella had been dating for a about a year, they knew what Lindsay was going through, they both felt the same when Flack was lying in intensive care all that time ago.
This left Mac and Dr Hawkes outside the operating theatre.
Mac looked at his watch.
"Oh shit."
"What?"
"I'm late for my dinner with Rose, she i going to kill me."
I'm sure she will understand."
Mac smiled at Hawkes and patted him on the back, and they both walked away.
Lindsay was stood outside Danny's room, the Dr was talking to her.
"I have to warn you, you may find the amount of wires and tubes upsetting, but they are there to help him, not to hinder."
Lindsay nodded, she had seen people in coma's all the time, but she knew that the fact that Danny was in the coma was going to make a huge amount of difference.
The Dr opened the door to Danny's room.
"I will give you some privacy."
"Thank you."
Lindsay walked into the room, she felt helpless, she could see Danny's lifeless body, just laying motionless. She could see the cuts and bruises on his face, they had been sutured up and taken care of, still she felt the need to take care of him. Even though there was nothing she could do.
"What happened to you Danny?"
Tears fell from her eyes, she pulled the one chair close to Danny's bedside, sat down and took hold of his hand, and held it tight, not wanting to let go.
She placed her hand on his forehead and stroked it tenderly.
"Remember what you told me Danny, 'a pack of wild dogs, cant keep me away.' i am holding you to that...i'm not ready to let you go."
Lindsay cried some more, it felt as though thats all she did, cry and cry some more.
She placed her head next to Danny's hand, still holding it tight, she wanted to stay with him forever, even if that meant sleeping in a hospital chair.