- A/N I love reviews! Especially the ones I am getting right now, thank you so much! The song I used in this one is ' Holdin' on ' by Clint Black and Martina McBride, enjoy! -

St. Matthews hospital

Sydney was slowly waking up, feeling like she was under water, but she was working her way to the surface. Opening one eye she was expecting to see the cold and dark cell. But she was greeted by white walls, a soft bed and the warm face of Alex Cahill-Walker. She smiled a little, and suddenly all the events came back to her and her expression changed to one of pure terror. Alex saw what happened, and tried to calm the anxious ranger.

"Sydney, it's okay, you're safe now. You're in the hospital."

Sydney shook her head, trying to clear out the final effects of the anaesthesia. Turning frightened eyes at Alex, "The baby?"

Ales softly patted her hand, "Honey, the baby is fine. You only have a few bruises and a flesh wound from the bullet."

Sydney relaxed a little, but she knew the hardest question was yet to come. Tears were forming in her eyes, and Alex knew what was coming. She steeled herself for everything she had to tell her friend…

"Alex? How is he? Please tell me he is still alive" she asked, the knot in her stomach growing with every second. She knew it was bad, he had been so weak. But a small part of her heart knew he was still alive, although she didn't know for how long.

Alex saw the turmoil she was in and decided to just tell her what had happened while she was unconscious.

"Well, to be honest, it doesn't look good."

Sydney gasped, but kept quiet, so Alex started to list the numerous injuries the doctors had described to her and the others.

"He was shot twice at close range, once in his chest where it punctured his left lung, the other bullet entered his side and got stuck very close to his spine. They haven't been able to remove it yet, because he's not stable enough."

Sydney was silently listening to Alex, with tears slowly making their way down her face. But Alex wasn't done…

"By the looks of it, he was severely beaten. There were 4 broken ribs and he had several internal injuries. A broken leg, a dislocated shoulder and…" Alex almost couldn't go on. She wished she had better news, but her friend deserved to know the truth. "Syd, he has a skull fracture. All those injuries combined… They are not expecting him to wake up." There she had said it. Looking at the woman in the hospital bed, she felt tears starting to flow. Sydney had a disbelieving look in her eyes. She started shaking her head.

"No, no, no… He wouldn't leave me, he promised." Her voice wavered and she turned to Alex. Alex could almost feel the emotions coming from the petite ranger. Fear, desperation and grief were clearly visible in the younger woman's eyes. Not able to take it any longer she reached over and took Sydney in her arms. After a few minutes she visibly relaxed a little, but she kept whispering in a now hoarse voice, "he promised, he promised…"

Pulling back from the comforting embrace Sydney swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Alex was worried, she had never seen Sydney like this. She looked sad and her eyes were red from crying, but her jaw was locked in a determined way.

Standing on wobbly feet, she put one hand against the wall, holding herself up.

"I have to see him Alex. Maybe he'll.. Maybe he'll wake up."

Alex' heart went out to the woman holding herself up for the love of her life. She decided it couldn't hurt, it probably would do her good to see he was still holding on. So the two woman slowly walked through the halls of the hospital. Reaching ICU they saw the two other members of their group.

Looking up, Walker saw the two woman coming over to them. Sydney slowly shuffled towards them with a questioning look on her face, Alex following close behind.

"How is he?"

Walker cleared his throat, " No change, he's still in a coma."

Sydney swallowed hard, before turning towards the room she suspected was Gage's.

Turning the knob, she almost lost her nerve. But she had to be there for him. Just like he had done for her. So she opened the door, only to be greeted by a sight she wished she never had to see again.

The father of her child, her partner, was lying in the hospital bed, surrounded by machines, with tubes going everywhere. There was an oxygen machine to help him breath, bandages on his face and torso and the constant beeping, telling her that he was still holding on.

We can't deny that this one's out of our control,
Stronger than the both of us and bound to take its toll.
I can stand the test of time
And as far as I can see there are no walls that we can't climb
Standing between you and me

But I'll go on with my life
We can even say goodbye for now
If that's what we have to do.
Here in my heart even when my arms are empty
Darlin, I'm still holdin on to you.


There's a place you'll always be
No matter where you are you're here with me
When the world is turning upside down
Together we can stand our ground.
We can even say goodbye for now
If that's what we have to do

Here in my heart even when my arms are empty

Darlin I'm still holdin on to you.
I'm still holdin' on to you

When she finally reached his bed, she sat down while she took his large, but motionless hand in her smaller one. Looking at his peaceful face, she felt her heart sinking to her stomach, almost thinking he was already gone. But the beeping continued, and Sydney finally gave in to all the emotions she was feeling, by the only way she knew. She laid her head next to their intertwined hands and cried…