Disclaimer: I am not Anthony Zuiker, Ann Donahue or Carol Mendelsohn. All the characters of CSI: NY are not mine…I'm just borrowing them for a little bit. I promise that I will put them back, exactly the way I found them when I'm done….Oh, Cory Reid is mine and I will take credit for anything she does. :)

A/N: Spoilers for Charge of This Post.

Chapter 8.

Aftermath

Cory had decided to do some much needed shopping. She decided that she wanted some other work clothes since most of her stuff was suitable for Texas, not for New York. Her winter clothes were too hot and her summer clothes were too cold.

It was early afternoon and she was walking through the electronics department when she heard the news report of a bombing. Most shoppers just walked on by, the crime not being big news, but Cory just stopped and listened to the report.

She gasped in shock when she saw a picture of Flack on a stretcher. "Oh my God!" Hurriedly she paid for her purchases and quickly went home to drop off the shopping bags.

When she got home she called Lindsay. "Monroe."

"Lindsay, it's Cory. I just saw the news. Is Flack ok?"

"He's in surgery right now. He's listed in critical condition." Lindsay's voice broke. "I don't know if he'll make it or not."

"What hospital is he at? I'll go down there."

"Trinity. Can you keep me updated?"

"Sure. Linds? You sure you're ok?"

"I'll be fine. Thanks for asking."

"Ok. Do you want to come by after you get off? Ya know. Just to talk?"

"Sure."

Cory gave Lindsay directions to her apartment and told Lindsay to call her when she was on her way. She changed into come comfortable clothes and made her way to the hospital.

--

Cory walked into recovery just as Mac walked out with his camera. "Hi, Mac. How's Flack?"

Mac looked up in surprise. "Cory? What are you doing here?"

Cory looked a little sheepish. "Y'all are the closest things that I have to friends here and I wanted to make sure Flack was okay. Besides, I know that all y'all will all be working on this case, and I have the day free to sit beside his bedside and keep ya informed to his condition."

"You would really do that?"

"Yeah. That's what friends are for."

"Thanks, Cory," Mac said as he turned to leave.

After Mac left, Cory paced in the hall until the nurse came to tell her that Flack had been moved to a private room. She showed Cory the way and let her know that she could stay in the room if she wanted. Cory murmured her thanks and sat down in a chair in the room.

"Hey, Flack. It's Cory. The rest of the team is working on finding the bastard that did this to you. I'm here to keep you company until they get done. I have to tell ya, you don't look so good."

Cory took a long look at Flack. She had read somewhere that coma patients might be able to hear if you were talking to them, so she decided to keep talking. "Anyway, I want to know something. Even I can see the sparks between you and Lindsay. Why don't you ask her out? Anyway, I'm rambling. If you remember this when you wake up, you have to tell me the answer to my question."

Just then a nurse interrupted her. "Excuse me, ma'am. I need to take his vital signs. I'll need to you step out for a few minutes."

Cory stood up. "Ok. I'll just go get the paper. That way I can read to him and keep myself from being bored."

Cory left the room and went to the cafeteria. She grabbed something to eat and a New York Times. When she got done eating, she walked back up to Flack's room.

The nurse was just leaving as she got back up there. "He's all your, hun."

Cory smiled at the older woman. "Thanks."

She sat back down in her chair and pulled out the front page. She had just begun reading the first article when the monitors sounded an alarm. "Oh God." Cory ran to the door and yelled for a nurse.

A doctor and nurse came running at her panicked cries.

"He's coding!! Grab the crash cart." The doctor looked at her. 'Miss. You'll have to leave the room." Cory nodded and silently left the room.

She watched outside in shock as the doctor continued working on Flack. "Come on Flack. You can't die. Please don't die!!"

Inside the room the nurse handed the doctor the paddles for the defribulator. "Clear." Cory watched in horror as Flack's body convulsed as the electric current raced through his body. He was still flatlining. "Up the voltage. Clear!" Flack's body convulsed again. This time the EKG started beeping with a heartbeat rhythm. Cory sighed in relief as the beeping stayed steady.

At that moment, Cory's cell phone rang. Still trembling a bit she answered it shakily. "Reid."

"Cory. It's Lindsay. How's Flack doing?"

Cory was silent as she debated with herself on whether or not she was going to tell Lindsay the truth. Finally she decided to come clean. "I won't lie to you Linds. He just coded and I thought we were going to lose him. But the doctors brought him back and he's fine now."

"What!!"

"Linds. Calm down. He's okay now. His body has been through a traumatic shock and unfortunately this is to be expected." Her voice gentled. "Linds. I know that this is hard for you, but he'll be fine. How's the case going?"

"It's slow going. Danny and Mac are checking out a library where we think the bomber is planning on blowing up. Other than that, there is just a lot of evidence to catalog."

"Okay. Go do your job. I'll call you if anything changes in Flacks condition."

Cory hung up with Lindsay and walked back into Flack's room. "Ok. Flack. Since you didn't seem to like the headlines, let's try the crossword." Cory got a pencil out of her purse and started to answer the crossword, occasionally talking out loud while she thought out the answer.

She was still sitting there, trying to do the crossword, several hours later when Mac walked in.

"Hey, Mac. Did y'all close the case?"

"Yeah. How's he doing?"

"Still no change since he coded. It looks like he is steadily improving. The doctors are cautiously optimistic. Since you're here, I'm going to head home."

"Do that, Cory. You've been here the entire day. Go get some sleep." Mac gestured for her to leave.

--

A car stopped in front of Cory's apartment. Inside were Danny and Lindsay. "Thanks for the ride, Danny. Ya didn't have to."

"That's okay, Montana. I understand the not wanting to be alone thing." There was something in his voice that drew Lindsay's attention. "Look, Cory and I were just going to talk. Ya want to come up?"

"Nah. That's okay. I'm just going to go home and then go back to the hospital in a couple of hours to check on Flack and relieve Mac so he'll get some sleep."

"Okay. If you change you're mind, you know where we are."

Lindsay got out of the car and Danny waited until Cory had buzzed her in to leave.

Cory opened the door for Lindsay and took one look at the woman and wrapped her in a big hug. "How ya doing?"

"I honestly don't know. I was so scared when you said that he had coded. The first thing that went through my mind was that he doesn't know how I feel about him. I like him, a lot. Haven't felt this way about a guy in a long time."

"I know. That's why it took me so long to answer you. I didn't want to freak you out, but I figured that you deserved the truth, just in case. Let me fix you a drink." Cory walked into her kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine.

"So, Linds? What is it with you and Flack? The sparks are all there. I could see them the first time I saw y'all together. At first I thought that you were a couple."

"I didn't think that it was mutual. I mean…" Lindsay stopped a second and drew a breath. "The first time I saw him, my jaw dropped. He looks like a movie star and totally acts like a player. That's what kept me from revealing my feelings. I don't want to get hurt."

Cory nodded understandingly. "I understand, but no pain, no gain. Linds, like it or not, with our jobs, tomorrow is never certain. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. As soon as he gets well enough, let him know how he feels."

Lindsay nodded. "I'll take it into consideration. Can we talk about anything, and I mean anything, else?"

"Sure. Are you an only child?"

Lindsay smiled, thinking about her family. "No, but I have more brothers. I have three brothers. Two older, one younger and one younger sister. What about you?"

"I have one younger sister. We didn't get along as children. She's a hothead and I'm more…controlled."

The women continued to talk for another hour until Lindsay yawned. "I'd better head home."

Cory protested. "You can't go home at this hour! It's not safe. Why don't you just crash in my spare bedroom? I have some clothes you can sleep in."

"Really, I couldn't put you out."

"Linds. I will not take no for an answer."

"Fine."

Lindsay left to get ready and then climbed into bed as was asleep soon after her head hit the pillow. Cory, meanwhile, went around the apartment turning off lights and cleaning up.

She had just finished and was walking back to her room when she heard the door buzzer. Concerned about who would be calling at this time of night she went to her buzzer. "Yes?"

"Cory? It's Danny. Can I come up?"

Shaking her head, confused about why Danny would be there she buzzed him in. Minutes later there was a knock on her door.

"Messer? Everything ok?"

"Yeah. Lindsay just mentioned that you guys were going to be talking and invited me to come up."

"Sure. Come on in."

When Danny walked in he realized that all the lights were off and Lindsay was no where to be found. "Gawd. Are you guys done?"

"It's okay, Danny." Danny looked up when she actually used his name. "Lindsay's in my spare bedroom sleeping."

"Wait. She gets the spare room and I got the couch? That ain't right."

Cory laughed. "She's not drunk off her ass, Messer. I didn't want you puking all over my good sheets. Come on, let's sit down."

Cory led Danny to her couch. She looked at him deeply, sensing that he really needed to talk. "What's up?"

"I don't know. After I dropped Lindsay off, I just drove around. I couldn't…I just couldn't go home."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"For some strange reason, yes. So much has happened in the last month that I just don't know what to do." Danny dropped his eyes and looked at his hands.

"What happened?"

Danny looked up again. "Ya know how bad things always happen in threes?" At Cory's nod, he continued, "First it was my brother. He was part of the Tanglewood Boys."

Cory drew a sharp breath. "They're pretty bad, Danny. And what do you mean by was?" Cory was almost reluctant to hear his answer, fearing the worst.

"He took on Sonny Sassone and he beat him up, pretty bad. He's still in the hospital, in a coma."

"Oh, God, Danny. I'm so sorry!" Cory leaned over and put her arm around him. "You know it's not your fault, right?"

Danny closed his eyes, as the memories washed over him. "It is. I was being accused of a murder that Sonny committed. Louie…he knew that I was innocent, so he wore a wire and got Sonny to confess. Then Sonny beat the shit out of him and left him for dead."

Cory protested at this. She put her hand under his chin and forced him to look in her eyes. Man. His eyes hold almost as much pain as mine do. When she was sure he was paying attention she continued, "Danny. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Even if Louie was trying to help you out, you did not ask him to do this, did you?" Danny nodded no. "He did what he did out of his own free will. Don't keep doing this to yourself."

Danny shuddered as her words penetrated. "I'll try. But I'll still feel guilty."

"Just try, Danny. That's all I'm asking." Cory thought back over his words. She thought she knew what the third thing was. "What's the second?" Danny looked at her, confused. "You said that bad things come in threes. I kinda guessed that Flack was number three, so what's number two?"

"Oh. It was two things, actually. Stella was attacked by her boyfriend and she ended up killing him. I just wish that I had five minutes alone with the bastard before he died. I would've made sure that he realized the error of his ways! And then only a week after that…Aiden."

Cory smiled a little at that. "That's awful. You would never know it by looking at her. She must be a very strong woman. No wonder her and Mac get along so well. As for Flack, wanna talk about it?"

Danny nodded and just started talking about Flack, Aiden and Louie, recalling all the good memories that he had. Slowly, Cory noticed that his voice was getting softer and slower. When he stopped talking completely, she looked up and realized that he had fallen asleep. The way they were sitting on the couch she knew it would be impossible to get up without waking him. Slowly, she lay down and soon after her head touched the cushion she was fast asleep as well.

axellia-i'm so glad you're loving it...it's going to be a while on the fluff...for some reason my muse seems to be mopey and depressed lately, so she's making me write angst! don't worry about being bored! enjoy it while you can...soon you'll have to get a job and all that free time will just be a memory!

tylerhiltongroupie53- (i'm blushing) i'm glad you like the developement of the characters...i knew going into this story that it would not happen immediatley...it was going to take a while for the characters to begin to mesh...more fm radio in this chapter and the next chapter too!

chili-peppers-my head is going to explode with all of this praise! i'm glad your enjoying it!