Chapter XVI: Has Grown Stronger

A/N: I know that was an evil cliffhanger. But the timing was perfect, and it happened for a reason. I'm sure most of you have a pretty good idea who it is. Translations for the Spanish will be at the end of the chapter. Looking forward to seeing what you all think! SSD

I'm going to kill that old bastard, Sabrina thought as she disengaged from Connor's mouth. They would definitely get back to that later. Summoning some energy she growled, "What do you want, Roddy? Really killing the mood here."

"Just checking on the hospital's most recent shooting victim." Sabrina didn't buy it for a second.

"You know what I think, Roddy? You're here to check out your whore's handiwork. Good thing Connor here is a better surgeon than she is a shot," she hissed at the old man who had caused her much trouble over the years.

"Dad, everyone in this room knows you aren't here to check on Sabrina. What reason do you have to be here?" Connor growled, obviously as irritated as she was. And for the same reasons.

"As a member of the board, coming to see me, your visit might be construed as an attempt at interference in a federal investigation. You wouldn't want that kind of attention, would you," Sabrina asked sweetly. This was already tiring her out. She'd had a long day with all of the visitors, and it would have ended on a high note with that kiss from Connor. Sabrina licked her lips at the memory and was looking forward to repeating the experience.

Before Roddy could say anything nasty, the day was saved by one of her uncle's detectives. "Doctor Byrne, I'm here to take your statement. Is this a bad time?"

"No. Roddy here was just leaving. Wasn't he?" Sabrina said sweetly, but with bared teeth.

With that, the piece of disturbance that was Cornelius Rhodes left.

Doctor Byrne was definitely Hank's niece for sure. Even recovering from gunshot wounds in the chest and leg, she was still able to give the man a verbal smackdown, Detective Kate Upton thought as the older man stormed out of the hospital room.

"You can ask your questions now, Detective. He's long gone," Doctor Rhodes said. Voight had said that the doctor would likely be sticking around for the statement. She was wondering if the betting pool Severide was running was going to be paying out in the short-term future.

"How did the shooting start?"

"I was giving Connor a lift back to his place after the shift ended. I was handing him the car keys, because I was too tired to drive. I heard the clink of brass hitting the ground, then all hell broke loose. I was able to tackle him to the ground," Doctor Byrne started.

"Not the first time you've had me on my back," Connor grinned.

"Connor, not now. We need to stay on topic," Sabrina hissed, with pink ears.

Yep. Severide definitely is paying out his betting pool. 200 bucks in my pocket! Kate said aloud, "Shall we continue?"

"Yes, let's. Once I got to my gun in my glove box, I decided to send her on a wild goose chase, using myself as the goose," Doctor Byrne continued, but her hand was weaved with Doctor Rhodes's.

"How long do you think the chase lasted before she got you in the leg?" Kate asked.

"I have no idea. I was more focused on avoiding getting shot. Obviously, I did not succeed," was Doctor Byrne's reply.

"You'd just gotten off an 8-hour surgery. You were running on pure adrenaline, it was bound to run out sooner or later," Doctor Rhodes said.

"The shot to the leg was a lucky shot on her part," Doctor Byrne continued before saying "But it evened the playing field in her favor. I also did not intend to go onto the grounds of Hynes Hospital."

"That's all I need Doctor Byrne. I may check in at a later date, to talk with you some more," Kate said.

"I'm not going anywhere. And please, call me Sabrina."

"I guess you can call me Kate then," she replied.

On her way out the door she heard Sabrina say in Spanish: "Connor, bésame de nuevo."

He replied, "Como desées"

Something was not right at this hospital. Declan Byrne could feel it in his bones. One good thing that happened today was that Sabrina woke up. Another potential good thing was that his niece and Connor most likely had gotten their heads out of their asses.

As he walked by Sabrina's room, he couldn't help but smirk. Sabrina and Connor were rather occupied with kissing each other. So that was another good thing today.

Back to his earlier thoughts, Declan could not help but feel that Connor and Sabrina were being seen as the aggressors by the hospital board in this matter. He knew of one person for sure, and suspected a second person who would love to try and screw them over.

Not if I have anything to say about it, he mentally snarled. He'd need to bring in the part of the Byrne family that wasn't always on the right side of the law.

Declan nearly ran right into Lucas, almost knocking his laptop out of his hands.

"Sorry about that kid."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't drop it," Lucas replied before asking, "What's wrong Uncle Declan?"

"I should be happy. Sabrina is awake, she and Connor have come to their senses… But something feels like the higher ups are trying to arrange things so that Connor and Sabrina get screwed over and blacklisted. Your dad know anything?" Declan queried.

"He's putting feelers out to the board members he knows are impartial and immune to being bribed. When he knows something concrete, he'll likely tell us all," Lucas said.

Picking a jury was never the easiest part of the case. Trying to get people that both sides would agree on was especially difficult, and the defense was not making things any easier for Erin.

Having been deprived of their insanity defense by Captain Hwang, they were trying the spurned lover defense. However, that still was not easy for them, given what she had done.

In the end, Erin had managed to get a jury that would be particularly sympathetic to her case and the two victims.

They were now working on the opening arguments. Felix had ordered the pizza (he had said they would not be getting deep dish, that was just for the tourists) from a place he had known for years, Fena's.

Anthony and Felix had hit it off, talking about cooking while they were eating. Erin had enjoyed the pizza as well, but had mostly listened.

"How long have you known Doctors Rhodes and Byrne," she asked.

"Since 6th grade. Sabrina and I had won scholarships to go to Ravenhill Prep for 6-12. I met the three of them in class. By Halloween we were as thick as thieves," Felix countered.

"How did they meet?" Anthony asked in turn.

"They said they met in class, but there's something they aren't telling. From what I can tell, it was obviously embarrassing for them both. Tried to get them drunk enough to say what happened once we were of age, but they held their liquor better than I thought they were," Felix replied.

"Have they ever dated?" Erin inquired.

"That's a hard no. Many have thought that over the past 17 years, but no. Didn't stop them from being accused of cheating on their significant other at the time with each other."

"Was there ever any cheating?"

"Definitely not. I would have noticed if they were dating, especially in the last two years of college when the three of us were sharing an off-campus apartment," Felix stated as he poured the 2-liter bottle of Diet Doctor Pepper into his cup.

"Do you know why he broke up with the defendant," Anthony questioned.

Erin was surprised to see Felix first turn ashen, then turn green.

"I'll take that as a yes," Erin stated.

"Believe me I wish I didn't," Felix murmured.

"As it seems to be the incident that set the defendant off, it is unfortunately relevant to the case," Anthony said.

"I'll write it down. I am not saying it again," Felix declared.

Once finished, he pushed the paper towards them. Erin was curious as to what would bring about such a reaction from her second chair.

When she read it, Erin understood completely. "That's a new one."

"Your friend has more restraint than I do," Anthony said before continuing, "If my dad had pulled crap like that, I'd have killed him and dumped his body in the Hudson. Scratch that, I'd have dumped him in the Atlantic."

Turning an even nastier shade of green, Felix continued, "And this isn't even the first time he's done that. Junior year in college…" he shuddered.

"This man is a special level of figlio de puttana. Ever try anything on Sabrina," Anthony queried.

"He knew better than to try. She wasn't worth the trouble, given that she would tell her Uncles Hank and Declan. Between those two, no one would have found his remains," Felix explained before asking, "He's not going to be testifying to anything is he?"

"No he is not. Even if he was, I'd have asked him to step down. Obviously, he has a conflict of interest," Erin muttered.

"You also have to make sure he doesn't offer his services to the defense. He'd do that," Felix warned.

Where is my blasted brother? I know he's going to be off shift soon, so he has no excuse to avoid the event tonight, Claire Rhodes thought as she moved through the hospital.

As she was stalking past a room, she noticed her brother was in there talking to a patient. The patient just happened to be Sabrina Byrne. And judging by how they were talking, they way they were facing each other, much to her displeasure, they had figured out how they felt about each other. Sabrina was not good enough for him, not that he would say that. Their grandfather had disagreed with both her and their dad on the subject before his passing.

"I figured you'd be in here. There's a benefit in honor mom, and since I know you're going to be off shift, you have no excuse to hide from it," she declared as she entered the hospital room.

"Who's your vict- I mean fiancé?" Sabrina asked in a saccharine voice. She'd obviously noticed her engagement ring.

"Mason Carnegie. We've been dating for 2 years. He proposed last month," Claire replied.

"Alguien deberia decirle corra y corra rapido." Sabrina said to Connor, who snorted replying, "Seguro. No sabe en lo que se esta metiendo."

Claire glared at them. She had taken French in high school, and had not continued with it. Her brother and Sabrina on the other hand had taken Spanish in high school, continued with it in college, and had kept up their skills with it. She did not know what they were saying, but she had a feeling it wasn't the most complimentary about her.

"I'll see you at the event, Claire. Hope to meet Mason," Connor replied.

"Te amo." Sabrina said as he gave her a light kiss.

"Lo se," her brother replied.

If it weren't an event for his mother, Connor would have left several hours earlier. Among other things, his father was expressing his displeasure at him finally deciding to date Sabrina by sending (in his eyes anyway) more suitable women for him to get involved with. He'd just managed to ditch the latest one.

One person he was surprised to see here was Hank. In his police blues. There were plenty of top police brass here, but Hank's presence was odd. The police sergeant was primarily talking with his grandfather's former lawyer Reinhold. Lucas's parents were there as well.

"Connor, you're here. Good. I'd like you to meet Mason, my fiancé," Claire said with a warning look at him.

"It's good to meet you finally. I've heard a lot about you," Mason said with a smile.

"That's funny. I didn't know about you till a few hours ago. How did you two run into each other?" Connor asked politely.

"Through mutual friends. I've never been happier," Mason replied.

"Never thought I would find anyone that would meet my sister's standard's" Connor said before he noticed Hank and Bill trying to get his attention. "Excuse me, I need to talk to some people. Nice meeting you Mason."

Once he came level with the two older men, Hank said, "You need to get Sabrina out of the hospital tonight. Bill just heard that the COO is planning on having the press be there when Sabrina is released tomorrow. How fast can you get her discharge papers done up?"

"I can call Maggie from the car. She can get started," Connor replied.

"Allegra has a bag of some clothes from Sabrina's place. She'll be staying with us for the duration of the trial, especially given that she can't drive and her apartment has stairs," Bill replied.

"Ok. I'll meet Allegra the hospital," Connor said before he left the room.

Once he was in his car, he called Maggie, who answered "Nurse Lockwood here, who is it?"

"Maggie this is Connor how fast can you run up Sabrina's discharge papers," he asked.

"Give me half an hour. Then all I need are your signatures. Why?"

"Our esteemed COO is planning to sic the press on Sabrina once she leaves tomorrow. Sabrina's fine Irish temper is primed and ready to go,"

"I can get it done in fifteen minutes. Try not too speed," Maggie suggested before hanging up the phone.

What would normally have been a half an hour drive, Connor managed in 20 minutes. And he did not speed. The traffic was light, and the traffic signals were with him.

He stopped to park, and rushed into the hospital. He ran into Maggie at the nurses station on Sabrina's floor.

"I've got some of them done, you can start the signatures," she ordered.

When he was about halfway through the paperwork, Connor heard a piercing wolf whistle. Looking up, he saw Sabrina, in the hallway on her crutches, blatantly ogling him. She said, "I'd forgotten how good you looked in a tux. I thought you had some event to be at?"

"I was at it. Then I found out that our COO was planning on siccing the press on you when you left tomorrow from Bill and Uncle Hank. I'm here to get you out tonight. Allegra will be here with some clothes for you to change into, then I'm driving you back to their place," Connor replied. Even in scrub pajamas, Sabrina looked great.

"I'm beginning to wonder whether the hospital is entirely on my side," Sabrina mused as she hobbled to a seat.

"The people that work at the hospital are. Some on the board besides Bill are. Both of your uncles seem to think that the COO is trying to cover her own ass," Maggie said as she handed Connor more paperwork.

"So they're trying to throw us under the bus. Lovely," Sabrina muttered, "Connor and I nearly die, and they think it's somehow, our fault?!"

Connor finished up the last of the paperwork, then went over and kissed Sabrina full on the mouth. Returning the kiss, Sabrina dropped the crutches to put her arms around his neck.

"Ahem. You can do more of that when we get back to the house. Sabrina, you need to get changed for the drive," Allegra said, barely keeping the smile off her face. Maggie wasn't even bothering to keep the smile off of her face as she picked up the crutches.

Sabrina took the crutches from Maggie with the biggest smile on her face that he'd ever seen. "See you in a bit, Connor," she whispered with a wink before she hobbled down the hall. He watched her move down the hall.

"You do realize that you're one of the luckiest bastards on the face of the Earth, right, Doctor Rhodes?" Maggie said with a grin.

"That I am. And I am sure I'll be reminded of that often," Connor replied still not taking his eyes off Sabrina.

"Your pants are on fire," Maggie chuckled.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Nevermind. Just get her out of here before Lanik comes around on rounds," Maggie warned.

"Got it," Connor said as he sat down waiting for Allegra and Sabrina.

About ten minutes later, he heard the sound of Sabrina's crutches. Getting up he saw that she was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that said "I am surrounded by idiots". Allegra was carrying her belongings.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. We can talk more at the McConnell's house," Connor said as they made their way to the elevator.

A/N 2: So what did you all think? Were you surprised at who the unwelcome visitor was? The next chapter will pick up where this one left off, and begin the trial.

Translations:

bésame de nuevo- kiss me again

Como desées- As you wish.

Alguien deberia decirle corra y corra rapido- Someone needs to tell him to run and run fast.

Seguro. No sabe en lo que se esta metiendo- Definitely. He does not know what he is getting into.

Te amo- I love you.

Lo se- I know.

Castings:

Reinhold- John Larroquette

Mason Carnegie- Lachlan Buchanan