A/N: Apologies for the long update time, now that life has slowed down for me a bit I should be able to update on a more frequent basis. Thank you to those who are still following, I love getting feedback from you all.

As always, I do not own CM or any of the content/characters.

"Where is he?" Those were the first words out of my mouth when I spotted Steve's face in the hallway of the ER. He was talking to a nurse at one of the check-in stations and turned when he heard my voice.

"You must be Mrs. Mendoza." The nurse spoke instead. "I'm one of the nurses in charge of your husband's care."

"Is he ok?"

"He's stable for now. I was just informing his partner here that Mr. Mendoza should be on his way back from a CT now. I'll bring you to his room and the doctor will be able to speak more with you both about the results and what the course of action will look like." The nurse makes her way around the desk but before I can follow, Steve stops me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Why don't I take Stella, just for a bit," he offers. I look to the little girl in my arms, babbling away as she chews on her fist and nod. "Hey, Stel. You want to come with Uncle Steve?" Stella looks up to him and smiles her three-tooth grin, leaning into his ready arms.

I pass over the diaper bag as well and mention something about puffs and a bottle before he waves me off, assuring me he's got it and to go see Andrew. I turn back around where the nurse is waiting patiently and follow her down the hall. Not a minute later we're rounding the corner into room 108 and I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding when I see Andrew there.

"Hey." He whispers out hoarsely as we step into the room.

"Andrew," I breathe. He looks smaller somehow, reclined in the hospital bed as a nurse places a large bandage along his left ribcage. There's an IV line attached to his left hand and several more lines attached to his chest. He looks exhausted, his eyes not exuding their usual brightness.

The nurse bandaging him finishes and addresses Andrew before making her way out of the room. "I've paged your attending, Doctor Cassidy. He'll be in momentarily to speak with you both. If you need anything before then, just use the call button." Andrew nods and I thank her before we're left alone in the room.

Finally, my feet make their way towards the bed and I sit beside him. "How are you feeling?" I ask softly as I gently raise my hand to cup his cheek, my thumb rubbing across his jaw.

"Like I got hit by a truck." He replies with a small smirk. It should irritate me that he would make light of such a thing so soon but the fact he feels well enough to do so eases my worries just a bit.

Before I can reply, a knock on the door alerts us both to the doctor's presence. He greets Andrew before turning to me, reaching out a hand. "You must be his wife?"

"Emily, yes." I confirm, shaking his hand.

"I'm Dr. Cassidy. I'll be your husband's attending doctor while he's here in the ER." He pulls out a stool from under a nearby table and sits facing Andrew. "Your CT showed that you have a grade II splenic rupture as well as a cracks to your 9th and 10th left ribs. Grade II is considered mild to moderate on the scale of ruptures and I have high hopes that non-surgical treatment will go well. That said, you will need a blood transfusion and will be admitted for a minimum of two days to monitor your spleen. The first 48 hours are the most critical but if you make it through without any complications, you'll be able to be released to complete the rest of your recovery at home."

"What does the recovery time look like?" Andrew asks when the doctor finishes speaking.

"The attending who will be taking over care during your stay, Dr. Leavenworth, will be better able to answer those questions but I'd say minimum 6-8 weeks." I look over to see Andrew's crestfallen face at those words. It killed him to be off work after his injury during the machete case we worked together in DC and this will be even longer. "We're going to do your blood transfusion here, which will take about two hours, and then once you're stable we'll bring you up to the second floor for admit."

Dr. Cassidy continued to talk for a few more minutes as nurses entered to begin the transfusion but my attention was drawn to the hallway where I saw Lana standing with Keely. I squeezed Andrew's hand one more time before excusing myself to go meet them.

"Mom!" Keely immediately walked into my embrace once I slid Andrew's door closed. I wrapped my arms around her tightly and held her for a long minute, whispering reassurances about Andrew into her ear as I ran a hand over her hair. "What happened? Is he ok?" She asked a minute later when her breathing had calmed and she pulled away.

"He was hit by a suspect in a truck trying to flee. He has a ruptured spleen and some cracked ribs and he'll be in the hospital for a couple days but… he's ok. They're starting a blood transfusion now, why don't you go in and see him. Just be gentle." Keely nodded vigorously, turning to enter the room, and I could see Andrew's face light up upon seeing his eldest daughter.

"How are you?" Lana's question pulled my attention back to her, almost having forgotten she was still standing in the hall.

"I'm ok." I smiled weakly. Lana raised her eyebrow, a clear sign she didn't buy my answer. "I was terrified." I amended. "It's the job, I should know the risks better than anyone but god, when Steve called me… the whole drive here all I could think of was having to raise our girls alone." I took a deep breath, nearly overcome with emotion yet again. "Thank you for picking up Keely, by the way. I know you probably had to leave work to do so; I really appreciate it."

Lana nodded. "Anytime, though hopefully never under these circumstances again. I was thinking, I know Andrew will want to see Stella but why don't Steve and I take her for the night?"

"Oh, I…" I paused, looking back at Andrew. Before I had a chance to continue, Lana spoke up again.

"I've been in your shoes Em, more times than I care to count. I know you'll want to stay with him tonight. Stella really isn't a burden and I can use the pack n play I have for my niece or I can stay with Stella at your place if that would make you more comfortable. Keely is welcome too, but I have a feeling that may be a bit of a fight."

"Ok. Let me go get her from Steve so that Andrew can see her and I'll give you the spare key." Lana nodded and pulled me into a hug. Thank you, I whispered into her ear as I returned the embrace before we turned towards the waiting room.

"Hey Stella, look who's here." Steve pointed in my direction when he saw Lana and I walk in. Stella grinned and dropped from where she was holding herself up against a table to crawl towards me.

"Hi, baby." I smiled, picking her up and kissing her cheek. "You want to go see, Daddy?" Stella's response was a singular grunt and a hand pointed in the direction I had come from. "I'll take that as a yes. I'll be back in a few." I told Steve and Lana before making my way back to Andrew's room.

Keely was sitting in a chair beside the bed when I entered the room, her head laying on the mattress as Andrew stroked her hair, tear tracks evident on her cheeks. When Stella spotted her daddy, she started leaning out of my grasp towards him. Keely sat up and pulled over the other chair beside her, even closer to the head of the bed. I smiled and ran my hand across her shoulders as I moved to sit beside her, Stella in my lap.

"All my girls." Andrew sighed contentedly as he reached out to let Stella grab his fingers.