DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise

A/N: Thank you for sticking by the cliffhanger! And thank you all for the reviews so far. For those of you that find it hard to follow due to the spacing, sorry. For the people who don't like that I tell you who said what, that's just how I write. Oh, and for those who want Sharon to be pregnant in this story, I'm not sure with that one. Anyway, here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy reading it! The words in italics represent what happened during the shoot out and Sharon thinking back. Thank you!

Chapter 5

"Shots fired! I repeat, shots fired, officers are down! Requesting assistance!" Provenza yelled into the portable radio as he glanced over at Julio, who was crouched behind his police vehicle. Mike was right there next to Julio, hiding behind the car. There were bullets spraying all over the place at their vehicles. Provenza was crouched behind the driver's side tire. He hoped that any bullets that came his way would be blocked by the engine of the car.

Provenza looked around him to the other side. He saw Andy's car but couldn't see him or the Captain. He looked around for Amy and Buzz. He saw Amy peek her head over the vehicle directly behind him. They returned fire at the assailant. There was a lull from the bullets being sprayed at them. "Buzz!" he yelled out waiting for an answer. "Yes sir!" he heard Buzz say. "Stay where you are!" he commanded him.

Provenza then moved around to find Andy and the Captain. "Lieutenant!" he heard Sharon yell. He moved quickly over to the back of their car and that where he saw Sharon kneeling over Andy, and applying pressure to the bullet wound he had sustained in his shoulder, and right below the vest on his left side. "Andy, no Andy" he said as he joined Sharon and applied his hand to Andy's shoulder to try and stop the bleeding. "Ahh!" Andy cried out in pain.

"Hey! We need help over here!" Provenza called out. Mike came over to the as Amy and Julio watched their six. "Is there an exit wound?" Mike asked Sharon and Provenza. Sharon shook her head. "I didn't feel one" she said in a shaky voice. Andy looked at Sharon eyes as he lied on the ground. He couldn't form words to tell her at the moment but his voice was screaming inside his head. "Stay with me, Andy" she said to him.

Four hours later…..

"Lieutenant?" Sharon said to Provenza as he still sat in the chair in the waiting room. He looked over at her, her shirt covered in blood and swallowed. "Any news?" he said sadly to her as she sat down next to him and grabbed his hand. She shook her head and took a deep breath. "He'll be okay, Sharon" Provenza always said that to Sharon the various times they found themselves in the waiting room of a hospital. He hoped he was right this time as they waited to hear from someone, anyone on the condition of Andy.

Sharon sat there playing with Andy's wedding ring on her finger. She had taken all of his jewelry in the ambulance so that it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle. "How's your head?" he asked her. "It's fine" she said as she sat there. Right now all she wanted was for Andy to be okay, she'd worry about her headache later.

"Why don't you change your clothes, Rusty is going to be here any minute with Matthew and the kid shouldn't see his father's blood, you wouldn't want him to see it either" Provenza told Sharon as Patrice walked in to the ER waiting room, carrying a bag of clothes for Sharon. Sharon stared straight ahead.

Patrice touched Sharon's shoulder, breaking her stare as she looked up at her. "Come on, I'll help you" Patrice said to Sharon as she held out her hand for Sharon to take. Sharon looked at Provenza. "I promise you if I hear anything, I'll come and get you" Provenza said to Sharon who nodded and then left with Patrice to change her clothes.

In the bathroom of the waiting room, Sharon stared at herself in the mirror. She looked at the blood that was on her shirt. She could tell where her vest was because there wasn't any blood in that area. Patrice watched her and as the door opened to reveal another woman entering the bathroom, Patrice turned around and asked the woman to use another room just down the hall from them. The woman nodded and closed the door. Patrice then turned around to watch Sharon.

Sharon hung her head over the sink, gripping the edges of the sink with her hands. "I can't lose him" she said quietly to Patrice. "I can't lose him, Patrice" she started to cry, her shoulders moving as her body shook. "There was so much blood" she cried. Patrice held her as she cried, knowing all too well the difficulties and the tragedy of losing a husband to the job. "I know Sharon, I know" Patrice said to her as she comforted Sharon. "Come on, let's get you changed and then back outside. Matthew should be here by then" Patrice said to Sharon. Sharon nodded and then walked into a stall to change her clothes.

She felt sick and threw up in the toilet a couple of times until she was dry heaving. Patrice knocked on the stall's door. "Sharon?" she said. "I'm fine" Sharon said. She came out a couple of minutes later, carrying the shirt with Andy's blood on it rolled up into a ball. Patrice held out a plastic bag and Sharon placed the clothes in there and then Patrice placed that inside the duffle bag. Sharon wiped her mouth with a paper towel and threw it away. Then they walked out of the bathroom, back to the waiting area where the rest of her team had gathered.

"Mrs. Flynn?" a nurse wearing scrubs came out in to the waiting room. Sharon looked up and walked over to the nurse. "Yes" she said to the nurse. "Your husband is stable, they were able to remove the two bullets from his shoulder and lower abdomen. The bullets didn't hit anything major, just muscle tissue" the nurse started to say to Sharon. "There was a lot of bleeding due to the medication your husband currently takes. It was a little touch and go there for a while but the doctors were able to stop the bleeding" the nurse said to her.

Sharon stood there trying to listen to what she was saying. "Your husband is going to be fine" the nurse added. Sharon let out the breath that she had been holding since the nurse started speaking with her. "Thank you" Sharon said to the nurse. "He's going to be in the Surgery ICU. If you want to, you can sit with him in there" the nurse said. Sharon nodded and then looked back at the rest of them.

"Go, go sit with him" Provenza told her. Sharon looked at him with relief and worry in her eyes. "What about Matthew, I don't want him to be worried or scared" Sharon said to him. "We'll wait for everyone and I'll let you know when Matthew gets here" he said to her and then Sharon left with the nurse.

Provenza ran his hand through his hair and down his face. He looked at Patrice and she gave him a hug. "Flynn has almost used all of his nine lives up" he said to Patrice as they went back to the chairs to have a seat. "He's going to be fine" Provenza told the rest of the team, including Chief Howard, as he sat down. "He's in recovery now and will be moved to the Surgery ICU. The Captain went there to sit with him" Provenza added and the team was relieved.

The outside doors opened again and Rusty walked in with Matthew, who was still wearing his school uniform and carried his backpack with him. "We came straight here from his school, any word yet, Lieutenant?" Rusty asked Provenza as Patrice motioned for Matthew to sit next to her. Provenza stood up and walked with Rusty to a private area out of earshot from Matthew.

Rusty looked at Provenza as he ushered him over to the other side of the waiting room. "He's not dead, is he?" Rusty had asked him. "No, he's not" Provenza huffed as he shook his head. "Sorry, Rusty, it's just been a trying day" Provenza added. "Andy is stable, he was shot twice, but the doctors were able to remove the bullets from him, and they said there wasn't any major damage" Provenza said to Rusty. Rusty let out a breath and swallowed. "Was anybody else hit?" Rusty asked him. "No, just Andy" he said.

"When Mom called me, she said something happened to Andy but didn't go into details, just if I could pick up Matthew from school and bring him here" Rusty said as he stood there with Provenza. Rusty looked around the waiting room and saw that everyone from the team was still there. "Your mom went to go sit with him in the ICU" Provenza said as Rusty had a questionable look on his face. "Did you let the other kids know what happened?" Rusty asked Provenza and then Nicole walked into the waiting room.

"Nicole" Rusty said to her as she walked in. "Rusty, Lieutenant Provenza" Nicole said to them as she walked to them. "How's my father?" she asked him as she looked around the room at everybody. "He's stable, Sharon's sitting with him in the ICU" Provenza said to her as they went to sit down by Patrice and Matthew, who was reading a book.

Matthew saw Nicole walk over to where he was sitting with Patrice. "Instead of repeating myself, I'm going to tell the three of you what happened" Provenza said to Nicole, Rusty, and Matthew. "Ah, sweetie, I don't think Sharon wants" Patrice started to say to Provenza as she nodded her head towards Matthew.

Matthew looked at everyone. "Why? What's going on? Where's Mommy and Daddy at? Rusty just picked me up and said we had to come to the hospital because Daddy got injured" Matthew said as he was getting upset. Provenza looked at Patrice who placed her hand on Matthew's shoulder to comfort him.

"Matthew, everything's going to be fine. Your mom is with your dad right now. He had to have surgery" Patrice told him. "Why?" Matthew asked her. "Well, you see a bad person shot your dad" Provenza said to him. Matthew looked at Provenza and then at Rusty and Nicole. "No!" Matthew said and then he got up from his chair and ran out the door. Patrice and Provenza looked at each other and stood up to follow but Rusty and Nicole got up first. "We got this" Nicole said as she went after Matthew, with Rusty behind her.

They found Matthew sitting on a bench by a tree on the hospital grounds near the doors to the emergency room waiting area. Nicole and Rusty had a seat next to him on both sides. Nicole placed her arm around Matthew. Matthew cried into Nicole's side as she comforted him. Rusty watched him. He never lost a parent before but Matthew had lost his real mom and he seemed really scared now.

"It's going to be okay, Matthew. Dad's going to be okay" Nicole said to Matthew as she tried to comfort her step-brother. "He promised me that he would be careful this morning. That he would always protect Mommy, no matter what" Matthew said as he cried. "He did protect her" Rusty said to him as he placed his hand on Matthew's arm.

Just then, Rusty's phone started bombarding him with text messages from Ricky, Emily, and Gus. He pulled out his phone and read them all. He decided to do a group message, and included Nicole and Charlie on it. "I included you on a group text, so that's my text you just got" Rusty said to Nicole. Matthew was now curled into her side as the three of them sat on the bench.

Sharon walked in to the Surgery ICU room that Andy was located in. She was taken back by all the items in his room and she had to catch her breath. He was hooked up to a monitor again, and from what Sharon could tell, his heart rate looked good, which was a relief. She saw that he was also hooked up to an IV, and there was a bag of blood hanging on the pole as well. "When he wakes up, he's going to be in some pain" the nurse said as she checked his vitals. Sharon looked at his face, his eyes were still closed, he looked pale, and the nurse told her that it would be awhile before he would start to wake up.

"He looks so pale" Sharon said out loud. "That's due to the blood loss" the nurse said to her. "He'll get his color back once he's done receiving the blood we are giving him" the nurse added, giving Sharon a reassuring smile as she left. Sharon sat down on the chair next to his bed and grabbed his left hand, it was too cold for Sharon's liking but she figured that his body temperature would also start to warm up. She took his hand and slipped his wedding band back on his finger. She wanted him to have it, even though he wasn't awake yet. She then held onto his hand, interlacing her fingers with his and sat back, waited, and prayed as tears started to form again in her eyes.

Provenza pulled out his phone and started to text Sharon. "Louie, what are you doing?" Patrice asked him as he pulled out his phone. "The Captain wanted to know when her sons got here, I was just going to let her know that" Provenza said to his wife. Sharon's phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, glancing quickly at the message. She was glad that Rusty had brought Matthew here. Hopefully they would not be waiting too long and once they got Andy into a permanent room, he would be able to have more visitors. She wiped the tears from her face as she continued to watch Andy.

Matthew's stomach growled as they sat on the bench outside the hospital. "Sorry" Matthew said as it growled loudly this time. "Don't need to be sorry, do you want to get something to eat?" Nicole said to him. Matthew nodded his head and then she stood up from the bench. She held out her hand for Matthew to take and he did. "I think we are going to head to the cafeteria while we wait to hear from your mom" Nicole said to Rusty as he got up as well. The three of them headed back inside the waiting room and walked over to where Provenza and Patrice were sitting.

"Are you okay?" Patrice asked Matthew and he nodded his head. Patrice then rubbed his eyes with a Kleenex and then handed another one to him. Matthew blew his nose in it and then walked over to the garbage can and placed the Kleenex inside it. "We're going to head to the cafeteria while we wait. Matthew's a little hungry now" Nicole told them. "I'll go with you" Patrice said to her and Nicole was grateful for that. Rusty stayed behind with Provenza.

Meanwhile, Sharon had closed her eyes as she sat there, and she jolted herself awake. She was still sitting in the chair next to Andy's bed, and still holding his hand. She had lost track of time while she sat there. She looked at the clock on the wall, it was now 5 o'clock at night. She glanced at Andy's face and was surprised to see his eyes were open and they were looking back at her. He tried smiling at her but grimaced instead. "Are you in pain?" she asked him. "No" he said quietly in a raspy voice.

She moved closer and kissed him. His lips were dry. "I love you Andy" she said as she caressed his face with her hand. He smiled and closed his eyes again. Sharon took a deep breath and sat back down on the chair. Andy opened his eyes again and looked over at her. "I want to hold you" he whispered and tried scooting over on his bed, but he couldn't do it. "Don't do that, you'll pull your stitches out" Sharon said as she lowered the rails on the one side of his bed and sat down next to him.

Andy reached for Sharon with his left hand and placed it on her waist. He went to move his right hand over, but since that hand had the IV needle in it, it was too painful to move over. "Tell me what happened?" he said looking in her eyes as he focused on her again. She watched him. "You don't remember?" she hesitated a little. "I remember getting shot and then looking up at you" he said as he closed his eyes again. Sharon caressed his left arm as he laid his arm over her legs. Sharon took a deep breath and then started to talk.

"Provenza called it in over the radio. You went down hard on top of me. I think I may have hit my head on the ground. I thought you were just protecting me from the bullets being sprayed over us but then I saw the look in your eyes" Sharon stopped. She looked at him with tears in her eyes again. He opened his eyes again. "I moved you off me and laid you on the ground, seeing the blood from the gunshots. I called for help and both Provenza and Mike came over. Cover fire was from Julio and Amy" Sharon paused again. "You were losing so much blood, Andy. I couldn't stop it" she whispered to him. Andy moved his hand on her waist to her arm and eventually her hand and held it. "I'm sorry" he said as he watched her go through the shooting in her head again.

"I kept telling you to stay with me, but you kept closing your eyes" Sharon said to him. "The doctors pulled out the two bullets that hit you, they had trouble stopping your bleeding but they were able to counteract it somehow. The bullets didn't hit anything major, mostly muscle tissue" she said shaking her head. "Other police officers, including SIS, and the ambulance came almost simultaneously. They cleared the area and advanced on the house, killing Travis Martin. The paramedics loaded you into the ambulance and I rode with you. There was so much blood on my shirt, they kept asking me if I was hit as well. I held your hand the whole time. We got to the ER and they rushed you inside. A nurse came out a couple of minutes later stating that they were taking you up immediately for surgery" she said as she thought back.

"They're taking your husband up for surgery right now, it's going to be a couple hours" the nurse said to Sharon. Sharon nodded as the nurse placed her hand on Sharon's shoulder. "Come on, let's have a seat over here" she said to Sharon, showing her the way to the waiting area. "Is there anybody else here with you?" she asked Sharon. Sharon looked back at the nurse with a blank stare. "My team is on their way over" Sharon said to her.

Twenty minutes later, Provenza walked through the doors and saw Sharon sitting on one of the chairs. The nurse left once Provenza sat down next to Sharon. "Anything?" he asked her. "They took him up for surgery" Sharon said to Provenza. He nodded and then pulled out his phone to call Patrice. Sharon didn't want to sit on the chair anymore so she stood up. "Where are you going?" Provenza asked her. "I can't sit here not knowing what's happening with Andy. I can't" Sharon said and then walked away.

She didn't know the direction she was walking in but somehow found the hospital chapel and walked inside. She took the holy water as she entered and made the sign of the cross with it. She took a seat in one of the small pews and stared at the candles that were lined in front of the chapel. She was the only one inside at the time. She knelt down and began to pray.

The hospital's priest stepped out from behind the front area and saw that he had someone in the chapel, praying. He walked over to the pew that Sharon was sitting in and sat down. "Were you with the Lieutenant that was brought in recently with a gunshot wound?" he asked her quietly. She looked over at the priest and nodded, tears in her eyes. "Yes, he's my husband" she said quietly. The priest nodded his head and lowered it saying a little prayer before speaking to Sharon again.

"You're also with the police, right?" the priest asked her. "Yes, I'm a Captain, in charge of a team. We were ambushed today as we approached a suspect's house" Sharon said to him. "That must be difficult, to be in charge of someone you love and having to send t hem out in to harm's way" the priest asked her. "He loves his job" she said to him. "Would you like to pray together?" the priest asked her. Sharon nodded and the priest moved closer to her, grabbed her hand, and they prayed together.

Sharon then left the chapel and made her way back to the waiting room where she saw Provenza still sitting there where she had left him earlier. She had passed by the nurses' station but they just said that Andy was still in surgery, it had been almost four hours since they got ambushed. She then approached Provenza. "Lieutenant" she said to him.

Sharon watched Andy as he lied there in the hospital bed. He fell back asleep not too long after she told him what had happened. A nurse had walked in as Sharon sat back down on the chair that was next to his bed, still holding onto his hand. "How's he doing?" the nurse asked her. "He was awake for a couple of minutes, but fell back asleep" Sharon said to her. "He will do that, probably till he's done with the pain medication, dear" the nurse said to her.

Sharon then realized that he didn't want any opiates for pain medication administered to him. "What type of pain medication is he on because he's a recovering alcoholic and he doesn't want" Sharon started rambling on to the nurse but the nurse reassured her. "We know, it's written in his charts here. We are giving him a pain medication that's a non-narcotic" she said to Sharon and Sharon relaxed as she continued to watch Andy sleep.

Matthew returned to the waiting room with Nicole and Patrice. He sat down next to Provenza. "Did my Mommy come back yet?" Matthew asked him. "No, but she knows that you're here waiting. I'm sure she will be out to see you anytime now" Provenza said to Matthew as Matthew looked at the floor. "You know, Matthew, you never did get to tell me how you liked Spring Training" Provenza said to him as he was trying to get the boy's mind off of what was happening. "It was nice" Matthew said in a sad voice.

Provenza looked at Matthew and it broke his heart. "Your dad is going to be okay, Matthew. He's not going to leave you" Provenza said to him in a low voice. Matthew nodded as he still looked at the floor. "When can I see him?" he asked Provenza. Provenza took a deep breath and sighed. "Soon, Matthew. Hopefully, soon" Provenza said to him as he placed his arm around Matthew's shoulder.

As Andy was still sleeping, Sharon slipped out of his room in the Surgery ICU and found a nurse at the nurse's station. "Excuse me, I'm just going to let the people know in the waiting room how he's doing and I'll be right back" Sharon said to one of the nurses there. "Okay ma'am" the nurse said to her and Sharon walked down the hallway towards the waiting area. She took a deep breath before walking out.

She was greeted by Matthew, who as soon as she stepped in to the room, ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Oh Matthew" she said to him as she clung to the boy. She pulled back from their embrace to look at him. "Is Daddy going to be okay?" he said to her in a pleading voice. She nodded to him and then looked over at everyone else who was sitting there, Nicole, Rusty, Provenza, and Patrice. The rest of her team had been sent home by Provenza over an hour ago.

"How's Dad doing?" Nicole asked Sharon as she walked over to her. "He's sleeping right now. He was awake for a couple of minutes and we talked" Sharon said to her. "If you want to go see him, you can. I can show you the way to his room" Sharon said to her. "I'd like that, then I'd need to get home to the boys and Dean" Nicole said as Sharon nodded and then grabbed her hand. "I'll be right back, Matthew" Sharon said to him as he held onto her. He looked at her and let go. He headed back to where he was sitting earlier between Provenza and Patrice.

Sharon walked with Nicole down the hallway and they entered Andy's room. Nicole gasped as she saw her dad lying on the hospital bed. "He looks pale" Nicole said to Sharon in a worried voice. Sharon grabbed Nicole's hand and pulled her into her side. "It's due to the blood loss he had, but the nurse reassured me his color would come back" Sharon said to her and Nicole nodded slightly.

Nicole took a shaky breath. "What happened?" Nicole asked her. "We pulled up to our suspect's house this morning in order to arrest them and when we got out of the car, we were met with bullets spraying at us. Your father pulled me down as we ducked behind our car. I didn't realize he was hit" Sharon said, not wanting to say anything more. Nicole walked over to Andy and took his hand in hers, giving it a little squeeze and then released it.

Nicole turned to Sharon before exiting his room. "Do you need anything?" Nicole asked Sharon. "No, I'm okay" Sharon said to her. Nicole exited the room. Sharon looked at Andy one more time before she followed Nicole out in to the hallway.

"Our son is 9 years old and he wants to see his dad for a couple of minutes. Do you think I can bring him in here?" Sharon asked the nurse as she walked passed her. "Usually we have an age limit here for visitors, no one under 13 is allowed in the SICU, but we can let him in here to see his father" the nurse said to Sharon. "Thank you" Sharon said and then followed Nicole back out to the waiting room.

Rusty was standing by the door as Nicole and Sharon walked out. Sharon walked over to him. "How are you holding up?" he asked Sharon. "I've been better" Sharon said to him as she placed her hand on his arm and then walked over to where Matthew was sitting. "Matthew, one of the nurses said that you could come back with me to see Daddy for a couple of minutes" Sharon said to him. Matthew's eyes lit up and he stood up from the chair and walked with Sharon towards Andy's room.

Patrice looked over at her husband. "Louie, I think we should offer to either take Matthew to their house and stay there with him, or we should bring him home with us. Sharon is probably going to stay here with Andy" Patrice said to Provenza. Provenza looked at her and nodded. Rusty walked over to them and sat back down. "Your mother is going to need you again" Provenza said to Rusty. "Yeah, I guess I never realized how dangerous your jobs really are" Rusty said to him.

Before Sharon brought Matthew inside Andy's room, she stopped him out in the hallway. "Now, it might be a little scary seeing Daddy laying there. You're going to see him hooked up to certain things, they are all there to help him get better, okay?" she said to Matthew and Matthew nodded.

They walked in to Andy's room. Matthew looked at Andy, who was still sleeping. He saw the IV going into his right hand and he saw the glimpse of a bandage on his left shoulder. "Can I touch him?" Matthew asked Sharon. Sharon looked at Matthew and nodded. "Yes, you can touch him, be gentle" Sharon said to him as she moved with Matthew closer to Andy.

Matthew reached his hand out and touched Andy's left hand. "Get better Daddy" Matthew said to Andy and then turned around and hugged Sharon. Sharon embraced him, holding him tight to her. "Matthew, can you do me a favor?" Sharon said as she looked at Matthew's face and he nodded his head. "I need you to be very brave for the next couple of days while Daddy recovers in the hospital" Sharon said to him. "Okay" Matthew said to her.

"I'm going to stay here with Daddy tonight so you're going to go home with Rusty or Patrice and Lieutenant Provenza, okay?" Sharon said to him and Matthew nodded his head. "Do you have homework?" she asked him. "Yes" he said. "Okay, I need you to do your homework and listen to them, alright?" Sharon said as she ran her hand through his hair, smoothing it down.

"Okay" Matthew said and then turned around to look at Andy again. "Come on, let's go back outside" Sharon said to him as she took his hand and they walked back to the waiting room. She brought him back outside to where they were sitting. Provenza, Patrice, and Rusty all stood up from their chairs. Sharon gave them a small smile as Patrice placed her hand on Sharon's arm.

Before Sharon could ask them to take Matthew home, Patrice spoke to her. "Listen Sharon, we know you are going to be staying here with Andy so we thought that we would take Matthew home, and stay with him there" Patrice said to her. "I was just going to ask you if you could do that. There's the guest room there and" Sharon started to say to Patrice but she stopped her. "We got it, Sharon" she said to her and then gave her a hug.

Provenza then gave Sharon a hug, which was unusual for him because he never really showed her affection before. "Flynn better recover quickly so that I can bust his ass for doing this again to you" Provenza said to Sharon as he hugged her. She chuckled as she broke away from him and wiped a tear from her eye.

"I asked Gus to pick up Moxie from the doggie day care place and he just texted me to let me know he brought him home" Rusty said to Sharon. She looked at Rusty and cupped his chin with her hand. "Thank you" she said to him. She then turned to Matthew. "Remember what I told you" Sharon said to him. "I will Mommy" Matthew said and gave her a hug. The four of them left leaving Sharon there and she turned around and walked back to be with Andy.

TBC