Thanks for all the reviews everyone! They mean so much to me. For me, there is nothing more satisfying than writing a story and getting good response on it. Thanks so much, you all made my day!

And thanks to the reviews, I got that extra 'omph!' to quickly write and submit this new chapter as soon as I could.

Chapter Two

10.17 am

Sheldon Hawkes pulled off the jacket he was wearing, tore it ferociously into two and pressed one to Danny's first wound and the other to his neck, where the majority of the blood was flowing from.

Hawkes had an educated guess that the bullet had hit a jugular vein. If that was so, Danny was loosing a lot of blood, and fast.

"What now, Hawkes?" Lindsay asked desperately, her eyes brimming with tears.

Hawkes' eyes tore away from Danny's wounds and looked straight at Lindsay and Stella. They were expecting instructions from him. Hawkes could see the logic behind that… he was a doctor after all.

But truth be told, Hawkes was at lost about what to do as well.

He felt a stab of illogical anger directed towards the girls. How could they be depending on him to save Danny? Do they have any idea how many people he had already lost on the emergency room table years and years ago? Were they expecting him to pull off a medical miracle, stitch here and there and Danny will get up all perfectly well again, like nothing happened?

Hawkes felt dizzy. There was a rush of images running through his head.

The little girl that got hit by a car… she died on the operating table. She was the first person to die in Hawkes' care.

The young woman who got stabbed… Hawkes held her hand as she told him to tell her parents she loved them…

The plastic surgeon that got spattered in lye... Hawkes couldn't get him to hold on long enough to tell them his killer's name…

Hawkes stared back at Danny's very pale face. Cold sweat drenched his forehead, dripping past his glasses, down his face. His hands were shaking. Hawkes could only imagine the pain Danny was feeling right now.

Sheldon Hawkes couldn't sleep for nights on end after all those innocent people died in his care. They were complete strangers. What would happen if he lost Danny, his friend?

For a moment, he just kneeled there… unsure of his next move.

Then, Mac appeared. His face set… determined.

Hawkes had no idea what had gone on between the shooter and Mac just now. But he reassured himself that Mac will find the man who shot Danny and made sure he paid for what he'd done. Mac will take care of this… he's never failed yet.

Then it occurred to Hawkes that he was depending on Mac the same way his colleagues were depending on him.

Was this the meaning of trust? Hawkes trusted Mac to always be there for them, to always know what to do. Now the others placed their trust in Hawkes to keep Danny alive until help arrives.

Mac never shied away from his duties no matter what happened. Why should he, Hawkes, be any different? He was going to try his hardest to help his friend.

"Mac, I need you to keep steady pressure on his neck wound. We need to stop the blood flow…" Hawkes was already pressing hard on Danny's abdominal wound.

"Hang in there, Danny… hang in there…" Hawkes kept muttering.

He wasn't sure if Danny could hear him anymore.

10.25 am

A siren was blaring very loudly. It was ten times worse than Danny's alarm clock.

Danny never felt more disorientated. Where was he? What's going on?

He could feel his back vibrating mildly. He was in a moving vehicle. The siren wailed on and on.

He opened his eyes slowly. His surroundings were quite bright. Everything was blurry and fogged. His glasses… where were they?

He tried to lift his arm but it felt like lead. He couldn't move. His neck was throbbing madly. So was his stomach. Somebody touched his neck and a searing pain shot through his head. Danny could have screamed at the idiot but he couldn't talk. All he could do was flinch.

There were a couple of male voices around him. He never heard them before.

"Heart rate dropping…"

"Hurry up, Stan… he's looking worse…"

Danny felt the vehicle pick up speed. Someone gripped his left arm and pierced something sharp into it.

Great… more pain.

Danny saw the blurry shape of an IV bag swaying above him. Everything felt foreign… uncomfortable. He didn't know where he was, he didn't know where he was going.

For the first time in ages, Danny felt scared.

Then, Danny felt a warm hand hold his right hand, gripping it tightly. He heard a voice that he recognized, "Danny… Danny… can you hear me?"

Danny could see the faint outline of the man's face. He had never felt so glad to hear Mac's voice.

Danny tried to say 'yes', but he couldn't muster the strength to. The bright lights were dimming again.

No! Danny thought desperately. It can't get dark again… it just can't… Danny felt certain that if he closed his eyes now, they'll remain closed forever…

His whole body was in so much pain…

"Danny… can you hear me?" came Mac's voice again.

Danny clenched his right hand, hoping that Mac will feel it.

When Mac next spoke, there was relief in his voice, "Danny… don't worry… everything's gonna be okay…you'll make it through… you'll make it through just fine. Trust me."

Danny was still in a whole lot of pain, but Mac's voice was really reassuring and Danny felt better.

He was too tired. He closed his eyes. He wasn't so scared of the darkness anymore. Mac was there for him… and so was everybody else.

They'll be there waiting when it gets bright again.

TBC

The next chapter might take a little longer partly because I'm really busy with school stuff and also because I actually have no idea what's going to happen next. (so whether Danny will die or not, even I don't know...) But no worries! I'm gonna think about it every night before I fall asleep! Heheheeeee...