Chapter Five

8.45 pm

Lindsay's eyes burned from the strain of staring at the computer screen for so long. She had been running prints through AFIS the whole afternoon. From her sitting place in the fingerprint lab right now, she could see the front desk which was now eerily empty, not to mention clean. A couple of hours ago, the front desk was occupied by a few people in white uniforms… crime scene clean-up. Lindsay found it quite hard to concentrate on scanning the fingerprints into the computer with all the noises outside. Now, however, the whole lab was silent as mostly everyone had left the building.

A plastic bag emitting a warm aroma was placed in front of her. Lindsay tore her eyes away from the front lobby and glanced up to see Hawkes looking down at her with a small smile.

"Spaghetti bolognaise from the corner café. The lasagna below that is mine…"

Lindsay muttered, "Thanks…" But she didn't touch the food.

Hawkes stayed silent for a moment, then said, "Go on. Eat it while it's warm, which I tell you, for take-out food, is a rarity…"

Lindsay smiled and said, not taking her eyes off the screen, "I'm not hungry… maybe later…"

Hawkes said, "Lindsay, you have to eat. You hardly ate lunch this afternoon…"

Lindsay continued typing on the keyboard, "I'm fine."

"Look, if we're gonna catch this guy, we're gonna need energy. We need to stay focused," Hawkes proceeded to taking out a container from the plastic bag, "And nothing says energy like a hot serving of Mama Vola's Spaghetti Delight." He opened the container and a delicious aroma filled the room. After inspecting the dish for a moment, Hawkes added, "Well, lukewarm serving, at the very least…"

An amused smile crept onto Lindsay's face. The smell and her hunger got the better of her so Lindsay finally gave in and grabbed a plastic fork from Hawkes.

The door opened and in walked Mac, looking not physically, but emotionally exhausted. "Something smells good… Where's mine?" he said with a weak smile.

Hawkes glanced at the now empty plastic bag and then at the container of lasagna in his hand, "Whoops…" he said.

Mac shook his head, "Relax, Hawkes. I grabbed a bite at the hospital…"

Lindsay immediately asked, "How's-?"

Mac's face turned grave as he shook his head, "No change. Flack's got a plain-clothes officer stationed there, just in case."

Hawkes asked, "Are his parents there?"

Mac nodded, "Took a ferry from Staten Island. They're probably getting a room at a hotel later." He looked towards the computer screen, "How's it going?"

Lindsay shook her head tiredly, "I found out nothing so far…Too many unidentifiable partials… the ones that could be identified, I've ruled out."

The door opened once again and in walked Stella, radiating an aura of exhaustion and irritation. The other three were quick to notice the change in her demeanor, seeing that Stella was like a pillar of strength the whole day, "IBIS is taking forever to cough up results," she growled, throwing herself down on the chair beside Lindsay, "Who knows? By the time it goes through every gun in the system and realizes that the bullets did not come from a single one of them, that shooter could be in Canada by then!"

Mac said patiently, "Stella…"

"And poor Danny will still be lying on the hospital bed, deep in a coma…"

"Stella…"

"…at the verge of dying! This is much less than he deserves!"

"Stella!" Mac said loudly and clearly.

Stella stopped rambling and shook her head, "We have no answers, Mac. We're just sitting ducks, not able to find the simplest thing to help Danny…"

"Stella, you're frustrated. We're all frustrated. I know things don't look all that bright right now. But you need to remember it's still early. It's only been less than 12 hours since Danny was…shot," said Mac, hesitating before the last word, "There is still time. We will get this guy."

Stella took a deep breath and nodded, running her fingers through her curly brown hair, "I'm sorry, Mac… I guess I've been trying to remain objective… been trying to be strong throughout the whole day, I just couldn't hold it in anymore…"

Mac nodded, "You don't have to be strong all the time, Stella. We're a team. And we're gonna help each other get through this."

Lindsay waved her half-eaten spaghetti in front of Stella, "Take it… you haven't eaten the whole day either…"

Stella cracked a small smile and took a bite, "No spaghetti can ever beat Danny's…"

Hawkes grin and said, "Oh yeah… now that's pure Italian spaghetti!" he feigned a look of hunger and said, "See? Where's Danny when you want him most?"

Mac chimed in, "We'll just have to ask him to treat us to a big home-cooked authentic Italian dinner when he gets better…"

They all smiled, gladly embracing the momentary light-heartedness that replaced the tension from a couple of minutes ago.

The door opened for the fourth time and Flack popped his head in, "Hey, guys. I'm stopping by the hospital to see Danny… any of you wanna tag along?"

Hawkes said, "You guys go ahead. I'll finish up here."

"You sure?" asked Lindsay uncertainly.

"Go." Hawkes said with a smile, "Tell him I said 'hi' when he wakes up."

When given a puzzled look from the rest of them, Hawkes said with the impish smile they all knew so well, "Isn't it always like that on TV? They always wake up when their friends and family are all gathered around…"

9.00 pm

"Un cuore caricato,
Domande senza risposta,
Agitazione dentro,
Disperazione e sighs…

Chiederò al dio di trasmettere i suoi angeli,
A sooth la vostra stanco anima,
Resto in me, mio bambino,
Non camminerete da solo…

Avanti ci era,
Sole e pioggia,
Tuttavia la gioia è là,
Malgrado il dolore…

Nessun timore, mio bambino…
Sarò sempre qui…

Ti amo, Danny…"

Italian may not be Lily Messer's mother tongue, she was American after all, but ever since she married Curt, she hears Italian so often from him that she can speak it almost as fluently as English. Danny knew Italian very well too, seeing his father and grandfather were always speaking to him in Italian ever since Danny was a toddler. Louie was the same, but he didn't practice it much, unlike Danny.

Tonight, Lily Messer found herself sitting beside her son, holding his hand tightly and stroking his hair, whispering words of comfort in Italian to his son. Coma or not, she was sure Danny could hear her.

A hand rested gently on her shoulder, "Lily, it's getting late. We better go. Get some sleep."

Lily was reluctant to leave her remaining son. Curt said softly, "We'll be back first thing in the morning. There's an officer here. Danny's safe."

Finally, Lily got up and followed her husband out of the room.

9.05 pm

Officer Bill Leonard watched the couple walk out of Detective Messer's room. He gave them a small nod. Pity washed over him as he watched them leave. He glanced into Detective Messer's room. He could see the translucent tube running from his mouth to the machine by the side. He could see the slightly blood-stained bandage on his neck.

Officer Leonard shivered a little. Only a year out of the academy, he was well aware of the dangers and risks from being part of the NYPD though he had not much experience in it. He wondered what it'll be like, taking a bullet to the chest, lying in the hospital bed at the edge of death while the media praised his bravery. Officer Leonard hoped he'll never have to face that day anytime soon.

Detective Messer's job wasn't the same as his. Officer Leonard was out there facing dangers all day while Messer worked in the safety of the lab. If Messer could get shot even then… Officer Leonard shuddered at the thought.

Suddenly thirsty, Officer Leonard decided to go get a drink. He was gonna be here the whole night anyway. It'll only take a few minutes to get a drink and back… nothing will happen. With that thought, Officer Leonard left.

9.06 pm

Howard Jones stood outside Danny Messer's room, amazed by what he was seeing. Howard Jones found it hard to believe Danny Messer was in this room, rather than the morgue after being shot twice…

He's alive…

Barely…

But for how much longer?

9.08 pm

Flack walked down the corridor with Mac, Stella and Lindsay behind him. As soon as they turned into the corridor leading to Danny's room, Flack immediately felt like something was off.

"Where's the officer?" asked Mac quietly.

Flack frowned, "I dunno… he's supposed to be here…"

They reached Danny's room. The first thing they saw was a tall, dark silhouette standing beside Danny's bed, their back to them.

He was shorter than Danny's dad, taller than Officer Leonard, whom Flack assigned guard duty to.

Things clicked into place and Flack yanked out his gun and dashed for the door, "HEY!"

The figure turned around. The room was way too dark to see his facial features but Mac immediately recognized the shape of the man who shot Danny 11 hours ago.

"YOU!" Mac yelled, yanking his gun out as well, "SUSPECT ON LOCATION!"

Things happened way too quickly. The man ran into Flack, shoving him into Mac, causing them both to tumble backwards.

They scrambled up quickly but the suspect had already raced out the door. Mac yelled to the two girls, "Stay! Check on Danny!"

He and Flack then dashed out of the room and raced down the corridor.

"I don't see him…" Flack muttered.

"Keep going." Mac replied.

They pushed past astonished nurses and ran all the way to the hospital entrance. The suspect was nowhere to be seen.

"DAMN!" cursed Flack angrily, pulling out his cell phone and yelling instructions to the people on the other end of the line, "Check everywhere! Suspect may still be in the area!"

He slammed his phone shut and followed Mac back to Danny's room.

Stella and Lindsay were waiting anxiously inside. Mac shook his head. Lindsay said, "He's fine…"

Mac looked over at Danny, who was still lying down, pale and unchanged. He heaved a sigh of relief that the man did not get a chance to harm Danny.

Flack, meanwhile, had a bone to pick with the officer on duty. His angry voice could be heard loud and clear from Danny's room.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!" Flack yelled, his face red with fury.

Officer Leonard blubbered, "I went to get a d-drink…"

"DETECTIVE MESSER HAD BEEN SHOT BY A SUSPECT WHO IS STILL AT LARGE! YOU DO NOT LEAVE HIM UNGUARDED FOR EVEN ONE SECOND, YOU UNDERSTAND? NOT EVEN IF YOUR MOTHER WAS CALLING YOU! NOT EVEN IF THIS HOSPITAL HAD A BOMB THAT WAS GOING TO GO OFF! YOU DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF HIM!!" Flack bellowed.

"I-I'm s-sorry…" muttered Officer Leonard.

"You could have killed him! You could have just as well put a bullet into Detective Messer's head! Why didn't you, huh? Makes it a whole lot easier for you!" growled Flack.

"I'm s-sorry…"

"Just remember, all our actions have consequences. And your actions tonight may have gotten him killed. Keep that in mind!" said Flack before storming back into Danny's room.

Stella was talking on the phone. When she got off, she was smiling, "That was Adam. We've got a lead."

TBC

Sorry for the long 'hiatus'... hope I made it up to you with this chapter... Please review!

Oh, and I apologize to all Italians if I really messed up all that Danny's mum was saying. I don't know a word of Italian, but I tried my best. Hope it's ok. Forgive me if it's not. In fact, maybe you could tell me what sentences I've messed up, then I can fix them. ;-D