It has been twenty-seven hours, and thirty-six minutes since Danny had been shot. Half of the NYPD was looking for the man responsible for causing such pain and misery to the CSI team. Lindsay has not left the hospital.

The nurses came and went, the doctors made their rounds and cleaning staff would come in. They all shared the common thought, they knew that visiting hours did not apply to Lindsay, and that no matter what they said she was not going to leave. One nurse even went as far as to bring Lindsay coffee at the early hours of the morning. She looked exhausted and they did their best to help.

Lindsay sat in the chair beside Danny watching his chest rise and fall, when she noticed someone was standing behind her. When she looked up she saw the fallen faces of an older Italian couple. She knew instantly that they were Danny's parents. He shared eyes with his mother and the slender face of his father, and by the morbid look on their faces, it appeared they did not know the severity of the situation.

"Mr. and Mrs. Messer… I'm sorry I didn't see you come in… I'm…"

"We know who you are." Mrs. Messer said bluntly.

"How is he doing? This kid is a fighter. What exactly happened?" Danny's father was calm, but you could tell he was terrified.

"The doctor said that he is getting stronger, but since he has come out of surgery there hasn't been any change." Lindsay paused to look Danny's mother in the eye. "He is a hero. He saved another detective's life. You should be proud."

"Excuse me? I should be proud he's dumb enough to jump in front of a bullet? Who the hell are you anyways? Why are you here?"

"Carm? Stop it. This is Lindsay. Don't you remember?" Danny's father grabbed his wife to look her straight in the eyes. Lindsay was looking at the floor in shock of what to say to the mother of the man she loved.

"Oh god, I'm sorry darling, I'm so sorry. Come here?" She said pulling Lindsay into a strong, mother-like, hug. The second Lindsay's face hit Danny's mother shoulder she felt it let go. She started crying for what felt like forever.

"It's okay, my baby won't give up. Ever since he was a baby… well… he won't give up." Danny's mother was a strong woman, but in this moment she was reduced to tears. Her and Lindsay held their embrace for a couple of minutes, until the doctor came in to interrupt them.

"Good morning, how's our boy doing?" Danny's father said shaking Dr. Stevens's hand.

"Well, his vitals are strong and his blood pressure is coming back up. His blood work shows that his red blood cell is still low. That might have to do with the damage to his liver. But so far he is making good progress." The doctor seemed enthusiastic for the first time since Danny had been admitted.

"How long do you think he'll be in a coma for?" Danny's mother was still stifling back tears.

"Well, to be honest that is completely up to Danny. As long as he keeps fighting this, he should make it through. His body is responding well, for now."

"What is that supposed to mean? 'For now'?" Lindsay said with determination in her tone.

"It means that I was expecting better progress then this, and his liver function doesn't seem to be improving. Like I said when he was out of surgery, he was lucky to come this far. He is NOT in good shape. I'm trying to stay positive, but his body isn't healing well." He put a hand to Lindsay's shoulder, and she instinctively pulled away.

"You obviously don't know Danny very well." With that Lindsay picked up Danny's hand and sat down on the bed beside her boyfriend.

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Flack walked to the doorway of Mac's office and paused before interrupting Stella and Mac's conversation. He cleared his throat, and Mac looked up from his desk.

"Flack? Any news?" Stella turned too see Flacks response.

"Umm… ya big news. Patrol picked up Brendan's roommate. Twenty-four years old, his name is Derek Matthews. Well known drug dealer, and has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. He is in room five." Flack looked at Mac, and realized that he hasn't heard anything about Danny in a couple hours. "Anything new on Danny?"

"No… he's still in a coma, and Lindsay said that the doctor isn't too enthused about his blood work. He's not responding very well. But it's Danny, and he'll be okay." Mac knew that he wasn't doing well at all, and that maybe he shouldn't be so positive and try to let his team know that they could be close to loosing one of their own.

"Ya, I guess." Flack cleared his throat again, and motioned for Mac to follow.

"Ya I'll meet you there, I'm going to check with Lindsay again."

"Ya… okay." Flack turned on his heal and left.

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"We have the gun, with your prints on it. We tested your hands for gun shot residue. It was positive. We have the bloody fingerprint on the handle of the knife used to kill your roommate. All we need is you saying you killed him IN COLD BLOOD, and guess what buddy, ya that's the death penalty!" Flack was standing beside Derek, screaming in his ear.

"YOU SHOT A COP! YOU SICK BASTARD! LOOK AT ME!" Flack grabbed him by the shirt and lifted his body to meet his eyes. "If he dies, I will make it my personal mission to make sure you die! Do you understand me? You're looking at the chair bitch!!!" The vein in Flacks forehead was sticking far out of his head. He was grinding his teeth, balling his fists. There wasn't any other way to make this guy realize how pissed he was.

"I didn't know they were cops. I thought they were going to kill me! I thought the guys that killed Brendan were coming for me I had no idea! Believe me! IM SO SORRY!" Flack dropped him back into his seat.

"What do you mean the guys that killed Brendan?"

"Brendan was supposed to make a drop. That's it! He was taking so long so I went looking for him. When I got there I saw the knife and tried to pull it out, I touched the knife but I didn't kill him. So I went home and when I get there, I hear people talking in the hallway. They were wearing suits, I though they were coming for me. I didn't know they were cops. I swear on my mother."

"First of all… don't swear on your mother. Second. How do you know it wasn't a robbery? Who do you think is coming after you?" Flack was confused.

"We've been, sort of, threatened by these thugs, gangsters. They told us to beat it or we'd see the unfriendly side of a knife. We didn't think it was serious, we're small time ya know?"

"Ya I noticed."

"How… how is the cop?" Derek looked at Flack sheepishly.

"The cops name is Danny Messer, he's 32, his brother died last year, he is in a relationship with a lovely woman, and is a great cop. You better hope to god that he wakes up." Flack stood up and walked out of the room and shut the door.

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"I think I'm going to get some coffee. Would any one like some?" Danny's father asked as he walked toward the door. They had already been here for nine hours and were starting to feel familiar with the hospital, after spending so much time here before Louie died.

"No, but thank you." Lindsay said with a small smile.

"I am okay dear." Danny's mother turned to Lindsay and smiled. "You are a beautiful girl. My boy has good taste." Lindsay let out a small laugh and looked up at his mother's eyes.

"Ha, I look like crap right now. But thanks." She tried to stay humble.

"You have really been here for him, I appreciate it. You must really love him."

"I do. With everything I have. I would do anything for him to open his eyes." A single tear fell down her cheek, and Danny's mother wiped it from her face.

"He's going to be okay… with Louie I could tell I didn't have much time. But with Danny, it's different. It's a feeling I…" Before she could finish Danny's heart monitors started screaming.

"What? What's happening? DANNY? No…. HELP? SOMEONE HELP?" Lindsay screamed as she ran into the hall and nurses and doctors came in and started working on Danny.

Danny's mother took Lindsay by the arm and pulled her back out of the way so the doctors and nurses could work on him.

"Tell me something? Please?" Danny's mother pleaded with one of the nurses who pushed them outside of the room and shut the door. Through the tiny window in the door, Lindsay heard the doctor screaming orders and giving Danny resuscitation.

The last thing Lindsay saw was Danny's monitor flat line before she passed out. Her last thought of Danny, she hit the floor.