Well, I'm nice and don't hold stories hostage for reviews. Others of you are not nice because I have no reviews. C'mon, people, do I have to beg? It's not every fic where Lindsay gets shot! I'll give you a cookie! I'll even write you smut if you want. Give me something if only to tell me I suck.

"Catherine!" Nick screamed when he heard the commotion on the other line. "Catherine, what's going on?"

He could here the scream coming from inside the living room and began to panic.

"Catherine!" he shouted as loud as he could.

On the other end of the telephone, Catherine was also in a panic. She had to make sure her daughter was still alive. She knelt down and gently touched Lindsay's neck. A wave of relief rushed over her when she felt a faint throbbing under her fingers.

"Lindsay," she pleaded through sobs, "Please stay. Please stay, baby. Don't leave me.

Catherine pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She had to call for an ambulance, but she could not leave her daughter's side; not for an ambulance, not to hang up the land line or even to quiet Nick who she could still here screaming for her on the line.

The operator's voice was a little too cheerful. "9-1-1, please state the nature-"

"He shot my daughter!" Catherine cut her off. "That bastard shot himself and he shot my daughter."

"Alright, I need you to give me your location."

"1714 JFK Drive."

"There's an ambulance en rout as we speak. Are you injured?"

"No, but you tell that ambulance to hurry its ass!"

She hung up on the operator and could here now that Nick had hung up on her, as well. He was probably on his way over to see what had happened and if she was alright. She decided to call him and let him know what had happened. The worst thing that could happed now was for Nick to here inaccurate second-hand information. No, the worst thing that could happen would be for Lindsay to die. No, no. She couldn't think that. Catherine looked through tear-filled eyes at the dime-sized hole in her baby girl's head and knew that she would die if she ever lost her blond-headed dancer.

Nick was frantic when he answered his cell phone. "Oh my god, Cat, what happened? I heard the gunshot and the glass and then you screamed and you wouldn't pick up the phone. Is everything…What happened?"

By this time Catherine was hyperventilating and couldn't form a full sentence. "Leo…"

"He came." Nick was the only person she had told about Leo's threat. She hadn't worried about it. She saw now that it was the worst mistake of her life.

"He shot himself and… stupid bullet…Lindsay…"

"Holly shit, Lindsay!?"

"Shot her. Shot Lindsay! Shot my baby!"

"My god. Cat, she's not-"

"She's not dead."

Nick sighed and the line was quiet until Catherine heard the sound of an ambulance and police sirens wailing in unison. "Nick, I hear the ambulance coming."

"Well, I'm coming, too. I'll meet you at the hospital. Which one?"

"Um, St. Christopher's has a better neurology unit, so-"

"Neurology! Cat, you didn't tell me she was hit in the head!"

"She's going to live, Nick. Just meet me at St. Christopher's"

She hung up the phone just as the ambulance was pulling up; followed closely by two squad cars and an LVPD issue Denali. Out of the black vehicle stepped the newly promoted day shift supervisor Sophia Curtis and CSI Jennifer Castillo.

Catherine saw Sophia giving Jennifer orders. She couldn't hear them. Suddenly, she couldn't hear anything. It was as if the world had completely turned off the sound. She looked down to her daughter's face and saw her eyes squint shut; her lips parted slightly.

"Lindsay?" The panicking mother did not hear herself and believed the word had not completely escaped her mouth. She had to say her daughter's name louder. Lindsay had to hear it and know her mom was still there. She took her hand and squeezed as tight as she could as she screamed with just as much force. "Lindsay! Can you hear me? Lindsay!

Although she could not hear, she could see Lindsay try to say something.

"M…Mo…"

"It's okay, baby, I'm here."

Lindsay's face relaxed just as the paramedics burst into the room with the stretcher. Catherine had no choice but to release her daughter's hand and allow the EMTs to lift the limp, unconscious body up and away.

"Wait," she called after them, "I want to go with her, please, let me go with her."

Were they ignoring her? She still couldn't hear and no one was helping her into the back of the ambulance that was now driving away. Wait! No!

"I wanted to go with her! I wanted to go with her!"

"Catherine," Sophia said calmly, "You can't go with her. There's not enough room back there." It was obvious to Sophia that Catherine couldn't hear her. But somehow Catherine knew what Sophia was trying to say.

Sophia spoke calmly, slowly, and softly. She helped Catherine up from the floor and led her over to the couch where the two sat down. "Catherine, Jennifer is going to process the scene; I'm going to talk to you, okay?"

Catherine nodded as her hearing slowly began to return.

"Okay. Catherine, do you know the man who shot himself?"

Catherine nodded again. "Leo. Leo Finley. He threatened to do this after a case about a week ago. He blamed me for ruining his life."

"Had you told anyone about this?"

"Only Nick."

Sophia lay down her notes and looked at Catherine with great concern. "Why didn't you make a report of it?"

"I know I should have, but I didn't think it was a big…" she stopped and leaned back, closing her eyes. "I didn't think he was seriously dangerous. I thought he would just go away. I thought I was six feet tall and bullet proof. Well, my daughter isn't bullet proof and I put her in danger. God, Sophia, I'm so stupid and I'm a horrible mother."

Sophia gently placed her hand on Catherine's knee. "You're not stupid, Catherine. And you are an excellent mother."

Catherine stood up and began to pace around the room. "I just didn't think right when I worked that case, you know? I mean, when a baby girl dies like that, who does? All I could think about was that little girl and then my little girl and soon Cordelia Doe became Lindsay to me. I had to get the bastard who hurt her and I didn't care whose toes I stepped on or whose yard I walked in to do it. Then it all turns out to have been an accident and it really is Lindsay now.

At the end or that monologue, Catherine's cell phone rang. She checked the ID and quickly flipped it open. "Hey, Nick."

"Catherine," he said. He was trying to be cal but he had never been a good actor. "You might want to get to the hospital as soon as possible."

Things in this chapter I made up: the address, the hospital, the dayshift CSI with Sophia, and Sophia's promotion. Is Sophia even on the show anymore? Well, I like her so she's in my story. Also, about Lindsay being a high school senior…made that up, too. I actually think the show portrays her as younger that that, like 14, maybe? IDK, my story. I made her that age (17-19) because of how I want the story to end. Oh, and I checked it; what happens to Lindsay is physically possible.