Chapter 3 is up!!! ENJOY!!!
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Mac reeled from this information, but managed to pull himself together. He immediately managed to sneak his way into Stella's room and found her hooked up to a bunch of tubes, barely breathing and looking like she was asleep. Mac could see the burns that covered her body, and he bit back a strangled gasp, thinking of all the pain she must've been in. He sat by her, and gently stroked her slightly burnt hair. He looked down on her pale face, and then knew that she was just sleeping.
She was definetly NOT in a coma.
A nurse bustled in, and exclaimed,
"You are not supposed to be in here, sir!"
"I'm a detective, NYPD ma'am." Mac said, reluctantly turning around.
"Oh." She said, clearly unsure of what to do.
"I'm Detective Mac Taylor, Stella in my partner. Could you tell me why I was told she was in a coma?"
"She was, up until about a half hour ago. She woke up, but fell back asleep. No wonder, all those drugs they put in her." The nurse tsked, and bustled up next to Stella and took her vitals and stuff.
"So, is she able to wake up?"
"Yes, I think so, when all these drugs have worn off. Poor girl, those burns are really going to hurt, not to mention those bullet wounds. I was surprised that she actually survived to make it to the operating table. That takes a strong woman."
"Yes, she is a very strong, stubborn woman." Mac murmured, staring at Stella's face. The nurse looked at him for a very long time and then understood his eyes perfectly.
"Detective, might I make a suggestion?"
"Go ahead." He said, dragging his eyes from Stella to the nurse.
"Don't wait until it's too late." She said, looking him straight in the eyes.
"What?"
"Don't wait until it's too late." She repeated, and bustled out. Mac sat there, pondering her words when a voice said,
"Don't think too hard, Mac, you'll give yourself a brain aneurysm. " He whipped around and saw a pair of eyes staring at him. The eyes of Stella Bonasera.
"Stella!" He exclaimed quietly, and gripped her hand with his. She smiled at him and said,
"All right, how bad do I look?"
"All in all, not bad, Stella," Mac said, though he was thinking, you're beautiful, you always have, you always will, no matter what.
"Thanks Mac." She said, smiling and then the team peeked in. When they saw that Stella was awake they bounded to her bedside and spent the next few hours chatting and having fun. Then Stella looked at the time and said,
"You all have to be to work soon! Get out of here, go home and get some rest, now." The others started to protest, but then the doctor came in and said,
"All right, visiting hours are over. Only two people can stay the rest of you need to get out out out!"
The team looked meekly at the doctor and nodded. After they all said their goodbyes to Stella, they fought each other to see who got to stay, along with Mac, who was a given. Eventually Sheldon won, and Danny led Lindsey out, Don led Jess out and Adam and Sid walked out, discussing a new technique on getting DNA from John and Jane Does to figure out who they were.
When everyone was gone, Sheldon disappeared to get some coffee for him and Mac, giving Mac the time with Stella he desperately needed.
"Stel, are you sure…"
"Mac, I am fine, believe me," Stella interrupted, knowing what he was going to say.
"All right, all right," Mac said, raising his hands in mock surrender. She smiled at him and sighed, saying,
"Is David all right?"
"David?"
"Yeah, David, the one who shot me and set me on fire? Is he all right?"
"Um, he's in intensive care, he might make it, they're not sure." Mac said, trying to refocus his thoughts.
"Oh. I hope he recovers." Stella said worriedly, and Mac looked at her exasperated.
"Stella, that man almost killed you and yet you want him to be okay?"
"Yeah, he's still a human being, Mac," Stella said reprovingly, and Mac muttered under his breath,
"If he lives his life will be a living hell."
"Mac Taylor! What did you just say?" Stella exclaimed, struggling to sit up but wincing in pain.
"No! Don't get up!" Mac said, jumping up and putting a firm hand on her uninjured shoulder to coax her to lie back down.
"Mac, David does deserve to be in jail for what he did to those other people, but he was blind in his grief. No, it's not an excuse, but just because he caused an accident doesn't mean that you should go after him!"
"Stella, he nearly killed you!" Mac pleaded with her, sitting back down and taking her hand. She was shocked by the raw pain and hurt in his eyes, and she was speechless for the moment.
"I just can't live without you, Stel, life is simply meaningless without you." Mac said, and then realized those words were as good as a confession.
"Mac…" Stella said, squeezing his hand. He interrupted her by getting up and striding away, out of the room.
"Mac," She whispered, as she watched him walk away.
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An hour later, Mac strode back into the hospital after going for a long run, needing to calm himself down before he went back to Stella's room. He walked to her room to see Sheldon walk out of it.
"Mac! Where've you been?" Sheldon asked, striding to meet him.
"A walk." Mac said shortly, trying to get past him but Sheldon still blocked his path.
"Mac, Stella's real worried about you, the nurse even had to give her some medication because she wouldn't calm down." Sheldon said, making Mac stop in his tracks.
"Me? Why?"
"She said you took off outta here like a bat outta hell. She thought she upset you with something that she said."
"It wasn't her, it was me." Mac muttered, and Sheldon said,
"Better go tell her that."
"Thanks Sheldon."
"No problem." Sheldon said as Mac strode into Stella's room.
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Okay, only two more chapters to go or so! I hope you liked this one, it was a little longer than usual, but I had a lot to write, I had a burst of inspiration. THANKS FOR READING AND PLEASE REVIEW!!!
