The silence was deafening in Don Flack's police cruiser as he, Stella, and Hawkes made their way to the scene of Danny's accident. Neither had spoken a word since Stella's emergency meeting back at the lab, and it didn't seem like neither wanted to. The sadness and disbelief hanging in the air was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. All three were staring in different directions, lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't until Flack's cell phone began to ring did the silence finally end. They jumped at the sudden noise with Flack grabbing the phone off the dash and answering, "Yeah?"

Several moments of silence followed as Flack's face turned from showing absolutely no emotion to complete and utter rage. "Son of a bitch!" he muttered several times before finally saying, "Thank you," and hanging up. He angrily threw the phone back onto the dash before running a shaky hand through his dark hair and turning to the others. "You're not gonna like this," he said, "but HQ has the guy that ran Danny over. They brought him straight from the hospital. There wasn't a scratch on him! And his BAC was three times over the legal limit!"

"What the hell was this guy doing getting that drunk at two in the afternoon?" Stella asked to no one in particular.

"I guess we'll have to wait until later to find out, we're here," Flack replied as he pulled up to the curb which was now swarming with cops and reporters.

"We'll take the crime scene, you take the reporters," Hawkes added as he stepped out of the cruiser and headed for the sealed off area, which was now much bigger and included at least half the block along with the street.

"That's not fair," Flack retorted, finding that he was now alone in the cruiser. "I always get stuck with the reporters," he grumbled.

Stella joined Hawkes just outside the crime scene tape where the two were quickly taken aback by the amount of damage the little blue sports car had done to the side of the hotel. There was now a six foot by six foot hole that you could see into the building through, and the little car's front end was a tangled mass of metal and glass. Blood appeared to be everywhere, especially in one dark spot about three feet from the truck of the car; Danny's final resting place after the accident.

Stella slowly began turning a pale shade of white, trying to absorb everything too fast. "Oh, Danny…" she whispered before she closed her eyes for a moment to let it all sink in, then took a deep breath and stepped beneath the crime scene tape. Hawkes followed soon after, also in quite shock that one of his best friends and colleagues could have been so brutally run over by a drunk driver.

Flack, on the other hand, was stuck in his own personal hell, having to deal with the press and answering as few of their questions as possible about what happened today. "No comment," was all he told them before turning around and making is way beneath the crime scene tape to join Stella and Hawkes. After taking one look at the car and the pool of blood, his anger rose once again. "God damn it!" he nearly yelled, hoping the news cameras hadn't caught his outburst.

"Take a number," Stella replied. She'd already slipped on her gloves and was kneeling beside the pool of blood behind the car. Seeing Lindsey's jacket lying there also covered in blood made the lump in her throat grow. It was hard having to stand there and take everything in all at once. She just wanted to go to the hospital and see Danny then make sure Lindsey was okay.

"I swear, if I ever see this guy, I'm gonna kill him," Flack said, balling his fingers into a fist. He desperately wanted to hit something, in particular, some one. But he used all that built up rage to help Stella and Hawkes process the crime scene.

All three picked through every piece of shattered glass and debris, making sure they had all their bases covered for both cases. After almost five hours of nitpicking, they were finally satisfied with the amount of evidence collected. The news stations along with their reporters and cameras had left for bigger stories elsewhere, while a couple of newspaper columnists remained, still looking for a few more juicy tidbits to put into their stories for the next morning's paper.

As they made their way back to Flack's police cruiser, Stella's phone began to ring. She handed several evidence bags to her colleagues before reaching into her pocket and answering the small device. "Bonasera," she said.

"Stella, it's me," Mac replied. She stopped in her tracks as the other two walked ahead, only noticing that she was behind them when they reached the cruiser. They turned to stare at her wondering what was going on.

"Mac, how's Danny?" Stella immediately asked, her heart racing until she got an answer.

"He made it through surgery," Mac told her. "They'll be taking him to ICU soon, so hopefully within in the next half hour we'll be able to go in and see him."

A deep sigh of relief passed between Stella's lips as she felt her heartbeat began to slow to a more normal pace. "Oh, thank God," she almost whispered.

"How are you doing at the crime scene?" Mac questioned.

"We just finished collecting evidence. There's a lot that needs to be processed at the lab since this is technically two cases. I think as soon as Night Shift gets there, we'll hand the cases off to them and come see Danny," Stella replied, making her way to the cruiser where Flack and Hawkes were still standing outside hoping to hear some of the conversation.

"The doctor just walked in and is motioning for Lindsey and me to follow him. I think he's taking us to Danny," Mac said as he was about to hang up.

"How's Lindsey doing, anyway?" Stella stopped him.

"She calmed down and told me what happened. I'll give you the details when you get here. I'll see you soon," he answered.

The line went dead before Stella had a chance to respond. She put her phone back into her pocket and looked at Flack and Hawkes. "Danny made it through surgery. They're taking him to ICU now," she told them.

"What a relief," Hawkes replied.

"Now that's a big weight off my shoulders," Flack added before the three of them hopped into the cruiser and sped off back to the lab.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

My life is shit. Sorry... I haven't been having a good week... again... It just seems like everything falls apart during the holidays and I have no control over it. I tried to write, and I think this was the best I could do. Please don't be mad. Hopefully in a day or two I'll have something else to share with you. I just wish my head would stop spinning and the world would get off my back. Anyone aside from prplerayne having just as crappy a week as I am? If so, hit me up. We'll commiserate together.

Anyway, that's not what this part of my chapter is for. I should be thanking those of you who are sending me comments and keeping my spirits up, although I wish more of you would. I need all the support I can get at a time like this. So, for those of you who have stopped in and dropped me a line, thank you so much. And to those of you who have been reading and not reviewing, thank you as well. I see all the hits this story gets every day and I can't help but say I'm overwhelmed. Thank you all so much. Have a Happy Thanksgiving for those of you who celebrate it, and for those of you who don't, have a great day none the less. Cheers!

-DK