He was a cop he wasn't supposed to panic. But he was panic stricken. His life was bleeding profusely in his arms. He couldn't move. He couldn't say anything. He just held her, pulled her as close to him as he could. "No, no, no. This can't be happening again!"
He'd had this feeling to many times in his life before. Blood on his hands. People he loved and cared about died. He hadn't been able to stop it, been able to do anything to prevent it from happening. Now he simply couldn't move, every muscle in his body was locked. If he moved her, jostled her in any way, he might hurt her more, might kill her. "Please don't leave me," he pleaded, stroking her hair, rocking her back and forth.
She was pale, but she was breathing. His mind flashed to Ruben, his small lifeless body laying on the steel gurney in the morgue. Unconsciously his hand went to her belly. He saw a little boy he had never seen before, but he had this feeling of knowing this boy for his whole life. He had huge hazel eyes, a big toothy grin and golden blond hair. The boy grinned at him, "Dad, what are ya doin'? Help Mama," the boy urged.
Don had heard the call on the radio, recognized the address right away. The call said the tenants could hear pleas for help. When Don saw the door kicked in, he drew his weapon just in case, the paramedics standing back. Cautiously, he walked into the apartment, hearing incoherent sobbing and babbling, he walked towards the end of the hall. Looking into the bedroom, he saw Danny cradling Lindsay in his arms, his shirt, jeans and hands covered in blood.
"Please don't leave me," he heard his friend plead.
"In here!!" Don yelled over his shoulder, holstering his weapon. He knelt next to them, as the paramedics came in.
They tried taking her out of his arms.
And just like that he snapped out of his daze, he tried fighting them, holding her closer to him. "Don't touch her!" he warned.
"Danny!!" Flack yelled at him, but he wasn't paying him any attention. "Danny!!" He yelled again, and then Danny's eyes snapped to him, "They need to help her. She has lost a lot of blood. She's not dead yet, but if you don't let them help her she will be! And I will NOT let Monroe die!!"
Then suddenly Danny was standing up with her in his arms, and then he moved to the gurney and set her down on it. He bent down, kissed her forehead, "I love you baby." Then he stepped back and let the paramedics do their job.
"What happened?" Don asked.
He shook his head, "I got here and she was screaming, got inside and I saw her on the floor screaming for me to help her, blood was everywhere," he held up his hands, his voice broke, his mouth turned down into a frown, his bottom lip quivering, his eyes watering from all the blood on them, "I can't lose her," he broke down.
"Dammit, Messer!!" Don yelled at him, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "She is not dead!! Pull yer shit together, she needs your strength right now!! All that love and passion you have for her need to be directed at her!"