HEY ;)

SO I HAVE THIS CHAPTER UP A DAY LATE BUT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HAVING A HANG OVER ON NEW YEARS DAY. I ACTUALLY FOUND IT REALLY HARD TO WRITE. I FIND WRITING ACTION SCENES MUCH EASIER.

ANYWAY. I HOPE IT'S OKAY.

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What happened at the end of the previous chapter.

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A tear escaped Jo's eyelid. "He hurt you. . . He could have. . .killed you."

"But he didn't." Mac cut in.

"This is all my fau. . ."

Quickly he pressed a finger to her lips. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again." he whispered.

She felt Mac's lips brush over her hair and she closed her eyes as the pain eased away into dumbness. "I love you."

Mac released a long shuddering breath. He could have lost her today. The thought terrified him and he drew her closer too afraid to let her go. "I love you too Jo. . .I love you so much."

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CHAPTER 18.

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The Ambulance drew up a little further along Coyle Lane and the paramedics dashed out with several stretchers and caught up with the team as they raced toward Mac, Jo and Gary.

Layton ran up to Gary. "Hey buddy. Give me the gun. We've got this covered."

"No." he shouted angrily. The weapon started to tremble in his hand, his finger resting on the trigger as he continued to aim at Cole.

Layton forced out a steady breath and stepped in front of him. "Harry Grayson's team are at your home now."

Gary's eyes flashed to his. "Susanna?" he asked shakily.

"They took them down. Susanna's a little shaken up, but she's safe now."

He stared at Layton for several seconds trying to process the information. "She's. . . okay?"

"Yea, but she's scared. She needs you." Layton reached out and carefully grasped the gun. "We don't want this sonofabitch dead. We want him to rot in prison right?"

For a long, immeasurable moment Gary looked back down at Cole, then slowly he loosened his grip on the weapon.

Layton whisked it away and a split second later two officers were hauling Cole off the ground and dragging him away in hand cuffs as he cursed obscenities at them.

One of the other officers carefully picked the rucksack off the ground and anxiously peered inside. He released a long relieved breath. "It doesn't look damaged."

Matt jogged up to Gary and scanned him for injuries. "You've got a gash across your forehead. You okay?"

"I'm fine." He started to move passed him. "I need to get home."

Matt reached out and grabbed his arm. "I'll drive you."

Gary sighed heavily, then nodded and they started to run back to Matt's car.

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Mac had refused to let Jo go for the second time of asking and Don and Danny exchanged concerned glances.

Don released a heavy breath and crouched in front of him "Mac. She's still getting over a severe infection. We need to get her back to the hospital."

Slowly Mac started to come to his senses. He blinked twice and quickly glanced back down at her. "She's . . . burning up."

One of the paramedics sank down beside him and placed his hand on her forehead. "She's not well. We need to take her now." He reached out for her.

"No! I've. . . got her." Mac lifted her in his arms and reluctantly lowered her onto the stretcher.

Danny released a long, pent up breath and got to his feet.

Don stood up with Mac and noticed him stagger forward slightly. "I think you need a stretcher too."

"I'm fine. I can walk." He took a few steps forward but suddenly everything started spinning around him.

Don shot forward and grabbed his arm. "Mac? You don't look too good."

"I said . . . I'm . . ." He stopped dead in his tracks as a sharp, burning pain slammed through his lower chest. He couldn't speak. He couldn't breath. Gasping for air, he tried to take another step, but his legs started to buckle from under him.

"Mac?!" Don moved quickly behind him as he started to fall and a paramedic was there in a split second helping Don lower him to the ground.

Another two paramedics charged toward them with another stretcher and carefully lifted Mac onto it.

The paramedic ripped open Mac's shirt and Don's eye's widened when he saw the large, dark purple discolouration across his body.

Danny swallowed hard and glanced back at the paramedics. "He's bleeding internally."

"Yes. We need to get him to the hospital straight away."

"Crap!" Quickly Don started to get to his feet, but Mac reached out and weakly gripped his arm. "Kye's somewhere . . . in the . . . bunker. . . I . . .couldn't find him."

"It's okay." he answered breathlessly. "The back up teams are searching the bunker now. They'll find him."

Mac's hand dropped away from Don's arm and the darkness swallowed him.

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An Hour Later.

Danny and Lindsay slammed through the swinging doors and rushed around the corner to the waiting area.

Don heard them coming and moved quickly towards them. "Jo's gonna be okay right?" he asked anxiously.

Adam and Sheldon dived out of their seats and bolted up to them.

"She's gonna be fine." Lindsay replied.

Adam skidded to a stop and took a deep relieved breath.

Don sank against the wall. "Thank God." he whispered.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Danny asked hesitantly.

Sheldon sighed inwardly. "The doctor updated us on Mac's condition a few minutes ago. He's in surgery now."

Lindsay swallowed back the lump in her throat and sank down into the seat behind her.

"He suffered a Haemothorax. They successfully managed to drain the blood from his lungs but he's now undergoing . . . further surgery.

Lindsay's eyes flashed back at his. "What?"

"Why?" Danny asked fearfully.

"He has internal damage to his liver."

Lindsay continued to gaze wide eyed at Sheldon. "But he's gonna be okay?"

Adam turned away and sighed heavily.

"The doctor . . .can't guarantee anything at the moment. Mac's weak. He's lost a lot of blood." Sheldon dragged a hand through his hair and started to walk back to the chair. "We just need to wait until there's further news."

Don changed the subject quickly. "The back up teams rounded up the rest of those scum bags. There were 32 of them in the bunker. Apparently there was one hell of a gun fight." He stopped abruptly and turned away. Damn it. Now I'm gonna have to tell him. He took a deep breath and started to pace. "We lost . . . Mike, Sam and . . . Cal."

Lindsay glanced up at Don in stunned shock. "Cal . . .Vaughan?"

He dragged a hand through his hair and nodded numbly.

She jumped out of her chair and moved quickly to Danny.

Slowly Don met Danny's grief stricken gaze. "Kye Simmonds was also found dead." he murmured quietly.

For a long silent moment, Danny gazed across at Don in disbelief. Finally he forced out the next words. "I . . .need some air."

Don watched him whirl around and take off up the corridor with Lindsay on his heels. He muttered a curse and kicked the wall behind him.

"Don? How long had Danny known Cal Vaughan?" Adam asked quietly.

"Since Police Academy." he sighed.

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Eighteen Hours Later.

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Slowly Mac surfaced out of unconsciousness and immediately he became aware of a hand holding his. "Jo?"

She forced back the anger and willed herself to calm down. "No. It's me silly."

His eyes shot open and he found himself staring up at Christine. He quickly pulled his hand away from hers, the sudden movement sending a sharp, excruciating pain tearing through his chest.

Her eyes widened and she reached across Mac for the call alarm, but he grabbed it before she could press the button.

Damn it. I'm in the hospital. He glanced back at her. "What . . .are you. . . doing here?"

She gave him a confused look and chuckled. "Coming to see you of course. When I heard about what happened I got here as quickly as I could." Her smile faded. "My God Mac you scared me. I thought that . ."

"How long have I been here." He interrupted impatiently.

She frowned and forced back the sudden irritation. "They brought you in last night, so . . .about 12-14 hours ago? You needed surgery." She leaned towards him, her smile returning as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Now that this is all over we can get back to . . ."

Mac grabbed her arm and clenched his jaw shut as another bout of pain slammed through his stomach. "Where's . . . Jo?"

Angrily Christine stared down at him and pulled her arm from his grip. "You need to forget about her Mac. She's no good for you."

He glared furiously at her. "Get the hell out of here and . . . don't come back."

Her expression softened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be angry with you. You're not yourself." She leaned towards him once again and brought her lips close to his. "I'm gonna leave you to rest and come see you tomorrow."

She went to kiss him, but Mac managed to muster up enough strength to push her away. "I'm not . . . interested Christine. . . stay . . . away from me!"

Don came flying through the door and glared angrily across at her. "If you step foot in this room again, I'll have you arrested! Now get out of here!" he shouted.

Christine's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"

"Try me."

Enraged, she moved away from Mac and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Mac's ribs screamed out in pain and he sank back onto the pillows gasping painfully for breath.

Don ran towards the bed and anxiously gazed down at him. "You okay?"

Feeling more than a little agitated, Mac snatched the call alarm from Don's hand and dropped it over the side of the bed. "I'm fine. Just tell me Jo's okay?"

"She is," he answered quickly. "She's responding to the antibiotics and she should be well enough to go home in a few days."

A wave of relief swept through him and he was finally able to take a steady breath. "That's . . . good."

"You need some pain relief. Let me call the doctor."

Mac fixed Don with a stern stare. "I said I'm fine." He looked down and noticed the bandaged area below his chest. He cursed inwardly. "What did I need surgery for?"

Don sighed and lowered himself onto the chair beside his bed. "You had a Haemothorax and internal damage to your liver. They managed to repair the organ so you live to fight another day. . . Mac Taylor . . ." He slowly glanced back at him. "You gonna tell me what's going on with Christine?"

"That's personal."

"Before she came to see you, she told me the two of you were . . . together."

Mac gazed angrily back at him. "I ended it with Christine. We are not together any more. She just won't accept it."

Don raised his eye brows at him. "So, she's harassing you. I can have her arrested . . ."

"No!" he interrupted quickly. "I can . . . handle this."

Don continued to gaze at him for several more seconds before slowly leaning back in the seat. "Okay fine. I think I'll keep an eye on her any way."

Mac rolled his eyes and turned away. A long silent moment stretched between them before he spoke again. "We did get Cole this time right?" he murmured quietly.

"We got him. He's already been moved to New Jersey State Prison and he'll be sentenced in the next few days. We found another 32 in the bunker. They're currently under interrogation back at the FBI."

Mac's eyes flashed back at his. "The FBI have them?"

"It's okay. The half a dozen crooked agents have been sifted out, and the FBI is up and running as normal again." Don assured him.

Mac released a long, pent up breath. "Fine." he muttered.

He glanced away for a minute. "What about Lucas Rohr?" he asked quietly.

"He's dead but you already know that right?" Don gazed steadily back at him pausing for a second before he continued. "We found the bullet in his chest. Turns out it came from the gun you was using."

The rage slammed through Mac as Images of Rohr tore through his mind. "Yea. I shot the bastard. I was just checking I aimed right." he spat bitterly. He glanced up at the ceiling and forced himself to calm down. "Did you . . . find Kye?"

Crap! Don swallowed hard as deep regret slammed through his chest."Yea, he . . . he was in a small room at the back of the bunker. . . He'd been . . . dead for a few days."

Mac closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead. "My God." He whispered.

Slowly, Don rose out of the seat and started pacing around the room.

Immediately Mac knew he was keeping something from him. He could see it in his eyes. "What aren't you telling me?"

Don slowed to a stop and met his intense gaze. "They're was a . . . gun fight back at the bunker. We . . . lost Mike Cartwright, Sam Pierce and Cal Vaughan."

Mac's eyes widened. "Does . . . Jo know?"

He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. "She was mad when I told her about what happened to Russ. She said we should have told her sooner. Then she demanded I tell her everything else, so . . . I did. She knows everything now"

Mac muttered under his breath and collapsed back onto the pillows.

"Now she won't talk to anyone. Not even a visit from the hospital psychiatrist has helped.. . ." Don stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Mac struggling to get out of the bed. "Jesus Mac. What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going to see Jo."

His eyes widened. "Are you crazy? She's on the next floor. You won't even make it out of this room before you collapse to the floor."

Another sharp, intense pain shot through Mac as he tried to stand up and it only took several seconds before his legs felt like they were gonna buckle under him.

He sunk back on the bed and cursed loudly. "Fine!" He glanced resignedly back at Don. "Go and find me a damn wheel chair."

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Jo was staring glumly at the soup in front of her when she heard her door open. She glanced up quickly, her breath stalling in her throat when she saw Don pushing Mac into her room.

"Hey. Thought you might like a visitor."

She tore her eyes from Don and met Mac's gaze. She swallowed into an aching throat and slowly pushed the food tray away. "What are you . . . doing here. You've just had a major operation."

Mac rolled towards her. "I'll be fine. I'm just a bit sore. That's all."

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Christine walked out of the hospital canteen and along the corridor. She came to an abrupt stop outside Jo's door and her eye's widened. Mac?. . . No! Pure, focused anger slammed through her when she saw him reach out and take her hand.

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Don glanced across at Jo and Mac. He cleared his throat. "I'll be . . . outside." He turned quickly and started to walk towards the door.

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In a fit of rage, Christine threw her cup of coffee into the bin next to her, and took off around the corner, before Don could see her.

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Jo slowly pulled her hand away from his. "You shouldn't be out of bed. You'll rip your stitches."

Mac sighed inwardly and looked back at her food. "And you should be eating everything on that tray. Your body needs the nutrients."

She smiled faintly and gazed back at the food. "I've had enough."

"You've hardly touched it."

Her smile faded. "I feel . . . sick all the time. I can't seem to . . . keep anything down."

He rolled his chair closer and reached for her hand again.

She shifted back until she was was pressed right up against the pillows.

He released a heavy sigh. "You've been through a lot. It'll take some time. . ."

Her eyes flashed to his. "I've been through a lot?" She interrupted angrily. "What about you. . . What about Russ. You could both be dead now, just like . . . Kye and . . ." She stopped abruptly and tried to push back the heartache but she couldn't stop the stray tear from rolling down her cheek. "I. . .need to be alone."

Mac reached forward. She froze suddenly as he moved his hand toward her face and gently brushed the tear away with his thumb. "It's not good to be alone." he answered softly.

"I'm . . . fine. You can't be worrying about me right now. You need to be back in your room . . ."

Ignoring the pain, Mac started to push himself up out of the chair.

Jo's eyes widened. "What are you doing. . .you're gonna fall."

Clumsily, he grabbed the mattress, turned awkwardly and dropped down on the edge of her bed.

"Mac. You're hurting yourself." She reached for the call alarm.

She felt him circle her wrist lightly. Fearfully, she whirled back around and met his intense gaze.

"I'm . . . okay."

She released a long, shaky breath and looked away. "I'm . . . so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. . ."

Cursing inwardly, he gripped her shoulders and turned her back to face him. "Jo. Stop this . . ."

She pulled away from him. "No! . . .You don't understand. . . That night when I was hiding out in Sound View Park, I . . . hacked the FBI Database and found some old printed documents about a burglary that happened at my fathers house just before I was born. That's when I found out . . . a vase belonging to my father had gone missing."

Mac released her shoulders, his eyes widening. "You knew?"

She swallowed into a dry throat and forced back the tears. "Yes. I made myself believe it was nothing but a coincidence and started doing some digging around into Cain Jackson's family history instead." She breathed in a breath for courage and continued. "I came across some Emails from an old account of his and discovered that Cain Jackson's Cousin Owen Fuller was working at the Paul Kasmin Gallery. He'd been there since August 2002."

He inhaled deeply and stared across at the wall in front of him. Damn it.

"When I . . . saw the DNA results at Colin Smith's apartment, I . . . realised that Cole was not just after a vase. He was after my father's vase. I was going to . . . head back to Sound View Park and grab some equipment, before driving to the Gallery and searching the place. If I found the vase I would have . . . destroyed it, but . . . you caught up with me."

He turned back to her. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?" he asked, the frustration now evident in his voice.

Jo blinked back the tears from her eyelids. "I decided to tell you and Russ the next day, when I thought we were on our way to Sound View Park to meet him, but. . . as you know . . . we didn't get there." She pushed back the rising nausea and closed her eyes. "I screwed up and now Kye, Mike and Sam are. . ."

Mac released a long, pent up breath and cut in quickly. "Jo look at me."

She continued to stare down at the blankets.

"Please."

She released a long, shaky breath and slowly glanced back at Mac.

"You didn't shoot Kye, Sam or Mike Jo. Alex Cole did."

"But if I'd told you everything back at Colin's apartment . . ."

"You're saying that if you'd come forward with this information it would have stopped Kye, Sam and Mike being killed?"

"Yes. . . ." She looked away. " . . .I do."

"Well I don't."

She turned back quickly and raised her voice at him. "I don't want to talk about this any more Mac! I want you to leave!"

He forced himself to calm down."Okay. Jo just listen to me a minute. Even if we'd found the vase before Gulliver. We wouldn't have let the FBI know about it and we certainly wouldn't have found out that Gulliver was a bad guy in that short space of time, so I think things would have still played out the same way back at the FBI building.

And another thing? Your information would not have confirmed there were over a dozen crooked Agents working for Cole and so we still wouldn't have had any idea that Carl Bertrum was lying to us that morning. We still would have driven into their trap Jo."

"Mac . . ."

"I haven't finished."

Jo sighed heavily and looked away.

"And lastly? You didn't know where Alex Cole's main base was, did you?"

She shot him a stubborn look. "No, but you can't just predict what would, and what wouldn't have happened. . ."

"No I can't. No one can. Not even you."

"I . . .I'm not. . . I just. . ." Her voice trailed off and fresh tears filled her eyes.

"Let it go Jo." He held out his arms to her. "Please. . . just let it go." he pleaded. His voice cracked slightly when he noticed the shame and guilt flicker in her eyes, and a mix of relief and despair gripped his heart as he watched her slowly start to crumble before him.

She couldn't hold back the pain any longer. She launched herself at Mac and clung to him unable to hold back the sobs as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

Mac drew her closer, suddenly overwhelmed by the sudden deluge of his own raw emotions sweeping through him as she continued to break in his arms.

He pressed his cheek to hers and stroked her hair. "Shh. It's okay. . . you're gonna be okay." he whispered shakily.

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Don tore his eyes from Jo and quickly moved away from her door. Suddenly he heard footsteps and looked up.

Crap! It's Lindsay.

He took a deep, unsteady breath, turned his back on her and frantically blinked back the wetness around his eyelids.

Lindsay circled around him and came to an abrupt stop. "Don. Are you okay?"

"Yea I'm . . . fine." he answered quickly.

She frowned. "Is Jo all right?"

He became very still, his eye's slowly widening. "I . . . don't really know. . . I've never seen her . . . like this."

Lindsay's eyes widened. "Like what?" She asked anxiously.

She didn't wait for Don to answer. She dashed to Jo's door and reached for the handle, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw them through the glass.

She released a long, relieved breath and glanced back at him.

"Should I get a doctor?" Don asked nervously.

Lindsay rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "She's gonna be fine Don. They both are."

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OKAY. . . SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING TO BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER YET. I HAD ENOUGH TROUBLE WRITING THIS ONE. LOL.

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