Note: I wasn't planning on writing anything till after the holidays, but after I received several angry messages, I decided to write another chapter. As an FYI, I rarely write stories without a happy ending. :)

"What the hell happened!?" Chief Taylor yelled as he walked into the waiting room of Mercy General Hospital.

Looking around at the twenty officers who were sitting in small plastic chairs or leaning against the wall, he forced himself to calm down. Every one of them wore defeated, concerned looks on their faces.

Taylor's eyes scanned the room where they fell on Sharon, Andy and Amy. All three looked miserable. Walking over he pulled up a chair.

"What happened out there?"

"When we realized who it was, I didn't want to take chances on him taking Rusty as a hostage or shooting him point blank, so I ran up to take the man down, and he turned the tables on me," Sharon said her voice scratchy from all the crying she had done.

"He was smart Chief. He distracted us so that our attention was on him and the Captain. No one was watching the kid. All along he had planned for us to be distracted, while he said certain things to play with Rusty's mind so he would come closer and shoot him," Andy replied angrily

Taylor sighed running a hand across his face.

"The main thing I don't understand is why he wasn't wearing his vest,"

More tears filled Sharon's eyes and she shook her head.

"I don't know. I've been asking myself that question all afternoon. I thought he had it on, but we found it in the van underneath one of the benches,"

"Last week, he complained about it. He said it made him too hot and he had a difficult time moving. I never thought he wouldn't wear it. We stressed the importance of it," Amy said sadly.

"Does anyone know his condition?" Taylor asked

"He passed out while we were waiting for the paramedics. The last thing we heard was that he was in surgery,"

"Which was almost three hours ago," Sharon replied standing up, pulling her sweater tighter around herself and walked towards the drinking fountain. She blamed herself for what happened. She knew there was no possibility things would have gone any differently since Rusty hadn't worn his vest and the late Dr. Davenport had meticulously planned for his death. Still, she couldn't help but blame herself for not staying in the van and playing a hand in the stupid mind games that man was an expert at.

Watching Sharon pace the hallways, Taylor sighed.

"How is she doing?"

Both Andy and Amy shook their heads.

"She's a mess Chief. She lost it when Rusty passed out thinking he was dead. It wasn't till Amy found a pulse that we were able to calm her down. She's been reserved and quiet since," Andy replied.

Taylor nodded sadly. He knew how much Rusty meant to Sharon.

"Just so you know, Emma is beyond angry. It took me awhile to convince her not to come down here and yell at you all. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be calmer,"

A few more hours slowly passed and a doctor finally came out. Scanning the room his eyes fell on the large group of officers. Walking over he watched as the group rose and surrounded him. Giving them a reassuring tired smile he said,

"The surgery was a success. He's going to be fine. The first bullet buried itself in one of his ribs breaking a couple, the other did more damage, collapsing a lung and nicking one of the arteries, but we were able to repair everything,"

"When can I see him?" Sharon asked feeling relief at the knowledge Rusty was going to be ok.

"He's in recovery right now, but If you'd like to follow me, I'll take you to him," Sharon nodded her head quickly following the doctor down the hallway towards the room where Rusty lay. At the entrance of the room the doctor said,

"He has several IV's. One is an antibiotic to ward off any infections, and the other is a saline solution to keep him hydrated. His heartbeat is strong and stable. He's a fighter,"

Sharon nodded her head absently unable to tear her eyes away from her son.

"Do you know when he should wake up?"

"It all depends on the person, but hopefully in the next few hours,"

"Could I stay with him?" she asked.

The doctor looked at her noticing her red blood shot eyes and her extremely pale face. He suspected if he said no she would end up staying in the waiting room. He was a father and he knew if it was his son lying there nothing would keep him away.

"I'll ask the nurses to bring a bed for you if you'd like," With that he left her and moved on to his next patient.

Walking into the room, Sharon took a few deep breaths then pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down. Tentatively reaching a hand out she carefully avoided the tube which led to his IV and gently held his hand.

"Rusty, I'm so sorry honey. I wish I had caught on sooner. I wish I had checked to make sure you were wearing your vest, which we will be talking about once you're out of the hospital,"

Taking a deep breath to steady her emotions. She reminded herself that he was fine. He had made it through surgery and if things continued going well, he would be out of the hospital and back in her condo within a week.

"Rusty, I love you so much, and if you are interested, I'd like to officially make you a part of my family. Maybe we can even discuss me formally adopting you or whatever you feel comfortable with. I'm so proud of you,"

A few hours later, Andy walked towards Rusty's room to check on them. A few feet away he stopped when he saw Rusty awake, a small smile on his face as he gazed at Sharon who was asleep next to him. Andy watched from a distance as Rusty put a hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Not wanting to disturb them, he turned around and headed towards the waiting room to inform the group that all was well.