Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY.
Chapter Two
Jess hated hospitals. From the time she was a little girl and one of her brothers was always breaking something, whether it was from climbing trees, or football, or baseball, she had hated hospitals.
She hated the hush of the waiting rooms.
She hated the sounds of the machines.
She hated the gowns they made you wear.
She hated how patronising the nurses could be.
She hated how the doctors never told you exactly what was wrong.
But most of all, she hated the waiting.
No one would tell her how Don was doing and all of her questions about either of them were met with false smiles and empty words.
By the time Lindsay finally poked her head round the door, Jess was beginning to panic. For the first time, she met her friend's eyes. "What the hell happened to me?"
"You took a 50 calibre bullet to the shoulder." Lindsay answered evenly. "The wound was a through-and-through, but hit mostly soft tissue, so you won't be able to use your left arm for a while, but the doctors are pretty sure you'll make a full recovery."
"How's Don?" Jess asked, dreading the answer.
Lindsay sighed. "He's still in surgery and they're not telling us anything." She took a deep breath. "Detective Angell, I need you to tell me what happened."
Recognising the professional tone of Lindsay's voice, Jess nodded, realising that she was a victim in this case. "I was escorting Connor Dunbrook to the courthouse … his lawyers insisted that he needed breakfast, so we went across the street to Tillery's Diner … It's Detective Flack's day off and he always goes there for breakfast on his days off. We were talking and then …" She stopped, the memory flying back to her.
"Take your time, Jess." Lindsay told her softly, torn between duty and friendship.
Jess nodded again. "An 18-wheeler came through the store front. Detective Flack and I both drew our weapons; four men exited the back of the vehicle and headed over to Dunbrook. A fifth stayed behind the wheel and a sixth exited the cabin, drew a weapon and began firing at us."
"He discharged his weapon first?" Lindsay checked.
"Yeah." Jess frowned. "I don't … I know I emptied my clip … He was shot twice ... in the shoulder, I think …"
"The driver ended up dead." Lindsay told her softly. "Do you know whose bullet that would have been?"
Jess shook her head. "I – I don't know. After a while, our guns sort of … blended, you know? I felt a pain in my shoulder, and then Don fell against me and we both fell to the floor … I heard running footsteps, then the sound of a car driving away."
"Did you see the car?" Lindsay prompted.
"No, I couldn't see anything." Jess answered. "I was on the ground. I waited a few minutes … when Don didn't move, I pushed him off me and realised that he'd been shot …"
"Where?" Lindsay interrupted.
"Um … around here." Jess gestured to her left side. "I tried to stem the bleeding, but … The ambulance wasn't coming and …" She took a deep breath, lifting her hand, half expecting to that it was still covered in his blood. "Dunbrook's attorneys came over and said they'd take him to the hospital; they … they'd already gathered everyone together and told them not to go anywhere, because they'd have to answer questions …" She laughed shakily. "I guess criminal lawyers do have hearts after all."
"And then what?" Lindsay asked.
Jess shook her head. "I don't know. I'm here, I guess." She sifted restlessly. "Do you know when I can get out of here? I know he's still in surgery, but … I just want to be near him."
"The doctors want to keep you in overnight for observation." Lindsay told her gently. "You should be discharged tomorrow." She cleared her throat. "I just have a few follow-up questions, Jess, okay?"
Jess nodded. "Okay."
Lindsay checked her notes. "At the diner, I noticed a bloodstain on your left sleeve that didn't seem to be connected to your wound or the blood on your hands; do you know where it was from?"
"I told you." Jess stated quietly. "I had to push him off me. I used my left arm; I guess it must have brushed against his wound."
"Okay." Lindsay pulled the sling aside slightly, just to make sure there wasn't a graze on her arm to explain the bloodstain; she knew the DNA would confirm, but they had a backlog at the moment, so anything to make it easier. At the same time, she noticed a curious bruise on Jess's upper arm, in the shape of what looked like a handprint. "Jess, has anyone grabbed you in the last couple of days?"
"Grabbed me?" Jess repeated. "No. Not that I remember."
Lindsay nodded, photographing the bruise. "Alright. I've gotta get back to the diner and finish processing. I'll be back later and your parents should be here soon."
Jess gave her a small nod. "Okay."
"How's Jess?" Stella asked as soon as Lindsay re-entered the diner.
"Still in shock, I think." Lindsay answered. "She says she's fine, but she won't be until Flack's in recovery. You got the witness reports?"
"Um …" Stella rifled through the paperwork. "Here."
Lindsay scanned through them. "That's pretty much what Jess said happened." She concluded, a small frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" Stella prompted.
Lindsay stared at the space in front of the semi where they knew the shooter had been standing. "Something's not right." She stated quietly, her gaze shifting to the bullet holes in the wall behind the counter. "Something about this whole thing doesn't make any sense."
"What do you mean?" Stella asked.
"Here." Lindsay took her arm and moved her to the shooter's position. "Stand here. Okay, so we know that Jess was shot first and then Don."
Stella nodded. "Right. And then Don fell into her, knocking them both to the ground."
"Yeah, but …" Lindsay headed over to the hole in the wall. "I need a volunteer."
The uniform she'd spoken to earlier jogged over. "What do you need, Detective?"
"What's your name, kid?"
"Carlson." He replied.
"Okay, Carlson, I want you to stand …" Lindsay positioned him in front of the counter "… here. Now." She stood next to him. "You're Detective Flack at the moment; I'm Detective Angell. Pretend to shoot Detective Bonasera."
Carlson complied, aiming his hand in that direction.
"Good." Lindsay grasped her shoulder as though it had been shot. "Now I want you to pretend you've been shot and fall into me. Just fall sideways."
"Er … alright." Carlson slumped to the side and Lindsay fell forwards, releasing her shoulder to put a hand out to control her fall, feeling him land on her feet.
"I thought so." Lindsay announced.
"Did that help?" Carlson asked, offering her a hand up.
"Thank you." Lindsay brushed herself down. "Yes, it did."
"Okay." Stella frowned. "I don't see your point, Lindsay."
"If Don was shot and then fell into Jess, she would have controlled her fall; he would have landed on her legs." Lindsay explained. "But according to her, he landed on top of her; she had to push him off to be able to get up. Now she had a bruise on her up arm that looked like someone had grabbed her arm." She turned to the uniform. "This time, I want you to grab my arm and push me to the ground."
"Are you sure?" Carlson asked dubiously.
"Just do it." Lindsay rolled her eyes.
"Okay." Carlson did as he was instructed; Lindsay landed on her side and he landed heavily on top of her.
"That's what happened." Lindsay concluded, as he helped her to her feet again. "Don pushed her out the way."
"Lindsay, we've got no proof of that." Stella reminded her. "There are only security cameras outside the diner, not inside."
Lindsay sighed, pulling out her phone as it beeped, signalling a new message. Check out the location; call me back. She pressed a few buttons, wincing at the photo Danny had sent. "I think we do. Danny just sent me a photo of Don's wound." She handed the phone to Stella, who examined the picture. "It's in his side."
"But then …" Stella faced the semi, picturing where the shooter had been standing and turned to the side. "He must have been standing like this. You're right, Lindsay; he was pushing Jess out the way and that means that he did it before the second bullet was fired … But in that case …"
"Was the bullet aimed at him or her?" Lindsay finished grimly. "I'd best call Danny back." She moved away, waiting for an answer.
"Messer."
"How is he?" Lindsay asked immediately.
Danny sighed. "It doesn't look good, babe. It's too close to the wound from the bombing; they say if it was on the other side, he'd be okay, but … It's really too soon to tell. What do you got?"
"It looks like he was shot pushing Jess out the way." Lindsay told him. "There's every possibility that he took a bullet for her."
Danny cursed. "Do we tell her?"
"She has to know." Lindsay admitted. "If he … dies …"she fought to get the word out, hating the way it tasted "… he died saving her life and that's how he'd have wanted it. You know?"
"Yeah, I know." Danny cleared his throat and she knew he was struggling to hold it together, to keep a tough front. "Can you tell her?"
"I'll do it." Lindsay promised. "I'll see you later." Hanging up, she turned back to Stella. Her emotions must have shown on her face, because the older woman closed her eyes.
"Is he …?"
"Hanging on." Lindsay answered quietly. "Just. I'm going back to the hospital; Jess needs to know about this and I don't want her to hear about if from some stranger."
"Right." Stella agreed. "Go on; go. I'll get Adam to come and help finish up."
When Lindsay arrived back at the hospital, she went down to ICU first, finding her husband in the waiting area, his head in his hands. "Danny."
Danny glanced up. "I thought you'd go straight to Jess."
"She's not the only one who needs me." Lindsay told him softly. "Don's your best friend, Danny; you okay?"
Wordlessly, Danny stood up and pulled her into his arms. Lindsay held him tightly, hoping that he could take some form of comfort from her embrace.
"It's easier." Danny murmured suddenly. "Knowing what happened."
"It is?" Lindsay asked, loosening her hold slightly to meet his eyes.
"Yeah." Danny let out a shaky breath. "Because it's something I'd do, you know? If he'd just been shot, it'd be bad. But he's in there because he saved the woman he loved and …" He cupped her face. "You know I love you, right?"
"Of course I do." Lindsay assured him. "I love you too."
"He's never told her." Danny explained quietly, turning to look at the hospital room. "He keeps asking me how he should bring it up, but … the last time we had that conversation was last night. He never did it."
"He will." Lindsay stated confidently. "He's got her waiting for him, Danny; he has to wake up."
Danny sighed and kissed her forehead. "I hope you're right, Montana."
"So do I." Lindsay whispered. She reached up and kissed him quickly. "Alright. I'm going up to Recovery."
"Good luck." Danny called after her.
When she got there, Jess was once again alone in her hospital room, but looking a lot calmer than she had earlier.
"Didn't your parents arrive yet?" Lindsay asked curiously.
"Yeah, but they had to get back. Both of them still work after all." Jess explained with a small smile. "That, and I told them I wasn't going to spend my recovery with them in Jersey and that I wasn't even going to pretend to entertain the idea until I knew Don was okay. Is he?"
Lindsay sat down next to her. "He's out of surgery, but the doctors still aren't sure about the extent of the damage." She reached out and took Jess's good hand. "Listen, there's something I need to tell you."
"He pushed me out the way." Jess whispered. "Didn't he?"
"Yeah." Lindsay was surprised. "You know?"
"Not at first." Jess admitted. "But I thought about the bruise and how I landed … It's the only explanation." She took a shaky breath. "Did he take the bullet for me?"
"We don't know, Jess." Lindsay squeezed her hand gently. "You just need to remember that, if he did, it was his decision and he wouldn't want you to feel guilty."
"I don't feel guilty." Jess told her. "I just … I can't lose him, Lindsay; what if he doesn't make it? What if I never get a chance to tell him that I love him?"
"Ssh." Lindsay pulled Jess to her, being careful not to knock her injured shoulder. She felt Jess break down in her arms and her heart ached for her friend. She couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through; just the thought of losing Danny was too painful to consider.
She remembered how terrified she'd been during the hostage situation at the Wilder crime scene; how awful she'd felt at the hospital afterwards, knowing that it should have been her in that room.
But she knew that none of that could even come close to how Jess must have been feeling at that moment.
"Detective Angell?"
Lindsay glanced up, releasing her hold a little as she did, to see one of the nurses standing in the doorway. "Jess."
Reluctantly, Jess looked up, her face streaked with tears. "Yes?"
The nurse smiled comfortingly at her. "We've just finished running the samples we took from you and I need to do a few more tests."
"Am I okay?" Jess asked shakily.
"You're fine." The nurse assured her, checking the drip beside the bed. "We just need to make sure the baby is as well."
AN: Not my best work, in my opinion, but … *Fastens on helmet and ducks behind barricade* Okay, I'm ready. Let me have it.