Disclaimer: I obviously do not own CSI: NY. I just own my car, my laptop and my crazy muse who seems to want to write 4 different stories at a time. I also do own any characters that you do not recognize. You can borrow them if you ask permission first! I also do not own Taylor or Maddy! They still belong to Axellia!
A/N: Here's the next chappie!! Thanks to all who reviewed. As always, please R&R. My muse loves the attention. :D Also, I am not a doctor. I can not even stand the sight of blood. While I did get some advice from my mother, who is a nurse, I have no idea if this is even possible. Okay, guys. I'm posting this early (I'm going to start posting on Saturday or Sunday) just because I'm nice and I'm going to be out of town this weekend for my bff's b-day! Hope y'all enjoy!! (Still a bit of a cliffhanger here)
Chapter 23.
Shock
Flack reacted instantly when he heard the shot. It wasn't until he heard Danny's anguished scream that he realized that Cory had been hit. The cop in him came to the forefront as he scanned for the sniper. He caught a break when a shaft of light bounced off a rifle. He shot a look at Mac and realized he had seen it as well.
Both took off at a dead run, weaving through the traffic with ease. They bounded into the building and began to run up the stairs. As they got closer to the floor that they had seen the sniper on, both slowed down and raised their weapons. From across the street, they could hear angry yells as FBI agents swarmed out of the building and the ever present sound of a siren. Both hoped silently that it was the ambulance coming for Cory.
Quietly, they entered the floor, thankful that this was the only stairwell that was open. They used standard entry procedures; Flack going in high, Mac going in low. Using hand signals, they coordinated their attack.
They saw a man running from the windows and Flack reacted first. He took off after him, muttering under his breath, "Why do they always run?"
The sniper was no match for his long legs and he slowly gained on him. Taking a risk, Flack launched himself at the man, bringing him down in a flying tackle that rivaled an NFL linebacker.
Grunting as he brought the man down, he quickly had him in cuffs, as Mac held his gun trained on him. "You're under arrest," he began as he quickly read the man his Miranda rights. Hearing a commotion coming from the stairs, he smiled grimly as a multitude of FBI agents stormed onto the floor.
Cory was jarred back into semi-awareness when the ambulance hit a particularly big pothole in the road. She groaned in pain.
"Cory?" She heard Hawkes call her name and tried to respond, but was not able to. She felt dizziness embrace her again.
"Damn it!" Hawkes yelled as the monitors began it beep in earnest. "We're losing her." Hawkes grabbed the crash cart and lubed up the paddles as she went into cardiac arrest. A paramedic ripped her shirt down the center and placed the adhesive patches on her chest. Hawkes placed the paddles on her chest. "Clear!" he yelled.
Cory's body arched as the electric current flowed through her body. Her heart resumed its normal rhythm, much to Hawkes' relief. The paramedics quickly began to work on her again.
Hawkes watched her for signs of heart failure again. Just as they were pulling up to the hospital, with Danny and Lydia screeching to a halt behind them, her heart stopped again.
The paramedics threw open the doors, as Hawkes climbed on the stretcher to administer CPR.
Danny vaguely admired Lydia's driving as she deftly wove in and out of traffic with the siren blaring. She kept up with the ambulance while Danny prayed to every God he could think of to let Cory live.
As Lydia slid to a stop behind the ambulance, Danny's heart froze when he saw Hawkes on the stretcher administering CPR. "God, no…Please. She can't die," he whispered brokenly.
His grief overwhelmed him as he leapt from SUV to chase after the group. He ran into the ER in a panic as the stretcher moved forward at a hurried pace. He was stopped by the swinging doors by a nurse.
"Let me through! Let me through!" he screamed in panic. "I have to be with her!"
The nurse watched him carefully, knowing from the incoming reports that he was a cop. "Sir, I'm sorry. You can't go in there. Please, let me direct you to a waiting room."
Danny continued to fight until Lydia put a hand on his arm. "Danny," she said softly. "Please. Let them do their job. You'll be of no use if they throw you out of the hospital."
Her calm words, with an underlying tone of panic, penetrated his anguish. He gave up his fight and allowed himself to be led to a waiting room.
Cory saw a bright light in front of her. She squinted into the light, which did not hurt her eyes and saw a group of people. Realization dawned on her when she began to recognize the figures. It was her dad, James, Michael and her Aunt CC.
"Well, hell," she said, realizing that either she was dead or she wasn't far from it. James walked up to her.
"Hey, sweetheart. I never knew that I would be seeing you this soon," he said, a pearly tear running down his cheek.
"James," she whispered. "Am I dead?"
He shook his head. "No, not yet. I won't lie to you. It's touch and go. No one knows if you will live."
Cory shook her head in sorrow. "James, as much as I love you, I love Danny just as much. This would destroy him."
James wrapped his arms around her. "I know sweetheart. You have to know that you have many people pulling for you to win." He glanced up as Maddy, Aiden and Armando showed up. He looked at Maddy. "Can she go down?"
Maddy looked speculative. "It's not exactly against the rules, but she'll have to be careful. Taylor's on her way to the hospital and if she sees her, Taylor will probably freak out."
Cory nodded her understanding and suddenly she was standing in an operating room. She looked at all the machines hooked up on her body and shuddered in response. She looked around when she heard Hawkes' voice and realized that he was one of the surgeons.
"There's massive hemorrhaging in her abdomen. The bullet penetrated both her small intestine and her colon. I think it might have also ricocheted off of her spine to its final resting place of her uterus," another surgeon said. "Okay, people. Let's stop the bleeding first. Then we'll begin the delicate procedure of extracting the bullet."
The group of surgeons bent over the table and began the task of sewing up the severed blood vessels. Minutes into the procedure, Cory watched as the heart monitor began to beep in earnest.
"Damn it!" she heard Hawkes exclaim. "She's crashing again. Damn you, Cory. Do not die on me! I won't be able to face Danny if you do."
She watched in interest as the doctors began a frantic activity to get her heart to start again.
In the waiting room, a mass of people had gathered. Danny was sitting in a chair, his head in his hands as he wept openly. Alexis was sitting next to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Stella was wrapped in Mac's arms while Flack was performing the same service for Lindsay. Lydia paced nervously, trying to work out her nerves, every once in a while glancing at the clock, which seemed to be moving at a crawl.
Suddenly, Taylor showed up in the room. "Any news?"
Mac shook his head. "She's been in surgery for five hours. No news yet."
Taylor sighed as she sat next to Danny. "Hey, Messer. If it's any consolation, I haven't seen her ghost."
Danny looked up, a bleak expression on his face. "Thanks, Taylor," he said in a monotone.
Taylor looked at him in shock at his use of her first name.
Back in the operating room, Cory watched as the doctors stabilized her. Finally, with the bleeding under control, they were confident that she wasn't in any further danger of going into cardiac arrest again.
Hawkes took the lead in trying to extract the bullet. "Shit," he muttered. "A fragment hit one of her ovaries. We're going to have to remove it."
One of the other doctors nodded. "That's the least of our worries. My concern is that the bullet did ricochet off her spine. There is a possibility that she will never walk again."
Hawkes shook his head. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's just keep her alive right now."
Cory sighed, then willed herself back into Limbo. She smiled at James when he held his arms out to him.
He held her in his comforting arms then murmured, "You know you don't have to go back. You have a choice."
Cory raised her eyebrow. "You mean I can just give up, don't you?"
James nodded. "Think about it, Cor. You saw the surgery. You lost an ovary and they don't know whether or not you'll be paralyzed if you wake up. Do you want to go back to that?"
Cory closed her eyes. "I need some time to think," she murmured as she drew out of his arms and began to walk away from everyone.
It was just after one a.m. when Hawkes finally walked out of the operating room. He had told the other surgeons that he would take care of notifying the group in the waiting room. Lines of exhaustion and heartache lined his face as he slowly made his way into the room.
He noticed Lindsay, Stella and Flack asleep in the chairs. Mac was staring at a newspaper, not even seeing the words on the page.
Danny sat as he had been all day, his head in his hands. His tears had stopped, but he still looked grim. He glanced up as he felt Hawkes walk into the room. He took one look at his face and broke down. "She's dead, isn't she?"
The sleeping members awoke at his anguished cry. Alexis was barely holding on to her control, trying to be strong for Danny.
Hawkes sighed. "No, she's not dead. But, it's not good, Dan. I'm not going to lie to you. It was touch and go there for a while. She lost a lot of blood. The bullet ricocheted in her body and caused some severe damage. We managed to stop the bleeding, but we had to perform a partial hysterectomy. The bullet also hit her spine, so we don't know the extent of the damage there." He drew a tired hand down his face. "She slipped into a coma. We did all we could, but the longer she is in the coma, the more likely it is that she will not wake up." He sat down as he finished delivering the bad news. Lydia immediately went to him, putting her arms around him.
Danny sat there in shock, the realization of what Hawkes said sitting in. He stood up abruptly, knocking the chair over in his anger. "Damn it! No!" He tried to relieve his rage by punching the wall.
Mac rushed to him, trying to calm him down. "Danny. Stop it. You can't do anything. She's alive. She's not dead. It's up to her now. You know how strong she is. Don't give up on her."
Danny continued to fight half-heartedly against Mac. Finally, Hawkes intervened and insisted that Danny take a sedative and promised him that when he was allowed in, he could sit with Cory, no regards to the visiting hours.
Mollified somewhat, Danny conceded as sleep overtook him.
AN: Okay, so this is still a cliffie. Not as bad as last chapter, but still pretty bad...Good news...It will be resolved next chapter!
Axellia - I can't believe that you've read it a couple of times and still have a heart attack everytime you read it!!! Especially since you've read the 4 chapter's after it!!! I'm just changing my update days. It's getting to hard to update on Wednesdays. So it'll be Saturday or Sunday when I update now. It's easier on me. :D I can't believe that you still hadn't eaten when you read this! Don't make me go all Mom on you!! You get new chapters when my muse gets off her butt to write! It's been so hard lately, it's like she's pissed at the story or something. Hum...Maybe Vodka and Red Bull will help me. :D It certainly worked for your muse!
CSI Junkie - Yeah...I was surprised when I wrote it. That chapter, this chapter and next chapter were all written within a 24 hour period. It just flowed out of me. If it makes you feel better, I do have the chapters pre-written so that way y'all don't have to wait long...that is if my muse will actually allow me to write on this again!
brainDamage - Okay. Take a deep breathe. Inhale, exhale, breathe. I'm sorry I made you cry! But I did warn you that this chapter would be unexpected! I do leave you hanging until next chapter on whether or not she lives or dies. Which option do you think?
Aphina - I decided that I need to push the case along a little bit. Plus, it's so much more interesting to have someone on the inside. If you noticed, there is still one Martinez Brother that is in the wind:P The pool game was awesome. I wish I could play like that! Yeah. I'll always have the guys cleaning if the girls cook. That's how I was raised. Who cooks does not clean!!! Ha! For my dragon muse, who protected me!!! I'm glad I made your jaw drop in surprise!!!! (I'll work on that chapter for you tomorrow...I'm completely knackered tonight!)
Nikkilou - Thanks for the review!!! I'm glad that you've enjoyed it thus far. I hope it keeps you entertained!