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!

A/N: Here's the next chappie!! Thanks to all who reviewed. As always, please R&R. My muse loves the attention. :D Okay. So this concludes the story arc...Okay guys...My phone at home is way jacked up and the telephone company can't get a tech out until Friday. I'm posting this while I have a chance, but I may not be able to post until next week sometime. No evil cliffhanger here, though!

Chapter 24.

A Decision Made

Danny stared down at the recently turned earth as the relentless Texas sun beat down on him. He remembered Cory saying that he hadn't experienced a true heat until you stood in the Texas sun in the middle of August. He gazed at the headstone. Corrine Danielle Reid. April 1, 1976 – July 25, 2007. Beloved Daughter and Friend. Death is not an ending, it is only a beginning. Somberly, he bent over and laid the bouquet of red and yellow roses on the earth as tears fell down his face. "Bella. I can't believe that you're gone. I miss you."

Danny awoke with a start from the nightmare that had been plaguing his dreams for the previous month since Cory had been shot. He looked around the private room where she was lying. He ran his hand down his face, not even registering the stubble of his unshaven beard. He heard a low murmur of voices outside of the room.

"I'm worried about him Sheldon," a female voice said. "He's not eating. He's lost at least fifteen pounds in the last month; his skin is sallow and his eyes sunken in. If Cory doesn't wake up soon, you're going to have him as a patient."

"I know. We've all tried to get him to eat, but nothing."

Danny decided to speak up at this point. "You know I can hear you, right?"

Alexis and Hawkes looked into the room with a guilty expression. Alexis got a stern mothering look on her face. "I don't care, young man. You need to eat. At this rate, you're going to kill yourself before she wakes up."

"If she ever wakes up," Danny muttered under his breath.

Alexis heard him and decided to give him a good tongue lashing. "That's it. No more of that kind of talk. If you don't think that she'll live, then you're doing her no good! If you don't change your attitude, you can just leave and not return until you can be positive!"

Danny sat back at her harsh words, the truth of them penetrating his mind. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Alexis smiled. "That's okay." She looked at Danny carefully. "Look, Danny. Why don't you go home, get changed and clean up. I made a pot roast last night, so eat some of that. If you don't, I'm going to ban you from the hospital until you do eat."

Danny sighed in defeat. "Okay. I'll go, but if anything changes in her condition, call me immediately!"

Alexis smiled. "You bet." She watched as Danny left the room, her mask of confidence disintegrating. She took the seat that he had vacated and gently picked up Cory's hand. "Cory? Please, wake up. I know that they say people in comas can hear what's going on around them, so please hear me. Danny is lost without you. If you don't wake up soon, I think he's going to collapse from the strain. It's gotten bad enough that Mac has taken him out of the field. He's strictly on lab work until he can get himself under control." Slowly, tears began to run down Alexis' face as well. "Please," she begged brokenly. "I can't lose you as well."

When Danny got back to the hospital, he felt much better. He had shaved for the first time in three days and the pot roast that Alexis made had been delicious. He returned with a lighter heart and more hope.

When he walked into the room, he noticed Alexis asleep in the chair next to Cory, her face stained with tears. His heart broke as he realized what kind of a toll this was taking on her. A light bulb went on in his head as he realized that she and Cory reacted in similar ways. When Cory was upset, she always did one of three things. Cook, clean or clean her gun. Alexis wasn't any different. He had never seen their apartment as sparkling clean as it had been over the past month, not that either of them were slobs. There were enough prepared meals to feed an army. Sighing, he touched her arm slightly. "Alexis?"

Alexis woke up at the slight touch, feeling groggy. "Uh-huh? What's the matter?"

Danny smiled slightly. "Nothing. Why don't you go and get some sleep? You look exhausted."

Alexis nodded. "Okay. I don't want to leave, but I think that the nurses will let me sleep in their break room."

Danny nodded in agreement and watched as she walked out of the room. Grabbing a book, he proceeded to begin to read to Cory, picking up where he'd left off.

His voice was his only companion for an hour, as he read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to Cory in Italian, since she loved it when he talked to her in Italian. He was up to chapter nineteen when the monitors went crazy and Cory began to thrash around on the bed.

In a panic, he ran for the door, yelling for a doctor. Alexis heard his cries and exited the break room in a run. Danny was pushed to the side as a team of doctors began to work on her. Please, God. Please, let her live, he prayed.

Finally, fifteen minutes after the seizures had begun, they suddenly stopped. The heart monitor went back to normal and Danny looked up in relief. "Is she okay?" he asked quietly. Alexis stood beside him, holding his hand tightly.

Cory's primary doctor, Dr. Alonzo, smiled. "She's doing just fine. Believe it or not, this is a good sigh. The increased brain activity means that she will more than likely wake up within the next week."

Both Danny and Alexis felt relief course through their bodies and each sagged a little. "Oh, thank God," Alexis whispered.

Danny praised God silently and as the doctors left the room, he resumed his place by her bedside and continued reading. He had just begun chapter twenty-three when he heard a soft sigh. Dropping the book in his excitement, he looked at Cory. Her eyelids were fluttering.

"Bella? Cory? Can you hear me?" he asked as he picked up her hand. "Please, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

Across the bed from him, Alexis also picked up her hand. Soon both of them felt faint pressure on their fingers as Cory contracted her fingers.

Danny looked at Alexis, who smiled broadly and quickly went to find Dr. Alonzo.

Danny gripped her hand, tightly, not wanting to let go. "Oh, thank you. Cory…" he trailed off as she opened her hazel eyes, squinting in the bright light. She tried to speak, but her throat was scratchy and dry.

Danny understood what was going on and patted her hand. "Hold on, bella. Your mom has gone to get Dr. Alonzo. Once he looks you over, we'll see if we can get you to talking."

Cory nodded, feeling uneasy about Danny's appearance. He looks sick, she thought. She waited, somewhat impatiently for the doctor to arrive. When he did, he was all smiles.

"Well, Cory. You've made an amazing recovery. Do you remember what happened?" he asked.

Cory nodded her head and croaked out, "Yes."

Dr. Alonzo saw her difficulty and motioned to Danny that he could give her some water through a straw.

Once he did, she felt the dryness in her throat decrease. She turned her gaze to Danny and asked, "Was it Frasier?"

Danny nodded solemnly. "Yes. Flack and Mac caught him trying to flee the scene. He's behind bars, sweetheart."

Cory closed her eyes in relief. "How long have I been out?"

Danny sighed. "A month."

Her eyes flew open. "A month?" she exclaimed.

Alexis nodded. "Yes, sweetie. After the doctors saved your life, you slipped into a coma. We didn't know if you were ever going to come out of it."

Cory suddenly realized why Danny looked so haggard. "Oh," she said as she yawned.

Dr. Alonzo noticed her tiredness. "Why don't you get some rest? I'm sure that everyone will come up and see you as soon as possible."

Cory nodded, feeling her energy drain out of her body. "Okay."

Alexis, sensing that Cory and Danny needed to be alone, excused herself under the pretense of notifying everyone that she was awake.

Cory looked at Danny. "Chere. What are my injuries?"

Danny shuddered at the memories her question invoked. "You lost an ovary and they thought that you might be paralyzed since the bullet ricocheted off of your spine. They did do some tests while you were in the coma and they do think that you will be able to walk again."

Cory stared at him, the memories of what she had believed to be a dream crashing to the forefront. "I thought it was a dream," she muttered.

Danny drew his eyebrows together. "You thought what was a dream?"

Cory sighed. "I was in Limbo. James, Michael, Armando and Aunt CC were there. I had a choice on whether to live or to die."

Danny felt the blood drain from his face. "What?"

Cory raised her eyebrows. "I remember coming down here. I watched Hawkes perform the surgery on me. I knew that I had lost an ovary and that it was a great possibility that I would be paralyzed."

Danny shook his head, not believing what he was hearing. "If that's true then why did you choose to come back?"

Cory smiled softly. "For you."

Danny was confused. "Wait. You just said that you were with James. Why not choose to stay with him? Why come back for me?"

"Because I love you. James is in a good place, but you would have been destroyed if I had died. Hell, look at you right now. You look like a walking skeleton. How could I do that to someone that I love?"

Danny felt tears slide down his cheek. "I love you," he said before bending down and kissing her softly.

AN: So, everyone happy now??? (:D) Okay...I have a shameless plug here (thank you to Axellia for that phrase...) If you want to see what my evil, plot bunny making, muse has been up to, please go check out my side project. It's called "Gotham's Heroes" and it is being co-written with Axellia and Aphina! I love it (almost more than I love this story) so I think it's worth a read! It's under the penname: Spaxaph. (:D)

brainDamage - Have you stopped crying yet??? I'll admit...I was shocked when I wrote that. But in retrospect (after some heavy conversation) it was the right thing to do. I felt like she was becoming too much of a Mary Sue. I just didn't have the heart to kill her. Although, if I had, I would have given Axellia the rights to use her in "What the Eyes Can't See". Happy with outcome??? Did I give you a heart attack with the first paragraph?? (:p)

Aphina - I'm glad that I surprised you. It was just a road that had to be travelled. Thanks for your consultation. I so did not want her to be a Mary Sue!!! I'm excited that I can actually talk about our "side" project now!! I'm stoked that the first chapter is up!!!

CSI Junkie - I'm glad you loved it! Sometimes my reviewers are the only reason I can get my muse off her tired butt right now (I'm working 50 hours a week right now. I'm tired.)

Axellia - I'm going with really scary!!! I can't imagine being given the choice to live or die. I don't know what I would choose. Now, I'm not afraid to die and if I were to die tomorrow, I'd only be somewhat disappointed with what I accomplished in my life, but if it happens, it happens! Aren't you glad you get the chapters in advance?? (:p)

mj - Have you come down from your adreneline high yet? Actually, if you killed me, my bff could post the remaining chapters I have written! You just would never get the end of the story! (which, in case you're wondering, I have no clue where it's going right now!).