Chapter 27

"Never walk again?" Munch asked stunned. Than turned to Lee. "What the hell happened when she was with you?"

Lee looked at Munch. "I did my best to protect her. If I hadn't of been there, she'd be dead now."

"She might die now thanks to you!" Munch said as his fist closed, with anger.

The doctor got between both men. "Hey, this is a hospital. Now either simmer down or leave."

Lee sighed and walked away. He didn't want to fight with Munch, over Nicole. It wasn't his idea of fun.

Munch watched Lee walk out. Once Lee was out of his sights he sighed. The doctor looked at Munch, "Your family, correct?"

Munch nodded. "Yeah."

"Would you like to see her? I do have to warn you, she's worse for wear. It's not exactly a pretty sight." The doctor commented.

"Show the way." Munch said and walked down the hall.

//Chung Chung//

Munch walked into Nicole's hospital room. He hesitated when he saw her. She was lying in the bed in traction. Munch felt the tears welling up in his eyes and he forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat.

He slowly walked over to her bedside and looked down at her. There was a nurse checking her machines and making sure everything was okay. When she saw Munch she nodded and left the room.

Munch pulled a chair over close to the bed and sat down. Tears were now falling down his cheeks. He reached out and took Nicole's hand. He hated to see her hurt. He hated even more that he wasn't here to keep her safe.

He leaned in and spoke softly. "Nic, baby, I don't know if you can hear me but I'm gonna talk anyway. I just want you to know I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I don't want to lose you. You're way too important to me. You hang on, baby. I know you're gonna pull through this and I'll be with you every step of the way. I love you so much."

Munch stood up from his chair and looked down at Nicole laying in the bed. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He touched her hand one last time and then left the room.

//Chung Chung//

Back in New York Olivia was sitting at her desk worrying about Nicole down in Dallas and the fact that she hadn't yet heard from Munch. Just then Elliot walked into the bullpen. "Hey, Liv."

"Hey. How was court?" she asked flatly.

"Jury convicted in two hours." Elliot said and sat down at his desk. He noticed the grim look on Olivia's face. "You okay?"

"Munch is gone to Dallas. He said Nicole was shot."

"Shot! Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know. He said he'd call when he knew something more. But that was over twelve hours ago."

Elliot felt tears stinging his eyes. "Why the hell did she go down there in the first place?"

"I don't know, but..." Olivia started to say as her phone rang. She picked up the receiver. "Benson."

"Liv, it's John." he said and sighed.

//Chung Chung//

Munch was pacing the waiting room. Seeing Nicole only made him more worried. "How's Nicole doing?" Olivia asked.

"Not good. She's in traction right now. The doctor said the bullet lodged in her spinal column. She might not be able to walk again." he said and sat down in one of the chairs.

//Chung Chung//

"Oh my God." Olivia said choking back tears. Elliot stood up from his desk and walked over to Olivia. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Isn't there anything they can do?"

"We won't know until they operate." Munch replied fighting tears of his own.

"When will that be?"

"I don't know."

"What the hell do you know?" Olivia yelled into the phone. Munch was silent on the other end. "I'm... I'm sorry, John. I just want Nic to be okay."

"I know, Liv, so do I."

"Just... just... why, did she go down there?"

Munch took a deep breath. "Her entire family was murdered. She wanted revenge."

"Oh my God. Why didn't she tell us. We would have been there to help, and to provent this."

"I don't know. I won't have any answers until Nicole's awake."

Munch could hear Olivia choking back the tears. "I'm coming down there."

"No, Liv, there's nothing you can do down here."

"I can be there for Nicole. She needs all the support she can get right now."

"Liv, listen. It's bad enough that I left with out any notice to Cragen. Now he needs his detectives. And Nic, I believe will understand. Just... stay there."

Tears were freely falling from Olivia's eyes now. "John, why do you have to be so damn stubborn? If I come down there, the Captain'll still have Elliot, Fin and Jamie. I think he'll manage."

"Olivia, please."

"You know, John, one of these days you're really gonna need us there and we might not be around." Olivia said. Hating to say this but she had to try something to get through to him.

Munch sighed, wasn't it enough that he might lose Nicole. Now Olivia was threatening that he might just lose his friends. "Liv," Munch sighed again, "That's not what I mean. I mean, that if you come than the rest will. And than Cragen won't have anyone up there."

Olivia knew he was right. She sighed and glanced up at Elliot. "Just take good care of her and keep us posted on what's happening."

"I will, thank you."

"We'll be praying for her. Bye John."

"Bye Liv."

//Chung Chung//

Munch hung up his cell phone and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He couldn't believe all this was happening. He lifted his head up just as Lee walked into the waiting room.

"How is the little Squeek?" Lee asked walking towards Munch.

Munch looked at Lee confused. "What?"

Lee sighed and sat down. "How is the little Squeek?" Lee asked again.

Munch shook his head, still confused but answered anyway. "She's laying in a fucking hospital bed in goddamn traction. How do you think she is?"

"Sorry, you don't have to get all worked up by it. Me and her have been through worse. I was just trying to make conversation. Why don't you go in the corner and act like a good fucked up little rodent."

Munch was getting extremely annoyed with Lee. He stood up and looked down at Lee. "Can't you go one fucking minute without making a fucking joke? Nicole's life is at stake here and you're acting like a fucking clown!"

"I said that out loud didn't I?"

Munch grabbed Lee by his jacket and pulled him up. "Listen, you fucking..." he started to yell just as the doctor appeared.

"Gentlemen, I warned you about this behavior before. If you can't act like civilized people then leave right now. Otherwise act like adults. Now, I have some news about Miss Green."

Munch let Lee go and gave his attention to the doctor. "Has something happened? Is she okay?"

"We have her stabalized and I'm confident that we can operate within the next couple of hours."

"Hours? Is she awake, can we see her?" Lee asked walking up to the doctor.

The doctor looked at Lee and Munch. "No, she's not awake at the moment. But you can see her if you want."

"Thank you." Lee replied and looked at Munch.

"Now, do you want to see her together or..." The doctor started.

Munch looked at Lee. "Alone!" They both said in unison.

The doctor sighed. "Why do I feel like I am dealing with two grade school kids?"

//Chung Chung//

Munch looked at Lee and then walked off down the hall. He entered Nicole's room and walked over to her bed. He sat down in the chair and took her hand. "Hey, Nic, I'm still here baby. I just talked to the doctor and he's going to operate in a couple of hours. I know you're going to be okay. I feel it in my heart. I love you."

Munch brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the knuckles. Then he placed it back on the bed. He stood up. He stood at the foot of her bed and looked at her. Even with the tube down her throat giving her air and the heart monitor beeping, she still looked like an angel. His heart throbbed in his chest. He hated seeing her like this. It almost looked like she wrestled with a city bus and lost. Her face was all battered and bruised along with the rest of her body. Tears welled up in his eyes.

He swallowed the lump forming in his throat as the tears began to fall down his cheeks. He could no longer hold them back. Everything was becoming to much to bear. The love of his life was laying in a hospital bed fighting for her life and he couldn't do a damn thing to help her. Munch hated feeling helpless, and right now he was as helpless as he had ever been in his entire life.

Nicole slowly opened her eyes and started to freak. She couldn't speak, couldn't move anything, her heart rate picked up and she began to have a panic attack. Her breath was beginning to become short and ragged.

Munch heard the monitor start to beep faster. He looked at Nicole and saw her eyes were opened. Then he turned and bolted out of the room. Nicole closed her eyes for a second. Was everything that bad that Munch had to run out on her? The next thing she knew she was getting light headed.

Munch came back bursting into the room. The doctor ran up to Nicole to find that her eyes were closed, and that the heart monitor was showing off the scale. He pushed one of the buttons by the bed, and code blue was called over the intercom. Munch was pushed out of the way by two nurses, who were pushing in a cart.

The nurse handed the doctor a syringe and he injected Nicole's IV line with adrenaline. All of a sudden her heart rate started to lower and beat normally again. Munch was watching all this, terrified. He didn't even notice that Lee had entered the room.

"What did you do to her?" Lee asked, mad.

Munch was looking at Nicole but spoke to Lee. "I didn't do anything. She woke up."

"You call this awake? She could have died!"

"Did it just occur to you now?"

The doctor walked over to Munch and Lee. "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. We have to prep her for surgery while we have her stabalized."

//Chung Chung//

"What do you mean, her whole family was killed and she didn't even bother to tell us?!" Jamie asked in an outrage.

Fin was sitting at his desk and looked at Jamie. "Jamie, calm down before the top of your head blows off."

"No seriously. Why didn't she bother to tell us. I mean I would have gone down there with her in a heart beat. I just can't believe she didn't even bother to let us know why she went down there. And now look at what happened. She was shot, and now they have to operate. I know none of this would have happened if we went down there with her." Jamie almost yelled as she started to pace between the desks.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "I think this is why she didn't tell us. Cause she knew you would act this way."

At this point Fin stood up and stopped Jamie from pacing. "Don't you get any ideas about going down there. John's with her, it's not like she's alone. But I hate to tell you I feel a hell of lot better that you did stay here."

"Yeah..." Jamie sighed.

Fin looked Jamie in the eyes. "And I think Nic wanted you to stay here, so that you would be safe. I believe she knew what she was walking into and didn't want any of us to get hurt."

Olivia looked up from her desk. "I understand what you're saying, Fin, but she still should have come to us for help. That's what friends are for. To be there for you when things are difficult."

Elliot stepped forward. "Do you ever really remember her coming to us for help, whenever it was something really dangerous? I don't. And that's because she considers us friends, and doesn't want us to be put in danger because of her. She wants us to be safe. That's why she stormed out of here, that's why she only left a note with John. Because she knew how dangerous it was going to be down there. She didn't want to ask us for help because she knew we would be there in a heart beat. Don't you get it, if we knew her family was murdered we wouldn't wait for her to ask, we would... just be there."

Fin, Jamie and Olivia all looked at Elliot. "Elliot's right. As much as we hate not being there with her, she knew what she was doing when she left. She did so with our best interests at heart." Fin stated.

"You guys may be right. But doesn't mean I have to like it." Jamie said crossing her arms. "I still wish I could be there for her."

"We all do, Jame." Olivia replied walking over to the coffee machine. "But I do see where the guys are coming from and they're right. I mean John's there with her, he'll keep her safe."

//Chung Chung//

Munch was sitting in the waiting room with his arms resting on his knees and his head was in his hands. He was still waiting on word from the doctor about what was going to happen with Nicole's situation. He looked up when he sensed someone sitting down next to him.

Lee looked at Munch and sighed. "Can we call a truce here?" he asked holding out his hand.

Munch looked at Lee's outstretched hand and then took it into his own. "Yeah. The last thing Nic needs right now is us at each other's throats." Munch replied shaking Lee's hand.

Just then the doctor appeared in the waiting room. "Excuse me, gentlemen. Detective Green is awake and we have her prepped for surgery."

Munch stood up from the chair and walked over to the doctor. "Can we see her?" Munch asked, looking back at Lee.

The doctor looked at Munch and Lee and thought for a moment. "They're wheeling her down now. You can see her before she goes into the OR."

Munch and Lee took off out of the waiting room and found a nurse and an orderly wheeling Nicole down the hallway. Munch walked up beside the stretcher and looked down at her. "Hey." he said gently.

"John? What are you doing here?" Nicole asked weakly.

"Lee called me and told me what happened. I caught a flight right away."

Lee walked up beside Munch and looked at Nicole. "Hey, squeek, I know you didn't want him to know but I think it's good that he's here for you."

"What about the rest of the squad? Do they know?"

"I called them. They're caught between staying in New York and coming here. Although if Jamie had her way she'd be here already." Munch replied as they came to a stop outside the OR doors.

"This is as far as you gentlemen can go." the nurse said.

Munch nodded and then kissed Nicole gently on the lips. "We'll be here when they wheel you out, okay?"

"Okay."

Lee squeezed her hand. "You're gonna be fine, sweetheart." he said as they wheeled her through the doors. Lee turned back and looked at Munch. "So, now we wait. You wanna grab a bite?"

Munch sighed. "Yeah. It's been almost two days since I've eaten anything." he replied and they made their way back down the hall.

//Chung Chung//

Jamie sighed as she walked into the 1-6. She didn't know why she was there since everyone had already gone home. She finally had convinced Fin that she should go to Dallas to see Nicole. It was not like there was any danger anymore with the ones that had killed Nicole's family. She could have called Cragen to let him know that she was taking time off to go see her partner but she figured that she could just go down and talk to him, since it was common knowledge that Cragen never hardly ever went home.

She walked by her desk and than by her partner's. It seemed weird not to see her partner there when she was. As well as it was depressing to know that her partner was fighting for her life in surgery cause of a bullet to the back.

Soon she found herself at the door to Cragen's office. At first she hesitated to knock, but she told herself that it was only Cragen that she was going to see, to get time off. She knocked and heard Cragen's voice. "Come in."

Jamie opened the door. "Don, I need to ask you something."

Cragen looked up from his paper work, "Is everything okay, Jamie?"

She sat down in a chair across from Cragen. "Not really, I need to take time off to go see Nicole."

He shook his head, "John is already there. Everything is taken care of."

"No it's not. I want to be there when she gets out of surgery."

"She's in surgery?"

"I talked to John before I came here. He said that she woke up and had complications. Her heart went into a panic. They got her stabalized and now she is in surgery. However all I know is that she can't feel anything from her neck down, and she may never walk again."

His mouth dropped. He knew that she had been shot, but he didn't know it was this bad.

She continued, "Apparently the bullet is lodged against her spinal column. Don, I really need to be down there."

Cragen thought for a second. Ever since his partner got murdered, he was protective over his detectives, and was always there for them. This time he needed to make a decision. "Jamie, I don't think you should go down there."

"Don..."

"No, I need my detectives here. Now, I want you to do something for me."

"What?"

"I need you to brief my Lieutenant, on what is going on here, while I make the trip to Dallas."

Jamie's mouth dropped open.

TBC...