A shorter but intense chapter. Cliffhanger ahead. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

IPSIPSIPSIPS

I won't give up on us

Even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love

I'm still looking up

-Jason Mraz, I Won't Give Up

The surgery lasted for a total of three hours. Once it was finished and Marshall was in Recovery, Reilly changed out of his scrubs, grabbed his patient's file, then made his way to the waiting room, where he knew his patient's family would be waiting. He was not wrong. When he stepped into the waiting room, he was immediately surrounded by Marshall's family.

But before anyone could get a word out, Mary spoke up, her voice loud and clear.

"Can I see him?"

Reilly met her eyes, the word no on his tongue. But then he remembered all the notes that Sheila had put in Marshall's file about the positive effect her presence seemed to have on him, and he changed his mind. "He's in Recovery right now. If you want…"

Before he could finish that sentence, Mary was out the door and hurrying down the hall.

Anna watched Mary disappear, and once she was gone, she looked at Dr. Reilly.

"How is he?"

Mary didn't stop until she reached Recovery, and she gave a bone-chilling look to the one nurse who tried to say anything to her. It didn't take long for her to find Marshall's bed, which was surrounded by different machines. Once again she was hit by the severity of his condition. There was still a chance that she could lose him. She reached out and took his hand. He had been placed on his side, and Mary could see the blood that stained the bandages covering his wounds.

As she squeezed his hand, he stirred and softly groaned. "Mary…"

"I'm here, Marshall."

His eyes opened slowly, glazed and confused. "What…?"

"Shh. You just came out of another surgery." With her free hand, she slowly brushed his damp hair back. "Close your eyes."

Sighing, he squeezed her hand lightly. "Stay," he slurred, his eyes already slipping shut again.

"There goes that bossiness again," she teased, and he smiled sleepily. After a few more seconds, his breathing was deep and even.

Mary stayed with him for a half hour, until Dr. Reilly returned.

"Ms. Shannon?"

Mary turned toward him, but didn't let go of Marshall's hand. "How is he?"

Reilly pulled up a chair and sat down beside Mary. "When we reopened the incision, we discovered two fragments, not one. We were able to remove them, but his blood pressure kept bottoming out. That was why it took so long. Once we were able to stabilize his blood pressure and get the bleeding under control, his condition improved."

She swallowed hard, almost afraid to ask the next question she had. "Will he… Is he going to walk again?"

Reilly sighed and rubbed his temple. "There was some damage done to his spinal cord, but the extensive swelling around the area made it hard to determine how much damage was done. Once the swelling goes down, we'll perform another CAT scan. By then, we should know definitively."

"How long will that take?"

"Anywhere between three days and a week."

Mary absorbed that piece of information slowly.

In a week, either everything would be right again, or nothing would ever be the same.

Within the hour, Marshall was moved from Recovery, back to his room in the Intensive Care Unit. Mary had asked Reilly when Marshall would be moved to a private room, but he had insisted that that wouldn't be for another week, at least. Mary had accepted it with reluctance, simply grateful that the I.C.U.'s strict visitation policy had been broken for her. She couldn't stand the thought of Marshall being alone when he was at his most vulnerable. And as his partner, Mary was determined to look out for him.

The orderlies lifted Marshall into his bed and made him comfortable, and Mary watched as Sheila took Marshall's vitals.

Satisfied that Marshall was comfortable and stable, Sheila offered Mary a smile. "You're not leaving tonight, are you?"

Mary shook her head.

"I figured as much. I'll have a cot brought up here."

"Thank you…"

Sheila gave her another smile before stepping out of the room. The orderlies followed close behind.

Once again alone with her wounded partner, Mary sat down by his bed and let out an exhausted breath.

"Okay, Marshall."

She paused, not knowing how to continue that sentence. Finally she just took his and held it gently.

When had they ever needed words?

His back was on fire, and his chest throbbed as Marshall slowly regained consciousness. For a moment, he considered returning to the sweet, pain free bliss of unconsciousness, but he wanted to see Mary more than he wanted to avoid the pain. So he breathed as deeply as he could, then slowly opened his weary eyes.

A cot had been brought in for Mary to sleep on, but she wasn't in it. Instead she was curled up in her chair, her arms around herself and a deep frown marring her face as she slept.

Marshall blinked slowly in an attempt to clear his vision. A nurse had kindly situated him on his side, so the pain wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"No…stop…"

At the desperate plea, Marshall looked at Mary again. Her eyes were still closed, but she moved restlessly in her sleep. "Mare?"

Twisting in the chair, Mary called out again. "Marshall!"

Now he was worried. Grunting softly, Marshall pushed himself up on his elbow. Then he reached out to her. She had pushed her chair close enough to the bed that he could reach her, and he closed his hand gently around her wrist. "Mary, wake up." His voice was gravelly. "Open your eyes."

He squeezed her gently, and her eyes suddenly flew open. It took a moment for her surroundings to register in her mind, but when they did, she let out a slow, uneasy breath.

Marshall watched her intently. "You okay?" he murmured, his eyes reflecting his deep concern.

She leaned forward in her chair, her hand settling over his where it was still wrapped around her wrist. "I should be asking you that." Gently removing his hand from her wrist, she clasped his hand between both of her hands. "How long have you been awake?"

"Just a minute." The feeling of his hand between hers was new and…addicting. The look on her face was one he'd never seen before.

Mary nodded, glancing at her watch. "Damn…" It was after midnight, and her back ached miserably.

He recognized the look on her face. "Go home," he said gently.

"What? No…" She still didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone for any period of time.

Marshall smiled and squeezed her hand. "You're exhausted, Mare. Go home for a few hours and get some sleep in your own bed."

"Marshall…"

"I'm serious." Then, much to Mary's surprise, he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. "I'll probably sleep until you get back."

Shocked by the tender gesture, she was unable to speak for several moments. When she finally was able to form a coherent thought, she managed, "Okay… just a few hours."

He could tell that was a big concession on her part. "Good." He yawned deeply, returning his head to the pillow. The short conversation had taken a lot out of him, and he could feel sleep threatening to claim him again.

Getting to her feet, Mary leaned over and tucked a blanket around him. Then she kissed his forehead lightly. "You're exhausted, Doofus. Go to sleep, and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Take your time," he mumbled, his eyes sliding shut.

She smiled and gently smoothed his hair back before placing another kiss on his cheek. When had she become so comfortable touching and kissing him this way? Before she could drive herself crazy with questions, she stepped back from his side. "Good night, Marshall."

"Night, Mare…"

Before she reached the door, he was sleeping peacefully. She smiled and walked out of the I.C.U. room, stopping to speak with a nurse briefly before she left the hospital.

Elizabeth Barns was the primary nurse on duty in the I.C.U., and she was a little surprised when Mary Shannon came out of Marshall Mann's room and told her that she was leaving for the night. All kinds of exceptions were made for law enforcement, and when Marshall Mann had been brought in, Mary Shannon had parked herself in the room with him and barely left. There was a bet going on with several of the nurses, since Marshall wasn't listed as married or even engaged, but Mary was his listed N.O.K., that something was going on between the two of them. So far, the pot was up to two hundred dollars. Elizabeth smiled. Where there were bored nurses, trouble was sure to ensue.

She looked up at the clock a short while after Mary left. The protective detail that had been placed outside of Marshall's room was about to change. Their presence had become a somewhat expected sight, and Elizabeth felt a bit safer knowing they were there.

A few minutes later, the protective detail left, and Elizabeth was just settling in to do some paperwork when an alarm sounded down the hall. For the next ten minutes, she was the only nurse on duty, so she quickly got up and hurried down the hall to check on her patient.

Dominic smiled as he watched Elizabeth hurry to check on another patient. He adjusted the white jacket he wore and strode confidently toward Marshall's room. Mary would be in there, and for the hell of it, he would take out Marshall, too. His mouth curved into a smile. He could even do Marshall in front of Mary, just to torture her before he took her out, too.

He slipped into the I.C.U. room, but he frowned when he only saw Marshall in the bed. He searched the room, but Mary was nowhere to be found.

Growling quietly, he pulled out a syringe and injected it into Marshall's I.V. to make sure he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Then he produced a long, sharp knife, admiring the gleam of the blade.

It was time to get to work.

Mary was just getting into her car when she suddenly felt unnerved, and she glanced back at the hospital. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Marshall was less than twelve hours out of surgery, and his condition was still critical. The reasonable side of her told her that he was perfectly safe; there was a guard outside of his door at all times, and no one outside of his family and herself was allowed in the room. Still…

She argued with herself for a while before she finally got out of the car and hurried back toward the hospital. She could go home tomorrow and sleep, when Anna and Seth were at the hospital and Marshall wouldn't be alone.

A cool blast of air greeted her as she walked back into the hospital, and she stopped for a lousy cup of sludge that they had the nerve to call coffee. Then she hurried back up to the Intensive Care Unit. Hopefully Marshall would still be asleep so she could sneak back into his room without him chastising her for not going home.

Elizabeth wasn't at the nurse's station when Mary walked by, and she assumed that another patient needed to be tended to. That was the terrible thing about the Intensive Care Unit. Many people came in, but not nearly as many left alive. She shuddered. Marshall would leave. He had to. She heard shouting down the hall, making her heart drop. A flat line shortly followed.

Shivering, Mary ducked into Marshall's room. The lights were still off. She left them off so that Marshall wouldn't be disturbed. But as she came deeper into the room, she realized that something was seriously wrong.

Someone was standing over Marshall, but the white coat didn't offset her concerns. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Dominic turned toward her, and Mary saw the glint of a very large knife. It was aimed at Marshall. With a swear, she whipped out her gun and pointed it at him.

He just smiled. "Hello, Mary. So glad you could join us."

"Who the fuck are you?" Her hand gripped the gun tightly. She had turned in her primary piece to Stan after he suspended her, but she just started carrying her own piece.

"That doesn't really matter." He stepped closer to Marshall's bed, rubbing the handle of the knife with his thumb.

Mary's mind was in overdrive trying to place him, but she came up with nothing. All her mind cold focus on was the fact that her wounded partner was in danger. "Get away from him." Her words came out in a low, dangerous growl.

"I don't think you're in a position to be making demands."

"You're threatening two U.S. marshals, and I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your brain."

He chuckled. "I don't doubt it. The question is, just how fast are you, marshal?"

Mary's concern grew even more when Marshall didn't stir at the voices. He was breathing, but something was definitely wrong. "I'm pretty damn fast."

He finally stepped away from Marshall and headed toward Mary. Mary felt relief wash over her. As long as she could keep him away from Marshall, she would make sure everything turned out okay for him. "What do you want?"

"You," Dominic said simply.

As the moonlight washed over him, it suddenly hit her. He was in the tapes of the funeral and the shooting at the crime scene. A knot formed in her stomach. He was the one who had nearly killed Marshall.

He smiled. "Finally figuring it out, marshal?"

"You shot him," she hissed.

"He wasn't my target. He just got in the way." He nodded toward her arm. "How's your shoulder feeling?"

Her stomach sank. "You were trying to kill me." Her voice sounded unnaturally calm, even to her.

"Yes. And your poor partner got in the way. How does it feel, knowing you're the reason he's here?"

Mary shook his head. "No. You pulled the trigger. You put him here. And I'm going to put you in the fucking ground."

Dominic reached into his jacket, and the sounds of gunfire raced down the hall. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

And all was silent.

To Be Continued...

A/N: *hides* Please review, and don't forget to vote for my next Mary/Marshall songfic! Remember, you can vote for up to three songs! Have fun!