Sorry you had to wait so long but i got kidnapped and some of the CSi's in NY had to come find me and then my cats ate my laptop...What? don't you believe me? LOL, enjoy the next chapter. Thanx to everyone who read my one shot A Salute . pls go and read it if you havent it says thanx to all the medics out there.

I own the mistakes and bad guys nothing else.

The hospital got fairly used to the people coming in and out of the detective's room over the last day or two. They would always come in pairs and the detective would never be alone even if he slept most of the time. Mac was still on the ventilator as his lung healed and was therefore sedated to help his body relax so the healing process could be easier. After he woke up with Sid and Hawkes, Mac woke up a total of three times. Once with Jo there, once with Don and the last time Christine had come by. They were still seeing each other and she was devastated to hear that he was hurt. She fell into routine with the rest of the team as she had the restaurant to look after.

Lindsay and Danny had come in a couple of minutes earlier and were having a quiet conversation about whether or not to tell Lucy about her godfather when Lindsay felt a weak squeeze on her hand. She looked up and met ocean eyes looking at her. She smiled and pressed the call button.

"The doctor will be here shortly." Lindsay squeezed Mac's hand, mindful of the broken fingers. He blinked once showing he understood, he looked at Lindsay and frowned.

"They will probably take it out soon, you need to be patient." He blinked again grateful for the fact that Lindsay knew what he meant. This tube was damn annoying. With that thought the doctor came in smiling.

"Well Mr Taylor looks like you are more with us this time." Mac blinked, "your breathing looks good so we will remove the tube. On the count of three I want you to exhale as hard as you can, ok?" Mac blinked again. "Right then, one, two, and three." Mac exhaled and the tube came out. The doctor scooped some ice chips into his mouth and he relished in the taste and the coolness of the ice as it soothed his aching throat.

"I need to ask you a few questions, if you are up to answering them?"

"Okay." Mac's voice was a whisper, the pain evident in his soft croak.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Mac Taylor"

"Do you know where you are?"

"Hospital"

"And where is that?"

"New York"

"Do you know what year it is?"

"2012"

"Good, do you remember what happened?"

"Taken?" he sounded uncertain and locked eyes with Danny who looked away. Mac frowned.

"Close enough. You have been seriously injured and so far I don't think there will be any permanent damage. With rest you will be back on your feet in no time at all."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure, now I want you to be honest with me and rate your pain level from 1 to 10. 10 being the highest."

"8" He was honest, he felt every muscle in his body, every bone that wasn't where it was supposed to be. His head was killing him and his back felt slightly numb but he could tell that if and when the pain killers wore off, he was going to go mad with pain.

"Ok, I will give you something now and then when you need it." Mac just nodded, he was tired.

"Here you go," the doctor said as he injected the meds into Mac's IV port. Mac felt it almost immediately.

"Danny?" The voice that called out was nothing like the normal bass that was the owner's own but the command was unmistakable. Danny's head shot up and looked at Lindsay for help. She just shook her head and moved away.

"Yeah, Mac?"

"It…is…..not…..your…..fault." Mac was speaking slowly and a little slurred but he kept eye contact with Danny.

"Yeah it is Mac. But we don't worry about that now. You, uhm you just get better." He cleared his throat but couldn't look at Mac. He lifted his hand and despite have three broken fingers on his hand grabbed Danny's forearm and squeezed as hard as he could.

"It was not your fault." Mac said again, breathing hard now, his heart monitor was going bonkers; he broke into a cold sweat. Lindsay tried to calm him down but he refused to listen to hear staying focused on Danny.

Danny was panicking, Mac was frantically trying to get his breathing under control but the alarms went off and within a couple of seconds nurses came in and tended to Mac. Lindsay and Danny moved to the corner as the doctor came in and added a sedative to his IV to get him to calm down. As soon as he was sure that Mac was sleeping he turned around to face the Messer's with anger in his eyes.

"If you want to stay here, I suggest you do not upset my patient. Otherwise I will have you removed no matter who wants you to stay. Do I make myself clear?"

Too shocked to find the words to say anything, the two Messer's just nodded and stood staring after the doctor. Danny finally moved forward and took Mac's limp hand in his. Lindsay looked on as her husband broke down as cried. She wanted desperately to hold him close, to console him as he cried but he needed to work things out himself. She just hoped that he would be able to forgive himself even if it was for something he wasn't responsible for. With that thought she left the two men in her life and went down to the cafeteria for coffee. Something told her that this was going to be a long night.

CSINY

Phillip walked into the hospital looking like a regular Joe. He sported new blond hair, and a beard he had grown over the last couple of days. Sure it couldn't really classify as a beard and he wasn't really Chuck Norris but the stubble was a good mask. He knew he probably should have sent one of his people but he wanted to be the one to kill the two bastards that had ruined his perfect life and family. He was glad he sent someone to take care of the snitch that means that everyone on his list will make an exit soon preferably today and then he could go on with his life in peace. He almost smiled when he saw Lindsay Messer walk out of the room he knew had one of his enemies in. if the female was here then so was her sewage rat of a husband, this day just keeps getting better and better. He extended his hand, grabbed the door handle, turned it and slipped silently into the room unseen.

CSINY

Freddy had already spoken to Don and made a full confession. Right now he was waiting to talk to one of the lawyers that were involved in helping him. No charges were pressed against him but he needed to make a confession so that he could be seen as someone with a conscience according to Don.

Freddy really liked these people. The whole team worked like a family, they were close. The man he only knew as Taylor was a good man, the team has told him stories of the man over the last couple of days and from that he could see how much these guys cared about him. And the guilt trip was a very long one. The more he heard about the guy the guiltier he felt.

"And that should be all." Finally Freddy thought although he smiled on the outside. He stood up and left the room with the lawyer. He waved him off at the door and walked through the precinct again heading for Don's desk. When he got there Don was on the phone and he was smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah, he just got here."

"Nope, he still standing"

"Yeah, ok, yeah I'll tell him."

"Ok, sure thing Linds. Thanks for calling. Give him our love."

He put the phone down and looked up at Freddy. From the one ended conversation he heard it sounded like good news add that to Don smiling like a Cheshire cat and voilà.

"Mac woke up this morning and he is off the ventilator."

"That's good news." Freddy was relieved even if he didn't know the guy. He meant a lot to Lindsay and she helped him so that was as good a reason as any.

"So how did it go with the law?"

"It went ok. Seems like there won't be any charges but because I am State's witness, I had to make a signed confession do it can be included. Apparently they want to cover all the bases."

Don listened and nodded, showing his agreement with the decision. Before he could reply though the doors to the precinct flew open and four masked men came running in brandishing semi-automatic handguns. Before long and after a very very short gunfight, Don and Freddy was locked in an interrogation room with the blinds drawn and one of the gunmen pointing his gun at Freddy.

"Time to say good night."

CSINY

Jo found Lindsay smiling in the cafeteria; she was talking animatedly on her phone. She waved at her and Lindsay waved her over and motioned for her to sit down.

"Thanks for all your help Don."

"Ok yeah, sure I will. Bye."

Jo waited patiently for Lindsay to finish up on the phone and smiled. She could just picture Don sitting at his desk leaning back in his chair; she always spoke to him about that.

"One of these days you will fall on your ass," She told him once and he just laughed saying he was way too practiced for that to happen. Mac was with them that day; they had gone down to interrogate a suspect. Mac just laughed in his usual soft way. Jo got a tear in her eye as she remembered his voice as he said "Jo, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and our little dog here is way too old to learn." The three laughed as Mac had to dodge a stapler coming his way from Don' hand. It was just two weeks ago and look what happened now.

"Jo, Jo, are you ok?" Lindsay tried to get her friend's attention.

"Oh sorry, my mind was miles away." Jo shook her head, "You want coffee? I could sure use a good cup right about now." She got up as Lindsay nodded and moved to the counter to pay for the coffees. She walked slowly to their table.

"How are you holding up?" Lindsay smiled

"I'm fine, it's just hard to see him like that, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm so used to the big bad strong Mac Taylor and now he looks so weak."

Jo nodded her agreement.

"He woke up this morning." Lindsay spoke softly, looking down into her coffee cup.

"What happened? You don't look to happy about it?"

"He spoke to Danny." Jo could see tears in the same eyes which were smiling not too long ago. She didn't want to force Lindsay to say anything but something was really bothering her.

"And?" Jo reached out and took Lindsay's hands. Lindsay lifted her eyes and tortured eyes met Jo's.

"He told Danny that this whole thing wasn't his fault. Of course Mac would be thinking of everybody else even if he was hurt."

"Wait, Danny blames himself?" Jo asked not believing what she was hearing.

"Yeah, he said if it wasn't for him, Mac would be fine and not in here. After his brother Danny doesn't really like hospitals."

Before Jo could say anything, Christine walked up and greeted them both.

"Hey guys, did I interrupt something?"

"No you didn't."

"Nope."

The two women spoke together and Christine was once again reminded of how much these people are a family instead of co-workers.

"You here to see Mac?" Lindsay asked and Jo could see the tears of earlier disappearing.

"Yes, but his door is closed. So I thought the nurses or doctors must be busy with something."

"No, I don't think so; they were there just before I came down here. Danny was in there, did you see him?"

"No, he wasn't anywhere in sight." Lindsay looked at Jo and the two detectives shared a look that clearly said that they were thinking the same thing: Something wasn't right. They got up and told Christine to call Don or Sheldon. The elevator ride back up to Mac's floor was quiet, all three women busy with their own thoughts.

They stepped off the elevator and headed down to Mac's room. Just as Jo put her hand on the knob to turn it with her other hand on her gun, a gunshot went off from inside the room followed by two more. Screams erupted around them as nurses ducked and pulled patients with them. Jo threw open the door and was greeted with lots of blood and three grown men lying on the floor, all of them bleeding and one heart stopped as one man lost his life.

I will be running away now...pls r & r