Hi Everyone, it was great to see so many people following my story. There are so many good ones here, I am feeling a bit intimidated! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I do have a plan and I am attempting to get a few chapters ahead to help me write a better story.

I apologize for not having proper dividers between scenes. I have altered that here and hope it works. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

I do not own any part of THE GLADES.

Chapter 2:

They watched Callie sprint to her car wishing they could follow the ambulance with Jim inside, also. But work needed to be done at the scene of the crime. Colleen directed her demand to Carlos without turning from the scene in front of her. She was quietly stern. "I want forensics here, now."

The statement by his chief elicited a curt nod from the medical examiner and he spun to re-enter the house while making the necessary phone calls.

Within 10 minutes, the truck had pulled up and 5 forensic examiners were milling around taking photos, making notes, taking measurements and documenting the scene. Daniel was wandering amongst them attempting to micromanage the information they were gathering. He had this need to SEE what they were all seeing mainly because he could see nothing.

Inside the house, the clues were almost non-existent. Whoever had done this had left no sign but the dying body of Jim Longworth. There were no bullets left, no shells around, no dirt, fingerprints, hair. There were no signs of a struggle except the decimated shell of the detective's phone. The dents in the wood floor revealed the power used to snuff out his only life connection. If it hadn't been for Daniel pinging Jim's phone GPS just before it was snuffed out, they never would have made it in time.

Inside the ambulance, the bright overhead light was hurting his eyes. The paramedic with him was tearing open packets with his teeth and reaching around him. Jim was feeling lighter and lighter.

"Jim, right?" Where did that voice come from? "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Your wife is a great nurse. She is gonna take great care of you, okay? Sir? You with me? Stay with me, Jim!"

He rolled his eyes forward searching for the source of all this talk. He was doing everything he could to stay conscious but the darkness was pulling at him. He wanted to see Callie at the hospital. "how much longer?" he breathed.

"We're almost there" the paramedic answered while checking the IV line and checking his pulse.

When the ambulance pulled to a stop the nauseating flurry of activity began again. Jim just wanted to see Callie. He was holding it together by the finest of threads and he was beginning to lose the battle. But people were all around him yanking and jerking and shaking and poking and prodding and yelling and barking orders. He just wanted to see her and then sleep. Where was she? Where was he? What did she tell him before he got pulled away? He was starting to get agitated. There was no rest in the sea of frantic movement all around him. Jim couldn't get a full breath. It hurt to breathe and he began panting. He felt like he couldn't get any air and he was starting to panic. He had no control! No one was listening to him! Just as he thought he could not handle another second, there she was. His gorgeous Callie was there. She smiled at him and his heart rate slowed back down to normal.

"Jim, just keep looking at me, okay? They need to work on you but you can just keep looking at me. Shhhhhh. Just focus here." She had his undivided attention. She could not believe that he had not crashed on his way to the hospital. This man was stronger than she could have imagined.

"I'm tired, Callie…" his voice was quiet and weak. He was struggling to find the air to speak.

"Shhhhhhh. In just a few minutes you can sleep, okay?" She was the calm in a chaotic storm of the room. Jim just kept his eyes on her face as the room began to shrink into dimness.

"We need to operate now, Callie. One of the bullets came dangerously close to the pulmonary artery. The ultrasound is inconclusive but he has lost so much blood I think it may have nicked it on its way through. The other bullet went straight through the large bowel. We need to get that cleaned up."

Without taking her eyes off her fiancé, she nodded in agreement. Her smile still calmly on her face, she gave none of her terror away. She whispered, "I agree, do it now." She put her hand gently on Jim's cheek and addressed him lovingly. "You can sleep now, sweetheart. I will be here when you wake up."

Jim felt relief wash over him as he closed his eyes and let the blackness take him…. finally.

The chaos rushed to the elevators leaving Callie in a pile of blood soaked gauze, dressings and mess. She just stood there not sure if she was allowed to let the vulnerable side show yet.

And that is how Miranda found her when she ran into the ER. She slowed her gait. Was Jim dead? No, there wasn't a body. They must have rushed him to the OR. Her quick assessment was done with an experienced eye but she knew she was not a doctor right now. She was here to be a best friend to a woman whose wedding day had been ruined by a great tragedy. She pulled her into a hug and let her friend break down. They stood there until the nurses had to walk around them to clean up.

The doctor turned her shell-shocked best friend down the hall, "Hey, let's get you cleaned up and fed. Jim won't be out of surgery for a couple of hours. He is going to need you to be ready when he wakes up." Directing her attention to the nurses behind the counter, "can you call her phone and let us know when he is getting out of surgery?" They all nodded. All of them knew Jim and loved Callie. This was very hard on them, too.

At the crime scene, after 3 hours there was no longer even a glimmer of light left in the day. The forensic Xenon lights blasting the surrounding yard in a shock of white light was not giving away any more clues. Daniel stood by the back door yawning and squinting in the bright lights. The perpetrator appeared to have flown in, done his work and disappeared without a trace. Daniel was feeling stumped and exhausted. When Jim was around, he felt he could keep going forever. Nothing got past the detective. He saw things no one else could but Jim's eyes weren't there and the investigation seemed frantically aimless.

Carlos soon joined him on the back patio. "It is time to go. We have photographed and analyzed every nook and cranny of this place. We will just have to review back at the lab. You can ride with me." The medical examiner headed back inside with his assistant following behind. The lights turned off behind them as the team was clearly following suit and packing up. Why did he feel like they were giving up?

Colleen stopped both at the door as the last of the outdoor lights turned off bathing them in the warm indoor lights of the Longworth home. "I want you both to go home. We will not find out anything tonight. We are too tired. Bring your fresh eyes tomorrow."

Both men nodded almost relieved and continued past her to Carlos's car where they both silently climbed in to drive off. Daniel's thoughts shifted to the observant man who had given him his start with the agency.

It was the sharpness of the pain that grabbed him from the quiet nothingness of his drug induced slumber. His throat felt raw and he was confused about where he was and what was going on. Jim's eyes shot open and he started to gag on the tube that was down his throat helping him breathe. The motion caused even more pain and the cycle raised his heart rate into panic-mode.

The convulsive and sudden movement of Jim awoke Callie instantly. She leapt to his side so he could see her and she placed a cool hand gently on his forehead. The reaction was instant. His eyes shot to her face. They immediately calmed and wrinkled on the edges into a smile. His mouth was unable to provide his patented grin.

She smiled back and quietly whispered, "hey." Her face looked exhausted with lines of worry and deep circles under her eyes. "Shhhh… you are okay. You are intubated to help you breathe. Just relax." She leaned in and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Are you in a lot of pain?" He didn't want to tell her but his body took over and he nodded.

With that, she raised his bed so that he was in a more seated position and hit his call button at the same time. The nurse entered with a needle and pushed it into the IV line. Instantly the relief washed over his battered body. But Jim just stared at Callie. He wanted to talk to her, touch her, kiss her, hold her. But this tube was in his throat and these wonderful drugs were making him feel so incredibly sleepy. The last thing he remembered before slumber took him was his fiance's lips on his forehead and the whisper in his ear, "I'll be here when you wake up."

Chapter 3 will be a couple of weeks as I will be away from my computer.