A/N: I don't own them or make money off of them. I'm just borrowing them, I promise to put them back.
An icy chill overtook Stella as she listened to Sid talk about the victim. He had HIV. His blood was infected. His blood that had covered the crime scene and the glass shards. His blood that had been dripping from the glass shard that fell onto her arm, cutting her. Her blood, his blood; there was no way to separate the two.
The chill stayed with her in the following weeks as she wondered day in and day out what would be the outcome of the test. She calculated the probabilities, read the statistics and it didn't look good. The icy grip of fear had taken hold of her spirit, fighting against her inner strength; her energy for life, threatening to leave her frozen and unfeeling. The spark that normally lit up her eyes had been reduced to a smoldering ember; just barely staying alive in the frigid temperature.
It wasn't until she finally told Mac that she felt the icy grip on her heart lessen. As he held her, sharing his warmth with her, she knew she could make it; she was stronger than the cold. A lone tear ran down her cheek as he tightened his hold on her, as if daring the fates to take her from him. With a sigh she closed her eyes, thanking whatever powers were listening that she had him in her life. She knew that with him by her side, she was unstoppable.