Four hours or so later, Marshall woke up with a start, rousted by his phone. The magazine that had fallen across his chest skittered to the floor as he fumbled for the phone.
"Hey Stan. What's up?" He said, still trying to shake the cobwebs out.
"Did I wake you?"
"Yeah, but it's ok. My back is probably going to have something to say about sleeping for so long in this chair. Anything new on your end?" Upon pulling himself upright, he found he was right about his back.
"No. The DNA on the blood is still in process and I think the crime scene team has almost given up hope of finding the bullet out there. They'll keep looking a little while longer. What about there? Is she out of surgery yet?"
"I don't think so." He looked around and saw that Raph had staked out a patch of floor in the corner to sleep on. Wise choice, he thought, massaging his neck. Jinx was sleeping with her feet up on a chair, curled up in Raph's jacket again and Brandi was nowhere to be found, probably getting some fresh air. "Looks like we all took the opportunity to catch a nap."
"Yeah, I sent Eleanor home to do the same and managed to catch a couple of hours here myself. Well, I'll let you get back to try to catch some more shut-eye. Call me when you hear something."
"Will do, chief." He closed his phone and stood up trying to stretch the kinks out.
About that time, Brandi walked in with a grocery bag. Upon seeing Marshall awake, she went over to talk to him.
"Hi. I went out and got some drinks and munchies. Help yourself." She looked around, "I take it the doctor hasn't come by."
He thanked her and pulled a bottle of water and an apple from the bag. "Not yet, I was just thinking of going to ask."
"I guess I slept through you telling mom about the living will thing. I'm sorry to ask, but can you give me the highlights?"
He gave her the Reader's Digest version of the story he told the others then pointed to the papers on the chair next to Jinx. "It's over there if you want to look at it. I asked them to tell Mary, if she found out that I gave it you, that you all beat it out of me."
Brandi snorted a laugh "Yeah, otherwise we'll be visiting you here next."
Marshall smiled a bit. "Thank you, but I've spent enough time in this place, on both sides of the door". He took a drink of the water and thanked her again.
He picked up his magazine and was just about to sit back down with it when the doctor came in. Brandi went to wake up the others as Marshall studied the man's face for clues. Raph and Jinx quickly woke up and the doctor finally spoke.
"She's out of surgery, and it looks like if she makes it through the next 24 hours, she should make a good recovery." Anticipating Jinx's first question, he continued, "We won't know about any permanent damage until she wakes up, but for now, everything looks as well as we could possibly hope for at this point."
Brandi squealed and practically knocked Marshall over as she jumped to hug him. It was the first bit of good news they'd had in this whole ordeal. There was a long way to go, but at least right now, the light at the end of the tunnel didn't feel like an oncoming train.
Marshall excused himself to go call Stan. He stepped outside into the last light offered by the setting sun. The sunset looked even more beautiful than usual. He relayed the good news to Stan and decided he should go home and get some real sleep. Before he could leave though, Raph came out to talk.
"Marshall, I'm sorry for the grilling I gave you earlier."
"Don't worry about it. This has been a rough time for all of us. I understand."
"It's just that, this was just another curveball thrown at me by Mary. I was pretty good at hitting curveballs, but the ones she throws I just can't read sometimes."
"Look Raphael, I don't want to get between you and Mary, but I owe it to her to do what I can when she asks.
"No, I'm glad you've got her back. It makes the unknown a bit easier to deal with. Anyway…" he stuck out his hand which Marshall shook, "thanks again."
Marshall nodded in reply, "You should probably see if the ladies will let you take them home for a while. I think you all could use a good night's sleep and a real meal. I'm headed home to do the same. Please call me if you hear anything and I'll do the same. I'll be back first thing in the morning."
"That sounds like a great idea. We'll see you later. Take care."
With that, Marshall turned to leave. Things could have turned out much differently, but tonight, there was reason for hope that he'd be able to soon return the badge burning a hole in his pocket to its rightful place on his partner's hip.