Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. During the week it might take a couple of days before I get a chapter ready but I will keep working on it. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

Blown Apart
Chapter 9

For a moment nobody in the hospital room said a word. Sawyers announcement had shocked them all. Sheldon shook his head in utter disbelief. "Wait a minute, have I entered an episode of the Twilight Zone or something? Are you honestly standing there suggesting either Mac or Danny was responsible for Grant's murder? Do you even realize how ludicrous that sounds?"

"What would either of us gain by killing him?" Mac questioned her. "You are already after our heads on a platter for the shooting. The best outcome for us was for Grant to survive and for him to be linked irrefutably to the bombing of the lab."

Jamison spoke for the first time. "And yet we have an eyewitness who puts a CSI in Grant's room at the time of his murder. Can you give us a more logical suspect?"

"We're not here to argue motive, Detective Taylor." Detective Sawyers replied coolly. "We have means and opportunity and that's enough for us to bring you in for questioning. I suggest that you both come with us voluntarily. A formal arrest would not bode well for either of your careers whether you are innocent or not."

Lindsay clung even tighter to Danny's hand afraid to let him go. She was confident beyond any measurement that neither Danny nor Mac were capable of what Sawyers was suggesting. Silent tears ran down her cheeks. "Surely there's an easier way to end this. Get the officer who was guarding Grant up here. He'll take one look and tell you that neither of them was the man he saw enter the room. Wouldn't that be the easiest solution?"

Sawyers shook her head. She felt a pang of regret that she was causing the added stress on top of everything else the wounded detective was going through but she had a job to do. "I've already had the officer escorted to the precinct. Once there he'll look through a photo line-up of all CSI employees to identify the man he saw. I don't want anything influencing his identification. Gentlemen, will you come with us?"

Danny reluctantly extracted his hand from Lindsay's but she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. He twisted on the bed to cup her face in his hands. Gently he brushed away her tears and stared into her eyes. "You know I don't want to go but if I don't…"

She nodded. "I know. This is just so unfair."

"They ain't gonna have anything on me and I'll be back as soon as I can. I can take their worst as long as I'm sure you are okay. Promise me?"

Lindsay nodded but didn't trust herself to speak. Danny pulled her to him and held her tightly for several minutes, hating that all of this was hurting her worse than any of her injuries. A warning Martha had given him when he took her the slice of pizza was racing around his mind and the last thing he wanted to do was leave him alone. He kissed the top of her head and then glanced over at Hawkes. "You'll make sure she's okay?"

Hawkes nodded. He still couldn't believe all the ups and downs this one day had had. "I'll stay as long as she needs me. Don't worry about her."

Danny bent down so he could talk softly directly in Lindsay's ear. "I gotta do this Babe. Not because I want to but because the quicker I go with them, the quicker we can get this mess all straightened out and I can get back here. Please don't worry about me. Don't let this upset you. They can't hurt me cause I didn't do anything wrong. I love you so much."

At long last Lindsay pulled back from him and nodded. Her eyes were still full of unshed tears as she gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "I love you too."

He returned her kiss with one of his own and then stood. He wanted nothing more than to punch something but he had to be strong to keep Lindsay from worrying. Without another word he left the room before he lost his resolve. Jamison followed after him. Mac stepped over and gave Lindsay's uninjured shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'll do everything I can to take care of him. We'll make this okay. I promise you."

He shook hands with Hawkes and then left the room with Sawyers. Once he was alone in the room with Lindsay, Hawkes went to her side. He could see how visibly upset she was but was clueless as to how to help her. He worried she was going to cause herself more pain. Easing down on the bed next to her, he wrapped his arms around her and allowed her to cry softly. He didn't speak; he felt any words he could offer would seem empty and inadequate.

After several minutes Lindsay pulled back. Hawkes grabbed several tissues from the nightstand to offer her. She wiped at her eyes and nose. He watched her a moment. "What can I do for you?"

"Go check on Adam like you planned." Her words were soft but firm.

Sheldon shook his head. "I told Danny…"

"That you would stay as long as I need you." Lindsay interrupted and finished for him. "Please, I'm okay. I'd rather you check on Adam. He could probably use a friend tonight as well. I'm drained and I'm hurting. It's probably better if I just lie back and go to sleep. Hopefully that way it won't seem that long before Danny gets back. Please do this for me."

"If you are sure. You want me to let your nurse know you want something for pain?"

Lindsay shook her head. "It's time for shift change so Martha will be giving her report. I'll wait until they finish with that and when my night nurse comes in I'll ask her for something."

After a little more reassurance from Lindsay, Hawkes finally left out. She counted to ten to make sure he wouldn't come back for some reason, then threw the covers off. She eased out of bed, almost crying out in pain as the movement jarred her injuries. She walked across the room and opened the closet hoping to find her clothes but the closet was empty. It was then she realized that the clothes she'd been wearing that morning had probably been cut away to treat her injuries. She sat back down on the bed as the hard wracking sobs overcame her. The sobs caused her ribs to explode in pain but she couldn't stop herself. The pain only made the sobs worse. She could recognize the growing hysteria in her but could do nothing to stem the flow.

Her door open and Martha stuck her head in. "I just wanted to say…Lands sakes, child." She crossed the room in a hurry, snatching Lindsay's pillow off the bed as she passed. She helped the distraught woman press the pillow against her ribs to brace against the pain. Seeing Lindsay was so upset she was having trouble catching her breath, Martha hit the nurse call button.

"Can I help you?"

"Sadie, ask Karen to prepare a Valium/Dilaudid injection for Mrs. Messer." She sat next to Lindsay and rubbed her back. She knew part of the emotional overload could be contributed to the concussion and the traumatic experience. In fact, she had warned Danny not to be surprised if Lindsay experienced a mini breakdown sometime this evening. The obvious absence of the handsome young man surprised and confused her. Until she got her patient calmed down, however; she would be unable to piece together what had happened.

Karen, the night nurse, came in and quickly administered the injection. Seeing that Martha was handling the situation and knowing the older nurse had already established a rapport with the Lindsay, she left just as quickly.

After what seemed like the longest time, Lindsay's heart-wrenching sobs quieted to tears and sniffles. She leaned wearily against Martha, hiccupping slightly. Martha pulled a package of tissues from her pocket and pulled out a few so the younger woman could wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

"Let's start with the easy questions. Want to tell me what you were doing out of bed?" She asked softly.

"Looking for my clothes but I don't have any. I can't leave here in this gown; it's too drafty." She looked down at the sling. Her hospital gown's sleeves snapped completely down to accommodate IV lines and slings but she could foresee problems with ordinary clothes. "But even if I had clothes, how would I put them on over this sling?"

Martha considered her question. "You know what, my daughter went through a phase where she wore these shirts that tied at the shoulder. They're still at the house. I could bring several in tomorrow for you. You're about the size she was then and she won't miss them. They would be easy enough to slip under the sling and tie at the top. So, that's a problem you don't have to worry about anymore."

"Thanks; that's sweet of you, but it won't help me tonight."

"Tonight?" Martha shook her head. "You don't need anything tonight but that bed."

Lindsay pulled away from the kind nurse and tried to stand. The combination of sedative and painkiller had already started working and she swayed. Martha stood with her and led her to the head of the bed before helping her lie down. She covered her with the blanket. Lindsay protested but was unable to stop her.

"Gotta go to the station. They think Danny killed the man. Need to be with him." Her eyes were already half-closed."

"You need to take it easy and follow doctor's orders. That will help Danny more than anything." She was shocked by Lindsay's announcement. She'd only met the couple today but she couldn't picture the nice young man being capable of murder. However it explained his absence; she couldn't believe he would willingly leave her side. It wasn't long before the young woman was sound asleep. Martha stilled waited several minutes to make sure she was completely out before leaving.

- CSI: NY - CSI: NY - CSI: NY -

Sheldon Hawkes knocked on Adam's door. He felt bad that he had left Lindsay after promising Danny but she had been pretty insistent that he leave. He hoped she was able to get to sleep quickly. He heard the chain slide back and then Adam opened the door.

Hawkes held up a bag from the diner down the street. "I took pizza to Lindsay and Danny and figured you might like your favorite burger."

Adam's face lit up. "Thanks. Come on in. Flack stopped and got us both a slice of pizza when he brought me home but that was hours ago. I was just about to try to figure out something to eat when you knocked."

He offered Hawkes a seat and asked if he wanted something to drink. Bringing them both back a soda, he sat on the couch opposite Hawkes and tore into his burger. He glanced at Sheldon.

"So how was Lindsay? I imagine since Danny was able to get there she was feeling better emotionally but she had me worried when Flack told us about the investigation. She was even talking about checking out of the hospital to go to the station. I was a little afraid she might even sneak out once we left. Crazy huh?"

Sheldon's heart skipped a beat at Adam's admission. He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contacts until he got the number of the information desk of Mercy Hospital. Once someone answered he asked for the fifth floor west nurse's desk. Once someone answered he identified himself. "This might seem like a crazy question but could someone just check and make sure Lindsay Messer is in her room."

He was put on hold for a few seconds and he could feel every beat of his heart until someone picked up the phone. "Hello, they said you were checking on Lindsay Messer? I'm Martha, her day nurse. I just came from her room."

"So she is still there?" Hawkes was more than a little relieved.

"Not for the lack of trying. Don't worry; she's okay now and she's not going anywhere. She's sound asleep thanks to a little help from drugs. Just make sure that husband of hers gets back here quickly. Neither one of them needs all this stress."

Hawkes smiled. He had picked up from both Danny and Lindsay earlier that her nurse was a sweet woman. "I'll do what I can. Let me give you my number; if there's any trouble tonight, can you have the night nurse call me? I can be there in ten minutes if I'm needed." He gave her the number and she promised to pass it on. Once he hung up the phone, he realized Adam had finished eating and was staring at him in confusion.

"Why isn't Danny there? What's going on?"

Hawkes filled the injured tech in on what had happened at the hospital. Adam ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Who could be doing this to us? First someone tries to blow us up and now they are framing our people for murder. Who hates us that much? Okay, okay, I know, everyone we put away but most of them are in jail so that kind of lets them off the hook. So who hates us that much and has the capabilities to do this to us?"

Hawkes waited to see if Adam was finished with his rant or simply taking a much needed breath. He'd been wondering the same thing since he left the hospital. "I don't know. This case just keeps getting more and more difficult. Somebody is going to a lot of trouble; that's for sure. But hey, don't worry cause we will figure out who is doing this and we will stop him. You just worry about taking it easy with that concussion."

Adam shifted nervously. "Yeah, right, of course. After all, Mac threatened to have me forcibly removed from the lab so its not like I'm doing any work on the case."

Hawkes saw him cut his eyes over to the computer and followed his line of sight. He was surprised to see a half-formed computer sketch of a man's head. All that had been completed was a short crew cut and a red bird on the right side of the neck. He pointed to the computer. "Is that a facial reconstruction software program?"

Adam nodded, annoyed that he'd given himself away. "It's my own program. Not as good as the ones we have at the lab but it'll do some pretty good things. I saw this guy; maybe I'm the only one who saw him and can identify him. I thought that maybe if I could reconstruct his face we could put a name to the face. I've got the features that stood out to me easily enough but I'm having trouble with the actual face. I can see it but I just can't pin it down in the program. But I will get it if I have to stay up all night."

"Adam, man, this is really amazing and I have no doubt you are going to get it perfect but don't torture yourself with it. Take something for that headache you have now that you have a full stomach. Get some real rest, not just a chair nap. Come back to it in the morning when you are fresh."

Adam looked at him quizzically. "You've obviously never seen my chair naps if you don't think that's real rest. Wait, how did you know I had a headache?"

"I'm a doctor, remember? A concussion is a big clue and your right eyebrow arches when you have a headache. I've noticed it before. Please Adam, take care of yourself. No one wants you to run yourself ragged trying to solve this."

Adam slumped. "Okay, okay. I get that I'm defeated here. I'll take one of the pretty white pills the doctor gave me and I'll crash in a real bed for a few hours." He held up his hand with two fingers raised. "Scouts honor."

Hawkes stood to go and gave his friend a brotherly hug. "I'm really glad you are okay. We couldn't get along without you."

- CSI: NY - CSI: NY - CSI: NY -

As soon as Sawyers and Jamison arrived at the precinct with Mac and Danny, they placed the two detectives in separate interrogation rooms and entered a third one where the officer who had been guarding Grant was waiting for them. He'd been given a folder that had photographs of every nab who worked in the crime lab. He looked up from them as the door opened.

Sawyers sat opposite him. She indicated the folder on the table. "Officer Grayson, were any of those men anywhere near Grants room today?"

He nodded. He pulled out the picture of Adam Ross. "This one came by with Detective Flack not long after Grant was put in ICU. He never went in though and left when Detective Flack left." Next he pulled out the picture of Mac Taylor. "He came up while Flack and the other one was there. When the others left, he got out his cell phone and went down to the waiting room to talk. I never saw him after that."

Jamison sighed impatiently. "What about the person you saw enter the room just before Grant's life support was pulled? Is his picture there?"

Nervously, Grayson went back to the photographs. He sorted through them one more time and then pulled out one more. With a heavy sigh he threw it on the table "That's him. That's the one who went in."

Sawyers and Jamison exchanged a glance and then looked down at the photograph. Danny Messer's face was smiling up at them.