The rangers moved through the motions of helping get the mess cleaned up with the help of the Sheriffs department. It was going to take some time since there was still a body stuck in the trees, the body of Gunny's attacker and a wrecked car at the bottom of the cliff. Cody had gone with Gunny in the med-evac chopper that had been flown in. Matt stayed to help get things coordinated on the ground while the rest did as they were told. None of them were able though to forget the scene they had come upon when they'd finally climbed down. Cody had taken the first shot at John and what had surprised them all was Izzy taking the final shot that did the man in. They all wanted to be at the hospital but they knew they had a job to do, so they did it, their movements almost wooden and stilted…but they did it.

By the time they had finished with the cleanup and made their way to the hospital, Gunny was in her seventh hour of surgery and Cody could only give them the basics of what he'd learned…which wasn't much. Matt sent everyone except Cody and himself back to the station to get cleaned up and get some rest. The two brothers remained, waiting…hoping for the best.

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The sound of someone groaning started to register through the fog and blackness behind her eyes. Her brain felt fuzzy and not quite functioning properly. There was that noise again. If someone was in pain, she should help, shouldn't she? But as soon as that thought came through the fog, it slipped away again.

Someone else's voice suddenly registered in her ear, a voice that was familiar but she couldn't associate where she'd heard it or to whom it belonged. What they were saying didn't even register as if it was nothing more than gibberish to her. The groan sounded again, loud enough that it reverberated through her chest. How could that be possible?

Her tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of her mouth and she realized she desperately needed something to drink otherwise she felt like she might choke. She slowly worked to remove her tongue from the roof of her mouth but something was in the way of her tongue moving too much. The sound of a groan came again.

Slowly, one thought at a time, she registered the sensation of someone holding her hand lightly. She was trying to sleep here and someone was making noise and who the hell was touching her? She thought that perhaps she should remove her hand but couldn't get her muscles to obey her just yet. She exhaled in a gust, her tongue still trying to figure out what was in her mouth. She swallowed, registering a moment later that something was in her throat. Her throat muscles moved against it again when she swallowed a second time.

The hand touching hers was rubbing the back of hers. The need to remove her hand from the offending touch suddenly triggered her muscles to jerk. She felt her hand suddenly shoot skyward, hitting something in the process that resulted in another loud noise that irritated her eardrums. Her hand, as if with a mind of its own, began touching her face. She had to get this stuff out of her mouth so she could swallow and get a drink so her tongue wouldn't keep sticking to the roof of her mouth.

She felt her hand gently removed from its explorations and heard someone speaking gibberish again. She felt her heart begin to beat harder, clearing some more of the fog from her brain. She was running on instinct as she yanked her hand out of someone else's grip, her other hand lifting finally to help. There was a long high-pitched noise that caused irritation to her ears. She let out a growl of frustration as someone grabbed her other hand. There was more than one person around her!

Why was she asleep? Why wasn't she waking up? Why were others in her room with her? Why were they holding her hands down? She worked hard to get herself free but her strength ebbed faster than it should have and she was gasping for breath as she worked hard to peel her eyes open. They felt as though someone had sealed them shut with glue but she managed to get an eyelid open.

She knew instantly she was in a hospital as a nurse quickly moved around her bed, strapping her wrists down. The long high-pitched noise stopped as something was clipped to a finger and a beeping fast pace of a heart monitor replaced it. The sound of that loud groaning came again and her brain finally registered that it was her that was causing the noise.

She got the second eyelid pried open as she lay there, confused as to why she was in a hospital. She couldn't sense her body. She knew it was there but it felt numb, disconnected. When the nurse realized her eyes were open, she disappeared out of her line of sight. Within moments, someone that was obviously a doctor came up to her and began flashing a penlight in her eyes. She winced and growled a threat since it seemed she couldn't talk with this object in her throat.

The doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow but kept checking things on her. He spoke to her and a few of his words filtered through the fog that was slowly dissipating. "….County General….shot……accident….. lost….."

Crane closed her eyes again, trying to register what was being said. She still couldn't speak but when she opened her eyes again, the doctor looked as though he was waiting for her to confirm something. Her look must have conferred the fact that she was obviously confused. He spoke again and she heard more of what he said this time "Miss Atheron, you're at Barton Medical Center. You've been injured and shot while helping out with a traffic accident. We thought we'd lost you there for a while. Do you understand what I've told you?"

It took a moment for the words to fully register in her brain but she nodded once and let out another groan.

The doctor looked a little more relieved. He checked her eyes with the penlight again; getting another growled response from her. She heard him speak to someone else, "At lease she has spirit enough to express her opinion on things…" There were a few chuckles that came from around the room. There was obviously more people than just the doctor in the room.

Finally the doctor removed her restraints. He signaled a nurse, who came over and the two of them began removing the tube that was running down her throat. She wanted to gag and once it was clear of her throat, she coughed a few times before she felt her whole body wracked with pain from such a simple thing. The doctor came back over to her bed as the nurse checked the fluid bags and to make sure she hadn't shaken anything loose when she had struggled earlier.

She felt herself begin to slip backwards into the dark but the doctor motioned for someone to come over. Her foggy brain realized after a few moments that it was Cody…holding a towel to his bloody nose. He leaned down and in a muffled voice said, "It's good to see you haven't lost your fighting spirit. Next time I'll make sure to wear a face mask before I hold your hand." He said jokingly.

She felt her cheeks flush. She wanted to say something but she didn't feel she had the strength to do so. Another face swam into view. Matt leaned over her bed, smiling warmly, "You'll survive I think..."

She saw Cody sit back down next to her bed, but this time, he put his hand under hers. She felt her fingers flex a little, giving a little jerk of a squeeze as she slipped back into the darkness she'd pulled out of only moments before. She heard people talking quietly around her but her brain became foggy again, causing her to loose interest quickly as she let sleep claim her.