More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 16

The hospital waiting room was quiet. There were only faint, murmured conversations. Tao had arrived with his wife, the pair bringing coffee for everyone. Sykes sat near them, cradling her cup and staring at the floor. They had been waiting for almost an hour, so far there had been no word. Team would occasionally exchange looks, cast worried glances toward Rusty or Flynn, but remained, for the most part, silent.

The surprising addition to the group had been Emma Rios. She had arrived ten minutes after the others, in jogging pants and a hoody, with her hair pulled back, looking flushed and concerned. She now sat in a corner, her phone in her hands while she kept tabs on the investigation for the team.

The silence was good. Flynn wasn't sure that he could handle the noise, or the questions, the quiet platitudes. It was hard to say if it was fortunate or not, but their team had enough experience being in this situation that they didn't try. He sat, leaning forward, with his arms braced on his knees. His hands hung limply between them. They had long since been washed, but they still felt sticky from the blood that had seeped through Sanchez's t-shirt. When he closed his eyes he saw her sitting there, slumped against the wall, and his heart constricted painfully again.

Flynn stood up, he pushed his hands into his pockets and circled the room. He needed to move. The longer he sat, the more the tightly the hot ball of emotion within him wound, threatening to snap. He was both worried and furious. Mostly at himself for leaving her alone, but at all of them for not seeing any of it before it happened. He was furious at the situation, but mostly he was sick with worry. He couldn't will them to come through the doors and tell them anything, but he was giving it ten minutes and then he was going in. If he had to put his gun in a doctor's face to get an update, he would do it. Then at least, maybe, he wouldn't feel so damned useless.

Caged tiger and coiled snake, both images came to mind for Provenza as he watched his partner pace. He knew Flynn's temper, and he could see it slowly working toward an outburst. He was moving toward the very limit of his patience and Provenza wasn't sure he could pull him back. There was a part of him that didn't want to, they had been waiting long enough. Turn Flynn loose on them and maybe they would get some answers. He saw Sanchez tracking the other man's movements as well, they exchanged a look. Sanchez nodded. He could trust Julio to jump in if it became necessary. Provenza leaned his head back again and glanced beside him at Rusty. The kid was too silent, that worried him more than Flynn's temper.

"Raydor?" The doctor had appeared, startling them all.

Flynn turned, while the rest of the team stood up. Emma joined them when they circled around him. Provenza had tapped Rusty's knee and nodded him over as well. Then he made sure to maneuver Rusty to the front of the crowd.

"Is anyone here family," the doctor was a tall man in his forties, his hair was thinning and just beginning to gray. He scanned the group, and noticed the badges. Sometimes with the police department the line between family and colleague got blurred, so he stressed the word.

"Uh, yeah…" Rusty shuffled when Provenza nudged him. "That's me. I'm uh… yeah." He felt slightly sick. The knot in his stomach had only gotten larger since arriving at the condo earlier. "H-how is she?"

"Stable," the doctor, whose name tag read Davis, turned his attention on the teenager. "Rusty, I'm Doctor Davis. We've ruled out any major organ or vessel damage. The main injury was the cut to her left side, it was deep and she lost a lot of blood. We've gotten some fluids into her and we're working on a second unit of blood. There were also some more minor lacerations and mild bruising to her knee. All of which has been treated. Right now, you'll be glad to know that she is awake. She's asking about a Rusty, I'm guessing that must be you?"

He almost fell over, the force of his relieved exhalation shook his entire body. He noticed similar reactions from the other, and Flynn was gripping his partner's shoulder, head bowed. Rusty nodded. "That's me. I'm… I'm Rusty, she's really okay?"

Doctor Davis flashed a reassuring smile. "Come and see for yourself. I can have one at a time back here, and we'll be moving her to a room soon."

Rusty started forward and stopped. He looked back at Flynn, suddenly unsure. "I…"

"Go ahead kid," Flynn nodded. "We can wait."

He nodded quietly and let the doctor lead him through the double doors. He pushed his hands into his pockets as he followed, looking around him with wide eyes as they moved through a maze of halls and cubicles. The doctor lead him past a main monitoring station and toward a closed door. Rusty felt like he was walking through mud as they approached.

Doctor Davis pushed the door open for him and stood back. "Try to let her rest as much as possible."

Rusty nodded. He shuffled quietly into the room and jolted slightly when the door clicked shut behind him. The oxygen mask was gone, and she didn't seem quite so pale as she had earlier. She was still very small looking, and the hospital gown was not her color. Rusty understood now why she wore such dark colors. Or maybe hospital gowns just looked bad on everyone. They had her knee in a brace and elevated, but she was otherwise covered by blankets and aside from the IV in one hand, and the bandage around her upper arm on the other side, she seemed otherwise okay.

His hands fisted in his pockets as he moved closer. Her eyes were closed and he didn't want to wake her, not if she was sleeping. Rusty looked around the room, there were monitors in the corner, beeping quietly. He watched the numbers on them, and guessed they were normal. On a tray in the corner were her clothes. They were in a clear bag. Her glasses were laying on the tray beside them, and Rusty picked them up. He knew she would need those.

"Rusty."

It made him jump. He turned, and found her watching him. Rusty blinked, clearing his own wide-eyed expression. "I thought you were sleeping." He held up her glasses and walked toward her. "Here. These might help."

"Thank you, honey." Sharon accepted the glasses, but winced at the pain the movement caused. "Are you okay?"

Rusty gave her an incredulous look. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He looked around the room, then back at her. "Yeah, pretty sure that was my line. Sharon, you're the one in the hospital. Those must be some awesome drugs."

"Hm." Her eyes closed for a moment and she smiled. "Well, if that attitude is anything for me to judge by, I think you're fine." She forced them open again and blinked a few times. Yes, the pain medication they had given her was making her drowsy. She was also a little woozy from the blood loss. "I'm serious, Rusty. How are you?"

"So am I." He folded his arms over his chest. "Sharon, I'm fine. You're like… not." His jaw clenched and he looked down. That was sort of the problem.

"Rusty." She reached out, despite what it cost her to move, and managed to touch the side of his leg. "I'm okay. Honey, I don't want you to worry about me. I am going to be just fine. More than that, I think you're going to be okay now too. Everything is still plenty fuzzy," she waved a hand in front of her. "But I think it's over."

"Yeah," Rusty blew out a breath. "You… uh… he's dead. The guy that you shot, he didn't… Detective Sanchez said that he was dead." He pushed his hands into his hair. "God, Sharon. We thought you were dead."

"It was a dangerous situation, Rusty. I very nearly could have been. It's okay for you to feel upset about that. It's okay for you to feel relieved. If you feel like you need to speak to Doctor Joe, I want you to call him, do you understand? Or you can speak to me, Lieutenant Provenza, Buzz… Rusty, do you understand?"

"Yes." He nodded slowly. "I will."

"Let me hear you say it again," she gave him a small smile.

Rusty chuckled quietly. "Yeah, you're really okay." He shook his head. "I will. I will talk about it, and I understand how important that is."

"Good." She settled back again. "I apologize, Rusty, but I'm really feeling very heavy right now."

"You're high," He grinned. The knot in his stomach was slowly beginning to loosen, but his world was still a little off its axis. "Sharon… I'm really glad you're okay and everything, but you are totally toked right now."

She smiled at him and let her eyes close. "It's the morphine."

"Obviously." Rusty reached down and touched her hand. "I was really scared," he said when her eyes opened again. "I still am. I was really afraid that I was going to lose you. I kept thinking that it was all my fault, that if I had just gone to boarding school none of this would have happened."

She turned her hand over and gripped his. "You are not responsible for any of this. I want you to keep that in mind. Nothing that has happened is your fault. Okay?"

"Yes," Rusty nodded. "I sort of understand that. It's just hard. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, and I really didn't want it to be you, Sharon."

"It's okay to feel that way, Rusty. Just so long as you understand that you couldn't have stopped this. You didn't cause it, and you couldn't have prevented it." She gripped his hand tightly. "I love you, remember that. Alright?"

"I know." He managed a small smile, only looking away when the moisture in his eyes threatened to fall. He blinked quickly, and then wiped a hand across his eyes. "I love you too, Sharon."

"I know," she returned his smile before letting go of his hand and closing her eyes again.

"Hey, Sharon…" He disturbed her again and felt really bad about it. "I'm going to let some of the others come back and see you too. Like, everyone is here, and I think Lieutenant Flynn was seriously close to tearing this place apart a little while ago. The doctor said we could only come back one at a time so…"

Her lips curled, but her eyes closed again. It was really hard to keep them open. "Thank you, Rusty."

He watched her for another moment or two before he moved toward the door. Outside the room he looked around, reorienting himself. He hadn't really paid a lot of attention on his way there. It took the signs directing him back to the waiting room for him to find his way back to the team.

Everyone was still there, and when he pushed through the doors, they all looked up at him with expectant expressions. None so much as Flynn. "She's okay." He walked over to rejoin him and Lieutenant Provenza. "She is totally more worried about me, so she was fine. I think she's feeling a little better now and, I figured you kind of wanted to see her too so…" Rusty shrugged. "They gave her morphine so she's a little loopy."

Andy nodded silently and stood up. "Thanks kid." He clasped Rusty's shoulder as he moved past him.

"She's in 3, it's across from the nurses station," Rusty called after him. He sat down in the seat that Flynn had abandoned and let out a long, heavy sigh. "When do you think they will let us back into the condo?"

Provenza gave him a surprised look. "A couple of days, probably. Why?"

"Well…" Rusty sat up in his chair. "Her clothes were all bloody and they cut them off of her. She's going to need some things. You know?"

Provenza nodded slowly. "Right… right… hey, Sykes." He dug around for his wallet and then he opened it. The members of his squad were staring at him. Provenza never opened his wallet for anything. He took out several bills, then thought better of it and pulled out a credit card. He handed it to the young detective. "Go find an open store, it will be a couple of days before anyone can get into the Captain's place. She'll need… you know…" He waved a hand at her. "Whatever it is you females need."

Sykes looked down at him, brows raised and a smile tugging at her lips. "Yes sir. I think there's a Target nearby that should still be open." She hurried away before he could change his mind.

"Sykes," he called after her. "Rusty will need a few items too. Might as well take care of it." When the others exchanged looks and smiles, Provenza huffed. "Don't look at me like that. I'm going to be billing Taylor for it, believe me."

"Yes sir," Sanchez was grinning. "Of course, sir." They all knew otherwise, but no one would say a word about it.

Back in the Emergency Room, Flynn had located Sharon easily enough. He slipped quietly into the room, not wanting to disturb her. He pulled the chair close to the bed, opposite the monitors and IVs and folded his long body into it before scooping up her hand and pressing his lips against her fingers. He was relieved to see that she looked better, still incredibly pale, but not as ghost white as she had been in the hall. The cold, clammy feel was gone from her skin as well. Warmth had returned. Andy's heart clenched when her lids fluttered before opening.

"Hi there." He was never so glad to see those beautiful eyes looking back at him.

"Hi." She smiled faintly at him. "How bad is it?"

Air left his lungs in a rush. "Hell…" Andy shook his head. He stood up and leaned over her, lips firm against hers. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Hm." She reached up, laid her hand against the side of his face. "Sorry." Sharon looked up at him, saw the worry, the terror that hadn't receded from him yet. "I'm still here."

"Yes you are." He kissed her again, a gentle brush of his lips against hers before he sat back down. Andy continued to hold her hand, and leaned forward, elbows resting on the side of her bed. "You look good," he said, answering her earlier question.

"Liar." She snorted at him.

"Well…" He tilted his head and gave her a crooked grin. "You should see the other guy, repeating her line from a few years before."

"Mmhm. That's right, we've been here before." Sharon smirked at him. "Oops."

Andy chuckled. "Oops?" He shook his head at her. "The kid was right, you are a little loopy aren't you."

"Hmm." She shrugged. "You might want to make sure I don't agree to any promotions."

"I don't know. If it means I could be a Captain by morning…" He kissed her palm. "Don't worry, babe, I've got your back. I suppose that also means I should refrain from asking you to move in with me, marry me, or otherwise make any permanent changes right now."

"Probably a good idea." She closed her eyes again but continued to smile.

"Damn." He laid his head on her thigh, careful of her knee. "Love you."

Her hand found his head and settled in his hair. "Me too."