Here's chapter 7. Thanks again for sticking with me and for the great feedback! I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review.

This chapter contains spoilers for Dead Drop.

January 1996

Everyone was looking to him for leadership, and Blair didn't know what to do. He looked frantically around the elevator car, taking in the terror stricken expressions on the occupants' faces.

"Do something!" Desperation was evident in the voice of the electrician sitting across the elevator.

"I.. I don't know what to do!" Blair cried. "I'm sorry!"

"Chief?"

Blair looked around for his partner. He knew Jim was there somewhere... he could hear his voice. In horror, he realized that the sentinel was sitting beside him, sorrow darkening his expression.

"Chief?"

"I'm sorry, Jim. I don't know how to stop it." Blair felt a rising pressure in his chest. "You're not supposed to be here! I don't know how to save you!"

"It's okay, buddy."

Blair turned agonized eyes to meet Jim's calm, sad expression, and then he looked down as the timer on the bomb hit zero. The world exploded in a myriad of colors and sounds.

"Blair...wake up now!"

The voice was urgent now, almost panicked, and Blair found himself trying to comply. He opened his eyes slowly, surprised to find himself sprawled on the sofa in the living room at the loft. Jim was perched precariously beside Blair on the edge of the seat, gripping both of his partner's shoulders tightly.

Blair panted, trying to get enough oxygen as he struggled to figure out what had happened. Looking around the room, he noticed the blue books and his red pen scattered around on the coffee table. Oh. He'd been grading some assignments for his Anthro 235 class. He guessed he must have fallen asleep. That whole terrifying incident he had just gone through had just been a terrible nightmare. He shuddered; actually, it was more like a twisted version of the actual events of the day.

"You okay, Chief?"

"Uh...yeah." Blair drew in a deep breath and expelled it slowly. "Oh, man."

"Some dream, huh?" Jim was still watching Blair carefully.

"Yeah." Blair sucked in another deep breath. "You could say that. I'm sorry. I guess I woke you up, huh? Was I yelling?"

"No. Actually it was your heartbeat that woke me. I've never heard anything like it. You know how we've been talking about oiling the springs on the sofa?"

Blair nodded, watching his partner intently as he continued to slow his breathing.

"Well, I heard this squeaking noise coming from down here, and I finally figured out that what I was hearing was the sofa squeaking in time with your heartbeat. By the time I got down here, I clocked your heart rate at about a hundred sixty!"

"Oh, wow!" Blair looked at his partner in something like awe. "That fast? And all from a bad dream! "He ran his hand through his hair. "Well, anyway, I'm sorry I woke you. But I'm not sorry you woke me!" He swallowed hard, thinking about his dream.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

"There's not a whole lot to tell. I was back on the elevator." Blair grimaced, thinking of the events of the day. "Except this time, you were there, too. Everyone expected me to fix things, but I didn't know what to do. I couldn't save you, Jim." He lifted tortured blue eyes to meet Jim's steady gaze.

"Hey, it was a dream." Jim squeezed Blair's shoulders. "It didn't happen that way. I wasn't there, and you did know what to do. You saved everyone, Chief. I'm not surprised you're having nightmares about it, though. I think I'll be having nightmares for a long time about that moment when I thought we were too late."

Blair nodded. "Yeah." He shook himself and yawned. "Well, I guess I'd better try and get back to work now. Thanks for waking me up, man."

Jim took his cue and released Blair's shoulders. He stood up, turning toward the door. "Why don't you pack it in and actually go to bed? I'm sure you'd be more comfortable on the futon."

Blair nodded and stood, walking unsteadily back to his room. Jim followed him, making sure that he made it without further incident. When the younger man was safely seated on the edge of his bed, Jim nodded and headed for the stairs.

"I'll see you in the morning."

Blair waited until he heard Jim's footsteps hit the top of the stairs, then turned onto his side and stared into the darkness. It was going to be a long night.

*****

"Hey, Blair?"

Blair looked up inquisitively from his seat on the couch. He set his red pen down, frowning at the concern on his partner's face.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Sure, Jim. Just a little tired, that's all. Why?" Blair wondered what had caused this sudden concern in his partner.

"Your heart's still racing. Did you have any more bad dreams?"

Blair snorted inelegantly. "No. But then, you usually have to be asleep to have bad dreams. And I wasn't."

"I wondered if you'd be able to get back to sleep after that." Jim grasped Blair's wrist and concentrated for a minute. "Did you take your medication this morning?"

"Yes, Mom." Blair rolled his eyes. "I haven't missed a dose in days." He pulled his wrist free. "It's probably just taking a while to get back to normal after last night. No big deal."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jim studied Blair thoughtfully. "Well, if it doesn't get better, I think we'd better get you back to the doctor. Maybe this medicine isn't going to last any longer than the others did"

Blair sighed. Since he had started taking medication to control his heart, he had been forced to switch medication three times. It seemed that each medicine worked for a while, and then his body built up an immunity or something. The dosage would be changed, and that helped for a while, but then he'd need to change again. He hated to even think about going through the process of switching again.

"I'll be fine tomorrow. You'll see."

*****

"Hey, Chief."

Blair looked up groggily as he shuffled into the kitchen. He grunted at Jim in an uncharacteristic display of pique. He felt like he hadn't slept at all, still thinking about that horrific nightmare. He sat down at the table, not even looking up when Jim pushed a steaming mug of his favorite herbal tea in front of him.

"Thanks," he mumbled, pushing his hair back from his face. He picked up the mug and took a sip.

Jim sat down and looked at him seriously. "We need to talk."

Blair glared at Jim in frustration. "Yes, I know. I'm not any better."

"No, you're not. Your heart is still racing. I think we need to talk about getting you back to see Doctor Aaron. Maybe your medication needs to be changed again. But this is the worst it's been since the day you were in the Emergency Room. I think it might be time to start seeing about other options or another opinion or something."

Blair sighed. "Fine," he ground out. "I'll make the appointment. But don't forget, I probably won't get in until next month anyway."

"That's true." Jim sat down across the table from Blair. "But I think while you're waiting to get in, it might not be a bad idea to go to see Doctor Knight, just in case it's something different causing the problem this time. You can probably get in to see him in the next day or two, and that way we can make sure you're not in any immediate danger."

Blair opened his mouth to protest, and then closed it again. "Fine. The sooner I can see somebody the sooner I can get back to normal." He raised a hand wearily. "Ahhh… I don't want to hear it. I know I've never been normal."

Jim chuckled, pulling out his phone. "You said it, Chief. Not me!"

*****

"Blair Sandburg?"

Blair looked up from the anthropology book he had been studying and smiled wanly at the nurse standing just inside the waiting room doors. He stood up, carefully sliding the book back into his backpack, and headed across the room to join the nurse.

"Hey, how's it going?"

The nurse smiled. "I think that's my line, actually! What brings you here today?"

Blair sighed. "I've been having heart problems again, after almost a year of it being mostly controlled by medication. I just want to know that everything is relatively okay because I can't get in to see my cardiologist for another 5 weeks."

The nurse, a tall brunette with green eyes and a wide friendly smile, nodded in sympathy. "I have to schedule a lot of the referrals to the specialists. Trust me; I know how long it takes sometimes to get in to see one!" She led the way back to a treatment room. "My name is Samantha, and I'll get you ready to see Doctor Knight. "

Samantha quickly took Blair's vitals and recorded them on his chart, ending by hooking him up to those adhesive patches that he had developed an allergy to, and checking his heart's function with an EKG. Fortunately, it didn't take long, and he didn't think he had time to develop any significant problems from the sticky substance this time.

"Okay, Mr. Sandburg, you can relax now. Doctor Knight will be in to see you shortly." She smiled and left the room, closing the door carefully behind her.

Blair sighed and settled back to wait. He wasn't really expecting any help from this visit, but Jim had been very insistent about making the appointment. He pulled his book back out of his pack and started to read.

*****

"Blair, I have a suggestion for you."

Blair looked up expectantly. "Sure, Doctor Knight. What do you suggest?"

The doctor leaned back in his chair and studied his patient somberly. "There have been some developments in cardiology since you were first here sixteen months ago. There's a new branch of cardiology that may be better suited to figuring out your situation. And there just happens to be one of these new specialists at the same cardiology office we sent you to before. I'd like to send you there and have him see you. "

Blair leaned forward in his chair eagerly. "He might be able to help me? I'm listening!"

Doctor Knight smiled at his excitement. "Okay, the specialty is called Electrophysiology, and it involves the study of the electrical impulses of the heart. We're very fortunate to have one of these doctors in the Cascade area. There are actually only about a thousand electrophysiologists in the whole country right now.

"The doctor's name is Jonathan Simmons, and I've met him. He's young, but he really knows his stuff. There is one drawback, however. Because he is the only one in the area, it will probably take closer to 8 weeks to get in to see him. In the meantime, I've talked to Doctor Aaron, and he's agreed to increase your medication until you get in to see Doctor Simmons.

"Doctor Aaron agrees that it might be in your best interest to schedule a visit with Doctor Simmons. He's your best bet for a resolution to the problems you've been having. We already know that there's not anything physically wrong with your heart, so this could be what we've been looking for."

"Where do I sign up?" Blair grinned. Finally! Maybe this guy can help me and I won't need to keep polluting my body with drugs!

*****

"Jim, I need to see you in my office."

Jim looked up to see Simon standing in the doorway of his office. He nodded and rose to follow his boss into his office. "Yes, sir?"

"Sit down, Jim." Simon sat down behind his desk and focused on his friend. "Have you heard anything from Sandburg yet?"

Jim shook his head. "Not yet. I'm expecting a call from him any time. He's really struggling right now. I don't know how he keeps up with me, as fast as his heart has been racing."

"Well, that's my question. Can he keep up with you? Or do I need to assign someone else to you temporarily? I know you need someone with you in case of 'zoning issues'…" Simon chuckled at his own joke, while Jim rolled his eyes half-heartedly. "But if Sandburg can't do it right now, we can find someone who can."

Ellison shook his head. "Let's not go there yet, sir. Let's see what the doctor says first, and if they can do anything for him."

"Alright, Jim, I just…" Simon bit off his response as Ellison's phone rang.

Jim held up a hand. "Ellison." He listened for a moment, and then heaved a pained sigh. "Whoa, slow down, Chief! I can't understand you." He listened for another minute, and then smiled. "That's great! Okay, I'll see you in a little while." He ended the call, returning the phone to his pocket.

"Well?" Simon demanded impatiently. "What's the verdict?"

Jim smiled again. "Well, the good news is that there's some new kind of specialist they want to send him to that might be able to help. The bad news is he can't get in for 2 months to see this guy. So they're going to increase his medication until then to try to keep the problem under control."

Simon grimaced. "Well, let's see how he does. But I do not want him out there as your only backup if he doesn't improve. That's not safe for either of you!"

Jim nodded. "Understood, sir. He's on his way here, so we'll learn more about what he found out soon. I'm really curious what kind of new specialist they found that could help him when a cardiologist couldn't."

*****

"Hey, Jim!" Blair practically bounced into the Major Crimes bullpen.

Ellison looked up with a relieved smile. He hadn't seen Blair this wound up in a while. "Hey, Chief. So tell me what you found out!"

"Not until you come in my office first," Banks called from the doorway. "I want to hear this, too."

Blair shrugged good-naturedly and headed for Simon's office. "Sure, no problem."

Once all three men were seated in the office, Jim leaned forward, elbows resting on knees. "Okay, spill, Chief."

Blair grinned. "Sheesh, impatient, aren't we?" He chuckled at Ellison's expression. "Okay, fine. Apparently there is a new branch of cardiology that might be what I need. There's this new doctor at the cardiologist's office called an electrophysiologist that specializes in the electrical currents of the heart. I don't really know any more than that, but I do know that Doctor Knight and Doctor Aaron both think he might be able to help. We're also really lucky that there happens to be one nearby. I guess there aren't very many yet in the country since it's a new field."

"Is that why it's going to take so long to get in?" Simon asked.

"Yes." Blair pulled his hair back out of his face and heaved a sigh. "I'm not too crazy about that part of it, but they are going to increase my meds in between, so they think I'll be okay until then."

Simon studied Blair thoughtfully. "Sandburg, I want your honest opinion here. Do you really think you can keep up with Jim feeling the way you do? I want what's best for both of you here."

Blair cringed, but met Simon's gaze steadily. "If I can't keep up, you'll be the first to know. Please let me do this. I promise if it gets too bad, I'll take some time off. But please don't pull me out yet. I can do this!"

Simon nodded, hoping he wouldn't have cause to regret that decision.

To be continued . . .

Thanks so much for continuing to read this! Please review and let me know what you think. I'm off to work on chapter 8 . . .