A/N: Gosh, my brain seems to be swamped with ideas at the moment, they're coming thick and fast! I think my Muse must be having an end of year clear out! :-D Thank you for reading and reviewing! Should warn you that you might need a box of tissues on standby for this chapter. Enjoy!
o-xxx-o
Sue sat huddled in the very corner of the deserted room with Levi at her feet and if anyone had come in, they probably wouldn't have noticed her as she would have been hidden by the door when it opened. The Golden Retriever pawed her anxiously but she was oblivious to it as she tried to work out how something so mundanely routine could have gone so terribly wrong.
The door opened and the rest of the Team walked in and looked around. Myles was the first to spot her and they all moved in her direction causing her to shrink back even further. D waved them away and when they'd gone he crouched down in front of the clearly distraught woman.
"Sue…" He touched her lightly on the arm, startling her. "You need to tell me what happened." A voice from behind had him spinning around and he came face-to-waist with a middle-aged, kindly looking nurse.
"I'm not sure you'll be able to get anything out of the poor creature, she's been like that since they brought her here. She's in shock and I believe someone said she was deaf."
"That's right."
"You know her? I thought you were one of the F.B.I Agents."
"I am and so is Ms Thomas."
"Well, I never… Who would have believed that?"
The Supervisor could barely conceal is annoyance. "Do you think you could leave us alone for a while?"
"Surely… I was just bringing her some sweet tea."
"Thank you." He took it and waited for her to leave. "Sue…" He tried again and this time he saw a flicker of acknowledgement in her eyes. "Here drink this, it'll help." Handing her the mug, he sat down petting Levi and after a few sips she finally spoke.
"I thought… I thought he'd tripped… I was laughing at him… I didn't know… I didn't know…" Her face crumpled and D took her into his arms to comfort her but after a few minutes she seemed to realise where she was and what was expected of her. Straightening up, she swiped her tears away angrily.
"I need you to tell me everything that happened. Start at the beginning…"
"I… We…" She stopped and held up her hand to ask him to wait.
"Take your time."
After swallowing down more of the almost sickly beverage, she felt a little more in control and started over, this time her voice was a little stronger. "We were about halfway through the list of witnesses and decided to take a break and get something to eat. We found a little café just off M Street…"
"Can you remember the name of it?"
"No, I wasn't paying any attention."
"That's okay, don't worry."
"We ordered and ate lunch and then… No, I almost forgot… There was a queue for tables. We were discussing the menu while we waited and an argument broke out between a man and woman at the counter. She was really upset and Jack went to see if he could help smooth things over. It looked like it was going to turn ugly so he showed them his badge and, in the end, it was all resolved peacefully, the couple apologised and left and the incident was forgotten." She took another sip of her tea. "We stayed for around forty-five minutes, paid the bill and left. We were talking about Howie and as we turned the corner, Jack suddenly stumbled into me. I thought he'd tripped and I made a joke about it but he didn't laugh, only stared at me, his eyes wide with surprise or shock or something. I asked him what was wrong but he didn't answer, just dropped to his knees, clutching the left side of his chest."
Her tears had started to fall again and her body was shaking as she relived the terrifying events. D quickly rescued the mug she was still holding and put it down onto the floor before she dropped it.
"And then..?" he prompted softly.
She sniffled and he gave her his handkerchief. "Thank you. And then he was… he was…" Sensing his mistress' distress, Levi pushed his head under her hand to comfort her and she drew strength from his warmth. "He was lying on the ground in front of me. I thought he was having another heart attack. I think I must have called for help but I can't remember." She took a shuddering breath.
"Someone shoved me to one side. I couldn't see his lips so I didn't realise he was an off-duty paramedic at first and I tried to push him away. He was angry and speaking so quickly I couldn't understand him and all the time Jack was lying there as still as… as… I explained to him that I was deaf and he turned to face me and apologised. He asked if I knew what had happened and I told him about Jack's heart condition, although I couldn't remember what it was. Why couldn't I remember? I know it now."
D took her trembling hand in his and stroked the back with his thumb the way Jack would have, making her tears flow more freely. "Sue, it's okay. It was the shock, that's all."
"The paramedic used his fingers to take his pulse and I could tell by his expression that something was wrong, I thought he was dead…" She paused again. "And then he unbuttoned his coat and slid his hand inside and when he pulled it out, it was… it was… B-L-O-O-D," she resorted to finger-spelling, unable to voice the word aloud.
"It wasn't a heart attack?" D asked incredulously.
She shook her head 'no'. S-H-O-T
"What?"
"I didn't know, maybe if I had I could have done something to stop the bleeding but I couldn't even hear the gun go off. I… I'm sorry. I'm sorry…" She finally broke down completely, a series of gut-wrenching sobs wracking her body.
"Sue, it's not your fault." He tried to comfort her but realised she couldn't focus enough to read what he was saying and so he held her in his arms for a few minutes then pulled away, waiting for her to look at him again. "I'm going to send Lucy in to sit with you while I brief the rest of the team, okay?"
He let her go and stood up, tears prickling the back of his eyes when she pulled her feet up onto the seat, hugging her legs against her and burying her face in her knees.
o-xxx-o
