THE OC IS BASED ENTIRELY ON ME. I JUST FELT LIKE BRAGGING ABOUT MYSELF. I AM HORRIBLE, AREN'T I?LOL.

Chapter 9: Another Angel

Previously on 'A Chance At Tomorrow'

All three smiled at their determined counterpart as Jess heard a roaring sound getting louder and louder as ……………..

Don was still sitting in the waiting room of the hospital. The whole team had come by to the hospital and had waited with him. They had begged him to go home, promising they would alert him in any change in condition. She had now been undergoing surgery for four hours. They had only been able to keep him home long enough to shower, get half an hour of sleep and a donut and coffee from the nearest Starbucks. They still did not know anything about her condition.

CSI:NY CSI:NY CSI:NY

Lindsay snuggled under the cover of the bed. Even though the blanket provided her with warmth she still felt a damp chill. Almost being killed, almost losing Danny, being hostage and Jess being in surgery had taken it's toll and she was deathly tired but sleep was still at bay.

But she just had to remind herself these were may be's. They had been hostages that was true but she was alive and well, Danny was in the washroom after being discharged from the hospital and Jess was still alive as far as she knew and not going anywhere if she knew her best friend.

But even these thoughts could not wipe away the images of horror that filled her mind.

Right then she felt a dip in the bed and the covers being lifted. Seconds later she felt two strong arms wrap around her mid-section and protectively cover her stomach.

"Lindsay?" Danny whispered into her ear after brushing her locks away from her face."

"Hmm?" she moaned as she felt his finger tips touch her face.

"I love you, so, so much" he said.

Lindsay smiled to herself, twisted around so she was facing him and kissed him lightly on the lips "Me too"

And then she knew that no matter what the future held for them they would be able to get through it together.

"Mac?" Stella pushed the door to the temporary CSI lab. He was over there pouring over files.

He looked up to see his best friend of ten years and gave a weary tired smile. "What are you doing here?" she inquired. "We just got held hostage, I think paper work can wait" she joked.

Mac looked at her. She had bags under her beautiful emerald eyes and her eyes were dull and unlike her "I'm just going over these case files over the drug bust. I'm not tired"

"Yea and the moon's made out of green cheese and we both know that not gonna be happening any time soon." She quipped. "Come on Mac we both need sleep and possibly something to eat."

"Will you get some sleep if I go" Mac asked knowing very well Stella might be up for hours pacing and feeling scared even if she did put on her tough girl front.

She nodded and then bit her lower lip "Will… you stay with me?" she asked hesitantly. Stella wanted him there with her that night because she knew he knew that she would not get enough sleep. Mac nodded as they gathered up their coats and he placed his hand on her lower back as they went out of the room

The surgery was still going on. It had now been five hours and still no news. Don Flack now looked like the shadow of the man he was. He had worry lines stretched across his face, bags under his eyes and his normally perky blue eyes were now a duller shade. He had belief that Jess could come back. She was a fighter and he still held hope she would wake up. Open her chocolate brown eyes, flip her hair over her shoulder, give a crooked grin and say "And you said you had no game."

So deep was he in his thoughts that he did not notice a girl sit down next to him. "Hi" the voice startled him.

"Umm, hey" he ran a hand through his hair as he looked at her properly. She looked to be about thirteen to fifteen years old with thick black silky hair cascading halfway down her back with a fringe that flopped over her eye line at times, dark hazel eyes that almost seemed black, light tan skin and a slim but solid build. She was wearing a sleeveless blue tee and black tights. He turned back and put his head in his hands not wishing to make any small talk.

"Who's that important to you that you lose sleep over them and you cry?" she asked.

Flack looked at her in surprise, wondering how she knew he had lost sleep and cried "What's your name, kid?" he asked.

"Natasha Remington or just Nat if you prefer" she said holding out her hand.

"Don Flack" he said back accepting her hand and shaking.

"You forgot the detective part" she pointed out, surprising him once again.

"How do you know that?" he asked in surprise.

"Well there are two explanations. Number one is I am psychic while number two is I am just plain observant seeing your badge and gun plus the bags under your eyes and the redness."

"Your good, maybe you should be the detective" he said shaking his head at her.

"I want to be. I've always wanted a career in law enforcement" she told him. He looked at her in amazement while she countered "What, you think I can't do it?"

"No you definitely can" he said hastily hoping she wouldn't peg him as a person who supported sadism for women, this girl certainly had the guts proven when she had boldly come up to him and the skills to become one. "Just surprised. Most girls your age want to become lawyers, doctors, architect etc. Stuff like that."

"Never liked making people cry, don't want to waste four to five years in med school just for their entertainment of shoving knowledge down my throat and I hate sitting in an air conditioned office the whole day only doing paperwork and designs" she ticked of the reasons she did not want those jobs.

"So why are you here Natasha?" He asked.

"Please call me Nat. Umm…….Me and a couple of my friends were over at a café when there was a drive-by shooting. Luckily no one got seriously injured, just a few glass cuts and therefore her we are. What about you?"

"Only if you call me Don." He chuckled "And the reason I'm here is…….." his voice took on a darker tone.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" Nat hastily said.

"No it's alright, just I work for the homicidal division of the NYPD. Also work with the CSI, you know what they are right?" he asked as she nodded.

"Crime Scene Investigators" she answered.

Don continued "we made the biggest drug bust ever a couple of years back and it came back to bite us in the ass in a way I could have never imagined" he said quietly.

She stayed silent, knowing a person needed time to open up about traumatic events.

"Yesterday night the CSI's and me and my partner were staying back in the office. The CSI's are Danny, my best friend, Lindsay his partner and girlfriend, Adam, the lab tech, Sheldon the doctor, Stella, second head, Mac the head of the lab and finally Jess my partner. We were held hostage by the gang because they wanted the drugs back. In the end Danny ended up getting shot in the shoulder, a uniform Sabrina Jordan was killed and Jess was stabbed and shot in the chest. She's undergoing surgery right now. While all this was being said Natasha did not once interrupt. She just stayed silent.

"You really must care about your partner" she said her elbows on her knew and her hand supporting her head.

He nodded "I do, more that anyone can ever comprehend. She does not deserve this pain. It's people like her that make's the world brighter on the gloomiest day, that gives you a glare if you laugh at her, that joins you in the teasing but stops it from going to far. I don't know what I could do without her.

"Do you love her?" she asked. He looked at her in amazement again wondering how a teen like her could be so mature. "Don't play dumb" she accused him "I can see it in your eyes"

He slowly nodded, as she stood up Natasha put her hand on his shoulder as Don buried his face in his hands once again. "Don't wait until the last moment to say those word's Don" As he opened his mouth to object she spoke quicker "I know your afraid that she doesn't feel the same way but you will never know until you try. Life is a race Don, you don't have to be the first one to cross the finishing line. You just have to finish, knowing you crossed all the hurdles. Life waits for no one you gotta to out run it." She said.

She said as she removed her hand from his shoulder "By the way, confess it in a romantic way. No girl wants to be told by her dream guy that he loves her when she is looking like hell. Now go live, love, laugh."

Flack slowly looked up but she was gone. The hallway was empty once again. As he sat there for a few more hours he replayed her answer in his head 'Life is a race Don, you don't have to be the first one to cross the finishing line. You just have to finish, knowing you crossed all the hurdles.'

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