Of Many Things
Chapter Four

'Teresa, i need you to wake up, okay. We all need you to.' Jane was whispering his words to the ghostly figure in the bed sheets, he feared that he may be asked to stop if he spoke any louder. It didn't seem right to allow anyone else to hear what he was saying; what made his words more important than theirs. It was such a surreal place. It was like everyone within the walls of the ICU had given up hope. Tears flowed freely from the eyes of visitors. A last goodbye to the ones they loved. Teresa didn't belong here. The whole ward echoed with the sound of death. This wasn't her place. She wasn't one of those lost souls, simply waiting for death to take them. No, he would spend his whole life whispering to her if it meant she would escape this deathly place. He had no idea if she could hear him, but it didn't matter. Maybe she would fight that little bit more if she knew there was someone with her. Someone who needed her. Maybe she would live, for him.

Jane was suddenly aware of someone watching him, from the window where he had stood before. He wasn't sure how long he had been at Lisbon's bed side. Time seemed so meaningless. All he could do was wait; what did minutes or hours matter? He turned to see the solemn faces of Rigsby, Cho, Grace; the three agents he had come to call his family over the past years, but they weren't looking at him, perhaps not even seeing him; all their focus was on their boss. Almost unrecognisable to the abundant life force that she normally was. That she would be again.
Jane, not wanting to leave her side, but needing to know if they had any information on who had done this, reluctantly headed in their direction. A squeeze of Lisbon's hand as he left in way of a promise to return as soon as he could.

'The bullets retrieved from the scene are being run through the data base, it could take days, and that's our only lead as yet.' Cho, expertly controlling his emotions, relayed the facts to Jane. There was, after all, nothing else that he could say. They had so far failed Lisbon. They had nothing. No information. Not even a theory. The attack seemed to be completely random. Which made the consequences even more devastatingly tragic. The wrong place, at the wrong time. That was all. It wasn't fair. Although he would never admit it, Cho needed Lisbon, she was his best friend; in an obscure kind of way. They just had to rely on the physical evidence. Yet more machines were churning out information. As soon as they had a result on the bullets they would be back on the case, but for now the three had decided that the only place they could be was here. With Lisbon.
An eerie silence had fallen over them. Information taken in, but not quite comprehended. To the outside world they looked so out of place. Just four people staring into the abyss. Pain evident in all their eyes. Worry written across their entire being. No words seemed right. Nothing could describe what they were feeling. It was an impossible mix of such terrible things. So there they stood. Rooted to the spot. Staring hopelessly into the hospital room that encased their fearless leader.

At some point they had all moved to sit around Lisbon's bedside. Varying stages of exhaustion washing over them. Jane clutching desperately to her fragile hand. Grace huddled up against Rigsby's strong shoulder; tears glistening down her cheeks. Rigsby himself staring helplessly at Lisbon's slight figure. Cho, although no emotion could be seen, gave himself away by the countless glances he gave the door; he needed someone to tell him what was happening. And then there was Lisbon, who seemed to be growing increasingly grey, yet her state remained unchanged. Machines whirled around them. One pumping her heart. One supplying her with oxygen. Others that were not truly understood by anyone without a medical degree. Not a word had passed their lips in hours, except for Jane, who had been talking at a constant to Lisbon. Reminding her over, and over again that 'they needed her'. His vain hopes of keeping her alive the only thing keeping him sane.

Dr. Jenson walked over to the group, hating to interrupt them, but needing to do so all the same. She had introduced herself to her patients colleagues when they had arrived, almost 2 hours ago now, recognising them immediately from the air of authority that had surrounded them. That which was being slowly warn down as each minute passed.
It was time to try removing Lisbon from life support. It was the only way they would truly be able to see the damage that had been done. A person could survive on life support for years, but it wasn't living. Sometimes the only thing that could be done was to make them comfortable in their last hours. There was something about the agent, who had mere hours ago been lying on her operating table, that effected Dr. Jenson. She could feel herself willing the agent to survive. More so than she had ever done before.
'I'm sorry, we must ask you to leave the room for a while. As we discussed earlier, we are going to remove Teresa from life support to assess her condition,' Dr. Jenson wasn't expecting them to leave willingly, she could see the love they had for their boss, 'I promise to find you as soon we know anything.' and with the knowledge that Teresa was in trustworthy hands, the agents made their way out of her room and once more into the corridor. This time however, the blinds were tightly closed against the window, preventing them from their much needed contact with her. With a shared feeling of dread and hope, they each sunk into one of the brown plastic chairs that lined the walls. Closing their minds to all the possibilities of the next few minutes, and thinking about nothing at all. Anything else was just too painful.

Thankyou for reading.
I had intended to get into the main part of the story during this chapter, but i also didn't want to rush it.
I hope you like what i write. & if not, then i hope that it atleast makes you feel something.

Chapter 5 will be up tomorrow (hopefully) Thankyou again.
Katie.