Zero lost all track of time. No one else besides Lionel, came to see how Jude was. Zero was glad his phone laid broken on the ground back at the arena. He guessed it wouldn't stop ringing, if it still worked. All the papers would've harassed him with questions and not a one single person would've truly cared about Jude's wellbeing. It hurt Zero to think there was no one else beside him and Lionel who cared of him. For a moment Zero thought about Jude's mom. He never talked about her. He had once asked something about her and Jude had just shrugged and said that he rarely saw her.

A sound of door opening caught Zero's attention and he looked up to see the same nurse, who had escorted him there earlier, walk inside. Zero tried to read her face if the news were bad or good, but she was like a blank paper.

"Can I?" The nurse pointed at the seat next to Zero and he nodded vaguely, not really caring about the company. "So, Jude made out of the surgery and he's been taken to the intensive care unit."

Zero nodded slowly, he wanted to feel relieved but something about her voice made him be on his tiptoes. Before she could continue however, a doctor walked in with his long white coat.

"Mister Zero?"

"Yeah." Zero nodded at him and the doctor shook his hand.

"I'm Doctor Moore. I carried out Mr. Kinkade's surgery." The man paused for a second to see if Zero was in a state of mind to follow what he was saying. He seemed to think so as he continued: "Jude has lost a lot of blood and the damage that the bullets have done are severe. Fortunately he made out of the surgery with only one setback." Zero wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what it had been and luckily Mr. Moore continued without further explanations. "In the MRI scans we saw that the bullet on Jude's shoulder had gone through without crossing any main vessels. The other bullet had caused much more damage instead. It had pierced Jude's left lung and bronchus, nearly missing his heart and aorta. The shot must've been quite accurate."

Zero felt a chill go down his spine and he clenched his fists. The nurse reached to his hands but he withdraw away from her. She gave him an apologetic smile and settled back to her seat.

"Because of the damage to his lungs and loss of blood he is in life-support which should speed up his recovery. Unfortunately he was without oxygen for a while before paramedics revived him, so I cannot tell you how much damage it could've caused to his brains. We just need to wait and see until he wakes up."

Dr. Moore's voice rang in Zero's ears as he was lead through the hospital's empty corridors to the ICU, where Jude now was. Words like pierced lung, blood loss and brain damage kept going on and on in his head. The nurse who guided him through the unit stopped next to a large room where they could see inside through a window.

"You can stay here through the morning and until the visiting hours are over. If you need anything just ask from the nurses inside." The nurse explained and left Zero alone.

He looked through the window and swallowed when he saw Jude lying on a bed. Slowly and silently Zero sneaked inside and closed the door behind him. A mix of disinfectant, blood and something he couldn't put a name on filled his nose. There were three other patients in the room. The beds were separated by curtains and to Zero's relief all three nurses had gathered to the other side of the room.

Zero walked closer to the bed Jude laid in. He was almost unrecognizable under the layer of sheets and with all the tubes coming in and out of his body. A bubbly sound caught Zero's attention and he looked down to see a small device which was sucking reddish liquid out of Jude. The doctor had said something about sucking all the blood and tissue fluids out of his lungs, so it must've been it. The worst was still the respirator which made a horrible wheezing sound and was attached to a large tube going down Jude's throat.

Zero had always hated hospitals. He hated the idea of being vulnerable or see anyone else in that state. He hated how he couldn't control what happened inside these walls. Every cell on his body screamed for him to turn around and run as fast as he could, but he forced himself to walk closer to the bed. Jude's face was still pale, but his lips had gained some color back. Zero was about to sit by the bedside but hesitated, instead he saw a lonely chair in the corner and he dragged it beside the bed.

Zero sat down and found the chair extremely uncomfortable. For a while he moved around it, trying to find the best position to be in. Eventually he settled to sit forward and lean against his knees with his elbows. Zero carefully took Jude's right hand between his palms, as if the man could wake up if he squeezed it too tightly. The peeping which indicated Jude's heartbeat, that would've normally annoyed the hell out of him, calmed his mind and the exhaustion started to take Zero over, but he refused to sleep.

Zero had stayed up all night. He was still wearing his playing kit and he shivered in the cool room. The nurse had come and gone in every fifteen minutes. Almost every time asking how he was doing. Zero wanted nothing more than for her to concentrate on Jude's vital functions and not ask stupid questions.

Zero often forgot they weren't alone, it was so quiet in the room and he didn't want to know why. He had hoped that Jude would've showed at least some signs of being awake but he still laid on the same position. Not even an eyelid had fluttered during the hours.

A loud clatter of high heels caught Zero's attention. He was surprised to see Lionel enter the room with determined pace. She walked straight to the other side of Jude's bed and gave Zero a hard stare.

"What are you doing here?" Zero leaned back at the chair and looked at her with as much arrogance he was able display after being awake 26 hours straight.

"Shut your mouth!" Lionel spat and put her purse on the bed. "You listen to me now." Zero opened his mouth to tell her to leave but she raised her finger. "I had a lot of time to think during the night and I admit it's my fault Jude's in this condition. If I had known Oscar was capable of trying to kill his own son, I never would've even considered getting him out of jail. " Lionel saw Zero was about to say something again and she quickly continued: "BUT I'm going to fix it as well. So you and I need to work together." She pointed her finger between them.

Zero burst out to laugh and he looked at her like she had completely lost her mind. "You got to be kidding. I want you out of here!"

Zero pointed towards the door but Lionel stayed put. She saw four nurses standing on the other side of the room, clearly pretending not to listen to their conversation. Lionel leaned forward and lowered her voice. "We both want Oscar to pay for what he did to Jude." Lionel paused and waited for Zero's reaction. The man just shrugged. "We need to put our differences aside and do that for Jude's sake. He's not safe until we take Oscar down."

To Zero it felt like Lionel had just ripped the guts out of his body. He had been so absorbed thinking about last night's events and Jude's wellbeing that he had completely missed the fact that Jude was still hanging by a threat; as long as Oscar was free, he would do everything on his power to get Jude killed.

Lionel saw how Zero's expression changed from indifferent to fear and she knew she had gotten through to him. "When I got home last night Oscar was in shower." Lionel leaned against the bed so she could speak with even lower voice. "I saw his clothes on the bed where he always left them and found a red spot on his shirt blouse. It could be Jude's blood."

Zero looked up at her with shocked expression. "Tell me you didn't wash it."

Lionel looked offended. "Of course not, how stupid do you think I am?" She exclaimed until she realized where they were. She looked towards the nurses and they quickly turned their gazes away. "It's here." She lifted her purse. "Safe in a plastic bag. I'm going to take it to the police."

Zero was always amazed how women were able to fit all their belonging to a small bag like hers. "You don't think he noticed that you stole clothes he wore while shooting his son?"

Lionel smiled to him wryly. "While I took the clothes, I told him I was going to wash them. He didn't react out of ordinary so I think he hadn't even noticed the spot."

Zero nodded and looked into the distance, deep in his thoughts. "You got yourself a deal." He stood up and offered his hand at Lionel. "Truce." Lionel shook his hand. "But we both know we need more evidence than just a dirty cloth to get Oscar convicted."

"But it's a start." Lionel clutched to her bag like her life depended on it. "We can only hope they'll find traces of gunpowder on it as well." She took a little pause. "We need to take turns on watching over Jude until we get police assistance here. Oscar could just walk right in… or more likely one of his henchmen."

"I'll stay here as long as they let me." Zero nodded towards the hospital staff.

"You're going to stay here like that all day?" Lionel looked him up and down. "Here, I took liberty to bring you these." She tossed a white plastic bag over the bed to Zero. He frowned and looked inside. There were two t-shirts both Jude's and his and both of their jeans as well.

"Where did you…?" Zero tried to ask but Lionel was already pushing him out of the room.

"I think I saw a visitor's bathroom near the nurse's office." She pointed towards the right destination and slammed the door shut behind him.

When Zero was gone Lionel returned to the side of Jude's bed. She hadn't seen him since yesterday, when he saved her ass from Oscar. Now the tables had turned and Lionel still couldn't believe that someone could do that to Jude. She sat by the bed and reached out to run her fingers through his hair. Jude was a fighter, she was certain he would pull himself through but it still made her feel uneasy to see him so weak.

A sound of nearing footsteps made her jump up and turn around to see Zero walk in. He had changed to his own clothing and looked much fresher than earlier. The circles under his eyes were still dark and his face was pale but otherwise he looked much better. Lionel felt much more ease to see the training kit which had been covered in dried blood gone. Zero carefully folded the clothes meant for Jude to the drawer next to the bed.

A little after he came in, one of the nurses walked over to them. "Excuse me, but I need to ask who you are to the patient?" She looked at them curiously.

"I'm his boyfriend." Zero answered first and glanced at Lionel with raised eyebrows, indicating that she should continue.

Lionel was surprised that she didn't hear any hesitation in Zero's voice while he said the word 'boyfriend'. She had always had the feeling that this man wasn't really the domestic kind of guy. "I'm Jude's stepmother." She finally answered.

"Okay." The nurse looked between the two with a little frown on her face. She was clearly surprised by Jude's family affairs. "He has put you two as his closest relatives, who we can inform about his medical records. So everything is in order. Thank you." With that she left. Zero was surprised that Jude had even thought about that. He still had Pete Davenport on his medical files in case he couldn't make it to practice if he was hit by a car or something. He made a mental note to himself to change that.

"I should go to the police department." Lionel said and Zero nodded at her. "Take some rest, will you." She added before giving a small peck to Jude's cheek, leaving traces of red lipstick on his skin. "You too." She whispered to Jude's ear and then she was gone.

At noon the doctor came to check on Jude. He examined the machines around him, pointed a flash of light to his eyes and checked his wounds. Zero had been chased to the other side of the curtains during the checkup. Not being able to see Jude made him feel uneasy. It didn't take long though, when he was called back and the doctor started to explain what was going on. From what Zero could understand they were going to take x-ray from Jude so they could see how his lungs were healing. The dose of painkillers which Jude was now on, was going to be reduced little by little so Jude was probably going to be awake in the following few days. Basically it was good news and Zero couldn't wait to be able to talk to Jude or at least see his eyes open.

Not long after that an x-ray machine was brought to the room and Zero had to, yet again, wait outside for the staff to do their work. The x-ray seemed to be in condition as the doctor later informed him that Jude was going to be moved to a private room. Zero couldn't be any happier about that; not only by the fact that Jude was recovering, but also that he wouldn't have to deal with the eavesdropping nurses. The excitement however faded soon.

"I'm afraid we can't tell if there's been any brain damage until Jude wakes up." The doctor said as his last remark and Zero felt the fear creep into his guts again.

It was only half an hour later that Jude had been successfully moved to another room when Zero finally lost it:

"Excuse me, is this the room where Jude Kinkade is?" From the corridor Zero could hear a familiar voice which send shivers down his spine. "I'm his work colleague. He's a… very close friend."

Zero was already up when the door was opened and Jelena Howard walked in with a big fake smile on her face. She was still wearing hospital clothing but otherwise no one could tell there had been anything wrong with her.

"What are you doing here?" Zero stepped between her and Jude as if he was ready to protect him from her evil powers.

"Oh, how rude. I just came to see my friend." Jelena inhaled in shock and turned towards the nurse who had escorted her there. "It's alright. You can go." The nurse eyed them wearily before walking away.

After he had left Jelena turned towards Zero again and the smile had grown even bigger. She looked smug and Zero wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin out of her face.

"I can't say I didn't laugh when I heard poor Jude was hospitalized." Jelena peeked behind Zero to take a look of the state Jude was in. "I must say karma's a bitch." She then looked at Zero with victory shining in her eyes. "I look forward to kicking you and your precious companion out of the arena."

"I have a renewed contract which states that I can be traded only when the head coach and the owner of the team both agree to it." Zero stepped closer to her, provoking her for threatening them more.

"Oh, please." Jelena laughed. "That's only a small bump on the road. As for Jude… nothing can stop me from kicking him out right away. I won't let any Kinkade take one more step into the arena." She then looked straight to Zero's eyes and stated with a cold voice: "Too bad they didn't kill each other off."

At that point Zero lost it. He lunged forward and took hold of Jelena's neck with is left hand. He enjoyed the feeling of squeezing her windpipes shut. "You stay the hell away from Jude." He leaned forward and said it with so much hatred in his voice, that even for a second the mask on Jelena's face wavered. As her face started to turn pale, Zero let go of her and took a step back. He was breathing heavily and both of his fits were clenched shut.

Jelena coughed and took a deep breath. She soon collected herself and when she looked up at Zero again, he felt utterly disgusted as Jelena was smiling. "If you're willing to go without a fuss, I might reconsider Jude's position again. If not… you'll pay for laying your hands on me." The last words she said her voice full of venom before she turned around and rushed away. Leaving Zero standing there with his head buzzing in anger. This was one reason why Zero was so hesitant to start a relationship with Jude, to let everyone else see something real from him. Zero knew he made enemies easily and now everybody knew Jude was his weak point.