A/N: Thank you for the reviews! See the first chapter for the disclaimer. I hope you guys enjoy this one, and please review. :)
Chapter 11: "Is He (She)…?"
Adam's hands were trembling as he waited for the phone to stop ringing and for his best friend to pick up.
"Sanders," a very tired Greg answered.
"Hey," Adam said softly, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.
"What's wrong?"
Guess I didn't do a good job. "We had this case… a bomber… he… he blew up this building…" Adam's voice trailed off as his hands shook worse, and he closed his eyes.
"Who was in the building?"
Adam could tell that Greg was trying to keep his calm, too, for Adam's sake. Adam shook his head. "Mac. And Flack."
"Are they okay?"
"Mac is."
After a short pause, Greg said, "and Flack, is he…?"
"He's critical. But, they think he'll make it."
A huge sigh from the other end of the phone. "Thank God," Greg said.
"Yeah," Adam breathed.
"Are you okay?"
"I… I don't know."
Adam could hear Greg readjust his position in the background. "Talk to me."
"I just… I don't know what to say. It's been a tough few weeks."
"Yeah, I'll say," Greg sighed.
"I feel like we've just recently had this conversation in reverse," Adam pointed out.
"I believe we did."
Adam shook his head solemnly. "How do we do this, man?"
"Do what?"
"This job. This… this everything. We sit here, we work our asses off, and we… we almost lose everyone we work with every day."
"That's the job."
Adam scoffed harshly. "Greg, come on. You and I both know, that's not really the job."
Greg fell silent, and Adam could pretty much see him sitting on the side of the bed, listening to what Adam had to say. And yet…
"So many cops, and CSIs, and everyone else in law enforcement… they can spend their entire careers without ever coming close to their own death, or losing a partner," Adam found himself continuing. "And we… we run that risk practically every week."
"Well, we work in busy cities," Greg said. "Look at Manny, from Chicago."
"Yeah, Greg, I get it," Adam replied. "A lot of people in our line of work don't have the big city challenges we do. But, a lot do, and they're still not as… I'm not sure what word works best there, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do."
Adam sighed heavily.
"But, you know something?" Greg continued. "When Flack gets better, you know he's going right back onto the job. Nothing's gonna stop him. So, if he's willing to keep working in this field, after almost dying, why shouldn't we?"
"Well, all I know is, I never wanna go out into the field."
Greg laughed. "Yeah, I think I said that after Holly Gribbs died…"
Adam chuckled softly.
"Hey, man, I really hate to cut this short, but I gotta get back to sleep so I can get into work tonight. You gonna be okay?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Adam replied. "Sorry I woke you up."
"Come on, we should both be used to it by now."
Adam chuckled again. "Yeah, true. Alright, you take it easy. Have a good night."
"Yeah, you too. Get some rest. Give Flack my regards."
"Will do. Give Brass my best."
"Will do. Night, Adam."
"Night, Greg."
A/N: Episode is Charge of This Post (CSI:NY).