A/N: Thank you all so much for the incredible reviews! See the first chapter for the disclaimer. I hope you guys enjoy this one as well, and please review. :)

Chapter Five

Nicki was in the waiting room with Erin, Frank, Linda, and the boys when the clock struck noon. Being that she was almost 17, she heard most of what the adults were talking about, which was that the day after finding Jamie had produced few new leads in the case other than the knowledge that he had managed to escape and run. And that no one could be sure exactly how far he had gone, but evidence from his feet had tracked back at least two miles from where he was found.

Nicki couldn't even imagine, running two miles into uncertainty. Because even though Jamie had escaped, the people that took him could've been anywhere, any one. They could be waiting to come back for him. They were still out there, and until they were found, Jamie was in danger.

"Nicki," Linda said, drawing her attention. "Do you want to go see Uncle Jamie?"

"Can I?" Nicki asked.

Linda nodded. "You're old enough."

"Can we go?" Jack asked.

"No, honey," Linda said. "You gotta be 16."

Erin leaned over to Nicki. "It's actually 14," she said with a wink.

Nicki smiled and nodded as Henry made his way into the waiting room. Erin put her arm around Nicki gently. "Do you want to go?" she asked.

Nicki nodded. "I need to," she said softly.

Erin nodded, leading her daughter out of the waiting room and into the ICU. From the second she walked on the unit, Nicki could see why people would go crazy in this place. Beeping from every room, alarms going off at random for various issues, visitors crying over their loved ones. It was enough to make her sick.

Erin seemed to notice, and pulled her daughter closer.

The pair acknowledged the NYPD officers outside Jamie's room before entering and closing the door behind them. Jamie lay still in the bed, most of his exposed skin covered in deep purple hues. The rest remained buried in blankets and bandages.

Nicki closed her eyes.

She tried to picture Jamie, smiling and happy, and found herself seeing him as he was now. She opened her eyes as she walked over to the bed, sitting down beside him. She picked up his hand in hers, closing her eyes as she began to pray silently.

She prayed that he would be okay, that he would wake up soon. That he would be normal, the same fun, loving, caring uncle he had always been.

She prayed he wouldn't die like Joe.

She remembered how Joe had a great sense of humor, and in a lot of ways, Jamie was like him. Big hearted, easy smile, always there when for their friends and family. She remembered how sad it was when Joe had died four year ago, and she couldn't imagine going through it again.

"He's doing better today," Erin said, interrupting Nicki's thoughts. "Doctors say his lungs look stronger. He may not be on the ventilator too much longer."

Nicki nodded as she looked over at her mother. "I see why the boys aren't allowed in here," she said softly.

Erin nodded sadly.

"Uncle Danny any closer to figuring this out?"

"I don't know," Erin answered honestly as she shrugged. "I hope so, but I don't know."

"He ran at least two miles?" Nicki asked, looking back at Jamie.

"Yeah."

"I don't know if I could do that."

"I don't know if I could either," Erin acknowledged.

"Mom, is he going to die?" Nicki asked bluntly, looking back to Erin.

Erin bit her lip. "I don't know, honey," she replied earnestly. "I can't say for sure either way. Though, I can tell you that Uncle Jamie is strong, and that the doctors say he's having a better day."

"If he doesn't die, will he wake up?"

"I wish I could answer that for you, too. I wish I could tell you everything is going to be okay, but I can't lie to you."

Nicki nodded, taking the answers in stride as she looked back at her uncle. She somehow had known her mother's answers long before they were spoken, and hearing them aloud did nothing to comfort her or make her more upset. She wasn't sure if he was hurt worse than he looked, or if he looked worse than he was hurt, though she suspected it might be the first of the two. After all, Sean hadn't looked too badly hurt when he was in that bike accident, but it was very bad.

Sean had survived, though, which gave her faith that Jamie would, too.