DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 4

44 hours earlier

Sharon sat in her office as Andy joined her. "I appreciate you and Lieutenant Provenza protecting me from my big, bad, ex-husband, however, I don't need you to do that," Sharon informed him and Andy sighed. "It wasn't like that at all," Andy tried to explain his actions. "Oh? It sure looked like that to me," Sharon quipped back.

"Did we know that Jack was coming in as the guy's lawyer? Yes. Did we not tell you on purpose? No. Was I trying to be the better man in all of this by stepping in and saving you from having to deal with Jack? Yes. Did it backfire on me? Oh you bet," Andy explained as Sharon listened to him. She smiled when he was finished and maybe even let out a small chuckle.

"Andy," she smiled as he stood there in front of her. "Hmm?" he muttered as he looked at her. She stood up and walked over to him. She played with his tie and smoothed it down his dress shirt. "I can handle Jack, but thank you," she whispered to him as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Now, we should get back to work so that we can leave here on time and pick Matthew up from school," she informed him as she made her way outside of her office.

"We need to find Daniel Jones," Sharon said to the rest of the squad. "I called his secretary ma'am, he's currently out of town and will be returning tomorrow afternoon," Julio stated as he turned in his chair. "Where exactly is he?" she asked him. "Brokers conference in Seattle," he answered. "We could pick him up at the airport when he returns, Commander," Provenza suggested. "We could but we don't have an arrest warrant for him, Lieutenant," Sharon replied.

"And since Chi Chi didn't implicate anyone else in this ring," Mike added. "We need to wait until we have the evidence needed to arrest them and hopefully, find who the leader of the robbery ring is," Andy stated as they all stood there by the Murder Board.

"We found four other items that were recovered, latent is going over them but it's taking a while for these prints to come back, a lot of it is art work, delicate art to be exact," Mike stated as he sat down at his desk. Sharon glanced at the clock in the office. It was closer to five o'clock than she realized. "Okay, everyone then we will just call it a day and pick up where we left off tomorrow," Sharon stated to the team and then headed towards her office.

Before they could all leave, Chief Mason walked into the Murder Room. He nodded at Provenza and Mike as he made his way towards Sharon's office. Andy was standing by Provenza's desk and watched Mason knock on Sharon's door before he entered.

"Here comes the pressure," Andy mumbled but Provenza heard him. Provenza leaned back in his chair as they both watched the interaction between Sharon and Mason.

"Commander, I know we had a meeting scheduled for this morning, and you didn't show up for it," Mason started to say to her as she looked up from her desk. "We had a break in the case this morning and arrested one of the suspects in this robbery ring of yours," Sharon quickly informed him. "Yes, I heard that. I figured if you couldn't come to me to update me on the case, that I would come to you," Mason informed her.

Sharon briefly updated Chief Mason in her office and informed him that since they arrested one of the suspects, they were pretty sure they would be able to get the rest of the individuals involved. Chief Mason was satisfied with that conclusion. "That's why I made you a Commander, keep me posted," Mason left her office and Sharon sat back in her chair.

Everyone left the office after Chief Mason left the room which left Andy waiting for Sharon to be done in her office. She walked out with her briefcase and purse in hand. "Everything okay with him?" Andy asked her. "Since we didn't have our meeting this morning, he wanted to know how the investigation was going," Sharon sighed as she placed her briefcase on Andy's desk.

Andy stood up and placed his hand on her lower back as they exited the office together. "I was thinking we could stop and get take-out on the way home from Matthew's school," Andy suggested to her as they walked down the hallway towards the elevators. "That's fine with me," she stated as they stepped inside and headed down to their car.

They picked up Matthew from school and then headed over to the little Greek restaurant they ordered from occasionally. Andy ordered a tilapia fish dinner, Sharon ordered a Greek salad with chicken, and they ordered Matthew chicken fingers that he liked from there. They arrived home and ate dinner. After dinner, Matthew went into the family room to watch TV while Sharon retreated into the den where she looked over some paperwork she had brought home with her.

Andy cleaned up the kitchen and placed the left overs in the fridge. He then went in search of Sharon and found her in the den, just like he thought, looking over some paperwork. He bent down and placed a kiss on top of her head. "I thought you said to call it a day and pick up tomorrow where we left off?" he asked her as he started to massage her shoulders. Sharon hummed in response and placed the file down on the desk. "I did, Chief Mason wants this solved quickly, but something is bothering me with this case," she added as she looked up at him.

"What's bothering you, sweetheart?" Andy asked her as he bent down and kissed her forehead. "I can't put my finger on it just yet, but something doesn't seem right with this group," Sharon confessed as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the massage Andy was giving her. "Why don't you head upstairs, take a nice relaxing bath, and forget about this case for a few minutes," Andy suggested to her. "I will but let me just look at this one thing, okay?" Sharon still sat in her chair.

Andy shook his head and knew he shouldn't handle Sharon, but she needed to clear her mind. He bent down and whispered into her ear. "Please don't be stubborn." She sighed as he closed the folder and then turned around in her chair and looked at him. She then stood up and ran her hand down the front of his shirt.

Andy smiled at her and pulled her in for a kiss. They stood there together for a couple of minutes just kissing one another until Sharon broke their embrace. "I'm going to go see what Matthew is doing, enjoy your bath!" Andy told her as he let go of her hand as she walked up the stairs. Andy headed into the family room and Sharon continued up the stairs.

Sharon walked down the hallway and passed Matthew's room. She glanced inside because the light was left on and saw the mess in his room. She shook her head and went back towards the stairs. "Matthew!" she called out hoping that she was heard by either Andy or Matthew himself.

Andy was sitting on the couch with Matthew as he watched Star Wars Rebels on TV. "I think mom is calling you," Andy told Matthew. Matthew sat up and moved off the couch to see what she wanted.

"What?" he called up the stairs and saw Sharon standing at the balcony. "I thought I told you to clean your room? There are clothes all over the floor and your toys are everywhere," she told him. "I will Mom!" Matthew informed her and started to walk away. She watched him walk back to the family room and she shook her head.

"What did she want?" Andy asked Matthew as he came back to the couch. "She asked me to clean my room and I told her I would," Matthew said as he sat down next to Andy. Sharon pulled out her phone as she made her way to their bathroom and texted Andy. Andy's phone alerted him to a text message and he pulled it out of his pocket and read the message.

'Make sure your son cleans his room' the text stated and Andy chuckled as he read it. "Alright, I think you've watched enough TV, you need to go clean your room," Andy told Matthew as he started to stand up from the couch. "I will but I wanted to watch that," Matthew whined as he pouted. "Come on, it will take you five minutes to clean your room," Andy tried reasoning with him. Matthew didn't move from the couch.

"Hey, your mom asked you nicely to clean your room earlier and now I'm asking you to do so," Andy told him as he stood there with his arms folded across his chest. Matthew didn't move and was trying Andy's patience at the moment.

"I'm not going to ask you again, now go clean up your room!" Andy stated and Matthew stormed off the couch and ran up the stairs. Andy then looked at Moxie and shook his head. He ran his hand down his face and took the dog outside.

Matthew ran up the stairs and into his bedroom. He saw the mess that he had left behind earlier when he changed out of his school uniform. He had gotten distracted with some toys that he was looking for and now everything was indeed a mess! He took his clothes off of the floor and threw them into the closet and closed the door. Then he picked up his toys and placed them in a basket in his room. 'There, everything was off the floor and they wouldn't know the difference,' he thought to himself and then made his way back downstairs.

Meanwhile, Sharon was enjoying her bath as she relaxed in it. The scent from the jasmine bubble bath filled her senses and allowed her to be able to relax and let the stress melt off of her. She soaked in the tub and closed her eyes.

Andy brought Moxie back inside the house and heard the TV was on again in the family room. He walked over there and saw Matthew was back on the couch watching TV. "Did you clean your room?" he asked him. "Yes," Matthew stated, still a little pouty as he sat there. "Okay, well, I think it's time for bed then," Andy glanced at his watch and turned the TV off one more time. "Fine," Matthew pouted again and ran up the stairs.

Andy followed him upstairs and went to see him in his bedroom. He looked around and saw his toys were picked up off of the floor. Matthew was sitting on his bed. Andy sat next to him. "Is something the matter?" he asked him as he pouted on the bed. "No," Matthew replied. "Are you sure, is something wrong at school?" Andy asked him. "No," Matthew replied again.

"Okay, then why have you been so pouty this evening?" Andy asked him. "It's just that I wanted to watch that TV show and you and Mom both know that and you both asked me to clean my room while that show was on," Matthew whined again. "Oh, I see," Andy said as he looked at Matthew. "Matthew, you do know that your mom and I want the best for you and want you to be responsible as well, right?" Andy informed him. "Yes," muttered Matthew.

"So when we ask you to do something, like clean your room, we understand that there are other things you'd like to do during that time. However, we are asking you do something, and we expect you to do it. You can complain all you want and call up your brothers and sisters and ask them if you are being treated unfairly, and I'm sure they will tell you, you have it very good," Andy explained to him as he sat there. Matthew took a deep breath. "Fine," he stated and then got up to get ready for bed.

Andy walked into their bathroom and saw Sharon still in the bathtub. He walked over to her with a smirk on his face and leaned in to kiss her lips. She smiled as they parted. "Did you get Matthew to clean his room?" she asked him as she shifted under the water. "Yes, but he wasn't happy about it," Andy told her as he got ready for bed. She started to move out of the water. "Take your time, Sharon," he said as he stood there getting undressed and then put his pajama pants on.

She sunk back down in the water; the warmness was starting to cool off a little. She thought back to last month when they came home from solving that food vendor case. How Andy had joined her in the tub that evening. She smiled at that thought and then opened her eyes to see Andy standing by the tub, just watching her. He held the bath towel for her as she stepped out and wrapped it around her body. "You're cold," he whispered to her. She looked at him and he enveloped her in a hug.

Present time

Andy glanced at his watch and had only been thirty minutes since she briefly opened her eyes and looked at him. Andy sat there holding her left hand in his. Her hand was cold but the nurse reassured him that it was normal and once she started to become fully awake, her body temperature will come back to normal. She currently had her eyes closed and had fallen back asleep.

A nurse came in to check on her and wrote down some information in her chart. "Your wife is doing really well. We should be moving her to a regular room soon on the 6th floor," she informed him and he nodded as she left the room. "Matthew's here, he's waiting outside doing his homework," he spoke quietly to Sharon as she lay there. "He thought you got shot because he didn't clean his room up like we asked him to," he let out a brief chuckle. He stared at her, hoping she would wake up again, even if it was for a brief second like last time.

A few minutes later, two orderlies came in with another nurse. "Lieutenant, we are going to move your wife to a regular room now. You're welcome to come with us, or you can meet us at her room, number 675," the nurse informed him. "Um, can you give me a second to inform the people waiting in the waiting room, I'd like to stay with her if I could," Andy asked the nurse and she nodded her head. "Sure, we'll be right here," she told him and he glanced at Sharon, squeezing her hand. "I'll be right back, sweetheart," he whispered to her and then left the room.

Andy took a deep breath as he stepped out of the recovery room. He then made his way to the waiting room where he left Provenza, Patrice, and Matthew there. As he turned the corner to step inside the room, he saw Rusty had joined them along with Nicole. "Dad," Nicole said as he stepped inside and walked over to him. She pulled him in for a hug. "Nicole," Andy muttered as he hugged his daughter.

He then moved to where Rusty was standing next to Provenza. He was surprised that Rusty gave him a hug as well. "I just came to tell you that they are moving her to a regular room now, it's room 675, up on the 6th floor," Andy said in a shaky voice as he broke away from Rusty.

"I'm going to go with her so if you could make sure your brother is okay and everyone else gets notified," Andy told Rusty and he nodded. "How did this happen?" Rusty asked him as he looked around the room. "I'll let you know later, okay?" Andy replied as he walked over to Provenza.

"I notified both Emily and Ricky. Emily said she is on the next flight to LA and Ricky is driving down tonight," Provenza told him. "Okay, um, we'll talk in a little bit," Andy's voice cracked as he ran his hand through his hair. "Go Flynn, we got it from here," Provenza said as he noticed Andy looking over at Matthew.

Andy walked over to him. "Matthew, you're going to stay with your brother and sister, while I go with mom to her room, okay?" he looked at the boy. "But I want to go see mommy with you," Matthew whined but Andy shook his head.

Nicole walked over to where the two of them were and took a seat next to Matthew. "Matthew, why don't you stay here with me, Rusty, and the rest of us while Dad goes with your mom," Nicole offered as she saw him becoming anxious. Matthew pouted and gave Andy his sad face as Andy looked at both of them. "Thank you," Andy whispered to Nicole and then stood up left the waiting room.

Andy took a deep breath before he rejoined Sharon and everyone else in the recovery room. "Okay, thank you for waiting," he told the nurse as the nurse placed her hand on his arm. They then left the room and headed towards the elevators. They did not pass the waiting room and Andy was thankful for that. Andy held onto Sharon's hand the whole time she was being moved and then they wheeled her into her room. He let go briefly as the orderlies and nurses moved her in the room and settled her in.

Andy looked around and stopped the nurse who was leaving the room. "Um, is this ICU or what?" Andy asked the nurse. "She's in a regular room, Lieutenant. She's doing better than most and the doctor felt like she could go right to a regular room instead of ICU," the nurse answered him. Andy nodded. "I know it's a lot to take in at first but she's going to be okay," the nurse smiled at him and then left her room.

Andy watched Sharon as she lay in the hospital bed. He then heard some noise coming from the hallway and peeked outside her room. He saw Provenza walking down the hallway with Matthew in tow from the elevators. He stepped outside her room and joined them.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked them. "There's been a break in the case. They arrested Blake Harper and another guy at the apartment building where you two were. I'm meeting everyone downtown but I'll keep you posted," Provenza told him. "Patrice is heading home as well. She'll stop by tomorrow morning," he added.

Andy looked at Matthew and wondered why he had walked with Provenza. "Seems to me that Matthew here didn't want me to leave without telling you and he also insisted on seeing his mother," Provenza added as Andy gave a questionable look to him. "Matthew," Andy said to him and Matthew just looked at his dad. "I just want to see her, and then I'll go back and wait with everyone else," Matthew pleaded with him.

"Fine," Andy said as he placed his arm around Matthew. He nodded to Provenza and then walked with Matthew into Sharon's room. "Is she sleeping?" Matthew quietly asked Andy as he made his way inside the room. "Yes, she opened her eyes earlier but she's very tired," Andy explained to him. "She has a bandage on her arm and on her side, but she's going to be okay," he added as he held Matthew's hand.

Matthew walked over to Sharon's bedside and reached out to hold her hand. "I'm sorry Mom," Matthew whispered to her but Andy heard him. "When will she wake up?" he asked Andy as he stood there. "Hopefully soon buddy," he answered and then gestured for Matthew to follow him out of the room.

Andy walked Matthew back down to the area where everyone else was located. "Did you finish your homework?" he asked him as they walked. "Yes," muttered Matthew. "Good, I'm going to ask Nicole if you could stay with them tonight, that way she could take you to school tomorrow with Colin and Avery," Andy suggested to Matthew. "Okay," replied Matthew.

Andy saw Nicole sitting on a chair outside by the elevators. There were a couple of sofas and chairs there for people to sit on. "Hey Nicole, I need to ask you a favor?" Andy said as he sat down next to his daughter.

"I can watch Matthew for you while you're here with Sharon, Dad," Nicole smiled as she grabbed a hold of Andy's hand. "Thank you," Andy was relieved. "You guys are welcome to come see her, but she's still asleep," he added. "We'll come back when mom's awake," Rusty said which shocked Andy at first but then he nodded his head. "Okay," Andy said to them.

They each stood up and gave Andy a hug. "Take care of mom, Andy," Rusty told him. "I will," he said as he hugged him. "I'll stop by the house and pick up a few things for Matthew before I bring him over to my house," Nicole told him.

"And I'll take care of Moxie when I get home," Rusty said. "Oh, and Ricky is driving to the house tonight. He said he'd be getting in late," Rusty added as he grabbed Matthew's backpack. "Emily will call me when she lands," Nicole told her father.

"Take care of each other," Andy told them and ruffled Matthew's hair. "Listen to your sister, please," he informed Matthew and Matthew nodded. He watched their children walk onto the elevator and the doors closed. Andy then turned around and walked back towards Sharon's room. As he stepped inside, he noticed the she was still asleep. He sighed as he sat down on the chair next to her bed. He resumed his hold on her left hand and continued to watch her sleep.

TBC