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 8

Andy held Sharon's hand as the doctor came back into her room with the test results from her bone marrow taken earlier that morning. "I'm going to step out and let you talk to the doctor," Patrice said to them but Sharon stopped her. "No, Patrice, please stay. I want you to hear this too," Sharon told her and she stood behind Andy.

"Okay, your bone marrow showed a low platelet count just like your CBC did. Your red and white blood cells show no abnormalities, which is a very good sign," Doctor Fishman stated as he looked at Sharon and Andy. "Since we gave you a transfusion of platelets after we ran these tests, I'm hoping that your next blood test will show better numbers for your platelets," he added as Andy and Sharon listened to him.

"We can rule out Leukemia and Lymphoma as the cause of your low platelets," he said and Andy let out his breath and squeezed Sharon's hand. She looked at him with relief in her eyes and a weight was lifted almost instantly. "That's great news doc," Andy said. "I'm going to go with my first theory and say that the trauma to your spleen caused the enlargement of it. Your low platelets should be due to a mild form of thrombocytopenia," Doctor Fishman informed them.

"What does that mean?" Sharon asked him. "It's just a fancier term for low platelet count," he answered her. "There's other causes of thrombocytopenia, your immune system could cause that, but you don't have an infection as your white blood cells are at the normal range. And you don't have an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus," he added. Andy looked worried at the mentioning of those.

"Don't worry, like I said earlier, one step at a time. We got the results of this and now we'll see if your body responds to the extra platelets we gave you and then we'll go from there, okay?" Doctor Fishman reassured both of them. "Thanks doctor," Sharon said and he left the room. Sharon then took a deep breath as she processed everything in her head.

"Well, that's good news," Patrice said as she tried to be optimistic for the both of them. Andy looked at Sharon and agreed. "It is good news, sweetheart," he told her as he still held onto her hand. "So, do you think my low platelet count is caused by my spleen being enlarged?" Sharon asked Patrice. "Well, everything the doctor said seems to be pointing that way," Patrice answered her to the best of her professional opinion.

"So what's the worst that can happen?" Sharon asked her as she looked at Andy. "Um, well, worst case scenario is they remove your spleen. But, let's see what your numbers look like from the next blood test before we worry about any surgery," Patrice said trying to reassure Sharon in this.

Minutes later, Provenza walked into Sharon's room holding a balloon he had picked up from the gift shop downstairs. "Oh geeze," Andy saw the balloon Provenza was holding and shook his head. "Louie, Sharon did not have a baby," Patrice scolded him as she walked up to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "What? It's an inside joke. I gave Flynn an 'It's a girl' balloon when he got into his knife fight," Provenza defended his actions to his wife.

"Well, I'm flattered that you think I had a boy, Lieutenant," Sharon said as she chuckled at the thought. "Well, you did, and he's sitting right there next to you," he said as he pointed to Andy. "Ha ha, very funny," Andy muttered as he watched Provenza tie the balloon to the end of Sharon's bed. "Don't put it there, you'll block the TV for Sharon," Andy told him. "Well where do you want me to put it?" he asked him. "You really want to know?" Andy muttered back.

"Hey, gentlemen, and I use the term loosely, please do not squabble while in my room," Sharon told them. "Sorry," muttered Provenza. "Sorry sweetie," muttered Andy and he gave her a small smile as an apology. "So, Lieutenant, what's the latest on our robbery case?" Sharon asked Provenza as he moved the balloon to the corner of the room and tied it to a chair there.

"Well, it turns out our robbery ring here in LA was just the icing on the cake," Provenza told them. "This group that we stumbled upon has associates in four other states: Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Colorado," Provenza continued. "The FBI showed up at our office last night and informed us and the DA's office of their case against these people," he stated and Andy leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.

"Why did they wait so long to inform us?" Sharon asked out loud. "Not sure, but, the good news is it's out of our hands and the feds problem now," Provenza grinned. "Well, I guess that is good news then," Sharon agreed with him.

"What about the two idiots that shot at us yesterday?" Andy asked him. "Yes, those two are being prosecuted locally, first, for attempted murder of a police officer. Once they are done serving that time, they will be moved to federal custody and remanded for the robbery charges," Provenza explained.

Sharon was glad to hear that as she laid there in the hospital bed and her second in charge told them further details about the case. "We still need to go back to the office later today, but I had sent everyone home to get a little rest," he stated as he stood by the foot of her bed. "So, how are you doing?" he asked her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess I'm doing okay, given the circumstances," she answered him. "Well, good, that's good to hear," Provenza said. "Hopefully, you're a better patient than he was," Provenza pointed to Andy. "Hey!" Andy chimed in and glared at his friend.

Sharon laughed and her side started to hurt. She winced and closed her eyes as she tried to will the pain away. "Are you okay?" Andy asked her and she nodded her head. "I'm fine," she told him as she opened her eyes to look at him.

Andy continued to glare at Provenza every chance he got while he tried to help Sharon at the same time. "Relax Andy, it's not his fault," her words soothed him and he felt himself relax more.

Another hour had passed by with Provenza and Patrice leaving the two of them a half hour ago. Sharon had wanted to watch TV so Andy turned the TV on for her. They were watching the KTLA Morning News at 9 when they heard another knock on her door. She looked over to see Ricky, Rusty, and Emily standing there.

"Hi Mom!" Emily said as she walked in the room. "Emily! Come here," Sharon said as she held her arms open for her to give Emily a hug. Emily walked over and gently hugged her mom. "How are you feeling?" she asked her. "Oh, well, I'm feeling better," Sharon said, which was the truth, she was feeling better. Andy and she had discussed not mentioning the different tests to her kids and he had agreed, reluctantly.

"Did Nicole get Matthew to school okay this morning?" Andy asked Rusty as he stepped over to where he was standing. "Yes, she said everything went fine," Rusty assured him. Andy then turned his attention to Ricky as he stood at the doorway.

"Ricky, let me see you," she said to him as he walked in and shook Andy's hand. "Mom, how did this happen?" he asked her after giving her a hug. He looked between Sharon and Andy. "Well, we went to find a suspect in our case and," Andy started to explain. "But where were you when our mom got shot?" Ricky asked Andy catching him off-guard. "I was right there with her," Andy stated to him.

"Ricky, Andy saved my life. If he didn't get us both out of that situation, I don't know what would have happened to either of us," Sharon told Ricky in a stern but motherly voice. "Right, sorry," Ricky apologized to Andy and he waved it off. He knew Ricky was just being protective of his mother and he didn't blame him.

It was Rusty's turn to give Sharon a hug and he did. "I don't want to hurt you," he told her as he bent over to her. "Oh, you won't Rusty," she said to him as they hugged. "Are you in pain? Did it hurt, I mean, when you got shot?" Rusty asked her. "I still have some pain, and to be quite honest with you, I didn't know I was shot until we barricaded ourselves in a room in the apartment building we were in," Sharon answered him.

"How did you not know you were shot?" Rusty asked her. "Well, adrenaline kicked in during that situation and once I thought we were safe, that's when I felt the pain in my arm," Sharon explained to him. "And you were shot in the side as well?" Emily asked her. "Yes, but that was mostly shrapnel from the bullet penetrating my vest," Sharon answered them.

"Mom, are you serious?" Emily stated as she stood there. "A bullet went through your vest and penetrated your side?" she asked and wanted her mom to clarify that. Sharon looked at Andy and then back at Emily. "Honey, forget about the shrapnel, I want to hear about you and what's going on with your ballet," Sharon said as she changed the topic quickly.

Emily sat down next to Sharon while Rusty stood by the door. Ricky stood behind Emily and glanced over at Andy who grabbed the chair from the corner of her room. "One of you can sit here if you want," Andy offered the chair to either of the two boys. "I'm good Lieutenant, thank you," Rusty told him. Andy looked at Ricky but Ricky shrugged his shoulders and waved him off. "I'm good Andy," he said to him.

Andy then took the duffle bag that they had brought and unpacked it, laying Sharon's clothing on the foot of the bed. He had asked them to bring comfortable clothes for her to wear. He pulled out a pair of yoga pants, a loose fitting top, and a sweater cardigan. "Would you like to change out of that gown and into something more comfortable?" he asked her and she nodded.

They pushed the button for the nurse and one of them came into Sharon's room. "My wife would like to change out of the gown and wear something more comfortable if that's okay," Andy explained to the nurse. "Hmm, well her doctor wants her to keep on the gown, just in case, but I don't see why she can't wear some pants underneath it," the nurse stated and Sharon sighed.

The nurse then helped Sharon walk to the bathroom where she put on her yoga pants. She also convinced the nurse to let her wear her sweater cardigan over her hospital gown, explaining to her that she was cold. She then stepped out of the bathroom and the nurse helped her back to her bed. Andy stepped over and allowed Emily to sit and talk with her mom.

There was a knock on Sharon's door and Sergeant Elliot stood by the door frame. Andy looked over in his direction. "Is this a bad time?" he asked Andy. Andy looked at Sharon as he made his way closer to Elliot. "No, you're fine," Andy said to him. "Commander, good to see you are in one piece still," Elliot said to Sharon as she stopped briefly from talking with Emily. "Sergeant, good to see you again," Sharon said and smiled to him. Emily stood up and moved out of their way.

"I understand that you need to get our statements from yesterday," Sharon asked Elliot. "Yes ma'am, I was hoping this wasn't a bad time. I didn't know your kids would be here now," Elliot stated to her. "Oh, it's fine, really," Sharon assured the Sergeant. "I can start with taking the Lieutenant's statement first, and then I'll take yours," Elliot informed them and she agreed.

Andy reluctantly started to walk towards Elliot. "Come on Sergeant, when can talk out in the hallway. There's some chairs just down the hall," Andy told Elliot and then he leaned over to Sharon and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Kids, make sure your mother doesn't overdue things while I'm gone," he turned to Emily, Ricky, and Rusty before he walked out of the room with Sergeant Elliot.

Sharon then turned her attention to Ricky. "Richard William Raydor, please get over here right now," she sternly said to him. Rusty and Emily both looked at each other as Sharon used Ricky's full name when she called him. Ricky slowly walked over to Sharon's bed. "What on earth possessed you to question where Andy was when I got shot?!" she asked him. Ricky looked at her and scrunched his eyebrows as he stood there.

"I'm sorry Mom. I didn't mean it the way it came out," Ricky tried to explain to Sharon but she didn't want to hear excuses from her oldest son. "What exactly happened?" he asked her. "Andy got both of us out alive, even after I told him to leave me there so that he could get help," she said as Ricky listened to her. "He got us both out and made sure we both got to our car that was parked in front of the building. He then drove me here to the emergency room. He's been here ever since, not leaving my side. Now I would hope my son would treat him with the respect and dignity that he shows you," she lectured him and he nodded. "Sorry Mom," mumbled Ricky as he stood there.

Meanwhile, down the hall, Andy sat on one of the chairs as Sergeant Elliot went over his statement. "Okay, Lieutenant, if you could tell me what happened when you and the Commander arrived at the apartment building," Elliot asked him as he was prepared to write down everything that Andy told him.

"Well, we entered the apartment building and headed towards the apartment of Blake Harper. I knocked on the door and he answered it. I identified myself and Sharon as LAPD officers. Blake told us to hold on and he closed the door. I could tell he walked away and when he returned, I heard multiple footsteps. The door opened and I recognized a gun, it was a handgun and I drew my weapon as I yelled 'GUN!' and Sharon drew her weapon," Andy told Elliot as he sat there in the makeshift waiting area on the floor by the elevators.

"They started shooting at us. I fired my weapon five times as I moved to where Sharon was standing. As I turned around to grab her, the two guys were now outside the apartment and I think Sharon fired her weapon then," he paused trying to remember everything as Sergeant Elliot wrote down the information.

"I found a stairwell and pulled her with me. I should have just gone down the stairs towards the basement but for whatever reason, I started going towards the roof. I then heard the door open and knew they were chasing us. We got to the next floor and I told Sharon to stay in the room that was right there off the stairwell. She did and I went back to see where the guys were and I peeked through the door and shots were fired again. I turned and ran into the room where Sharon was, and closed the door behind me. I then barricaded the door with whatever items that were inside the room," he stated with a shaky voice.

"Okay, Lieutenant. Was that the only time you fired your weapon? When we checked your weapon, there were only four bullets left, three in the magazine and one in the chamber," Elliot stated. Andy thought about it and remembered more. "No, after we were in the room for a while and I had tied my tie around Sharon's arm to stop the bleeding, I had to find a way out. There was a fire escape outside the window. I helped Sharon up to where the window was located and that's when I heard the guys starting to break through the door. I fired my weapon again four more times, I knew I had hit one of them because I saw them go down," Andy told him.

"Yes, you had hit Shawn Miller, he was DOA when SWAT took over the building," Elliot had told him as he read over his notes from the case. "Provenza told me that there were two people that they arrested," Andy stated and wondered if he had killed one of the men, who was the other one arrested. "Yes, Blake Harper and Leon Murphy were arrested on the scene afterwards," Elliot informed him as he sat back on the chair.

"I'm not sure who those two guys are, Shawn Miller and Leon Murphy, those names never came up on our search," Andy sat there wondering. Sergeant Elliot stood up and then Andy did as well. "Lieutenant, thank you for your statement, now I just need the Commander's and I'm all set," Elliot shook his hand and then they walked down the hallway going back to Sharon's room. Elliot stopped halfway and then turned to Andy.

"Don't worry about this investigation, Lieutenant. I'm going to clear both of you; you'll get your weapons back. Just concentrate on getting the Commander back on her feet," Elliot told him and Andy nodded. They continued to walk down to Sharon's room, stopping just short of the doorway. "I'll tell her you're ready for her," Andy told him and then he stepped inside the room.

TBC