AN: Pokes head out of the bunker to see if it's all clear. Sees veggie launchers prepped to fire... hides back in bunker to finish this chapter.

"I'm looking for a General Jason Braddock." The doctor said as he noticed the only two people in the room.

"That's me." Jason answered as he gently woke his wife awake and stood.

"Sir, my name is Doctor Jefferson. I've been in surgery with your son for the last several hours."

"Sam! How is my son?" Sarah asked, her worry clear in her voice. "Please tell me my boy is going to be okay!"

Chapter 11 – Diagnosis

"Let me start by saying that your son is alive." Doctor Jefferson answered. "He is currently in recovery but we will be moving him to ICU on the 4th floor."

Jason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Sam was alive and no matter what happened from here on out that is what mattered most.

"Why don't we all have a seat." The doctor suggested.

"As I said, Sam is alive but he is in very critical condition. I don't know what all happened to him but he took quite a beating. Sam has severe abrasions on his wrists from being restrained and his right wrist sustained a severe sprain so will be kept in a brace for a while. There is also significant bruising on his entire body. There are several lacerations across his chest and arms. He also suffered a stab wound to the left side of his chest. Miraculously there was no permanent damage from the knife. We cleaned all the lacerations and had to put stitches in three of them including the stab wound to his chest."

Sarah Braddock had to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Her son had been injured before so this wasn't anything new, but that didn't make it any easier on her. She couldn't help the tears that trailed down her face.

"There are several second degree burns on his chest and back that we are treating. They should heal just fine barring any infection. He took quite a beating to his torso and as a result has some bruised, two cracked, and one broken rib. It also appears that he bit his cheek and tongue at some point. Those injuries are very minor and will heal themselves. There is some fluid on his lungs and we will be keeping a close eye on that to make sure it doesn't develop into pneumonia." Doctor Jefferson took a moment to consult his notes.

"As for his shoulder. It appears that his left shoulder was dislocated but was put back in the socket at some point. He sustained a gunshot wound to his left shoulder as well. The bullet went through his shoulder and we had to repair a small section of the bone where the bullet nicked off a small piece. We also had to do some repair to the muscles in his shoulder." Doctor Jefferson took a deep breath and looked General Braddock in the eye.

"Due to his extensive injuries suffered from severe blood loss. We've had to give him quite a lot of blood to bring his levels back up to where they need to be. I apologize for the amount of time you had to wait for news on Sam. He was in very critical condition when he arrived and we lost him twice on the operating table. We were able to get him back both times but it obviously slowed down our work."

Sarah gasped. Her son had almost died on the operating table. She buried her head in Jason's shoulder as she cried.

"Will he make it?" Jason asked after a long moment. "Are his injuries going to end his career?"

"Your son is a very strong and healthy young man. I am not going to lie. His recovery will be long and hard. But, with the right support system I am optimistic that he will make a full recovery." Doctor Jefferson answered.

Just as the doctor was standing to leave Team Two of the SRU entered the waiting room with Commander Holleran close behind. Holleran noted the doctors presence and knew they Braddocks surely had just received an update on Sam.

"Doctor Jefferson." Jason stopped the doctor just as he was about to leave the waiting room. "May I have a word with you in private please?"

"Of course, this way." The two men stepped out of the waiting room to a quiet corner of the hallway.

"What can I do for you General?"

"First, my name's Jason when I'm not in uniform." Jason explained. "Second, my son spent several years in the Army. He served two tours in Afghanistan on one of the top teams in JTF2. He has endured things that would destroy most men."

"I did see the extensive scarring." Doctor Jefferson commented.

"I am telling you this to say that you need to be very cautious when he starts to wake. You can't restrain him in any way. You can't startle him. He is trained to react with deadly force and considering his history that is a very good possibility." Jason explained. He hated that he had to share this about his son, but he also had to keep Sam's best interest at heart.

"Does your son suffer from PTSD?" Doctor Jefferson had to know.

"No. Not PTSD. However, he has had flashbacks before when injured. I'm just telling you to be cautious. I don't want anyone on your staff injured because my son reacted on instinct."

"I will inform the head of nursing. We will take good care of your son Jason."

"Thank you doctor."

"Of course. I will have a nurse come get you when he is moved to his room in ICU." The men shook hands.

"Will he be allowed visitors? I know his team will want to see him."

"You and your wife will be given unrestricted access to his room considering the circumstances. You can have two visitors besides yourselves in the room at a time but only for very short periods of time. We will keep him pretty sedated to help his body recover." Doctor Jefferson answered.

"Thank you. We will wait here until we can see him." Jason then turned to return to the waiting room, and to hold his wife close.

When Jason reentered the waiting room he went directly to his wife.

"Jason, is Sam going to be alright?" Sarah asked, extremely worried.

"I don't know sweetheart. Doctor Jefferson seems to think that Sam can make a full recovery, but it's not going to be easy for him." Jason answered honestly. He knew his son was strong, very strong, but he couldn't help but wonder if this would be the time that Sam wouldn't make a full recovery. "We just have to make sure we are there for him."

"Do you think he'll let us?" Sarah asked quietly.

"I don't know honey. But we have to try." Jason closed his eyes and kissed her head. "We can never give up trying."

The Braddocks held each other for a long moment before Sarah finally pulled back.

"I should call Natalie. She will want to know what's going on even if she can't come."

"While you talk to her I'm going to go talk to Commander Holleran and update him on Sam's status. I'll be right here if you need me!" Jason pulled her into a hug one more time before turning to talk to Holleran.

Jason and Holleran spent several minutes in conversation. As Jason passed on Sam's status to the commander and Team Two he could see that everyone was worried about his son, and whether or not Sam would make it back to the SRU. Jason assured them that Doctor Jefferson was extremely optimistic about Sam's recovery and return to work. He also told them that he knew Sam would do everything in his power to return as soon as possible.

Once Jason finished updating them on Sam's status he asked about the status of Team One. He knew that Sam would be worried about his team when he awoke and he wanted to be sure he had good news for his son.

Thirty minutes later Commander Holleran was just getting up to go update Greg on Sam's status when Doctor Cooper came back in.

"Commander Holleran, may I have a word?" Doctor Cooper asked.

"Of course, is everything alright?" Holleran asked, suddenly concerned for his team.

"Your Constables are just fine Commander. I was actually just coming in to let you know that I'm going to have to go ahead and discharge Constables Wordsworth and Parker. We had several people come in due to an automobile accident and we need their room. I'm assuming that they will be around for a while regardless of the fact that they can go home so I will be able to update them on their bloodwork once it comes back." Doctor Cooper smiled. "I have no concerns for them at this time but they have been told to ask for me should they feel anything is off."

"Thank you for the update Doctor. I am sure neither of them will be leaving at least until they can see their teammate so they will be around for several hours if not all night." Holleran smiled back. "I'll make sure they stay in touch with you until their bloodwork comes back clear."

"Thank you Commander. Now if you'll excuse me our ER is about to be very busy once again." Doctor Cooper then left the room.

Holleran took a deep breath. He wasn't looking forward to updating Team One on Sam's status seeing how bad he was injured. But, with Parker and Wordsworth being released maybe he would only have to repeat himself a couple of times instead of several.

Room 302

It had been ten minutes since Greg and Wordy had signed their discharge papers. As suspected they weren't planning on leaving the hospital any time soon. Holleran had spoken with Greg privately about Sam's status and Greg had asked that he be allowed to tell the Team on his own. His argument was that it would go over better coming from him. What he didn't say was that he expected a few emotional outbursts during the discussion that he didn't think Holleran needed to hear. Thankfully the family members understood the need for the team to meet for a few minutes and had left to grab some food.

It had taken a good deal of his negotiation skills but Greg had talked the nurses into allowing his Team to gather together in Ed's room. He was the one with the most extensive injuries besides Sam so it just made sense for them all to come to him. Plus, Ed had a room to himself at the moment so there was plenty of room.

As the team had slowly gathered no one spoke. They knew the time would come, and very soon, that they would need to discuss what had happened. However, as in typical Team One fashion, they wanted to do it together.

Jules was the last to arrive and as she took the last seat in the room she could feel everyone's eyes on her. She knew the hand shaped bruising on her neck was quite dark and that the guys were probably all beating themselves up over the way she got hurt. The team would need to talk about what happened, and she knew that things would get heated when her assault came up. But, for now, she was just glad that they were all here, safe, and going to be well soon. It also didn't hurt that Team Two had brought all of their go bags so they could change. She almost felt human in her own clothes, even though it had taken more negotiation on her part.

"I can't believe they let us all in here at the same time." Spike commented as he adjusted himself in the wheelchair they insisted on he and Lou using.

"Boss has mad negotiating skills." Jules said softly as she smiled and winked at Greg.

"First, how is everyone?" Greg asked as he looked around the room.

He got varying answers but everyone essentially said that they were good.

"Good. I got us together because I just got word on Sam's status and wanted us to be together when I shared how he is doing." Greg took a deep breath before continuing. "You know he took a pretty good beating over the last two days. His injuries are pretty extensive. They lost him twice on the operating table."

Gasps were heard around the room and Greg took a moment to let the news sink in.

"Now, he is very badly injured. But the doctors are hopeful that he can make a full recovery and return to the team in the future."

"But he's alive?" Jules asked. She would never forgive herself if he died from taking a bullet meant for her.

"He is alive."

"So what are his injuries?" Lou asked, worried for his teammate.

"Well, to start off with he has…"

Suddenly the door to the room burst open and Inspector Stanton strode in with two other officers, effectively making the already full room crowded.

"No one is to say another word until I have statements from all officers involved." Stanton stated sternly.

"Inspector, I was just updating the team on one of our own, Constable Braddock." Greg started to argue.

"That will have to wait. Statements are to be given immediately, before anyone says another word about what transpired over the last two days." Stanton then turned to the officers that accompanied him. "Officers, if you will escort Constables Young and Scarlatti back to their rooms."

Ed was seething. The Inspector never had been the kindest of people but this was just out of line. He was about to start yelling at the man to let Greg speak when the other man caught his eye and gave him a look that said to let it go.

Greg knew that although the team was seething at this in the long run it would be better. They would get the statements out of the way then be free to debrief like they needed to. Even though he wanted to complain as he followed Inspector Stanton out of Ed's room he knew it was what was best for the team, even if they didn't like it.

Room 402

Jason took a deep breath as he stopped just outside Sam's room, his arm around his wife next to him. He could feel how tense Sarah was. His wife always hated when one of her children wasn't well, as did he. Unfortunately they had too much experience with Sam being unwell. Sam had been injured more times in his career than Jason cared to admit.

From where they stood they could see several of the monitors that were hooked up to Sam, as well as the IV pole that had a myriad of antibiotics, blood, and pain meds. He took a moment to prepare himself to see his son's battered and bruised body.

Opening the door slowly Jason took in the sight of his son in the hospital bed. There were several wires between Sam and the monitors on the wall. He slowly approached Sam's bed, Sarah close to his side. He heard the sharp intake of breath from his wife as she took in the sight of their son.

Sam lay stone still on the bed. There was an oxygen mask on his face that sported colorful bruising. As Jason's gazed traveled down Sam's body he saw the cuts that were bandaged on Sam's chest. He saw the burns, the bruises, the wrist brace, and the large bandage on Sam's left shoulder where he had sustained a gunshot wound. Jason was very thankful that they hadn't restrained Sam in any way. Waking to restraints would surely send Sam into a flashback of epic proportions and he did not want his son to go through that.

"Sammy." Sarah whispered as she gently took Sam's right hand into hers.

She was very careful of the brace on his wrist as she gently brought his hand to her cheek and closed her eyes. "Sammy, my beautiful boy. Please come back to us." She then gently kissed his hand before lowering it back to the bed.

Jason swallowed the emotions that welled up within him at the sight of his son so badly injured yet again. He vowed then and there that not only would he do everything in his power to help Sam recover, but he would be sure that anyone involved with his son's torture would be brought swiftly to justice.

He had already put the wheels in motion. The Army had not only taken control of the scene and was processing all of the evidence but Mark's men were in military custody as well. Jason knew the motivation for Mark's capture and torture of Sam. However, due to Sam's previous beyond top secret clearance and knowledge Jason wanted to make sure that there weren't other motives driving the men.

Jason guided Sarah into one of the chairs in the room and placed his hands on her shoulders. As he listened to Sam's heartbeat on the monitor he took a few deep, calming breaths.

Tears streamed unbidden down his face as he whispered quietly to his unconscious son. "We're here for you my boy. We love you very much and will be here for you every step of your road to recovery. I love you son!"

AN: Hey, at least I didn't leave you on a cliffie this time :) I can't wait to read your reviews. I LOVE seeing what you think of a chapter.