A/N: Hi all. Firstly, thank you to all those who reviewed 'Just That Ten Percent Chance.' I really want to reply to you all personally, but Fresher's week at college is kicking my butt and keeping me dead busy. (Well, not busy enough that I have no time to write :P) I will hopefully get the chance to respond to you all personally, but if not - thank you all so very much. I appreciate all your comments and reviews.

Secondly, this was an idea I had for the post-ep oneshot, effectively filling in the blanks from the night of the shooting, but with the scene in the office, and then the one with Lindsay/Lucy/Danny, I couldn't not do something around that. So, I figured, why not do both! I know that the show tends to showcase the Danny/Hawkes friendship, but you know what, give me Flack - the dude has been there for Danny the whole time. So hence this story. I hope you guys like it!

Thank you as well to Megs and Julia for reading through and giving me the a'okay to post while I was at my beach party! haha. Love ya girls!

He said, I was finally the husband,
That most the time I wasn't.
An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.

"Live Like You Were Dying." - Tim McGraw.

The cries and pleas around them after the last piece of shattering glass had fallen to the floor was surprisingly silent for Danny Messer.

He knew she was safe, but that fact and reassurance was quickly shoved to the back of his mind as he rolled from his wife's body where he had fallen on top of her to protect her.

He knew the blinding pain in his back wasn't good. He knew the fact that he couldn't feel his legs wasn't good. He knew the fact that his body's temperature quickly dropping wasn't good.

"Linds,"

"Danny."

"Linds, I... I can't get up."

"What?!"

He swallowed a breath that was suffocating him as he traced his hand over the blinding pain in his back. He slowly moved said hand into both his and Lindsay's view and he felt a sinking feeling in his chest, and then the pit of his stomach.

Both let out a horrified gasp at the amount of blood on Danny's hand, coating his wedding band. Gripping his shirt with one hand, Lindsay fought the tears from her eyes as she tried her best to examine him. "Linds, I can't feel my legs."

"No, it's okay!" She weakly assured him.

"Lindsay, I can't feel my legs."

His voice broke as the emotion and terror finally set in. Both knew he was scared. He was terrified. She was terrified. And, all he could do was repeat the same words of his legs weren't moving. He couldn't move his legs. They wouldn't move.

He heard her call out for Mac. It was a strangled cry. Her emotions taking over everything she had.

Seconds seemed like minutes; minutes seemed like hours in the time it took for Mac Taylor to make his way over to the couple. He dropped to his knees as Lindsay shuffled away from Danny in a panicked and shocked state.

"Danny, I need you to stay with me, alright? Stay with me,"

"Mac, I can't feel my legs. They won't move. I can't move them."

"You've been shot, Danny." Mac told him as Danny fought to keep his eyes open as shock overtook him. "Stay with me. You gotta stay awake, Danny."

Blinking up, Danny was quickly becoming lightheaded. "Where's Montana?"

"She's right here," Hawkes whispered as he leant down next to Danny, his sleeves rolled up. "She's here, but you gotta stay with her, buddy."

Holding up his bloody hand, Danny reached for his wife along the floor of the bar, scraping his already bloodied fingers over the glass shards. "Where's Linds."

"I'm here," she sobbed, "I'm right here," she whispered lacing her fingers through his. "Mac! Hawkes! Do something!!"

Lying on the floor of the bar, Sheldon Hawkes examined the bullet that had lodged itself into Danny's spine.

"Where's the ambulance?!" Flack bellowed as he held his cell phone to his ear.

"It's on its way," Adam cried as Sid looked over his cut eyebrow.

No sooner had Adam finished his sentence, the lights and sirens of the ambulance team appeared outside of the bar. Mac and Hawkes shuffled back, allowing the EMT's to do their thing with Danny once they had been directed to the injured husband and father.

"Hey Danny," the young man smiled down at him, "is this your wife here?"

"Yeah," he uttered. "Montana... Lindsay... And Lucy's at home."

"Who's Lucy, Danny?" The EMT asked as he tried to keep Danny responsive.

"She's our baby girl." Danny whispered as his fingers loosened around Lindsay's hand.

"He's slipping in and out," the EMT declared to his partner. "We've gotta move him now."

"But..."

"Now..." the young man spat. "You heard him. Wife and baby girl."

"We think a bullet's lodged in his back." Hawkes stepped in as he helped to effectively move Danny safely onto the stretcher. "He's going into shock."

"How long ago did it happen?"

"About five-ten minutes." Hawkes replied. All business. No nonsense.

"Ma'am," the EMT whispered to Lindsay who was gripping to Danny's hand still, "We're gonna need you to let go of your husband."

"Can I go with him?" Lindsay cried.

Sharing a quick look with his partner, he subtly ignored Lindsay's plea. "We're best off takin' him to Trinity."

In a blink of an eye, Danny was on a stretcher and was being wheeled from the bar, while Lindsay watched as she sat on the floor with her knees tucked into her chest. Shell shocked. Heartbroken. Terrified.

"Linds," Flack muttered as he knelt down next to her. "C'mon."

"Not today, Flack." Lindsay whispered."I can't lose him today. Not now."

He pulled her up, fighting back his own emotions as he pulled one of his best friends into a hug. "C'mon, we'll follow. Let 'em do their thing."

"Flack, I'll take her." Hawkes said as he took hold of Lindsay's arm.

"Let me," Flack barked and pulled Lindsay into his side. "C'mon. Just... just let me."

"Flack, you're in no fit-..."

"Do not fucking tell me I can't be there for them," he barked. "I need to be there. Danno was there for me when Jess died, and I'm not gonna leave his wife when she needs someone."

"Flack..." Lindsay sobbed as she tugged his arm. He turned as he watched the ambulance with Danny inside begin to move, siren and lights going full whack as they drove away.

"I'll drive," Mac declared. "Everyone else alright?"

A chorus of 'Yes' was heard through the bar, accompanied with moans.

"One down over here!" A random voice called.

"Hawkes you take it," Mac instructed. "Set up a temporary post and see what you can do before the other EMT's get here."

Nodding and throwing a glance in Flack's direction, Hawkes turned on his heel and headed off to where the cry for help had came from.

Wrapping his arms around Lindsay, Flack pressed a kiss to her temple as he guided her out of the chaotic and frantic bar.

"You're alright," he whispered, his own pain from the day's events finally taking a back seat. "It's alright, Linds. I got'cha kiddo."

"Don," Lindsay whispered as the chilly New York wind hit them as they exited the bar. "What are we going to do without them?"

"Danny's a fighter, Monroe." Flack whispered as Mac unlocked the Avalanche. "He's not goin' anywhere.

"We said the same about Jess," Lindsay whispered. "I can't lose him, Don."

"He's not going anywhere." Flack whispered to his best friend's wife. "Jess ain't gonna let him, Linds. She knows how much you need him. She'll keep him safe."

Lindsay took a deep breath as she fastened her seat belt in the back of the car. She closed her eyes to give her a moment of composure and then reopened them.

She'd had her freak out. She'd had her reassurance. And now, it was time to be there for Danny.

--

Hours passed in the time that she'd been shown to a family waiting room. And all those hours were slowly, but surely, killing her.

She gripped to Flack's hand as she slowly drew in breaths. She'd been getting regular phone calls from the sitter about Lucy. She'd decided that Lucy was better off at home. For now. If for any reason Danny's condition worsened, or they heard back from his surgery, and it wasn't good; Mac had volunteered himself to break every single traffic law in New York State to ensure that his goddaughter was there.

Hopefully though, Mac Taylor would not be breaking any laws for his goddaughter just yet.

Silence had enveloped the room since Mac had left to go and pitch in to find the real shooter. Initial thoughts on all their parts, especially Mac's was that it was Dunbrook, such as was Stella's thinking, and when she had a SWAT team storm his apartment, they all realised he was not the one to blame. Making them start from square one in the search for the killer of the barman who had passed away from his injuries, and the guy that had shot Danny.

Lindsay could hear Flack taking deep breaths every so often. She wanted to thank him for staying with her, considering the long hours he had already spent in the ER waiting room today, waiting for word on Jessica, and then once he had the heartbreak that had ensued.

"How do you do it?" Flack asked her in a small voice.

"Do what?" she replied, equally as quiet.

"Loss. How do you deal with it?"

"I don't." Lindsay whispered. "I just get on with things. Which, thinking about it - isn't the best advice for you right now. But that's all I've got Don."

They fell silent again, her bloodied hand gripping to his large, rough one. He'd begged her to wash her hands. Clean herself up, but she'd simply stared at him. It was scaring him a little, the fact that Lindsay was so.... reserved. Unresponsive almost. Usually, Lindsay would be the one begging people not to make a big deal of things, not to get upset or emotional.

But yet, here she was, silent and on the brink of tears. Staring off into her own little world.

"Want somethin' to drink? Some water maybe?" Flack offered.

"I'm alright."

"Somethin' stronger?" he coaxed. When she'd not responded, he squeezed her hand a little desperate to get her attention. "Linds?"

"He called me Montana." She whispered. "He's not called me Montana in well over a year."

"You'll always be his Montana."

She fell silent, making Flack think he'd said something wrong. She was quick to prove him wrong when she cleared her throat.

"Did you have a nickname for Jess?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Flack shook his head slowly and sadly. "Just babe, baby or Jess."

Lindsay nodded in response. "Did you love her?"

Flack cleared his throat and squeezed her hand, "I dunno, Linds. I really cared for her."

Lindsay nodded and took a deep breath. "I really love him, Don."

"I know you do, Monroe." He whispered as he pulled her into his side, "And I'm sorry you guys have gotta go through this shit,"

"I can't lose him, ya'know?" she whispered as she buried his head into her friend's side. "I really, really love him. I can't lose him now. Not when we're happy and together and... I just really, really love him. I can't bare the thought of explaining to Lucy when she's older all the things I loved about him, and how he adored her. I want him to be there."

"I know you do, hon."

She sniffled and straightened up. "It's been a while. Do you think something's happened?"

Flack winced on the inside at the knowledge he was about to share with her. "When Jess had passed, they came out and told me right away Linds. No news is good news, k?"

She fell silent and took a deep breath. "He really values you, you know that?"

Flack nodded and pulled her into his side. "Let's not get into all o' that right now, k? We don't wanna get upset."

Lindsay merely looked at her friend. "How long has it been anyway?"

Flack glanced at his watch and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "It's 3AM."

Lindsay let out a breath. "Six hours. The six longest hours of my entire life."

"What about when you were in labour with Lucy. Surely those were longer."

"I knew I'd be seeing Lucy at the end of those hours though," Lindsay said in a small voice, "I could be waiting here, expecting to see Danny at the end of all of this, and he might not come back to me, Don."

Grabbing her hand, Flack stood up and led her out of the eerily silent waiting room.

"Where the hell are we going?" She spat.

Tugging her down the white washed hallway, they arrived at the trauma unit.

"Don't you think this is a bit inappropriate?!" Lindsay spat. "Bringing me here. Now."

"You see that seat right there?"

With venom in her eyes, Lindsay spat her response. "Of course I see it. Look, Flack, I really wanna go back and..."

"Linds, once word had gotten out about Jess... Jess..." He took a deep breath, "Dying; I was sat there in that seat, barely holdin' it together."

Lindsay had now fallen silent. She'd stopped fighting him and just simply let him say his peace.

"I didn't call anyone. I didn't reply to anyone's voicemails, text messages, nothing."

Lindsay continued to nod.

"But you know what, despite that; the first time I had looked up from my position, Danny was the one person that, despite me ignoring his calls, ignoring his messages, brought himself to the hospital to see me. To make sure I was okay. To be there for me. And Jess."

Lindsay's eyes filled with tears.

"He was walkin' down this hallway, a man on a mission 'cause he knew I needed someone."

Lindsay closed her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"He was the last person I thought I would see," Flack continued. "But the only person I wanted to see in that moment. There was somethin' deep down inside of me that wished he'd see through the bullshit exterior and come anyway, because he knew I needed him."

Lindsay let out a sob as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"He knows how much you need him, Lindsay. He's in that operating room right now, a man on a mission to make sure he storms down this hallway to you. Whether it be on his feet, in a walker, or in a wheelchair. You and I know Danny Messer, and there is no way in this God's earth he's leavin' you, alright. He finally got his girl, k? He's not gonna leave you, kiddo."

Reducing to tears, and falling into Flack's arms, Lindsay gripped to Flack's shirt as she let her emotions out. She'd worried beforehand. She'd sat and slowly stewed; all of her emotions being pushed out of the way.

But now, Don Flack had given her a reason to cry.

He'd given her hope.

And she didn't want to let this hope go.

Her ears pricked up as she heard a door opening and the only occupants of the hallway turned to face the Doctor.

Lindsay couldn't read his expression, which killed her. She was usually so good at being able to read expression; the sympathy, or alternatively, the elation.

There was nothing in this man's eyes.

"Mrs Messer?"

She straightened herself up and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for whatever news was in store for her. "Yes?"

"Your husband has responded to treatment. We were able to extract the bullet successfully."

A unified sigh was let out between both Lindsay and Flack.

"But,"

Lindsay stopped dead in her tracks and held her breath.

"Because of the severity of your husband's injuries, he will suffer from temporary paralysis."

"Temporary?"

"There's no permanent damage that we have determined. There is some inflammation of the spine to protect itself from the gunshot wound, which is the root cause of the paralysis..."

"So he's okay?" Lindsay spluttered.

"Well, I'm an optimist," the Doctor smiled. "And I never say never; but you do have to be patient. It will be a trying time for you both these months ahead."

"Struggle, fight and trying, are our middle names." Lindsay whispered. "Is he in recovery?"

"We're transferring him to the ICU." The Doctor paused as he was met with two horrified looks. "It's just so we can keep a close eye on him." He assured them.

"When can I bring their baby girl in to see him?" Flack asked.

"I wouldn't suggest until tomorrow morning," the Doctor replied. "He's going to be asleep for the rest of tonight. Personally, I would suggest a night's sleep in your own beds."

Both Lindsay and Flack snorted.

"But, I can see that's not going to happen. I'll pull some strings and find a room for you guys for the night."

"Thank you," Lindsay whispered as she took hold of the hands that had just saved her husband's life and shook them with a death grip. "Thank you, for everything."

The Doctor smiled and returned the warm handshake, before moving to Flack and shaking his hand also, he then turned on his heel, and left the two friends stood in the hallway.

They both simultaneously felt back onto the chairs where Flack had previously fallen onto once he had heard the news of Jessica. This time though, he had a sense of relief wash over him, instead of heartbreak.

He looked to Lindsay and took a deep breath. She had her hands clasped together, and her eyes closed. He left her a moment before she began to move again.

"You okay?" He said quietly.

She nodded. "I am now."

"I told you he was a man on a mission, didn't I? He'll always be there for you, kiddo. Always."

Lindsay took a deep breath and smiled softly. "Tell me he's gonna be alright, again."

"Linds... The Doctor mentioned temporary..."

"I don't care about that." She snapped. "All I care about is that he's alive," her voice soon turned into a whisper. "All I care about is that he's gonna be alright."

Feeling, and living vicariously through Lindsay's elation, Flack nodded and assured her, despite his own heart breaking at how he'd wished he'd gained news in this same area about his Jessica, he gave her the reassurance she needed. "He's alright." He whispered. "He's alive, and he's gonna be fine."

They sat back in unison and both let out a deep breath. Despite the loss they'd gone through today; there was a unanimous feeling of elation between them. Of hope.

Lindsay laid her head on Flack's shoulder and let out a slow breath as she took his hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for being here for me."

"I'm always here for you guys. Just like you guys are always there for me."

"It's what friends are for," she whispered as her eyes slowly fluttered shut.

"Yeah," Flack whispered as he laid his head on hers and let himself fall slowly into a dreamless slumber. "It is."