I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating sooner. For the best half of two months I have been starring at the computer screen asking the team to tell me what they want to happen. They didn't answer me until a couple of nights ago when I was trying to sleep after a really hard day. So after writing everything down on paper I started writing this chapter.

I've also have more writing time now because I can't go to work due to a torn ligament in my leg. It's very painful and annoying.

Please enjoy. Also let me know if anyone seems out of character.

-Chapter Eleven-

Sunday 22nd

Jules looked into the room at the shadow shaking in the corner. She could no longer justify her anger which had slowly turned into sympathy. She wanted to hate the other women, to despise her for what she had done to them, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

She didn't know what it felt like to lose everything you held dear, nor did she have a mental illness that altered her mind, and neither had she felt utterly loss and without support before. Yet she could sympathies with Bridget's situation.

She'd studied cases like this while becoming a negotiator; you needed to know psychology in order to understand and help people. Although her sympathy was angered because of the trauma she had put her friends though it didn't stop her from anting to wipe away the other women's tears.

"Is there any word on her relatives?"

"We've contacted a cousin we found in her address book, no reply as yet." The doctor replied. Doctor Alison Fresh had taken over Bridget's case after her previous doctor was fired for malpractice. Misconduct that had resulted in many of his patients becoming unstable, "I thought that we had nipped Doc.. Kent's meddling in the early stages. It didn't occur to me that some of his patients would become so…disabled."

Jules stayed silent. In truth she didn't know what would be the right thing to say to her. The catchphrases of her profession did sound right for this situation. 'You couldn't have prevented this from happening', 'There was no way you could have seen this coming', or even the most rehearsed phase all emergency personally had spoken 'It's not your fault' all sounded wrong to her.

"It's over now," she finally said after several minutes of silence.

"She keeps asking about your friend. If it helps, I don't think she knew what she was doing. How is he doing?"

"Not so good." She whispered looking away from Bridget. "His doctor said he has every chance of survival but-. I want to believe he'll pull through but I know the longer he's in a coma the lower his survival rate plunges."

"He sounds strong," Alison spoke. Her voice was strong and determined. As if it held the strength the two of them needed to handle the fall out of these events. She turned around and headed back into the room containing Bridget. "I hope he pulls though."

"So do I." she muttered under her breath. She walked down the hallway keeping an eye out for Spike's sister. After she had intervened the night before between the troubled women and the psychiatry nurse, she sent Anna away to try and calm down while she tried to talk the nurse out of pressing charges. The nurse had been quite reasonable and only asked for a verbal apology. She had then spent the rest of the night talking to Doctor Alison.

Anna Maria Evans was not so different from her brother. Both had similar features, same eye and hair colour although Spike's hair was a shade brighter, same nose and lip lines, and Jules was sure they shared a smile. Both were dedicated to their family and individual carries. Both of them Unlike Spike, Anna was married and had a five year old son.

She found Anna sitting on one of the benches near the wards main entrance. She took seat next to her and waited for her to speak. "Once when Michael was a seventeen he came home with a black eye. He wouldn't tell us why, still hasn't told us the full story. When we were eating dinner the following night we got a phone call. Bridget's Dad was thanking Michael for sticking up for Bridge." She paused to take two deep breaths and swallowing a thick lump in her throat. Her voice was almost as raw as Spike's had been after his strangulation, but her rawness was due to her crying and fevered speech. She pulled a photograph from her pocket and passed it to Jules.

The photograph was of a young Spike and Bridget. They were both smiling at the camera hand in hand unprepared for what the world would put them though. Spike looked similar to how he had when she first met him. He was less muscled and his hair was longer and not spiked. His eyes weren't as haunted are they were now. He wore a black cord necklace with a silver B hanging in the centre.

"This was taken the following year when they told us they decided to start dating. My fratellino* was growing up too fast." She screwed the photo up in her hand and let it fall to the floor. "I didn't start seeing the cracks until it was too late. I was there the first time she hit him. I called the cops when she almost killed him. But I couldn't convince him to leave her. The idiot refuses to see anything but the best in people. I think he stayed with her because he didn't have dad as much."

A question that had been running around her head since the start of these events burst forth from her lips, "Why didn't Spike stop her?" The second the question was past her lips she regretted it. Anna's reaction was not what she expected. Her eyes grew moist and her lips quivered. The anger that burned in her body seemed to evaporate following the question.

"If it had been anyone else he wouldn't have just taken it, but after Bridges dad died I suppose he felt he had to look after her. They went their own ways after she was arrested. He said 'they weren't good for each other'. It's just bad luck they ran into each other again."

"Spike's one of the greatest person I know. If he thought someone needed him he would do anything," she thought for a moment about how Spike was willing to risk himself to save Lew. How desperate his voice was as he bargained with science. "He tries to please everyone sometimes even at his own sake."

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel," her voice became raw again. She bent down and picked up the screwed up photograph. She tore the photo in half. She dropped one half and placed the other back into her pocket. "Mama's putting on a brave face which is going to crumble soon. Mario's trying his best to keep us all together. And my fratellino* and Pa are dying but all I can think about is asking that wench why she had to do this again. How I could let this happen again."

"She's not well," Jules said placing her hand on the troubled women's shoulder. "We've got to be there not just for Mike and your father, but for your mother and brother. They all need you now like you need them. Like they need us now."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sam hadn't been part of the team for long. Yet ever since he had joining their table at The Goose he had felt like he had instantly felt like one of them. The resentment he felt he was due never came his way. He'd always found that when you intruded inn on a unit of people as close as family you would always get a form of resentment. But he never received any. True he did receive playful teasing and some delayed trust but he had never felt like the team resented him for filling a space.

"We're going to need someone to take your place on the team while you're recuperating, who would you rather it be Damien from Team Two or Matthew from team Four, we are not asking that guy from Team Three. He'll mess up the system again."

He looked over at his friend for a moment and didn't like what he saw. His bright eyes were closed and the delicate skin around them was a strange consistency of dark and light. His olive skin drained of colour. His arms that lay on top of the sheet covering him had been bandaged but he could still see the outlines of the cuff marks. It suddenly dawned on him how the man looked like he had lost far too much weight. His mouth which was usually found in a smile was partially open to allow the tube pushing air into his lungs passage.

"I've never been in a quiet room with you, you know that. I'm not saying that you're a chatterbox, you just always know what to say and when to say it." The silence in the room was suffocating him. It wasn't the uncomfortable silence between two friends', who did not know what to say to each other, it was the uncomfortable silence when you were waiting for the eventual, "Oh and I'm not counting that beeping as sound. It's a nuisance."

A morbid part of his mind couldn't help but think, if Spike were to die how would they treat his replacement? Would they welcome him or her without a hint of resentment? Would it take time for them to trust the 'newbie' or will there always be some distrust between them? Would they playfully tease them like they were one of the families or would they relentless teasing until they quit?

"I'm not sure if we're trying to talk you into coming back or myself that you will," He muttered to himself still looking at his friend. "I don't think the boss would be able to handle it. You mean a lot to him. You mean a lot to all of us."

He stayed silent listing to the insufferable beeping and watching the artificial rise and fall of his friend's chest. "Jules will be along soon and then you'll have two people bugging you to wake up and recover."

Spike was given a privet room because of his condition. Although it as quite large the majority of the space was occupied by machines. Machines that helped him breathe. Machines that pushed sustenance into his body though in IV line to meet his body's needs. Machines monitoring his artificial breaths, blood pressure, and pulse rate. Another machine hidden behind the larger ones that he wasn't sure did. A hyperthermia cover was over him warming his body's temperature. Yet Spike's hands were still cold to touch. The sight of them, and the knowledge that they're keeping Spike alive, startled him when he first entered the room.

A knock at the door draw his attention to Doctor Hopkins. He stood there with a nurse by his side and the team, minus Jules, behind him. They each looked almost the same as when he had seen them last with the exception of Greg. The negotiator's features, if it was at all possible, had paled significantly than the last time he had him. It was his eyes that startled Sam the most; they were dark and blood shot. He had been told during his training that you could absorb all of the subjects feeling by looking and studying their eyes. Greg's looked like a man who was raked with guilt. Sam wondered for a quick second why there would be so much guilt in his boss's eyes.

He stood and left the room. Chancing one last glance at Spike's still form, not sure what he wanted to see, but there was no change. As he past the fresh hold of the room Spike's walking into the room past him. Jules and Spike's sister walked around the room and joined them.

"Hay, what's going on?" Jules asked hands going into her pocket.

"I've made my decision," Greg said with no explanation of his words.

They each stayed silent as they watched the Doctor in the room. Sam noticed that he was attaching the machine the lay doing nothing. The first thing the Dr. Roger did was to shine a light into Spike's eyes, he then turned Spike's head from side to side keeping his eyes locked on Spikes. Doctor Roger turned to the Nurse and the two spoke for a few minutes. As the nurse took a syringe from the tray he had brought in with him, Doctor Hopkins left the room.

"Good news, there is some brain activity but we can't be sure to what extent. We're taking him out of the coma and going to see if he can breathe on his own. We'll just have to wait to see."

"And if he doesn't start breathing what happens?" Wordy asked eyes fixated on the nurse as he inserted the needle into the IV line.

"We'd test him again and then we follow his decision," Doctor Hopkins said nodding his head at Greg. "The initial test's we've just run are a good sign but they're not a definite answer. The only way of knowing full-" Roger was interrupted by alarms ringing from Spike's room. Without another word the doctor re-entered the room and walked straight to Spike.

Another doctor and two more nurse quickly entered the room, brushing past the team with no acknowledgement. After a few words were exchanged then the new comers to the room burst into action.

"I've made my decision," Greg repeated eyes locked on Spike. His eyes were raw and his breathing hitched as he watched the medical team work on Spike. "I've made my decision."

"What decision Greg? What have you decided?" Ed asked looking away from Spike to stare at his friend.

"What had to made."

-To Be Continued-

*Fratellino means 'baby brother' in Italian.

KevinxoShelly: Fair point, about couples going together, I do think the Scarlatti's wouldn't be able to take such a double blow. It would definitely be very mean of me to do such a thing. Thank you for the review.

BuckeyeamI: Thank you for leaving a review. I often have to retract far too much when I read fics. We share a common problem.

Gryffen1: Hi friend. I have managed to sort some problems out only for more to crop up. Thanks the review.

Hope06: Seventy per cent of the time all I want to do is hug the team. Especially following what I put them though. I think at the end everyone will need a holiday, a hug, and a hot chocolate. Thank you for you for being so considerate, I feel so guilty when I make you wait so long. Thanks for the review.

Argallel: My apologies for causing your heart to cry. I'm not sure if I'm cruel to kill Spike two fics running. I might be thou. Thanks for leaving a review.

Shoyzz: thank you for such a fantastic review. I hope I portrayed Greg's decision well. Unfortunately the decision making is only just starting (if my plan works that is). Also thank you for understanding about the updates and quantity.

Xan: two reviews is awesome. Happy to hear from you and glade to know you are enjoying it so much. I have a lot of issues with my ability to write a gripping story. I think I fail too much. I am English and live in England, we're a little different in our way of speech here. I'll work harder on the 'their' issue.

AmandaLRol: Please stop shiging, here's the update.

Please review, they help.