35I must apologise for the slight delay this time...I was stuck for ages on how exactly to end this chapter as I had written lots for the next already...Not to mention I was down in Cardiff for 5 days for the opening night of Madonna's tour! It was awesome! So I haven't had the internet but I hauled my little laptop down and managed to get a lot of writing done, so here it is!
Ellie woke abruptly from a light sleep. The sun was shining in through the now open blinds in Danny's hospital room. She had passed out with her head on his bed and her hand still in his. Don was snoring quietly in the corner with his arms folded and his chin resting on his chest. Ellie felt like she'd closed her eyes for a few seconds, but looked at the clock on the wall and realised it was 10.22am. She had been out for at least 3 hours. Don's phone vibrated loudly on the windowsill and he bolted awake. Ellie was unnerved, as it seemed unnatural for Danny not to stir with the racket it made.
"Flack." Don said, followed by a loud yawn. "Sorry, say that again." Ellie looked up, intrigued by his tone. "You're positive?...Okay, I'm on my way." he hung up and got to his feet. "That was Mikey down at the station. My inside guy says he overheard some of the guys mention taking Johnny Vitale to a new safe home. He's got a location."
"Haven't you had enough danger and excitement to last you a while?" Ellie asked as Don threw on his suit jacket and made for the door. He stopped and stood looking between Danny and Ellie. Yes, he could be risking his life, but that was just his job. He had to make sure the men responsible for the two other people in the room suffering so much were brought to justice.
"I have to finish this." He avoided Ellie's pleading gaze. "You call me if anything changes." And with that he swept from the room and closed the door behind him.
Ellie was left alone in a room silent except for the constant bleep of the heart monitor. Her stomach growled angrily at her. She didn't want to leave Danny for a second despite her hunger. What if something happened to him while she was gone? Just as Ellie's thoughts were playing out all the worst case scenarios she could think of, the door opened once more. Aiden came in quietly and closed the door with her foot. In her hands were two bottles of fruit juice.
"Hey." Ellie said. "You're Aiden, right?" She recognised the attractive, young CSI from the precinct though she didn't know her very well.
"Yeah, thats me. I met Don downstairs, he said you hadn't had anything to eat, so I brought juice." Aiden held a bottle out for Ellie and she accepted it most gratefully.
"Thanks." Ellie said after she guzzled half of it down in one go. Aiden had taken up Don's spot near the window and looked sorrowfully at Danny. Ellie had been so fraught herself that she had quite forgotten there were other people who cared just as much for Danny. Ellie went to ask if she was alright, before stopping herself.
'Fucking stupid question." she thought.
"How are you doing?" Aiden asked of her instead.
Ellie sighed deeply. "I'm just shaken up really, a little achy." She indicated her face; Aiden flinched a little at seeing her wounds.
"So the rumours flying around the lab are true then? Well I know they are, I saw one of the photos."
"Photos?" Ellie questioned. She guessed the rumour was about Danny and herself, but photos?
"Uh, you didn't know?"
Ellie shook her head.
"Gerrard had you two followed. The photo I saw looked like Danny leaning in to kiss you. Danny got thrown off the case because of it...He said he didn't regret it though. I guess he wanted to do it and didn't care or think about the consequences." Aiden looked away from Ellie's worried looking gaze, her luminous stare boring into her. Ellie felt panic run through her. Everyone knew. But as she looked back at Danny, a stillness washed over her, making her thumping heart slow back to its comfortable rate. So what if everyone knew? He meant so much to her now, she was almost at the stage for shouting it from the rooftops. She doubted Danny would have a problem with it either, he wasn't known for being particularly reserved about his thoughts or feelings on all matters.
"Oh well, I guess people would have found out soon anyway." Ellie smiled as she watched Danny's unmoving face. Aiden observed her adoring look and they both sat in silence for a while, just watching Danny, willing him to come back to them.
"When I first started at the lab, I thought Danny was super cute, until I realised what a royal pain in the ass he could be. Everyone used to think we were together with the stupid flirting and joking. But he's become like a big brother to me. He cares about me, but we can't help picking on each other." Aiden broke the few moments quiet, obviously letting out something that had been playing on her mind since she heard that he had been shot last night. She took a swig of juice and sighed.
"Oh, I meant to tell Don, but we got a warrant to search the Vitale home. About 9 o'clock this morning Hawkes and Stella found a blood stained jacket in the trash. Adam confirmed about 10 minutes before I went off shift that it was Crystal's blood. So we got him good, damn good."
"Yeah, if Frankie testifies then he'll be pretty stuck." Ellie answered.
"All we need now, is for Don to catch up with him. And soon."
It was mid-afternoon when a nurse came to check Danny's drip and take note of any changes on the assortment of machines that were arranged around the head of the bed. As the nurse made to leave, Ellie could have sworn she saw Danny's eyelids twitch.
"Uh, nurse...his eyelids moved."
"Sometimes when someone is in a coma, their body makes involuntary movement. If it continues, try speaking to him, he could be waking up."
Ellie's mood suddenly became much more optimistic and she ran her thumb over Danny's discoloured knuckles. Aiden stood up and leaned over Danny, studying his face. "Come on Messer, if you can hear us, give us a signal."
It wasn't Danny, but the heart monitor that next gave them a signal. It started flashing and beeping violently. Danny began to convulse and Aiden ran into the corridor after the nurse. A louder alarm sounded and four or five medical staff ran into the room. Ellie was pushed back as a man began the heart massage procedure on Danny.
"Nothing, doctor!" A young woman called as the man stopped compressions.
"Alright, let's shock him." The man blocking Ellie's view said and the nurse handed him a defibrillator. He rubbed the lubrication over both sides and asked everyone to stand back. Danny's body jolted violently as the doctor pressed the pads to his chest and fired hundreds of volts through his heart.
"Still nothing!"
"Clear!" The doctor shouted and went in to shock Danny again.
"Is he gone?! Please tell me he's not gone!" Ellie cried.
"Miss, you can't be here. Can you take her out?" The doctor looked to Aiden who grasped Ellie's wrist and pulled her from the room.
Somewhere in Harlem, Flack and a team of uniforms were coming up on a run down house.
"Good place to have a safe house. Who'd think to look for Italians in this neighbourhood?" A short, stocky cop muttered in Flack's ear. Flack held up his right hand and the group came to a stand-still. He signaled for some of the cops to surround the house and they disappeared down the garden paths on either side of the wooden structure. Flack climbed the stairs on the porch and bashed hard on the dilapidated door.
"NYPD! Open up Johnny!" There was a clatter from inside the house and Flack took a few steps back. He braced himself and with one kick managed to practically knock the door off of its hinges. "Johnny Vitale! This is is police! We have you surrounded!" Little did Flack know but this wasn't entirely true. He soon found out though as Johnny Vitale burst out through the back door and wasn't stopped by anyone in the back yard.
"Shit!" Flack shouted. "Why do they always run?!" He sprinted through the house after Johnny and saw he had made it into the next garden. Flack vaulted the fence easily and sped through the overgrown grass. The next fence was higher and chain-link and slightly harder to tackle for both fugitive and pursuer. Flack's long strides helped him catch up to Johnny quicker than he expected it would seem as Flack saw him look back in surprise. They had cleared three more fences before they hit a house that must have had several children living there. Johnny hit a snow covered rocking horse type toy and fell face first into a drift. Flack was on him in a flash and twisted his arm up behind his back. He dragged him to his feet and thrust him down the garden path and out into the street. Several officers stood waiting, guns raised. They holstered them again as they saw Flack had their suspect in custody.
"John Vitale, you are under arrest of the murder of Crystal Kelly and the attempted murder of Fiorella Flack." Flack had unclipped his handcuffs from the back of his belt.
"And here I thought her name was Ellie...That's your little sis ain't it?"
Flack responded by pushing him harder, causing Johnny to slip on the ice. "I did think it was a bit of a shame to leave her to die, I mean, I'd have fucked her! Shown her what its like to be with a real man." Flack threw him face down onto the bonnet of a squad car and put the handcuffs on way too tight. Johnny cried out in pain as the cuffs cut into his wrists and Flack picked him up.
"Get this prick outta my face." Flack spat out and shoved him into the hands of a uniformed officer, who placed him in the back seat of one of the cars. He stuck his hand into his coat pocket as his phone rang. "Flack." He said, not recognising the number. He could hear short breaths from the other end. "Hello?" There was a small whimper and he knew who it was. "Ellie? What's wrong?" Flack asked, fearing the worst as he realised Ellie was crying quietly. She took a deep breath.
"Don...It's Danny..."