Hello! Here's the next chapter, which at this point I think is the last. But I'll have to see how I write this one as I might include another one.

"Zach Mitchell." Owen, Claire, Karen and Parisa stood up.

"He's quite severely injured. The bullet is stuck in his right leg, but we can sort that out with surgery. He may have tissue or bone damage which will heal. The other one passed clean through. But it might of torn an organ or some tissue, so we will have to perform keyhole surgery to check it out. His knee is dislocated but we've sorted that out and the same leg is fractured in two places, the mid thigh and the mid calf. He's also got two chipped ribs and a slightly fractured collarbone, which will heal with rest. We need you to sign these forms so that the surgery can be done." Karen began to sign the papers.

"Can I see him?" Claire asked. The doctor nodded and showed Claire to Zach's temporary bed. The doctors had kept the oxygen mask and neck brace on him and had put a white sheet over him. Clark stood by Zach's bedside and reached out to hold his hand. He moaned.

"You're okay now honey." Claire put a hand on his bruised face.

"I...it hurts so bad." Zach cried in pain, tears beginning to fall from his cheeks.

"I know it does but your going to be okay." Claire comforted. She looked at her nephew. He had plasters all over his face from all the cuts Scott had given him. Claire could see his torso was covered in bruises. Claire could see the beginning of another bandage on his ribs to cover up toe bullet wound there and both his legs were bandaged up from foot to thigh, blood coming through his right leg, which had been shot. Claire looked at his face. He was drifting off to sleep just as Karen, Parisa and Owen came in, which woke Zach.

"Is my little boy okay?" Karen went over to her son, kissing his cheek lovingly. Zach moaned in pain. "Sshh, you'll be fine."

"Tough kid." Owen said to Claire just as the surgeons came to take Zach away for surgery.

The four of them sat outside the theatre, waiting tensely to find out if Zach was going to be okay. Around three hours later, a surgeon came out and the four of them stood.

"Well?" Claire fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"There's no organ damage in his torso and his injuries will heal with a bed rest of around four months. He's had a lucky escape. He's gonna be in a lot of pain, especially for the first 72 hours, so we've given him a morphine drip to help manage his pain. As he's in the intensive care unit, only direct family can see him and only one person is allowed at once." The surgeon explained.

"Oh no. I'm supposed to be at my divorce hearing!" Karen realised.

"I'll give you a ride and I'll drop Parisa off home." Owen offered and they left, leaving Claire to see Zach. She opened the door into the private room. Her nephew was attached to several machines. The only ones she recognised were the oxygen mask and the heart monitor. She noticed a blood IV drip and a morphine drip attached to his left arm. His legs were covered in bandages and she could make out another bandage which was showing from the top of the bed sheet over his bare torso. He moaned in pain and Claire gently held his hand in hers.

"You're okay now honey." Claire comforted.

"W...what happened?" Zach stuttered.

"You were beaten up by Scott. He shot you twice and..."

"No...what happened to him?"

"He was arrested. You don't need to worry about that jerk anymore. You need bed rest for six months before going anywhere again." Claire put her hand on his cheek and rubbed her thumb against a scar, which started just under his eye and reached parallel to the end of his nose.

"Look, I know you're in a lot of pain rightnow, but don't try to hide it. I can give you some morphine when you need it, so tell me yeah." Zach nodded, but winced after it.

"Where's mum?" Zach asked.

"She's at the divorce hearing. She will be able to see you afterwards."

"C...claire...can you give me some m...morphine?" Zach was beginning to feel more pain as the affects of the anaesthetic were wearing off. Just then, a nurse came in.

"Hi I'm Holly and I'm Zach's nurse. I just need to check your vitals then I'll let you sleep. There's more blankets in the cupboard if you need them." The nurse checked Zach's temperature. "101.2. He has a slight fever, so I'll have to put the air con on as he's wounded quite badly, so even a mild fever could cause infections." The nurse set the room temperature to 16°C and opened the window. "It might get chilly in here." Claire put her jacket back on to keep her warm. "Blood pressure and heart rate are normal. Keep taking the morphine as you're going to be in a hell of a lot of pain for the next few days." With that the nurse left.

It was around 3am and Claire had volunteered to stay the night with Zach at the hospital. Just then, a noise woke her. She got up and looked over at Zach, his face was scrunched up in pain.

"I...it hurts s...so bad." He stuttered, tears escaping his eyes.

"I know honey, just try to get back to sleep for me." Claire gave him some morphine.

"M...make it stop please."

"I've given you some morphine and that's gonna help. Just try to sleep." Claire stroked his brown hair, trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. He had just had two operations and he had several broken bones, so he was obviously going to be in pain. A few hours later, Claire was awoken by Zach.

"A...aunt C..Claire..." he stuttered.

"What's wrong honey?" She lent forward and held his hand.

"I feel s...sick" Zach put his hand over his face and Claire grabbed the sick bucket and put it in front of him.

"Just some side affects from the morphine." Claire reassured him as she held his hair back. She looked at the time. 9 am. Just then, Parisa came in.

"Hey. You alright?" She asked, sitting at his bedside. Zach nodded, tilting his head towards her.

"He's just running a fever." Claire told her. Parisa felt his forehead.

"He does feel warm. How's the pain?"

"Quite bad. I'm tired." He closed his eyes and began to drift into sleep. Parisa stroked his hair as he rested. She did feel sorry for him as he'd nearly died to save her life. He had been through a lot in the past few weeks, so she thought it was good in a way that he was injured as this meant he would be forced to rest.