Sorry for the late upload.
Little sleep + lots of school = not fun.

St. Simons Hospital

One hour later, all members of Team One (minus the one member who was the reason for the hospital visit), plus Commander Holleran and SIU Agent Brooks were gathered in the ER waiting room of St. Simon's Hospital. Since arriving, the only update the group had received was from Wordy when they first arrived and all he could tell them was "by the time the ambulance arrived the bleeding had completely stopped and the IV did what it was supposed to".

Everyone was growing anxious, and just as Ed was about to set off to find a nurse for an update, the ER doors opened and a doctor walked out, heading straight for them. "Family of Sam Braddock?"

"We're his team," Greg said as he and the others rose to their feet. "He was injured on a call."

The doctor nodded. "I'm Dr. Roberts; I treated Sam. The gunshot wound to Sam's shoulder, though it did cause him to lose a significant amount of blood, is actually pretty minor. Nothing major was hit and the bullet lodged itself in the muscle. We were able to remove the bullet and stitch everything up without any fuss, which is the good news."

The relieved faces that the SRU officers had at the news about their teammate were soon replaced with concerned ones. "What's the bad news?" Ed asked, stepping to the front of the group.

"He's lost a good amount of blood," Dr. Roberts informed. "We've been giving him transfusions since he arrived, but it's taking longer than usual for his body to bounce back. Tell me, has he been ill recently or mentioned anything about insomnia or trouble sleeping?"

The members of Team One all shared a saddened look with each other, knowing the reason for their teammate's insomnia. Greg rubbed his head and stepped forward to talk. "Sam is ex-Special Forces. He got back from a recent deployment a couple of months ago and he's been back with us for about a month. While he was deployed some bad stuff happened to him, very bad stuff. He had to get a psych eval before he rejoined the team and he passed; he doesn't have PTSD. However, since being back, he has had a few flashbacks and even more nightmares."

Dr. Roberts nodded his understanding. "I see. Well, Sam is on his last blood transfusion now and once that's complete we'll be keeping him for several more hours for monitoring so we can make sure his stats and vitals return to a normal range. Based on what you've just told me and my own assessments, I can tell Sam is exhausted, so we will strongly be encouraging him to rest for the remainder of his time here."

"Can we see him?" Spike asked. Hearing that his best friend would be OK was one thing, but he really needed to see it for himself.

"We'll be moving him to a room shortly; you can see him then." Dr. Roberts announced. He looked around at the group of people who obviously cared about his patient. "I do ask, however, that you keep your visit short. He needs his rest." At the nods of agreement, Dr. Roberts smiled. "I'll have a nurse come get you when he's settled."

Thanking the doctor, the SRU and SIU members watched as the doctor went back through the ER doors. Everyone was extremely relieved that Sam would be OK. When they all returned to their seats, Commander Holleran announced that he and Agent Brooks would be visiting with Sam first, wanting to get the interview done and out of the way. Greg and Ed both argued that the interview could wait, but Holleran stood firm in his decision. When Holleran left the room to make a phone call, Agent Brooks stepped forward and addressed the members of Team One.

"Just so you guys know, this interview is just a formality. I HAVE to do it, but I've read the transcripts from the call and I know enough about what happened to know that he had to take the shot. I understand that, and I have to say, I'm extremely impressed that Constable Braddock was able to do so from such a far distance AND injured. You have quite a talented officer on your hands Sergeant Parker."

"Thank you," Greg said proudly. "He's definitely something else."

Agent Brooks smiled as the other members of Team One laughed in agreement. "I promise to make the interview as short as possible. I know it was a tough call this morning and you all really want to see him."

Team One's expressions of gratitude were cut off as Commander Holleran reentered the room, the same time a nurse came out to take them up to Sam's room. Having explained the situation to the nurse in the elevator, the members of Team One were left waiting in the third floor's waiting room while Commander Holleran and Agent Brooks were taken to Sam's room. True to his word, Agent Brooks kept the interview short and he, Commander Holleran and the nurse were back in the waiting room after only 15 minutes. Following the nurse down the hall to Sam's room, the members of Team One promised to keep their visit short. They entered Sam's room and they were all pleased to see him sitting up in bed and picking at the tape that kept his IV in place.

"Sam, leave that alone. It's there for a reason." Ed said with a smile. He led the other members of Team One into the room and around Sam's bed.

Sam shot Ed an annoyed look, but quickly replaced it with a small smile as he saw his team. "Hey guys."

"Samtastic!" Spike announced with a huge smile on his face as he came to stand next to Ed. "How 'ya feelin buddy?"

"Ready to get out of here."

Everyone smiled and chuckled slightly at the typical Sam answer. Some things with Sam would never change.

"Aside from that?" Greg asked, standing at the foot of Sam's bed.

"I'll be fine. Give me a couple days and I'll be good as new."

"I think it'll take a little longer than just a couple of days, Samo." Ed said, staring at the man in bed. "Now, maybe a couple of days full of sleep plus another couple of weeks in physical therapy..."

Sam gave a small smirk and rolled his eyes. "I talked to the doctor. I need a week, at the most, of PT. As for the whole sleep thing... I think that'll be better now too."

The members of Team One all shared a curious, hopeful glance with each other, then with Sam. "What do you mean Sam?" Jules asked, speaking for the group.

Sam looked at her and gave a small sigh. "I don't know, really, but something feels different. I feel different."

"Different how?" Wordy asked from his spot next to Jules.

Sam was quiet for a moment and everyone could see the thoughtful expression on his face. "I don't know how to explain it, just...different. It's a good different though." Sam gave a relieved sigh and spoke again. "I feel like...me again. I know that's not really the best thing to say after I just shot and killed somebody and got shot myself, but it's true." Sam shrugged the shoulder that was not wrapped and bandaged.

The other members of Team One looked around at each other and smiled. The Sam they knew and loved, the one they feared they had lost after his last tour overseas, seemed to be back with them. They all knew that he had a ways to go until he was back to "normal", but seeing the light return to his eyes, they all silently pledged to help him get there and vowed to never let anything take that light away again.

Hope you enjoyed!

I haven't decided if there's going to be an epilogue yet, but if there is, y'all will be the second to know. Not the first, cause that'd be me, but y'all could have probably figured that out.