AN: First Chuck fic, so be kind. Basically, I wanted to do one that focused on Chuck getting hurt because there are not enough of them. *hint hint*

Summary: After a mission goes terribly wrong, Sarah is faced with her biggest fear ever since she became Chuck's handler.
Warning: This is in no way a very exciting story with lot of action. It follows Sarah from when she finds Chuck, to while he's in the hospital. It is more so a character study than anything else. So, don't except action or anything like that. Oh, and I'm pretty wordy. I like description... Also, its unbeta'd
Pairing: None, really. I mean, there's a lot of emotion and feeling between Chuck and Sarah, but it could be taken either way, really. I'm not much into the romance, but I love the bond between them two, and Chuck and Ellie, and Morgan and Chuck... But yeah. Not really a lovey-dovey piece.
Disclaimer: I'm 17... I own very little, let alone a whole tv show.

Bottom line, if you've got some time to sit back and read and not be killed by cliffhangers (I've written most of it and there are no cliffhangers yet) then you might enjoy this one.

Chuck vs The Hospital - Chapter 1

Sarah ran faster than she could ever remember running, weaving in and out of barrels and boxes while trying to remain in contact with both Casey and Chuck. Everything had gone wrong, with the possibility still open for things to get worse. It was supposed to have been an easy mission; just had to follow-up on some leaked information of a well-known assassin being in town, which ended up being a complete and total bust. All that was there was a group of pissed off drug dealers upset that Uncle Sam had confiscated their drugs.

Despite the fact that that brand of criminal was usually dealt with by a lower level of law enforcement, and therefore should have been a walk in the park, Chuck had managed to get captured and… well, she wasn't sure exactly what happened to him. All she knew was she heard Chuck yell in pain and a gun shot.

Long story short, Sarah was now running like hell to where the tracking device said Chuck was, while calling for him over the radio and having information fed to her by Casey.

"Turn left and go about 150 feet, and then take a right," Casey told her over her walkie. She did as she was told, going around a large storage compartment.

"He should be about 200 feet in front of you."

Sarah took a brief moment to look ahead of her, and sure enough, off in the distance she could see a heap of dark, curly hair with a white shirt. Sarah's heart nearly stopped when she realized that the shirt was not entirely white as it should have been and was now mixed with a deep red.

"We need an ambulance! Chuck's down!" Sarah screamed into her headset before she took off as fast as she possibly could to where Chuck was lying. It seemed like the longest run of her life and with every step came a new image of a dead Chuck. She had seen so many dead bodies in her lifetime, many of whom she killed herself, but seeing Chuck dead had been her biggest fear for over a year now. She couldn't stand the thought of failing her mission and more importantly, the loss of a person as innocent and kind-hearted as Chuck.

She was close enough now that she could see his face, and felt her stomach turn. He had been beaten, and by the looks of it, by several people. His face was an array of colors and was so swollen; she could have easily mistaken him for someone else had it not been for the signature Chuck hair. She fell to her knees beside him, temporarily unsure of what to do. She knew she needed to check to see if he was still alive, but she was so afraid that her test would yield the most undesirable of results.

Despite the fear, logic took over and she reached her hand out to meet his neck, and felt for a pulse. Not only was he still very much warm, Sarah could feel a small, alarmingly weak flutter under her fingers, but there was a pulse nonetheless. She continued to look him over and saw that apart from the swelling, he was covered in blood. From his nose to some cuts on his legs, he was not doing well at all and as Sarah looked him over more, she realized that a major source of the bleeding was coming from his back area and forming a puddle around his right shoulder. She looked a little closer at his shoulder and about died when she saw the bullet hole. She wanted to roll him over to try to stop the bleeding, but knew that she wasn't supposed to move him in case it aggravated other injuries.

"Chuck?" Sarah cooed softly, her hand gently rubbing his hair back. "Come on, Chuck. Wake up."

He wasn't moving and a part of her knew he wouldn't be any time soon.

"Casey! Where's that damn ambulance!?"

"Three minutes. Is he alive?"

"Yes, but just barely," Sarah replied, trying to cover up her fear when a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Casey, he needs to be taken to Ellie's hospital." Normally, fallen agents would be taken to a special hospital made just for them in order to preserve their cover, among other things, but Sarah saw the importance in Chuck being taken to his sister's hospital.

"What are you talking about, Walker?"

"Look, Ellie is going to find out and she's going to wonder why he wasn't taken to the best hospital in town. His condition is serious and all serious cases are taken there. It would be easier to preserve our cover and it's closer."

"Okay, okay. I'll radio it in. Just keep the kid alive, alright? I'll meet you at the hospital."

Sarah nodded and turned her attention back to Chuck and felt relief wash over her as the sound of sirens filled her ears. The ambulance stopped somewhere behind her and three men rushed out, pushing Sarah aside. She watched as they worked their magic, putting things on Chuck and taking other things off. Sarah lost track of everything they were doing to him, and just assumed they knew what they were doing.

"We've got to go, now. We're taking him downtown, right?" one of the medics asked. Sarah nodded and was glad Casey was able to get the message to them so quickly and they weren't questioning it because being agents themselves, they were certainly used to taking their patients to their private hospital.

"Right. Let's get going!"

Chuck was then placed on a back board with a neck brace on, and carried to the ambulance. Sarah did not wait for an invitation, and slid in to the back. She tried to get in the far right corner, out of the medics' way. When the ambulance began moving, Sarah realized she was holding her breath. She forced herself to breathe and listened to what the men were saying, trying to figure out just how bad things were.

But as hard as Sarah tried to pay attention to what they were saying, she kept finding herself focusing in on Chuck alone. The small movements of his now bare chest, rising and falling, and the comfort it brought her. The way his hair still looked messy and full of life, like it always did, even if the body it was attached to was unnaturally still. She then looked at his eyes and assumed the twitchy movements meant nothing, but then the movements became more pronounced until his eyelids opened briefly to slits. And then, a little more, until he was blinking continuously. Sarah watched as his dark, fearful eyes frantically searched the enclosed interior of the ambulance. She could see his chest was nearly heaving as panic overtook him.

"Sir! I need you to calm down. You've been in an accident but we're going to help you," one of the medics said, his face inches from Chuck's. Sarah looked back and forth between Chuck and the medic and realized that this was bringing no comfort to him. In fact, he began thrashing around.

"He's pulling out the IV's," the other medic called.

"Sir…"

Knowing the man was not going to calm Chuck down, and without thinking, Sarah scooted in as close as she could to Chuck, while still attempting to stay out of the way, and placed her hand along the side of his face.

"Chuck," she said softly, yet firmly. She watched his eyes, though still hazed and confused, focus in on her and immediately his body seemed to relax. "That's right, Chuck, just breathe. We're on our way to the hospital. You've been hurt and you need to let them help you, okay?"

He stared at her and she began to wonder if he was able to process any of what she was saying. However, she was aware that the medics had begun working again and getting their job done without having to worry about Chuck freaking out. But then Chuck nodded and one hand slowly reached up and slid off his oxygen mask.

The movement frightened Sarah for some unknown reason, and while she knew that he needed to keep the mask on, she couldn't seem to get a hold of herself long enough to put it back on him. When it was completely off his nose and mouth and hanging off the side of his cheek, he coughed a little.

"Put the mask back on him," one of the medics told Sarah. It was enough to pull her from her trance and she immediately began to slide the mask back to where it belonged, but Chuck stopped her.

"T-tell… Ellie," he tried to say, but started to cough again. Tears of fear and some odd form of frustration almost instantly sprung into Sarah's eyes.

"No," she said strongly, placing the mask back where it belonged. "You can tell her yourself, Chuck."

Chuck clenched his eyes shut at that moment and let out a soft moan.

"Sorry, Chuck," a medic said. "We had to set your wrist." So his wrist was most likely broken, Sarah thought miserably. Chuck's eyes remained closed and Sarah began to wonder if he planned to open them again but after a moment or two, they slid open. Only this time, pain was more evident and he seemed to be slipping into unconsciousness fast.

"S'rah," he mumbled under the mask. She could see his hand move feebly, apparently trying to remove the mask again, but he didn't have the strength. With his partially open, mostly swollen eyes, he begged her to listen and she could see that. It was as if he had accepted that fact that if he fell unconscious, he may never wake up again. And she hated that.

"Chuck, listen to me. You are going to be fine. I promise," she said. She wasn't sure where any of this was coming from, especially the promise because frankly, she had seen people whose condition wasn't as serious as Chuck's die, even though Chuck still had a very good chance. But she had to say it and she truly believed it. "But you cannot give up, do you understand me? You're going to be fine."

Sarah stared at him intently, and he stared back. They shared a moment in which Sarah ordered him to be okay and after he nodded slowly, promised her that he would do what she said. And Sarah believed him.

She didn't know how long she stayed in that position, but it seemed like an eternity. And as she watched Chuck, she noticed that he was getting worse. He had already lost his weak grip on consciousness and was unnaturally still once more, but his breathing had become frighteningly rapid and his body cold and clammy.

"How much longer?" Sarah asked the man driving.

"ETA two minutes."

"Dammit! He's going into shock!" she heard one of the medics shout and felt herself be pushed away. Once again, she found herself in the corner, watching as more needles were shoved into Chuck's body and another IV was started. It was all so surreal, and that bothered Sarah; she didn't feel in control in the least.

As quickly as it began, it ended; the ambulance came to a rather sudden stop and almost instantly, the doors were opened and Chuck was whisked away. Without thinking, Sarah ran behind them, not wanting to leave Chuck's side, but once he was pushed through one of the Emergency Room doors, a small nurse held her hand in front of Sarah, forcing her to stop.

"I'm sorry ma'am, you can't go any further."

A part of Sarah wanted to scream at the woman and ask her if she had any idea who she was talking to. Maybe even show the woman why she didn't want to mess with Sarah, especially when it came to protecting Chuck… her asset.

But she knew better. She knew that they did this for the patient's safety and breaking the woman's neck would surely break a rule or two, both literally and morally. Instead, she thought of something else.

"Is Ellie Bartowski working tonight?" she asked, dreading the talk she was about to have.

The nurse looked slightly confused, but eventually answered. "Yes, she is but I think she may be on her break right now."

"Page her," Sarah said simply. "That's her brother in there."

End Note: Alright, so that's chapter one and I hope you guys are digging it so far. Like I said, it's not going to be an action-packed exciting story, so go ahead an realize that before you gets your hopes up. But, I hope so of you like it and I'll get the next one out eventually.