Disclaimer: I don't own Third Watch, or any characters you can recognise.

AN: I have no medical knowledge, just way too much time to search the internet.

Enjoy!

After a moment, Jimmy looks to his friends, and asks. "Who shot her?"

They all exchange glances before Holly finally tells him. "Doc."

Jimmy's jaw practically hits the floor upon hearing this, surely he must've heard wrong, there's no way Doc would ever do such a thing.

They fall back into an awkward silence, all too aware of Joey sitting beside Holly, playing his gameboy, oblivious as to what is at stake.

It is another six hours before a doctor comes out to meet the large group, her scrubs are splattered with blood, Kim's blood. They all look up at her as she asks. "Is there family here for Kimberly Zambrano?"

Jimmy just raises his hand slightly in acknowledgement, and doesn't actually stand up until the surgeon is standing in front of him. He shakes her hand quickly as she introduces herself. "I'm Dr Sampson, I operated on Kimberly. May I ask who you are to her?"

"Ex-husband." Jimmy tells her before he asks. "How is she? They said she got shot, is she going to be alright?"

Dr Sampson pauses before informing him. "She sustained critical injuries, and it was very touch and go for a while, but I think she's going to pull through. She's definitely a fighter."

Jimmy collapses into the nearest chair, overcome with relief.

He barely even notices that the doctor is speaking to him, until she says. "You can come back, and sit with her if you'd like."

Jimmy nods quickly, and after going over to where Joey is sitting and hugging him tightly, he follows the doctor out of the room.

Meanwhile, Carlos is sitting up in bed in the recovery unit, alongside Kim. His injuries were much less serious, apart from losing his spleen and part of his liver, he escaped unscathed.

He silently watches over his fallen partner, going over the event over and over again in his mind. Maybe if he'd done something differently, just maybe she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

As Jimmy enters the recovery unit, he sees Carlos sitting up in a bed, but doesn't even acknowledge him as his glance reaches Kim's unconscious form, too still, and much too pale in the bed beside him.

He goes to his ex-wife's side, and takes a seat beside the bed. As Jimmy takes hold of her clammy hand, he whispers to her. "I'm here, Kimmy. Everything's going to be okay." Oh god. This is bad. Please don't let her die.

It isn't until early the next morning, long after everyone has gone home that Kim regains consciousness. She opens her eyes tiredly, and it doesn't take long for her to come to the realization that she's in hospital, and after a minute of feeling the steady throbbing pain in her chest and upper arm, she remembers what happened.

Too exhausted to do anything else, Kim lets her head loll to the side, and as she falls back to sleep, a lone tear slides down her cheek.

Epilogue

It is another six, long, difficult months of recovery marred by setbacks and complications before Kim returns to work at the firehouse. Carlos, Holly, and the rest of the squad greet her with open arms, but it doesn't escape her notice that despite what she's sure would've been their best efforts, there is still a large blood stained patch in the middle of the floor, a tragic reminder of the horror that took place in that very spot.

The End.

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