EPISODE 28

Zander's ICU Room --

Ric had heard that Zander had woke up and rushed to his brother's bedside. He found Alexis and his mother standing outside the room, their noses pressed against the plexi-glass window, just watching Zander with Emily.

"Hey, I got here as quickly as I could." Ric said to Alexis when he arrived.

"Any word on who did this?" she asked as Ric tried to catch is breath.

"We don't have anyone in custody yet, but we're pretty sure on who it was. It's just a matter of time before we catch him."

Alan approached them and asked to speak with Zander before Ric went in to talk with him. Ric agreed and Alan entered Zander's room.

"So, how are you feeling?" Alan asked as he picked up Zander's chart and reviewed it.

"Like I got hit by a truck." Zander replied and Alan chuckled.

"Yeah that's to be expected after what you've been through. I just stopped by to check on you."

Alan stood at the foot of Zander's bed and pulled back the blankets to reveal his bare feet. It had been quite a few hours since the surgery but Alan wasn't expecting the swelling to go down quickly. "Tell me if you feel anything, okay?"

Emily kept Zander's attention towards her so he couldn't see what Alan was going to do. She had been through these tests before and she knew what was coming, she hoped Zander would feel the pen running up and down the bottom of his foot as she smiled at him.

Alan ran the bottom of his pen light up and down the bottom of Zander's bare foot, and he noticed he flinched at the sensation. Zander smiled and turned to look at Alan.

"You felt that?" Alan said looking for confirmation from Zander.

"Yeah I did. But I also feel some sensations, like tingles in my legs."

"You will for a while, but it's a good sign that you felt the pen light on the bottom of your feet. The tingling will subside, as the swelling surrounding your spinal cord goes down, you'll get more and more feeling back in your legs and feet. I think right now it's safe to say that you will make a full recovery." Alan explained.

While the blanket was pulled up, and Zander's feet exposed, Alan asked him to wiggle his toes. Alan wanted to make sure he had the movement as well as the feelings. Zander did what Alan asked him to, and he smiled.

"Yeah, you're gonna be just fine. But we still need you to get some rest. It's going to be the best medicine for you right now and try not to move around too much, you have many stitches in you, and I don't want you opening them up. I'll check back later." Alan said and then left the room, the family waiting to hear Zander's prognosis.

"So .... " Elenore began waiting for Alan to tell them what they had hoped to hear.

"Zander's going to be just fine. But he needs his rest, so let's try to keep the visitors to a minimum." Alan suggested.

Alan left the family and went on his rounds, as Ric stepped into the doorway and Emily turned to see him standing there. She motioned for him to come and Zander saw his brother standing at the foot of the bed.

"Hey little brother." Ric said as Emily wheeled herself out of the way, so Ric could get closer.

"Hey .. you've been here the whole time?"

"Actually I've been chasing down the bad guys."

"Oh, well you didn't have to go to far..." Zander replied, referring to himself as being one of them.

"Yeah well, I was chasing down the bad guys who shot you and Thomas."

"And ... did you catch 'em?" Emily asked.

"Not yet, but we're close. We're pretty sure who contracted the hit, it's just a matter of following the paper trail to lead us to the trigger man."

Zander winced as he tried to push himself up on the bed. "I had never seen the guy before, so who ever hired him certainly knew that I had been hauled in and was sitting waiting for me and Thomas to come out of the PCPD."

"Well, according to what we recovered at the scene, which wasn't much, we determined this guy was a professional."

"Yeah but professionals usually don't work with anyone else, Ric. I heard a car leave the scene."

"True, but if the person who hired the gunman to kill you, wanted to see his work, don't you think he'd make sure he had a front row seat for the show?"

"The only person who would gain from this is Lorenzo Alcazar."

"Yes but there are also those who work for Morales, they would have much to gain by having you dead."

"I'm thinking that the person who shot at Emily is the same person who shot me."

Ric shrugged. "Makes sense. Thing is this person isn't the mind behind the operation, there are bigger fish beyond him, he's just the guy who they hired to take you out."

It suddenly got very crowded in Zander's room, as Dr. Meadows came looking for her patient. "Emily, I think it's time for you to get back to bed. You and your baby need your rest too."

Zander still weak and growing tired, reached for his wife. Ric stepped out of the way so Emily could get closer to her husband.

"You do what the doctor tells you, okay?" he said hoping she'd listen to him.

"Yeah but ..."

"No buts ... you and the baby need your rest. I'll be fine. I don't want you to worry, okay." Zander smiled and reached up his hand and caressed her face.

Emily nodded in agreement. She knew he was right, she did have to take care of herself and their baby and she was getting a little tired. She kissed the palm of his hand and smiled. "I love you, so much."

"I love you too, baby.." Zander replied as Ric took a hold of the handle bars on the wheel chair and pulled Emily from his reach, their hands still reaching for one another.

Dr. Meadows followed Ric and Emily out of Zander's room, Zander watching his wife leave his side and his mother enter the room after her.

"Care for some company?" Elenore said as she sat down next to her son.

"I would love it if you'd sit with me till I fall asleep?" Zander remembered how his mom used to tuck him in bed at night when he was a kid. She used to sit with him till he fell asleep, sometimes. Having her near him was always a comforting feeling for him.

"Sure...." she smiled.

Zander smiled and closed his eyes, he was more exhausted then he thought, and soon he was sleeping peacefully, while his mother sat by his side and held his hand, just like she used to.

Emily's hospital room --

"I want you to get some rest now, Emily." Dr. Meadows instructed her very pregnant patient.

Ric helped Emily from the wheel chair to the bed and tucked her. She smiled at his bedside manner and laid her head back against the soft plush pillows.

"Thanks Ric ..." Emily said and she yawned.

Ric smiled in return and walked towards the door as if to leave but turned around ready to say something. "We're going to get him, you know?"

"I'm sure you will do everything you can to catch them."

"I promise you right now, we will catch them and they will pay for this."

Emily was confident in Ric's abilities as an officer of the court, she knew when he said they'd pay for shooting Zander, he meant it and he wouldn't rest until all those involved were in prison for a very long time.