I tried to make her justice, tried to get in her mind while she was dealing with the aftermath of being shot.
Bulletproof
She feels uncomfortable in this position, normally Adam's embrace makes her feel safe and loved, but tonight she feels trapped and constricted. She feels too hot, even in her shorts and tank top, she doesn't know what to think or what to feel. Her arm feels heavy as if it wasn't part of her; her face feels itchy and she barely contains the urge to scratch the mark she know she has on her cheek.
Sleep simply eludes her, he fell asleep almost an hour ago after asking her (for the thousand time) if she was okay, or she needed anything… he was so incredibly attentive and caring, making sure that her pillows were fluffed the way she liked them, that her favorite TV show was on and that the mac and cheese she was craving on the hospital were the right temperature to eat without burning her tongue. Yet after him settling down on his bed (it wasn't theirs)and pulling her closeto his side and running his fingers through her hair (thing that always managed to get her to sleep before) she couldn't feel comfortable, not in the way she normally did when she and Adam cuddled.
Besides the pain that bothers her every time she so much as moves her shoulder or lifts her arm a few inches, she feels sluggish and dumb, the pain killers were cool, but they definitely dulled her senses and it bothered her immensely not to be able to answer a question as soon as it got asked; earlier when her sister and niece came to visit her it took them about 4 times for her to answer a simple question "how long do you have to stay at home?".
Of course she was a little overwhelmed with the fact they were visiting her on his apartment and not hers, and it was the first time that her family and her boyfriend saw each other officially; the day she was ready to leave the hospital all she could think of was getting home, putting on the rattiest oldest (and most comfortable) pjs she had, getting under the covers and sleep the day away; clearly he didn't had the same idea, his place was closer to the precinct and apparently he needed any available second to take care of her and 15 minutes wasted on the road were almost a sin.. After his insistence of her staying with him for hours she relented and went home with him, she was just too tired to argue. He even asked for a few days off to take care of her, and it was soo good… having him looking after her.
But at night when everything was quiet and she was alone with herself she couldn't shake the feeling that not everything was ok. She stood up, carefully trying not to wake Adam and slowly walked to the bathroom; she locked the bathroom door after her and stared at her reflection in the large mirror, she saw the marks on her cheek, the discoloration and bruising on her neck and further down she noticed the bandages on her arm and all the different colors she never thought skin could have. There was blue, green, purple, yellow, red and the brownish on the corner of the bandages of the dried blood that a broken stitch left and beyond that her whole skin had a pale yellowish hue.
She blinked, once, twice, thrice trying to reconcile the image of looking back at her with the last memory she had of fixing her hair and applying mascara in the precinct's bathroom before going out for the last time with Roman and his ex, Adam had just kissed her and promised a nice night together. How could things go wrong so fast? But then again that's the job she choose, the bullet proof vest she wore every day made it more than obvious that things could go wrong fast.
She stood there staring at herself without noticing how the time passed, her mind was going a hundred miles per hour, everything she remembered of that night started appearing on her mind and she couldn't shake the memories away.. the sound of the doorbell; the loud bang of the gun firing and the image of the bullet shattering the wood; then the piercing pain of the bullet going through her shoulder, the floor moving underneath her and the harsh pain of her head hitting the concrete of the sidewalk.
She could feel the warmth moisture of her blood running down her arm and hear Roman's cries for help. She remembered how he pulled her out of the way and how the pressure applied on her wound made her hiss at the added pain t caused. Kim closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself; but the more she tried to relax the more all the memories came rushing out. Suddenly she started crying louder than she remembered ever doing. She felt her legs give out and she collapsed on the floor.
Adam moved to the side and extended an arm to hug Kim, when he felt the cold empty space he groggily opened his eyes looking for her when he heard her sobbing. He rushed to the bathroom and kneeled beside her.
She felt herself surrounded by heat and by the smell of him that always managed to make her feel calm and safe. "shhh, Kim, breathe" He sat behind her and pulled her sideways onto his lap "I'm here, everything is ok. You are safe" her sobs stopped for a second and then became more desperate and painful "I'm here sweetheart. I love you". He continued rocking their bodies until he felt her relaxing against him.
…
Just like most of the stories I've written lately this came out of nowhere and tries to explore a little bit of the dynamic of one of my favorite couples.
Please let me know if you liked it, if you didn't I'll appreciate feedback and constructive criticism.
