Who Was In Love With The Good Cop?
She never expected to fall in love with TJ Caruso. In fact, it was the last thing she thought would ever happen. She always liked and respected the guy but he also infuriated her. Some days she swore she'd take the broomstick that was stuck up his ass and whack him with it. Yet here she was, holding her bunched up cardigan to his gushing wound, praying to a God that she didn't really believe in, terrified that he'd die in her arms and never know the truth. Cora Vasquez was in love with TJ Caruso.
It was the little things she noticed first: opening car doors, holding umbrellas, paying for lunch etc. Ever since she started working with Lt. Caruso, Cora began to re-evaluate every relationship she was ever in concluding that TJ was the only true gentleman left in all of New York City. Still, he annoyed her to no end. Every day was "infraction this" and "infraction that". She couldn't even cross the street like a regular New Yorker; he made her wait for the walk signal!
Yet despite his straight-laced outlook, and rather in spite of it, she respected him and she trusted him. He always put her first, and really kept her on track… morally speaking. She really wished she would have shared her feelings for him sooner… although she was only just acknowledging them herself.
She remembered one of their first cases together: the stakeout for Sherman Smalls. TJ had looked so upset when he saw his father with their ugly German tenant. She remembered him storming off and being genuinely concerned for him, having had to deal with the whole "step-parent" situation herself. In this case, however, TJ was a grown adult and the aforementioned German tenant turned out to be Sherman Smalls in disguise. Still… she'd been really, genuinely worried about him.
Then there was the time they were working another case that hit a horrible dead-end. They'd stayed late at the station four nights in a row and that night had been their latest. Finally, TJ shuffled over to Cora's desk and took the case file away from her.
"Go home, Cora… get some rest." He ordered, "We'll get a lead in the morning."
"But Caruso-" Cora started, but TJ put his hand up to stop her.
"We will get him, Cora," he promised, "But not tonight… not if we don't get some sleep."
Cora stared at him for a moment, then ultimately nodded, too tired to refuse.
"Alright, Caruso…" she surrendered, "You're the boss."
When she returned to the office early next morning she saw something she'd never thought she'd ever see.
Lt. Caruso was sound asleep sitting at his desk, his head resting heavily in his hand, making his oversized glasses crooked on his face. He had a pen in his other hand and Cora's case file opened on his desk. It took Cora a moment to realize he was still wearing the same shirt and tie from last night.
Unbelievable… she thought, a smile spreading across her face.
"Sleeping on the job…" she smirked, "That's an infraction."
She giggled at her Caruso impression until she noticed the note on TJ's desk. She picked it up and read it.
"Daughter and mailman are connected?" Cora thought for a few seconds. "Hey, Caruso… you could be on to something."
She took a seat on the other side of the desk and rested her feet up on it as she began to pour through the case with her new lead, leaving her boss to get some rest.
Looking back on it now, she hated herself for not noticing sooner, because now it was too late. He was going to die and it was all her fault. She could still hear the gunshot ring through her memory.
*{THE GOOD COP}*
"Don't move!" The man warned, shoving the barrel of his gun into Tony's back. The man's hand clutched his shoulder like a vice grip. "Don't come any closer or I swear to God I'll shoot him."
They were standing in the aisle of the old movie theatre, where their suspect was hiding out. Cora stood a few rows below the man and TJ, pointing her gun directly at the pair. She couldn't get a clear shot at the perp, not with Caruso in the way.
Dammit, Caruso… She couldn't even be mad at him. She was the one who suggested they split up even when he advised against it. But she was still mad about her performance evaluation, and insisted on splitting up, saying "I don't need you to protect me, Caruso."
Maybe not… but obviously, he needed her to protect him. Now she stared down the man who had a gun to her boss' back. She wondered how TJ could be so calm, given his current predicament. As soft and calm as his gaze was, Cora couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in her chest at the sight of her Lieutenant hands up and helpless. This was her fault after all. She put him in this position.
The man started backing away, pulling TJ with him. Instinctively Cora followed. The gunman panicked and pulled the gun away from TJ's back over his shoulder and at Cora.
"I said don't move!" He cried.
Caruso saw his chance and took it. With a swift turn, he knocked the shooter's arm down and away from both detectives and began the struggle to disarm the man. Before Cora could even climb the stairs to where they were she heard the gunshot.
TJ flew back, immediately releasing the gun he'd been fighting for.
"Caruso!" Cora screamed. The gunman quickly fled through the fire exit while Cora fired a few shots after him. She ran to TJ and knelt by his side, searching for the wound. His face was as white as a sheet. He stared blankly at the ceiling, obviously in a great deal of pain.
"Where'd he get you?" Cora asked shakily, setting her gun down beside him.
"S-side" TJ managed with quick breaths.
Cora unbuttoned his suit jacket and sure enough, she could see the circle of blood seeping through his white shirt just above his right hip.
"Oh my god, TJ..." Cora froze, her hands shaking as she tried to remember what to do. "Oh my god..."
"A...apply p-pressure..." TJ breathed. Cora snapped out of her shock.
"Right, right!" She quickly removed her cardigan, bunched it up and pressed it firmly against the bullet wound making TJ wince… hard.
"Sorry..." she said. Keeping one hand firmly pressed to the wound she grabbed her radio from her belt and held it to her mouth.
"I need Medical to the theatre now. We've got a man down. I repeat, man down!" She quickly set the radio down and went back to applying pressure with both hands.
TJ's eyelids began to droop, his breathing becoming sporadic. When his eyes began to close Cora began to panic again.
"Hey… Hey Caruso!" She shouted. His eyes snapped open. "You stay with me, you hear?"
He nodded weakly, his eyes closing once more.
"Hey! Stay with me, Caruso." She watched as his eyes closed completely, "Hey. TJ!"
Tony's head lolled to the side and her heart began pounding out of her chest.
"No, no, no!" She looked around the theatre, searching for her back up. Then back to TJ. "No, come on Caruso. Wake up!"
She could feel tears well up in her eyes as she stared at his lifeless face, all her repressed emotions finally boiling to the surface. The gentlemanly acts, the banter, the concern for each other, that late night at the station, the night they spent undercover at the apartment complex, and every moment in between. There was no doubt about it… she loved TJ Caruso.
Cora had to hold back a sob and quickly snap her brain back into "cop mode". She quickly checked TJ's pulse, which was weak and almost untraceable. When her backup finally arrived with a medic in tow, she had to turn all emotion off and be professional. And when TJ was being carried away on the stretcher she had to let his hand slip out of hers and hope to God he would live to hold her hand again.