Trust
by A girl at the Cafe
He stood in the far corner of the girls bathroom watching quietly as the young paramedic worked on her. She had protested at first but it was not an option. The paramedic assessed her quickly, not wanting to go into the ambulance she sat on the countertop as he took her vitals. The blood was washed out of her face with sterile water and wiped with soft gauze. Eye drops were put on her eyes. He took her hands and cleaned them with alcohol wipes then instructed her to wash them and left leaving them alone.
He felt a pang in his stomach, he wanted to be the one to hold her hands, to touch her face. But it was the paramedics job, not his.
"Amanda" he said softly eager to reach out to her. She turned off the water and faced him.
"How young were you when you had your first kiss?"
"What?"
"Answer me, how young?"
"14"
"I was 15, do you know that he had never been kissed?
"I did not know" He said softly, worrying even more about her
"I offered to give him his first kiss, that's all it took for him to lower his gun, his first kiss and it got him killed"
"Amanda he was a murderer, you saw what he had done, you know he could have easily killed you, killed me, you did the right thing,"
"How much love can someone lack before they become a monster Nick?"
It took him a minute to get it, who she really was talking about.
"Your sister had your love"
"I took everything away from her, been a cop..the big city life...you"
"No, she never had me, you did not took me away from anyone, I came to you, I want to be with you""
"I had him"
"I know you did, but you know the call was above us all, do you know what I just went through seeing you with a gun pointed at your face?"
"Im sorry" tears stream down her cheeks and the cloud of anger and shock seemed to disappear from her eyes.
He reached to wipe her tears but was interrupted.
"Rollins?" are you there?
"I'm here sarge"
Olivia Benson came in to see Amanda quickly wiping tears, she felt empathy for the detective
"Amanda, you did great, thank you for saving those girls"
"Thank You Sarge"
Olivia had enough experience to recognize the toll those few minutes had taken on her detectives.
"Take tomorrow off, long weekend"
"Oh sarge I don't..."
"Its an order, Nick you too"
"Me?" he was confused
"Yes you. Work can wait. You did good today, both of you"
She left, not waiting for a response. Nick followed and checked the hall to see if the body had been removed yet.
"Hall is empty, we should leave"
"ok"
Outside the air felt fresh and light, behind the barricades a swarm of people and press were trying to make sense of what just had happened. Without a warning Amanda felt a pair of arms grab her tight by the waist. She looked down to find one of the girls who had been a hostage a few minutes ago.
"You saved my life thank you"
"Im glad your Ok" is all she could muster to say, her heart heavy with emotion.
Nick escorted her away from the crowd and into his car. As he opened the door for her the unmarked car with Holdens body drove past her, she did not noticed.
"Is it ok if I stay with you tonight" he wanted the choice to be hers
"yes please"
As they drove away, he reached out for her hand, this time she took it and closed her eyes, trusting him to lead the way.