Author's note: This is my first Rookie Blue fanfic. I had this story idea for while. At first, I was going to ask someone to write it, but then I thought I should probably try to write it myself. This will be a two-chapter story. I'm not an English native speaker. So, a big thank you to semyautomatic on Tumblr, who did the beta-reading for me. I hope the story isn't too bad.

CHAPTER 1

When the social worker said the adoption process wasn't easy or quick, she wasn't kidding. Gail had been working hard and doing whatever she could to make sure the process went smoothly. With all the possibilities, she didn't want to get her hopes up. Even after all the effort she put in, everything could fall flat at her feet. Gail knew that. Sophie knew that. But Gail couldn't give up on the little girl, not without a fight anyway. She knew that adopting Sophie was worth fighting for. After 14 months of waiting, without Holly by her side, everything was finalized and Gail officially became a mother.

There was only one downside to her joy, she wished Holly was there with her.

They decided to keep their relationship going, even long distance. As they kissed goodbye at the airport, they promised to stay in touch and to call about anything at anytime. That went pretty well for the first few months. But as the time went on, they found themselves drifting apart. Gail was busy with the adoption and police work while Holly was busy with whatever she was doing in San Francisco.

Still, Gail was overjoyed and felt the need to share her happiness with the one person she loves, even though they were thousands of miles apart. So Gail pulled out her phone and dialed Holly.

"Hey, Holly. Guess what?" She could barely contain her excitement.

"Hi, Gail. What is it?" Holly played along, letting out a small laugh and smiling as she spoke. It was so good to talk to her.

"It went through."

"What went through?" Holly was slightly confused.

"The adoption. I'm now a mother, Holly!" Gail squeaked out happily over the line.

"Oh my God, Gail! That's amazing!" Holly was beaming now. If only Gail could see her right now. "I'm so proud of you. You're going to be great mom. I know that."

"Thanks." Although Holly was away, she had been great moral support for Gail through the whole process. There were times when Gail felt everything was too much and would doubt herself, but it was Holly who drew her back in to her right mindset again. And Gail was so thankful for that.

"I just wish you were here so I could tell you in person, you know." She didn't want to sound so down, but she couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.

"I know honey. You know I would be there if I could." Holly said sympathetically, followed by a long pause. "So, when is Sophie coming to live with you?"

"I'm going to pick her up tomorrow, I already have her room decorated. I decided to paint it blue, her favorite color. And we're going to a festival this weekend. "

Just by hearing that Holly could feel the love Gail had for this child and it made her go back to what Gail said in the locker room at 15. Gail was right – she was ready to be a mom.

"I was hoping that maybe you were able to come visit us this weekend, so we all can hang out together."

"Gail," Holly sighed. "You know I'd love to. But I have this seminar in two days that will go over the weekend."

"That's alright, Holly. Really. I just had to ask." Gail understood how hard a long distance relationship can be, but it still sucked. "I just want you to see you. I miss you."

"I miss you, too." Then there was a knock on Holly's door. An intern needed her help to examine some samples. "Listen Gail, I hate to cut you off like this, but I really have to go. An intern just came by that needs my help. I have to go and make sure he doesn't put the lab on fire." She tried to make the conversation light. "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay."

Then they hung up.

Three days later, the day of the festival, Gail's world was turned upside down.

She took Sophie out to the park for the festival as planned. They had a great time together. Sophie had a big smile on her face, enjoying the magic show in front of her, with a box of popcorn in her hand. Then, out of nowhere there were gunshots coming right where they stood. Gail reacted out of instinct, covering Sophie's body with her own while crouching down on the ground. The sound was deafening, and she could almost feel the bullets traveling through the air above her head. She tried to lift her head and scan the area to see where the bullets were coming from. What she saw was horrifying. There were lifeless bodies on the ground. People were screaming and running for their lives. When Gail was sure the shooting was over, her focus turned to the little girl she was holding.

"Sophie?" She called out but received no response. Suddenly Gail had a thought, throughout the shooting she didn't hear Sophie's voice at all. Something was very wrong and that scared the hell out of her.

Gail flipped the girl over. "Hey, sweetie, you okay? Are you hurt?"

Then it hit her.

"Oh my god!" Gail gasped.

The bullet had hit Sophie in the chest and blood was starting to soak through her thick blue jacket. The girl was having trouble breathing and Gail thought the bullet probably hit her lung. No exit wound. Gail's mind went into overdrive immediately. She quickly took off her jacket and pressed it to the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding. Just as she pulled out her phone to call 911, she heard the blasting sirens around the park. She looked up and saw paramedics rushing on the scene, everything becoming even more chaotic.

In a moment of clarity, Gail sensed a small movement under her hands, she looked down only to see Sophie struggling to keep her eyes open.

"It's going to be okay Sophie. I'm right here with you. You're going to be fine." Gail wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, the girl and herself.

"Mom." A faint sound escaped her mouth and then her eyes slowly closed, losing consciousness. And that was the last word Gail heard from her.

Gail didn't realize her right arm was bleeding until one of the paramedics who worked on Sophie commented on it. She didn't even feel the pain. It was numb. Everything in her body was numb. All she cared about at the moment was Sophie. She insisted on going in the ambulance with her daughter without having her injured arm checked. It wasn't life-threatening anyway. The paramedic hesitated a moment but agreed to clean up her wound on the way to hospital.

Sophie's condition had deteriorated as every second passed. Doctors found another gunshot wound on her left side just under her ribcage. By the time they arrived at the hospital, she had lost too much blood and was rushed into surgery immediately. Gail didn't want to let go of her daughter's hand as she was wheeled into surgery, but she was stopped by medical staff telling her to wait outside.

So Gail waited.

Helplessly.

Four hours had gone by and Gail hadn't heard a word from the doctor. She sat in the waiting room staring at her bloody hands – Sophie's blood, praying in her mind that her daughter would survive. She was a tough little girl after all.

"Any relatives for Sophie Shandon?"

Gail's head snapped up.

"I'm her mother. How is she, doctor?" Gail was anxious.

"Okay Mrs. Shandon."

"It's Peck. I'm her adoptive mother. Please tell me how she's doing."

"Why don't we talk somewhere more private? I'll explain everything to you."

Considering his demeanor, Gail thought to herself, 'This can't be good.' She followed the doctor to the end of the hallway where there were less people walking by.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Ms. Peck." The doctor started.

Gail took a deep breath and listened intently, bracing herself to take whatever came next.

"She lost a lot blood when she came in. We found two bullet wounds; one punctured her right lung causing it to collapse, but we managed to fix that. It's the other one that worries us. It went into her left side and damaged her artery. We tried to operate on it but she crashed twice during the process. We resuscitated her, but her blood pressure was so low that we had to stop the operation."

"What are you saying?" Gail was trying her best to hold herself together.

"Ms. Peck, your daughter is in a coma and is not breathing on her own. She's on life support at the moment. There's a possibility that she has brain damage due to the lack of oxygen when she coded in the OR."

Gail's world stopped.

She saw the doctor still talking to her but all she heard was a muffled sound. Then she thought she heard the word 'DNR'.

Do not resuscitate.

"What?" Gail asked the doctor, not sure if she heard it right.

"If her condition doesn't improve, a DNR should probably be considered. Sophie may or may not wake up again."

"But there's still hope, right?"

The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile but nodded slightly.

"Can I see her? I have to see her." She begged.

"It's touch and go right now, Ms. Peck. You'll be able to see her when she's stable." The doctor stated and excused himself back to his work.

After the doctor left, Gail didn't move an inch. She felt like someone just hit her with a giant brick. Everything was falling apart for her. She walked to the nearest chair and pulled out her phone, with a trembling hand, calling the only person she needed the most.

Holly.