***A\N: This is basically an AU story, my take on what might have happened after Aftershock if Claire hadn't died. I guess I just felt that she deserved more time. I couldn't have her die like that.
Please be aware of the fact that I am not a native speaker and this is my first attempt on a fic and, let's say, on anything longer than 130 words in English. I swear I did my best here. Please let me know if you find that anything is wrong or sounds funny and strange, for it will make my English better, and feel free to comment and criticize to help me improve. Thanks for reading***
Rey looked at Lennie. He had been watching his partner closely during the last few days, not liking the distant look in his eyes. He knew how a tough case could affect an officer, as he himself had been taken aback by his first case in the new precint, and sure as Hell knew that the case they were on right now was a disturbing one. The poor woman lying dead after pleading desperately for her life, for God's and her children's sake, was still haunting his sleep after two weeks of investigations. But for Lennie there was more than that, of that he was sure.
The woman was a good person, one who taught night classes for those who wouldn't get a second chance from anyone else. A lot of people said to them that they would have never thanked her enough, even had she lived a thousand years. She was deeply loved by her husband, her children, by everyone around her. Among all people, she really didn't deserve it.
But for Lennie, there was also another woman who didn't deserve her fate. It was a young, nice, good looking woman who was now lying in a hospital bed, in intensive care, damaged almost beyond repair. A woman Rey didn't know very well, but that he had seen around so many times he couldn't count them, so dedicate to her job, always ready to help them find a piece of information among thousands of papers. A woman who was taking a drunk friend back home. A good person, whose car had been smashed by some drunk idiot who didn't know what he was doing. Lennie was taking it hard on himself. He had made the most sensible decision, not driving while being drunk, and still - bad timing and shitty irony of the world all the way, as Claire was in a coma right now because of a driver who was not as accurate as he was.
He had been called that night by the Lieutenant. Lennie was at the hospital and he had to pick him up, Van Buren said she was going to explain things later, right now he had to move. Her voice was thick and pained and sounded very serious, so he quickly sneaked out of bed - his own bed, not the one of the young woman he had spent the day with - thanking God he had picked up the call, and left his wife a note on the fridge. At the hospital, Rey was surprised by mr. McCoy's presence. He was completely out of himself. Jeez, the man looked like he could kill Lennie at any minute. Van Buren was trying to calm him down and had at least managed to keep some physical distance between the two men. Lennie, on his part, was slumped on a chair, his head in his hands, his face tense, eyes completely worn out. I must be missing something, thought Rey, looking at the scene, What the hell is going on?
Lennie himself had explained him the car accident. Later, with tears in his eyes and slurred words, he had said that Claire was a daughter to him, that the doctors had to save her. McCoy kept watching him from the wall where he had been cornered by Van Buren, a hand on his mouth to prevent it from screaming out. By the time Rey had managed to take Lennie home, as Van Buren was having more and more trouble containing McCoy, Claire was still in surgery. Lennie didn't remember any of it, and neither Rey nor the Lieutenant dared bringing it up, but the scene had brought to Rey a totally new perception of his partner, a more human aspect of him, one he sympathized with.
That was two nights before. Now Lennie seemed normal, really, the same hard, cynical officer he knew, the tough officer Lennie was used to show to anyone. But he couldn't concentrate. He often forgot what he had to say and couldn't do any paperwork without making at least one stupid mistake. Right now, his stare was wandering into space without focusing on anything. He wouldn't talk about it, wouldn't take a day off. Everything was always all right for him. But Rey could bet Lennie wasn't sleeping.
And then there was the Loo. She wasn't ok as well. She had talked to Claire just an hour before the accident happened, they had shared dinner: no way it wasn't affecting her. She wouldn't talk as well, not to him anyway, but he could sense her guilt: had she delayed Claire's departure... Just a minute or two. Yes, maybe things would be different. Maybe things would be ok.
Sometimes destiny's a bitch, thought Rey.