Welcome to "The Things We Do". This is one of two Rookie Blue FanFiction stories that I've written that start off where season 4 ends. I wrote it back in September but am obviously just publishing it now, and even though many of us have already seen the season 5 premiere, I have no intent to change my story. Hope you enjoy it! Feel free to leave reviews and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
Please note: I do not own Rookie Blue.
She sat on the cold hard chair, her head bent low with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands covering her ears. Even with everything around her muffled and her eyes closed, she couldn't even begin to block out the voices, the pain, the fear.
"Dr. Wyatt, please report to the ER," boomed a voice over the P.A. system, shattering any hope she had of tuning out everything around her.
Her mind raced; her heart pounded so fast in her chest, she could feel each beat reverberate throughout her body. 'Dr. Wyatt, Dr. Wyatt, Dr. Wyatt,' she repeated in her head. Was Dr. Wyatt one of Sam's doctors? She wracked her brains. 'No.' She let out a sigh of relief.
"Andy, you have to go home."
She could hear her name being called; she could recognize the voice, but she couldn't seem to respond. Her body was shutting down.
"Andy?" said the voice again, this time accompanied by a hand gently shaking her shoulder.
Mustering up the strength and courage to return to reality, she pulled her head out of her hands and looked up at Oliver. She stared at him blankly. Between the puffy eyes and mascara that was threatening to stain her cheeks and clamp her upper and lower eyelashes together, she had difficulty focusing on the officer in front of her.
"Andy, go home," said Oliver gently. "Go get some sleep and come back later."
"I can't," she whispered.
She felt his arms around her. "He's going to be okay," he told her. "Sam's going to be okay," he said again, for his own sake as much as hers.
"It's been four hours," Andy croaked. Despite a few complications during Sam's surgery the night before, the doctors said it had gone well. They told her they'd managed to remove all of the remnants of the bullet and stop the bleeding, but early this morning Sam was pulled into emergency surgery once again.
"They got it in time Andy," he said, pulling away. "They said there could be complications, could be clots. That was it – that's what they prepared us for. They caught it in time and he's okay now. They just had to put him under again so he'll heal faster."
"Oliver, I can't…" she began, falling silent as she turned to look back towards the window where Nick was sitting. He was staring at his hands, motionless except for the occasional blink.
"Just go home to shower and sleep," Oliver said, but realizing she wasn't going to give in, he threw his hands up in defeat and said, "Coffee?"
She nodded and he disappeared almost as quickly as he'd come.
Taking a deep breath she stood up, adjusted her shirt and vest, and slowly made her way over to Nick. Her heart was in her throat and her whole body was trembling. Despite being in the same room, they hadn't spoken since he'd suggested that she be the one to go in with Sam while he was being prepped for surgery. The most they'd exchanged since then were glances, and small and uneasy smiles.
"Nick?" she said cautiously, her voice cracking again.
He looked up at her, and she felt her heart sink a little lower. He looked crushed. Nevertheless, Nick gestured for her to sit. She shook her head. This wasn't the right place.
"Can we speak somewhere a little more private?" she asked, her voice sounding timid and uncertain even to her own ears.
She could see his body tense up and hear the hesitation in his voice as he agreed. They walked side by side down the hallway, their movements both stiff and awkward, each step feeling completely forced.
"Listen Andy… it's okay, I get it," Nick said. "I knew you still cared for him. I knew that would never go away completely. I just thought we could make it work."
"Nick," she began, but stopped, completely caught off-guard by his words. She really didn't want to have to deal with this right now. "Nick, I tried to get over him and I thought I had, but you have to know that I care about you a lot too and I love what we have. You know that, don't you?" she said, biting down on her lower lip to keep it from trembling. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes. "I'm just really confused right now and I don't know how to deal with this, any of this."
"You're dealing with a lot. You don't have to figure everything out now, Andy," said Nick, each word sounding forced despite his genuine concern. "We can talk about this later once things settle down, okay?"
Andy nodded, and gave him a small smile. He was always so supportive and understanding – she loved that about him.
"Listen, umm, Frank is calling some of us back to work. I have to go, but if you need anything you call me, okay?"
She nodded again and embraced him. "Thank you," she whispered.
Nick gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead before turning to leave.
She watched Nick's receding back until the doors closed behind him, her heart still pounding heavily in her chest.
"Glad to see you finally got up."
Andy jumped, her head snapping to her left. "Oliver, you startled me."
"So you and Collins are what exactly?" Oliver asked. When Andy didn't respond, he handed her a coffee and said, "You know Sam's never stopped loving you, don't you?"
She looked away, trying desperately to hold back the tears. Nobody else knew what Sam had said to her in the corridor the night before, and nobody, not even Nick, knew what she had said to Sam in the ambulance. Though she hadn't forgotten the night's events, she had done her best not to think about them too much. Sam was still in critical condition and after spending months building a barrier to try to get over him and find some peace, she couldn't let that wall come crashing down. It was the only thing that kept her from completely losing it at that moment, but Oliver was unknowingly forcing her back to that time and place.
"I just thought you should know," he continued, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I know Sam isn't one for talking, but I think it's important that you know."
She nodded. Trying her best to compose herself, she changed the subject, noting that the man was no longer wearing a hospital gown. "How are you feeling?"
"Oh, I'm alright McNally," said Oliver with a small smile. "They monitored me throughout the night, checked me out this morning, and said I should be okay with a few more days of rest."
"Have you spoken to Frank? I haven't seen him in awhile."
"Yeah. He came to see me before he left to go back to the barn – that's how I found out about Sam," said Oliver, his smile fading. "Frank said he's calling back some of the officers, which we knew would happen sooner rather than later. We could only keep pulling 27 in for so long before they were stretched too thin."
"He called in 27 division?" said Andy. She knew she shouldn't be surprised given everything that had happened, but somehow the news still shocked her.
"He had to Andy. Nobody's been in the right state of mind," Oliver said, and seeing a look of guilt cross her face, he added, "Andy, you're not going back to work. Frank won't allow it. You need to be emotionally stable, and I hate to break it to you, but you're not ready."
"It's my fault though," she said quietly. "I should have said something…"
"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked, bewildered. She wasn't making any sense.
"Where's Marlo?" Andy asked rather abruptly, looking around as if the other woman would suddenly appear.
"Marlo's staying with her sister," Oliver replied, before questioning her further. "Andy, what should you have said?"
Andy just stared at him, her mind racing as she wondered how much he knew. To her relief, her phone buzzed, sparing her from Oliver's gaze. "It's Luke." She could feel her heart rate pick up again as a spasm of fear passed through her.
"Aren't you going to answer it?" he asked and when she shook her head, he raised his eyebrows. "What's going on McNally?"
"Oliver!" called a voice. "There you are."
They turned to see Celery walking towards them.
"I'm so sorry to hear about Sam," Celery said, giving Andy a quick hug before taking Oliver's hand.
Andy nodded. "Listen, I should get back to everyone, and you should go rest. I'll see you guys later though, okay?"
"Andy," began Oliver, but she was already walking away. It didn't take a genius to know that something wasn't right, but Oliver suspected the junior officer had bitten off more than she could chew and given her current state, he wasn't so sure she could bounce back.
Andy returned to her chair and instantly dropped her head into her hands. This was a disaster. Sam and Chloe were fighting for their lives. Nick was upset by her actions. Oliver suspected something. Luke wouldn't stop calling. All because she wanted to keep her promise to Marlo, but as with all things, there was a price, and the consequences of her actions were creeping up on her and she knew it.