As Brenda looked out at the ocean she noticed the little yellow boat about to take off. She saw the little blonde speck in the water, that was Rusty's head, bobbing up and down. He gave the okay and the boat took off. Brenda heard his yell as he was yanked into the sky by the wind filling the para-sail.
She hated this, just sitting here. She'd be right there with him if it weren't for this stupid knee brace. She'd had to get one after helping Julio tackle a suspect that tried to run. She couldn't remember why she'd done it. She usually had the boys do the tracking down and/ or tackling, but this felt like instinct. She'd just done it no questions asked. At least she hadn't used her taser.
Sharon was already mad as it is. Well more concerned than anything but it translated as mad. But Brenda knew the difference. Knew that she'd scared Sharon to death when Andy had called her and told her that Brenda was in the hospital. Sharon hadn't waited to hear the story or hear that Brenda was fine and had just strained her knee. Sharon drove straight there while maintaining as many traffic laws as she could. She had burst into the room took one look at Brenda and proceeded to read her the riot act about how what she'd done was dangerous and unethical. "He was three times your size, Brenda Leigh. Your lucky it was just your knee." Brenda could have teased but she kept her mouth shut.
She knew Sharon. She knew that if you were lucky enough to be someone that Sharon cares about that you were not immune to the mothering or the worrying, no matter how well Sharon concealed it (or thought that she did).
Brenda was allowed to leave after the doctors braced her knee with instructions to stay off it for the week, but Sharon was not letting her off so easily. "It's just my knee, honey. And nothing was broken, I just have to be careful with it." Brenda said exasperated. "Nope, either I'm going to be staying with you or you with me, but I will not let you go unsupervised. You would take that brace off as soon as you got home, and then drive to work." Sharon wasn't wrong. Brenda didn't feel like arguing and she wouldn't have won if she'd tried.
So she let Sharon drive her home, she'd packed a bag, and proceeded to spend the week with Sharon and rusty. Rusty thought it was great. He was on break so he had free time. Plus being at UCLA had cut into how much he saw Brenda and his mother, so he was glad. They had movie marathons while Sharon was working, and game nights full of trivia and competition when she wasn't.
So now a week later Brenda found herself on the beach, watching rusty fly through the air like a crazy person, and wondering just where her pretty warden went. "I got you a smoothie. Strawberry and banana" said Sharon from just behind her. She handed Brenda the smoothie and then used Brenda's knee as leverage to sit beside her. Brenda took a sip and then smiled at her "You know me so well. Thank you." Sharon kissed her cheek and then looked out over the water. "Please tell me he's not the one yelling his head off." Sharon said after spotting some parasailers along the horizon. "The very one. He's got some pipes on him too. Kevin said he put a spider in Rusty's backpack one time, and Rusty screamed bloody murder." Brenda said through a grin. Sharon grimaced "I don't blame him."
Brenda adjusted her position on the blanket then pouted. Some sand had decided to get stuck between her leg and the brace around her knee. Great. That was gonna bug her all afternoon. "Can I pleeEEAaasse take this thing off now." She begged Sharon. "No." "But the week is over! And I'm not standing on it." "Will you put it back on when you do?" Sharon asked, already knowing the answer. In an attempt to be honest and get her way Brenda replies "MaaAYbe.." "No." "Oh Shari PLEASE!" Brenda puts on her best pout, with the big eyes and everything. Sharon can't resist laughing a bit, she leans in to kiss the pout away.
When she pulls back she asks "Well have you learned your lesson?" This question feels like a set up to Brenda. She hears Admiral Ackbar in the back of her mind "It's a trap!" But she can't figure it out. What lesson was she supposed to have learned? "Uh..to let my boys do the tackling from now on..?" Sharon smiles slightly "It's a start, but no. Guess again." The way Sharon is looking at her reminds Brenda of when her mother used to ask her a question with a very obvious answer. But Brenda had no idea wha- yes she did. Of course, it was obvious. "I can't learn that lesson Shari. I can't promise it won't happen again. Plus it's kinda in your nature." Sharon nodded "Smart girl. But please try." Brenda grabbed Sharon's hand and squeezed "I promise to try, to the best of my ability, not to scare you again." Sharon kissed her sweetly. They broke apart, and Brenda laughed, when they heard rusty let out an excited yet terrified scream as he plummeted back into the water.