A/N Another piece of "Little Moments Like That" Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
It was her first good chase since Maeli was born and as much as she hated having to run people down, it felt good to be back in the game. This guy wasn't going down with out a fight, she knew she'd be scraped and bruised much to Don's disapproval. It wasn't until she saw the knife tipped with blood that she felt the warm liquid on her side, causing her black tee to stick to her. She managed to disarm the guy and cuff him.
"Stel!" She called, walking the guy to the car.
"He was just a suspect, you didn't need to cuff him" Stella mentioned, approaching them.
"Yeah, you didn't need to cuff me, lady" The man growled.
"Shut up" Angell hissed giving the man a strong shove to the shoulder. "He assaulted an officer" she added. Stella knotted her brow in confusion. Angell took a deep breath and put the guy in the car. She set a hand on her right side just above her waist and just below her ribcage. When she pulled it away, her palm was covered in blood. "He stabbed me" She admitted. Stella gasped looking at the detective's hand. "The knife is in the alley, I just need to go to the hospital, I'll be ok" Angell assured her.
"Mac!" Stella called the older detective away from the other suspect they were talking to.
"What's up?" Mac wondered.
"Angell's been stabbed" She informed him. Mac's eyes widened as he turned to look at Angell who was standing in front of him with a hand on her side, clearly trying to apply pressure to the wound. Much to his surprise, there was not a trace of pain in her expression.
"You alright?" He asked.
"yeah, the adrenaline hasn't worn off yet, so I'm not in any pain, but I think I'm going to need stitches" Angell answered.
"Let me see" Mac prodded, leading her to a somewhat more private area where she was guarded by the door of his truck. He gently peeled the now moist shirt off the skin of the detective's abdomen. Right at her last rib on the right side there was the incision. It wasn't deep enough to hit any vital organs, but it was still deep enough to need to be stitched up. He walked around to the back of the truck and pulled out some paper towels. He folded some up and handed them to Angell. She returned to applying pressure. "Ok, Stella, you think you have things covered here?" Mac checked, already knowing the answer. Stella nodded quickly. "Alright, I'm going to take her to the hospital, make sure you book that guy" He mentioned.
"I will, let me know how things go." Stella replied, walking back to the other car.
As they sat in the exam room of the emergency room waiting for the nurse to return with the materials to put in the stitches, Mac noticed Jess beginning to look like she was in pain.
"How are you feeling?" He broke the silence.
"It hurts like a bitch" Jess didn't bother holding back. Mac laughed slightly. He gave her a good over looking. He noticed a small cut on her forehead and some other marks on her. He knew those were common place for her, just from simply chasing guys. Running after someone through the streets of New York was no easy task.
"Do you want me to call Don?" Mac offered.
"No!" She snapped.
"Jess, you need to tell him" Mac pointed out.
"I know and I will. We're going to finish up here, then I will finish my shift and when I get home tonight, I'll tell him." Jess explained a little more than frustrated.
"You're not going to finish your shift, getting stabbed means you get the rest of the day off" He informed her.
"Fine whatever, when I get home, I will tell him. There is no need to get him all worked up. I'm fine. It's just a few stitches." She spit out. Mac backed away as the nurse came in and coaxed Jess to lie down so she could sew her up.
"I think we're going to take a quick x-ray since the wound is so close to your rib, we just want to check everything out" The nurse told her.
The x-ray was taken and Mac and Jess were back in the exam room still with an awkward tension hanging in the air. The nurse returned with the x-rays.
"It looks like he cracked your rib" she announced.
"Of course he did" Jess grumbled, jumping down from the exam table.
"I can see by your records this is not your first cracked rib so I'm sure you there is nothing we can do for you. You just need to come back in a couple weeks to get your stitches removed and you should be good." the lady said all too cheerfully to a scowling Jess.
Once in the car, Mac and Jess had still not said another word to each other. Jess began to feel guilty for snapping at him. She was just frustrated and in pain.
"Listen Mac, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I didn't mean it. You were just looking out for me. I just know Don is going to freak and I'm fine" She apologized.
"It's alright. He only freaks out because he loves you. He's just concerned for your safety and I know you can write it off as part of the job as much as you want, but it won't stop him from wanting to protect you" Mac explained. Jess nodded in response. "How about I take you home?" He offered.
"My car is at the station" She stated.
"I know, but I really would rather you not drive, you have lost a lot of blood" Mac replied.
"Then take me home" Jess sighed. She knew Mac was right and she couldn't ignore the fact she was slightly light headed.
Jess walked into the apartment and dropped her badge and gun on the side table. Don entered the room; he jumped slightly, not expecting to find her there.
"You're home early." He said with a grin. The grin however, quickly faded as he noticed the cut on her forehead and her paled complexion. "Did you have a runner?" He asked, immediately recognizing the signs.
"Yeah" She mumbled softly. Something was wrong; she was never this distant after a chase. He slowly approached her and tried to wrap her in a hug.
"Don't please" Jess said wincing slightly, grabbing his arms and pushing them away. Don sent her a confused and rejected look. "I uh, I got stabbed at work today" She disclosed, brushing him off completely. Concern flooded her husband's eyes. "I'm going to change" She said dismissively, walking off down the hall.
"Jess" Don called after her. She didn't stop. He took a minute to collect himself then went after her. He found Jess standing in the middle of their bedroom with her shirt in her hands, her finger poking through a hole he assumed was left from the knife. He slowly took three steps forward, closing the gap between them. He dropped to his knees in front of her and grabbed her hips to move her so he could see the small set of stitches on her side. The skin was red and angry and there was some bruising starting to form on the surrounding area.
"Please don't touch it" She begged. "It hurts" she admitted. Don rocked back so he was sitting on his heels and looked up at her. He nodded, getting himself back to his feet. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out one of his t-shirts. Don carefully slid the shirt over his wife's head.
"I figured the bigger the shirt the less it would rub." He said softly. Jess sent him a small smile. "Please tell me what happened" He requested. Jess slipped out of her jeans and into the sweatpants she had sitting on the bed. She took a seat on the bed, prodding her husband to sit down next to her. He managed to gently pull her to him and wrap her in his arms, careful to avoid hurting her.
"It really isn't that big of a deal, I mean I was running after this suspect, and he was putting up a fight and somewhere in the process he pulled a knife and clipped me with it. It's not that deep of a cut, but he did crack my rib" Jess retold the situation slowly.
"Why didn't you call me?" Don inquired, sounding a little hurt. He was fighting really hard not to be mad at her.
"Well, I guess I just thought it was something that could wait. I mean I was out with Mac and Stella and I told Stella then Mac looked at it and offered to take me to the hospital and we went and I was stitched up and was fine. I figured I'd tell you when I got home." She explained. She looked up at Don expecting him to be angry, much to her surprise and smile danced on his lips.
"Someone once told me if you need to go to the emergency room, you should probably alert your significant other." He repeated her words from when he broke his wrist. Jess smiled a full smile for the first time since she'd been home.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just too tough for my own good" She stated.
"You are and part of me loves that about you but the other part wants to strangle you for it" He replied on a laugh, kissing her temple.
"So am I out of commission for tomorrow?" Jess asked, figuring he'd want her to stay home. Don thought for a minute.
"No, I'll let you go to work, but you have to take it easy. No ripping your stitches." He laid out the conditions. His wife nodded some what surprised.
"Do you mind if I lay down for awhile, I don't feel very good" She mentioned. Don noticed she was still very pale and by the looks of her shirt it looked like she'd lost quite a bit of blood and he was sure it was taking a toll on her.
"Yeah sure, just let me know if you need anything" He replied.
"Figure out what to do for dinner" She urged hopefully.
"I can do that" he obliged, kissing her soundly before making sure she got settled in bed comfortably.
A/N Forgive me for injuring Jess...again...