Oh, I love your response, but it also has me slightly worried about what you'll say to the next development. Give it a read and tell me what you think!
Chapter 2 - Worried
They spent the ride to the hospital in deafening silence, both lost in thought. Sharon, not wanting Andy in his worried state to drive, had insisted on doing so herself. Not that she felt any calmer, but she trusted herself more at the moment. Besides, Provenza was Andy's partner and friend much longer than he ever would be hers, she probably was calmer.
The thoughts occupying their minds were similar.
Patrice had not said where they were, when Sharon's second in command collapsed or whether he injured himself in the fall. As to the cause of the collapse, it wasn't difficult to guess that it could have been a heart attack. He was less careless about his blood pressure than Andy was. Patrice, being a retired nurse, made sure he ate more healthily, too, but at his age, it was still a realistic possibility. Sharon, however, although incredibly worried about Provenza, who had, albeit begrudgingly on his part, become such a cherished friend of hers, found herself worrying about Andy, too. She kept slanting worried looks at him, his own health issues suddenly prominently featured in her mind, but his eyes were set dead on the road ahead of them, the only visible signs of his worry a hand resting on top of his thigh, balled into a tight fist, and his equally tightly, clenched jaw.
But aside from her worry for both of her senior Lieutenants, another worry popped into her head. Rusty. What if the worst came to pass? How would he react? How would she tell him? At the mere possibility of having to break such terrible news, she had to swallow hard, past the lump in her throat, and blink a few times to prevent her vision from clouding over with tears. She was not ready to lose Provenza. In no universe would Patrice, Andy and Rusty be. And what about the rest of his family? As she came to those realizations she unconsciously stepped on the gas pedal.
All kinds of thoughts went through Andy's head. Although rationally, he knew it could have been just a fainting spell (if anyone was familiar with those, Andy was), but the worst possibility, of course, came to the foreground of his mind. What if it's serious? What if it was a heart attack? What if he was in surgery? What if he was gone? At that thought, a sudden dread washed over him, starting somewhere in his chest in the form of uncomfortable pressure, but nestling itself in the pit of his stomach. In his mind there was no room for some of the more rational questions Sharon asked herself, because his one worry was, that he might be losing his partner and (not counting Sharon) his best friend. He had been confronted with his own mortality much too often for his liking lately, so that was nothing new by now, but when it came to his grumpy old partner, he just never imagined something as stupid as a collapse bringing him down. Not outside of work at least.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the car speeding up. He slanted a look at Sharon next to him and his worry only increased. To an untrained eye she seemed perfectly calm. But he noticed how she clutched the steering wheel just a little more tightly than usually, how her shoulders were just a tad squared, and when he saw her swallow, probably not for the first time either, he knew her thoughts had not only gone to places his had, but to places which were even worse. He reached out a hand, to touch her arm and it got her attention. She gave him a quick, sad, worried look, but grabbed hold of his hand and smiled feebly, before settling it on top of the console between them. They still spent the rest of the drive in silence, but kept hold of each other's hands in quiet support and comfort, until they reached the hospital.
...
"Andy, slow down," Sharon tried as she practically ran after Andy as he entered the hospital's emergency room, immediately zeroing in on the information desk.
"Louie Provenza," Andy started on a yell, but at the feel of Sharon's hand on his arm as she caught up with him, he went on more calmly. "He was brought in here half an hour ago or so."
"And you are?" the young woman working there asked, already looking the name up on her screen.
Andy rolled his eyes, but replied, still deceptively calm, "Andy, Andrew Flynn, I'm on his em-"
"Ah, there you are," she interrupted. "His wife is already with him, they are running a few tests."
"Where is he?" Andy demanded more urgently, no longer heeding Sharon's silent plea to keep calm.
"Sharon, Andy," they suddenly heard.
Both of their heads turned toward the source of the sound to find Patrice standing in front of a set of doors leading who knew where.
"Patrice," Andy said, quickly making his way over to her, the woman at the info desk instantly forgotten.
Sharon offered a feeble "Thank you." then went quickly after Andy.
"What happened?" Andy asked, only worry to his words now.
"Let's sit down, first," Sharon told Patrice, interrupting Andy with a pointed look.
Patrice looked shaken up, she wasn't crying or anything, but the way she seemed to be gazing more into space than at them, certainly made her look like she would keel over at any moment.
Realizing his blunder, Andy put an arm around her and carefully led her to a nearby set of chairs. When he sat down next to her, Sharon joining him on Patrice's other side, he asked, much more gently this time, "What happened?"
Suddenly Patrice laughed, a high, bitter laugh. Andy and Sharon exchanged even more worried looks, not knowing what to read into that particular reaction, but before either one of them could ask again, Patrice finally spoke. "He's just fine," were her first words, and they worked like magic. Sharon and Andy instantly relaxed, the weight of their earlier frenzied worry literally lifting off of them.
"What the hell happened?" Andy embellished his earlier question, frowning now. If his partner was just fine, what the hell was he called to the hospital for?
"We met up for an early dinner after work," Patrice started, still looking somewhat dazed despite her previous laugh, "and just as our order came in, Louie suddenly got to his feet, saying he wasn't feeling all too well," she offered them a sad smile, "and before I could even get out of my chair he just lost consciousness and fell down. They're doing some tests on him right now, but most likely he just needs his medication adjusted."
"Oh, thank goodness," Sharon said on a relieved sigh, leaning on the back of her chair.
Andy however, only frowned. "Why did you call us then?"
Patrice gave him an apologetic shrug. "That's our deal," she explained. "If something happened, whether I know it's serious or not, I am to call you."
Andy's eyebrows shot up and, before Patrice could add more to her explanation, he said, "But you called Sharon, not me."
"Oh, sorry, I was panicking." She gave Sharon a guilty look. "I went through my recent calls list and your name came up first so I just dialed. Louie regained consciousness when the paramedics arrived, but I was still-," she shook her head, not finishing her sentence.
"Worried sick?" Sharon tried, giving Andy a knowing look.
"Oh, that's an understatement, but yes, that's about right," Patrice confirmed on a small smile.
"You know how long those tests will take?" Andy asked, sounding rather impatient all of the sudden.
It drew surprised looks from both Patrice and Sharon, but Patrice replied, "Not more than half an hour, I think."
"Good," Andy muttered, suddenly shrugging out of his jacket and leaning back into his chair. "I wanna see him so I can kill him," he added, folding his arms over his chest.
Patrice raised an eyebrow at him, but he ignored her. Sharon jumped in. "We were worried is all," she explained.
"Oh, right," Patrice let out, leaning into her own chair now, her smile growing, too. "Louie worried like that, too," she told Sharon quietly.
Sharon let out a soft laugh. "Oh, trust me, I know."
...
"What the hell happened to your chin?" Andy asked when he finally set eyes on his partner.
When his tests were done, Patrice had gone into his room first, and had returned a few minutes later to invite Sharon and Andy inside.
Provenza was lying on a bed, a bandage over the bottom of his chin and a frown on his face.
He only huffed in answer, but Patrice provided them with a more useful one. "He split his chin open when he hit the floor," she gave her husband a sympathetic look.
"And now they're even keeping me overnight for observation," Provenza mumbled, rolling his eyes at the last word.
"Well," Patrice sat down on the edge of his bed, where she had probably been perched on before she fetched Andy and Sharon, "you do have a mild concussion, Louie," she told him softly.
"I can just as easily rest in my own bed, at home," Provenza grumbled in complaint.
"I'm sure you can, Lieutenant," Sharon finally spoke, making her way to the foot of his bed, "but I don't think your home is swarming with doctors, like the hospital is," she told him on an amused smile.
Provenza only gave her a bland look, then turned his attention to his partner. He was standing in front of the door, but at Provenza's irritated glare, took a couple of steps further into the room. "What are you two doing here anyway?"
"Maybe you have more than just a mild concussion," Andy told him on a chuckle. He then folded his arms across his chest and gave him a pointed look. "Your wife, per your agreement, gave us a call."
"Ah," Provenza looked at his wife. "Remind me again why we came up with that?" he asked her sarcastically.
Patrice only laughed, patting his arm. "Oh," she started on a happy sigh, "maybe because of your particular line of work and the fact that Andy here, is your partner in crime?"
Provenza only scoffed.
"We're glad you're alright, Lieutenant," Sharon told him on a smile, then gave Andy a brief look. "You had us worried there for a moment," she added.
This time Andy scoffed. "You know, Provenza, you ruined our night." He took the remaining few steps to reach his partner's bed and leaned over slightly, conspiratorially, to quietly add, "Rusty was out, and we," he hooked a thumb at Sharon, "had better plans than this," he waved a hand at his partner's lying form.
"Ye Gods, Flynn," Provenza practically pushed him away from his bed, affronted by the image his partner's tone of voice rather than the words themselves, just planted in his head. But then he suddenly turned his attention to Sharon, a concerned expression on his face. "You didn't tell Rusty anything, did you?" he asked her.
Sharon was in the middle of shooting daggers at Andy, but at Provenza's worried words, turned her head to look at him, her expression softening. "No," she assured him, a small smile playing at her lips, too, probably at the concern Provenza held for her adoptive son. "I didn't really know what to tell him," she shrugged somewhat guiltily, "and I didn-"
"Good," Provenza said, relieved, not at all worried about his rude interruption. "Last thing I need is him hovering over me, too," he muttered.
"Oh, trust me, I'm not hovering," Andy assured him. "I only had to check in to see whether I needed to shop for a new best man," he told him.
Patrice and Sharon exchanged amused, but knowing looks, and let Provenza offer a retort.
"It'll take more than a bit of fainting to keep me away from the miracle that is your wedding," he bit out. "Don't you worry, Flynn," he added sarcastically.
Although Patrice and Sharon suddenly laughed at their words, Andy ignored them and bit out equally sarcastically, "Well, as long as you don't give heart attacks a try, too, I won't."
At that, both Sharon and Patrice stopped laughing.
At the same time, Patrice said, "Don't you dare, Louie," pointing a finger at him in warning, while Sharon shot Andy an unimpressed look and said, "Still not funny, Andy."
Provenza and Andy only gave each other an innocent look and shrugged.
"So what did the doctors say?" Andy decided to change the topic. "You can go back to work, right?" He flopped into a chair next to Provenza's bed.
"Yeah, yeah," Provenza waved his questions off. "They'll just switch up my medication, the one I was taking, apparently wasn't doing its job anymore."
Patrice gave him a sharp look, but addressed Sharon. "He will be out for at least 24 hours though."
"Of course," Sharon instantly replied, ready to give him as much time off as necessary whatever the reason for it was.
But Andy had to know more so he asked, "Why?" giving Provenza a questioning look.
"They will hook him up to a small blood pressure machine tomorrow, which will take his blood pressure every 15 minutes during the day and less frequently during the night," Patrice explained for her husband.
"To make sure the medication is right this time?" Sharon prodded.
"Yes, it records his readings and, after the 24 hour period, the doctor will take a look at them to see how his blood pressure is acting," Patrice said. "It's quite a common procedure nowadays," she added.
Provneza groaned. "What a pain in the ass! They didn't do this when I went on my medication the first time," he complained.
"Probably because that was a hundred years ago?" Andy tried, grinning now.
"Shut up, Flynn," Provenza muttered, sending Sharon and Patrice into a bout of soft laughter.
"He will need to keep a bit still whenever the machine goes off," Patrice explained further, "or else it won't be able to get a proper reading." She offered Provenza an amused smile and added, "So that has Louie in this great mood."
"Why?" Andy asked him, completely serious now. "You sit and do crossword puzzles all day anyway. It's not like it'll upend your whole life all of a sudden." He looked at Sharon for support, shrugging comically, but she only shook her head, the smile on her lips giving away her amusement though.
"Flynn," Provenza pinned him with an irritated glare, "please, I beg you, go home or I just might end up having a heart attack after all."
Andy grinned. "You don't have to tell me twice." He got to his feet and turned to Sharon. "Wanna get out of here?"
She addressed both Provenza and Patrice. "Unless you need something?" she asked them.
"No," Patrice assured her. "But thank you," she added on a warm, grateful smile.
"Don't hesitate to call if you change your mind," Sharon said, already walking over to Andy. "That goes for you, too, Lieutenant," she told him over a pointed look.
"Yes, Captain," he mumbled, but added, quite gratefully actually, "Thank you."
"It's no problem," Sharon assured him, then turned toward Andy.
"Call me if you start dying or something," he threw his partner jokingly, then opened the door for him and Sharon.
As they walked through it, they heard Provenza's amused, "Sure thing, Flynn."
...
"I'm so relieved everything was fine," Sharon mumbled, leaning into Andy's arm as they walked across the parking garage in search of their car.
"Me, too," Andy admitted.
Sharon let out a soft laugh. "You have a strange way of showing it," she told him sarcastically.
"What do you mean?" Andy asked, voice going up defensively.
Sharon shook her head. "Nothing," she mumbled. She saw no reason to point it out, that was just how the two operated.
But Andy, of course, caught up to her train of thoughts. "Just because we don't get sappy around each other, doesn't mean we don't worry or care, you know," he told her sarcastically.
She shook her head again. "I know," she told him honestly. "If I wasn't used to it by now, I'd be seriously worried about the two of you." Then she truly registered his words and shot him a bland look. "Are you implying I get sappy?" she asked in a tone of voice that playfully warned him to tread very lightly.
"Never," Andy instantly retorted. Sappy really wasn't a word he'd ever use to describe her.
"I thought so," she said, on a satisfied smile.
"Seriously though, I'm glad he's okay," Andy told her, his earlier worry seeping back into his voice.
She tightened her hold on his arm. "I know, me, too," she agreed quietly.
"May I drive now?" Andy asked her when they finally reached his car.
Sharon nodded. "Yes, you may," she told him on a smile, stopping in front of the trunk to fish her keys out of her purse. "Oh, where are they?" she said, not finding them in the usual side pocket she put them away in.
"Need any help?" Andy asked, bumping her shoulder with his, amused by the sudden frustration he recognized in her voice.
"Oh, I have to dig through all of this now," she said, annoyed, flopping her purse down on top of the trunk to do just that.
Andy chuckled. "You women carry way too much stuff around in those," he told her, leaning over her shoulder to take a peek at the contents of her purse.
"Oh, hush," she said, hand buried inside her purse in search of the keys. "Hold this," she told him, pressing her wallet and a pack of tissues into his hands.
"Yes, Ma'am," Andy obeyed on a laugh. She suddenly reminded him of his former boss. Not that he would ever say that out loud.
"Andy," she gave up on her search to look at him.
"Tell me you didn't lose them," he told her pleadingly, no longer amused.
"I was practically running after you when we arrived," she told him defensively. At his bland look, she added, "I don't even remember-" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence and her eyes widened. She put a hand into her pants pocket and then pulled it out with a flourish, a wide smile on her lips. A set of keys dangled on one of her fingers. "I was in such a rush that I just slipped them into my pocket," she explained, shaking her head. "Didn't even have time to open my purse, you were already out of the car."
"Oh," Andy rubbed a hand guiltily over the back of his head. "Sorry," he said and meant it.
"Don't worry about it," she told him, pecking him quickly on the lips. "Here you go," she said, pressing the keys into his palm.
"Thanks," he told her.
"Uh, Andy?" she asked as he started rounding the car toward the driver's side.
"Yeah?" he said, looking at her over the car, she was still standing beside the trunk, purse on her shoulder now though.
"Where's your jacket?" she asked, looking pointedly at his upper body, covered in a dark blue dress shirt and a pair of light blue suspenders, no suit jacket in sight.
Andy looked down at himself. "Oh," he let out, surprised. "I must have left it in the hospital," he mumbled, looking heavenward in disbelief.
"The Lieutenant really had us out of sorts. First the keys, now your jacket," she listed off, shaking her head in both amusement and disbelief.
"I'll be right back," Andy told her, already brushing past her, back toward the hospital.
"Don't lose the keys now, too!" she hollered teasingly after him, leaning against the trunk of his car to wait for his return. She laughed to herself when she heard his sarcastic, "Ha-ha."
But then he stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Wanna wait in the car?" he asked her, waving his keys through the air.
"No, go ahead, you'll only be a minute," she assured him on a grateful smile. "I've had enough of sitting at the office today, anyway."
"Right," he said, then turned around toward the hospital again.
...
"Sorry it took so long, jacket wasn't there, had to ask the-," Andy started saying, but stopped himself, when upon reaching his car, he realized Sharon wasn't where he had left her ten minutes ago.
He looked around the car and realized she wasn't there at all.
"Sharon?" he asked, looking around the parking garage.
"What the hell?" he muttered, reaching for his phone to give her a call. He'd have run into her if she had gone back to the hospital. Her phone went off a few times, then it went to voicemail.
That had him slightly worried. She always picked up. Knowing the best thing to do would be to just stay put, he leaned against his trunk. Wherever she had gone, she was bound to get back to the car. But he wasn't a patient man, he succeeded in standing there in peace for maybe ten seconds, then he lit up his phone's screen again and dialed Sharon once more. After the same number of rings it went to voicemail again.
That confused him. Her phone was obviously on and it only went to voicemail automatically after a set number of rings, meaning Sharon did not send his call to voicemail herself.
He decided to ring Provenza. Maybe Sharon did go back there, maybe Patrice thought of something they needed after all, and they just missed each other.
He picked up on the second ring. "What?" was his way of greeting.
"Hey, is Sharon with you maybe?" Andy asked.
"Of course not," he said sharply, the question instantly having annoyed him. But then he suspiciously added, "Why?"
"It's probably nothing," Andy told him, but suddenly dread filled him. A much worse dread than earlier on their way over to the hospital. He had a bad feeling about this. "I had to run back into the hospital, forgot my jacket, and when I got back, she wasn't by the car." He quickly added, "She was supposed to wait for me here."
"Have you tried calling her?" Provenza asked, still sounding slightly annoyed.
"Of course I tried calling her," Andy answered forcefully. "You think I'd call you before her?" he yelled, throwing a look around himself again. "She didn't pick up," he added, less loudly, sounding anxious now.
"Calm down, just stay put, I'm sure she'll be right back from wherever she's disappeared to," Provenza told him, although a bit of worry now seeped into his tone of voice, too.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Andy agreed, nodding as if to reassure himself. "I'll call you whe-" he let the sentence drop and with it the hand that was holding his phone to his ear, his eyes now glued to a spot on the concrete floor near his rear tire.
The earlier dread only intensified, a terrible terrifying ache pressing down on his chest. He dropped to his knees to inspect it, not even registering Provenza's now alarmed shouts of "Andy!" emanating from his phone.
How it took him so long to notice was beyond him. There was a familiar pack of tissues there. He moved it with the back of his index finger, then, swallowing hard, lifted his phone up to his ear again. "Call the team," he said urgently, the words immediately silencing his partner. "It's not nothing, Provenza," he told him grimly.
On a strained whisper, he added, "There's blood here, Louie."
TBC
I know, it's a bit of a cliche, a washed out trope. But I hope you'll still want to see what else I have in store for you. :)
