Soooo…..the reviews on the first chapter? Blew my freaking mind. I was beyond excited to see so many people review. Like, my breath was stolen for a moment….or three. Gosh, I can't thank you guys enough! I've been given constructive criticism that will hopefully improve my writing. And offers from two writers, whom of which I am a huge fan of both. So I was beyond honoured. And after careful consideration, took me the whole day, I decided upon on.
So Falesification223, the hugest thank you ever! From the bottom of my heart, you are going to make my writing much, much better. Especially because I read your pieces and I love them!
And about Ted. I know you guys have been questioning me, especially because it's so unlike Andy to allow a man to treat her like that. And that she'd kick his ass. So let me clarify. She's only been in the relationship for a few months, and let's just say he's only laid a hand on her in recent times. And he's there for a reason, don't worry. And there'll be some ass-kicking, just so ya know.
And I found that I repeated myself with the car accident. Like, how she almost got herself in one, then actually got herself in one. I know, I know. When I first thought of it, it was meant to be one car accident. Just when she thought she was safe, one came from the side and hit her.
That was my original plan. Instead, I felt like I should put in a bit more of a back story. Thus the second accident. Now that I think of it, probably not the best idea. But what's done is done.
And that one sentence where I switched POV's. Super sorry. That was a total accident that I didn't even notice. I just prefer writing in Sam's POV, I don't know why. I just do. So I had a little slip up.
But now I have an awesome beta to put an end to that. Haha.
Well, enough with my rambling. Let's get on with this.
Enjoy :P
RBRBRBRB
Sam never liked hospitals. Maybe it was because he watched his mother die in one. Her warm eyes fading as the cancer finally took her in its embrace and strangled the life from her. Her pale skin shining under the harsh lights. Bald scalp that used to hold curls of black hair, but was lost due to chemo.
He also remembered being locked out of his sister's room after her attack. He wasn't allowed to see her, at the doctor's request. She must've been in tough shape. He was told that, anyways. But when he saw her, tough didn't begin to describe it. Her lips were stitched, as well as gashes on her forehead and cheek. Her left arm had been cast, and her hair was knotted and tangled. Tough was the nice way of putting it.
He wasn't sure if it was his guilt, anxiety, or severe dislike for hospital chairs that kept him up and pacing. But he wasn't capable of taking a seat, and he was the only one in the waiting area. He watched the time tick by on the analog clock, hung over a potted plant. Each minute that passed would make him fear for her more. Each minute that passed made him prepare himself for the confrontation with her family.
It had only been fifteen minutes since they had arrived in the emergency department; doctors and other surgeons meeting them in scrubs. He tried following them as the wheeled her away, yelling demands and her condition to each other. But he had lost them at the elevator, and then was forced to ask her location. And then proceeded to wait in an empty hallway.
His loneliness didn't last long, as a sudden rush of people entered the waiting area. An older man, maybe in his fifties, Sam immediately recognized.
Thomas McNally was a retired detective Sam had known from his rookie years. He had known he had a daughter, and he had seen pictures, but he never made the connection between the woman in the car and the one from the picture on his desk.
He also recognized his fellow officers from his division. Nash, who was Noelle's rookie, rushed in. Her eyes were wide and face contorted in sheer fear. He knew Nash had been close with a rookie from the 27th, it was just his luck it happened to be McNally.
Epstein, and his rookie, Diaz, rushed in next. They had all graduated the academy together, and were a tight-knit group.
Gail Peck, who had knew as the superintendent's daughter, rushed in behind the trio. She was one of the two rookies, out of the five, that worked with 27. So she was McNally's closest work friend.
He stood to greet the four officers, shaking hands with them curtly. He gave a short nod to Diaz and Epstein, then grabbed Peck by the arm. Pulling her to the far end of the hall, he noticed her glance to Traci. Waving a hand in her direction, he beckoned the second rookie over.
"Yes, sir?" Peck asked, professionally. His attention was guided elsewhere for a second as he watched Tommy approach the nurse and asked of his daughter's condition. When he wasn't given an answer, he turned and stalked over to Swarek, Epstein and Diaz in tow.
"What the hell happened?" Tommy demanded, giving Sam a hard look.
"She was in a car accident. They admitted her about twenty minutes ago, so it's too early to know anything," he explained, trying to be calm. Tommy's eyes widened, silently asking an obvious question. "I didn't get a good look, but she has a pretty nasty head wound."
Traci covered her mouth in shock, and turned and tucked herself into Epstein's side. The hippie officer wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, trying to keep the situation controlled. Peck's eyes widened as she shrunk back.
Tommy ran his hands over his balding head, let them drop to his side before resting them on his knees. He bent over, plopped himself in a chair, and tried to breathe deeply. For minutes, there was no sound in the hallway, only sideways glances. Best walked in, surprised by the silence. He rested a hand on Tommy's shoulder. The mature man looked up, breathed deeply, then returned his face back to his palms.
"Swarek," Best called, "I'm going to need your statement. I decided to do this one myself, as it is more of a personal matter."
Sam nodded, attempted to respond, but was interrupted by Tommy. "You were there?" he accused. "What the hell happened?" He stood angrily, rage targeted at Sam. Chris and Dov stood quickly at his side, trying to prevent an outbreak.
"She ran a red light, I tried to brake but it was too late," he explained calmly. He didn't blame them for calling him out. He felt like it was his fault, so if they needed someone to blame, he wouldn't disagree.
"You did this?" Tommy asked, voice suddenly deadly calm. Sam could only nod, unable to make eye contact. An uncomfortable silence fell over them until Best pulled Sam away.
"You want to tell me what happened?" he asked, pulling out a pad of paper.
"I was on my way to work," he recalled. "The traffic was pretty light. So I was able to go faster than normal. I, uh, pulled up to the four way stop and the light was green. It was my go. So I went, and I guess she didn't see the light. But she pulled right through the intersection. I tried to brake, but it was too late. We made eye contact for a second. I was distracted. Next thing I knew, I was being thrown forward in my seat, the front of my truck was totally crushed.
"It took me a few minutes, but when I managed to lift my head, I noticed all the people and the smoke and the screaming. I got out of my truck, everything was blurry, and I went over to her car. There were other people trying to open to door, someone on the phone with the operator.
"I grabbed a rock and broke the window, reached inside and unlocked the door. There was glass everywhere, and she had a nasty gash on her head. I got her to talk to me, kept her conscious. I looked over her seat to see if I could pull her out. Her ankle was stuck between the seat and the door, so I wasn't able to. I grabbed the cell phone, reported the accident. She told me she was a cop, so I called it in as 'Officer Down'. She made a joke that she knew who I was, as it was my truck she crashed into. Then she passed out. I tried keeping her awake, but she was unresponsive. That's when the ambulance arrived."
Frank nodded, finishing his jot notes. "You'll have to come in later and write an official report. If you want to do that now, you can ride with me."
Sam shook his head, "I think I should stay here. I need to apologize to everyone; to her." Frank nodded, and left.
Sam returned to where the rookies were seated, trying to keep himself distracted. They were all in deep thought, unwilling to acknowledge their friend who was in surgery. Sam cleared his throat, catching their attention. "Anyone I should call?"
Traci thought for a moment, then answered, "Her boyfriend, Ted. He's a firefighter. I have his number, just a sec." Sam nodded, of course she had a boyfriend.
Punching in the number, Traci handed the phone to Sam. It rang a few times before he picked up. "Hello?"
Sam cleared his throat, which suddenly felt thick and constricted. "This is Officer Swarek from the Fifteenth Division. I'm calling in regards of your girlfriend, Officer Andy McNally," he informed, voice raising slightly at the end as if in question.
A cough. "Uh, yes. She's my girlfriend. Is she in trouble?" he questioned, worried.
"She was in a car accident, sir. She's in surgery at Memorial Hospital." There was no answer on the other line. "Sir?"
"Uh, yes. I'll be right down," he promised. The click signaled the call was drop, so Sam handed the phone back to Nash.
"He said he'll be here soon." Traci nodded, pocketing her phone. She perked up as footsteps sounded down the hall. Everyone looked up at a doctor, still in surgical scrubs, entered the hallway.
"I'm guessing you're all here for Ms McNally? I'm her surgeon, Dr Robinson."
"How is she?" Tommy begged.
"Well, it's only been an hour. But we've managed to get control of the bleeding. There was major swelling in the brain, so we have to remove part of the skull to accommodate the swelling. Once it goes down, we'll be able to reattach the fragment. Until then, we will place her in a coma so that her brain has time to heal and her body time to calm. She has internal bleeding, due to broken ribs that punctured her gallbladder and one of her lungs. Her ankle was crushed, so we have to repair that. When we have more information on her condition, we'll let you know."
They all sighed in relief that she was alive. "How much longer until we can see her?" Dov piped up.
The doctor, a small, kind woman, smiled. "If everything goes to plan, about seven hours. We just need to get everything under control and have her stabilized before anyone can see her. Any questions?"
"Yeah," Nash started, "Who's her doctor? She had an appointment today and I just wanted to tell the doctor that she couldn't make it."
Glancing at the uniforms, Dr Robinson smiled. "All Ms McNally's personal information is in her file. If needed, I can show one of you," she offered. Sam volunteered right away, needing to be some form of help. "Right this way, sir."
Following the petite woman down the winding halls, he watched as she talked to the secretary. "Emma will give you the files in a moment, I have to get back."
Sam nodded, and thanked the young woman, Emma, for the file. Reading through, he found out that she was only 26, her birthday being April 5th, making her an Aries. Her blood type was B+, and her parents were Tommy and Claire McNally. He also noticed the familiar name of her doctor. "Hey," he called to the secretary, "Where's Dr Andrews room?"
"Floor three, first door on the left. Why?" she wondered, curiously.
"She's my friend's doctor." And hesitated for a second before continuing, " And my sister."
RBRBRBRB
Dundunduhhhh. What kind of dirt will Sam pull up about McNally through his sister? Will it be revealed about her home life? Who knows anymore? I know, another short chapter. I'm working on it. I have this story, AfterBurn, and Thinking of You. Not to mention some other one that has nothing to do with RB and is all original material. Plus school. And music. And art. And exercise. But I'm willing to take it all on, guys.
Review, because the ones so far on this story make my heart warm.
