THREE:

Good News And Bad News

Emmet and Lucy were sitting on the bottom bunk of the double-decker bed Emmet had invented, both of them engrossed in the latest episode of Where's My Pants, when the phone rang.

Lucy, sitting on Emmet's lap, with his warms wrapped around her, stirred a little bit. "You want to get that?" she asked, not wanting to move.

Emmet shook his head. "No, not really," he said, his legs shifting under her. "How about you?"

"No, me neither," Lucy said, stretching her legs.

The phone rang several more times before Emmet decided to answer it.

The young construction worker sighed. "I'll get it," he said, pushing himself up.

Lucy forced her eyes away from the TV, looking up at Emmet. "Been expecting any phone calls?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him. "Whoever it is, they better have a good excuse for disturbing us." With great reluctance, she slid off of his lap, letting him get up off the couch.

Emmet shrugged. "I don't know," he said, going over to the phone. "I wasn't really expecting anybody to call today."

Lucy followed him over to the phone, growing concerned. "Uh-oh," she said, wrapping one of her arms around his waist. "Phone calls like that during the day are never good." She gave him a reassuring kiss on the cheek. "I hope it isn't anything serious, though."

They had been dating for a couple of weeks now, since their first adventure together, and they had grown more comfortable with their romantic relationship. Lucy had, anyway. Emmet, she wasn't so sure about, but she didn't fault him for it. They had both admitted their growing attraction to one another in front of all of their friends, after all, and had come to accept it. They even held hands and kissed in public, Emmet not being shy about returning his affection to her, but he still blushed whenever he did it, something that still annoyed her a little bit. Lucy didn't know if he was embarrassed by their love or if there would always be a part of Emmet that would be a nervous, little schoolboy. Whatever the case, it irked her nevertheless. She had been meaning to ask him about it one day but never got around to doing it.

Emmet blushed, picking up the phone. "H-Hello?" he stammered, flashing a foolish grin at Lucy, who smiled back at him. He twirled his claws through the cord, becoming anxious. "Emmet, here." He coughed, clearing his throat. "Who is this?"

Lucy didn't recognize the voice that answered, and she knew Emmet, judging by the clueless look on his face, didn't either, but it sounded like it belonged to a woman. "This is Kelly," the woman said. "And you said your name was Emmet? Is it Emmet Brickowski I'm speaking to?"

"Yes," Emmet replied. Lucy could hear the already heightened fear in his high-pitched voice rising.

"Mr. Brickowski, I'm afraid I have some bad news," Kelly began, pausing for effect or wafting Lucy wasn't for sure. "Do you know a certain cop…he suffers from multiple personality disorder…says he's a good cop one minute, bad cop the next."

"Yes!" Emmet gasped, putting his hand over his mouth, as if he was stifling a scream. "Oh no!" He looked like he was about to cry, and Lucy stiffened, bracing herself for whatever bad news was coming. "What happened?"

Lucy pressed herself up closer against his side, squeezing his other claw in comfort.

Kelly let out a regretful sigh. "I'm afraid he's been in a terrible accident," she said. "It looks like it was a hit and run."

Tears started spreading down Emmet's cheeks. "How?" he asked, his lips trembling. "Who?" The questions seemed endless. "Is he going to be okay?"

Lucy felt a little relieved when she heard the smile in Judy's voice. "Yes, we think he'll pull through, to answer your last question," she said, causing Emmet and Lucy to share a brief sigh of relief. "He's made it through the worst of it, anyway. " The woman sounded hopeful. "We're going to keep him for a couple of nights, though, just to be safe."

Emmet chuckled. "Tell him we'll be over as soon as we can," he said. "Tonight, maybe?"

"I'm afraid you can't see him tonight," Kelly said. "He's just got out of surgery, and he's still under heavy sedation. "

Lucy could tell Emmet was trying to hide his disappointment. "Okay," he said, and Lucy was relieved he didn't press the matter any further, fearing he would risk the nurse's wrath if he did. "Would you call and let us know when he will able to have visitors again?"

"Yes, sir, I would be happy to," Kelly said. "To answer you second question, though, we don't know who did it, but the police are investigating the case. However, we do know how it happened, but I think it is better to leave it to Bad Cop to tell you, because it is a very personal matter, and I think it should be up to him."

"Okay," Emmet said, satisfied enough with her answer, perhaps, that he didn't feel the need to press their luck. "Where there any other witnesses, though?"

"No," Kelly replied. "The man who found him said he didn't see anybody fleeing the scene when he got there, and most of the people who were there had arrived after the vehicle had ran him over."

"So, there weren't any other witnesses?" Emmet asked, a little disappointed.

"Not that I know of," Kelly said.

"What was the man's name?" Emmet asked.

Lucy was glad Emmet was asking all of the questions, because she had wanted to know the answers to many of them herself.

"I don't know if you would know him or not," Judy said. "He was the barman at the bar your friend visited just seconds before the accident occurred."

"Who?" Emmet and Lucy spoke up in unison, unable to handle the suspense any longer.

"I think the man said he's name was Rick," Judy said. "You know him?"

For a moment, Emmet and Lucy looked at each other, both of them silent. Then, Emmet spoke up. "No, Ma'am," he said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid not."

"I didn't think so," Kelly said. "Sorry I couldn't be more of help."

"That's okay" Emmet said, nodding even though the woman on the other end of the phone couldn't see him. "Thank you for the help, Ma'am."

"You're welcome, young man," Kelly said. "It was my pleasure." Lucy heard a click when the woman hung up the phone.

Emmet sighed, returning his own phone to its cradle. "We've got to go see him, Lucy," he said, turning around to look at her. "I know we've had our differences in the past, but he's been there for us plenty of other times when we've needed the extra help. " He grabbed her arms, shaking her. "Please, come with me."

Lucy didn't have to think twice about it. What Emmet said was true. He and his other friends had had their own fair share of scrapes with Bad Cop before, but after he went back to being Good Cop and started to come to their aid whenever they needed it, she had come to grow fond of the old cop, and would hate to see anything bad happened to him.

Lucy took his hands in hers, clasping them. "Oh, Emmet, you know I wouldn't let you go without me," she said, kissing his hands. "Who else is going to be able to keep you out of trouble?"

Emmet smacked his forehead. "Yeah," he said. "What was I thinking, right?"

Lucy shrugged. "Hey, it's no problem," she said. "What are friends for, right?"