A/N: I took one of the lines that Kathy uses from the latest WWSRD podcast. Those particular words are not my own.
Tao
He stood in his living room, looking at his wife as he tried to form words. Somehow, he was speechless as to the night's events. Kathy tried to ask him what happened that had him home so late with red-rimmed eyes, but he could only look at the beautiful woman who had given him a son. Kevin was in the other room studying for his upcoming test to get into the police academy. He should have known that Kevin would follow him, especially after Kevin had spent so much time with the squad that awful day several years ago when a father murdered his four-year-old. Kevin's look of awe and excitement had been the first hint that he wanted to be just like his dad.
Tao finally shook his head and walked to Kevin's bedroom. Kevin was sitting at his desk with his headphones in and books strewn about. Tao flipped the light switch to get his son's attention. When Kevin looked up, he smiled. "Hey, Dad," He said, pulling his headphones out. "Kevin, I want you to come out into the living room for a while. I need to talk to you and your mom." Kevin looked at his books doubtfully and glanced at his father, a question in his eyes. "Can it wait? I have to finish studying for this test, you know how important it is." Tao shook his head at his son and motioned for him to get up. "It can't wait, I need you out here now, please." Kevin sighed and held up a book. "Just give me five minutes and I'll go out, I promise." Tao's eyes snapped between the book Kevin was holding and his son's eyes. "No, Kevin, I will not wait five minutes. Do you remember my old boss, the Chief? She always asked her mom for five minutes until her mom died, and the Chief never found out what her mother wanted to discuss! Do you remember my boss, Commander Raydor? Julio wanted to speak with her tonight about something, but he can't. She doesn't have another five minutes because she's dead!" Tao's body jerked at the words, as if saying them aloud were physically repulsive. Kathy and Kevin looked at him in shock, hoping they had heard wrong. Tao shook his head and walked back into the living room, barely containing his sobs.
Kevin and Kathy followed closely behind him. He stood in the room, and even though family surrounded him, he felt so alone. When he heard the doctor's words, he had wondered to himself why the doctor had used such jargon in breaking the commander's death to so many people. He also wondered if that's how he came across sometimes, with his tendency to offer too much explanation and jargon. He looked to his wife and son and shrugged helplessly as he said, "She's gone. She was sick, and she was supposed to take a leave of absence after today. Can you believe it? Today was her last day of work…it turned out to be the last day of her life, too. She's just gone. And I don't know what to do. I don't have any explanations or fancy words for this. It just hurts." Kathy looked at her husband with sympathy and embraced him. She pulled away slightly to dry the tears on Tao's face and whispered, "You have such a big heart, Michael. You hide it with your fancy words and explanations, but you know love and empathy. You're hurting because you loved her. Because she turned your dislike of her into respect. The more you love someone, the more it hurts when they're gone. I know it's going to hurt for a while, and I know that you need to spend time with your own family right now after watching your friend lose his. We're here for you, honey." Kevin, who had been watching from a distance had transformed his look of shock to a look of understanding and love. His books could wait another five minutes. His family could not.t