A/N: I can't apologize enough for the huge delay on updating this fic. Long story short, I've gone through some personal issues and then I just got overwhelmed with a bunch of activities I'm currently engaged in. I'm truly sorry! I hope none of you thought this story was abandoned and hopeless. My mind has a lot of ideas, but I either don't have the time or the strength to start writing. Anyway, this hasn't been abandoned and I will update it as soon as possible. Know that all the feedback I've got hasn't gone unnoticed, in fact, they've made me smile on hard days (:
But you can't shut the outside world off for long. And so it reached them: the worries, the crime, the case and the superstition crashed over them, two bullets changing everything they had believed to be settled.
Rafael barely had time to process what had happened when he heard Olivia's worried shouts.
"Nick! Nick! Don't!", she pointed her gun out and hopelessly glanced over to the courtroom's side door.
His eyes immediately followed hers and all he managed to catch was a glimpse of Nick's face before he faded into the corridor.
"Drop it!".
What the hell was he thinking of, would be the question Rafael would ask himself right at the moment and whenever he remembered the detective's determined face, lips tightly pursed together, hands gripping firmly to the gun, black eyes flinched and focused - aiming at Johnny D, calculating, making a split second decision.
Then the door shut closed and all he could hear were the gun shots, one, and another, and another, and another. The thumping of bodies, Olivia running and screaming "Get a bus, get a bus".
It all seemed unreal, and for a few minutes he just remained still, grasping onto the wooden table, watching everyone pace around the courtroom, the gushing of blood, the yelling. It was then when he was bluntly reminded how different his world was from Nick's. This, this confusion, this danger, this was his everyday life, not Rafael's. Rafael saw the crime scene photos - rarely ever stepped at an actual crime scene, usually long after the bodies were taken - stood in front of perps when they were surrounded by cops, spent his days at the cold but relatively safe courtroom. Not today, though. Today the two worlds collapsed and along with it, Nick. And all he could do was grasp at the table, hold his breath, stare in disbelief and wait for Olivia, because that's who he was, he was the guy who sat behind piles of papers and filed motions, subpoenas, not the one who chased a serial rapist at gun point to a secluded corridor. Rafael was the guy who loved that brave guy with a death wish and prayed to god or to the devil - whoever would answer him first- that he would survive.
When Olivia walked out of that door he didn't know what to expect. The pessimist in him saw the black body bag that had haunted him in his sleep for so many nights, but before he could dwell on those thoughts a firm hand brought him back to where he stood, and as he settled his eyes on her brown ones he finally exhaled the breath he'd been holding ever since he had seen Nick cross that room.
"He's alive", she panted, "Do you wanna stay with him while the EMT arri - Oh, finally, there they are! What the hell took you so long? We've got an officer down, shot twice, one in the chest another one in the knee, I think".
And in no time the medical team had Nick in a stretcher, speeding across the room, worried faces denouncing what they avoid saying with words. Snapped out of his trance when he finally saw a pallid unconscious Nick, Rafael followed the EMTs, making every question he could possibly think of, angrily yelling back at the lack of a solid response. How could they not the extent of his injuries? Or not know if he was gonna make it? Wasn't it their goddamn job?
"Quédate aquí, cariño, quédate conmigo", he held Nick's hand to his face and softly cried out.
"Sir, you're gonna need to step back", the paramedic hastily announced.
Olivia gently touched his shoulder, calling him out to look at her.
"Do you wanna ride with him?", she questioned.
Amanda held her arm and shot her a concerned glance, both women silently agreeing it wasn't the best idea.
"I'll ride with him". The blonde searched over for permission on his green eyes. "'kay?".
"Okay". He nodded affirmatively, still in a catatonic like state.
"I'll meet you at Bellevue". Olivia squeezed her partner's hand.
"Amanda", Rafael blurted out, begging almost, begging her for something he knew she couldn't do, "Please take care of him".
"I will. Don't worry". Her blue eyes made an impossible promise, reminding him of Nick's promises and prophecies, and how everything had gone wrong.
The last thing he saw before the elevator door shut close was Nick's profile - the strong features now weakened, soft and pale - and all he thought of was how he wished Nick was only asleep, like he had been hours ago, spread across Rafael's king size bed.
