Chapter 10

…...

Louie sat with Andrea for more than 4 hours in the hospital as they waited for the doctors and nurses to prepare her father for the move to the morgue. The atmosphere in the hallway was like ice as every word that came out of Veronica's mouth seemed to be a snide comment aimed at Andrea. Andrea tried her best to stay calm, feeling Louie squeeze her hand every now and again just to let her know he was there for her.

"He wouldn't have wanted you here Andrea, I told you that and you disobeyed me." Veronica sneered.

"You have no idea what my father wanted, no idea."

"He was my husband."

"AND HE WAS MY FATHER. You say he didn't want to see me, well you're wrong."

"What are you saying? He never saw you, he would have told me."

"Well then it shows how much you know, for your information dad use to visit me every Sunday."

"That's a lie; he went to church on Sundays."

"Yeah he did and then he'd come to mine, spend a few hours with me before he went back to you. He was proud of me Mom, he didn't care that I dropped out of medical school. As long as I was happy that was all that mattered to him, why couldn't you be like that?"

"I never had all the things you had when you were a little girl, I never got to go to college or university or even medical school. Your father and I worked all the hours possible because you young lady wanted to be a doctor, all you ever wanted to be…that's what you would tell us. For us to spend all that money and to have to just decide on a whim that you weren't going anymore, it was betrayal."

"Is that what all this had been about…money? Oh my god Mom, I will write to a cheque here and now if that's all that's bothering you."

"It's not the money you stupid girl, it was the lies. That last year when your father and I watched you go off to medical school when all the while you were working as a waitress and god knows what else."

"Yes, so that I could put myself through law school and I did and now I'm a DA and I'm damn proud of that. It makes me happy, medical school drained every bit of enthusiasm from me, long hours, lack of sleep, I didn't even know what a social life was back then. I couldn't take it anymore, it was destroying me. I wanted to do something that made me happy and that was the law, I understood it better than medicine."

Andrea stood up and came to kneel down in front of her mother.

"Mom, I know I disappointed you and I am so sorry for that but I don't regret the decisions I made. Being a DA has made me a stronger person, more resilient; don't hate me because of it."

Veronica glared at her daughter before getting up. "I'm going to say one last goodbye to your father, please do not be here when I come back."

Andrea watched her mother walk away; Sam gave her a quick hug before she followed her Aunt down the hallway. Andrea turned back to see Louie standing behind her, arms stretched out waiting to take her in his arms as tears welled in her eyes.

…

Amy turned over in bed to see Julio sound asleep beside her, a smile spread across her face as the events of the previous night replayed over in her head. Off all the people on her team she'd never imagined ending up with Julio but she couldn't be any happier. This weekend had definitely turned out to be one of her better ideas. Everyone had spent the morning packing and dressing before heading in to the dining room to see cereals and fruit prepared for everyone.

"Wow, who did this?" Rusty asked.

"That would be me." Sharon spoke, appearing behind everyone…Andy beside her, his arm around her waist.

"Captain, this all looks wonderful."

"Why thank you Buzz, that's very nice of you too say. Everyone, take a seat."

Everyone ate in silence as Sharon moved the cereal around in her plate; she looked up when Andy placed his hand over hers, a sympathetic smile on his face. Rusty looked up at that exact moment to see sadness on both their faces.

"Erm Sharon, I don't mean to put a downer on our last morning but…is everything okay, you look kinda sad and where's Andrea and the Lieutenant?"

"I noticed too Captain, you're not yourself, has something happened? Mike spoke.

"Alright everyone, Andrea had a call last night to go to the hospital and she…"

"Oh my god, is she okay?" Rusty asked.

"No honey she's not, her father died last night."

"Her father, she never mentioned he was sick." Buzz said.

"She never told anyone, only Provenza. Apparently he's been sick for a while."

"How is she?" Mike asked.

"Understandably upset, she's in good hands with Lieutenant Provenza and I'm sure if she needs anything you'll all help if you can."

"Oh my god yes of course Captain."

"Amy, it's Sharon."

"Oh right…sorry, I keep forgetting."

"Come on everyone finish your breakfast, we need to get this place cleaned up before we leave." Andy smiled.

…

Rusty walked in to Sharon's bedroom to find her packing her suitcase, he stood watching her before she turned around when she felt a presence.

"Honey, everything okay?"

"I guess."

"You guess, what's wrong."

"Is there something going on with you and Flynn?"

"Oh, well we…"

"He spent the night right?"

"Rusty I…."

"It's okay Sharon, I think it's great."

"You do, really."

"Sure, after Jack…it's nice to see you smiling again."

"Thank you Rusty."

"I'll go get my bags."

He walked past Andy as he walked along the hallway, giving the Lieutenant a smile as he went.

"Hey, the kid okay."

"Mmmm, he's just fine. He was asking about us."

"Oh, and what did you tell him."

"I didn't tell him a thing, he's not stupid…he knows we spent the night and he told me that as long as I was happy, he was happy."

"Have I ever told you what a great kid you have?"

"I already know."

"Are you okay, I know you were a little upset about Andrea?"

"I just feel bad that she couldn't come to me about it, I thought we were friends."

"You are friends; she probably just didn't want to burden you with it. She knows how stressed you've been with the last case."

"I'll phone Louie when we leave, ask how she is."

"Good idea, I'll go get the car ready."

"Okay and Andy…."

"Yeah?"

"Last night was great."

Andy walked back over to her, taking her in his arms before covering her lips. She let out a small pleasurable noise before bringing her arms around his neck, the smell of his cologne invading her senses.

"I want us to work out Andy; I don't want a repeat of my years with Jack."

"Hey, I am not nor will I ever be Jack. I could never hurt you the way he did…I care about you too much."

"Me too." She smiled.

"Don't be long okay."

"I'll be out in a minute."

She waited for Andy to leave before taking a seat on the edge of the bed and sending Louie a quick message before joining Andy to head home.

…

Louie walked in to Andrea's sitting room to find her curled up in to the side of the couch, a tissue in her hand as she cried. He looked over and saw how much she was hurting; walking over…he took a seat beside her and wrapped her in his arms as she cried in to his chest.

"I'm sorry Louie."

"Don't Andrea, you have nothing to apologise for. The only person who should be apologising right now is your mother."

"Good luck with that one." She sniffed, trying to joke.

"She had no right to talk to you like that."

"It's they way she's always been with me."

"Well it's inexcusable."

"Welcome to my life, you still want to be in it?"

"Are you kidding, life without you…isn't a life."

"Louie…"

"What is it?" He said quietly as he ran his hand up and down her back soothing her.

"I love you."

He pulled back and looked down at her, her eyes glistening. He ran a hand down the side of her face, wiping the tears away before leaning down to kiss her.

"I love you too Andrea, very much."

She leaned back in to his chest and he placed a kiss to the top of her head, letting her cry it out.

…

To Be Continued…