"Are you sure there was just one shooter?"
"Did you see his face?"
"Sir, can you hear me?"
"Do you know what kind of gun he was using?"
Cody sat in the back of an ambulance, his legs hanging down onto the ground, staring at the warehouse in front of him. He heard the man asking him the questions, but his words seemed to slur together. Cody wasn't even sure if he was ignoring the officer or if he was too stunned to speak.
He looked over to his right at the other ambulance where his best friend was lying inside. They were prepping Toby before taking him off to the hospital.
Cody then looked to his left where Anna was standing, talking to another officer.
Just behind Anna was another ambulance. Jimmy was lying inside that one, however his injuries weren't too serious, just a minor concussion. They were just asking him some questions before letting him out of the ambulance.
"Detective Martin, I need you to snap out of this!" The annoyed officer yelled, "I need you to answer my questions!"
Cody looked down at his hands. They were covered in blood.
"Get away from him Officer Ferris!" Another voice sounded. It was Officer Abel Sanchez.
Ferris sighed, "He won't speak."
"Well how would you feel if your partner and your boss just got shot!"
"His boss is gonna be fine! The vest took his hit."
Abel glared at him, "It doesn't make a difference! I'll take over for you... Go!"
Ferris rolled his eyes as he walked off.
"I'm sorry about that Cody," Abel said as he sat beside him, "Ferris is... Well, he's an ass." There was a moment of silence before Abel continued, "Cody, I do need you to tell me what happened."
Cody was silent for a few seconds as he tried to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes.
"He was just lying there," Cody said quietly, "After the shooting stopped I looked over and he was just lying there... There was so much blood. He was gasping for air."
"Toby!" Cody shouted as he ran over to his partner, "Toby... Come on man! You're gonna be alright!" He saw that Toby had been shot in the side.
"Don't do this man!" Cody yelled as he applied pressure to the wound, "Come on, stay with me!"
Anna ran up the stairs to clear the other room... Or kill whoever was in it. When she got to the room she saw the window was wide open. She ran to it and looked outside, but whoever had been in the room was gone now.
"He's gone!" She yelled as she came back down the stairs.
"Call 911 now!" Cody yelled.
Anna immediately got out her cell phone and called.
Toby's eyes were closing and he was no longer gasping for breath as he slowly began to slip away.
"Don't do this Toby! You're gonna be okay!"
"Where was Jimmy during all of this?" Abel asked.
"He was still laying on the ground, going in and out. He had bumped his head when he got shot."
Abel nodded, "Have they given you any information on Toby yet?"
"No," Cody replied, keeping his eyes on his bloody hands.
The ambulance that was carrying Toby took off. Cody quickly stood up, "I need to follow them," He said in a panic.
Just then Jimmy came out of the other ambulance, "Did they already take Toby?" He asked.
"They just left," Cody replied.
"Okay. We need to go now," Jimmy turned to Anna, "Anna, we're leaving for the hospital. Come on, you're driving."
Anna nodded, and left the officer she was speaking with mid-question.
"Officer Abel," Jimmy began, but before he could finish, Abel spoke up.
"I'll tell the other guys to back off. If any other questions need to be asked, I'll do the asking."
"Thank you," Jimmy replied, then left to get into the car.
Cody sat in the waiting room after he finished scrubbing his hands in the men's bathroom at the hospital, trying to get off all the dried blood.
After what felt like hours the doctor finally came into the waiting room, "Anyone here for Toby Snow?"
Jimmy, Anna, and Cody all jumped up.
"I'm Dr. Wilson. Let me guess... Jimmy, Anna, and Cody?"
They all nodded.
"He's got you all listed as his next of kin," The doctor said with a smile.
"How is he?" Cody asked.
"Let's take a seat," Dr. Wilson said as he pointed to the waiting room chairs. He swung one chair around so he could face them as he spoke, "Toby was shot in the hip. When he first got here, we lost him for a moment..."
Anna gasped, tears filled in Cody eyes, and Jimmy took a deep breath.
"But, we got him back. He got through surgery fine. I have him on sedatives, and he is receiving a blood transfusion. He should be out of the hospital in a week, but he won't fully recover for a month or so... Do any of you have questions for me?"
"When can we see him?" Anna asked.
"Tomorrow. He won't be awake for the rest of the night anyway."
'Night?' Cody thought, 'When did it become night?' He looked at his watch, it was 9p.m.. Cody knew they had been sitting in the waiting room for a few hours but he had no idea it was already nine o'clock.
"Thank you doctor," Jimmy said with a nod.
"No problem. I've got to go tend to some of my other patients, but if any of you need anything," He said as he pulled some cards from his coat and handed each of them one, "My number is on there." Then he turned and left.
"I'm so glad he's gonna be okay," Anna said with a sigh of relief.
Cody and Jimmy agreed.
"Anna, would you mind dropping me off back at the precinct?" Jimmy asked, "I shouldn't drive with the concussion so I'll sleep in my office."
"Are you sure?" Anna asked, "I can take you home."
"No, it's fine. I like sleeping in my office anyway."
"Okay."
Once they all got back to the precinct Jimmy said his good night to Anna and Cody, then went inside.
Anna sighed as she and Cody walked to her car, "Crazy day huh?"
"Oh yeah."
Anna turned to Cody, "Are you okay? I can understand why you were quiet earlier, because of Toby, but even since we found out that he'd be okay you haven't said much.
Cody took a deep breath and looked towards the road, "You wanna take a walk?" He asked.
"Out here? At night?"
Cody nodded, "Yeah. We can walk from here to the park. It's only a few blocks away."
Anna smiled, "Okay."
As they started down the sidewalk Cody took another deep breath, "I'm gonna have to talk to him," He said with sadness and fear in his voice.
Anna looked at him with a confused expression, "What?"
"James," He clarified, "He's our only option."
"Cody, he's not our only option."
"Yeah he is Anna. We've got absolutely nothing on this case. James told Jimmy that someone would die if I didn't talk to him."
"But no one has died, Cody."
Cody ran his fingers through his hair, "It got damn close... Too close. I can't wait until someone actually dies before I go talk to him."
Anna thought for a moment before replying, "For all we know, he could be lying. He probably just wants to see you."
"Maybe, but I don't think so."
Anna remained silent. She wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Will you go with me?" Cody asked, breaking the silence. "When I go to see him, will you come?"
Anna put her arm around Cody's back, "Of course I will."
He then placed his arm around her, "Thank you."
When they got to the park they sat down beside each other on a bench.
"It's a beautiful night," She said as she looked up at the stars.
"Sure is," He agreed as he looked over at Anna, staring at the bruise on her face. Every time he saw it anger built inside of him.
"What's wrong?" She asked when she noticed him staring, "Is there something on my face?"
"Does it hurt?" He asked as if he were a child in elementary school.
"The bruise? No, not really. The one on my back does if I lay down so I sleep on my side... I think my ego took the worst of it," She added with a small laugh, trying to hide the sadness she felt. "I guess I deserved it."
Cody couldn't believe what she had said, "Deserved it? Nobody ever deserves to get beaten up... Except for people who beat people up."
Anna looked Cody in the eyes, "I never loved him."
"Then why in the world were you going to marry him?"
"Throughout my whole life all I ever wanted was a family. I wanted to be married, have kids, live in a cozy house, go on family vacations, and play sports in the backyard," She said with a smile as she thought about that life. "The thing was that I wanted it quick. So, I went to all the wrong places to meet guys, and every time I thought I had found the right guy it turned out they were just drunk and agreeing with everything I said so I would sleep with them..."
Cody listened but didn't say a word. He loved listening to her, he loved looking at her, he loved being with her, he loved... Her.
"When I met Walter, he was so nice to me. He surprised me with things, and he... He just seemed like a great guy. Then after a while, I guess when he became comfortable, it was like this whole different side of him popped up out of nowhere. He was... A..." She couldn't find the right word, so Cody helped.
"An ass."
She nodded, "Yupp. There was a couple of times where I was just gonna tell him to forget it, that I could find someone else. Someone better. But one night he asked me to marry him, and I thought about the family I always dreamed of," A tear fell down her cheek, "So I said yes. I figured he'd be my only chance for my dream." More tears escaped her eyes.
"Anna," He began as he looked into her eyes, "If anyone deserves their dream, it's you. You are the sweetest and most amazing person I know. You deserve the best."
Now Anna was crying for a new reason. She had never been told that before, by anyone. At that moment she never felt more loved. She leaned into Cody and gave him a small kiss. Fearing that she had made a mistake she quickly backed off, but before she could get too far Cody gently placed his hands on her face, wiping the tears away. He then leaned in, returning the kiss. It was a sweet and romantic kiss.
They both felt as if they were two teenagers having their first kiss. Their hearts were pounding and they felt as if they were invincible. It was a feeling that neither of them had felt before.
Though both of them were going through hard times, at that moment, they felt as if the world had stopped, leaving only them to be happy together. It was a moment they wanted to last forever.
Unfortunately, someone didn't agree.
Hard chapter to write and I'm not sure why. It took longer than I wanted but I've been extremely busy with school work, helping my sister move from her house to my grandma's house next door, spending time with my family, and my other sister coming to visit from college. And while I love writing, real life must come first.
Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Not super exciting but I wanted to have an Anna and Cody moment. And don't worry people, Zack will be in this story more, I promise!
Please review! You guys keep me going! Thanks!