" Did someone call a taxi? " askd Amy, jesting.
" How you holding up kid? " asked Sanchez.
Rusty shrugged his shoulders. " Alright I guess " replied Rusty, though he didn't know if he believed that himself.
Amy opened the door for him and he slid into the back seat. She shut the door and got into the drivers' seat and they headed for their destination.
The drive to the condon was fairly quiet, beacause they didn't really know what to say to Rusty. After all they were all affected by their Captain and friends' grave wounding, but the fact that he was her son affected him on a deeper level.
" Rusty, listen kid, you know that if you need to talk, anytime, we're all here for you ? "said Julio.
Rusty sighed and just looked out the window as raindrops started to fall. " Yeah Julio, I know, thanks " he said softly.
" No problem " replied Julio.
They pulled into the parking garage at the condo. Julio and Amy got out first, followed by Rusty. They got in the elevator and headed up. Amy knocked on the door.
" Who is it? " asked Ricky.
" Detective Sykes " she replied.
Ricky looked through the peephole, and realizing it was actually her, unlocked the door. " Detective Sykes, Sanchez, it's good to see you " said Ricky.
" Good to see you too Ricky; We're just sorry it's under these circumstances " said Amy.
" Yeah me too " said Ricky nodding. " Come on in " he said, stepping aside for them to enter. He closed the door behind them and locked it.
" I hope everyone's hungry, I'm making Spaghetti " said Ricky.
" Smells great " said Amy, hanging her coat on the back of one of the chairs. " Can I help in any way? " she asked.
" Uh, yeah sure, could you put the Garlic bread in the oven? " asked Ricky.
" That I can do " replied Amy.
" Where's Emily? " asked Rusty.
" Oh Em, she's just in the shower, she should be out soon " replied Ricky.
" Oh ok " said Rusty, just standing there, unsure of what to do.
Amy called Julio over. " Julio, why don't you distract the kid from all the tragedy right now " whispered Amy.
" Rusty, why don't we relax and watch some t.v. before supper, huh what do you say " said Julio.
" I guess " said Rusty and they both sat down on the couch and turned the t.v. on.
" So what kind of shows do you like to watch?" asked Julio.
" Well I mean I guess I like the police procedurals, you know like Rookie Blue, Blue Bloods, Castle, those sort of things. But, I mean you really can't watch em when mom's around becasue with her being a real life cop, she thinks she's got to point out everything they're doing wrong. " he said. He smiled, forming the mental picture in his head.
" Oh, yeah i could definitely see mom doing that, it was the same with me " said Ricky from the kitchen.
" So mostly I watch a lot of Nick at Nite show reruns from the nineties. Mom loves The Nanny, so we watch alot of that " said Rusty.
" Why don't we see what's on then " said Sanchez flippinng through the channel ended up settling on Full House.
About an hour later Amy and Ricky had finished dinner and called everybody to the table. Rusty was worried that Emily hadn't joined them yet and decided to go check on her. Half expecting her to still be in the shower, he entered the bedroom. Emily was laying on Sharons' bed hugging one of the pillows to her chest, and staring up at the ceiling. She was dressed in a pair of pajama pants, and he could have sworn that she was wearing one of Sharons' sweaters. Like mother like daughter he thought. After an extremely taxing day or difficult case, Sharon would like to just lean into the couch and hug one of the throw pillows tight to her chest and close her eyes and meditate. Emily hadn't even noticed him come into the room.
" Em he said " softly. At first she didn't acknowledge his presence. " Emily " he tried again.
She turned her head and looked in his general direction. She sat up seemingly startled. " Hey little bro, you scared me " she said.
" Sorry about that, i just came to check on you " said Rusty." Ricky said you were just in the shower " he continued.
" I was, but I just needed some time to myself to collect my thoughts and meditate " said Emily.
" I understand " said Rusty.
She patted the bed for him to some sit next to her. He sat down. Emily picked up a book that she had previously been looking at. Rusty realized that it was a photo album. Emily flipped through a couple of the pages and then stopped. His eyes fell on a picture. It was of a woman in her mid twenties. She was wearing a black leotard and her hair was up elegantly in a tight bun on her head. She was up on one foot in mid spin. It was just a photograph, but the way she moved was so beautiful, so elegant. It then dawned on him.
" Em is that " he said. she stopped him.
She nodded with droplets glistening in the corners of her eyes. " Yeah Rusty, that's mom. she said.
" Wow, I never knew that Sharon was a dancer " he said.
" She was, she could have been one of the best " said Emily moving her hand over the picture.
" What happened? " asked Rusty.
" Well she doesn't really like to talk about it, but she was practicing for a big audition, and well you know mom, you know how she pushes herself. She just pushed too much, and came down wrong, messed up her knee pretty bad, and that was it " Emily explained.
" Wow, that's horrible " said Rusty.
" Yeah, but life goes on you know; Mom always tells me tht even though she loved dancing so much, she thinks that God knew exactly where she needed to be, and it makes her happy to get justice for those done wrong " said Emily
Rusty smiled. " She's pretty amazing " said Rusty.
" Yes she is. She's the whole reason I got into dancing, I wanted to continue the legacy for her " said Emily. She supported me all the way. She would always say, If at first you don't succeed, try try try again. She instilled in me the drive I needed to never give up and now I'm about to perform on broadway " said Emily.
Emily closed the book and set it aside. She sighed. Rusty grabbed her hand and she leaned against him. They sat like that in silence for awhile enjoying one anothers comany.
" Ricky and the others are probably wondering where we're at, so why don't we join them in the kitchen, dinners ready " said Rusty.
" I don't know if I'm really that hungry, but alright " said Emily and they went into the kitchen and sat down with the others.
" Everything ok " asked Ricky looking at Emily and Rusty.
" Yeah bro, everythings ok " said Emily smiling at Rusty.
They joined hands and prayed and then commenced to eating. Or at least some of them.
" Em is there something wrong with the food? " asked Ricky.
" Huh " said Emily
" Your food, you're not eating very much " said Ricky.
" No bro, there's nothing wrong with it, it's great; It's just that I'm not very hungry " said Emily, twirling her fork in her spaghetti. " Actually, I think that I;m just gonna call it a night, I'm pretty tired " she said. She put her fork on her plate and proceeded to her mother's bedroom. " Night all " she said before shutting the door.
Ricky started to go after her, but Amy put her hand on his arm.
" Ricky, just let her be, that's the best thing right now " said Amy.
He slumped back down in his chair. " This is really hard for her " said Ricky.
" I know, it's hard for everyboy, but your sister just needs some space; It'll get better " said Amy reassuringly.
Rusty threw his fork down onto his plate, causing everyone to look at him. " You know, no offense Amy, but I'm so sick and tired of hearing how it's gonna be okay, or its gonna get better. I mean who are you to say that because you just don't know. All you're doin is giving false hope and making promises you can't keep, so just stop it said Rusty angrily.
Amy was taken aback. " Rusty I... " she started.
" Forget it, ok. I'm pretty tired too, goodnight " he said heading off to his room and slamming the door.
" I didn't mean to upset him " said Amy.
" It's not your fault Amy, he's just hurting so much " said Ricky. " They both are " he said.
" And what about you Ricky? " asked Julio.
" I'm trying to be strong and supportive for Em and Rusty, but you know it's hard " said Ricky. He was starting to tear up. He inhaled deeply, exhaled, and wiped his eyes with his hands. Amy put her hand on top of his and gave a reassuring squeeze.
" You know what, I'd say we've all had a long day; Let's get everything cleaned up an we'll call it a night " said Amy.
They all helped to put the leftovers away and clean the dishes. Then they tried to figure out the sleeping arrangements. " So how do you wanna do this? " asked Ricky.
" I'll take the recliner " said Julio.
" I can make a pallet on the floor " said Amy.
" No, no I won't hear of that Detective Sykes. You take the couch, I'll make a pallet on the floor " said Ricky.
" Ricky are you sure? " asked Amy.
" Yes, I insist " said Ricky.
" Alright then, goodnight gentlemen " she said.
" Goodnight Detective " said Ricky.
" Night Sykes " said Julio.
At the hospital Andy had managed to convince the doctor to let him stay the night. He spent the whole night by Sharon's side, not really sleeping at all.
Nicole showed up early the next morning. Provenza had called to inform her thay he was worried about her father, and gave her all the details about what happened.
She tapped on the door lightly and walked in. " Dad " she daid.
He looked over at her. " Nic" he said getting up and embracing his daughter. " What are you doing her sweetheart? " he asked.
" Provenza called me and told me evertything. How is she ? " asked Nicole.
" Well, I'd like to say the outcome's looking good Nic, but I'd be lying " he said.
" That's awful, I'm sorry dad " she said. She then took in his appearance, His eyes looked puffy and bloodshot. " Dad, when is the last time you slept?" asked Nicole.
" I don't know sweetie, a few days " he said.
She looked at him sternly but full of concern. " Well have you eaten anything recently? " she asked.
" No, not really kiddo, but I'm ok " he said.
" No dad, you're not alright, now I want you to go home, take a shower, eat something, and get some sleep " said Nicole.
" But Nic " he started.
" Don't but Nic me " she said.
" There never was any arguing with you was there? " he asked.
" No, now please go dad, I'm worried about you; I'll stay and call if anything happens " she said.
" Thanks baby, I love you " he said.
" I love you too dad " she said hugging him and kissing his cheek. " Now go " she insisted.
He slowly started for the door, looked back, and left to make his way home.
Over the course of the next few days they all took turns sitting with Sharon, just talking to her and hoping that she would wake up.
It was Andys' turn again and at this point it was as if they had all lost any hope of her ever waking up. " Lord, it's me Andy Flynn, been awhile " he started his prayer. " But I'm begging you please don't take Sharon away from me please " he said. He held her hand in his and started to cry. He put his head down on top of his hand and after awhile he drifted off. He was awoken a little later, as he could have sworn he felt movement in her hand. But then he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. But then he was sure he felt it. " Sharon, come on back to me, I know you're trying, come on you can do this, wake up for me " he said. He kissed her forehead and looked down at her. A few moments later, her eyes fluttered open and met his looking at her.
