I thought I'd update this one especially for Adrienne seeing as it's her birthday today…Happy birthday honey, love you xxx

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Chapter 13

…

Sharon rolled over on to her back as the sun shone through the window by her bed; she turned her head to see Brenda smiling at her.

"Good morning."

"Mornin'…sleep well?"

"Very pleasant, how are you feeling?" Sharon asked, seeing sadness in Brenda's eyes.

"Am' okay, we'll get there. Anyway, what are we gonna do today huh, I was thinkin' lunch then a movie."

"As much as I would love too, I can't."

"Oh…okay well I guess I could go in to the office for a bit, do some paperwork."

"Brenda no, you need to go and talk with Agent Howard and apologise."

"I know but he won't listen, after last night I don't think he'll ever wanna see me again."

"If you keep putting it off then it will only get harder."

"Can't you come with me?"

"I think I'm the last person he'll want to see right now and I can't anyway. I need to go to the hospital and see Jacob; I need to tell him it's over between us. It's not fair to keep stringing him along with the hope that there might be something there with us…it's not right."

"Our day's are gonna be pretty bad then huh."

"The sooner it's done, then we can move forward. Onwards and upwards, come on get dressed. I'm going to take a quick shower before breakfast."

"Okay…hey Sharon."

"Yes."

"I love you."

Sharon smiled and leaned down to kiss Brenda. "I love you too, now get dressed."

…

Fritz head pounded when he heard the banging at the front door, he turned over on the couch and landed with a thump on the floor, banging his leg on the coffee table."

"Jesus Christ."

He got himself to his feet, rubbing the side of his leg to ease the throbbing before he walked towards the door. The banging on the other side got louder and louder as he approached.

"ALRIGHT…ALRIGHT I'm coming, Jesus."

He threw open the door to see Andy standing on the other side, a look of worry on his face.

"Flynn….what are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd stop by, see how you were."

"How I am, not great."

"Can I come in?"

Fritz shrugged and stepped aside to let Andy inside, he walked ahead while Fritz closed the door. Entering the lounge, he spotted the beer bottles at the side of the couch, a half eaten takeaway on the table and pictures of his wedding to Brenda lying haphazardly on the side.

"Fritz…what are you doin'?"

"What does it look like?"

"Come on drinking, are you really gonna let her get you to this level…you haven't drank for nearly 6 years, don't ruining that now because of the Chief…you're better than that."

"Am I, well I can't be all that great can I…she left me. You know I did nothing wrong, I'm a cop too and I was always home in time for dinner…no matter how busy things got I was always home for her, I cooked for her, I cleaned for her. I never forgot an anniversary, I was always understanding when she called out in the middle of the night to a crime scene….what the hell did I do to deserve this huh…WHAT."

Fritz slumped down on the couch as Andy cleared space on the table and took a seat in front of the younger man.

"Hey…you did nothing wrong, none of this is your fault. I'm torn here because Brenda's my boss, you're a friend and…so is Sharon. Now I love Sharon to death and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her, I don't deny her happiness but I don't agree with the way they went about this and Sharon knows that. Sharon knows what it's like to be cheated on by her partner which is why she feels so bad about how all of this turned out and believe me, she does feel bad…but listen what you did to her the other day in front of the entire team, hitting her like that…it wasn't right."

Fritz looked up at Andy, tears in his eyes as he rubbed his hand over his face.

"I didn't mean to hit the Captain, I didn't know she was that close behind me."

"You need to apologise for that, you don't want charges brought against you for assaulting a police officer."

"I know…I know."

Andy got up and began tidying the empty beer bottles up.

"Andy you don't need to do that."

"I know, but that's what friends are for."

…

Sharon parked her car and walked in to the hospital and up to the reception desk.

"Hello, I'm here to see Dr Rowan, I believe he's expecting me."

"What's the name?"

"Sharon Raydor."

"Alright, I'll just let him know you're here."

"Thank you."

Sharon took a seat while she waited for Jacob to arrive; she began to feel the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She liked Jacob and she didn't want to hurt him but she knew she couldn't continue to string him along on the hopes of a relationship developing.

"Sharon."

"Jacob, hello."

"Hey, when I got your call this morning I was worried."

"I'm sorry to bother you at work."

"No it's fine, is everything okay?"

"Could we perhaps talk somewhere a little more private?"

"Sure, let's go to my office."

Jacob placed his hand on Sharon's back as he guided her down the hallway and up the stairs to his office. Once inside, he closed the door for privacy as Sharon stood by his desk.

"So…you sounded a little strange on the phone. I hope everything's okay."

"Actually it's not."

"Are you okay, you're not ill or anything…I'm a really good doctor."

"No, no it's nothing like that. It's about us."

"Us, why do I get the feeling this isn't going to be good."

"Jacob, you're a lovely man…you really are but, you are a little younger than me."

"Oh come on, I thought we already had the age discussion…it doesn't bother me and you said it didn't bother you either…Sharon come on, what's really going on here?"

She turned around as Jacob placed his hands on her shoulders, looking up at him, the guilt returned.

"You're such a sweet man, but the truth is…I'm in love with someone else."

"Oh…wow, I don't know wha….who?"

"It's Brenda."

"Brenda? The woman who came to see you at the hospital?"

"Yes, things were complicated with us at the time. She wasn't willing to admit that there were feelings between us…at the time she'd made it clear she didn't want a relationship with me."

"So when I asked you out, was that to make Brenda jealous?"

"I'd be lying if I said no, a small part of me wanted to make her jealous yes…but a much bigger part of me wanted to go out with you because you are a wonderful man and the time we've spent together had been great."

"So Brenda…she's come back."

"She has, things are still complicated but we're trying to work them out and I want to work with her at this. I do love her very much and it's not fair that I continue to see you when I know nothing will happen."

Jacob took a seat in front of Sharon, running a hand through his hair.

"Jacob I…"

"No, no it's fine. You're an amazing woman Sharon and I'd be lying if I weren't hurt but I could never deny you your happiness."

"Really."

He stood up and brought her in to a hug before placing a small kiss to her lips.

"I'll cherish the time we had together and it would be nice if we could still be friends."

"I'd like that."

"I wish you all the happiness, I really do."

"Thank you Jacob, we'll talk soon."

"Sure, dinner…as friends."

"Friends."

Sharon smiled before walking out the door, turning one last time to the man who'd just made her the happiest she thought she could be.

…

To Be Continued…