Andy glanced at his watch as he pulled up to the hospital. He hadn't been back in LA 12 hours yet, and he was already getting called to a crime scene. He'd left Sharon right after Halloween, something that had been extremely hard for both of them. They'd clung to each other before Andy had to drive away. He'd left her with part of his heart, and he wasn't sure how he would make it through the next couple months without her. Halloween was nice; it would only have been better if he and Sharon had been in LA to tak the grandkids trick or treating. Nicole had sent him pictures of the boys, both dressed as pirates. Sharon had laughed and cried over the pictures, commenting how big the boys were getting. She'd printed the picture, and it now sat on her dresser along with many others she and Andy had taken together. They were making new memories, but still memories that they couldn't share with friends and family back in LA. He'd left Sharon was a promise to return, a kiss that he knew wouldn't make up for the distance, but he hoped she'd know conveyed his love. They'd tabled the discussion of a future. Andy knew Sharon was worried about him, about not wanting to tie him to her, but what Andy had tried to tell Sharon was that there was no future for him without Sharon in it. So, he'd let the discussion linger, knowing they would talk more on his next visit in January. He wasn't sure when he'd be back to Ohio, as in January, he, Sharon, and Rusty were meeting in Vermont to go skiing. It wasn't perfect, but it was a plan. It just seemed so far into the future.
Here it was, now November 2, the early hours of the morning, and Andy was back at work. Provenza had called him an hour ago, and now here he was, at the hospital, where he had heard they had several victims already dead. He sighed as he looked to his watch, where it wasn't even 5:00 AM yet. He thought of Sharon, how in Ohio, she would be getting ready to leave for work. How he wished he was still there, able to talk to her. That issue had been addressed, the lack of communication. Andy had bought two burner phones in Cleveland while they were there, and he and Sharon had agreed to use them sparingly. As much as the two wanted to talk each day, they had agreed to behave, to try and respect the fact that Sharon and Rusty were in danger and use the phones within reason. Andy had fought the urge to call Sharon after he'd landed, but instead, he'd tucked his burner phone away in his gun lock box, away from any sort of prying eyes.
"Welcome back, Lieutenant," he heard and nodded to Amy as he entered the room. He shook his head at the number of bodies, and just as he was about to say something, Provenza walked into the room.
"Ahh, Flynn, good, you're back," he nodded to him.
"That's a first," Andy said. "I don't think you've ever told me you are glad I'm back."
"I didn't say that. I just need another set of eyes on this case. It's an odd one, I can tell. I've just gone over the surveillance with Buzz," he explained. "With Davis at a conference, Taylor is watching this case. We've got to report to him, but I'm hoping he'll give us some breathing room to solve this on our own."
"Andy, welcome back," Mike patted Andy on the back as he moved into the room. "Vacation agrees with you. You're looking good, better than these guys," he nodded to the corpses.
"Gee, thanks, Mike," Andy rolled his eyes.
"I'm only teasing," Mike smiled. "You do look well rested."
"And, happy, Lieutenant," Julio grinned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd found someone who makes you happy," he said and continued, "but, I know the captain can't be replaced."
The room was silent a few moments as Julio's statement hung in the air. Andy looked to the ground and nodded, not wanting to give away that yes, he did have a certain captain in his romantic life. Mike broke the silence.
"I think it's the new tie. Haven't seen that one. Is that a new suit too? Leave it to Andy to shop on vacation," he smiled.
Andy glanced up and touched his tie. He thought back to Sharon running her hands over it as she'd given it to him before he'd gone back to LA. Her job had perks, and one of them was being able to dress Andy in a few new suits with her generous employee discount. She'd picked out the suit and tie he was wearing. Of course, he'd wanted to wear it on his first day back to work. It helped him keep Sharon close. He looked up from where he had his hand on his tie, "Yeah, I may have bought a few new suits and ties while I was away," he shrugged. "I guess they call that, what, retail therapy?" he grinned.
"Oh, you're sounding more and more like a woman each day, Flynn! Shopping for new suits on your vacation," he grumbled.
"Can we just get to the case?" Andy gestured. "Obviously, we have some work to do. I come back, and what do we have, but several dead bodies," he sighed. "Let's get to work and pray this day doesn't get any worse."
As the day continued, Andy's comments about the day getting worse ran though his head over and over. He couldn't shake them, maybe because on cases like this, he really wished Sharon was here to help solve the case. The day went from bad to worse when the team went in search of a suspect at the airport.
"Flynn!" Andy heard as he was sprawled on the ground. He had a splitting headache and tried to remember what had just happened. "Ugh," he sighed, as he felt Provenza picking him up off the ground. "Don't tell Sharon," he grumbled.
"Don't tell Sharon what?" Provenza asked. "Flynn, are you okay? Sharon's not here. Do you know where you are, what year it is?" Provenza started to panic as he tried to assess Andy. Andy didn't stay standing for long. He dropped to his knees in pain.
"Ugh, my side," he complained. "Sharon," he sighed again.
"Well, I'm certainly not HER!" Provenza exclaimed. "Flynn, are you okay? Do you know where you are?"
"I was thrown from a moving car!" Andy yelled. "I'm in awful pain. What happened? Did we get that lady, Molly right?'
"Sykes and Mike stopped her. They are arresting her now," Provenza looked around to the team and noted that Mike was holding up the walkie talkie and nodding to him. "Look, Mike is telling me he's called for an ambulance. Just sit tight. Are you hurting anywhere else?"
"My head," Andy grumbled. "My side," he winced. "I'm in a lot of pain."
"We all know you have a hard head, Flynn," Provenza told him. "I hear the sirens now."
It took another half hour, but Andy was sent to the hospital while the rest of the team went back to work. Taylor was alerted to Andy's situation, and the team focused on solving the case.
"Just got off the phone with the hospital," Provenza nodded to the group. "Flynn is going to be okay, just a couple cracked ribs. Lucky for all of us, I'm his medical proxy, so there's your medical update."
"Is he coming back to work?" Amy asked. "Shouldn't one of us take him home?"
"Flynn is better coming here," Provenza nodded. "If he goes home, he'll be alone. Here, we can keep an eye on him. Not even home a day, and he goes and does something so stupid. Jumping onto a moving car," he sighed as he shook his head.
"Do we need to call his daughter or anything?" Amy asked. "I feel like we should let someone know."
"Well, the one person HE would want to tell doesn't work here anymore. No, if the doctor said he'll be okay, he can call Nicole himself. We have an agreement not to call family or ex-family," he clarified, "unless one of us is dying."
The team started to chuckle, but they stopped as Andy entered the room.
"Lieutenant!" Amy exclaimed. Andy just nodded to the group as he clutched his rib.
"Guys," he sighed. "What a day it has been."
"Flynn, office now," he heard and looked up to find Taylor walking down the hall. Taylor pointed to Sharon's old office and nodded for Provenza to join them.
"I'm fine, Taylor," Andy sighed as he closed the door and entered the office. Provenza walked in from the other door and shook his head at Andy.
"Sit down, Flynn," Taylor nodded to the chair. Andy sighed as he sat and looked to Sharon's empty desk. The office had been empty so long now, dust had collected on everything. He sat in the chair, wincing as he sat.
"Flynn, were you cleared to come back to work?" Taylor asked.
"I wasn't told I couldn't," he grumbled as he winced again. "I can't take the opiates, so the meds aren't helping."
"Solve this and get him home," Taylor told Provenza. "Flynn, take at least tomorrow to get back on your feet. You'll need to stay on desk duty at least the rest of the week. I know those ribs will take quite awhile to heal, and I don't need you trying to run down any suspects. We'll see how you are doing at the end of the week, understood?"
"Understood," Andy grumbled.
"Stay here, Flynn. I'll take you home soon if we can't wrap this up tonight. We might have to come in first thing in the morning with fresh eyes on the case."
"I can get home myself, Provenza," Andy waved him off.
"Stay here. That's an order, Flynn," Provenza pointed to him. Andy just nodded and closed his eyes as he tried to fight the pain. He heard Provenza and Taylor leave the room and sighed as he tried to relax. What he really wanted to do was to pick up the phone and hear Sharon's voice. It was now late into the evening in LA, which meant it was even later in Ohio. Knowing Sharon, she was home from work and had eaten dinner and walked at the track. The two had spent a great deal of time doing that when he'd been in Ohio with her. The exercise was good, the company even better. The two found themselves walking between three and four miles each evening, as the conversation flowed so easily, they lost track of the time. He hoped Sharon had time to walk this evening and wished beyond anything, that he had been able to walk with Sharon instead of sitting in her now abandoned office with cracked ribs. Andy decided that he needed to get back on his feet, that he needed to get back to work, but as he stood, he suddenly got dizzy again. He felt himself start to fall, but somewhere in the daze, felt someone hold him up. He knew he had to have passed out because he found himself in the back of an ambulance for the second time that day.
"Buzz?" he looked over and saw Buzz riding with him.
"Hold still, Lieutenant," he nodded and the paramedic nodded along with him.
"What happened?" he grimaced in pain as he tried to shift.
"You started to collapse. Lieutenant Provenza caught you, and you were in and out as we got the paramedics upstairs. I volunteered to ride with you because the rest of the team was arresting the chauffeur's son."
"Wait, what?" he asked, slightly confused.
"I'll explain later, but I've got orders not to leave you alone until Lieutenant Provenza arrives. Lieutenant, I think you actually scared the old guy," Buzz offered a small smile.
Andy tried to laugh, but he clutched his side as he did so. He closed his eyes, but he was nudged awake by Buzz.
"They are worried you have a concussion," he told Andy. "Try to stay awake, Lieutenant."
A couple hours later, Andy's concussion was confirmed this time, even though earlier in the day, the doctor had said he didn't think Andy had a concussion. The movement of the curtain had both Andy and Buzz glance toward the opening.
"You're still alive," Provenza nodded to him. "Buzz, we won't have to fire you."
Buzz looked to Provenza, horrified, as he glanced between the men. "Lieutenant Provenza, the lieutenant here is doing better. He's got a concussion, but he's going to be fine."
"I'm not dead, Buzz!" Andy exclaimed as he glanced to Provenza. "What, no balloons this time?"
"Gift shop was out," Provenza smirked. "Besides, I've got to haul you home with me, no time to deal with balloons. You get personalized care at Casa Provenza tonight. Don't tell that to anyone, Buzz," Provenza pointed to him. "You can go now. Thanks for keeping him alive."
Buzz turned to Andy, "Lieutenant, is there anything I can get for you?"
"No, Buzz," Andy nodded. "Thank you for keeping me company. If Provenza kills me overnight, make sure he's arrested for it."
"I will, Lieutenant," Buzz patted his shoulder. "I'll see you in a couple days. Get some rest."
Both Andy and Provenza waited for Buzz to leave, and then Andy turned to Provenza, "I guess I owe you thanks for not letting me pass out at the office."
"You would have done the same," Provenza shrugged, shying away from the discussion.
"I'm perfectly fine to go home, you know," Andy pointed out to Provenza.
"Oh no, you're not," Provenza pointed his finger at Andy. "Doctor said you need care and supervision. As much as it pains me, you can stay at my place. I already made the long drive to your place for clothing and your unmentionables," he shuddered. "Actually, that was quite easy. Your suitcase was still halfway packed, so I just grabbed it. I hope you have something in there you can wear."
"You grabbed my suitcase?" Andy asked, his eyes now shocked at the statement. He quickly thought back to the airport and sat back against the bed, in relief, as he remembered he had taken the baggage tag off his luggage and thrown it away at the airport.
"Well, it was better than going through your drawers to find clothing. You'll be at my place a couple days. I'm sure you can survive, although that new suit and tie of yours, well, they don't seem to have met the same fate."
Andy glanced down at his rumpled and torn suit. His jacket and tie were at the end of the bed, his pants and shirt, on top of that, all torn and stained. "I really liked that suit."
"Yeah, well, I like going to Patrice's place at night, but today, neither of us get our way. You're stuck with me," he stated. "You're officially on medical leave at least until the end of the week. If you can refrain from passing out, Taylor said you can come back to work next week. Way to get a few more vacation days, Flynn," Provenza nodded.
"Vacation days!" Andy exclaimed and winced as he strained and grabbed his ribs. He hurt all over, and as much as he didn't want to tell Provenza that, the pain was etched on his face.
"The doctor said he'd be in soon to discharge you again," Provenza told him. "Until then, just sit there. Your extra vacation days start tomorrow."
"It's not a vacation, Provenza! Believe me, if I had a vacation, I wouldn't spend it at your place. I'd take off again," he grumbled.
"Yes, and we need to discuss that, your trip, as well as a comment from today. What was that all about at the airport today, when you were run over, the comment about not telling Sharon? Do you remember saying that?"
"Yeah, I remember!" Andy snapped at him. "It just slipped out."
"Seems to me that she must be on your mind," Provenza pointed out.
"Of course, she is!" Andy exclaimed. "I think of her all the time."
"Hmm, well, tell me something I didn't know, Flynn. I know that, but why would you tell me not to tell her. Flynn, I don't know where she is, but I'm beginning to wonder if you do?"