It was a long week, a very long week. Sharon wanted to kiss Ricky for the distraction he was, the three days he was in town. As much as she wanted to do that, she knew her grown son would "freak out" a bit if she tried. Oh, bless Ricky for surprising her and distracting her for a few days. The rest of the week dragged on like she couldn't believe.
Sharon tried to figure out the difference. She'd gone well over a year without basic interaction with Andy, and she'd survived, but all she wanted to do now was march into the Murder Room and kiss him into next week. She missed him; she wanted to put her arms around him and hear him whisper in her ear anything really. She realized she was being silly; she'd seen him yesterday when she had a meeting with Chief Johnson. He hadn't seen her because he was across the room dealing with something else. Sharon realized this was almost childish behavior. People often didn't see a loved one for a long time; the military had to do it all the time, and they were sending their loved ones to dangerous places. Although, she did have to acknowledge that sending Andy out anywhere with Provenza might qualify as dangerous. She missed him, plain and simple and saw just what this exercise was supposed to prove. She didn't want to let him go.
It was now Friday afternoon, and Sharon was ready to scream. She'd wanted to call Andy all week. Nothing had even happened, yet she wanted to call him. She missed talking to him, more than she realized. She missed just having him in her life. She realized they'd made quite a bit of progress because in the last year and a half, she'd gone through a range of emotions, first with the grief and sorrow, wanting to call him, but for different reasons. She'd gotten used to not speaking to him, more of an anger building, and now, she recognized she loved him and just missed him. It was Friday, and she had to make it until Sunday. Silly, but she knew she had it bad.
Sharon sighed as she looked at the clock. It was only 2:45, but she then started laughing knowing that Andy and Provenza would be arriving at their final day of their computer training. She knew he had to be going nuts over that, and maybe, just maybe, of all weeks to not be allowed to talk to him, this was a good one. She was sure Provenza was getting an earful from Andy each day.
Her phone rang, drawing her from her thoughts. "Was this whole no talking thing the same week as our required training your idea too, Captain?" she heard and instantly closed her eyes and held in a chuckle.
"Well, good afternoon to you too, Lieutenant. What can I do for you?" she asked.
"I'm ready to pull the plug on myself, Captain! He's in the bathroom, but it's about all I can take to listen to him go on and on everyday. Please tell me this week of torture is up," he said.
"Almost, Lieutenant. Things should be back to normal by Monday," she replied. "I'm sure, though, he told you that."
"Well, I wouldn't know! I've tuned out just about anything the idiot has said all week. I've got to go; we can't be on our phone during class, or we have to repeat it. Deal with him!" Provenza said totally irritated.
Sharon covered her mouth from laughter after she hung up with Provenza. He was always complaining about something, but it did her good to hear that apparently, Andy was having a rough a week as she was, well, maybe worse. She'd had Ricky to distract her for a few days. Andy only had Provenza and 14 hour workdays. Yes, maybe Andy had it worse this week.
Sharon decided to turn in early Friday evening because she planned to do some shopping on Saturday morning. She was an early riser, unlike most of LA on their day off, so she planned to get her shopping in during the morning. She had no idea what her afternoon plans would entail, but she had to find something to distract herself. She never had this problem before, trying to distract her thoughts of Andy, but it was really driving her nuts right now. After a morning of shopping and a leisurely lunch, Sharon decided to go for a walk on the beach. Time got away from her, as did distance, and by the time she got back to her car, she was exhausted. She'd walked over five miles, but she'd enjoyed it immensely.
She was almost home when her phone rang again, and once again it was Provenza. Sharon almost didn't answer it because, well, it was Provenza, and the two weren't into the girlish chit chat, but considering they worked together often, she couldn't ignore it.
"What can I do for you, Lieutenant? I assume you and your partner passed your course with flying colors?" she grinned into the phone.
"Course? Oh, yeah, it's done," he grumbled. "Listen, Flynn's in the ER. He was playing in a softball game with some of the guys from AA, some league he joined, and he broke his nose."
"What?" Sharon said, mildly panicked. "Is he okay?"
"He should be fine. I'm almost there to check on the idiot. They called me because he's always told them I'm his partner, and my card is in his wallet. All the guys in the group know that. Anyway, I thought you'd want to know. They said he got hit in the face with the ball. I'm just going to forward you the text I have with the hospital address," Provenza explained.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I am in the car anyway. I'm almost home, so I'll get turned around, pull up your text, and I'll meet you there. I appreciate the call," she said, and the two hung up. She sighed and shook her head as she pulled over to get the hospital information. She started in the right direction, almost in disbelief. She couldn't even be unplugged from Andy for a week before he hurt himself. She'd have to applaud him for at least not being with Provenza.
Sharon arrived at the hospital a half hour later. From Provenza's latest text, Andy was almost done; they had trouble getting the bleeding to stop, but he was going to be okay, well, aside from the broken nose. Provenza gave her all the information to find him in the ER.
She walked into his curtain area, shaking her head, catching Andy's glance as he looked up at her.
"You called her?" Andy asked Provenza.
"Well, you didn't," Provenza snapped back.
"I was going to call her as soon as they got me all squared away," Andy explained.
"I know," Sharon cut in, "how about saying, 'Hi, Sharon, I'm glad to see you' or 'Thanks, Provenza for being a friend and calling her?' but that's just a suggestion," she shrugged, moving over toward the bed where he was sitting. He must have been hit hard; his shirt was covered in blood. She'd seen gunshots with less blood.
"Hi, Sharon," he repeated, "I'm very happy to see you," he grinned at her. Provenza made a face and rolled his eyes.
"That's my cue," he stuck up his hand. "Flynn, glad you are going to make it. Call me if you need anything, well, no, call her," he hooked a hand at Sharon. "What a coincidence seeing you here, Captain," he smirked as he left the room.
Sharon touched his arm, "Thank you for calling me, Lieutenant."
"Just get him cleaned up," he threw a scowl back at Andy. Andy smirked at Provenza before Provenza left the room.
Sharon turned back to Andy, crossing her arms and shaking her head, "Andy, what am I going to do with you?"
He gave her a pitiful glance, "Hopefully, spring me from this place? You're my last attempt at a ride home, well, unless I start hitting on the nurses," he grinned. "Didn't work when I was stabbed, though," he shrugged.
Sharon walked over and took her hand to his face, moving it alongside where he'd gotten hit, "Andy, it looks painful."
"It is," he said. Sharon leaned in and kissed his cheek. "However, the old wives' tale of kissing it to make it better, that really does seem to work."
She swatted at his arm, as she laughed. Andy shifted so she could sit down near him, and she sat on the side of the bed, looking at him. "Sorry you broke your nose," she frowned.
"I'm not," he groaned. "I got to see you. Sharon, it's been a really, really long week." She grabbed onto his shoulder as she started laughing, and he started laughing too.
"Oh, it's been a horrible week," she sighed. "The bright spot was Ricky's visit, but as soon as he left, I realized just how much I missed you. I've been going stir crazy all week wanting to call you or anything. Wait," she dug out her phone, and Andy watched as she punched away at it with her finger. He was curious as to what she could be doing, what drove her from their conversation to her phone. "There," she smiled at him.
"What were you doing? Oh, I forgot to call the kids," he sighed.
"No, I wasn't talking to any of the kids. We can do that later. No, I had over 10 emails for you sitting in my draft folder. Every time I wanted to talk to you, I wrote you an email, and I put them all in my draft folder. You should be getting them," she smiled.
Andy flashed a smile at her and picked up his phone. He had to dig around for it, but finally located it, and soon, the ding of his phone indicated he had messages. "Ahh, look at that-a bunch of new emails. Guess I'll have to read them later. The real thing is right here."
Sharon pulled his hand in hers, "So, I think this was a good week, though, even if it was hard. I realized that I don't want you out of my life. I miss you and want you in my life. The only person I wanted to talk to all week was you, good or bad, day or night. That says a lot considering the long workdays you've had," she bit her lip and tried not to laugh, but as soon as she saw Andy's eye roll, she burst out laughing.
"Laugh all you want," he said. "Provenza and I have something for you on Monday."
Sharon straightened up right away, "Oh, gosh, I should be worried."
"You should," he flashed a smile. The nurse walked in with his paperwork, explaining he could go home, but to watch the nose. Sharon and Andy both listened, each with questions about medication and healing, and 30 minutes later, they were walking out of the hospital.
"Everyone is staring," he hissed at her, and she glanced up to him.
"Well, you do look like you were shot," she admitted. "Sorry, if I had anything else for you to wear, I would have brought it."
Sharon helped Andy into the car, and then she started for his house. She could tell the pain was kicking in and the mild painkillers were wearing off. He was making faces, obviously in pain. "You need a good hot shower when you get home," she told him. "I'll see if I can dig up some dinner."
"You don't have to do that," he winced again, as he shifted in the car. "Really," he added.
"Andy, accept the help," she said.
"It's just that you don't need to be babysitting me or worrying about me," he complained.
"Andy, are we really going to argue about this of all things? Please, you're hurt, and I want to be around you. You were just saying how glad you were to see me. Well, take this as a great opportunity to break the rules of the week."
He shook his head, and mumbled, "Yes, Dear," earning a smack to the arm from her. "It's not that I don't want you around, the opposite," he said after the car had gone silent. "I just-I'm a guy, and here I look like an idiot with a gusher bleeding everywhere that hurts like crazy."
"Andy, it's okay," Sharon turned to him. "After everything, a broken nose with some blood isn't going to run me off. You are manly enough; you don't need to prove anything. I will admit, if we have to stop anywhere, I might deny knowing you with the blood-soaked shirt. I guess I'd be afraid they'd arrest me for domestic assault."
Andy started to laugh and hissed as the pain hit him again. He closed his eyes, trying to get comfortable until they got back to his house. By the time they did, he hadn't realized he'd dozed off in the car.
An hour later, Andy had rejoined the land of the living, and Sharon had cooked up some food for them. Andy had a lot of eggs, so she made breakfast for dinner. He joined her in the kitchen, where she had a cup of coffee waiting for him.
"Did the shower help?" she asked. He shrugged.
"Well, it still hurts, but I don't look like I've been brutally attacked. This looks great. Thanks for making dinner," he smiled, pulling her into his side. "Now, I can at least hold you without worrying I'll get blood all over you."
Sharon hummed, as she turned and pulled him in for a full embrace. The two stood like that before Sharon said, "Sit, eat. The food is getting cold, and you can tell me about this broken nose."
After they had finished cleaning up dinner, Andy turned to her, "Listen, I understand if you have to go, if I pulled you away from something this afternoon and evening, but if you want, we can watch a movie. I'm supposed to keep my nose elevated, so I need to sit up anyway.
Sharon smiled, "That sounds good. I don't have any plans. Honestly, I probably would have typed out two or three more emails to you tonight," she admitted.
"Really?" he grinned. "Captain, just can't stay away."
She bit her lip, "I do have a confession. I was fully prepared to drive over here at midnight-that would make it Sunday-just to see you then. I really missed you, Andy," she smiled.
He smiled back, pulling her to the couch, "Well, lucky for you, I would have let you in. I missed you too." The got settled, Sharon sitting tucked into his side, but aware of his nose. "Any preference?" he asked as he flipped the channels.
"Just that I get to sit right there with you," she admitted. "The television-I don't care."
"What time did we agree to meet with the priest tomorrow?" he asked.
"3:30," Sharon replied as Andy settled on a show. The two dropped into silence, just enjoying sitting with each other. It was only several hours later, Andy woke up, realizing his nose was bleeding again, this time onto Sharon's hair. Now, she looked like she had a head wound. He jumped up to get the bleeding stopped. Sharon woke up out of her slumber and felt her head; it felt off, and quickly she realized he had fallen asleep with his head on hers, and now she had blood on it.
"Is your nose okay?" she said, walking into the kitchen, wetting a paper towel and starting on her hair.
"It will be," he sighed. He turned to her, and she started to chuckle.
"What's so funny? You're the one who now looks injured. I'm so sorry about your hair," he said, as it was muffled with the tissue over his face.
"Your face-it's now purple. You look even worse, and I'm sorry for laughing, but this night," she sighed.
"The good with the bad, Sharon" he sighed. "The good with the bad."
Sharon nodded, "Progress, Andy. It's progress."
