He stood in the hallway, his hands still shaking terribly. He shoved them into his pants pockets and shuffled his feet. He tried to focus on the hum of the fluorescent lights above his head; anything was better than thinking about how he felt.
"Officer Bradford?" he heard Sergeant Gray's voice echo through his concentration.
Tim's head turned quickly towards the sound. "Yes sir?" he responded automatically without thought.
His Sergeant looked at him with concern in his eye. "What are you doing out here?" He indicated toward the hospital room just down the hall where Officer Lucy Chen was resting after her rescue from her near-death by the hands of the serial killer known to them as Caleb Wright. Her rescue had come mere minutes before she would have run out of oxygen. Tim had lifted her crumpled, nearly lifeless body from the hole in the ground while doing something he had never really done before; Praying, begging God for her to still be alive.
He tried to think of a good excuse for being in the hallway and not being in the room with Lucy. There were about one thousand reasons why he hadn't gone in the room but none he wanted to say aloud.
He simply stated, "I can't."
Sgt. Gray nodded slowly, taking in Tim's demeanor. "Ok, son. I understand...Is there anything you want me to tell her for you?"
Tim shook his head quickly. "No, thank you sir."
Sgt. Gray nodded again and said, "Ok, get some rest tonight and we'll see you tomorrow for your interview."
He started to walk down the hall towards Chen's room before turning back and stopping, saying, "Just so you know, I think you did the right thing."
Tim looked at his commander and said firmly, "Thank you sir."
As the Sgt left, Tim focused back on the fluorescent lightning, moving further down the hallway away from other coworkers who would be more pressing with questions he didn't want to answer.
He found a chair in a empty section of hallway and sat down, resting his weary head on his hand.
He woke suddenly and with a gasp, wondering where he was. After a moment, realizing he was still in the hospital, all the events that led him here flooding back into his mind.
He blinked through squinted eyes at the nearby clock. It was 1:15am. He had his interview at the station later in the morning but he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet. He had to make sure she was okay even though he knew Caleb couldn't hurt her anymore...not after what he had done to him.
He shook his head. He should go home. He would go home. First, he had to check on her, just to make sure.
He slowly made his way down the hall, keeping an eye out for any other officers who might be lingering around. There was no one.
He came to a stop just outside her darkened hospital room, the only light coming from a small lamp barely lit in its corner that he could see through slitted blinds. Someone was in the room with Lucy he could see but he couldn't make out who.
He pressed his back against the door frame, close enough to hear them talk but far enough away to not be detected.
"I feel so tired and achy but otherwise I'm okay, " he heard Lucy say softly.
"That was a real close one Luce," he heard the visitor say. It was Officer John Nolan.
Lucy cleared her throat. "Yeah, it was...awful."
He heard Nolan sigh. "You're lucky Tim figured it out. We're all lucky he did."
Lucy waited a moment to respond. "Do you know what happened? How did he find me in time? No one will really tell me anything. They're all acting so weird."
"Well, I wasn't there so I can't say for certain..."
"Nolan, please. Just tell me what you heard."
Nolan clucked his tongue before answering. "What I heard was he found Caleb...tortured him until he revealed your location...and..."
Lucy's voice was impatient. "And what?"
"And killed him."
Tim closed his eyes and rested his head against the door frame softly.
Lucy said nothing for almost a full minute. "He hasn't come to see me yet. Have you seen him?"
Nolan replied, "No, I haven't. I'm sorry."
"If you do...would you tell him...tell him I need to see him?"
"Of course. Now I'll leave you to it, you get all the rest you need and I'll come by again tomorrow."
Nolan emerged into the hallway, almost certain someone had been standing there a moment ago.
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