Chapter 17

Lucy bit her lip nervously as she sat at her kitchen counter. She hated leaving the hospital but knew she needed to take care of a few things at her apartment. Tamara watched Lucy intently.

"Listen. Go talk to Chris." Tamara suggested as she placed some scrambled eggs in front of Lucy.

Lucy glanced down at the eggs. "Do you realize it is 6 pm.?"

"What? You know you like my eggs." Tamara winked before adding. "Quit ignoring me. You know I'm right."

"I know." Lucy took a small bite of the eggs. She smiled as she savored the taste. "You can make eggs."

"Funny." Playfully, Tamara swatted at Lucy's shoulder. "Quit putting this off. You need to talk to Chris today. You're going to feel guilty until you do. From what you've told me, you were pretty rough on him."

"I was terrible. I lost it. I was so worried about Tim. I needed to blame someone. I promise I will talk to Chris before I head back to the hospital. By the way, how do you feel about staying here alone for a while. I'm going to help Tim out as much as I can when he gets home from the hospital. Whenever that is." Lucy sighed out sadly.

"Please. It isn't like I slept on the streets or anything." Tamara teased in a sarcastic tone. "Besides, you haven't left Tim's side since he got in the hospital. Officer Zaddy owes you big time. Maybe you can take it out in some kind of trade."

Tamara wiggled her eyebrows at the last of her sentence.

"Oh my gosh, Tamara!" Lucy's mouth dropped open. "Stop that!" Lucy then grinned. "Well, maybe."

Both ladies laughed at each other before Tamara shoved Lucy towards the door. "Go. Talk to Chris so you can head back over to Officer Zaddy."

"That's Sergeant Zaddy, Miss." Lucy chuckled as she walked out the door.

Her giggles stopped when she thought of how badly she had treated Chris at the hospital. Tamara was right. It was time to talk to Chris.

Chris answered the door to his apartment. "Lucy?" He looked bewildered. "Come in."

"I came to say I'm sorry." Lucy stepped in the door. She didn't sit down because she didn't plan on staying long. "I know Tim getting shot wasn't your fault."

"I'm sorry about Tim. How is he doing?" Chris watched as Lucy nervously pulled a loose thread on her sweater.

"He's going to be fine." Lucy stared up at Chris. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "He woke up for a few minutes. The doctor said that is what they were waiting on. Genny, his sister, is with him. I wanted to give them some time before I head back to the hospital."

"I knew you were upset. Tim means a lot to you." Chris raked his hand down Lucy's arm.

"He means the world to me, Chris." Lucy bit her lip as a tear slowly made its way down her cheek. "That's another reason I'm here."

Chris held up his hand alerting Lucy to stop. "You don't want to see me anymore."

" I'm sorry. It wouldn't be fair to either of us." Lucy swiped her hand over her cheek.

"I know." Chris agreed. "I have known from the first date. I was hoping I'd have a chance. I knew though. Take care of each other."

"Thank you, Chris." Lucy kissed Chris's cheek before turning to leave.

On the way back to the hospital, Lucy cried. She cried due to being overwhelmed. Her feelings for Tim crashed around her. She needed him in her life. She wanted more than a working relationship or a friendship. She wanted romance.

Back at the hospital, Lucy walked in to see Tim sitting up. He still had tubes in his nose. His smile at seeing her hid his pain. Lucy ran to throw herself on the bed beside him. Tim exhaled as Lucy's body hit him.

"Sorry.. Oh, I'm so sorry." Lucy exclaimed as she tried to pull herself off him.

Tim's arm wrapped tightly around her. "Don't go."

Lucy felt her heart beating deep in her chest at the way he pleaded for her to stay. She gently laid her head on his chest. Tim could fill the tears wetting his hospital gown.

"Hey. Now. None of that." Tim raked his hand down her tendrils of hair.

"I could've lost you. She was aiming for me." Lucy gulped. "I killed Ashley. I'm so sorry."

"If you hadn't killed her, she'd have killed you." Tim kept running his fingers through her hair. "I don't want to think about that scenario. How are you handling all this?"

Lucy playfully slapped Tim on his chest. She made sure that she didn't get near his wound. "Seriously, Tim. You're the one who was shot."

"Still. It is a lot." Tim could feel Lucy relaxing as his fingers continued to rake through her hair. "Being back there at that place."

"Honestly, the thought of being back there left when I saw you get shot." Lucy admitted. "All I could think of was saving you."

Tim relaxed at Lucy's words. He closed his eyes to dream of her. It wasn't long before both felt the need to sleep. The long days of not sleeping finally got to Lucy. Tim was still recovering from the gunshot.

"Do you think they make a habit of this?" Nyla asked as Angela looked into the room at the sleeping couple.

"Yeah. I do." Angela shook her head. "Sadly, they have no clue how each other feels."

"We should help them with that." Nyla said as they placed the food for Tim and Lucy on the hospital stand.

Both of them left plotting Tim's and Lucy's future.

Lucy woke to a barking sound. She sat up startled. Nolan stood with Bailey at the end of the bed. Tim rubbed his eyes as he woke up.

"Surprise." Nolan said as he held a wiggling Kojo in his arms. He ignored the fact that Lucy was curled up into Tim's side. He'd not embarrass either of them. "He missed Tim."

"Is he allowed to be here?" Tim sat up as much as he could. He noticed the bag of food on the hospital stand but he didn't really have his appetite back.

"We know people." Bailey joked as Nolan placed Kojo on Tim's bed.

The dog had his casted legs. Therefore, Kojo couldn't get too mobile with Tim. The dog did climb up between Tim and Lucy wanting their attention. He was rewarded with pats and good boy talk.

"We have been ordered by Angela and Nyla to keep Tim company while they take you out for a girl's night." Nolan explained. "Kojo was my idea."

"I don't want to go anywhere." Lucy smiled at Tim as she got up from his bed.

"Go. I'll visit with Kojo and them." Tim insisted.

"I see where we fall in line." Bailey teased as she elbowed Nolan's side. She looked back at Lucy. "You better go."

"Please. Angela said to not take no for an answer." Nolan sat down in a chair beside Tim's bed. "I'm afraid of Angela."

Lucy didn't want to leave but she knew Nolan and Bailey wouldn't leave anytime soon. She begrudgingly walked to her car. She was met by Angela and Nyla. Both women looped their arms in Lucy's.

"Girl, we need to talk." Nyla said as she and Angela steered her to their awaiting vehicle.

They settled down at a small restaurant near the hospital. It was a nice restaurant. Lucy found she enjoyed the meal. It had been a while since tasting a good meal. The ambiance was relaxing even if Lucy found herself thinking about Tim.

"You need to ditch Chris." Angela said between bites of her salad.

Lucy almost choked on her bite of food. She cleared her throat. "Excuse me?"

"She's right. Chris isn't the man you need." Pointing at Lucy with her fork, Nyla took a sip of her sweet tea as she added to the conversation.

"I'm not going on another dating thing with you two." Lucy leaned back in her chair.

"Of course not. You have a perfectly good man already." Angela grinned as she took another bite of her salad. "This is really good."

"It is. Why have we never eaten here before?" Nyla questioned. "We'll definitely make it a go to place."

"Definitely." Angela savored the taste of her salmon. "We may even bring Wesley and James next time."

"I thought you just told me to get rid of Chris." Lucy thought the two women were losing their minds. She was confused by the conversation already without the added admiration of the restaurant food.

"Yeah. Get rid of Chris. The man perfect for you is Tim." Angela winked at Nyla when they saw Lucy's eyes widen in shock.

"I've already broken up with Chris. However, Tim doesn't see me like that." Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

"And here I thought she'd make a great detective. I guess I could've been wrong about that." Angela teased as Nyla made a knowing face.

"I hadn't been working as a TO for long before Tim was all in my face over you working under cover. He has always been obvious about how he feels about you." Nyla watched as Lucy looked in deep thought. "Why haven't you seen what we have?"

"I guess because I joked about having feelings for him once. He never shows me a side like that. Or I was afraid he wouldn't return my feelings." Lucy admitted. It felt good letting someone know how she felt about Tim.

"Well, that throws a wrench in the situation." Angela put down her fork. "I know Tim. He will never show his feelings if he thinks you were joking about a relationship."

"Oh." Lucy seemed down trodden at Angela's words.

"Don't be so upset." Angela laughed. "All that means is that you have to make the first move. First things first. Let's finish this great food. Then you can start working on winning Tim's trust in your feelings for him."

"Shouldn't I worry about winning his heart first?" Lucy bit into her own food.

"You've already won his heart." Angela and Nyla said the words at the same time.