Chapter 7

A few days later, John's phone was alive with notifications. Text message after text message came in as he picked up his phone. He scrolled to the oldest text notification and a gasp escaped his mouth.

Jackson's awake.

The rest of the messages were messages of amazement and gratitude. A few asked if there had been any luck finding the drunk driver. Lucy replied that she had been looking all shift for the car between calls and had yet to find it. She texted the pictures she had taken as the car drove off as a reminder. John's fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed out his reply.

Glad he's awake. When can he come home?

A few days. They just wanna make sure he's healed more. Came Lucy's reply.

Sounds good.

John put the phone in his pocket and headed to the kitchen to cook some breakfast. He decided on pancakes and bacon and got out the necessary ingredients and tools. About fifteen minutes later, he had everything ready to go and was seated at the table. He turned on the news and tuned in to the current news story.

"And now an update to our story from Monday, the LAPD officer who was hit by a drunk driver is awake, sources say. The officer and his partner were hit while en route to a call on Monday and he was unconscious in the hospital. We've been informed he'll be in the hospital for a few more days, but that he's doing well."

It amazed John how quickly news reports got to the media. Jackson hadn't been awake more than an hour or so and already the news was reporting on it. He finished his breakfast and washed the dishes off in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher. A quick glance at the clock told him he had just enough time to visit Jackson before running some errands. Today was his day off, but it was almost shift change again and it was his turn to pick his shift. He also wanted to stop by and pick up some information on requirements for being a TO. Gathering his things, he walked out the door after setting the house alarm. Locking the door behind him, he went out to his car and took to the streets of LA. He made his way to the hospital and up to Jackson's room. The young officer was sitting up in bed, a tray of food in front of him. He looked up as John entered the room, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Nolan." he said, his voice still somewhat tired.

"How ya doing, buddy?" John asked.

"Better. Still in a bit of pain, but the medicine helps."

"Good. We miss you at the station. You think they'll let you out soon?"

"I heard a few more days. I gotta heal up some and get my strength back before they'll let me go."

"You'll be out of here before you know it. Just make sure to not…"

"Overdo it?"

"Yeah." John said with a chuckle.

"No need to worry about that. I don't think they'll let me overdo it."

"Yeah. They'll take good care of you, I'm sure."

The door opened and in walked Jackson's father, Commander West. John was instantly at attention and saluted the Commander, who saluted back.

"Officer Nolan," he said, releasing his salute.

"Sir," Nolan replied, going back to attention.

"Thank you for coming to visit Jackson. It means a lot to know you have his back."

"Always, sir. He's a good friend and a good officer."

Commander West nodded and gave Nolan the briefest of smiles. Then he crossed over to his son's bedside. John took the opportunity to excuse himself and wished Jackson well before heading out. His next stop was the station where he quickly found the shift sign up area. He quickly identified that his current shift was still available and James had already signed up for it. After signing his name next to James', he went to the part of the station where they kept fliers about promotional opportunities. He spotted one that was about being a Training Officer and headed out the back doors of the station, saying hello to his fellow officers on the way out. Getting in the car, he headed towards the gas station to fill up the car before going to the store for the week's groceries. As he walked down one of the aisles, a gentleman in the aisle collapsed, grabbing his arm as he went down. John rushed over and saw the man's eyes were closed. He felt for a pulse and felt nothing, so he began CPR. A crowd began to form around them and John began giving orders to the bystanders.

"You, call 911. You, go let a worker know what's going on. You, see if someone can find a defibrillator. Go!" he barked, continuing the chest compressions. A few moments later, a bystander came back with an employee in tow.

"What's going on?" the employee asked.

"I think…this man…had…a heart attack." John said as he continued CPR.

"I called 911 and they're on the way." a bystander interjected.

The employee nodded and knelt down next to John, ready to take over when needed. Within minutes, another employee and bystander came by carrying the defibrillator. John continued compressions as they prepared the pads. When they were ready to stick the pads to the patient, John held compressions. The employee took the scissors and cut the man's shirt before putting the pads on him. He pressed a button on the defibrillator and a voice came out through the speakers.

"Scanning for shockable rhythm. Stand clear of the patient. Shocking in 3, 2, 1."

The man's body jumped as he was shocked.

"Feel for a pulse."

John put two fingers to the man's neck and felt no pulse.

"If no pulse, continue CPR."

John began compressions again as he heard voices in the distance. The voices grew louder and John felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Sir, we're paramedics. We'll take over from here."

"Thank you," John said, out of breath and sweating. "He's been shocked once, but still no pulse."

The paramedic nodded and took over with compressions. One of the other paramedics got on the defibrillator and pushed the button. The first paramedic held compressions as the defibrillator shocked the patient. He then checked for a pulse.

"Pulse weak and thready. We've got him. Let's go!"

John breathed a sigh of relief that they were able to get the man back. The man was placed on a gurney and wheeled out of the store. John finished his grocery shopping and then headed back home.

When he got home, he made himself a sandwich for lunch and sat down at the table. As he ate, he checked his to-do list for the day and checked off the things he had done. With just a couple things left to do, he decided to relax a bit before getting those last two things done. All that was left were meal prepping for the week and starting to read a book Tim had loaned him on being a TO. If he knew Tim, he'd have him quizzed on every inch of the book, so John planned to highlight and take notes in case he ran into Tim tomorrow while on shift. He'd take it a couple chapters at a time so that he wasn't cramming and his brain could retain it better. When he finished his lunch, he put the dishes in the dishwasher and made his way to the living room couch. He figured he'd read for a bit first and then meal prep. As he read, he found himself highlighting quite a bit and writing things in his own words in his notebook. He'd long ago discovered that was the best way for him to remember things.

If you can explain it in your own words, you truly know it. His fifth grade teacher had told him.

An hour later, he had read through the first two chapters and was ready for a break. He set down his notebook, pencil, and the book on the table and went into the kitchen. Looking through some cookbooks, he found a few meals he wanted to make for the week and began cooking them. As he waited for the water to start boiling, he threw some laundry in the washer and went back into the kitchen to check on his food. A quick glance in the pot told him the water was starting to boil, so he gathered the ingredients needed for the next step and put them in. An amazing aroma of cooking vegetables and spices filled the house. When the vegetables were softened a bit, he put in some ingredients for a sauce. When the sauce had begun to form, he put in some chicken, making sure that it was submerged in the sauce so that it could soak it in. While it cooked, he stirred every minute or so to keep things from sticking. When the chicken was ready, he turned off the heat and moved the pot to the next burner over so that it would be off the heat. Then he stirred and stirred until the sauce thickened to his liking and waited for it to cool. After it cooled, he found some Tupperware and divided the food into five containers. Then he started on the next meal. Before he knew it, he had the next week's lunches and dinners ready to go. Suddenly he felt a drop in his energy level and realized he hadn't eaten dinner yet. He made himself a sandwich and chips and sat down at the kitchen table to eat. When he finished eating, he read one more chapter in the book before heading to bed.

A few days later, Jackson was out of the hospital and back home. He was staying with his parents for a bit so they could keep an eye on him for the next few days. Jackson didn't want to, but there was no arguing with Commander West. They had finally found the drunk driver and arrested him for driving under the influence. He had been driving drunk again and Nyla had caught him as he almost caused an accident. Now he was facing multiple counts of drunk driving and he'd had a warrant out from the next county over that they'd extradited. He was looking at a long time in jail.

John entered the station and went to roll call, taking a seat next to James. Sergeant Grey walked up to the front and gave them the information from the midnight shift sergeant. After being dismissed, John and James started their patrol of the streets of LA. As they drove, they took calls for a violation of court order, a burglary, and a theft. As they wrapped up the paperwork for the theft, the dispatcher's voice filled the airwaves.

"7-Adam-15, copy missing child."

"7-Adam-15, go ahead."

The dispatcher gave them the address and informed them that a five-year-old was missing and the house had been searched. Multiple units announced they were en route as well and by the time they got to the house, three other units were there and two more were on their way. John talked with the mom and helped her re-check the house. Other units searched the area as John kept them apprised of where the child might be. James circled the backyard before walking down the street and back to the house. Half an hour went by with no sign of the child. Suddenly, a unit keyed up.

"7-Adam-20, I have eyes on the child." the unit said, giving his location.

Other units made their way over to the officer's location and within ten minutes, the child was back home.

"Harrison!" the mother cried, tears in her eyes as she hugged her son.

John felt immediate relief as he watched mother and son embrace. He could only imagine how the mother had felt upon realizing her son was missing. It brought him back to the time he and Henry were playing hide-and-seek and he couldn't find him. His heart had pounded as he searched frantically throughout the house, starting with the normal places before moving to the less likely places. Finally, after ten or fifteen minutes (that had felt like hours) of frantically searching every nook and cranny, he had found him hiding in the toy box, buried underneath the toys inside. Shaking off the memory, he brought himself back to the present and walked back to the car, ready for the next call. The rest of the shift went by quickly and he finished his reports in record time. Heading home, he could smell in his mind's eye the meal that awaited him at home. As he walked in after gathering his things, he set them down next to the chair in the living room and then got a meal out of the refrigerator and popped it in the microwave. Minutes later, it was ready and he was chowing down at the kitchen table. Once he finished eating, he read another chapter in the book Tim had loaned him and then went to bed, feeling good about the productive day he'd had.