"Let him go!"
"I'll blow his head off!"
"Look, if he dies, you die, too. Nobody wants that to happen. Now drop it!"
"They're gonna shoot me anyway."
"Take it easy, man, there's a way out of this."
"Drop it!"
Jr. then swiftly escaped out of his grip and with three shots Andy brought him down, then ran over to an injured Jr.
"You okay kid?"
"Yeah. How's the girl?"
"She's getting help. You did good..."
Andy came back to the present thinking of that day when he first came to know Jr. and then not much longer later he became his partner. At first Andy didn't like the idea having just lost two right in a row, and with this kid being so young and never having experience with being a detective before. But despite Andy's bitter attitude, Jr. struck back telling him he could either have him as a partner or he could go somewhere else. And from that day on, Andy discovered him to be a tough and stubborn, yet fair person, which turned out to make him one of the best rookie detectives Andy had ever seen.
He sighed as he waited impatiently in the waiting room, about to go crazy at any given moment. "I swear, if this hospital is runnin' for some kind of award for excellence then they sure aren't getting my vote. Hey, you!" he said, flagging down a nurse. "Is there any info yet on my partner?"
"No sir, he still in surgery," she replied.
"For a simple gunshot wound? Just what the hell kind of hospital are you people running here anyway? You kno-"
"Andy! Can I talk to you for a second?" Connie said, running up to him and interrupting.
"Why?"
Connie glared at him. "Because I said so, THAT's why."
Andy just nodded, cleared his throat and followed Connie as she mouthed, "I'm sorry" to the nurse behind them. They made their way into an empty room and Connie closed the door behind them, giving a deep sigh.
"Look, I know that this whole thing has got you upset, but that's no reason to assault the staff here."
"Well what am I supposed to do? Knit?" Andy replied, restlessly pacing the room.
"No, for starters you can calm down and pray, because that's the best thing that we can do for John right now."
"Pray? What's the use? I've prayed before and God's taken four people away from me that I cared about."
"I know. And I'm sorry that happened to you, but what about John?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you found him just in the nick of time. If you had been a second later than John may not be alive right now. You saved his live. Now if God didn't care about you, why would this have happened?"
"Oh, I don't know, Connie. Why did any of this have to happen? If I had stayed there that night a little bit longer, then none of this would have happened."
"Andy, you don't know that!"
"Yeah, well I do know that I couldn't even find him. If it hadn't of been for Rita, then he would be dead right now. Shows how sharp I am."
"Andy look, what you need to focus on right now is that Jr. is okay. He's alive. And it doesn't matter how or why we found him. The point is that we found him. And that's what you should be focusing on. Look, you're a good cop and a good person, but no one expects you to know everything. You're not perfect, no one is. So instead of focusing on what could have been, focus on what is. And that is is that Jr. is alive. You still have your partner and your friend. Please, just be glad you found him and don't worry about the past. Because the past is what it is. The past."
With that, Connie left the room quietly leaving Andy to ponder what she had said. She was right. He shouldn't worry about the past. He should just focus on Jr. and him getting well again. Because that truly would be a miracle of God. ** About an hour later, the doctor came out to Andy, Rita, Connie, Baldwin, Greg, gay John, and Rodriguez who were all waiting impatiently on news about Jr.
"Doctor, how is he?" Rodriguez asked.
"He's going to be fine. We got the bullet out fine, however we did run into another problem. You see, he was beaten so badly that he got three broken ribs and one of those managed to puncture his lung, which is why he was breathing so shallow. But luckily we got that taken care of. And from lack of nourishment and the temperature of the room, he got a small case of hypothermia. His temperature is at 103.1 degrees right now, but it should go down within a couple of days. So with proper rest he should be back on duty within a month or more, depending on how fast he heals."
Rodriguez nodded and shook the doctor's hand. "Thanks a lot, doc for all your help."
"You're very welcome."
"Uh, can I see him, doctor?" Rita asked, wiping her eyes from previous shed tears.
"Well, he may not be awake-"
"I don't care."
"Sure. But only for a few minutes."
"Thank you."
She then followed him to his room and she was taken aback for a slight second on how he looked. He had multiple cuts and bruises on him, as well as a sling on his right arm, a bandage on his head, and an oxygen tube on his nose. She slowly walked over to him, gently sitting down beside him, and taking his hand into hers.
"I can't believe what they did to you. Or why. But none of that matters now because you're here with me." She took a moment and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Alive. You know, when I first got married to my creep of a husband, I thought that he was going to be my true love forever. But the truth is, neither one of us knew what real love was. And then when he sat there and hassled me, you were always there for me, you were the only one that ever believed in me. And you've stuck by my side ever since then. And I don't know how you feel, but I... I love you, John Clark Jr. And I believe our love is strong, because God helped me find you. That just proves how destined we are to be together."
She then nuzzled against his hand, crying tears of joy and sadness, soon hearing a voice that filled her with warmth and caring.
"I love you, too, Rita..."
She looked over and saw Jr. starring at her with love in his eyes. He was weak, but with the love that was so strong between them, she noticed right away.
"Do you really?"
Jr. weakly smiled. "Would I lie to a hot chick like you?"
Rita laughed, loving that he had a sense of humor even when he was down. "No, I guess not."
"It's so great having such a beautiful sight to wake up to, rather than a gray, cold room."
"Oh, John, I'm so sorry that this happened to you!"
"Hey, I'll manage. It takes a lot more than that to bring me down. And right now, I don't even care about what happened. I just want to focus on the present. Which right now is looking very good. So how about it, will you marry me?"
Rita looked a bit taken aback. "What?!"
"Well, I figure most couples tell each other they love one another, and then it takes them forever to get engaged and then it even takes them longer to get married. So I figure, that we should just get engaged now, then by the time it would take most people to get engaged, we'll be getting married and we won't have waisted any time with each other."
"Wait, are you sure about this?"
"Look, sweetheart, with what just happened to me, I learned that you have to live life as if everyday was your last. And I couldn't find a better person to spend every one of those days with. So... Will you be my bride? I uh, would get down on one knee and everything, but I'm kind of held up at the moment."
Rita smiled. "Yeah, I see that. And... Yes, I will marry you, John."
"Really?"
"Really."
Jr. smiled, and gently pulled Rita into a kiss, which he thought he would never be able to do again.
"Well, as soon as I'm well enough, we're going to start planning."
Rita nodded. "You're sure it's not too soon?"
"No. Why?"
"Well, it's just that you had a traumatic experience and sometimes people are so glad to come out of them, that they say or do something, then as soon as they're well again, they don't want to go through with it. And I can't take having my heart broken again, John, I can't..."
"Whoa, whoa. Honey, trust me. I'm not going to take it back. I love you more than anything. I want you to be my wife. Please, trust me. I won't hurt you. Not in a million years. Allright?"
Rita grinned. "I know. I'm sorry. I love you so much."
"I love you, too."
They then kissed each other for a few seconds and parted with smiles on their faces.
"Well, I'd better go. The doctor said I could only be in here a few minutes," Rita stated.
"Has it been that long already?"
"Yeah, unfortunately it has."
"Okay. Well, although he may not be quite as gorgeous or sexy as you, could you send in Andy for me?"
"Sure thing, fiancée'."
Jr. smiled. "Thank you. You're the best."
"I know."
She got up to leave, leaning over and giving him one last kiss then slowly walked out of the room, thinking of and looking forward to being Mrs. John Clark Jr. **
"I'll blow his head off!"
"Look, if he dies, you die, too. Nobody wants that to happen. Now drop it!"
"They're gonna shoot me anyway."
"Take it easy, man, there's a way out of this."
"Drop it!"
Jr. then swiftly escaped out of his grip and with three shots Andy brought him down, then ran over to an injured Jr.
"You okay kid?"
"Yeah. How's the girl?"
"She's getting help. You did good..."
Andy came back to the present thinking of that day when he first came to know Jr. and then not much longer later he became his partner. At first Andy didn't like the idea having just lost two right in a row, and with this kid being so young and never having experience with being a detective before. But despite Andy's bitter attitude, Jr. struck back telling him he could either have him as a partner or he could go somewhere else. And from that day on, Andy discovered him to be a tough and stubborn, yet fair person, which turned out to make him one of the best rookie detectives Andy had ever seen.
He sighed as he waited impatiently in the waiting room, about to go crazy at any given moment. "I swear, if this hospital is runnin' for some kind of award for excellence then they sure aren't getting my vote. Hey, you!" he said, flagging down a nurse. "Is there any info yet on my partner?"
"No sir, he still in surgery," she replied.
"For a simple gunshot wound? Just what the hell kind of hospital are you people running here anyway? You kno-"
"Andy! Can I talk to you for a second?" Connie said, running up to him and interrupting.
"Why?"
Connie glared at him. "Because I said so, THAT's why."
Andy just nodded, cleared his throat and followed Connie as she mouthed, "I'm sorry" to the nurse behind them. They made their way into an empty room and Connie closed the door behind them, giving a deep sigh.
"Look, I know that this whole thing has got you upset, but that's no reason to assault the staff here."
"Well what am I supposed to do? Knit?" Andy replied, restlessly pacing the room.
"No, for starters you can calm down and pray, because that's the best thing that we can do for John right now."
"Pray? What's the use? I've prayed before and God's taken four people away from me that I cared about."
"I know. And I'm sorry that happened to you, but what about John?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you found him just in the nick of time. If you had been a second later than John may not be alive right now. You saved his live. Now if God didn't care about you, why would this have happened?"
"Oh, I don't know, Connie. Why did any of this have to happen? If I had stayed there that night a little bit longer, then none of this would have happened."
"Andy, you don't know that!"
"Yeah, well I do know that I couldn't even find him. If it hadn't of been for Rita, then he would be dead right now. Shows how sharp I am."
"Andy look, what you need to focus on right now is that Jr. is okay. He's alive. And it doesn't matter how or why we found him. The point is that we found him. And that's what you should be focusing on. Look, you're a good cop and a good person, but no one expects you to know everything. You're not perfect, no one is. So instead of focusing on what could have been, focus on what is. And that is is that Jr. is alive. You still have your partner and your friend. Please, just be glad you found him and don't worry about the past. Because the past is what it is. The past."
With that, Connie left the room quietly leaving Andy to ponder what she had said. She was right. He shouldn't worry about the past. He should just focus on Jr. and him getting well again. Because that truly would be a miracle of God. ** About an hour later, the doctor came out to Andy, Rita, Connie, Baldwin, Greg, gay John, and Rodriguez who were all waiting impatiently on news about Jr.
"Doctor, how is he?" Rodriguez asked.
"He's going to be fine. We got the bullet out fine, however we did run into another problem. You see, he was beaten so badly that he got three broken ribs and one of those managed to puncture his lung, which is why he was breathing so shallow. But luckily we got that taken care of. And from lack of nourishment and the temperature of the room, he got a small case of hypothermia. His temperature is at 103.1 degrees right now, but it should go down within a couple of days. So with proper rest he should be back on duty within a month or more, depending on how fast he heals."
Rodriguez nodded and shook the doctor's hand. "Thanks a lot, doc for all your help."
"You're very welcome."
"Uh, can I see him, doctor?" Rita asked, wiping her eyes from previous shed tears.
"Well, he may not be awake-"
"I don't care."
"Sure. But only for a few minutes."
"Thank you."
She then followed him to his room and she was taken aback for a slight second on how he looked. He had multiple cuts and bruises on him, as well as a sling on his right arm, a bandage on his head, and an oxygen tube on his nose. She slowly walked over to him, gently sitting down beside him, and taking his hand into hers.
"I can't believe what they did to you. Or why. But none of that matters now because you're here with me." She took a moment and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Alive. You know, when I first got married to my creep of a husband, I thought that he was going to be my true love forever. But the truth is, neither one of us knew what real love was. And then when he sat there and hassled me, you were always there for me, you were the only one that ever believed in me. And you've stuck by my side ever since then. And I don't know how you feel, but I... I love you, John Clark Jr. And I believe our love is strong, because God helped me find you. That just proves how destined we are to be together."
She then nuzzled against his hand, crying tears of joy and sadness, soon hearing a voice that filled her with warmth and caring.
"I love you, too, Rita..."
She looked over and saw Jr. starring at her with love in his eyes. He was weak, but with the love that was so strong between them, she noticed right away.
"Do you really?"
Jr. weakly smiled. "Would I lie to a hot chick like you?"
Rita laughed, loving that he had a sense of humor even when he was down. "No, I guess not."
"It's so great having such a beautiful sight to wake up to, rather than a gray, cold room."
"Oh, John, I'm so sorry that this happened to you!"
"Hey, I'll manage. It takes a lot more than that to bring me down. And right now, I don't even care about what happened. I just want to focus on the present. Which right now is looking very good. So how about it, will you marry me?"
Rita looked a bit taken aback. "What?!"
"Well, I figure most couples tell each other they love one another, and then it takes them forever to get engaged and then it even takes them longer to get married. So I figure, that we should just get engaged now, then by the time it would take most people to get engaged, we'll be getting married and we won't have waisted any time with each other."
"Wait, are you sure about this?"
"Look, sweetheart, with what just happened to me, I learned that you have to live life as if everyday was your last. And I couldn't find a better person to spend every one of those days with. So... Will you be my bride? I uh, would get down on one knee and everything, but I'm kind of held up at the moment."
Rita smiled. "Yeah, I see that. And... Yes, I will marry you, John."
"Really?"
"Really."
Jr. smiled, and gently pulled Rita into a kiss, which he thought he would never be able to do again.
"Well, as soon as I'm well enough, we're going to start planning."
Rita nodded. "You're sure it's not too soon?"
"No. Why?"
"Well, it's just that you had a traumatic experience and sometimes people are so glad to come out of them, that they say or do something, then as soon as they're well again, they don't want to go through with it. And I can't take having my heart broken again, John, I can't..."
"Whoa, whoa. Honey, trust me. I'm not going to take it back. I love you more than anything. I want you to be my wife. Please, trust me. I won't hurt you. Not in a million years. Allright?"
Rita grinned. "I know. I'm sorry. I love you so much."
"I love you, too."
They then kissed each other for a few seconds and parted with smiles on their faces.
"Well, I'd better go. The doctor said I could only be in here a few minutes," Rita stated.
"Has it been that long already?"
"Yeah, unfortunately it has."
"Okay. Well, although he may not be quite as gorgeous or sexy as you, could you send in Andy for me?"
"Sure thing, fiancée'."
Jr. smiled. "Thank you. You're the best."
"I know."
She got up to leave, leaning over and giving him one last kiss then slowly walked out of the room, thinking of and looking forward to being Mrs. John Clark Jr. **