Chapter 14
Two Months Later…
Rating: R
The Crossing Jordan characters aren't mine! They're just using my head for their personal playground!
Kaidlyn and her mother, Laura, are my own creations and therefore they're mine!
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Kaidlyn and Lois got along extremely well. Eddie couldn't believe how what started out as a necessity for two unrelated reasons resulted in such an amazing partnership. Kaid progressed to handling single team scenes on her own and everyone who watched her commented on how much talent she had. "A gift," she kept hearing.
After a few cases with Kaid running them, Lois went in to talk with Eddie. "You still have that friend in the FBI office?"
"Yeah…" Eddie looked up at her. "Why?"
"I was thinking that Kaid might be just what they're looking for." She watched Eddie's face for some kind of reaction. She knew that they were seeing each other, but she didn't bother him about it. At work they were the consummate professionals. Whatever they did in their free time was their business. "You've seen her…she's got a knack for profiling a scene. Since she's been here, my solve rate has increased dramatically."
Eddie nodded. This could be a solution. He knew she loved what she was doing, but he feared she'd get bored with regular police work ~ even homicides. In most ways she'd be great for Special Victims...except her own experience. While it made her extremely empathetic with the victims, it made her extremely vulnerable to breakdowns. He knew she'd never be assigned to that squad. He looked at Lois, "You know, that just might work!"
Lois' pager went off and she excused herself. Eddie picked up the phone to call his friend and find out about the profiling program. Thompson was intrigued with Eddie's description of Kaid's work and they set up a time for him to watch her in action and then talk with her.
Lois went to the office she was now sharing with Kaid and grabbed what she needed. "Alright kiddo, come with me."
Kaid got up and followed her to the locker room. "What's up?"
"We've got a double team case in South B. We've got to get into the vests." She pulled hers from her locker and watched Kaid put hers on. "Good girl."
Kaid didn't want to say anything, but inside she was terrified. She'd never done a double team case ~ and she'd never been on anything that required the vest. She jogged along beside Lois and slid into the passenger seat when they reached the car, not saying a word.
As she drove, Lois looked over at her protégé. "You'll be fine. Just work it like you do any other scene." She paused and realized part of what might be terrifying the girl. "Don't worry, you don't have to handle this one. We'll take care of it. Just do what you always do."
"Ok."
They pulled up to the scene and got out, looking around for the other detective on scene. It didn't take them long to find Woody. He filled them in and then assigned everyone a quadrant of the crime scene. The ME's already had the bodies. As it turns out, Kaid's quadrant right next to Woody's. They were going over things with a fine toothed comb when they heard a shot and saw the brick on the building right above their head shatter as the bullet hit it.
Woody didn't even think, he jumped on top of Kaid, knocking her to the ground and covering her head and neck with his protected torso. It wasn't a moment too soon for more shots rang out and he felt a pop and a sharp as a bullet lodged in his vest. More gunfire and then a shout that one of the unis had gotten the guy.
Woody slowly rolled over, the pain in his side was almost unbearable. He didn't think the bullet had penetrated the vest, but my God it hurt to breathe. Lois came running over and helped Woody get the vest off. The bullet hadn't penetrated, but there was already a dark bruise where it hit.
"You've probably got a cracked rib, Hoyt," she said. "Just sit tight. The ambulance is on the way." She turned to Kaid who was working her way to a sitting position, visibly shaken. "Are you ok?"
Kaid nodded slowly and looked at Lois and Woody. "Thanks Woody," she said.
"Oh my God," Lois said. The girl's face was covered in blood. "Are you hit?"
"I don't think so…" Kaid said, a bit perplexed.
Wincing, Woody pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Lois who used it to wipe Kaid's face. As she cleared some of the blood away, she saw that the cause was. When she'd been knocked to the ground, her forehead hit first and it split the skin. It didn't look serious, just bloody. "I think you're ok, kiddo," Lois said. "Here, can you hold this on your head, right there?"
Kaid nodded and pressed the handkerchief to her forehead. When the ambulance got there, they checked out Woody first and then Kaid. Both of them needed to go to the hospital to be checked out. Lois said she'd meet them there as the EMT's loaded Woody onto a gurney and into the ambulance and helped Kaid climb in.
In the ER, the doctor who examined Kaidlyn said he didn't think that she had a concussion, but he wanted a scan to be sure after he stitched her up. He tried to joke with her about making sure she wouldn't have a horrible scar, but she only looked at him and nodded wide-eyed. The scan and x-ray came back negative and he signed her release papers.
He walked her down the hall to the waiting room. In spite of the news that no one was seriously hurt, several unis and detectives had gathered in the waiting room, Eddie among them. When Kaid saw Eddie in the waiting room, she ran into his arms and collapsed in tears.
"It's alright, baby. Shhh. It's alright," he cooed, guiding her to a chair. He looked around at the others briefly and then decided he didn't care who knew anymore. Nothing was going to change at work. He pulled her into his lap and rocked her there as she cried. When it felt like she was calmer, he tipped her chin up to look in her eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm really not sure. It was so fast. We were on the scene ~ double crew. I was looking at one quadrant and Woody was in one not fifteen feet away. Then the shooting started. I just heard gunshots and Woody knocked me to the ground which is what caused this," she pointed to the small line of stitches on her right forehead area. "But that's minor. If he hadn't done that…"
"You had your vest on didn't you?" Eddie looked concerned.
"Yeah, but…" she looked confused.
"You'd most likely have what he has…" Eddie paused as he looked at Kaid and realized that with the size differential between her and Woody, there was a good chance that the vest might not have done Kaid much good. "Kaidie, it's alright. Remember what I told you about looking out for the others on the scene? That's part of a cop's job. And Woody was just doing that."
Lois walked around the corner having just left the exam room where Woody was. Seeing Eddie and Kaidlyn, she walked over and sat in the chair next to them. She reached over and rubbed Kaidlyn's back. "You ok, baby girl?"
"Yeah…" Kaid looked at her and nodded. "How's Woody?"
"He's got a cracked rib. The vest did its job." Lois spoke to her gently. She remembered how she felt the first time she'd been at a scene and witnesses something like that. "Jordan's with him right now, but he wants to see you. I think you can go on in."
She pointed out the door and Kaid shyly pushed it open. Woody was sitting up in the bed. When he saw her, a look of relief came over his face. "Thanks God you're alright."
Jordan came over and hugged her cousin. "We were all telling him you would be, but he wouldn't believe us!" she said, rolling her eyes.
"How about you? How are you doing?" Kaid asked, walking over to Woody's side.
"Carver was right," he said. "Cracked rib. Nothing they can do but tape it." He noticed the small line of stitches. "I'm so sorry about that."
"Don't be. I'm thankful," Kaid said. "If you hadn't covered my head…" She didn't have to finish that sentence. They both knew what could have happened.
"Is Winslow out there?" Woody asked gently.
"Yeah," Kaid nodded.
"Good. You don't need to be alone after that. Hell, I've seen things like that before and I don't want to be alone after that!" Woody stated.
Jordan took hold of his hand. "And you don't have to be."
Kaid looked at the two of them and started towards the door. "Ok, I'm gonna go. Woody, thank you again. Take care of yourself and I'll see you soon…"
"Bye Kaid," Woody said. "And you don't have to thank me, but you're welcome," he smiled.
"Bye babe," Jordan said. "Be sure to call Dad and let him know you're alright."
"Yeah…I should do that…" Kaid said, giving one final wave.
She went back to the waiting room and took Eddie's outstretched hand. "You ready to go, baby?"
"Yeah." She turned to Lois. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"
Lois chuckled as she pulled the girl into a hug. "You can have a few days off. I think you've earned it. Take care. I'm glad you're ok."
"Thanks." Kaid smiled up at Eddie and they walked out of the ER towards his car.
…to be continued…