Rosalind
This story and all themes and ideas contained in said story are the sole
ownership of J.L. Scott. Any copyright infringements can be prosecuted in a
court of law.
To borrow a phrase: NYPD Blue no mine......no money, no sue, please? AN: This is where things get weird and probably confusing. This is more like a collection of scenes from various episodes that make up the part of the story that's important to me. So imagine them stuck in various places in various episodes that are "really" about other things. It might make more sense that way. Hope you enjoy! (Hint: Ros is pronounced Roz)
"Where's Daddy?" It was a question John wished he could answer himself. He knew they were in the right room, but there was no one in the bed. Why would they have moved the Lieu unless............he'd gotten better? But that couldn't be...they would've gotten a call. Of course, they should've gotten a call anyway. It was indeed a mystery.
"Excuse me, sir" a nurse opened the door. She looked displeased.
"I'm sorry but you can't be in here now"
"Um, where's Lieutenant Rodriguez?" he asked. She straightened up a little.
"Are you family?" she asked.
"No, but I'm watching his daughter for him" John answered. The nurse took a deep breath and motioned him into the hall. He raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, Ros, you stay here for a minute okay?" he let go of her hand and shut her in the room. He turned around to face the nurse.
"Lieutenant Rodriquez was moved to intensive care about an hour ago" she told him.
"Intensive care?" John shook his head, not following.
"His lung collapsed again. While he was in surgery we discovered some internal bleeding that had restarted, and his heart rhythms have been unsteady"
"Un...unsteady, what does that mean?" he demanded. The nurse looked even more upset.
"Let me go get the doctor" she said and took off before John could object. He rolled his eyes and went back into the room to wait for the doctor. Ros was sitting on the floor, humming to herself and playing with her rag doll. She looked up when he walked in.
"Did you find Daddy?" she asked.
"Uh, no" he said, but just then the doctor walked in.
"Detective Clark?" he asked, opening the door again. John sighed and followed.
"Look, can you tell me what's going on?" he asked a little more forcefully than perhaps he should've.
"I'm sorry. Mr. Rodriguez is in intensive care"
"Yeah, yeah, the nurse said that. She said his heart beat was unsteady or something" John said.
"Yes" the Doctor sighed too and John felt bad news coming, "That means that there's a good chance he will go into cardiac arrest. If he does, the internal bleeding he already has will intensify, and his lung could collapse again" He held up a hand before John could say anything, "Now, if that happens, I don't..........I don't think we'll be able to reinflate it" John stopped thinking. They couldn't reinflate the Lieu's lung? But.....
"But you can't live with just one lung" The Doctor nodded.
"No, you can't. If his lung collapses again, I'm afraid he won't make it" John's world seemed to shrink and explode at the same time.
"I'm sorry" the doctor said but John couldn't hear him. All he could hear was the happy little hum of a precious little girl waiting to see her Daddy.......
Later
"Clark, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost" John looked up at Andy.
"I just came from the hospital" he told him, "The Lieu crashed" The entire room stopped. Everyone looked at him, shock clearly evident on their faces.
"What do you mean 'crashed'?" Jones asked.
"Uh, his lung collapsed and then there was internal bleeding and they're worried about his heart" he answered, wiping at his face. Everyone kind of looked around at each other. The Lieu could die? None of them had even considered it. Not even John, though he'd had a bad feeling in the back of his head ever since Rosalind had showed up. Still, no one said anything to each other, and the seconds went on.
Later
"Rosalind, stop jumping on the bed!" John yelled across the apartment. She'd been jumping on his bed for the last half hour while he fixed dinner, even though she'd fallen off three times already and John had told her repeatedly to knock it off. He could hear her squealing with delight though. At least she was opening up a little, her teacher even said she'd spoken to someone other than Theo at school today when he'd picked her up. And what was going to happen if Rodriguez died? How far would that set her back? Would she ever talk to anyone ever again? Of course, maybe she wouldn't even care. She'd met the man once, and she wasn't having to suffer through a long illness like she'd gone through with her mom.
He heard her crash again and rolled his eyes as he flicked the burner off and went to go see if she was okay. She was rubbing her foot and it looked like it might be bruised but nothing bad. He left her sitting on the floor to go answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Detective John Clark?"
"Yeah, that's me"
"This is Doctor Cardiver..............." John listened quietly to what the man had to say. He let out a deep breath and tried not to drop the phone.
"His sister has already been called. We were told to call you, you're taking care of his daughter?"
"Yeah, yeah, thanks" John replied and hung the phone up. He took a few steadying breaths and walked to his bedroom slowly. Rosalind looked up at him from the floor. He kneeled down beside her.
"Rosalind....something bad happened today" he started, "You're Daddy got real sick and...." Would she understand? How had she put it? "And he went away" She didn't burst out in tears, though he kind of felt like it, but she got real quiet. She blinked a few dozen times and stared at the floor.
"Do I have to go back to Gran Collins?" she asked quietly. She sounded so terrified and sad John's heart nearly broke. He gathered her up in his arms and put a kiss on top of her head.
"No, no you don't have to go back" he told her. He could feel her hot tears through his t-shirt now.
"What's going to happen to me?" she cried. John thought about The Lieutenant's sister, and all the sudden wasn't sure.
"I don't know exactly just yet, but listen" he pushed her away a little so she could see his face, "No matter what, I will be there for you, okay? I'm going to see if you can stay with me, but if you can't I will always be there and I will come see you everyday. I'm not going to go away" He smiled at her sadly, "Everything's going to be okay, Rosalind. I love you"
To borrow a phrase: NYPD Blue no mine......no money, no sue, please? AN: This is where things get weird and probably confusing. This is more like a collection of scenes from various episodes that make up the part of the story that's important to me. So imagine them stuck in various places in various episodes that are "really" about other things. It might make more sense that way. Hope you enjoy! (Hint: Ros is pronounced Roz)
"Where's Daddy?" It was a question John wished he could answer himself. He knew they were in the right room, but there was no one in the bed. Why would they have moved the Lieu unless............he'd gotten better? But that couldn't be...they would've gotten a call. Of course, they should've gotten a call anyway. It was indeed a mystery.
"Excuse me, sir" a nurse opened the door. She looked displeased.
"I'm sorry but you can't be in here now"
"Um, where's Lieutenant Rodriguez?" he asked. She straightened up a little.
"Are you family?" she asked.
"No, but I'm watching his daughter for him" John answered. The nurse took a deep breath and motioned him into the hall. He raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, Ros, you stay here for a minute okay?" he let go of her hand and shut her in the room. He turned around to face the nurse.
"Lieutenant Rodriquez was moved to intensive care about an hour ago" she told him.
"Intensive care?" John shook his head, not following.
"His lung collapsed again. While he was in surgery we discovered some internal bleeding that had restarted, and his heart rhythms have been unsteady"
"Un...unsteady, what does that mean?" he demanded. The nurse looked even more upset.
"Let me go get the doctor" she said and took off before John could object. He rolled his eyes and went back into the room to wait for the doctor. Ros was sitting on the floor, humming to herself and playing with her rag doll. She looked up when he walked in.
"Did you find Daddy?" she asked.
"Uh, no" he said, but just then the doctor walked in.
"Detective Clark?" he asked, opening the door again. John sighed and followed.
"Look, can you tell me what's going on?" he asked a little more forcefully than perhaps he should've.
"I'm sorry. Mr. Rodriguez is in intensive care"
"Yeah, yeah, the nurse said that. She said his heart beat was unsteady or something" John said.
"Yes" the Doctor sighed too and John felt bad news coming, "That means that there's a good chance he will go into cardiac arrest. If he does, the internal bleeding he already has will intensify, and his lung could collapse again" He held up a hand before John could say anything, "Now, if that happens, I don't..........I don't think we'll be able to reinflate it" John stopped thinking. They couldn't reinflate the Lieu's lung? But.....
"But you can't live with just one lung" The Doctor nodded.
"No, you can't. If his lung collapses again, I'm afraid he won't make it" John's world seemed to shrink and explode at the same time.
"I'm sorry" the doctor said but John couldn't hear him. All he could hear was the happy little hum of a precious little girl waiting to see her Daddy.......
Later
"Clark, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost" John looked up at Andy.
"I just came from the hospital" he told him, "The Lieu crashed" The entire room stopped. Everyone looked at him, shock clearly evident on their faces.
"What do you mean 'crashed'?" Jones asked.
"Uh, his lung collapsed and then there was internal bleeding and they're worried about his heart" he answered, wiping at his face. Everyone kind of looked around at each other. The Lieu could die? None of them had even considered it. Not even John, though he'd had a bad feeling in the back of his head ever since Rosalind had showed up. Still, no one said anything to each other, and the seconds went on.
Later
"Rosalind, stop jumping on the bed!" John yelled across the apartment. She'd been jumping on his bed for the last half hour while he fixed dinner, even though she'd fallen off three times already and John had told her repeatedly to knock it off. He could hear her squealing with delight though. At least she was opening up a little, her teacher even said she'd spoken to someone other than Theo at school today when he'd picked her up. And what was going to happen if Rodriguez died? How far would that set her back? Would she ever talk to anyone ever again? Of course, maybe she wouldn't even care. She'd met the man once, and she wasn't having to suffer through a long illness like she'd gone through with her mom.
He heard her crash again and rolled his eyes as he flicked the burner off and went to go see if she was okay. She was rubbing her foot and it looked like it might be bruised but nothing bad. He left her sitting on the floor to go answer the phone.
"Hello?"
"Detective John Clark?"
"Yeah, that's me"
"This is Doctor Cardiver..............." John listened quietly to what the man had to say. He let out a deep breath and tried not to drop the phone.
"His sister has already been called. We were told to call you, you're taking care of his daughter?"
"Yeah, yeah, thanks" John replied and hung the phone up. He took a few steadying breaths and walked to his bedroom slowly. Rosalind looked up at him from the floor. He kneeled down beside her.
"Rosalind....something bad happened today" he started, "You're Daddy got real sick and...." Would she understand? How had she put it? "And he went away" She didn't burst out in tears, though he kind of felt like it, but she got real quiet. She blinked a few dozen times and stared at the floor.
"Do I have to go back to Gran Collins?" she asked quietly. She sounded so terrified and sad John's heart nearly broke. He gathered her up in his arms and put a kiss on top of her head.
"No, no you don't have to go back" he told her. He could feel her hot tears through his t-shirt now.
"What's going to happen to me?" she cried. John thought about The Lieutenant's sister, and all the sudden wasn't sure.
"I don't know exactly just yet, but listen" he pushed her away a little so she could see his face, "No matter what, I will be there for you, okay? I'm going to see if you can stay with me, but if you can't I will always be there and I will come see you everyday. I'm not going to go away" He smiled at her sadly, "Everything's going to be okay, Rosalind. I love you"