In This Moment


"Here." Punk handed a cup of coffee to AJ, sitting down next to her in one of the waiting rooms in the hospital. It was ticking into the hours of the early morning and the corridors were eerily quiet beside the bleeping from machinery in different rooms.

"I'm not sure caffeine is what I need right now." AJ admitted, already feeling shot with adrenaline, "God, Phil." She sighed, rubbing her forehead stressfully as Punk nodded.

"I know." He said, placing his hand on her leg.

"I spoke with him a few days ago." She shook her head, "He was worried. He told me he was worried about this man who'd just been released from prison." She said, "Shame on me for thinking just because they're cops means they're invincible." She said.

"It sounds like it all just happened really fast." Punk nodded, "And he wouldn't have wanted to worry Cassie. I don't think he assumed this was gonna be the outcome-"

"Of course not." AJ said, "Bless his heart, he came to me because he couldn't go to his mom." She shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes every time she thought about her son-in-law and the condition he was in right now.

"Why couldn't he go to his mom?" Punk asked.

"He said she didn't really talk about that stuff. Racism." AJ said, "Always told him and his brother to just ignore it." She nodded.

"Everyone handles things differently." Punk nodded, sitting his coffee on the table beside him, "I think that's maybe the fourth time I've saw Cassie really cry." He admitted as AJ nodded, "Not a crier."

"Which is surprising since that's all she did as a baby." AJ shook her head, "He can hang in there." She nodded, trying to put it out into the universe, not daring to say otherwise. It was just too painful.

"How the hell does someone even shoot up a police station?" Punk shook his head angrily.

"Because no one bats an eye at a white man buying a gun." AJ shook her head, "She looks awful." She sighed, thinking about her daughter and her beaten face.

"She got him, though." Punk nodded, "Both of them."

"I doubt it even matters to her. Not with Theo like this." AJ said, "Damage has already been done."

"He's still hanging in there." Punk nodded hopefully.

"You got along with him the quickest out of the three." AJ turned to him with a smile.

"Well he's a good kid." Punk nodded. He saw his daughter's husbands just as sons he'd never had. Mostly because of what they meant to his daughter's. He knew Theo meant a great deal to Cassie. They weren't a couple who were overly affectionate in the open, but behind closed doors he knew they were inseparable. Made for each other.


"Hey." Theo said quietly, walking into Chase's nursery where he found Cassie sitting on the armchair by the window and book shelf, "What are you doing in here?" He asked.

"I just like watching him." Cassie smiled, looking over at one year old Chase in his crib, fast asleep, "It's a lot to get used to." She admitted.

"What is?" He asked, wandering over to the crib, smiling on at Chase with his little arms above his head, peacefully sleeping.

"This." Cassie looked around, "Moving out." She shook her head, "It's not a big deal to you because you had your apartment before." She said, "In a year I've gone from living with my parents to being a mom and living on my own." She shook her head.

"You're not on your own." Theo folded his arms.

"You know what I mean." Cassie said.

"Are you telling me you miss your parents?" He smiled a little in a teasing voice.

"No." Cassie scoffed, "It's just a lot of change." She nodded.

For the first year of Chase's life, she had still opted to stay at home, going between there and Theo's apartment whilst they took their relationship at a steady pace and focused on their son. The decision to move into a house was a no brainer, because it was exactly what she wanted with him, but it didn't mean it wasn't overwhelming, especially when she was still so young.

"Well yeah, for me too." Theo nodded, "We're going through this together. I ain't ever bought a house with someone before." He reminded her as she smiled.

"I know." Cassie said.

"And I ain't ever had a baby with someone before." He nodded.

"Well… who knows about that." She teased, "You never know who might show up in a few years looking for their father."

"Maybe." Theo nodded along, walking towards her and extending his hand out, "Come on. Otherwise you'll be in here all night." He said as she smiled, taking his hand and standing up.

"You really wanna be stuck with me for life?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck as he chuckled to himself.

"Every day." He nodded, "In fact… I think we should get it in writing." He said, wrapping his arms around her waist as she leaned her head on his chest and chuckled.

"You want me to write a declaration of my love for you or something?" She chuckled, not thinking too much about what he was actually saying.

"Maybe." Theo smiled, swaying with her a little in the middle of the nursery, "Or some people call that vows." He said as she paused.

"Vows?" She asked, feeling her mouth going dry as she realised her jaw had dropped.

"Will you marry me?" He whispered as she looked up at him, "Cassie Brooks." He smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear as she raised her eyebrows.

It wasn't something they had discussed before. They very much took things as it came. But something about him asking her on a random Thursday night in the middle of their son's nursery, just the two of them, made her realise she'd truly found her person forever.

"Yes." She whispered with a smile, "This isn't a hypothetical question, right?" She worried suddenly as he chuckled.

"No." He laughed, "It's a real question. I know you'd kill me if I ever did it in a public place with people looking."

"It doesn't have to be for anyone else to see." She said, not taking her eyes off his as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I know." He said. He'd been around her long enough to know she wasn't interested in public affection or showy gestures. It was the moments when no one was watching that won her over every time.

"You're really asking me to marry you?" She smiled.

"Yeah." He chuckled, "Is that so hard to believe?"

"No, you just… you've caught me off guard." She smiled.

"Good." He smiled, "When we have our next day off together you can pick your ring." He nodded.

"Did you ask my dad?" Cassie laughed a little, yet curious about the answer.

"No." Theo realised nervously, "Should I have?"

"No." Cassie scoffed, "Dominic and Sean did, though."

"Oh, great." Theo rolled his eyes.

"You're his favourite. He won't mind." Cassie teased as Theo chuckled, "I love you so much it scares me sometimes." She told him, leaning her head back on his chest as he kept his arms around her.

"It doesn't have to scare you." He said softly.

"It does." She nodded, "Being in love is great until it all goes to hell."

"Not everything ends in disaster, Cassie." He said, "Having something good in your life doesn't automatically mean it's going to be destroyed at some point." He said.

"You don't know that." She whispered.

"I don't, you're right. But I choose to live my life being ok with the fact I don't know what's gonna happen. I could walk out that door tomorrow and get hit by a bus. And that's it for me." He shrugged as Cassie rolled her eyes, "Doesn't stop me from loving the hell out of you right now, or tonight, or in the morning when I wake up." He said.

"In this moment, right?" She looked up at him as he nodded.

"All that matters." He nodded.

"I love you." She looked at him, "I'm not sure you realise just how much." She nodded.

"I got a hunch." He smiled, "I love you too." He nodded, leaning down and kissing her softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her body.


"Hey." Jude said quietly, walking into the hospital room where Theo was. Cassie was sat in the same position she'd been in for the past few hours, right by his bed holding his hand.

"Hey." Cassie turned to her as Jude sighed upon her face, "Beautiful, right?"

"Yeah." Jude nodded seriously as Cassie smiled, "How is… How is he doing?" Jude looked on at Theo, figuring it was a stupid question.

Cassie just shrugged, not really having an answer for anyone who asked that question. She was stuck between believing he was hanging in there, and that these were potentially his final hours she was spending with him. So all she could do was shrug.

"I think he's comfortable." Cassie nodded, turning back to Theo.

"Yeah, of course." Jude nodded, taking a seat beside her.

"Are mom and dad still here?" Cassie asked. She couldn't even guess what time it was. She assumed it was through the night as the hospital had gotten extremely quiet.

"Yeah, they're sitting in the waiting room. Thea and Dominic were going to get Chase so Theo's mom could come in." Jude nodded, "Mom and dad were gonna go but… I think it's best they stay." She said as Cassie nodded.

"I just don't want him coming in here." Cassie said, "Theo wouldn't want him in here." She nodded.

"He's too young." Jude agreed.

"You didn't have to come all the way out here." Cassie shook her head modestly.

"Cassie." Jude scolded, shaking her head at the thought of not being there for her sister right now.

"We had a fight. That was the last thing we talked about." Cassie said, "What if that's the last conversation we ever…" She shook her head as Jude sighed.

"Don't think like that." Jude shook her head, "That's not gonna be the last thing you guys talk about."

"Jude, I have to be realistic here." Cassie shook her head as Jude looked at her. Even in the most devastating of situations, her little sister always pulled strength from somewhere.

"He's still here, Cassie." Jude nodded, "Look at that monitor." She pointed as Cassie looked over, "That's his heart beating. He's still there." She nodded.

Cassie watched the monitor, listening to the steady bleeping, the only indication that her husband wasn't completely gone.

They both turned around when the door opened abruptly. Cassie was expecting Theo's mother, but instead to her disapproval she saw his father.

"What are you doing here?" Cassie stood up angrily as Jude shuffled her chair back awkwardly.

"I heard…" Raul paused at the doorway, looking on at Theo, "My God…" He whispered to himself.

"Get out." Cassie spat as Raul looked over at her, "He wouldn't want you in here."

"Cass." Jude shook her head, tugging on her sister's hand as Cassie snatched it away.

"No… Theo wouldn't want you in here." Cassie spat.

"That's my son." Raul spat angrily.

"You've just realised?" Cassie questioned hastily, "You haven't come here to see him since our wedding… and what? Now you're gonna show up for his funeral? Pretend you even gave a damn about him-"

"Don't push me right now." Raul shook his head stressfully.

"No, I will." Cassie spat, "He wouldn't want you in this room. He'd want his family. People who have been there for him." She said, watching as her own father walked into the room, no doubt hearing her raised voice from the waiting room outside.

"What's going on in here?" Punk asked with concern.

"Get him out of this room." Cassie demanded, beginning to get frantic about the situation, "Get him out." She spat as Punk looked on at Raul.

Raul didn't have to be escorted out, he left on his own accord, pushing by Punk and leaving the room in a storm as Punk looked over at Cassie who sat back down.

"Cassie." Punk sighed, "It's his son-"

"Don't." Cassie warned simply as Jude looked over to Punk, shaking her head for him to leave it as he nodded, leaving the room as Jude rubbed Cassie's back softly.