Chapter 30: The First Snowstorm of the Year (Part 1)

[A/N: Those of you who have read my previous Far Cry 5 fanfic story, "Respite" will remember the scenes in which Harrison and Asher referenced an event in their past where they found an abandoned baby during a snowstorm. Here, you'll get to see that actually play out in this two-part event. Enjoy!]

A lot had happened in the four weeks since the destructive fire at the Owl Motel that left Detective Harrison without a place to call home. Now fully recovered from her on-duty shoulder injury, Detective Tran temporarily opened her home to her partner until he was able to find a new place of his own, for which Harrison was extremely grateful.

Meanwhile, Maurice Vega miraculously showed up in the lobby of CPD's District 34 just one day after Aiden Pearce had given up his location during a discreet meeting with Detective Voight. He was booked into custody, awaiting trial for the murder of Maxwell King.

Elsewhere, with Detective Tran returning to work at CPD Homicide and partnering back up with Harrison, Detectives Voight and Olinsky returned back to their usual assignment with the Gang Unit at District 21. The inconspicuous investigation into possible corruption on the part of First Deputy Superintendent Walter Barron and his three subordinates was put on hold for the time being by order of the Illinois Attorney General's Office so that the FBI could run their own concurrent inquiry into the situation. Even for determined detectives like Harrison, Voight, Olinsky, and the others, life had to go on for now.

CPD District 34
February 1, 2011
5:30 PM

This cold Tuesday evening proved to be a very demanding and chaotic one for the staff of District 34. A fast-moving snowstorm, dubbed "The Groundhog Day Storm" by the local media, had blanketed the entire Chicago cityscape in 20 inches of snow. This resulted in power outages as well as business and road closures. Even the ever-industrious Lakeshore Drive had to be closed, which was a rarity.

Caught in the thick of this storm was District 34. To help handle the onslaught of calls and emergencies, several detectives were temporarily re-assigned to uniformed patrol duty for the evening so as not to further overwhelm the district's already overstrained patrol officers.

In the locker room, Detective Harrison buttoned up his light blue CPD uniform shirt and adjusted his black patrol pants to a comfortable fit. The homicide detective was about to go out on patrol for the first time in his newfound police career, and though he was a bit anxious, he was even more excited to be trying something different. As he donned his checkered "Crown Cap" police hat, he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"Hey Troy", the female voice said.

Harrison turned to find Detective Abby Asher, also dressed in full uniform attire, standing just inside the locker room doorway. "The uniform blues look good on you, man", Asher said, smiling.

Harrison smiled back at his friend. "Thanks, kid", he replied, "Same to you. They pulled you back into uniform for tonight too, huh?"

Asher nodded. "Yep", she said, "And the cool thing is, we'll be riding together tonight."

"No shit", Harrison said with a scoff, "Talk about a lucky break, huh?"

"I know", Asher replied, "Sergeant Mahoney paired Sunny with Dobbs and Brooks with that new kid, Officer Wilkes. Machado's riding with the Commander."

"Huh", Harrison said, "I guess it figures, it's only been a week since Sunny got back and we get nailed with one of the worst snowstorms ever. If I can't ride with her, I'm glad I can with you."

The two friends then exited the locker room, with Harrison momentarily putting his arm around Asher as the two walked out into the district lobby. It was here where they ran into an atypically uniformed Captain Broussard.

"Hey Cap", Harrison said, "How's your night going so far?"

Broussard shrugged his shoulders. "Too soon to tell, Detective", he replied, "Commander Brooks wants Sergeant Mahoney and I to stay behind and help hold down the fort tonight."

"What's your lovely wife up to tonight, sir?" Asher asked, referring to Lieutenant Broussard.

"Well", Broussard replied, "It's interesting you asked that, Abby. You guys will all be reporting to her while you're out there tonight. She volunteered to be the district field commander tonight."

"That's comforting", Harrison said before warmly patting the captain on his shoulder, "Have a good one, Cap."

"You guys too", Broussard replied, "Be safe out there."

Harrison and Asher put on thickly insolated black winter coats with the word "POLICE" embroidered in large white uppercase white letters on the back before walking out to the district's rear parking area, where a 2011 Ford Explorer police SUV was waiting for them, all four of its tires appropriately wrapped with chains to safely traverse the snow.

"Mind if I drive?" Harrison asked.

Asher shrugged her shoulders. "Sure", she replied as she got in the passenger side.

After what seemed like an eternal twenty-minute ride, the two uniformed detectives crossed into the center of downtown Chicago as the dense snow beat down on their vehicle, smothering the windshield in smatterings of white powder, to the point where the windshield wipers couldn't even keep it in check while on their highest setting.

"I was thinking", Asher said, "When's the last time we've seen a snowstorm as heavy as this one?"

Harrison took a moment to really consider his friend's question. "Probably that really wintery Saturday morning back in Winterville when we went sledding down Mister Tucker's hill", he replied, "Remember? Without his permission?"

Asher chuckled with a wide, endearing smile. "Yeah", she said, "I remember we got caught in that whiteout and it was all but impossible for us to walk home."

Harrison chuckled himself in retort. "We got back to your mom's house like two hours later both frozen to the bone", he added.

Asher nodded. "She and your mom weren't very happy with us that time, huh?" she rhetorically asked.

The police radio then chirped to life. "Squad to any units in the vicinity of Downtown and any units on the Citywide", a female dispatcher's voice said from the radio, "We have a nine-one-one call reporting a possibly abandoned baby on the front steps of Saint Augustine's Church. No further information at this time, over."

Harrison grunted in frustration over a poor infant being put in such a dire circumstance before grabbing the radio mic and keying it. "Squad", he replied into the radio, "This is Thirty-Four-Henry-Edward with Thirty-Four-Nora-Charlie in marked unit Zero-Four-Three. We're two minutes out from Saint Augustine's rolling Code Three. Hold us down on the call, please, over."

"Copy that", the female dispatcher replied from the radio, "Thirty-Four-Henry-Edward and Thirty-Four-Nora-Charlie responding. Be advised, we have an ambulance on the way but their exact ETA is unknown due to the weather conditions, over."

"Copy that, Squad", Harrison said into the radio before setting the mic back down on its cradle and increasing the SUV's speed. Asher, meanwhile, hit the "Lights" and "Wail" buttons on the vehicle's control console. This activated the blue flashing rooftop lightbars and the wail of the emergency siren.

Despite the harsh conditions brought on by the snowstorm, the two detectives were indeed able to arrive at Saint Augustine's Church within Harrison's estimated time of two minutes. They exited the vehicle and headed toward the church's stone-crafted front steps, at which point they both noted the sight of a small cardboard box on the landing with its top flaps wide open.

Asher hurried up the steps and peered inside. She and Harrison were soon met with the desperate wails of a newborn baby. "Dear God", she said as she gently lifted a poorly-blanketed newborn baby from inside the box and into her arms, "It's a little girl!"

A now shaken Harrison could do nothing but nod for the moment before snapping back to reality, keying the mic on his portable radio. "Thirty-Four-Henry-Edward to Squad", he said into the radio, "Be advised, this is a legitimate call. We've recovered a newborn baby girl in a box here at the church. What's the ETA on that ambulance?"

"Squad to Thirty-Four-Henry-Edward", the same female dispatcher replied from the radio, "Ambulance Thirty-Three is still three to four minutes out, over."

The two detectives traded looks for a moment before Harrison eyed the baby in his friend's armed and sighed in resignation. "She doesn't have three minutes, Abby", Harrison said as he headed back to the SUV. "Hop in back", he said, "Chicago Med's two blocks away. If I haul ass, we can make it. Let's go!"

Asher carefully got into the SUV's back seat, still cradling the abandoned baby in her arms as Harrison jumped into the driver's seat. He started the vehicle back up and put his foot all the way down on the gas pedal, flooring the SUV back out onto the snow-drenched city streets.

"Hey Troy!" Asher called from the backseat, "Do we have a better blanket for her?"

"There's a big first aid kit under your seat", Harrison said, "I think there's a space blanket in there."

By the time Harrison glanced into the rearview mirror, he saw that Asher had retrieved the thermal mylar emergency space blanket from inside the kit and wrapped the baby in it. "Oh no!" Asher breathlessly uttered.

"What's wrong?" an anxious Harrison asked while still trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"I think she stopped breathing", an equally worried Asher replied.

Harrison growled out of equal parts infuriation and fear toward this critical predicament. "Alright", he said, "Don't panic, Abby. Are you trained in pediatric CPR?"

"Yeah", she said, "I took the department courses. But I've never done it on a baby this small before."

"I hear you, kid", Harrison said, "But there's no time to worry about anything now. Just do the two-fingered compressions and give her breaths. We're almost at the ER."

Gaffney Chicago Medical Center
5 Minutes Later

Harrison pulled up to the Emergency Room entrance at Chicago Med, where they were greeted by a group of gown and mask-clad medical personnel as soon as they got out of the SUV. The team was headed by emergency pediatrics specialist Dr. Nonie Howard, a short silver-haired woman appearing to be in her early to mid-sixties.

"I'm Doctor Howard", Dr. Howard said, "What have we got?"

"We found this baby in a box on the front steps of Saint Augustine's Church", Asher explained as she carefully handed the now revived baby off to a nurse, "She's obviously suffering from exposure. She stopped breathing for a minute but I gave her infant compressions and rescue breaths."

Dr. Howard nodded. "Nice work, young lady", she said as she hustled inside to follow the other members of the trauma team.

Harrison and Asher sat down on the leather couch in the ER's waiting room, finally taking a moment just to decompress and breathe. Harrison grabbed his friend's hand, at which point Asher rested her head on her friend's shoulder and began to shiver.

"You alright, kid?" Harrison asked.

"I don't know", Asher said, "Just hang onto me for a bit, please, okay? I'm so cold."