"Damnit…"
Mike couldn't remember how many times he'd cursed this day and everything it had thrown onto their plate already, as he got out of the patrol car before it ever even came to a complete stop, instinctively rushing toward the group of police officers gathered around the corner of Laguna and Ellis.
Shortly after he'd received the call to arms that their suspect had been located, the police radio turned nuts, orders and calls for emergency assistance barked all over the airwaves, amongst them an alert for an officer down and request for an ambulance.
The knot in Mike's stomach had turned into enormous size by the time he sprinted the few yards to the waiting officers, the crowd of patrolmen opening up wide to respectfully make room for him to reach his partner.
"He just started to come back around, Mike", Elliot Swanson said in passing, as the Lieutenant brushed by the uniformed group and crouched down next to Steve, who was leaning against a fence post, rubbing the side of his head and forcing his eyes shut.
Grasping his partner's elbow through the rain-soaked fabric of his suit, Mike let out a breath he'd held for too far long, as he waited for the set of green eyes to meet his.
"Steve!"
The terror in his voice made the young Inspector look up immediately, blinking against the incessant rain that was beginning to come down hard on them.
"Are you okay? Look at me."
Not waiting for a reply, he reached for his partner's chin, tilting his head upward so that he could see his pupils.
"I'd be a lot better if I would have been able to catch that guy…", Steve mumbled in frustration, as he used his left arm to try to get up, but lost his balance and landed hard against his partner's shoulder.
"Mike, ambulance is still on their way. Do you want me to call them off or keep them coming? He was unconscious for a couple of minutes. I think he should probably get checked out."
Elliot was crouched behind them, on hand on the Lieutenant's back, the other one on the young Inspector's knee.
"I am fine.", Steve argued, this time using the fence behind him to slowly get back on his feet.
Reaching forward, Mike wrapped a strong hand around his partner's upper arm, ensuring that he was steady, before turning around to face the seasoned Sergeant.
"Call them off, Elliot. We're good. Did you guys do a perimeter? Did you find anything on this guy?"
The quiet headshake only furthered his sour mood that day and the Lieutenant grunted in frustration, foreseeing another day with very few results coming to an end.
"You sure you're okay?", Mike asked his partner once again, more brusquely than intended, only to receive an ill-tempered nod in return.
"Okay, let's wrap things up here guys. Bernie just got here and is working on our victim. Elliot, have a couple unis circle the nearby blocks, just in case out guy pops up again. We're heading back down to headquarters."