When Jamie stopped by the jeweler to pick up Eddie's engagement ring, he was offered a stunning diamond necklace at a discounted price for his patience on the delay. He didn't usually shower her with extravagant gifts, especially expensive jewelry, but he couldn't pass on this one.
It wasn't something she expected from him, and he knew he would catch hell for doing it, but some moments were extra special, and Eddie deserved more than he could ever give her.
Jamie lets himself into Eddie's apartment and tucks his bag into the corner of her hall closet. She calls to him from her bathroom as she finishes getting ready, and he stops in the doorway the moment he sees her.
"Damn," he murmurs, as his eyes roam her entire backside and she smiles into the mirror at him.
She is wearing a floor-length, black evening gown. Very simple, but elegant, and it shimmers when she moves. The low cut, v-shaped back accompanied by the slit up the front of her left leg makes Jamie want to forego tonight's events and jump straight into tomorrow's.
In the mirror, Eddie can see the look in his eyes and knows he needs a distraction. She asks him to fasten her necklace, one she has fastened on her own many times before but hopes the request will divert Jamie's attention to something else.
She fails though, as he takes the necklace from her hand and stepping closer, he leans into her and places her necklace on the countertop. His breath is warm on her neck and his arms circle her waist as he turns her around to face him and she thinks they are probably going to be late.
Jamie pulls the long rectangle box out of his pocket and opens the top to reveal the diamond necklace.
"How about this one instead," he says, and he is thankful for the timely segue and proud of himself for the seamless transition.
Now Eddie is the one who is speechless. She looks at the necklace and then at Jamie, and her eyes are glistening, just like the diamonds. Jamie takes it out of the box and reaches around to clasp it for her, and his breath on her neck sends chills down her spine.
She takes a deep inhale and exhales slowly, and she gathers herself together because Jamie deserves this night.
"Thank you. It's beautiful," she tells him.
"You're beautiful," he says sweetly and kisses her on the cheek, mindful of the gloss she just applied to her lips.
They left her apartment quickly. If they stalled any longer, they would end up skipping the entire event and Eddie was too proud of Jamie to let that happen.
Jamie walked into the New York Police Foundation Charity Gala with Eddie on his arm, and for the first time, he was happy to be attending one of these, and she was the reason. He placed his hand delicately in the small of her back, and led her towards the ballroom, reaching for two champagne flutes from the banquet server before finding their table.
The evening started with a social hour, which was the part Jamie was looking forward to the least, followed by a five-course dinner and then the award ceremony.
As the Police Commissioner of New York City called Jamie and four other NYPD officers to the front to present them with the Hemmerdinger Award, Eddie watched from their table, and couldn't contain the smile on her face. She was so proud of him.
As soon as the ceremony was over, the band started to play again, and couples quickly filled the dance floor. When Jamie returned to their table, he greeted his smiling girlfriend with his hand out, asking her to dance. She accepted his offer without hesitation, but as he guided her to the dance floor, she realized they had been together for over a year and hadn't ever danced together, at least not like this, and now she was a little nervous.
It had been a very long time since she had danced with anyone, and the music was a little faster than she would have preferred for their first dance together. She was pleasantly surprised as Jamie twirled her around the floor, and just like everything else over the last year, they fell into perfect harmony.
They were smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves completely when the music started to fade. Eddie began to walk back towards their table assuming Jamie was following her when a slower song started. Jamie tugged her gently by her elbow, pulling her back to face him. This is what he really wanted. It was what he had been longing for all night. To hold her in his arms.
He pulled her in closer and wrapped one arm around her waist and her hand naturally went around his shoulder while he held her other hand in his, resting it close to his heart, and they swayed together slowly. It was as if the night existed just for them, and they were alone in the room in the moment.
Eddie's cheek was pressed against his as she tilted her head slightly towards his ear.
"I love you, Jamie," she whispered to him, and he whispered it back to her.
Jake had been prepared for this moment for the last few days, as he stood in the back of the ballroom and watched them dance. He had officially set his plan in motion, and now it just had to play out. He watched as they left the dance floor and went back to their table.
She was such an idiot for leaving a full glass of champagne out like that, he thought, but that is exactly what he had expected her to do, and everything is falling into place. He watched Jamie pull her chair out for her, and he watched her reach for her flute, and then he exited the banquet room to linger in the hallway of the hotel.
Jamie and Eddie are alone at their table, and the dances they shared left them wanting and needing more. Their eyes are wandering each other seductively when Jamie leans into Eddie.
"You want to get out of here," he says quietly.
His voice is sultry, and she nods her head, reaching for her champagne. She tilts her head back to finish the glass in a single gulp and tells him she needs to use the restroom before they go.
He stands with her, and she straightens his tie as she smiles up at him.
"You go to the restroom, I'm going to say goodbye to a couple of people, and I'll meet you in the lobby," Jamie tells her, and they exchange a quick peck before going in separate directions.
Eddie is finishing up in the restroom when she starts to feel dizzy. She thinks it must be the glass of champagne she chugged a few minutes ago and blinks her eyes slowly once or twice. Standing in front of the mirror, her vision is blurry now, and she knows something isn't right.
She stumbles out of the restroom and hopes she can spot Jamie in the lobby. She doesn't make it that far though. She is very drowsy and struggling to hold her eyes open. Whatever is happening is happening fast. She wants to reach for her phone to call Jamie, but it wouldn't matter, she can't see anything clearly anymore.
There is buzzing in her ears, and she feels a man wrap his arms around her shoulder, and he is taking her somewhere. He is talking to her, but the echo is all she hears, and she can't understand what he is saying.
She doesn't think it is Jamie, it doesn't smell like Jamie, but she is on the verge of sleep. A deep sleep that she cannot control. She is fighting it hard but she knows she is losing and her legs are giving out on her. She has no choice but to lean against the man who is holding her up right now, but her subconscious is telling her to fight.
She smells something. It is strong and now she recognizes it. She knows exactly what it is, but she still can't fight. Why can't she fight? It is as if her body is not her own and now this man is dragging her down the front steps of the hotel, waving off assistance from others as if he is just rescuing an overly intoxicated woman.
Jamie said his goodbyes, and he is walking into the lobby as the front door of the hotel swings closed. He catches a glimpse of familiar blonde hair first but doesn't react right away. He doesn't see Eddie anywhere and now he has an eerie feeling.
Did the blonde hair he just saw belong to Eddie? Maybe it is the soulful connection he and Eddie shared, maybe it is his cop instinct again, but he knows something isn't right and after glancing towards the restrooms one last time, he bolts through the lobby and exits the front door in time to see a man putting his girlfriend into a cab.
Jake is about to shut the car door when Jamie darts towards them, screaming Eddie's name. Jake steps away from the cab as Jamie approaches. He has to think fast now. This wasn't supposed to happen. Jamie just spoiled everything and he has to get away.
"She's drunk man, I was helping her into a cab,"
Jake spouts, looking at the ground, trying to avoid direct contact with Jamie. He would surely recognize him this time and he wouldn't be able to try again. He couldn't let that happen. He didn't have to worry much, Jamie is solely focused on Eddie's current state as he jumps into the cab beside her.
She is drifting in and out of consciousness and completely unaware of what's happening.
"Eddie," he shouts, shaking her shoulders and tapping her cheeks lightly.
He looks back towards the man who had placed her in the cab, but he is gone. He will get the security footage from the hotel later, he thinks, right now, Eddie needs medical attention, fast. He yells at the cab driver to get them to the hospital as he checks her pulse. It is faint but there, and he is terrified. He calls the hospital and his precinct on their way.
Jake was fuming as he made his way back to his hotel. How could Jamie have figured it out that quickly? This plan was supposed to be flawless, and he should be taking Eddie back to his hotel with him right now and would explain everything to her when the sedation wore off, but instead, he was going back alone.
He would have to think of something else fast before Jamie found out everything about him. He knew he didn't have much time.
Jamie used his Sergeant's status when he called the hospital from the cab, and they were met with a crowd of triage nurses as they pulled up to the emergency entrance. He told them everything he knew, which wasn't much as they pulled her from the back seat and placed her seemingly lifeless body on a gurney.
He had seen enough in his few years as a cop to recognize the signs though. What he couldn't figure out was how or when it happened, who the hell did it, and why. He tried to use the same Sergeant status to follow her through the swinging double doors inside the emergency room, but it didn't work.
He was advised to take a seat and someone would be out to get him as soon as possible, but he couldn't move. He remained frozen, watching through the windows of the double doors as they swung closed in front of him.
He has to trust that Eddie is in good hands now, and tries to calm down. His heart is beating at a steadier rhythm than before, but he still feels anxious. His legs are bouncing uncontrollably and he is picking at his fingernails.
His head jerks every time he hears the doors swing open, and he wishes more than anything that he could be back there with her right now. Patience has not been his virtue and the staff at the desk are becoming aggravated with his persistence. They are trying to be compassionate but he is not making it easy on them when he insists on talking with the doctors every five minutes.
It hasn't been as long as it feels to him, but half of his entire world is back there and he has no idea what is going on, and no one will tell him anything. He is agitated and pounds his palms on the counter, about to demand more information, when he feels a hand land softly on his back, diverting his attention and rescuing the poor girl behind the desk, at least for the moment.
Jamie steps away from the desk when he realizes the hand on his back belongs to another Sergeant at his precinct. He had forgotten he called them earlier. Sergeant Anthony Gates guides him back to his seat, offering an apologetic glance at the woman taking the brunt of Jamie's emotions for the last twenty minutes. She nods her head in return, accompanied by a sympathetic smile to let both men know she understands.
Jamie tells Gates everything he can about what happened, and he begins to get aggravated with himself for letting the guy who put Eddie in the cab get away so easily. The other sergeant can sense Jamie's guilt and feels even worse for him.
Jamie is calmer and his legs are still now, as they support the weight of his elbows, while he is leaning over staring at the floor.
"I'm a cop, I never should have let that guy disappear like that," Jamie says, and Gates can hear his voice cracking as he speaks.
"We will find him," he assures, as he reaches for Jamie's shoulder, placing his hand there gently.
"We have to, Anthony. I need you to get the security footage from the hotel, I can't leave the hospital right now."
When Jamie looks up, there are tears in his eyes that he doesn't try to hide.
When Sergeant Gates leaves, Jamie has no choice but to wait. He knows he has to remain calm. He needs to figure out who did this to Eddie, and why, and then he is going to find him and serve his own form of justice, he thinks.
He waits impatiently for a few more minutes, resisting the urge to approach the desk again when a doctor finally calls for him.
"Sergeant Reagan," the doctor says as he approaches.
"How is she," Jamie asks, as he jumps to his feet and follows Dr. Matthews through the double doors he has been anxiously waiting to get through since they have been there.
"She's ok," he tells him with certainty in his voice, and Jamie feels a surge of relief pass through his body.
He still needs answers though, and the look on his face urges the doctor to continue.
"She had a large amount of Rohypnol in her system," he confirmed what Jamie figured.
"Fortunately, her blood alcohol content was low, and we were able to flush her system with activated charcoal."
Jamie hears the doctor but is having trouble focusing, his mind replaying the events from earlier, trying to figure out when and how.
"She is still asleep, but she is stable," the doctor says as they approach her room.
He looks Jamie in the eyes and reaches a hand out to rest on his shoulder.
"She is going to be ok. She may have trouble remembering what happened when she wakes up, but she is going to be ok."
Dr. Matthews reassures Jamie one last time before he pushes the door open to Eddie's room.
It is nearly five in the morning when Eddie finally wakes up, and as expected, she has no idea where she is or what has happened. She is confused and wondering why her head hurts so badly.
Jamie didn't mean to fall asleep. He wanted to be awake when she came to, he knew she would be scared and confused, but when his adrenaline finally wore away, sleep took over.
Eddie can feel his hand in hers and she tries to remember. Everything is so foggy and she starts to panic when she realizes she is in a hospital bed. Jamie feels her movements and jolts from his slumber, prepared to calm her.
He can hear the heart monitor increasing behind them and knows she is afraid. He doesn't want her to be afraid.
"Hey," he says calmly as he reaches for her, brushing a stray hair away from her face.
"You're ok." His voice is so soft and soothing, but she is still confused.
"What happened," she asks him, her voice hoarse from the tube that had recently been removed from her throat.
"Do you remember anything from last night," he asks her.
"I remember dancing with you," she says with a tight smile. It is all she can muster at the moment.
"Why does my throat hurt? And my head? Why am I in the hospital?"
She hasn't been in a hospital since Jake attacked her over two years ago, and it is frighteningly familiar and the fear is building in her again.
Jamie sits on the bed next to her and takes her hands in his.
"Eddie," he starts softly. "Someone spiked your drink with Rohypnol last night. The doctors had to flush your system, you had a tube in your throat, that is why it hurts. You will probably start to remember things in pieces, and it could take a while," he says, and he is holding back tears.
He knows he needs to stay strong for her. She doesn't say anything and he wonders what she is thinking. He sees tears forming in her eyes and pulls her into a hug.
"Hey, I'm going to find out who did this to you ok," he promises her as he holds her in his arms.
The doctor came by shortly after Eddie woke up and assured her everything would be fine, and he would discharge her later in the afternoon. She wanted to go home right then, but she didn't protest. She was so fatigued still, and going back to sleep for a few more hours sounded perfect. She didn't care where.
Jamie sat with her a little longer, but when he noticed her drifting in and out, he encouraged her to get some rest. He needed to go by the precinct and check on Sergeant Gates' progress, and he felt more comfortable doing that with her safe in the hospital.
Someone did this to her, and he was going to figure out who. And once she was discharged, she wouldn't be leaving his side for a long time, maybe not ever. He promised her he would be back in a couple of hours and insisted she sleep the entire time he was gone. She didn't have the energy to argue, and her eyes fell closed before Jamie left the room.
Jake had been awake all night, his adrenaline never wore off, and he had paced the same track of his hotel room for the last eight hours. He knew he had to move fast, but she had to come home first.
He had paced, but he had also watched. He knew she hadn't come home yet, and he wondered why. He was confident in his dose, if she was with him now, she would be awake already. He hoped she would be home soon, but he knew her cop boyfriend wouldn't leave her alone, especially not now. He would get rid of Jamie if he had to. He had to get Eddie back.