A/N: Hey guys! This is the last chapter of Feelings! I hope you all enjoyed it! There is an epilogue at the end.
Please review and let me know what you thought of this story, if you want more stories about The Rookie from me, and if you have any ideas that you want me to try and include in the next one.
Thanks so much for reading guys!
Chapter 4
Grey gave Lucy a few days off, so she spent almost all of the next three days at the hospital, sitting with Bradford, talking to him, and holding his hand.
Sometimes she felt uncomfortable, or worried that when he woke up he wouldn't like her like she liked him, but she couldn't deny the fact that they had a connection that they hadn't discovered before. She just hoped he would see it too.
When 3 days had gone by, Grey was at the hospital after shift, checking on Bradford, and trying to make Lucy go home to get some sleep.
"Lucy, you need some rest in a real bed. Bradford is fighting, he'll be okay for one night, and I'll stay here with him. The doctor is keeping him sedated for a few more days so his body can rest, so you won't miss him waking up."
"I don't know, sir. I just can't leave him. He's my friend, and he saved my life, and there still a risk of infection. I don't want to miss something happening, whether it be good or bad."
Grey started to speak but turned when he heard the door open. Doctor Hatfield walked in the room, and Grey thought he was almost smiling.
"Hello, doctor. You look like you're in a good mood. Do you have good news for us?" Grey asked.
"I'm pleased to tell you that Officer Bradford has shown no signs of infection over the past three days. He isn't completely out of the woods yet, but in the next few days, his body should be healed enough to wean him off of the sedation. After that, we'll wait for him to wake up and go from there."
Lucy was so relieved. "Thank you, doctor."
"There is still a chance for infection until his leg is healed and the stitches are removed, but the more it heals the better off he'll be."
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A few days later, Doctor Hatfield decided to move Bradford to a normal room, and wean him off of the sedation medication. He told Bradford's friends that it would probably take around a week for Officer Bradford to start waking up, and it could take longer for him to fully come around.
Continuing forward, every day after shift, Lucy, Nolan, Lopez, Harper, West, and Grey would all gather in his room talking to him, and waiting for him to show any signs of waking up.
Finally, about 5 days after the medication was completely worn off, Lucy was sitting next to Bradford's bed, holding his hand and talking to him, everyone else was standing around talking and joking with each other.
"Tim, if you can hear me, try and squeeze my hand. I know you've fought hard, but I need you to keep fighting a little more. Come back to us, we need you." She had done this every day. Every day, waiting for a response. Some type of response. She was desperate for anything.
It had been almost two weeks since that day. The last day she had seen his eyes, and his smile. The last day he had talked to her and given her a piece of advice or one of his snappy comebacks. The day he had saved her life... twice. The day she had discovered that she loved him. Love was a strong word, but watching Tim fight through this, and knowing that she didn't know what she would do if he didn't make it out... Lucy knew, deep down in her heart, that she loved him.
Tears sprung to her eyes as she thought about all they had been through. She missed riding with him, and his crazy lessons he used to teach her.
Everyone else in the room was distracted with each other, so no one saw Lucy lean in close to Bradford's ear and whisper, "Tim, you are very special to me. I need you. I love you."
She sat back and continued holding his hand and talking to him. As visiting hours came to an end, and everyone, except Lucy, was getting ready to leave, she had his hand in hers. She almost didn't want to let go for fear of missing him trying to squeeze her hand.
As she was telling everyone goodbye, she felt a very slight squeeze from his hand. She gasped. "What is it?" Asked Lopez.
Lucy was staring at his hand, waiting for any movement. He squeezed again. "He squeezed my hand!" She exclaimed.
Everyone stared in amazement, as Bradford's eyelids fluttered for a few minutes, then finally, his eyes opened. He looked around the room, slightly confused. "What—" he tried, but his throat was dry, and his voice came out raspy.
"Hold on, let me get you some ice." Lucy said and ran out to the hall to get a nurse. A few minutes later she was back with a cup of ice, and spooned some of the ice chips into his mouth a few times. "Better?" She asked.
He nodded, "better. What happened?"
Grey explained what had happened during the traffic stop and after, up until now.
"How long was I out?"
"Almost 2 weeks." Lopez replied.
Bradford cursed, "seriously?"
"Yeah, we've been waiting forever. We're so glad you're okay." Lucy said. He looked at her and noticed something in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. He smiled at her and said, "so how many nights have you been here?"
She looked down, avoiding his eyes, and said, "not many."
Everyone gave her looks, and she knew they were going to give her up, so she might as well tell him herself. "Okay, okay, almost all of them."
He smiled, "thanks for caring, boot. But you didn't have to do that."
Suddenly he winced and reached for his leg. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked.
"Sharp pains in my leg."
"I'll get the doctor," Nolan said and rushed out of the room.
A minute later he came back in followed by Doctor Hatfield.
"Officer Bradford, it's nice to see you awake, and sooner than we thought. Now, you're having sharp pains in your leg? Where exactly?"
Bradford's eyelids were growing heavy. Being awake, even for only a short time, had exhausted him. "Around my thigh, and sometimes they shoot up into my hip area." He mumbled.
Doctor Hatfield gently felt around the suture site and up towards his hip. "Can you feel this?" He asked Bradford.
Bradford has closed his eyes. "Feel what?"
"I'm touching your leg. You can't feel it?"
"Not really."
Everyone looked around at each other, all with very concerned looks on their faces.
Tim had fallen back asleep, and Doctor Hatfield asked Grey to step out into the hall with him. Lucy insisted on going too.
"What could be wrong? Why can't he feel you touching his leg?" Lucy asked, voice shaking. Greg rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to keep her calm.
"Well, best case scenario is it's just Neurapraxia, which is fairly common, especially after surgeries. It's just a nerve injury that is caused by stretching or compression of the nerves, or inflammation caused by the operation. It almost always will get better on its own, only needing to be treated with rest."
"And worse care scenario?" Grey asked.
"Worse case scenario is the femoral nerve was damaged when the muscle in his leg was lacerated by the piece of metal. Tomorrow, I would like to do an MRI on his leg to make sure the muscles are healing properly, and also an EMG to test for nerve damage in the muscle in his leg."
"And what if there is nerve damage?" Lucy asked and glanced at Grey to see if he was as nervous as she was about the answer.
"Nerve damage to the femoral nerve, or even a branch of it, could cause numbness, pain, shrinking of the thigh muscle, and muscle weakness, which would also most likely cause difficulty walking or extending the knee."
"Is there anything you would be able to do for it?"
"There are different treatments for it, but there isn't a cure. Sometimes it'll resolve on it's own, and sometimes it doesn't completely get better at all."
"So if that's the case, he might not get to come back to work?"
"If the femoral nerve is damaged, it'll depend on where and how severely, but not only is there a chance he won't get to come back to work, but he might not be able to walk without some kind of assistance."
Lucy and Grey looked at each other. Neither of them wanted to have to tell Bradford that he might not get to come back to work.
"We don't have to tell Bradford about this until we know for sure, after you do the tests tomorrow, right?" Grey asked.
"I think it would be best to wait until we know for sure." Doctor Hatfield replied.
Grey nodded, "we'll be back after shift tomorrow. Can you let us know the results then?"
"Absolutely. You guys stay safe tomorrow."
The next day, Lucy was having a hard time focusing. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if they had to tell Bradford that he could work for the LAPD anymore.
She tried not to worry until she knew for sure.
That evening, she and Grey went straight to the hospital after their shift, and immediately found Dr. Hatfield. He got right to the point.
"On Officer Bradford's tests, the muscle looks to be healing nicely, and the femoral nerve does not look to be damaged. The nerve injury should resolve itself in the next few days." Lucy and Grey both breathed a sigh of relief.
"I think you will also be pleased to know that Officer Bradford should be able to go home next week."
"That's great news. Thank you." Lucy said
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A week later, Lucy was walking next to the nurse who was pushing Bradford's wheelchair towards the exit. Right before they reached the door, Bradford asked them to stop. "What is it?" Lucy asked.
"I'm not going to be wheeled out of here like I can't walk. Hand me the crutches."
The nurse started to argue, but Lucy whispered to her, "he's not going to back down. He needs a little control over the situation, and this is all he has." The nurse nodded and handed him the crutches, then walked on one side of him, with Lucy on the other as he made his way out to the car.
As he walked out the doors he saw Nolan, Lopez, Grey, West, and Harper standing by the car, Lopez holding balloons and a card. They were all on shift, but had stopped by to see Bradford get out of the hospital. Lucy had taken off so she could take Tim to his house, and make sure he was taken care of.
After getting Tim in the car, everyone headed back to work as Lucy climbed in the driver's seat. She was about to drive away when Bradford spoke up, "hey, Lucy?"
She looked over at him, he rarely ever called her Lucy. "Yeah, Tim?"
"I didn't get a chance to say this when you told me, but I want to say it now. I love you."
Tears spring to her eyes and she reached across and placed her hand on his cheek. "I love you, too."
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Epilogue
3 months later*
Bradford walked in the doors of the LAPD. He was so glad to be back. He had surprised everyone when he healed, did physical therapy, and was already eager to be back. He passed all the tests needed to return with flying colors.
He had worked extremely hard to get back to normal, but he was finally there.
He had Lopez, Nolan, Grey, Harper, West, and especially Lucy to thank. They all helped, brought food, helped him with therapy, encouraged and supported him.
He was also happy to be exploring he and Lucy's new relationship. They had decided not to tell their friends/fellow officers yet because they weren't even sure where the relationship was headed.
All they knew was that they loved spending time together, discovering new things about each other, and ever since that traffic stop, they had a connection unlike ever before.
As Bradford walked in the room for roll call, everyone gave him a round of applause. He shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal of his return, and took his seat. He glanced at his phone and saw a text from Lucy. It read, "I love you, and I'm so glad you're back."
He looked towards where she was sitting in the front row with Nolan and West and smiled to himself before texting back, "I love you too."
