Amy

It had been a hectic Friday so far, she looked forward to the weekend, she and Jake had plans to go away to the bed and breakfast in Vermont, the very one where she had broken up with Teddy and Jake discovered she had feelings for him. They were both looking forward to getting out of the city and just relaxing, together.

Amy looked at her email and cringed, it was the fourth complaint about one of her officers in two weeks. Officer Trevor Stahl, he was a good officer, but he was shot at twice in past three months and he had started to be more aggressive towards suspects and overly cautious in situations of potential danger, alarming his partners and earning him complaints from other officers and the public.

Amy called in Officer Lou, who was her second in command, "Lou, where are Stahl and Villegas at right now?"

"They were covering Prospect Park South, between Rugby and Stratford, but they just got called to help out Jake and Rosa."

Amy frowned, "man, I hope Stahl doesn't screw up around Rosa, she'll eat him alive. As soon as they are done assisting them, radio them to come back, another complaint about him came in."

Officer Lou shook his head, "that's four official complaints, but the other officers can't stand him right now, they worry he'll get them in trouble, they had enough of that in May."

"I know, things were running smoothly. I don't know what he needs, I can give him desk duty, but I feel like he needs to regain his confidence."

"Yeah, I agree, I'll get them in as soon as they're done with Jake and Rosa. What was the latest complaint?"

"He screamed at thirteen-year old girl he thought was a suspect in a series of shopliftings. Her dad, as it turns out, is a member of the schoolboard, and was there with her trying to talk sense to Stahl, but sadly, it didn't work. I wish he would have reported this when it happened, I don't know if he should be out there right now before we talk to him. I think I'll have him work with you, so you can report to me and we can evaluate what he needs."

"No problem, I like Trevor, he was one of the most reliable officers we had until that crazy lady who was tripping some seriously strong stuff shot at him and Simmons. It was random and not really close, but Simmons said he just sort of freaked out and he hasn't been the same since then."

"Let's just hope he doesn't piss off Rosa and he comes back in one piece."

Jake

"Seriously, Jake, what is Stahl's deal? I'm about to bloody my night stick on his skull."

"Rosa, chill! The last thing we need right now is two officers fighting. He and Villegas are covering the back exit."

"Villegas is cool, he knows my sisters, but Stahl, he used to be cool."

"Rosa, I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but can we concentrate on the murderous suspect inside?"

Jake and Rosa were investigating a murder in East Flatbush, the suspect in the case was the cousin of the victim, Jaden Fisher. The suspect, Isaiah Fisher was a bike messenger and had pulled out a gun and ran into a bookstore on the corner of Glendale and Albany. Jake and Rosa called for back up and Villegas called in, he and Stahl were a mile away. They arrived in three minutes and before Rosa could tell them where to go, Stahl had started arguing with the employees of the bookstore, and then with Rosa when she told him to shut up.

"Officer," Jake turned around and saw the manager of the bookstore, "there is a window he could easily climb out in the back, but it is mostly covered by the dumpster, it's hard to see on the outside, but easily seen and opened from the inside."

Jake thanked her and radioed Villegas. "Villegas, behind the dumpster is a window, easy enough for him to get out of, have Stahl cover that."

"Copy that."

Within a few minutes, Jake and Rosa heard arguing from behind the bookstore, Rosa looked as angry as Jake had ever seen her, which was never a good thing, "Rosa, you stay here, I'll go see what the problem is." Rosa was about to argue but Jake took off before she could.

As Jake entered the ally, he saw the dumpster, partially pushed away, Jake hoped the officers had done that and not their suspect. Stahl was not there, he was at least two hundred feet away, arguing with Villegas by the rear exit.

"Villegas, Stahl, what the hell is going on? Did you move the dumpster?"

Villegas turned suddenly, "no, Stahl wouldn't cover it, then when I went to cover it, he yelled at me and told me I needed to cover him."

Jake immediately got on the radio, "Rosa, the suspect might be out, did you see anyone come from the ally?"

"Negative, my vantage point lets me see both, no one came out. If he's out of the building, he's in the ally? How did he get out?"

Jake swore under his breath, "I'll tell you later, right now there is a murderer on the loose, in an ally, not the recipe for a good time. Cover the ally and the entrance in case I'm wrong."

"Copy. Be careful."

"Not necessary, danger is not as intoxicating as it once was."

Jake, with his weapon drawn, proceeded carefully to the dumpster, the window had definitely been open, and his gut told him the bookstore employees would not have done that. He spoke in a loud whisper, "Villegas, Stahl, cover the perimeter of the ally, look everywhere. Jake was scanning his surroundings, there were a few trucks parked in the ally, an old forklift, some more dumpsters, and various recycling bins. Jake reached the first truck, he quickly and quietly pulled himself up to look in the cab, nothing, as he lowered himself down, he heard another truck start its engine.

"The other truck, he's not in this one, cover that truck, do not let him get away." As Jake turned to see where the truck was, he saw the truck as it roared forward, hitting another truck with a loud crunch, but it was still moving and picking up some speed, Villegas was behind the truck, with no shot on the driver, Stahl was right there, out of danger's way, but he had the shot. "Stahl, take the shot, take the shot!"

Stahl froze, he then fumbled with his holster and weapon, Jake then realized the truck was headed for him, he ran towards the dumpster, the suspect was aiming the truck for him and was crouching low enough that Jake didn't have a good shot, or any shot. He calculated his options, he then jumped as best he could on the dumpster and crouched inside, expecting the worst. He gagged when he saw some rotten food, which was when he heard and felt it, then darkness.

Amy

As she signed the last form on her desk, she looked at the clock, she hoped Jake would return soon so she could deal with Stahl and then they could head for Vermont. Lou popped his head in the door, "Sergeant, we have a problem. Come out, quick."

Amy stood up and moved as fast as she could, three other officers were gathered around a radio, "This is Villegas, we have an officer down, but trapped. We need the jaws of life, the suspect crunched him up pretty badly in a dumpster and Stahl took off."

Amy reached through the officers and picked up the radio, "Officer Villegas, this is Sergeant Peralta. Come again on Stahl."

"Sir, he froze, he ignored orders to cover an exit, the suspect got out, then he froze and didn't take a shot, it's your husband sir, he's in the dumpster."

Amy felt faint, but she quickly blinked and regained her strength when the radio crackled, "two fire trucks and an ambulance are a minute away, jaws of life aboard."

"Villegas, what happened to the suspect?"

"I was able to apprehend him as he tried to back up, I entered through the passenger door and kicked him, he's conscious now."

"Sergeant Peralta," Amy turned to see Captain Holt, "come with me, they told me that as soon as he is out of the dumpster, they will take him Kings County Hospital."

The ride was silent other than the radio conversation. Jake was out, he was badly injured, he was breathing but in bad shape. Stahl was found and brought in. Holt instructed Terry to fire him on the spot. As they reached the hospital, she saw him, on a gurney. Blood covered much of his clothing, an oxygen mask was on his face, his body was bent unnaturally, somehow. She felt the tears coming, she hated it, but she felt them, nonetheless. As Jake vanished from her sight, she and Holt entered the hospital and waited.

As she sat, memories of the night before entered her already tortured mind, Jake's pure love and admiration for her pregnant body, the tenderness of the moment, the way he had held her after. They had started discussing important things for their future, getting a new place with more than two bedrooms, increasing insurance, setting up a will, and had even managed a serious conversation on names just a few days ago. Jake still suggested some terrible ones but was warming up to her first choice for a boy, William. Amy had argued three of her favorites were Williams, Shakespeare, Faulkner, and Short, the crossword genius. Jake liked the sound of Will Peralta. For a girl, Jake had continued to push the name Eve, which she liked, their first child, Eve, but she knew and told him she knew that was the name of Nic Cage's wife in Face/Off, but she was considering it.

Her memories were interrupted by the doctor, she wondered how long she had been lost in thought, she glanced at her watch, they had been sitting for well over an hour. The doctor approached them and introduced herself, "Captain and Sergeant, I'm Dr. Lovell, head surgeon here. Jake suffered some severe injuries, the internal injuries were our biggest concern, he is still in surgery, but we have the internal bleeding stopped. We had to remove half a kidney, and we are now in the process of setting his broken bones. He broke seven ribs and his left arm is broken in four different spots, but he was fortunate he wasn't hurt much worse based on the bruising and cuts we saw."

Amy sobbed lightly, "thank you doctor." She closed her eyes, "is he really going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded, "yes, he will survive, he will need time to heal, he will have to stay several days in the hospital as we monitor his kidney, but he is fortunate to be alive."

Amy remembered little of the conversation with Holt, she knew Stahl was fired and that Holt was considering other actions against him. Jake's mom was in Los Angeles visiting family and her parents were on their way.

She turned around after the doctor left and leaned against a wall, as tears started to fall down her cheeks she slammed the wall with both hands, balled up in fists. "Sergeant are you alright?"

Amy moved to face him, "no Captain, this is my fault, I should have had Stahl on desk duty or see the psychologist."

Holt lead her back to their seats and sat her down gently then sat next to her, "Sergeant Peralta, you must not blame yourself. You learned today that we cannot always give the benefit of the doubt to our officers, it is sad when we cannot, but it is also difficult to learn because we depend on each other and it is not easy for anyone in the force, facing what we face on a daily basis. What Stahl did was worse that anyone thought possible, even the department psychologist thought that working cases and being with his partners would help him through this, this is no one's fault, it is the unfortunate bi-product of our chosen profession, that some officers lose their edge and their nerve. I feel badly that things ended like this for Jake, but also for Stahl, he was a good officer at one time."

Amy wiped away her tears, "I know, I do, but if I had just realized that three complaints would snowball into more…"

Holt cut her off, "none of us can foresee the future, the best we can do is predict possible outcomes and you are doing exactly what I need from you, you hold your officers to high standards and support them and believe in them, this means a lot to them and makes you one of the finest sergeants in the NYPD."

Amy's parents arrived a short time later, her mom and dad both buoyed her up and reminded her what a fighter Jake was, though Victor did threaten to find and take care of Stahl for letting this happen to Jake. Amy couldn't help but smile.

"Dad, you like Jake, like love Jake?"

Victor almost looked surprised, "yeah, I suppose I do. You know how I felt about him at first, but the thing about Jake is, he never gives up. He never gave up in jail when most men would have for being wrongly imprisoned, he never gave up on you when he had feelings for you, and I truly believe he would rather die than give up on you and I think the same will carry over to my grandchild."

Amy hugged him, "This one's hard because I finally know how Jake feels, this feels like my fault."

Camila squeezed her daughter's hand, "that is nonsense Amy."

Victor nodded, "your mother is right, complete nonsense. Amy, officers deserve chances to prove themselves, especially the ones who suffer because of the job, this was a terrible thing that happened, but this is no one's fault but Stahl and the jackass who drove the truck."

It was nearly nine o'clock at night before Jake was moved to his room, still asleep, looking more fragile than Amy had ever seen him, and she had seen him shot, wounded in other ways, even prison Jake, but asleep with the brace on arm and hooked up to so many machines, this was different, in the worst possible way.

She had told her parents that she wanted to be alone in the room when he woke up, so they patiently waited in the waiting room, she didn't have anything to read and her phone was nearly dead, as she texted her dad to see if he would go to their apartment to fetch a few things, she hear a rustling sound, she turned to Jake slowly moving on the bed, his eyes blinking a few times, his injured arm trying to lift and then touching his head with good arm.

Amy scooted her chair closer, "Babe, hey, it's me. Welcome back."

Jake continued to look confused as he looked around the room, he blinked some more, followed a groan, "holy shit, Ames, what the hell happened. I feel like I got hit by a truck."

Amy put her hands to her mouth and both laughed and cried, "babe, do you remember anything?"

Jake shook his head no as best he could, "no, not really, I think I remember, I…I was with Rosa, and looking for someone…"

Amy gently and carefully touched his face, "yeah, you were, then an officer failed you and you hid in a dumpster to avoid being mowed down by a truck, so instead he used the truck and crunched the dumpster you were in and they had to use the jaws of life to pry the dumpster open and pull you out."

His eye's widened, "seriously, I was actually hit by a truck? Wow! I mean, wow! Even for me and my luck, wow!"

Amy's tears flowed freely again, Jake was still struggling adjusting to the light when he noticed, "what's wrong, I'm good, right, I'm not dying? Oh god, I am…"

"No, you're fine. I mean, you have a bunch of broken ribs, you lost half a kidney and your arm is broken in four places, it's just, it's my fault?"

Jake rolled his eyes as best he could for how he felt, "Ames, please, were you driving the truck?"

"No, of course not, but Stahl, the officer who froze, I should have known, there have been complaints."

"Look, Ames, my head is throbbing, my side kills me, and don't get me started on my arm, but before I go goo goo because of pain meds, everyone respects you, most love you, but they all respect you. You believe in them, yet you don't go easy on them, which is for their sake, I've heard it from several of them, I was just saving it for a day when you needed it."

"You can remember that but not about the suspect or Stahl?"

"Yeah, I was hit by a truck…"

"Technically, the dumpster you were in was hit by truck, you were just in a trash compactor, very fear factor."

"Damn, I miss that show."

The doctor and nurses came in, his pain meds were increased and after a brief conversation with Holt and Amy's parents, Amy found herself alone with Jake at midnight, the only noises were those of the machines. The doctors were worried about kidney infection, but everyone who came and saw him agreed that he was lucky to be alive. This was repeated even more when Charles had sent the captain a picture of the dumpster, Amy and Victor both gasped, it didn't seem possible that anyone could have survived the ordeal in the dumpster that looked like it had been nearly flattened.

At three in the morning, Amy was charging her phone and reading on it when Jake opened his eyes and coughed, Amy was quickly at his side, Jake brushed her cheek with his right hand, "Ames, don't be sad, I'm lucky. Let's remember that, I'm lucky this time, probably shouldn't be alive, but I am, so that's lucky. One for Jake."