A Path Well Traveled
Chapter 14
Trigger warning: Part of this chapter deals with the subject of miscarriage. If that is a problem for you, please skip the first flashback.
The sky was a pale pink as the sun slowly rose. Sharon breathed deeply of the fresh morning air. She closed her eyes, enjoying the peace of the early hour. Sleep was still elusive for her, even more than two weeks after they put an end to Winnie Davis' attempts at harming her reputation and professional standing. On most mornings, she left her sleeping fiancé in their cozy bed and went outside to sit on the beach and watch the sunrise. The ocean had always given her solace in times of trouble, and it still did.
Once the case against former Deputy Chief Davis was closed, their new boss, Assistant Chief Mason, had suggested that she and Andy take a few weeks off to get out of town. While most of the media attention had refocused on more important issues only days after the case had been solved, some reporters still tried to score an exclusive interview with the naughty couple, as they had been dubbed by some publications. It was Chief Mason's hope, and theirs as well, that those last few curious reporters and those within the department who were aware of what had transpired would have moved on by the time they returned from vacation.
They had finally taken Gavin up on his offer for them to stay at his time-share in Monterey. It was a beautiful, sprawling beach house with a stretch of reasonably quiet beach. Countless windows and the open floor plan made it friendly and welcoming, and the last two and a half weeks had been very enjoyable, giving the couple a chance to spend plenty of uninterrupted time together. They talked to their children on the phone regularly, but that was not the same as having one of them constantly coming and going. They did not have to fear that the ringing of the phone meant a new case, even though it had taken Sharon a while to not automatically expect bad news whenever someone called.
She was beginning to truly relax for the first time in many months. Even before the most recent drama their lives had been far from quiet. Between Andy's health issues, Chief Taylor's death, and the subsequent search for his replacement, they had hardly had a moment to breathe, let alone several days in a row to simply be together. The timing for this vacation could not have been better with their engagement still fresh. It was a wonderful way for her to calm the last bit of nervousness she had felt about her spontaneous answer to his proposal.
Andy had taken her completely by surprise. When they had started dating, they had spoken about their intentions, that both of them were interested in more than a fling this time. Marriage was not mentioned, even though both of them imagined spending the rest of their lives together. She had not realized that it was something Andy would want, just as she had not know that she wanted it until he went down on one knee in front of her. She had said yes before she had given herself time to think about it. The answer had come from her heart, completely circumventing her head, which was not the way she made major life decisions. While she had not regretted her answer, she had wondered occasionally if they were moving a little too fast.
The last two and a half weeks had shown her that it did not matter one bit. Andy was the man she wanted beside her for however long they would have left. No amount of thinking would change that.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, Andy appeared next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulder as he sank down on the sand beside her. She leaned into his warmth, stretching up to kiss him in greeting before she snuggled into his side and allowed him to pull her close. It was a ritual they repeated almost every morning, and Sharon began to realize that more than the gradual shift of the light from night to day or the gentle roll of the ocean, the presence of this wonderful, kind, generous, infuriating man was what gave her true peace. He knew when she required time alone or when the spinning of her thoughts got so overwhelming that she needed him to pull her out of that endless loop. He sensed when she wanted him to listen or when his advice was appreciated. Most of all, he was always there when she needed him, even if he did not immediately know how to help.
That did not mean that there were no problems. They had differences of opinion, and they outright fought on rare occasions. He did not run away when the going got tough, he struggled through the hard parts, and he challenged her to do the same. He gave her space, but he also confronted her when she was closing herself off from him. He did not allow her to retreat into herself when she was hurt. She was expected to tell him very bluntly when he was being an idiot, and he did not let her back away from a fight.
It was something she had discovered when they had started dating. Her years of marriage to Jack had made her resigned when it came to arguments. She had done more than enough of that with her ex-husband, and it had never resulted in anything but hurt feelings, usually hers. As a result, she had been reluctant to speak out when Andy did something to hurt her.
The small annoyances like his seemingly omnipresent dirty socks were no problem. It was the big things she struggled with, and Andy had helped her move past that. He had proven over and over that their relationship was a safe space, that no matter what she thought or felt, he would listen to her, and he would respect her feelings, even if he disagreed or thought she was being ridiculous. They would discuss it, and if necessary, they would fight about it until both had said their piece.
He only ever walked away from an argument when he felt that he did not have enough control over his response, but he was open about that, too. He always told her that he needed a moment to think and cool down. He would take a walk around the block and then he would return, prepared to have a reasonable discussion about whatever their problem might be. In the years of their relationship and their friendship before that, she had learned to take that time for herself as well, and Andy always gave it to her.
With Andy, Sharon had found a man who was truly her equal, who understood her with all her quirks and issues, who had stood by her side for longer than she had ever admitted. He had been there to witness her triumphs, and had seen her at her absolute lowest. Through all of that, he had never stopped loving her, and that was really all she needed to know. It might have taken her the better part of two decades, but she knew now, without a doubt, that he was the one person who completed her, and the idea of being apart from him was unfathomable.
Her desk was a mess. Files and loose papers were piled so high that they threatened to topple over, and there was barely any room left to work. Sharon wanted to scream, and not just because of the chaos. Her last fitting skirt was starting to become uncomfortably tight around her waist, her bra chafed against the sensitive skin of her breasts, which seemed to have grown even bigger since that morning, barely remaining within the confines of the garment. In addition to that, her back had been hurting all day. She suspected that it was past time to give up her stylish heels in favor of more sensible footwear, but that realization did not alleviate the pain. She needed to buy new, looser clothes for her rapidly changing body. Whatever maternity clothes she had owned when she was pregnant with Ricky and Emily had been given away long ago, since she had not intended to ever be pregnant again, so she had to start from scratch. The thought of the massive amount of preparation that was still ahead of her put her in a mild panic. She had no idea where she would find the time. Just when she thought work was calming down a little, their case got knocked down in court and they had to start investigating all over again. It was proving to be an even bigger mess than they had originally thought.
The pain in her back was getting worse by the minute, and she was considering packing in for the night when someone approached her corner desk, startling her out of her thoughts. She looked up and sighed when she saw Andy Flynn stopping in front of her, a file clutched in his hands and a dour expression on his face.
"Sergeant Flynn, what can I do for you?" She cringed at the annoyed tone of her voice, giving him a tired smile to take the bite out of it.
He handed the thin folder over to her, raising an eyebrow when she hesitated to take it.
"Sergeant Willis asked me to drop off a copy of my report, and seeing that he's not here anymore, I hoped you might take it. I don't want to get in trouble for delaying the process or something like that."
Rolling her eyes at his sarcasm, she took the report from him and tried to locate a reasonably clear part of her desk where she would find it again in the morning.
"I will give it to him tomorrow. Was there anything else you needed?"
It was difficult to sound at least somewhat civil when she had a hard time sitting upright. There was a brief flash of anger in his eyes, before he narrowed his eyes slightly and gave her a long look.
"Are you okay, Sharon?" he asked, his gaze softening. When she did not answer immediately, he sank into one of the chairs in front of her desk and continued to study her closely.
She thought about reprimanding him for his lack of professionalism, but she was able to tell that he was truly concerned. They might no longer be in a personal relationship, but that did not mean that they simply stopped caring. She leaned back in her chair and briefly closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.
"I'm all right, Andy. Just very exhausted. Being pregnant is not as easy as it was ten years ago," she confessed with a wry smile.
"I heard some rumors about that. Wasn't sure if I should believe them. Congratulations, Sharon."
They smiled at one another for a moment until the awkwardness became too much and Andy pushed himself out of his chair.
"I'd better head out. You should go home, too. It's getting late and you look like you could use a hot bath and a good night's sleep." He hesitated for a beat as if he was thinking about something, but then he just nodded once and stepped around his chair.
"Take care of yourself."
He was already on his way out of the door by the time her soft thank you reached him. His kindness had taken her by surprise, and she would be lying if she claimed that his concern for her wellbeing did not feel good. Deciding to take his advice, she slowly sorted through the files on her desk, stacking them into neat piles and locking away what was not supposed to be left out for others to find.
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Andy had not been prepared to see her. Of course it was always a risk when IA was after him for something, but so far, he had been lucky enough not to run into Sharon since she had told him to leave. It hurt to think about her being pregnant. He imagined how she would go home to her husband, how Jack would give her a back rub or massage her aching feet. Andy had never imagined having children with Sharon. Theirs had not been that kind of relationship, and they had both already had two when their relationship began, but after he had seen her, he found himself wishing that it was him who got to take care of her.
He sat in his car for a while, trying to shake himself out of his unwelcome thoughts. Maybe it would be a good idea to find a meeting on the way home. Thoughts of Sharon always led him down a road of conflicting memories, of wondering what he should have done differently. His past was full of regrets, and disappointing Sharon was one of his biggest regrets.
Andy was about to start his car when movement in his rear view mirror caught his attention. Someone had stepped off the elevator and was slowly walking along the row of parked cars. Curiosity had him check who it was, and he frowned when he realized that it was Sharon and that she was clearly not feeling well. She was hunched over slightly, her usual impeccable posture absent. When she stopped at a concrete column a few cars away from his, bracing her hand against it as she bent over even more, a hand pressed to her abdomen, he pulled the keys from the ignition and got out of the car, closing the distance between them in a few long strides.
His hand on her back startled her, and she jerked upright to see who was touching her, relaxing immediately when she realized that it was Andy. She allowed him to take her purse off her shoulder and let him lead her back to his car where he opened the passenger side door and helped her sit down, her feet still outside on the concrete. He crouched down in front of her, one of his hands brushing an errant strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.
"Sharon, talk to me. What's wrong?"
For a split second she thought about lying to him, of telling him that she was okay, but as reluctant as she was to fall back into old habits, she was scared and in pain, and she was relieved to have someone with her who she was able to trust completely.
"I don't know," she replied, her frightened eyes seeking out his steady gaze. "I've been having back pains all day. I didn't think much of it, but now I'm having cramps and…" She did not even want to say it out loud. Before she left the office, Sharon had gone to the bathroom and discovered blood in her underwear. It was not much, but enough to worry her.
Andy thought for a second about their options before he gently clasped her trembling hands, giving them an encouraging squeeze.
"Okay, get in the car. I'll drive you to the hospital and we'll see what's going on. It'll be all right."
He prayed that he was right, but he did not like how pale and weak she appeared to be as she shifted in her seat so that he could close the door. Walking around the car, Andy took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he slipped behind the wheel and started the car.
It was not a long ride to the hospital, and Sharon was grateful that he had not deemed it necessary to use lights and sirens. She was not feeling well, but the bleeding was not bad enough to be an immediate danger to her. As for the rest, a few minutes more or less would probably not make a difference at this point.
When he pulled into a parking spot near the emergency room entrance, Andy jumped out of the car and rounded it, helping her to her feet and reaching for her purse that he had deposited in her foot space earlier. He offered her an arm to hold on to, leading her slowly to the entrance.
It was a busy night, like any other night in a downtown Los Angeles emergency room. Andy led her to a vacant seat before he went to the reception desk. He saw to it that Sharon did not noticed when he flashed his badge to make sure she did not have to wait too long for a doctor to see her. He was not sure if it was his badge, Sharon being a cop, or her condition, but the nurse in charge had her on a cot in a curtained off area within a few minutes. It took a little while longer for a doctor to show up, during which time another nurse gave her some paperwork to fill out and took her vitals, scribbling down a few notes on a chart.
When they were left alone, Sharon took a moment to study the man who quietly sat beside her bed. "You really don't need to stay," she finally said.
He shook his head at her, smirking at the expected stubbornness. "I'm not going anywhere." He hesitated for a second. "I mean, unless you want me to?"
He was worried about her, and the idea of leaving her alone did not sit well with him. Then it occurred to him that she might wish for someone else to keep her company and hold her hand through whatever was happening. He cleared his throat, tugging on his earlobe in a nervous gesture. "I'm sorry, I didn't think… If you give me his number, I'll call Jack and make sure he gets here as quickly as possible," he suggested.
She sighed. The state of her marriage was not something she wished to discuss with Andy. "That won't be necessary, but thank you," she replied, looking down at her hands that were twisted together in her lap.
There was no need for her to elaborate. The sadness in her voice and the darkening of her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Jack had walked away once again, taking another part of her heart with him. Andy wondered how many times she would allow her husband to do this to her, and he could not help but feel a little jealous. His wife had never considered taking him back once she had thrown him out, and even Sharon had not given him a second chance. He realized that he was being unfair to her. It was Jack she had sworn to love and cherish for the rest of her life, not him. She owed him no chances. They'd had a good time together without commitment, and he had screwed it up.
Shifting his chair closer to the bed, Andy took one of her hands in his, letting his thumb draw calming circles on its back. He held on to her when the doctor finally saw her, and when she was told that she was losing the baby and there was nothing they could do to stop it. He sat with her through the worst of the cramps, letting her squeeze his hand when it got too much, as they waited for the fluids and pain medication she was put on to run through. When all of that was done and the worst was over, he drove her home. When the reality of what had just happened finally hit as she was about to climb into bed, his solid shoulder was there for her to cry on. He held her until tears made way for exhaustion, and even then he did not let go of her hand until he was sure that she was asleep.
Sharon had woken up late the following day to an empty bedroom and a note on her bedside table. He had told her that he was sorry he had to leave, but they had caught a case and to call him if she needed anything at all, that he would be there for her. It had made her cry again. Here was a man who had every reason to dislike her for not sticking with him when he might have needed her most, and he selflessly gave of his time and kindness once again.
She had wanted to call him, not to ask for his help but to thank him. She did not remember how many times she had picked up her phone to dial his number only to hang up again before the call could connect. The truth was, she had been afraid of what would happen if she attempted to reconnect with him. The idea of finding solace in his arms had been tempting, but he did not deserve to be used in that way. She had barely been over Jack's latest disappearing act and had not even begun to come to terms with losing her baby. There was nothing she'd had to offer, so she had kept her distance, merely dropping a short note on his desk to express her sincere gratitude for his kindness.
"Good morning, my love," he murmured into her ear, planting soft kisses against the sensitive skin below. "How are you?"
It was a question he had asked her every morning since the beginning of their trip. Sharon smiled as she leaned away from him far enough that she was able to look at him. She caressed his slightly stubbly cheek with a gentle finger, allowing herself a moment to drown in his kind gaze. She knew that he loved her, but sometimes seeing the depth of his feelings shining in his eyes still took her breath away. He had chosen her, despite everything, and it made her happier than she had ever thought possible.
"I am great," she said with a smile. "I was just thinking how unbelievably lucky I am to have you. I didn't deserve you."
"What do you mean?" he asked, clearly confused.
"You have always been there for me. In all the years we have known each other, you never turned me away, even when I kept pushing you out of my life. I think I haven't been very kind to you over the years, and I am very sorry about that."
Andy stared at her, completely taken aback by her remark. "Sharon, you have never once been unkind to me in all the years I have known you. Well, except maybe that one time you sent me to that useless sensitivity training." He took one of her hands in his as he turned his head to plant a kiss against the base of her thumb, which was still caressing his cheek. "There were no promises between us. When we started seeing each other all those years ago, you were very clear about the fact that you were married. We both gave as much of ourselves as we could, and if you think that I gave more than I got in return, you are wrong. You were there when my kids didn't want to see me. You let me into your life when I was so lonely that I didn't see the point of going on anymore. You were the one who gave me the kick in the butt I needed to stop drinking. You were there for me as a friend and much more in so many ways. You have nothing to feel bad about."
He kissed her passionately, making sure there was no doubt about his feelings for her. He swallowed her surprised gasp and smiled into their kiss when it drew one of the small hums he loved so much out of her. When they finally pulled apart, he tugged her head against his shoulder again, letting his fingers slide into her hair to massage her scalp until she relaxed completely, curling her arms around him. With his nose buried in her thick curls, he closed his eyes and let the strong waves of happiness roll over him.
He had not seen her in months, and it had been close to three years since they had actually spoken more than a few words. Andy had a feeling that she tried to delegate cases that involved him or his team to one of her subordinates. It stung a little bit, but he supposed that it was better that way. It was not common knowledge that they'd had something going on a while back, but there was no guarantee that no one would ever try to use it against them. He tried to believe that she was simply looking out for both of them instead of actively trying to avoid him.
When she had been promoted to Captain and took over the newly established Force Investigation Division, which she had helped build, he had dropped by her new office late one night to congratulate her. There had been flowers, and they had talked for a while. She had looked fantastic.
He had been tempted frequently to ask how she was doing following that night when he had sat with her as she was losing her baby. In the end, he had decided that she knew how to get a hold of him, and that he had made it clear that he would be there for her. He had not wanted to bother her, and from what he had heard, work had been kind of crazy for her over the following couple of years. She had been busy and probably had not needed him sniffing after her. The truth was, however, that he had missed her.
That was a feeling he was quickly beginning to question as Captain Sharon Raydor was striding into their crime scene, pulling down their yellow tape and replacing it with her own. She was hot as hell in her dark trench coat and the glasses that were a more recent addition to her look. She was also incredibly annoying with her little note pad and an endless amount of questions.
Internal Affairs had always kept an eye on cases where civilians ended up shot or otherwise harmed by LAPD officers. With the relatively new Force Investigation Division, however, it was an entirely different kind of madness. They had come up with all these new rules and regulations, put procedures in place that made everyone's job more difficult, and were pissing people off wherever they went. Sharon had not been particularly popular before her promotion, but as head of FID, she had acquired several interesting nicknames as well as an impressive number of enemies. No one within the LAPD was able to hear her name without a shiver running down their spines, and Andy had no doubt that she was deriving a perverse pleasure from that knowledge.
Sharon had once told him that she did not need people to like her at work. He'd had a hard time believing it, but once she had explained how it made her job a lot easier if she did not worry about her popularity, he had begun to understand. It was hard for him not to like her, because he knew what she was like once she shed the impassive mask she tended to wear at work. He was familiar with the love shining in her eyes when she looked at her children and the warmth of her laughter when she thought he was being a lovable idiot. He remembered what it felt like to have her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, and he recalled the softness of her small hand in his, their fingers entwined. He had seen her laugh, and cry, and fall apart beneath him. To him, Sharon Raydor was more than the Wicked Witch of FID, more than Nurse Ratched, or Darth Raydor. She was a friend and the woman he had lost his heart to many years ago.
When she showed up at his crime scene, however, questioning his conduct and making it sound as if it was his fault that the dirtbag had gotten himself shot, it was easier to understand why his colleagues despised her so much.
They had been chasing down a lead in a murder case when they entered the small warehouse. One of their potential witnesses was supposed to work there, and they had wanted to invite him downtown for a chat. The only problem was that the idiot had started running, and then there had been shots fired. No one was one hundred per cent sure what had happened, but their witness was dead, and they would have to start at the beginning once again.
That alone had Andy riled up, because he had planned to have the case solved by the end of the day, or at the very least by the next morning, so that he would be able to go to the Dodgers game in the afternoon. He had gotten tickets for himself and his son, hoping that the boy would actually show up. Without their witness, it was unlikely that he would be able to get away, and that situation had not improved with the arrival of FID.
He was barely able to hold on to his weapon when Sharon and her minions swept in, and that only after he had shown her that he had not fired it. It irked him that she had not taken his word for it, and he was getting even more riled up when she started questioning the way they had approached their witness.
"Captain," he tried to explain once again through clenched teeth, his patience long gone, "our information about this guy was clear. He wasn't supposed to be a threat. He's just a kid, damn it." He gestured towards the prone body of the young man who lay on the ground only a few feet from them, covered by a sheet and awaiting his ride to the morgue. "If we had expected him to be armed, don't you think we would've gone about this differently?"
She had her hands on her hips and her head tilted slightly to the side as if she was trying to figure out just how stupid he was. Andy balled his hands into tight fists where they hung at his side and bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something that would get him into even more trouble. He had heard how fond she was of these new anger management courses, and he had no intention of finding out for himself how much they sucked.
"Well, Lieutenant, it seems as if your intelligence was not wrong. One of your officers was. We did not find a weapon with our victim or anywhere in his vicinity. Detective Callaghan shot an unarmed man."
Andy bristled at the accusation, offended on the behalf of the young detective. "Now wait just a god damn minute," he practically yelled. "Detective Callaghan said that she returned fire after she was shot at from behind that car over there." He pointed at the vehicle next to which their witness was just being loaded onto a gurney. "She's a good cop. If she says that's what happened then that's exactly what happened. I won't let you call her a liar."
He had worked with Sarah Callaghan for over a year, and she was a smart kid. Young and ambitious, but always cool under pressure and as tough as they came. In many ways she reminded him of Sharon way back when they had both been younger. Maybe that was why he felt so protective of the young woman.
"I am not calling anyone a liar, Lieutenant. I am merely pointing out that there are certain discrepancies between your statements and the evidence. Unless you can explain what happened to the gun with which my victim supposedly shot at you?"
She was patronizing him, and it drove him mad. What angered him even more than her attitude was his almost irrepressible need to kiss that superior little smirk off her lips until her perfectly applied lipstick was smudged and his hands had messed up her immaculately styled hair.
"No, I can't, and frankly, Captain, that's your job. My job is it to find and arrest a murderer, so if you let me and my people continue to do that, we'll get out of your hair so you can go hunt for your stupid gun."
He was done with her and her damn rulebook. Time was ticking, and with each passing minute, their chances of catching their actual murderer got slimmer. He had no time to stand around and listen to her lecture him about procedure. Andy turned around and walked away from her, determined to get back to his people and see if they could get out of there.
What happened next, he did not know. One moment he was looking for Detectives Callaghan and Diaz, the next he was on the ground, staring up into Sharon Raydor's concerned and slightly blurry eyes. His head was pounding and his shoulder was burning with pain. People were swarming all around them, screaming and running. He blinked to clear his vision, but that only served to make him nauseous, so he closed his eyes until his stomach settled down again.
Sharon was caressing his cheek with one hand, running her fingers through his hair, and cupping his face. The other hand was resting on his uninjured shoulder, keeping him from sitting up. Her lips were moving, and he once again thought how much he wanted to kiss her. When the ringing in his ears finally subsided a little, he heard her voice, urging him to look at her, to stay with her, telling him that he would be all right. She sounded shaken, which surprised him. Only a moment ago, she had seemed as if nothing could rattle her. It pleased him that he had finally managed to make her let go of that superior attitude. He would enjoy his victory just as soon as his head stopped spinning.
The next time he woke up it was in a hospital bed, and the light was too damn bright. He squinted at his surroundings, frowning at the vast amount of tousled, reddish-brown hair that was curling on the pillow right next to him. One strand tickled his cheek when he turned his head to study it closer, and he blew at it to relieve the itch. His body still felt too heavy for him to lift a hand to do the job. The puff of air did more than just remove the tickling hairs from his face. The entire pile started moving, emitting strange, grumbling sounds, before it shifted upwards and transformed into the sleepy-eyed form of Sharon Raydor.
She looked adorable with her messed up hair, slightly smudged makeup, an imprint of the crumpled sheets on her cheek, and a disoriented look on her face. He would never say so out loud, however. Even in his confused state he knew better. It only took a second for her shake off the lingering fog of sleep and give him a bright smile. He figured that whatever was going on, if she was able to smile like that, it could not be too bad, even if he hurt all over.
"Hey you," she greeted him in a blessedly quiet voice, one of her hands caressing his cheek gently. "How are you feeling?"
Andy gave it a moment, taking inventory of his body and all the aches and pains he felt. His head hurt, especially at the left temple. When he frowned, something pulled uncomfortably at the skin there, and he suspected that it was a taped up cut, on top of what appeared to be a substantial bruise. There was a sharp pain in his right shoulder, and that arm was strapped to his body to immobilize it. His left hip and shoulder ached as well, but far less intensely. All in all, he concluded that it was not pleasant, but he'd had far worse.
"I'm okay. Hurts like a bitch, but I'll live. Care to tell me what happened?"
Sharon studied him closely. His voice was gruff, his hair stuck up in all direction, making her want to run her fingers through the thick strands to tame it, and his warm, brown eyes were clouded with pain. At least they had cleaned the blood off his face. She shuddered as she allowed her mind to go back to that moment only hours before when she had frantically searched for his pulse.
"What do you remember?" she asked cautiously, wondering how far back she should start with her recounting of events.
There were countless jumbled images in his head, and he tried to make sense of them. When he found one that he was able to place, he took it and went from there.
"We were trying to find a witness. Paul Santiago?" He was not entirely sure he got that right, but Sharon did not correct him, so he went on. "He ran and got himself shot. You showed up and gave us a hard time over it. I remember that we argued about something, but nothing after that."
Sharon nodded, relieved that he seemed to recall most of the events of the previous evening. "Yes, that's right. We had a disagreement about the way I did my job. You were about to stomp off in protest when someone tried to shoot you."
She did not mention that mere seconds before that had happened, she herself had briefly thought about shooting him, if only with a beanbag gun, but the idea had stopped being amusing the moment someone had actually tried to kill him. Her breath still caught in her throat at the image of his unresponsive body beside her on the hard ground, a pool of blood forming underneath him.
Her fingers brushed along his forehead, carefully avoiding the butterfly bandage that had been placed over the cut on his temple. They lingered in a barely there touch on the angry bruise that was spreading over the entire side of his face, and she felt the twinge of guilt that was familiar by now.
"I am afraid this is my fault," she confessed, her voice and expression full of regret.
Andy raised an eyebrow, promptly regretting it when it made his head throb even more. Considering what he remembered, what she had told him to fill the gaps, and from the placement of his injuries, it was easy to figure out that she must have tried to drag him out of harm's way, the momentum causing him to fall down and hit his head. That also explained the ache down that entire side of his body.
"I guess it beats the alternative," he replied with a smile. "I'll take the headache over being dead any day, so thank you."
His tone might have been flippant, but he truly meant it. Their eyes locked for a long moment, allowing him to convey his gratitude and to see how deeply shaken she still was, even hours after the event. It hurt like hell, but he raised his left hand to capture hers, which still lingered on his injured cheek. He pulled it down to rest on his chest, right over his heart, covered by his, their fingers intertwined.
"I mean it, Sharon," he reassured her once more, waiting until he saw the darkness that lingered in her eyes lift a little. Then he finally looked back up at the ceiling before he closed his eyes and heaved a big sigh. "Any idea when they'll let me get out of here?"
She could not help it. The fear and tension of the last several hours needed a release, and his absolutely predictable behavior was the last straw, causing laughter to bubble up inside her. Letting her forehead fall against the mattress next to him, her shoulders shook quietly, and as hard as she tried, she was unable to suppress the snorts that inevitably followed.
"Oh my God," she finally gasped as she tried to regain control. "You have not even been awake for ten minutes and you are already itching to go home? Can you maybe give it half an hour before you start bullying people to release you?"
"Hey, who's bullying? I was just asking," he clarified, a smile tugging at his lips. It was good to see her laugh.
~TBC~