So quite frankly, your reviews made me SO HAPPY! This one is pretty intense, I quite like it. I hope you all do too! 3


Trusting Your Instincts

Dov dragged his feet into Parade, his hair still wet from his shower. He took his usual seat, next to Chris and Traci at the front of the room. The woman to his right turned to him.

"Have you seen Andy?" Traci asked. Dov's stomach hit the floor. "What's wrong?" She asked him, noticing his skin going pale.

"Is she not here?" He looked around the room.

"No, she's not answering her phone either. I thought she was with you." Traci furrowed her brows.

"She should have been." Dov mentally kicked himself. He leaned in close to Traci. "Is Callaghan here today?" Traci studied his face before breaking eye contact and calling Jerry over.

"Hey, Jer. Have you seen Luke at all today?" She asked, smiling sweetly.

"Ah, no. He called in sick today." He said, looping his fingers through his belt loops. Dov knew that it wasn't a sure thing, but it was enough for him.

"Chris, come with me." He grabbed his friends arm.

"What? Where?" Chris stuttered.

"Now!" Dov practically yelled. Obediently, Chris leapt from his chair and followed him out the door, rushing past Frank as he entered. Frank turned to the group of officers sitting before him.

"What was that about?" He said, pointing over his shoulder.

"I think they're going to find Andy?" Traci theorized, as she looked at Gail who was just as confused.

Outside, the two men sprinted to Dov's car. He sped out of the parking lot before Chris spoke.

"Dov, what is going on?" He pried as he held the handle above the door to support himself through Dov's sharp turns.

"Look, I've just gotta check something. Call it a hunch." He pressed the gas pedal down as far as he could, and the car accelerated through the intersection. He made it to Andy's in record time, still not answering Chris' question. He pulled a tumbler key out of his back pocket and unlocked the front door, signalling for Chris to keep quiet. He led the way up the stairs and paused, pointing out to Chris that the hallway door was locked. They stopped to listen for voices.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you little bitch." A man's voice said. "Open the damn door!" It took all of Dov's willpower to restrain himself from running in and shooting whoever was in her home. Of course, said willpower evaporated when he heard Andy's voice.

"Get out of here! Leave me alone!" She screamed back. Andy's next door neighbour poked her head in through the open front door.

"Ma'am, please stay outside." Chris whispered.

"That man? I've seen him before. She threw him out about two months ago from her apartment because he hit her." She whispered back. "I hope you get the bastard." She said before disappearing outside.

At that moment, a crash was heard and a blood curdling scream sounded down the hallway. Dov smashed open the hallway door, gun drawn. He rushed down the hall, Chris right behind him.

They turned into her bedroom to find her pinned underneath Luke Callaghan. He was sitting on her waist, his fist raised above her head.

"Let me go!" Andy sobbed under the weight of the detective.

"Callaghan! Off, now!" Chris yelled, louder than Dov had ever heard before. Luke turned to face them, revealing the left side of his head which was cut and bloodied. A wild look in his eyes, he brought his fist down on the side of her head, knocking her unconscious. Chris, who didn't have his gun out tackled the blonde man, crushing him to the floor.

Letting his rage get the best of him, Chris punched Luke square in the face before cuffing him. Dov secured his weapon and radioed for EMT's and backup before rushing to Andy's side. He tried to jostle her awake, with no success.

"Andy? Andy, it's me. Wake up." He whispered to her, while checking her pulse and listening to her breathing. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" He swore over and over again as he turned to survey the scene. He realized now just how gruesome it had been.

Blood littered the floor in front of the bedroom door, trailing from the doorway to the bed. Dov turned to look for the source of the blood and almost vomited when he saw Andy's leg. It was the most disgusting break he'd ever seen, the bone protruding at least two inches outside of her skin.

"Holy shit! Chris, get me the kit from the car right now!" Dov ordered, while he searched for something to tie off her leg with. He prayed she didn't wake up until the paramedics got some drugs into her, the pain would have been too much to bear. A feeling of horrible guilt washed over him as he watched her lay there, unconscious. He knew he had to wait for photographs to be taken of her in order to press charges, but he hated himself for following that protocol. He heard the sirens outside as Chris re-entered the room with the kit. Dov pulled out some gauze and began to soak up the blood still leaking from her leg. The EMT's rushed in and quickly sized up the situation. Dov followed them to the ambulance and hopped in after they'd secured her. He shot a pointed look at Chris, which he understood perfectly.

Chris pulled out his phone and first called Best, and then Traci who was hysterical halfway through the call.

"Traci, she's fine. Her leg is pretty bad but she'll be okay." He used his soothing voice.

"Oh my god, I can't believe he did this. I'm gonna meet you at the hospital okay?" Traci whimpered into the phone.

"Honestly, Traci, I think he was wasted. And can you bring Gail?" Chris said quietly. Traci agreed and they said their goodbyes.

They met up at the hospital and walked into emergency to find Dov pacing, and prying the nurses for information. He knew she'd be fine, but he was still terrified. Chris stopped everyone in the doorway for a minute, and they watched him.

"No, I'm serious. She is really, really allergic to coconut. Like, anaphylactic shock allergic." He was telling the nurse.

"Officer, I promise I won't let any rogue bakers back there, okay? Everything's fine." The nurse spoke condescendingly.

"Her blood type is AB positive!" He called down the hallway.

"I know." The nurse retorted, not even turning to look at him as she walked away. Dov took a seat in one of the dark chairs and let his head fall into his hands.

"Dov, she's gonna be okay. It really isn't that bad." Chris stood in front of him while the two women sat on either side.

"I had a feeling this would happen, and I didn't act on it. And now look where we are." He gritted his teeth together.

"Dov, it isn't your fault, you couldn't have done anything. She'll just be happy to have you here when she wakes up." Gail said softly as she rubbed his back. Dov turned and looked at her with bewildered eyes. She simply smiled back. Chris stifled a laugh, pregnancy hormones can really change things up.

Dov practically leaped out of his chair when a nurse came to talk to them.

"The break is really, quite severe, as you saw. They're going to operate; it should take about an hour. She's regained consciousness, but we have her sedated in order to prep her for the surgery. If you'd like to see her, you can; one at a time and only for about two minutes each." The petite nurse led them through the triage doors and into a small stall, separated from the next by curtains. "She's on as much morphine as we can give her, so if things get bad, just call me and we'll put her under." Dov nodded. He was the first one to go in.

He pulled aside the curtain and his stomach tightened when he saw her lying in the white bed in front of him. He traced his finger up her good leg and sat down in the chair next to her.

"Hey you. How're you holding up?" She asked him, her words slurred. He laughed.

"How am I? You're the one in the hospital!" He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the bedside.

"No, you're in the hospital!" Andy laughed. Yeah, the morphine was definitely working. Dov patted her hand.

"Calm down now, tiger." He laughed, trying to keep her still. Her sweats had been cut away, and her leg was being immobilized by a metal splint.

"So tell me, what happened?" Andy spoke, her eyes wide. At first, Dov thought she may have been afraid, but he realized that she was just looking at him that way because she was about as high as a kite.

"Let's not think about that right now." He hushed her.

"Alriiiiight." Andy groaned, her eyes still wide. A dopey smile spread across her face.

"Can I get you anything?" He hoped she didn't ask for food. Andy's brows furrowed, and her lips curved downwards.

"I want Sam." She whispered. A tear escaped down her cheek, and she tried to wipe it away, but the drugs made her movements laboured and erratic.

"Don't worry; he'll be home soon enough." Dov said, reaching up to wipe away her tear.

"Alright, officers." The nurse pulled back the curtain. "It's time." Dov kissed Andy on the forehead and squeezed her hand. When he exited the small room, brushing past the other nurses that had come to prep his friend; he was greeted by three annoyed looks from the other rookies.

"Two minutes Dov. That's what the nurse said." Traci began.

"But no. You took like ten. Now we don't get to see her!" Gail fumed. Chris began to rub his girlfriends back and gave Dov an apologetic look.

"Look, all we can do now is wait. She said it would be an hour, right? I'll check with Best, but I'm sure we'll all be able to stay." Chris said as he pulled out his phone and turned away. Without a moments notice, Gail threw her arms around Dov and started crying into his shoulder.

"Oh god, what's happening to us? We're cops, we're the good guys. Oh, poor Andy. Poor, sweet Andy." She sobbed. Dov's eyes nearly popped out of his head and he silently begged Traci, who was staring back at him just as alarmed, for help.

"Gail, sweetie. Let's go get you some food okay?" Traci guided the blonde woman away.

"I love food." Gail cried to herself as they walked away. Dov braced himself on a nearby counter as he laughed and Chris approached.

"…What?" Chris was confused.

"Your girlfriend, man. How do you deal with that?" Dov said through his laughter.

"I buy her lots of cupcakes and I don't talk much." Chris admitted. "But with the mood swings come a sex drive kicked up about eight notches, which I really don't mind." He raised an eyebrow at Dov.

"Nice, man." He was happy for Chris and Gail; they'd really warmed up to the idea of being parents. Gail was almost four months along now, and she'd begun to feel flutters in her stomach. She'd had a good day a few days ago, and she'd run around the bullpen in her civvies making everyone feel her stomach. Every time there would be movement, she'd squeal with delight and text Chris to let him know.

"Waiting room?" Dov suggested. Chris nodded and they made their way outside.

The wait was ultimately uneventful. About 45 minutes after they wheeled Andy in, a nurse came out into the waiting room, her hair falling out of its bun. She walked over to them and leaned on the table to Dov's left.

"Okay, officers. First off I owe you an apology." Dov straightened up.

"What happened? Is Andy okay?" His voice cracked and the nurse's face went red.

"She's fine. However, our surgeon had a homemade coconut smoothie for lunch." The nurse continued to blush. "She reacted badly about half way through the operation. We were able to stabilize her and finish, but she's going to be out for a few more hours than originally planned." Dov ran his hands through his hair.

"I told you." He said quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll come get you when you can see her." And she left.

Chris had Traci take Gail home; her morning sickness hadn't quite run its course yet. They remained in the waiting room until the sky outside blackened. Dov had begun to nod off in his chair when the sliding doors opened and a familiar scent floated through the air. When he looked up, his heart jump started when he saw who'd entered the room. Discretely, he pinched Chris' arm. He pretended to stretch and whispered into Chris' ear.

"Look who it is." Chris slowly let his gaze drift upwards and settled on a dark haired man. Dov straightened in his seat as Sam Swarek trudged into the room, his face sullen. He sat two seats to the left of Dov. Reaching over, he grabbed one of the magazines on the table.

Dov knew better than to say anything to him. It had been a rocky op as it was, and he was risking everything being here. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sam pull out a pen. Being as subtle as he could, he watched Sam scrawl a message and angle it his way.

He squinted to read it. 'How is she?' his messy black printing read. Dov turned to Chris.

"So when we got her to the hospital, she was unconscious from a blow to the head. Her leg was broken really badly, so they took her into surgery. She came into contact with coconut, and that caused some complications, but she's okay. We'll be allowed in when she wakes up." Chris gave Dov a very confused face. "Go with it." Dov whispered, before continuing. "I got to talk to her before she went in, and all she could talk about was her boyfriend." He shifted a bit so he could see Sam. "She really misses him. She spent the first night he was gone with me because she couldn't bare to sleep in their bed without him." Sam cringed.

Opening his magazine again, he scribbled down another word. 'Who?' Dov turned to his friend once more.

"Promise you won't do anything stupid, but it was Callaghan. He blew a .24 when we got him down to the station." He said to Chris. When he leaned back in his seat, he saw Sam's fists clenching and unclenching. One last time, he wrote something in the magazine before closing it, and placing it back on the table. He made eye contact with Dov and tapped the cover of the flimsy tabloid.

His jaw clenched, Sam got up and walked with force out of the room, sucking all of the oxygen out with him. Dov quickly reached over and grabbed the magazine. On the last page, Sam had written a message Dov would never forget.

'I'll be at home at 9 AM tomorrow, see if you can bring her home. No matter what happens, you protect her.'

Dov showed Chris the magazine.

"Dude, what did you just do?"