A couple of short weeks later, Andy was fully re-adjusted to normal life again. Some of her memory had returned, but still nothing from when she was in the coma. Now that she was back, she wasn't sure that she even wanted to remember.
Still, Andy had to go back to the doctor's for check-ups; just to make sure no complications were occurring. She still had a clean bill of health. Her cast had even been removed; she had been undergoing physical therapy for a short time and already, her movement was improving.
The only thing that still reminded her of her four months spent in a coma was the headaches. Although they weren't all the time, they sometimes surprised her and could be crippling at times. She had brought it up at the last doctor's visit and he had readjusted her medication. For now, they were managed.
Married life with Sam was treating them both well. There had been minimal arguments and since they had been living together for quite some time before they even got married, there wasn't a big adjustment to be made.
Sam himself had been wonderful; he was helpful but gave her space when she needed it. He accompanied her to every doctor's visit, rubbed her ankle when the rain made it sore and made sweet love to her almost every night. She loved him so much. Her life was going so well; it was finally back on track.
She was even back to work, but Best was keeping her on the desk, just to be safe. She would still have to wait quite some time before she could be out in the field again. He also let her take it easy and her schedule was pretty flexible; if she was having a bad day with her headaches, she was allowed to rest at home. Andy was grateful for having such a compassionate boss; her colleagues and friends were great as well. Traci often came over with Leo at night to visit.
Everything was perfect, except for the nightmares.
Andy wasn't sure when she started getting them and she definitely didn't know why but they left her breathless when she woke up. She was starting to get dark circles under her eyes and she was losing weight, despite going to the gym to bulk up.
The nightmares were hazy and sometimes she wasn't even sure what was going on in them. A few times, she could see large hands reaching out to her and all of a sudden she couldn't breathe. During these nightmares it was dark; she felt like she was back in her coma and she always feared she wouldn't wake up. Terrified and shaky, she still couldn't make sense of them. Nothing further had progressed in the nightmares, but they left her with a feeling of unease that she couldn't shake.
It wasn't until too late that she began to think that the nightmares were warning her; that it was memories rather than just a scary dream.
That night…
"Andy…Andy!"
Yet again, Andy was shaken awake in the middle of the night by Sam. He was losing as much sleep as she was these nights.
Becoming aware of her surroundings and her rapid heartbeat, Andy tried to steady herself as she opened her eyes, meeting Sam's concerned ones.
"Oh, babe, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" she murmured, propping herself up with her elbows.
By the looks of it, Sam didn't care that he had been woken up…again. "Andy, I'm worried. Maybe we should bring it up to your doctor the next time you go?" He rubbed at his tired eyes, trying to keep them open.
Andy sighed. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." She wasn't sure why she was putting off telling the doctor, but she thought she already knew what he was going to say- that she needed to see a psychologist. In fact, the doctor had discussed these options with her not too long after she had regained consciousness. But Andy had declined, thinking she would be fine. And now, she held off because money was getting tight. Once she was back on a regular work schedule, then they could talk about it.
Sam was looking at her as if he wanted to say more, but Andy lay back down. She nudged his arm until he lifted it so she could curl into his side and he placed his arm over her.
"I don't want to talk right now, Sam. Can you please…just hold me?" she whimpered.
Sam never thought he would hear the words "don't want to talk" come out of Andy's mouth, but he understood the circumstances. He didn't like to push her into doing anything she didn't want to do anymore. For now, he would keep his worries to himself, but if things didn't improve, he would drag Andy to the doctor if he had to.
Not even ten minutes later, Andy felt Sam's breathing even out as he fell back to sleep. She lifted her head to look at the clock which read 2:06 AM. Tired, but unable to sleep, Andy relaxed back into Sam's embrace.
She tried to match her breathing to his and eventually fell into a fitful slumber.
A few hours later, the alarm clocked blared, rousing both Sam and Andy.
Beep beep. Beep bee-
The annoying racket was ended when Sam reached out his fist and banged on the top of it. Andy peered over at the clock, 6:15.
"Geez, Sam, why so early? We don't have to be in work until 8," Andy complained, running a hand through her bed head. Sam loved when she did that; he thought it looked sexy.
Momentarily distracted, he detached himself from Andy and hoisted his exhausted body out of bed. He placed a kiss on her forehead before rummaging through his closet in search of clean clothes.
"I'm meeting up with Nick this morning. Remember?" In truth, he wasn't sure if he actually mentioned this or not. He didn't want to lie to her now, even though he considered it.
Sam had not told Andy of his plan to search out and find who had done this to her and the other occupants at the hotel. Every time he saw the memorial flashing across the news, it fueled his fire. However, he didn't want Andy to worry and so this was the one thing he kept from her.
Now, though, he wasn't sure how to explain his meeting with a fellow cop whom he didn't usually associate with on a good day.
Andy wrinkled her nose. "Nick? You don't even like him."
Pulling on a plain tee and wriggling into a faded pair of denim, Sam sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't know him," Sam corrected, lightly tapping the tip of her nose, making her blush.
Andy placed a hand to her temple, pressing to keep the pain at bay. "Did I take my meds last night?" She was always forgetting.
Sam reached over to the nightstand to where the pill organizer he got her was sitting. Sure enough, the pill slot marked W was still full. "Here, take them now," he said, handing it to her along with a bottle of water.
Once she had downed the medication, she asked, "So, why are you meeting with Nick?" She wasn't one to stop asking questions until she had all the answers. Typical cop. Typical Andy.
"We are just going to talk over coffee, it's no big deal," he said with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, I'm going to be late. Call my cell if you need me, okay? I'll see you at work." He leaned down and gave her a passionate goodbye kiss that made her want for more, and then, he was gone.
Andy collapsed back on the bed, reveling in the cool texture of the sheets. Even though she had taken the pills, her head still pounded. She buried herself under the covers, hoping to get some more sleep before work.
Sam popped into the small coffee shop, only a few minutes late. Even still, Nick was already waiting, coffee in hand, at a closed off table for two by the window.
"You look like hell," Nick remarked as he took his seat, the waitress already coming over to take his order.
After placing his order for "the largest cup of coffee you have", Sam turned to Nick and said, "Andy's nightmares are keeping us both up."
Nick looked sympathetic. "It must be rough, man, I'm sorry."
Sam simply shrugged, tired of all this small talk. Although, he had to admit that Nick didn't seem like such a bad guy. It was true what he said to Andy this morning; he didn't know the guy. But maybe now was as good a time as any to learn more about him. Sam had to shake his head to focus; first, they had business to attend to.
The waitress brought over what closer resembled a bowl rather than a mug and Sam shot her a grateful look as she departed.
Nick waited while Sam took a couple of scalding sips before saying, "Well, I'm sure you want to know what I want to talk to you about…" He trailed off when Sam raised his eyebrows in an obvious manner.
Nick paused. He had tried to go over and over in his head how he wanted to say this, but now that he was here, he was unsure of what to say. He swirled his almost empty cup in front of him. "Well…The list that you made. I think the person who was targeting Andy was Simon Dent."
Simon Dent. Sam recalled writing his name on the paper before he got the call from the hospital that Andy had regained consciousness. After that, it hadn't seemed to matter and he had almost forgotten all about it. Simon Dent was the little weasel that had tricked them outside the 'catering business' that he ran when Sam was looking for both the drug shipments and Andy. He remembered how pissed he had been when he opened up those tanks and jelly beans had poured out. He also recalled the look on Dent's face when he had slammed him against the table, demanding where Andy was.
It had quite some time since Nick and Andy had gone undercover. Sam realized why he had never bothered to get to know Nick; he had been jealous. Going undercover and posing as a couple really formed a bond between two people and there was a time that Sam had honestly thought that he was going to lose Andy to Nick, granted, he had been acting stupid- dating Marlo, who had since transferred, and flaunting her in Andy's face.
But Sam pushed all of that to the back of his mind and focused on the matter at hand.
Nick could see Sam processing and said, "Just…just hear me out first." Nick took a deep breath before launching into his story. "So, not long after Andy had…you know…after the explosion, some weird stuff started happening. I thought that I was being followed when I drove home, but I chalked it up to nerves. But one night when I was home alone, a brick came sailing through my window, with the words you are dead etched on it. I thought it was some high school kids pulling a prank, but my nerves were still on edge. I didn't say anything to anyone, especially Gail, because I didn't want to stress or worry anyone anymore, especially since everyone's focus should have been on Andy. But seeing Simon Dent's name on that list got me thinking. That same night, I used the computers to check Dent's status. He was supposed to serve 15 years, but he just got released on a technicality after only serving five…"
Nick looked up to Sam's hard gaze. "I associated with these people Sam. They are capable of doing this. And if Simon Dent is out of prison, he could be taking orders from the guys who are higher up and still serving time. They have connections. I really think he is your guy. None of them were too pleased to find out that they had been infiltrated by two cops."
Sam's mind was working furiously. It all fit into place. And it made sense now that Nick was being targeted as well, though Sam wondered why Nick's threats were less extreme. Simon Dent probably just didn't have a good window of opportunity yet. Now the only thing left to do was prove that Dent was their guy for setting the explosion.
Sam stood up suddenly, causing the legs of the chairs to protest shrilly against the floor. Confused, Nick stood up more slowly. "Sam?" he questioned.
"C'mon Army Boy, we have work to do," Sam said, pulling out his wallet and leaving a generous tip although the coffee had been terrible. He looked at his watch; there was plenty of time left before Parade. He was already halfway to where his truck was parked when Nick caught up to him.
"Sam, what are we doing?"
Sam turned to look at him. "We are going to prove that Simon Dent set those explosions. And I know just the person to help us do it."
So there it is; Simon Dent is the one trying to kill Andy and possibly Nick as well. Did any of you see it coming? If not, it kind of makes sense now right? I would love to know what you think! You know what to do. :)