DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

Chapter 8

Sharon, Andy, and Matthew along with Moxie walked back into the condo after being at the park for about two hours. Andy was a little mad that Sharon didn't allow him to go after Croelick when he saw him standing in the park. She had told him that it was a public place and Croelick had every right to be there just as much as they did. Of course, Andy didn't like that answer. He made his way outside on the balcony and pulled out his phone. Provenza would want to know about it and perhaps he would have a different answer than what Sharon had given him. 'Went to De Longpre Park with Matthew. Croelick was there crowd watching. Sharon stopped me before I could confront him. He left' Andy texted to Provenza.

Andy turned around and looked inside the condo at Sharon and Matthew. Sharon was showing him something in the living room and Moxie was on the couch. He needed to know how Croelick knew about his kids and the only way to find out, was to ask him directly. How was he supposed to do that, he thought to himself. 'At least we know he didn't go back to Fresno' Provenza texted him back. His phone rang next. "Hello" he said to Provenza on the other end. "The Captain did you a favor by not allowing you to confront him in that park. First of all, it is a public place. Second, what were you going to do if you did confront him" he said to Andy. "I hate it when you're right" Andy said quietly to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you" Provenza said back to him. "Don't let it go to your head" Andy said.

"So what's the game plan now?" Andy said to him. "Well, I'm getting ready to have dinner with Patrice and I suggest you do the same with everyone there" Provenza said. "That's not very helpful" Andy said back to him in disgust. "Look, Flynn, we can't really do anything. He's a free man" Provenza started to say. "Yeah, who's stalking Sharon and me" Andy interrupted him. "We don't know that for sure" Provenza said and Andy huffed. "I blame you for this, if you didn't mention his name to Sharon, he wouldn't have come back here" Andy said to him. "Yeah, well if I hadn't mentioned his name, we would still be working that case trying to solve it!" Provenza said to Andy. Andy huffed again. Provenza could tell that Andy was bothered by all of this. "Look, just have dinner with the family tonight. Go to the doctor's tomorrow morning. And by the time you and the Captain come to work, hopefully Mike and I will have some concrete information, okay?" Provenza said to his friend. "Yeah, fine" Andy said to him. "See you tomorrow" he added and then he hung up his phone.

He turned around to look at the sun that was starting to set. He needed to prove that Croelick was stalking them, but how could he prove that. "How can I prove that" he said out loud as Sharon opened the sliding glass door and joined him. "How can you prove what?" Sharon said to him as she came up beside him and placed her hand on the his back. Andy froze. He looked at her and she looked at him with inquisitive eyes. "How can you prove what, Andy?" she asked him again. He couldn't lie to her. "That Croelick is following us" he said to her. She looked at him and nodded her head. "That seems to be the question of the hour" Sharon said to him. "We don't know if he followed us there or if he just happened to show up and we were there, right?" Sharon started to tell him. "He needs to be monitored" Andy said. "Yes, but we need a reason to follow him around" Sharon said back to him. "Otherwise, he can claim the police is pursuing him unlawfully, and he would win" she added as Andy moved in front of her and held her face in his hands. "You know I love you right?" he whispered to her. "Yes" she said back to him as she looked into his dark, brown eyes. They held each other's gaze for what seemed like hours, until Sharon started talking again. "We should decide what's for dinner" she said to Andy. She took hold of his hand and led him back inside. He closed the door behind them. "So, Matthew would you like pizza for dinner?" Sharon said to Matthew as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Matthew, is all of your homework done?" Sharon asked him as they were finishing up eating the pizza that they ordered. "Yes, I think so" he said as he got up from his chair and went to where his backpack was at. Andy was clearing the table and placed the left over pizza in some foil and placed it in the refrigerator. Matthew came back with his folder and gave it to Sharon. Sharon sat back down and went over the contents of the folder with Matthew. Everything was done and Sharon told Matthew to place it back in his backpack for tomorrow. Sharon's phone alerted her to a message. It was from Rusty. 'Just got back to Gus's place from spending the day at Newport Beach. Tired so I am just going to crash here' it said. Rusty was becoming more independent and Sharon was happy for that.

It was getting late and Matthew was falling asleep on Andy as they sat on the couch watching a movie on the Hallmark Channel. Sharon turned to Andy as she sat next to them. "I think it's past his bedtime" Sharon whispered to him. "Yeah, we should probably wake him and get him ready for bed" he said to her and smiled. Sharon gently woke Matthew up and he got up and walked with both of them down the hallway to get ready for bed. As Matthew put his pajamas on in the bathroom, Sharon was in Rusty's room laying out his clothes for school. Andy brought Matthew back in the room and Matthew climbed up on the bed. Sharon tucked him in and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out. Sharon joined Andy at the door and they both walked out and headed back to the living room.

The TV was still on when they came back in the living room and Sharon sat back down on the couch. Andy went to get Moxie's leash to take him out one more time before they went to bed. "I'm going to take him out" Andy said to Sharon as he passed her to get the dog's leash. On his way back with the dog, Andy leaned down and gave Sharon a kiss on her lips. Sharon deepened the kiss which drove Andy crazy. They broke apart and smiled. "I'll hurry up with the dog, don't go anywhere" he said to her and then turned around and took the dog out. Sharon just chuckled back at him and continued to watch the movie on TV.

Andy was outside with Moxie as he sniffed the grass for his spot. Andy was looking around. It was a busy night for a Sunday. People were out walking their dogs or walking with a group of people. He wanted to make sure Croelick was nowhere near them. He didn't see anyone that matched Croelick and there were no cars parked on the street. A group of teenagers were approaching where Andy and Moxie were currently and Andy looked at them as they passed him. Moxie was all done outside so they headed back inside.

Andy unlocked the door and Moxie went inside. Andy closed and locked the door behind him and walked up to Sharon who was still sitting on the couch watching the movie. He leaned down and started kissing her neck, she moved her head and kissed him on his lips. Sharon took Andy's hand and led him around to the front of the couch where she pulled on his hand and got him to sit down with her. They watched the rest of the movie and when it was over, they turned the TV off and headed down the hallway. Moxie followed them and went into the room with Matthew for the night. Andy closed the door and then they headed into their bedroom and closed the door behind him to get ready for bed. "We need to get up early tomorrow morning" she said to him as she set their alarm. "We need to take Matthew to school and drop off Moxie at the doggie day care place, then get over to your doctor's appointment for 8:30" she said to him as he got ready for bed.

When Andy came out of the bathroom, Sharon went in there and got herself ready for bed. Andy was watching her from the door frame the led to the bathroom. She smiled as she walked passed him. Andy grabbed her hand as she walked by him and pulled her in close to his body. "I love you" he whispered to her. "I love you too" she whispered back to him. They climbed into bed together and Andy held Sharon close to him as they both fell asleep.

The next morning, Andy woke up to the alarm that Sharon had set going off. Sharon was still asleep in his arms as he reached over to shut the annoying alarm off. Sharon stirred and opened her eyes. Andy was looking at her and she was looking back at him, still blinking trying to get the sleepiness out. "You're beautiful do you know that?" Andy said as he leaned down to kiss her. "Hmm, good morning to you too" she said back to him. As much as Andy wanted to take her in his arms and show her how much she meant to him, he knew that they had to get out of bed and start their morning.

Sharon walked in their closet and chose her Armani pant suit and purple blouse to wear this morning. Andy was in the shower, so Sharon also chose Andy's suit, shirt, and tie to wear and laid them out on the bed. Once Andy was finished, he walked back in their bedroom with his towel wrapped around his waist and saw the shirt and tie Sharon had picked out for him to wear. "So we are going with purple today?" he said to her as she passed him to go in to the bathroom. "I like purple" she said to him as she closed the bathroom door. "I know you do" he said to himself as he started to get dressed.

A couple of minutes later, Andy went across the hall to wake up Matthew. As he opened the door, he saw Matthew was sitting up on the bed playing with some stuffed animals. "Hey buddy, you're up already" Andy said to him as Matthew continued to play with his animals. Andy sat on the side of the bed. Matthew handed him a bear. "You can be the bear Andy" Matthew said to him. "Okay, what do I do?" Andy asked him. "Just move him around and chase me" Matthew said. Andy moved the stuffed bear around the bed and Matthew was moving the stuffed alligator. Andy had heard the water shut off so he knew Sharon was done with her shower. "Okay, Matthew, time to get dressed and ready for school now" Andy said to Matthew. Matthew got up out of bed and went over to grab his clothes. Andy opened the door and Matthew went in to the bathroom. Andy followed him and helped him get dressed. Sharon was in their bedroom getting herself ready when Moxie came in to their room and sat down next to her.

Everyone was dressed and ready to go by 7:45. Andy led them out the door and Sharon locked up behind them. They got to their car and decided that they would take Andy's car today. Everyone got in, the dog jumped in the backseat and Andy drove off towards Matthew's school. Traffic wasn't that bad for being a Monday morning and Andy pulled up in front of the school to let Matthew off. Matthew said good bye to them and to Moxie and got out of the car and headed to where the other kids were going in the school. Matthew turned around and waved to them before entering the building. "I think he is getting the hang of things now" Andy said to Sharon as she watched Matthew enter the building. Andy then drove them to the doggie day care facility and got out to take Moxie inside. Five minutes later he came back to the car and they headed to his doctor's appointment.

Sharon went to go sit down in the waiting area as Andy went to the front desk to check in for his appointment. The nurse at the desk told him it would be a couple of minutes. Andy then went back to sit next to Sharon. The waiting room was crowded this morning. One of the nurses opened the door and called Andy's name. Andy and Sharon both stood up and Sharon followed Andy through the door to an exam room. "Hello Andy, I'm Nicole. I'm going to get your vital signs for now" the nurse said to Andy. "Okay" Andy said as he took his suit jacket off and dress shirt and handed them to Sharon. Sharon sat down on one of the chairs in the room. Andy then sat on the exam table and faced the nurse who was going to take his blood pressure. "You're blood pressure is good, 120/80" the nurse told them. Andy was surprised it was normal with all the stress he has dealt with the past couple of days, especially with Croelick in the picture.

The nurse took the rest of his vitals and everything was normal. "Okay, Sarah is going to come in next and take an EKG" the nurse said to Andy and Sharon as she left the room and closed the door. "See Sharon, nothing to be worried about. So far, everything is normal" Andy said as he smiled at her. Sharon was always nervous whenever Andy had a doctor's appointment. "I'm very happy so far that everything has gone well" Sharon told him and smiled back at him. Sarah knocked on the door and entered with the portable EKG machine. "Hi Andy, my name is Sarah and I am going to take an EKG of your heart rhythm" she said to him. "You can lay down on the table" she said to him as she started to place the electrodes underneath his t-shirt. Andy laid down and Sarah was finishing placing the electrodes on him. "Okay, I need you to lay still but breath normally" Sarah told him and then she started the test. Within a minute they had the printout of Andy's EKG and Sarah unhooked him from the machine. "Alright, the doctor will be in shortly" Sarah said to Andy and Sharon as she left the room.

Andy sat up on the exam table and waited for the doctor to come in. He looked over at Sharon who was fidgeting with Andy's suit jacket. "I think you are more nervous than I am" he said to her. The doctor entered the exam room. "Hello Lieutenant, good to see you again" the doctor said to Andy. "Hi Doc" Andy said back to the doctor. "Let's take a look at your EKG here" the doctor said as they held up the EKG paper. "Normal sinus rhythm, that's what we like to see" the doctor said to Andy. "Okay, I'm going to listen to your heart now" the doctor said as they placed the stethoscope on Andy's chest. The doctor moved the stethoscope around Andy's chest listening to his heart and his lungs. "Sounds good" the doctor said as he checked Andy's ankles. "Any swelling around your ankles?" the doctor asked him. "No" Andy replied.

The doctor then pressed in the area of Andy's ribs with their hands. Andy winced when the doctor ran their hands on his left side. "Does that hurt you?" the doctor asked him. "A little, it comes and goes" Andy said to the doctor. "How long has that hurt you?" the doctor asked him. "Um, well it comes and goes and sometimes it doesn't hurt at all" Andy said. "Uh huh, and how did you hurt that area?" the doctor asked Andy. "About a week ago, maybe. I was wearing my bullet proof vest and I was shot at, the bullet grazed my vest but ever since then, that area has been sore. But not all the time, Doc" Andy explained to the doctor who was still checking out Andy's range of motion and checking his carotid artery in his neck. "I would like for you to get an x-ray, I would like to see what is going on there exactly" the doctor told Andy. "We have one here and Nicole will come back in and take you to get the x-ray. But first, I want to take a blood sample and see how that looks" the doctor said as they pulled out the blood testing kit.

After getting the blood drawn, Nicole the nurse came back in and walked Andy to where the x-ray machine was at. Sharon stayed in the room and waited for him to come back. Five minutes later, Andy came back in the room and sat back down on the exam table. "Are you okay?" Andy asked Sharon as he looked at her with concern. "I'm fine" Sharon said as she looked back at him. He could tell something was up. He thought Sharon had been crying because her eyes were a little red. "You know, I am going to be just fine" he said to her. She smiled at him and he smiled back. They waited about fifteen minutes before the doctor came back in the room.

"Okay, your blood work looks good. I would still like to see your HCL a little higher than it is now, keep eating the cardiac diet you have been on" the doctor started saying. "Okay" Andy said. The doctor then flipped the x-rays up on the viewing board for both Andy and Sharon to see. "It looks like you have a hairline fracture on your rib here" the doctor said pointing out the area on the x-ray. "That would explain why you said the pain comes and goes and sometimes you don't notice it at all" the doctor said to them. "Is it serious?" Sharon asked the doctor as she looked at the x-ray and then at Andy. "No, it's fairly common when you have trauma to the chest area. In your case Lieutenant, the bullet grazing your vest" the doctor said to Sharon.

"I want you to take it easy for a couple of days, it should start to heal on its own. And if you are in pain, I want you to take something over the counter, like Advil or Tylenol" the doctor said to Andy. "Okay" Andy said. "Icing the area wouldn't hurt either" the doctor added. "Other than that, you are all set. I am very encouraged by the way your heart has been doing, let's set up another monthly appointment. And if your rib starts to really hurt, or you have trouble breathing, go to the nearest ER and have them page me, okay" the doctor said to Andy as he shook his hand. "Stay out of trouble Lieutenant" the doctor said as he left the exam room. Sharon stood up and shook her head at Andy. She held out his shirt for him and then his jacket as he got dressed. "What am I going to do with you?" Sharon said to Andy as she helped him button his shirt. He looked at her like a little kid would. Andy made an appointment in a month and then joined Sharon who was waiting for him in the waiting area. They left and headed for the office.

TBC