Brenda came to, eyes blinking in the dim light. Her head hurt horribly and she raised her hand to her forehead, feeling the bandage there. She couldn't remember what had happened, just that she hurt. She realized she was laying in a bed and someone was holding her other hand. Looking, she seen it was a sleeping Flynn. She sighed. Someone could see them. And for once, she realized, she didn't care. She squeezed his hand and he instantly woke up. Seeing those brown eyes staring at him, he smiled, relieved that she'd finally woken up.
The attack at the apartment had been swift, the perp thinking she was the only one there. When Gabriel and Sanchez had heard the Chief scream, they'd entered the room quickly, before the perp had a chance to escape. He'd been going to take another swing at the prone figure of the Chief on the floor, but the two arrived in time. They'd tackled the suspect, who fought back hard, almost injuring the two of them, but they inflicted some damage on him as well. Once he was cuffed, they'd seen that the Chief was down, injured, blood trickling from a wound on her head. They'd called for an ambulance, and while they took the suspect into custody, they'd told Flynn and Provenza what had happened. Provenza and Flynn had left for the hospital, while everyone else dealt with the suspect. Once at the hospital, Flynn had raced to find where she was, not caring at the looks Provenza had given him. Told that she was still being examined and to have a seat, Flynn had sat. Worry filled him, that he would lose her. Provenza caught up to him and sat down beside him.
"So, you really love her, don't you?" Provenza's voice was soft, not accusing, just supportive for the first time in what seemed like a very long time.
"Yeah, I do. It's not anything I ever intended to happen." Andy said, eyes studying the floor.
"You can't plan these things. It just happens sometimes. Just make sure you don't get hurt." Provenza put his hand on Andy's shoulder.
"Thanks. She won't hurt me, you know that, don't you? I'm more afraid of hurting her somehow."
"How long have you two been together?" Provenza just wanted to know, to see if he was right on when things changed between them.
"You'll have to ask her that. She wants things quiet between us. She's afraid if things are found out, one of us will have to transfer. So please, please don't let on to anyone about us. I just want to be with her." Andy pleaded.
"You need to calm yourself down then, act like your concerned about your Chief's welfare, not your girlfriend's then. I'll help cover for you, but you need to get your act together. Pope will probably be here soon, maybe Delk. I'll help with that, we'll get through this. And she'll be okay, I know she will be." Provenza tried to make his friend feel better, but doubted it was working.
"Thanks for that, Provenza." Flynn put his head back against the wall, closing his eyes.
They sat there, hoping the doctor's would come out soon, tell them she was okay. Time dragged seemingly forever before the emergency room doors opened and a nurse came over to them. Flynn and Provenza stood up, walking over to her.
"Are you here for Chief Johnson? Does she have any next of kin in Los Angeles?" the nurse asked them.
"I'm her fiance." Flynn lied smoothly.
"Well, then, the doctor would like to chat with you. He's in her room, she's been admitted to the hospital for overnight observation. Follow me, please."
The two men followed the nurse through the corridors of the hospital, riding the elevator to the 4th floor. She showed them the room and then left. They entered, hoping Brenda was okay. She was still unconscious, looking pale even against the white sheets. Her doctor turned to them, introduced himself, before talking.
"I'm Doctor Ford. Ms. Johnson here will be okay, by the looks of it. We've done some scans, brain activity appears normal, but we'll know more once she regains consciousness. She's very lucky there wasn't more serious damage than there was. He hit her quite a blow."
"How long will she be out for? I mean, how seriously is she injured?" Andy asked.
"She was awake briefly when we examined her, but she tried to fight us off. We had to sedate her, give her more time to recover. If things are well tomorrow, we'll release her. I recommend someone be there to look after her though, and she take a week off work. She needs to rest and not push herself too hard."
Provenza and Flynn exchanged glances. Getting her to take time off work was easier said than done. Even if there was nothing else wrong with her, Flynn would have to sit on her to keep her from working. And Flynn realized he'd be more than happy to look after her, but how to take the time off when they had a case and were a woman down? He didn't know how he was going to do it. But for her, he would.
"Can we stay here, in the room with her?" Flynn asked.
"Sure. It would be better if she woke up to a familiar face. She's probably going to have a lot of questions when she comes to again. Listen, do you know an Andy? She was asking for him when she was briefly conscious. She wanted him there."
"I'm Andy, Dr. Ford."
"Good, good. Just hold her hand and talk to her. It might bring her around quicker."
With that, the doctor shook their hands goodbye and walked out of the room. Andy pulled up a chair next to the bed, while Provenza took the one by the window. He gently took her hand in his, watching her face, hopeful that his touch would stir her. It didn't and he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Provenza watched from his seat, seeing for the first time how much Andy really did feel for the Chief. He could only hope the Chief returned the depth of those feelings. He sat for a few moments, but felt like he was intruding. He finally stood up, telling Flynn he was going to head back to work, see if they had the perp for the girls murder and not just for the attempted murder of the Chief.
Flynn stood up to say goodbye to Provenza, and the older man enveloped him in a hug. This was as close to a blessing of Brenda and Flynn's union as was going to happen, so Flynn welcomed it. Provenza left, leaving Flynn alone with Brenda again. He sat down again, taking her hand, holding it to his lips. She was so going to kill him for Provenza finding out. Still, if they could keep things from everyone else, they should be good. He thought how wonderful the day had started out, and now, it was almost a nightmare. He was scared that she was badly hurt, but the doctor seemed to think she was going to be okay. He was thankful for that. And when she awoke, he was going to tell her he loved her, not whispering it this time. He wanted her to know how he felt.
Sitting there, he thought over the last few years, how things had changed so much between them. Honestly, he'd wanted her over the years, but he knew his place. She was married, so he'd looked and enjoyed the view. Never, ever would he have thought he'd have this opportunity with her. Yet here he was, hopelessly, irretrievably, in love. She was no longer "the bitch who hated his guts", she was the woman he'd fallen in love with. His thoughts were interrupted by the door to the room opening, and he dropped her hand automatically, hoping whoever it was hadn't seen that. It was Pope and Delk, both arriving together.
"Lt. Flynn. How is she?" Pope asked, concern all over his face.
"She's out for now, Chief, doc says she's probably going to be okay. They have to wait for her to regain consciousness, do some tests on her, but they say things look good. They put her under to rest some more, she was fighting them when they were trying to look over her before." Flynn answered.
"Well, she's very lucky it wasn't more serious. Gabriel and Sanchez had a hell of a time bringing him down. Both of them, and he still fought them. They have him in the interrogation room right now, hopefully they'll get him to cop to the murder, too. As it is, attempted murder of a police officer is the least of it." Delk replied.
"Did he say why he attacked her, anything at all?" Flynn asked. He was glad he hadn't stayed back there, he would have taken the little creep apart with his bare hands.
"Nothing yet. He's lawyered up, and Provenza and Tao are going to take a shot at interrogation. I wish Chief Johnson hadn't been hurt, we really need her to get this guy to confess to the murder. He's not going anywhere, and he'll be cooling his heels for awhile at the lockup." Pope said.
"Do you need me back at headquarters? Chief Johnson really should have somebody here for her. She doesn't have any family out here, since her and her husband split." Andy said, hoping that they'd let him stay here.
"You stay, I think things are under control back there for now. Keep us informed on her condition." Delk and Pope left then, and Andy sat back down, taking her hand in his again.
Andy had no idea when he drifted off, he just knew the next thing that he felt was his hand being squeezed. He looked up into those brown eyes he loved.
"You love me." Brenda said, looking at him with a happy look in her eyes.
"Yeah, I do. How'd you figure it out?" Andy asked her.
"It came to me while I was unconscious, I guess. You said it to me last night, right when I was falling asleep. I thought I was dreaming. It's why you've been lookin' at me funny all day." Brenda grimaced, holding her head, a pain shot through it.
"What happened to me? How did I get here?" Brenda had no clue as what had happened.
"You were attacked at a crime scene, hit over the head. You have a bad concussion. In the hospital." Flynn said, stroking her fingers.
"Weren't we on vacation?" Brenda asked.
"We were. You got called in. Gabriel, Sanchez and you went to check out the vics apartment, you were attacked there." Flynn replied, kissing her hand.
"Oh. Well, when can I get out of here and get back to work?" Brenda asked.
"Hold on there. Doc says you're here for the night, under observation. And then, you can go home, but you're to take a week off." Andy smiled at her.
"A WEEK!" Brenda said, and immediately regretted it as pain shot through her head.
"Yes, a week. And you're taking it. I'm going to take care of you."
"And how are you going to manage that?" Brenda said.
"Well, the team is feeling very protective of you right now. And since the rest are busy with the case, Delk and Pope said I could stay here with you. Between Provenza and me, we'll be able to take care of you. Speaking of Provenza, he knows." Andy looked down.
"He knows about what? Us? Please tell me he doesn't know about us!" Brenda panicked a little.
"He knows about us. And he's okay with it. Apparently because even he can tell that I love you." Andy said softly.
Brenda looked at him, her face softening. He loved her. Andy Flynn, hard-boiled detective, ladies man, and at times, even she had to admit, kind of a jerk, loved her. And with that, Brenda realized something that had been creeping up on her for a long time. She loved him.
"Well, I suppose that's a good thing. Cause I'm pretty sure I love you too." Brenda said.
Andy stood up, leaning over her, giving her a kiss. "I'm so glad you're going to be okay. It scared me to death when they told me you'd been hurt." He kissed her again.
He sat down again, and Brenda closed her eyes once more. Tiredness overtook her and she drifted off to sleep, leaving one happy Andy Flynn holding her hand. He fell back asleep for a little while, but was kicked out of the hospital later on. Visiting hours were over, so he went home to sleep and pack a bag to stay at the Chief's house to look after her in the upcoming days.
The next day, Brenda was released from the hospital. After an initial argument with the doctor, Brenda caved and said she would take the week off from work. She didn't want to, but if she hadn't agreed he threatened to not release her from the hospital. Andy pushed the wheelchair out to the entrance, where he helped Brenda up and out the door, helping her into his car which was waiting there. On the way to her place, he stopped at the pharmacy to fill her prescription. Amazingly, she stayed seated in the car while he went in, proving to him that she wasn't feeling well yet, no matter how she'd tried to make the doctor believe she was okay. Then it was on to where she'd boarded Joel, already a day late in picking him up. Joel was not happy confined to his carrier, but the meowing stopped once he seen Brenda. Flynn put the carrier in the backseat and they started off once again.
Once that was over, he took her home. Helping her into the house and getting her settled on the couch, he ran back out to get his bag out of the trunk. When he came back in, he helped her to the shower, so she could clean up. She couldn't wash her hair yet, because of the stitches on her head, so he helped wash what she could. Wrapping her in a towel afterwards, he felt so protective of her. When she climbed into her flannel pyjamas, he felt even more so. Tucking her into bed, he went to make some soup up, to get some food into her. He puttered around the kitchen, getting some food ready for her. He thought back to when he'd called her so domestic and seducing her on the counter. Now, here he was, acting as her caregiver, and doing so happily.
Taking the soup into her on a tray, he sat down on the bed beside her. She ate it hungrily, having had very little in the last day. She didn't talk much after he took the tray away, and he settled in beside her, where she snuggled up against him. Her head hurt, and the meds made her tired. But with Andy there, she felt safe. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, and he followed suit soon after. He put the phone on silent, set it to go straight to the machine, in order for her to get some rest.
The next morning, he was up early, and decided to make her something more substantial for breakfast. He decided on french toast again, and as he was puttering around, making it, there was a knock on Brenda's front door. Thinking it was Provenza, he walked over to answer it. He was shocked to see who was standing there, and could only think of what Brenda would say when she woke up.