Author's Note: Hey reader! This Bit is inspired on STRIS fans' worst nightmare. But...wait! Don't go anywhere! It'll be good. Trust me. Just...have an open mind! Ok?
Don't forget to comment and vote. Happy reading!
STREET
Morning, babe!
Hey you!
Gotta a few minutes to talk? Wanna hear you. Miss you
Sure, bae
Pick it up!
RIIIING
"Hey! You didn't even let it ring!" Street said surprised
"I knew it was you. Hey, and uh...sorry I haven't been available to talk these last couple of days. It's been really hectic with the ladies and everything."
"Yeah, I miss you. After our dinner last Saturday, I haven't seen you."
"Sorry. I miss you too!"
"Are we still on for tacos tonight? It's Tuesday!"
"Can you give me a sec? I gotta attend something here. I'll call you real quick."
"Alright, bye"
Again? That's the third time she's had to hang up on me since Saturday! He thought dissapointed. He told himself not to worry because he knew their date had gone great and she was just busy with running everything in the safe house. He needed to be patient, that's all.
He was getting ready for work, as he finished his hair and grabbed his leather jacket. Luca had left early for work, so it was only Jim in the house. Just as he grabbed the keys of the bike and began putting on his jacket...
BZZZZT
BZZZT
BABE
Sorry, Street, but can't talk now. It's gonna be a long day.
I wont be able to make it tonight or tomorrow.
Ok, how about this weekend?
Can't.
We need to keep our distance.
I need space.
Whaaat?
[error]
Sorry?
Are you breaking up with me?
[error]
Over the phone? Chris?
Whatever happened, babe, I'm sorry!
Chris, please answer!
Chris!
C'mon, pick up! Pick up! he thought as he dialed her number for the fifth time in the last 20 minutes. I can't believe she broke up with me like that! What the hell did I do? She wont pick up, she wont answer my texts...this is a nightmare!
TIIIIN
"Street, suit up! We got a call!" Hondo yelled from the hall as the elevator doors swung open
"Yes, sir!" he responded. I need to talk to her. Oh God! Please let me talk to her!
In a matter of minutes, Street went to the locker room, geared up and made his way to the garage... but his mind was elsewhere! He was so out of it that he didn't notice Tan was handing him a box with a new weapon they were to use for the op.
"STREET!" he yelled, snapping the young officer back to reality
"Yeah, sorry, sorry" he said accepting the box.
"Alright, everyone, here's what we got..." Hondo began. In Street's head, all he registered was: "blah, blah, blah". He kept dozing off, worrying about his relationship, or lack thereof. He kept asking himself what could've possibly gone wrong. His phone kept still and quiet. No returned texts. No calls.
Black Betty ended up in a motel where a couple had taken hostage of the owners after an intense argument. According to local patrols, the couple was dissatisfied with the service and threatened to blow up the establishment if they didn't receive their money back. The huge black truck made it at the same time as the Bomb Squad and the medical response unit.
As his team got into position, Street couldn't help but to stare at the vacated rooms through the wide opened doors. The bed reminded him of her groans, the mess in the floor of their clothes all over his room, the walls of when he pushed her and pushed her, the bright red doors... the lamps...the mirrors...the rug...
Everything! Just everything reminded him of her. He just couldn't concentrate. He kept taking deep breaths, blinking, shaking his head away from those thoughts...all in an effort to focus on the op.
"Street, Tan, roof. We need eyes up above." Hondo ordered, pointing to the roof of the building, "Luca, Cabrera, take the back door. Deac, you're with me, we'll try the entrance."
It would've been Chris if she was here, he thought frustrated. She was the one in charge of stake outs from high above ground. After all, she was the best sniper in SWAT! Aw, man! I really miss her. Oh my God! I'm getting worse. He thought as he followed Tan.
Thankfully he was able to focus enough to lead Tan with the monoculars and spot the running targets. After 30 minutes, the leader declared Code 4 and they were excused.
As they returned to HQ, the guys engaged in small chit chat, except for Jim. Hondo noticed Street staring aimlessly.
"Hey kid!" he called, snapping him back
Jim practically jumped out of his skin as he was reliving Saturday night in his mind. Deacon and Hondo smirked as they noticed their teammate as out of it.
"You ok, Jim?" Deacon asked frowning
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry."
"Gotta lot in your mind, champ?" asked Luca looking through the rearview mirror
"Nah, I'm just tired." he said shaking his head, avoiding their stares
The others nodded, as an awkward silence followed by stares was kept all the way to HQ. They arrived and unloaded the truck. Then, each went to changed and hand in their gear, plus finish all the paperwork for the day.
Hicks declared the end of shift and everyone went to the locker room. Street, who was still in his own little world, changed quickly and ran out. Luca noticed his odd behavior and couldn't help himself to check it out.
"Hey bro, wait up!" he said as he jogged his way to him
They were standing in the middle of the hall, in between the heavy traffic of officers leaving, clerks moving, civilians walking in and perps brought up in handcuffs.
"C'mere, I gotta ask you something." Luca said as he guided Street to the empty armory room to their left.
Street didn't put up any resistance as he nodded and shrugged. They weaved through the people and walked quietly to the room. There, Luca gestured for Street to occupy the space opposite to the entrance door.
"What's up, Luca?" Jim asked confused, now with a frown
"Doesn't this room bring back memories?"
"Huh?"
"You spent a lot of time here when you were in patrol and in the academy. Even saw you talking to Chris a couple of times."
Street swallowed hard. It hurt so bad to hear her name! He wasn't about to get used to that pain every time the guys asked him about her and he had to lie about it because he wouldn't know anything about her...after getting dumped today! How would it look like? The big screw up screwed up again? The one girl he really, truly wanted and he messed it up? It's just horrible! But...he had to gather himself! He had to look cool.
"Yeah, sure. Why?" he answered nonchalantly
"Really? You've been off the whole day, Street. I know you're not like this."
"What are you talking about, Luca? I'm fine." he said feeling the knot in his trachea.
"Spill it" he said crossing his arms
Street bowed his head, and took off his backpack. "Chris broke up with me"
GASP
"What? Oh my God." Luca said loudly. He uncrossed his arms, placed one over his chest, gesturing a heart attack and sat on one of the stools of the table.
"I don't know, Luca! Like...I'm freaking out!" he paused, now pacing the floor, "I did everything right. Erased all my accounts of all dating apps, sent her the good mornings and the good nights, took her out like she wanted, waited for her hand and foot, did everything right-"
"Street!"
"...what could I have possibly done that's so bad, huh? I mean-"
"Jim"
"..and we ate where she wanted. And I didn't push her to break the rules-"
"Street"
"All I wanted was a nice relationship with my dream girl. Ever since the first day-"
"Dude!"
"..and then, I didn't say anything when she got with the throuple, even though I knew it was crazy! How could-"
"Bro!" Luca said as he stood
"Hey guys!"a voice interrupted, making them both freeze
GASP
Just as Street was about to shed a tear, Cabrera came in and stood by the door of the room. Street stopped cold and collected himself by turning around and taking a deep breath.
"Hey Alex!" greeted Luca, trying to remain cool. He turned to face her.
"Boss says tomorrow a medical crew is coming in for testing and examinations. He's asking everyone to come in 20 minutes earlier, so we can be done quicker." she said as Street turned to face her
"Ok, thanks!" Luca said as he turned to Street, who was still breathing hard
Cabrera was stunned, as she frowned in panic. "Everything ok, Street?"
"Yeah, yeah!" he said still working on his breathing
"Ok" she said shrugging, "I'll see you guys-"
"Hey, uh...Cabrera?" interrupted Street
"Yeah?"
"You're religious, right?" he asked as she nodded quietly, " You believe in miracles?"
"Yes, sir" she answered puzzled by the question. Her frowned had turned into a puzzled look.
"So..if I pray really hard, I'll get what I want?"
"Uh...it doesn't always turn out that way...but you ask with good faith and some times your will is the same as God's. So..."
"Yeah." he said grabbing his forehead
"Uh...ok? Um...thanks Cabrera. We'll see you tomorrow." Luca said glancing at Jim, then at her
Cabrera kept staring at Street now more confused than ever. She nodded at Luca, then turned to leave, as she said, "Dr. Wendy will be providing services tomorrow too."
She took the turn down the hall and was out of sight, when Luca turned towards Street, "Dude, get a hold of yourself!"
"I can't! I'm sorry!"
"Just talk to her!"
"I've tried." he said taking out his cellphone and dumping it on the table, "I've tried everything! Text, calls, DM...even leaving her comments on social media. Nothing, Luca! The whole day! She doesn't wanna talk to me!"
"Why don't you just swing by the safe house now?" he asked as Street began pacing again
"I tried! I sneaked out during lunch. I even used the translator with the girls there but they told me she was out all day. Why, Luca? Why?" he asked with shaky voice and sweaty palms
Luca went around the table, stood in front of Street and held him by the shoulders. "Dude, stop!"
"I don't know what I'll do now, Luca!" he said as he hung his head low
"Just...go home. Try not to look at your phone anymore!" he said taking it from his hand, unzipping one of the thousand zippers in his backpack and dumping the mobile. "Look at me! As a friend, I'm telling you to relax. Breath! It's not the end of the world...you'll get through this. Ok?"
"Yeah" he said breathing hard
"Just go home, take one of your sleeping pills and go to sleep!"
He nodded silently.
It worked! Luca was a genius! Street went home, took a quick shower and swallowed the pill. Slept like a baby! No worries, no sadness, no dreams...nothing!
He felt a cold breeze going up his left leg as he shivered lightly. He opened his eyes and noticed everything was pitch black. What happened? Man, those pills really knocked me out!
He took a glance at his cellphone and...Oh my God! Chris! He had a text from her. He swiped right and found a lost call from her. Finally! He forgot about his sleepiness and called her. No answer. He then clicked on the message.
I'm sorry. We need to keep distance. It's not you, it's me. Will miss you!
His heart...broken into a million pieces! How could she? It couldn't be! He felt the tears cramming up in his eyes, the left side of his brain going numb, his body getting weaker and...he wanted to cry!
No, no...this time he wasn't gonna accept it. He was not going to let her go that easily. He had to fight for her love. Those five and half years couldn't go to waste. They were meant to be. He believed so! He knew what to do. Yeah. Luca was right. He needed to see her. Ask her. Why. Just why.
He grabbed his keys and headed to the safe house. He knew he would find her there. She told him last week she was going to be staying there for a couple of weeks to solve some stuff.
So...he made it. He turned off the bike, jumped over the small fence and went to the front porch.
KNOCK
KNOCK
KNOCK
"Chris!" he called
The house was dark, as all the lights had been turned off. Matter of fact, except for the two lonely street lights in that side of the road, there was no light anywhere! Not even the moon shined!
He waited patiently. No response.
He took out his cellphone and dialed her number.
RIIIING
RIIING
"Hello?" a sleepy Chris answered
"Babe, please don't hang up. Please let me talk to you."
GASP
"What's wrong, Jim? You okay?" she answered wide awake, desperately
"No, I'm not. I need you, ok?" he said almost choking on his words
"What happened?" she was freaking out now!
"I'm sorry...whatever I did. Please!" he begged as he bowed his head in front of the door
"What are you talking about? What happened? Talk to me!" he could here her moving around as he heard noises in the background.
Before he could answer he saw one of the rooms in the house light up, and heard footsteps inside.
"We need to talk." he said slowly, feeling the sweat drops race down his back
"Ok?" she asked, now confused
He noticed another light turn on, this time in the living room, right behind the front door.
"Open the door!" he demanded
"What?!" she asked.
He heard her move closer. "It's three in the morning, Jim! What's going on? I told you we needed to keep our distance!"
"What did I do?"
"What? Nothing! I told you, it's me!"
"But Chris we were going so well!"
"I know, but something happen and now we need to keep distance, ok? But...don't freak out. It's gonna be fine." she said somewhat annoyed
"Fine? How? Just...tell me why?"
"Street! Are you serious? We are not doing this again!"
"I can't believe this, Chris! You're...you're...breaking up me with me? Just like that? Why?"
"Wait! What?"
"You keep asking for distance...what did I do?"
"Street!"
"Did I offend you? Just tell me what was it and I promise you I'll never do it again!"
"JIM! Shut up!" she yelled, making him snap back to reality
"Ok. I'm done."
She took a deep breath. "I couldn't answer you all day because I was in the clinic and I don't get good reception there. I took a Covid test and it turned out positive."
"What? Covid?" he asked feeling all the muscles in his body relax, all at once
"Yes. I need to keep my distance, so you don't get infected, ok? Will you calm down now?" she said annoyed
"Oh." he paused. "So...we're good?"
"Yeah. I would never break up with you over the phone, Jim."
"Could you say that again? Just the first part, before the 'over the phone'."
He heard a slight smirk, as he imagined she shaking her head.
"Relax, ok?" she said softly
"I'm sorry I got you out of bed. You feeling ok?"
"Yeah, I'm asymptomatic. So, I'll be fine."
"Ok!" he said kinda embarrassed. He pause, "hey... um...wanna know something?"
"Yeah?"
"You're with an idiot that loves you a lot."
"Could you say that again? Just the first part, before the 'that loves you a lot'."