Late update today, but here it is :)
Chapter 4
Jamie slid off the gurney in the small treatment room of the urgent care center near his apartment. This had been the last place he expected to end up after an already long and exhausting day on patrol with his new rookie. With Eddie out for the night with her best friend, Haley, he'd gone home alone to an empty apartment with plans to fix himself something quick to eat and then lose himself in whatever football or basketball game he could find on TV. He should have skipped the food all together and just passed out on the couch, because if not for the stupid dinner he'd thrown together, he'd be relaxing at home and not in an urgent care center with a sore backside.
"Jamie?" Eddie called out as she tentatively pulled open the privacy curtain, relieved when she found him up and around. She'd panicked as soon as she saw his text letting her know he was at urgent care dealing with his allergy. It had been years since he'd had a reaction, another reason she was so surprised by the message. They had still been partners when a stupid waiter put olives in his chopped salad. That incident also necessitated a trip to urgent care - at her insistence because he claimed he was fine, but the massive hives that broke out across his face and down his neck said otherwise. "Hey, are you okay?"
"What are you doing here?" Jamie asked in surprise. He didn't expect her to show up, but regardless he was still glad to see her.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" she replied with a roll of her eyes as she approached him. "I'm not gonna hangout at a bar while you're sitting in urgent care."
"I'm fine," he insisted, feeling more annoyed than anything else right now. He had purposely waited until after the doctor had seen him to let Eddie know what was going on. He assumed that he'd be treated with a shot and sent on his way after the medicine took effect, which is exactly what happened. Jamie didn't want to interrupt her night, but figured he'd get an earful if he waited until she got home to reveal his little mishap.
"Sure you are," Eddie said, deciding not to argue that issue. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Jamie grumped as he leaned back against the gurney, grimacing after he hit a particularly tender spot. "I made myself something to eat at home and as soon as I was done with the first few bites, I started with the hives and then my lips and tongue felt swollen," he explained while motioning to his face.
"Jeez," Eddie grimaced. "How did you get here?" she asked as she cupped his cheek. If there was any swelling, it was now gone, but he was still a little flushed.
"I cabbed it," Jamie replied.
"Seriously?!" Eddie exclaimed. "Why didn't you call me, Jamie?"
"Because it wasn't a big deal," he claimed.
"Oh yeah, it's not a big deal that you end up needing urgent care," she fired back sarcastically.
"It wasn't," Jamie repeated. "I took the antihistamine stuff at home, but it wasn't doing anything so I decided to come here just to be on the safe side." The hives he could have dealt with, but he'd been a little worried when the swelling came on and didn't go away.
Realizing he'd already had a hell of a night, Eddie decided to let that go for now too. "What they'd give you?"
"A shot," Jamie grimaced as he subconsciously rubbed at his hip.
"Ouch," Eddie hissed in sympathy and leaned in for a quick kiss. "Poor you. So what'd you eat?"
"I fixed myself some spaghetti. You'll have to clean up the dishes because I am not going near that stuff again."
"But it's olives that set you off. We don't keep anything with olives at home," Eddie commented as she thought about the stockpile in their pantry.
"I don't know, it was some jar sauce. Label said it was just tomato sauce, but guess they got a secret ingredient in there too," he groused, the lawyer in him thinking of the ways to make the company that jarred the sauce pay for his misery.
"I guess we're gonna have to read labels a little more closely," Eddie said as she looked up into his tired face. "Can I take you home now?"
Jamie reached for the discharge paperwork and folded it over until it was small enough to jam into his jacket pocket. "Please. I'm ready to crash and put this miserable day behind me," Jamie grumbled and placed his arm across her shoulders for some added support for what felt like a long trek home.
Officer Malcolm Burton escorted their grimey collar into the 12th Precinct just before the end of tour, tugging on his arm as the uncooperative man purposely fell behind on their way to meet the desk sergeant. "Let's go, before I tack on another charge," he ordered.
Eddie followed behind, eying the designer purse they'd confiscated from their perp. She was distracted as she considered how perfectly it matched a little dress she had hanging in her closet at home. Sadly, she realized it probably cost more than she would ever be able to spend on such an item.
"Sergeant Riley, meet Pavlo Moroz. We got him on strong-armed robbery and resisting arrest," Burton informed his superior.
"I stole nothing! It was mine!" Moroz grumbled from between his arresting officers.
"It never gets old," Burton chuckled as he accepted a clipboard from his boss.
Eddie snorted as she placed the stolen property in front of the desk sergeant. "Oh, yeah, because that orange, calfskin Ferragamo satchel goes so well with the jacket your styling from the Army Navy Surplus fall line."
Burton raised a brow at at his partner.
"What?" Eddie asked. "I am a girl, you know."
"You sure are," their perp learned, earning him a shove into a nearby chair from Burton.
"Keep your trap shut," Burton ordered.
Eddie grimaced at the creepy smile their purse-snatcher was still sending her way when she caught Renzulli and JC huddled together, suspiciously grinning and whispering at each out of the corner of her eye. "What are you two smirking at?"
Burton turned toward Renzulli and the younger officer as the desk sergeant looked back at his computer to hide a knowing smile.
"Us? Oh, nothing," JC claimed with wide, innocent eyes.
Renzulli quickly replaced the grin with a blank, professional mask. "By the way, Officer Janko - uh, sorry, I mean, Officer Reagan," he corrected himself, finding old habits hard to break, "you got a delivery."
Eddie's brows immediately wrinkled in confusion. "Me? What I'd get?"
Renzulli pursed his lips as he felt another smirk forming. "Take a look for yourself," he said as he jutted his chin over toward the far corner of the room.
Eddie and Burton followed his line of sight, both flinching in surprise at the obnoxious floral arrangement sitting on an empty desk against the wall.
"Holy crap! Where'd that come from?" Eddie wondered out loud, but took no steps to find out.
"Beats me," Renzulli shrugged. "We didn't want to pry."
"Sure you didn't. That why you two are hanging out over here?" Eddie asked.
"Those are fugly!" Moroz offered.
"Shut it," Burton ordered and Moroz sank back in his chair at accompanying death glare from the male officer.
"Cruz bet it's from your husband," Renzulli shared.
A toothy grin formed on JC's face. He assumed that the arrangement was an ugly display of apology flowers. "Jamie in the dog house for something?"
"No," Eddie frowned as she finally stepped over to the bouquet in search of a card while Renzulli and JC followed behind. Burton remained next to their perp, but continued to observe curiously while he began to fill out the arrest report.
"I told him that really wasn't Harvard's style," Renzulli said.
"You would know, huh, Sarge?" Eddie inquired humorously as she located the small rectangular card.
"You ride with someone for two years, you know these things," Renzulli claimed.
Eddie's brow furrowed as she read the cryptic message. "That's weird...," Eddie whispered.
Renzulli frowned at the expression on his officer's face. "What is?"
Eddie shook her head and smiled back at her small audience. "You lost the bet, JC. That's not from Jamie."
"Damn it," JC huffed as he dug into one of his uniform's many pockets.
"Pay up, Cruz," Renzulli laughed as he held out an open palm. "Thank you, officer, now get back to work," he instructed as he counted the bills in his hand.
Eddie stared at the embarrassingly large arrangement of cheap white and blue filler flowers which sat in wicker basket. She couldn't help but think that it belonged at a funeral or a wake but quickly dismissed the thought as she looked down at the unsigned card in her hands.
"You alright, Eddie?" Renzulli asked quietly after noticing her concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Eddie claimed with a forced smile. She couldn't explain the strange feeling she had in the pit of her stomach and figured it would be easier to not bother trying.
However, Renzulli knew she wasn't fine. Something about the flowers had her off. "So who's it from?"
"Don't know. No name, Sarge," she advised, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Uh, oh...you got a secret admirer your husband should know about?" Renzulli joked.
"Yeah, no," Eddie smiled.
"Seriously...everything okay?" Renzulli prodded.
Eddie nodded as she stuffed the card in her pocket. "Yeah. I got to help Burton process our purse-snatcher," she replied and walked off leaving her CO frowning as he glanced back at the delivery.