I remember finishing the movie, but the next thing I know, I hear my alarm ringing.
"God, what time is it?" I hear Nick ask.
Shit. I never went home last night.
I immediately shoot up from the bed, "I need to get home and shower." I say in a panicked voice.
"Andy, chill. You must still have clean clothes here," Nick says, turning to me.
"I already used everything, all I have is..." my emergency underwear in my bag.
"Dibs, on the bathroom!" I shout even though I know Nick doesn't even have to take a bath until noon.
I take a shower and start dressing up. Using the jeans from yesterday, and picking a white button-down of Nick's. I fold the sleeves and tuck it in. There! That should be okay.
I open the door to the bedroom and I hear Nick blow a whistle.
"Damn, I really love seeing you in my clothes. The only problem is that every time I see you in my clothes, I wanna take it off of you," he says as he walks towards me.
I avoid him, "Nick, I need to go to work."
A smile appears on his face, telling me he was just teasing me.
I smirk, as I hug him, "Well you can take it off of me after work. Oh wait, we have different shifts today. That sucks. Guess I'll just take it off of myself later."
His smile disappears. I quickly give him a kiss, and run out the door before he catches me.
I text him as I enter the station, "I was kidding earlier. Of course you'll take it off of me later ;). Oh! And I forgot to tell you this before I left. I love you, Nick Collins! xx"
I put on my uniform and enter the parade room.
I see Frank behind the podium with a relaxed smile.
Guess he heard everyone was going to be all right.
I turn to look behind me, casing the roster of officers for the day.
Chris, Gail, Tracy, Steve, Noelle, and a few new faces.
Rookies.
"All right people. As all of you know, we had a hell of a day last Wednesday. But I'm happy to tell all of you that everyone is on their way to recovery. And one of them just couldn't keep himself on his ass for longer than a day. So can we please give a round of applause to Officer Shaw who shall grace us with his presence," Frank announces.
Everyone claps their hands and turns to look at the door.
Oliver comes in and does the regal wave, which earns more applause.
"Thank you, thank you. I just couldn't let myself stay in bed. I knew you guys wouldn't be able to function without me," he says in Oliver-fashion.
Behind him, I see Nick with a smile.
His eyes find mine.
"You knew?" I mouthed.
He just shrugs at me.
I give my best you'll-never-hear-the-end-of-this-from-me look.
"Now, I heard today will be the day we take in new officers from the academy. I couldn't miss that now, could I? I mean, it wouldn't be a true rookie welcome without me here, right?" Oliver says.
He's beside Frank on the podium now.
"Now, which one of them is mine?" Oliver asks Frank conspiratorially.
Frank shakes his head, "As much as we love having you back, I can't send you back into the street today. So you and your rookie will have to have fun at booking," Frank tells Oliver.
"Oh, Frank, you know me. I can have fun anywhere," Oliver says.
Frank gave the assignments to each officer.
Oliver, Noelle and Steve got the new rookies. While Chris and I got to share a car.
As soon as we got to our car, Nick came up in uniform.
"Hey Diaz, you mind switching with me? I'm supposed to be covering for Dov, but..."
"Say no more Collins. I'll ride with Gail," Diaz says as he throws Nick the keys.
"Hey! I wanted to drive," I scold Chris.
He rolls his eyes at me and walks away.
Nick and I both get into the 1520 squad car, him in the driver's seat, and head to our assigned area.
Nick plays some of his cheesy music on the stereo, while I divide my time with glancing at him and keeping a look out on the streets.
I notice we aren't taking the most direct route to our area.
"Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"Is this when you kill me?" I ask jokingly.
He laughs at my silly joke, "Yeah, this was my plan all along. Make you fall in love with me, and then one day when you're not expecting it, put poison in your favorite bagel," he says menacingly.
He stops the squad car right outside Pi.
"You are a miracle worker," I say as I take out my wallet.
"This one is on me," he tells me with a smile.
"But... fine, next time, I'm paying," I compromise.
He gives me a grin that says unlikely, but he won't push the issue.
He leaves the squad and my eyes follow him.
I feel butterflies and all those good stuff because of Nick.
The radio sounds, "Patrolling officers, reported robbery in progress at Haynes and Smiths Family Bank at 5th corner 11th."
"1520. We're at 5th corner 11th. I'll go check it out," I say.
"Copy 1520. SWAT is 7 minutes out."
I catch Nick's eyes as I exit the squad.
"Looks like we'll have to have a raincheck on breakfast. Robbery at Haynes and Smith down the block," I tell him.
His eyes immediately narrows, "Let's go check it out."
We both head to the bank. From the outside, nothing seems wrong, but as soon as we get a glimpse of the inside we see at least 10 people on the floor, face down.
I radio it in, "Dispatch, be advised, at least 10 hostages in the bank."
"5-man op," Nick whispers to me.
"Looks like it's a 5-man job," I repeat Nick's observation.
"Copy, 1520. Can you get a closer look at the hostages? Get a specific number."
"Copy, dispatch," I say.
"Cover me, I need to get a closer look," I tell Nick, already moving forward.
He grabs my arm, "I'll do it."
I give him a look, "You're too big to fit under the window pane. They'll see you as soon as you sit there. Plus you're a better shot than me. I trust you," I say before slowly moving forward towards the window.
Immediately, I see 5 men standing with semi-automatic weapons. Ski-masks, gloves and over-alls. I lock eyes with one of them and duck my head immediately.
Shots go through the window and I hear screams from inside. Suddenly, I hear a loud explosion and people from the bank rush out.
Nick must have called out to me because he's now dragging me away from the bank.
I gather my senses, and see SWAT arrive and take over the scene.
"Lock it down. We need to get the statements of all the witnesses. And could somebody tell me why the shooters went berserk even before we arrived?" The man shouted.
I immediately raise my hand, and feel a jolt of pain in my shoulder. I ignore it for now. "That was my fault, sir. I was trying to get a better head count of the hostages when one of them spotted me."
He grunts at me, "Tell me you at least got a head count."
I nod, "Thirteen."
"All right officer McNally, you can go back to the station now. You've done enough here," he says.
I want to tell him that I can actually help, but he doesn't exactly give me a chance.
Nick comes up to me, "Come on, let's go back to 15."
"Just a second. I want to see the back alley," I tell him as I move forward.
"Andy, wait," he says as he grabs my right arm. Another jolt of pain goes through my shoulder, but this time it catches me by surprise.
I yelp a little, before I get to bite my lip.
"Andy?" I hear Nick's voice.
"Shoulder," I answer his silent question.
"Shit, Andy. You were shot," he tells me.
"So that's what the pain is?" I dead pan.
"We have to get you checked out," Nick says.
"Nick, I'm not bleeding. The vest did its job," I try to reassure him.
"Andy," he says with a tone.
"All right, all right. Can we check the back alley first, before I get sentenced to desk duty?" I bargain.
"Fine," he concedes.
We head to the back alley, and I start casing it.
It's a dead-end alley, with only one entry point. This could be where the assailants planned to escape, but there aren't any tread marks.
"Okay, you've seen the alley, can we go now?" Nick asks, though he's already hustling me to the ambulance.
I roll my eyes.
The EMTs check me out. Just bruising in the shoulder, otherwise I'm okay.
The man who shouted at me earlier comes up to me, "Looks like your math skills need some brushing up on. There were 18 hostages, not 13."
Wait. Hold up.
I counted 13. I'm sure of it.
I grab Nick by the arm and pull him nearer, "I think the robbers maybe mixed in with the hostages."
Nick's eyes begin to scan the crowd, "That makes a lot of sense since there weren't any tread marks in the alley. Do you remember anything that can single them out?"
I scan through my memories, "I remember they were wearing overalls. Ski-masks were covering their faces... Tattoo! One of them had a David's star on their right forearm and one of them had a teardrop under his left eye."
We immediately spot the man with the teardrop tattoo. He was more like a kid.
Nick went to talk to the leader of SWAT while I kept an eye on the suspect.
From the corner of my eye I see the SWAT commander give me a nod to signal me to flank the suspect while they approach him from the front.
Everything goes smoothly up until the suspect suddenly turns around to look at me and pulls out a revolver from his front pocket.
I pull my gun out, but I know its too late. I just brace myself for the impact.
I feel one shot hit me. And then I hear another shot that's probably from Nick or SWAT.
My legs give out, and my eyes automatically shut. I hear Nick calling me, but it's a while before I open my eyes.
I see Nick panicking.
I want to tell him I'm all right. That the vest did its job for the second time today. But something catches in my throat. Something thicker than water.
I hold his hand because that's all I can do. That captures his attention. He gives me a weak smile, which I return to him.
"You're fine, Andy. You're fine. You just have to keep those eyes of your open okay?" He tells me.
And despite the gravity of the situation, I believe his words.
"I love you, Andy McNally. So just keep your eyes open for me okay? You know why I love your eyes? Because every time I look at them I see the future. Our future. It gives me hope, you know? Like this isn't all that we're meant to be. Like there's something more for us. And I want that with you, Andy. So please, Andy, keep your eyes open," he pleads.
And I do, right up until the point I lose consciousness.