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Today has been nothing but a shit storm. It began with spilling coffee all over myself in the car on my way to work, and went down hill from there. After hanging out with Steve in Guns and Gangs for four months, I have been back in uniform for just over two weeks. A choice I made myself so I could quietly work on my ETF application without him catching me at it or breathing down my neck. The last thing I need is him ratting me out to our parents before I can get it in.

Parade was uneventful, although I found myself riding with Nick. It's funny, I know we're really done because we just don't have anything to say to each other any more. Numbers were down, so we were on traffic patrol. Everything was fairly routine until a car full of kids buzzed us, going about ninety. Nick floored the gas as I hit the lights, and we were off!

"Fifteen-oh-nine in pursuit of a dark green Chevy Impala license number Charlie, Zebra, Foxtrot, Niner, Zero, Eight going east on Adelaide, heading for the Don Valley Parkway. There appear to be four suspects in the car." I radioed in.

"Fifteen-oh-nine, Roger that." Came the voice from dispatch. "All available units."

"Well this is fun!" Nick began

"What." I shot him an icy look.

"You know, this. Us. Here riding together…." He continued in a friendly voice.

I was just turning to say something to him when the impact hit the rear of our car. It came so fast out of nowhere, neither one of us had a chance to react as we spun and tumbled, airbags deploying, paperwork, broken safety glass, and our lunch flying everywhere. Nick grabbed my arm and held on as we rolled three times in seemingly slow motion and came to rest miraculously upright just inches from the corner of a brick building. I don't know why, but I couldn't stop staring at that brick wall, every chip, every crack, imprinted on my mind forever as we rocked to a halt.

Nick's hand squeezed my arm tighter. "Gail? Gail, are you ok?" His voice seemed to be coming from a million miles away.

"Fuck!" I breathed out as I tried to turn and look at him. Sharp pain shot through my right shoulder. "Fuck!" I grunted louder, and heard him laughing softly. There were sirens in the distance now, getting closer by the second.

"Good! I'm glad to know you're still here!" He said. His voice was strange. "What the hell was that?"

I turned to look at him then. He had blood on his face and his nose appeared to be broken.

"Christ, Nick! Are you ok?" I reached out to touch him gently on the cheek, his eyes closed as my fingertips made contact. He took a deep shaky breath. He leaned his head back, eyes still closed, and took another deep breath.

"Ok, ok, let me see if I can't get us out of here." He opened his eyes and reached down to pull a knife out of his boot, which he used to swiftly slice through our seatbelts and the airbags. The sirens were getting closer and stopping. There was a banging on the roof of the car as Sam poked his head through the window. I breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to open Nick's door, but it was stuck shut.

"Hey!" He said cracking his gum with a smirk, "I see you guys took quite a tumble. Jeeze, Collins, your face is a mess. Are you ok? Don't worry, we'll get you outta here. Just sit tight."

"What happened?" I asked

"Well Peck, it seems like some idiot delivery driver was pulling out of that alley, and clipped the back of your squad. Looks like he was texting his girlfriend at the time." Sam said making a sour face.

"Ok. I think I can get out this window…" Nick said as he started pulling himself up.

"Whoa there cowboy! The two of you need to stay right here until the hose monkeys can cut this tin can open and get you to the hospital to be checked out. Peck? How are you holding up?" A look of concern flashed briefly across Sam's face before it was replaced by his calm smile.

"I think I broke my shoulder. I can't feel my fingers." I couldn't help but whine a little. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off it was beginning to hurt.

"Ok. I'll see what I can do to hurry these guys along." Sam winked at me, and walked away.

"Summertime… And the livin' is easy… Fish are jumpin' … And the cotton is high…"

I can hear Nick laughing from across the hall.

"Oh your Daddy's rich… And your Momma's good lookin'…"

"Wow Gail, it's been a long time since I've heard you sing that." He says in an amused tone.

"Shut it Nick!" And I keep singing, because even though it hurts to breathe, it feels good, and weird too. "So hush little baby, now, don't you cry…"

I decide like listening to my voice echoing in the mostly empty hallway.

"One of these mornings…"

"Aw, come on Gail!" He says. "You know I still care about you."

"What the fuck Nick? Really? Do we have to go there? Again?" I try to snipe, but it's hard, with all of the warm, fuzzy, floating sensations whatever they just gave me are doing to my head. I got out of x-ray about half an hour ago, and we are both lying on gurneys on opposite sides of the hall in the basement of St. Michaels, waiting for radiology to take us to have both the full MRI and CT scan work ups done. Footsteps echo in the hall. I see a young man in a white coat and blue bowtie heading our way. I beckon him with my good hand.

"Garçon, garçon, pouvez-vous nous apporter notre vin sommes venus nous attendent pour notre table?" I inquire.

Nick starts to giggle. The young man approaches me cautiously. I try again.

"Cameriere, è in grado di indicarci il nostro vino ero stiamo aspettando il nostro tavolo?"

The man sighs and says, "Ok, lady. Whatever." He unlocks the wheels on my bed and pushes me across the hall so that I am toe to toe with Nick. He checks my I.V., writes on the clipboard at my feet and continues on his way. Nick is holding an icepack to his head and beginning to look more and more like a raccoon.

"Hey!" Nick calls after him. I hear the footsteps stop, and return. "Hey!" Nick repeats, "What's going on?"

"Well, officer," the annoying little pencil-pusher replies, "I'm afraid you are going to have to wait for the attending physician to answer any of your questions. The nurse will be by shortly with a lovely Barium cocktail for you both. Now if you will excuse me…" And turns to leave.

"Hey, wait a second!" Nick calls after him, but he's gone. "Oh, come on!" Nick groans with frustration.

I try to turn and look after him, but a sharp pain pierces my right shoulder, causing me to yelp and almost pass out.

"Gail! Are you ok?" Nick's eyes are big and round.

"Sure Nick, never better." I glare at him.

"Hey, listen, I just wanted to say that I think Holly is really good for you. And I'm glad that you're happy." Nick is starting to get all serious and mushy at me. It's making me nervous, and somewhat angry after the way he treated us when he first discovered we were together.

"What?!" I feel my eyes narrow, as I try to shake my head. He is in sincere, puppy-dog mode. God, I hate it when he does this. It gets to me every time.

"No, really Gail. I mean, I know I was a real jerk to you both…" He tries to continue.

"Nice of you to finally admit to being a complete ass." I can hear the chill in my voice, and I know what my face must be saying by the way he is looking at me.

He is about to say something else when I hear the unmistakable sound of Holly's clogs running down the cement corridor. She pops into view, grasping the rail on my bed with white knuckles, and wearing the same panicked, deer in the headlights, expression I saw on the first day I kissed her. It makes my heart contract a little.

"Gail!" She breathes out, eyes franticly searching my face.

"Helloooo!" I croon at her.

"Gail, I heard what happened!" She reaches out a trembling hand that stops inches from my face. I catch it in my good hand and bring it to rest on my cheek. Leaning in to it, I close my eyes against its cool comfort. I feel Holly sigh.

"Nick here was just apologizing for being a complete asshole to us both." I say without opening my eyes.

I feel her body jerk as she abruptly turns to look at him.

"Uh, hi Holly!" I can hear the sickening sheepish grin in his voice even before I open my eyes to see it.

"What the…" She exclaims, sounding satisfyingly annoyed.

"Look," He says, "I know that I will never be your favorite person, but I want you to know I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I was a real jerk!"

"Okay…" Holly says warily, fidgeting nervously with her glasses.

"Anyway," He continues, "I can see how much she loves you, any one can really. And I'm glad. I wasn't. But I am. You know, cuz you make her happy in ways I never could…"

"Quick, let me call Oprah…" I interrupt.

Holly gives my hand a squeeze and lets go.

"Thank you Nick." She says sounding way too serious. "Maybe we should talk, but now isn't the time."

She walks to the end of my bed and picks up my chart. She is studying it intently when a small dark skinned woman in a white coat materializes next to my bed.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Ruhi Patel." She introduces herself, "I hear you had quite a wild ride today. You must be Officer Gail Peck," she shakes my good hand. "And you must be Officer Nicholas Collins." She greets Nick.

"Uh, call me Nick." He says.

"Ok Nick, then." She smiles "And you are?" she turns to Holly

"Dr. Holly Stewart, Gail's partner." I hear her say.

Not girlfriend. Partner. I like that. It fits.

"So Gail," Dr. Patel asks "May I speak with Dr. Stewart about your case?"

"Sure," I say, "Why not. And you can talk in front of Nick here too. He's going to find out sooner or later."

"Ok then," Dr. Patel turns to Holly, "Well Dr. Stewart, we will be taking Gail into radiology now for a full MRI and CT with contrast. As you can see, her right clavicle is broken in two places, and her rotator cuff is torn. We want to insure there is no internal bleeding or nuro damage before we take her into surgery to repair it." I hear her explain.

"Excuse me! Surgery? What?" I exclaim.

"Yes Officer Peck, I'm afraid we will have to wire your clavicle back together and fix your rotator cuff if you wish to regain full use of your arm." She says to me. "Don't worry, we have an award winning sports medicine and orthopedic surgery team. It is a fairly routine and simple operation. Normally, we would operate directly and then send you home to recover, but given the way your injury was acquired, we would like to keep you over night for observation and operate in the morning. "

I am watching Holly's face go from concerned to completely opaque in a matter of seconds.

"Uh, sure…" I say, "Holly? What do you think?"

"Dr. Patel, you will give me the professional courtesy of informing me of the results from Gail's tests immediately, won't you." Holly is all business. It's almost like she's addressing one of her interns.

"Absolutely" comes the response.

"Ok, let's do this!" I say.

"Very good!" Dr. Patel replies and starts to unlock the wheels on my gurney.

"Could you give us a minute?" Holly asks.

Dr. Patel steps away from my bed as Holly comes over to my side and leans in. I try to reach up to touch her cheek but it hurts, so I end up grasping the front of her shirt instead.

"Hi." I say as I pull her closer.

"Hi." She replies, and I see her eyes start to fill with tears she refuses to shed.

I try to reach her lips with mine, but it hurts too much. "I'm ok, really I am." I whisper.

She swallows a whimper, blinks, and whispers back, "I know."

"I love you." I say.

"I love you too!" She kisses me briefly on the lips stands up abruptly, and walks quickly down the hall. As the doctor wheels me away, I watch Holly disappear into the lady's room.

"So hush little baby, now, don't you cry…"