"I think you're a liar."
With a nod to his partner, Andy pushed the terrified man away from the door, letting himself in, his small revolver held out in front of him. So disturbed by what appeared before him, Andy stopped suddenly, causing John to walk straight into him.
"Holy shit."
Had Andy not been of the same sentiment, he might have raised an eyebrow at John's choice of words, the kid had never been much of a one to curse at the best of times.
The two men exchanged an incredulous look as their battered victim stood frozen in front of them, completely naked and covered in what looked like chocolate syrup. Stood behind the man was a middle-aged woman, a semi-automatic pistol aimed at the back of his head.
"Ma'am, please put down the weapon."
"Back off!"
The woman waved the gun at John, warning him not to take a step further toward her.
"Okay," he conceded, sharing a look of disappointment with Andy. "Can you at least tell me your name?"
Still having a bad feeling about the situation, John tried to build up some kind of rapport with their assailant in the hopes that he and Andy would be able to talk her down before anyone got hurt.
The woman sneered at the two detectives. "It doesn't matter what my name is, this weasel has to pay for what he did!"
"How about you tell us what it is that he's done," Andy said, taking the lead from his young partner. Their friendship deep enough for Andy to know that the kid was skittish at the moment. There was something about the way John had been acting ever since they'd taken the call at the precinct. Maye it was best that he steered the situation from here….
"Mrs Kelly," the doctor began, looking at her with concern. "Are you ok, can I get you a glass of water?"
Laura's stomach churned at the thought. The last glass of water she'd drunk had stayed in her system less than an hour before she'd brought it back up again. Was it the nerves making her feel so nauseous or something else entirely?
It's probably just a false alarm. Like all the other times…
No, she had to think positively. This time would be the right time. The pain and sorrow that she and John had been through over the last few years would fade away with the news that she was pregnant. Finally.
"I'm ok, doctor. I just need to know the results of the test." Laura looked at the doctor with pleading eyes. She'd never been one to resort to begging, but the not knowing was almost as bad as hearing the news that their recent attempts to conceive had yet again been unsuccessful.
The doctor gave her a sweet smile, one that Laura hoped meant that the news was positive.
"It's early days yet, but all of the test results show that you're in the first stages of pregnancy."
It took a few moments for the words to sink in as Laura sat staring into nothingness. She cleared her throat, attempting to regain her composure.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"The tests show that you're approximately three weeks pregnant. Congratulations, Mrs Kelly."
Laura nodded her head, though whatever the doctor said had barely registered, her mind focusing on one thing.
I'm pregnant. I'm actually pregnant.
After so many years of disappointment and false hope, it seemed too much to believe that their dreams would finally be coming true.
"Are you sure there hasn't been a mistake?"
Laura looked at the doctor intently, trying to intimidate the woman into admitting that she'd made an error. This was too important to both her and John for the doctor to have mixed her tests results up with another patient. After so much heartache, they had to be sure.
"The results of these tests don't lie, Mrs Kelly. Your hormone levels show that you're currently with child."
It still didn't seem real. Hundreds of questions were whizzing around her mind. Laura cursed herself for not being more prepared for the news. But after so many near misses, it seemed like tempting fate to even think that this time would be the one occasion that all of their suffering would finally be rewarded with her and John having a child of their own.
Time seemed to crawl, the crazed woman continuing to stare at the two police officers with barely-concealed fury.
"Look, ma'am," Andy prompted, nodding his head toward the shivering naked man before him, "Your man is freezing his nuts off. Do you want him to die of exposure?"
The chubby detective heard his partner groan at his lack of tact, but Andy was getting too old to try to talk down crazed housewives from killing their cheating husbands. Tea and sympathy wasn't going to cut it in this situation, the quicker they defused it, the quicker he and John could get back to the precinct.
It had been another particularly heavy night of drinking and he'd woken up with a killer headache this morning. His wife had left him and his only son hated him; why bother making the effort to stay sober?
Puking in a dumpster on the way to the precinct this morning should have been a wake-up call, but a drunk man truly has no shame – especially when they're too drunk to even realise how much of an embarrassment they've become to the people around them.
Thank God that John had finally got things back on track with that wife of his – it would stop the soppy young fool looking at him with pitying eyes every time he'd come into work after a heavy night looking more than a little worse for wear.
No, John was too busy getting his leg over to notice that his partner was sneaking in the odd nip of whiskey during the shift - it was exactly the way Andy intended to keep it. Being an alcoholic was a lonely road and he knew it was better for those around him that he be left to his own devices than have them suffer the pain of watching his demise unfold before them.
Even though it was barely an hour into their shift, the need for a drink began to consume his thoughts. All Andy could think about was getting out of this dump, slipping away for an hour or so and feeding his craving.
"Look lady, just put the gun and we'll all talk nicely about this, ok? I'm sure Mr Popsicle here would like a nice hot shower while we talk to you about whatever it is that's pissed you off this morning."
Andy heard the whispered cursing of his partner but ignored him completely.
"He missed your birthday…..your anniversary? Surely he ain't worth wasting a bullet over is he?"
Andy's unorthodox approach to dealing with an armed suspect seemed to have an instant reaction as the woman lowered the gun slightly. The naked man wept silently as clear rivulets of tears made their marks in the chocolate syrup covering his chest.
"Put the gun down, stick the kettle on and we'll have a nice chat about what a shitty husband he is," Andy suggested, seeing an opening and deciding to press home the advantage.
It proved to be a costly mistake.
The woman's face changed in an instant. Turning the gun from the naked man and straight in the direction of the two police officers, she screamed, "You men are all the same. You arrogant bastards!"
Andy had barely had time to react before he felt the force of someone pushing him from behind.
Authors' Note: This is a continuing story from the writing team of WriterJasmine and Teeheehee1234. It's meant to be a fun attempt at writing a story together based on words that readers provide to us on a weekly basis. For more information about this, please read our profile and please feel free to participate. The 'bolded' words throughout the story are words that some of our reader friends sent our way this week. The words utilized are: walk; dumpster; exposure; disappointment; frozen; sweet smile; friendship; chocolate syrup.