They could hear the finish line before they could see it as Jamie and Eddie rounded the last corner in Central Park. The cheering crowd grew louder and more compact along the sidelines, creating an atmosphere that encouraged Eddie on to quicken her pace as the finish line FINALLY came into view. The excitement of actually completing this challenge gave her an adrenaline rush that she wasn't expecting.
"Hey, this is it! This is your race, Eddie. It's all you- enjoy this moment, there's nothing like it! I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, 'kay?" Jamie dropped out and stood with the crowd and watched proudly as she found an extra gear and sprinted in the last tenth of a mile with a very fast kick through the chute and over the finish line in 3:48:32. She heard the announcer say her name and that she was one of New York's finest from the 12th.
After walking forward through the finishing area, Eddie was so relieved to just finally be able to stop moving her body. A race volunteer approached her and put her finisher medal around her neck and congratulated her. Eddie stood there, stunned. She fingered the medal with her hand, wondering how she did what she just did. She was surprised to find that her eyes were tearing up with joy and astonishment and relief and pride and all sorts of emotions.
She looked up and saw Jamie approaching her with one of those thin silver space blankets, a bottle of Gatorade, and a banana. His smile was so big, she knew that she had accomplished her goal of making him proud. She smiled back at him, amazed at the feat she just completed.
"So? How does it feel, hot shot!"
"Jamie! That was INSANE! I just ran a marathon! Can you believe it?" She jumped up and down in excitement and then attacked him in a hug, slinging her arms around his neck and planting her cheek on his shoulder as she stood on her tip toes. She caught him off guard and he would have loved to hug her back in return, but his hands were full. She realized this and backed off quicker than he had wanted her to.
"Eddie, you did awesome! That kick at the end was crazy! I don't think I could have kept up with you! Here," he said as he wrapped the space blanket around her shoulders. "You'll want this around you. You'll start to feel the real temperature out here as you recover, and it's kinda cold out right now."
He held up the banana and the Gatorade. "Not wine and a puppy, but will this do? It's grape Gatorade. Close enough, right? Get it? Wine- grape…" he shrugged. "No?"
She looked at the food (it was just what she wanted- how did he know?) and then stared back at him into his questioning gaze. He had been taking such good care of her all throughout the race. How could she have done this without him? He knew exactly what she needed and when she needed it.
She suddenly had an epiphany. Jamie had been taking care of her like that for a while now. He helped her after she was assaulted by going with her to arrest Jake and convince her to press charges- you won't be alone, he had said. He drove her to the jail and was there for support when she went to visit her dad. He was quick to protect and defend her when she got shoved to the ground during their call on a domestic dispute; even though his actions were over the top, she now realized why. He became rather overprotective when she went undercover. He stayed with her all night and held her in his arms while she cried over the heavy burden of having killed someone in the line of duty. I'm not going anywhere...
She never had a man in her life care for her like this until now. Her dad had failed her. All of the other guys she'd been going out with couldn't compare. She wanted to kiss Jamie right then and there, but knew she couldn't since they were in public with the majority of the NYPD force hanging around.
"Eddie? You okay?"
"Huh?" she said, coming out of a daze.
"You okay? I lost you there for a second," he asked with concern.
"Yeah," she said, putting on a genuine smile. "This is perfect, Jamie, really. Thank you!"
She grabbed the banana out of his hand, peeled it quickly, and chowed down while he twisted open the cap of the Gatorade for her. "Who needs Ryan, anyway, when I got you?" she said with her mouth full. She then guzzled down some drink and wondered if she really just said that out loud.
He stared at her contemplating if she was serious or just joking. He couldn't tell, but he finally noticed that she had been crying. "You been crying, Janko? There's no crying in running!"
"Shut up, Reagan!" she retorted as she wiped away the stray wetness on her face with the back of her hand.
They heard the announcer call out Reynold's name as she and her entourage crossed the finish line. Eddie looked at her watch to note the time and snickered. "Took her long enough," she cracked.
Jamie laughed. "Come on, let's walk around some. You need to keep moving or your muscles will stiffen right up."
"Hey! You're $50 bucks richer!" she reminded him as they started walking. "So where are you taking me tonight? I'm STARVING."
He groaned dramatically for effect. "Oh here we go. Too bad it's not 'All-You-Can-Eat' Tuesday at Anton's."