From Down Here Chapter 16
Lucy's been gone for most of the day when Kojo hears her car pull into the driveway. Rushing to the door to meet her he scents Lucy and Tim. They seem to be coming toward the door, but not as quickly as they usually do. Tail going, he yips, waiting for the door to open.
Lucy comes in first. "Remember not to jump on Tim, Kojo," she reminds him. "You could hurt him."
Kojo backs away. The last thing he wants to do is hurt Tim, who walks slowly through the door. Lucy runs ahead of him to open the bedroom door and then closes it behind her as they both go inside. Still, Kojo can hear some of what they're saying. Lucy wants to help Tim and he says he doesn't need her to. It looked to Kojo like he did, but he remembers dogs in the shelter who were hurt. Sometimes they didn't want anyone to touch them, even to try to make them feel better. Maybe Tim's like that.
Kojo hears the paper make a noise as Skye gets off of it and goes toward the rug. She looks like she wants to poop. He nudges her back where she belongs. At least he can do that.
Tim and Lucy have been home for a while, but they're both still in the bedroom when Skye begins to whimper. Kojo licks her, but she keeps whimpering. He figures she must be hungry. He's starting to feel hungry. He wonders if he should scratch on the bedroom door. It would make less noise than barking, but Tim doesn't like him to do it. Still, it does make less noise than barking. If Tim is sleeping, it may not wake him up, but Lucy might hear it. He decides to try.
Lucy comes out. "Shhh, Kojo." Kojo goes over to the whimpering puppy. Lucy hits her face with her paw. "I'm sorry. It's time to feed Skye. It's time to feed both of you. You're such a good dog. Do you want a chew bone after you eat?" Kojo remembers not to bark but wags his tail as fast as he can and licks Lucy's hand. "OK. Puppy milk and Kojo food coming up. And you can have a chew bone. Hell, you can have two. Someone around here should have a good time."
Kojo thinks everyone should have a good time. But something always seems to happen so they don't. Still, he'll take as many chew bones as he can get.
Kojo is finishing his second bone when he hears a knock on the door. He hasn't scented the visitor often, but he knows who it is – Bailey, Nolan's mate.
"John is working a double shift because the division is short," Bailey says when Lucy lets her in. "But I'm off duty, so I thought I'd come over and see if there's anything I can do for Tim."
"You could try to talk him into taking his pain pills," Lucy suggests. "He won't hear it from me, but he knows you're a medic."
"Is he in a lot of pain?" Bailey asks.
"He won't admit it. He never admits it. But I can see it."
Bailey puts her arms around Lucy. "Men, huh? Some of the guys at the firehouse can have broken bones practically sticking through their skin and insist they're fine. I don't know how much good it will do, but I can talk to him."
"Thanks," Lucy says.
Kojo watches as Bailey goes into the bedroom. He didn't understand a lot of what she and Lucy said to each other, but he knows Bailey's going to try to help Tim. That's good.
"He took them," Bailey says as she comes out of the bedroom.
"How did you manage that?" Lucy asks.
"I threatened to have the guys from the firehouse come by and tell him how many more lives we save than cops do. Then I told him I'd start right now. That did it."
Lucy's face looks strange. "You know all that stuff off the top of your head?"
"The lives saved figures? They're part of a game John and I play sometimes." Kojo yips softly at the word "play." It seems like a long time since Tim and Lucy played with him. But Bailey keeps talking. "We're both very competitive, but I have the advantage when we compete physically. He's older and doesn't have the training I do."
"John's had good moves since I've known him," Lucy says.
To Kojo, Bailey looks like some dogs do when another dog gets too close to their mate. "You and John slept together, didn't you?"
"When we were rookies," Lucy says. "But we kept it under wraps because John's first TO, Bishop, said I'd be marked for sleeping with another rookie. And then John broke up with me so he wouldn't mess up my career."
"But you're with Tim. And you were with him when you were in his direct line of command. You two still work together. Isn't that worse?" Bailey asks.
"It could have been, but Tim went to Grey with it, so we aren't hiding anything."
"Still. If you two get caught up in protecting each other instead of doing the job, it could get both of you killed. I've seen that happen at a fire. So when other firefighters started sleeping together, the captain made one of them transfer to another house."
"That's why Tim transferred to Metro."
"But he's still got an office at Mid-Wilshire and you two still end up working side-by-side, don't you?"
"We do," Lucy says, pressing her paws together. "But I don't think we'll be working together for a while. The doctors say Tim will be out for at least six weeks."
Bailey puts her paw on Lucy's arm. "And I'm guessing you'll believe that when you see it. He's already restless. Lucy, for both your sakes you need to work things out so you're not on the job together."
"We will. Harper and Lopez gave me the tap to be a detective, so I'll be working with them under Sergeant Considine – if I can get past my orals. Tim won't be using me as backup anymore."
"Sounds good. Do you need any help with studying? John's a whiz at that. That's one way in which he beats me every time. He can get through a book twice before I've read it once."
"I know what you mean. He always got the highest grades on all our rookie exams and I hear he sailed through the TO exam."
"He did."
"But since you know that John and I were together, you won't mind if he works with me?"
"Lucy, John and I are engaged. We both take that very seriously. And it looks like you and Tim are serious too." Kojo doesn't understand what serious means, but it seems to be important to Lucy and Bailey. He presses against Lucy's leg.
"It's the most serious relationship I've ever had," Lucy says. "I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about Tim."
Bailey looks happier. "No problem then. I spend three nights a week at the firehouse. Working with you will give John something to do while I'm gone. And he can come over here so you can take care of Tim."
Lucy strokes Kojo's side. "You really don't mind?"
"John loves being a teacher. You want to make detective. And if he's busy here, every cop in the division won't be calling him to fix their stuff. Win-win."
"That's if John wants to do it."
Bailey sticks out her paw to Lucy. "Believe me. He'll want to do it." Kojo looks from Lucy to Bailey. They both have happy faces.