From Down Here Chapter 30
Kojo looks up from his bed when Lucy comes in the door. Tim is already home and made dinner for Kojo and himself. He's been watching what he calls a football game for a long time when Lucy gets there. "Were you at the hospital?" he asks.
"Yeah," Lucy says. "I was sitting with the boy. I finally got him to at least tell me his name. It's Curan."
"Sounds like one of those family names," Tim says.
Lucy moves her head up and down. "That's what I thought when I heard it, which should make it easier to trace. I'll go in early tomorrow and work on it before Harper and Lopez show up. With dealing with the kids, they both rush in just under the wire at start of shift." Lucy looks at the TV and then back at Tim. "From your expression, I'm guessing the Rams are behind."
"They're down six points," Tim says. "But there's still three minutes to go on the last quarter and they have a first down. They can still win if they can make a touchdown and score the extra point."
Lucy looks back at the screen. "In football, three minutes on the clock can take half an hour. I'm going to grab a shower while you see how it comes out."
Tim keeps watching the TV. "All right. See you later."
Kojo's about to go back to sleep when Tim jumps up and yells. From Tim's paw pumping in the air and his happy face, Kojo guesses that whatever happened was what Tim wanted. Kojo doesn't hear the shower anymore, but Lucy hasn't come out of the bedroom. Tim is starting to give off the mating scent. From what Kojo can remember, that happens a lot after a football game comes out the way Tim wants it to. And Lucy is probably waiting for him. Not expecting to see either of them until the morning, Kojo curls up again and closes his eyes.
The birds outside are just starting to make noises when Lucy comes out of the bedroom and starts making coffee. Kojo yips a greeting.
"Tim isn't up yet," Lucy says. "But he should have time to make breakfast for both of you. I'm just going to drink enough coffee to wake up and go see Curan, the boy you found. The nurses told me that he doesn't sleep much. He should be awake by the time I get there. He's doing better, Kojo."
Kojo doesn't understand all of that, but he understands that Curan is what Lucy is calling the boy. And what Lucy said sounded like it was good. The little happy on her face says that was good. Kojo can be happy about that. He's also happy that Lucy said Tim will make his breakfast. Maybe they'll even have time for a walk. If not, Tim will probably put Kojo in the backyard. The fence is stronger since Nolan fixed it and Tim and Lucy put Kojo out there a lot. He likes it. He can smell the trails of the squirrels that come in and out. He also tries to poop in about the same place so that Tim and Lucy have an easier time picking it up. He doesn't know why they do that. When a squirrel or a bird poops, it stays where they put it. But Kojo's poop gets picked up. He's seen the poop of other dogs get picked up too. He's seen people with really mad faces when they step in it. Why they'd get mad about stepping in it but pick it up, doesn't make sense to Kojo. A lot of things people, even people he likes a lot, do, don't make sense to him. But he's used to it."
Kojo can sense Lucy's sadness the moment she comes home and rushes to the door to rub against her. She gets down near Kojo and presses her face against his fur. He can feel the wetness on it.
Tim turns away from searching the fridge. "Hey, Lucy! Have you seen my…? What's the matter? Is it the boy?"
"Not the boy. He's doing a little better. But Sergeant Caradine is dead," Lucy says, her nose making sniffing noises.
"Ryan's dead? How?" Tim asks.
"Ruptured brain aneurysm. He had a headache, and he thought it was stress. And then he was – gone. The paramedics tried to get his heart going again. But they couldn't get a rhythm. The doctors at the hospital said the damage was so extensive that there was nothing anyone could have done. Grey made the announcement. Harper, Lopez, all the detectives are numb." Kojo doesn't know what any of that means, but it sounds really bad. He stays as close as he can to Lucy.
"I should go in," Tim says. "The sergeants were already stretched thin. Grey's going to need some help."
"You don't even officially work for Mid-Wilshire anymore," Lucy says. "You're just the liaison for Metro. Otherwise, you couldn't be there at all."
Tim looks mad. "Don't you think I know that, Lucy? But Grey is still going to need the help, and I'm the closest thing he'll have to it until the brass decide what to do. I can at least work as a supervisor to coordinate any detectives Mid-Wilshire has in the field. I do that with joint Mid-Wilshire-Metro operations."
Lucy stands up. "I know you do. Grey temporarily put Harper in charge of the detectives. She's the most experienced one we had on site. She can probably use the help with the field. But until someone else is assigned to fill in at Mid-Wilshire, what are you going to do about Metro?"
"I'll talk to Pine. When a cop goes down, we all have to pull together. We'll work something out."
Kojo watches as Tim goes out the door, then rubs against Lucy again. He doesn't know what else he can do. She still looks very sad. When he feels that way, he really wants a chew bone. But Lucy doesn't like them. He looks over at his squirrel tower and other toys. Maybe Lucy wants something warm and soft to hold. He's seen her do that before when she was sad. His squirrels are soft and furry. Maybe one of those will help. He pulls the biggest one out of its place and brings it to Lucy. When she takes it, her face has a little happy with the sad. "That's very sweet Kojo, but can you hold the squirrel for me for a minute? I think I need to make some herb tea."
Kojo keeps the squirrel in his mouth as he follows Lucy to the kitchen. She makes her strange-smelling drink again and sits down at the table. Kojo puts the squirrel in her lap as carefully as he can, then lies down on the kitchen floor next to her. He wonders if Tim is going to come back that night and Lucy will keep being sad if he doesn't. He can smell that Lucy finished drinking her tea, but she doesn't go into the bedroom or turn on the TV. She just puts her head down on the table. Kojo thinks she's going to sleep. He doesn't go to his bed, but after a while, he falls asleep too.
A/N The day I wrote this it was announced that Kamar de los Reyes who played Sergeant Ryan Considine, who you might remember was Lopez's supervisor when she became a detective, died of cancer. I thought some remembrance would be appropriate. Considine was an interesting character. It's a shame the series didn't use him more.