Larry Kasak barely made it to the station parking lot before he lost his breakfast. He knew that he should be happy that Malloy was returning to work, everyone else was. That was alright for them, but the young rookie felt like the San Andreas Fault had opened up underneath him. He moved to a quieter spot in the back lot so no one would see him vomiting.
Kasak slipped into the briefing room at the last minute, taking a seat next to Jim. Sergeant MacDonald didn't miss much and without missing a beat, he gave Reed a look that said, "what's wrong with your rookie?" Jim shrugged his shoulders before turning to really look at Larry. The young man was pale, sweating and fiddling with his pen.
"Are you alright", Jim leaned over and whispered to his rookie partner. "You look like you should be home in bed."
"Um…I'm, ah, okay," Larry could claim till doomsday that he was alright, but one whiff of the young man's breath was enough to disprove his claim of being okay.
"Never, ever lie to your Training Officer. It's a quick way to lose that badge you're so proud of." Pete's voice echoed in Jim's ear and he never forgot those words, even though he wasn't the rookie being yelled at.
"Sorry Sir", Larry replied, offering up a technically true answer. "Something didn't sit well in my stomach, but I'm okay to work."
"We'll see. Get the shotgun from the kit room and meet me by our unit. I have to talk to the sergeant for a minute."
O~O~O
Reed was a patient man, up to a point, and Larry could try the patience of a saint. They were forty-five minutes into the shift and Larry had yet to tell Jim what was wrong. Suddenly, Jim pulled to the curb in the middle of the block, turned to Larry and asked him where they were.
Larry sighed, then admitted to not knowing their location.
"The first day I told you to always know where you are. Now, you weren't paying attention to your job, so what have you been doing?"
"Thinking…about my future." Jim gave him one of those patented TO glares.
"Your Future? As in "am I going to get off probation in the next three years" or future as in "my girlfriend is pregnant and I'm the father?" Pete had definitely rubbed off on Jim.
"I'm not anyone's father", the rookie protested. "See, It's this way, I like what I'm doing now…."
Whatever Larry meant to say was cut off by the screeching of brakes and horns blaring: a bright pink sports car had blown through a stop sign. The pursuit was short, but having to use the sirens to stop someone didn't improve Jim's mood. He had been so happy at the beginning of the shift too.
"You take her and keep your mind on the job. Remember, I'm watching." Jim pointed Larry at the sports car.
"Officer, have I done something wrong?" The woman's voice was at flirting level with a slight southern tone.
"Yes, Ma'am. You didn't stop at the stop sign and almost caused an accident. I'm going to have to give you a ticket." Clearly Larry was all business, carefully looking at his ticket book. The last thing he needed was for his training officer seeing him flirting back.
"Oh Pooh. Those cars, making all that noise. They should have known I wasn't going to stop. That's why I blew my horn to warn them." Jim, who had not yet seen the driver's face, still felt a tingle run up his spine. "It can't be….not today…I don't need this."
"I'm writing you citations for reckless driving, failure to stop at a stop sign and failure to stop when being pulled over by a police officer." Despite trying to be professional, Larry did notice that he was ticketing a beautiful blonde.
"I'll tell you what", the woman cooed. "You put away that little ole ticket book and we can talk about it later, after your shift."
Jim moved over to the driver's side of the car and silently cursed. "No, he isn't going to forget giving you the tickets…and he is married."
"You!" Just my luck to get you pulling me over. Where's Pete, off insulting other women?" She waved her hand off in a vague direction. "I bet you all got a good laugh over what he did."
"I don't know what you are talking about Miss Lang but please cooperate with Officer Kasak so we don't have to see each other anymore."
Knowing she was defeated; Penny Lang signed the tickets and drove away.
"What was that all about and why did you tell her that I was married? I wouldn't mind spending some time with her." Larry was watching the pink sports car flying down the road.
Jim shook his head. "You don't want to know. Trust me".
O~O~O
Sally was working late, so Pete sat at the coffee table having pizza and a beer in the living room while watching television. It was one of the few police shows that he watched without mocking the characters. "Murder By the Book" was a great episode with Jack Cassidy as the murderer.
"A cop show?" Sally chuckled when she came home and saw what he was watching. "I thought you hated them."
Pete slid over to make room for Sally on the couch and offered her some cold pizza and a warm beer. "Columbo is a good show. It's not one of those inane shows that bear no resemblance to actual police work." Sally took a bite of the pizza. "You could have kept this warm for me."
Pete burst out laughing, "You love cold pizza!"
"I do, but keeping food warm is a husbandly thing to do." Despite her best efforts, Sally couldn't keep a straight face either.
"We're not married yet. I'm not required to do the husband's duty to keep food warm for a wife who prefers it cold."
"I'll let you off this time", Sally said laughingly. "In four months, I won't go easy on you." Pete responded with a sitting bow. "Thank you dear lady. I'll do better next time".
Sally swatted him on the shoulder. "Smart A**. Now tell me all the details starting with your visit with Dr. Franks.
"I'm sure that the good doctor told you the important part." He downed the rest of his beer before relating the events of the day. The worry he saw in her eyes when he told her that he was starting back on Wednesday did bother him, but he had been perfectly honest with her from the beginning about his desire to return to work. She laughed at the image of Jim strutting around the station like a kid who got a puppy for their birthday.
"I know you think I am pushing to go back earlier than I should. If it weren't for the sergeant's exam, I'd have waited. Don't worry, Mac already has a pile of paperwork waiting for me so I'll be safe." Pete reached out and touched her cheek to wipe away a tear. "I'm sorry."
"I know" Sally stood, holding a hand out to help Pete get up. "I love you. Let's go to bed. We can talk in the morning."
O~O~O
