“Come on, stud, it’s time to roll,” Chloe calls over to me. We just got done with our morning brief and one of my friends stopped me to shoot the shit. He’s telling me all about a wicked nasty incident that happened over the weekend in Julian’s neighborhood. When I recognized the neighborhood, I inquired about it, and I discovered it revolved around his mom and her awesome druggie ways. Making a mental note to check in with Julian later, I slap my boy on the arm and thank him for the info before I meet up with my partner. It’s time to grab our coffee and hit the streets.
“How did the weekend go? Lexi told me she feels so much better now that she met Bailey’s mom.” We both climb into the squad car.
“It was a tough weekend, but as always, Lexi proved how strong she is. She came out of it like a champ.” Chloe pauses for a moment, deep in thought. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not so sure she came out like a champ.”
My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
She sighs. “I heard her last night. She had a nasty nightmare and was crying in her sleep. I thought she was awake so naturally I went into her room to check on her and she was out cold, mumbling, crying, and sweat beaded up on her skin. I wasn’t sure if I should wake her or not. I was afraid I would scare her and she would hurt me. I left her room and hoped she would wake on her own.”
“Damn it,” I mumble more to myself. “I didn’t get to talk to her before her shift at the hospital this morning. How was she when you left?”
“Acted like nothing happened.”
She pulls out of our spot and heads to the donut shop. The conversation ceases, leaving us both lost in our thoughts. I need to talk with Dr. Miranda. I don’t know what to do in this situation. I’m not sure if I should try to get her to admit to her nightmare, or leave it be, and hope she’ll talk to her on her own.
We’ve been settled into our spot for a while now and so far, only two speeding tickets and a few squawks of the radio that we weren’t needed for. Then suddenly we hear a call for domestic violence. The address is revealed and my heart begins to pound in my chest. We’re not far and I’m glad because it’s Julian’s house.
Chloe slams the car into drive and rips out of the parking lot and the second she does my phone rings. “Julian, what’s going on?”
“My mom’s dealer is here and he’s pissed. He’s screaming something about she did all the drugs and she was supposed to sell it. The guy is a lunatic.”
“You have to get out of there.”
“I can’t, he’s blocking the only exit. I have a fire escape, but it doesn’t work right. He’ll hear me and come after me.” His voice is so soft I’m struggling to hear him over the sound of the sirens.
“Listen to me. We are almost there.” I lean over and kill the sirens not to alert the guy. “Where are you?”
“I’m hiding in my closet but I hear him calling my name. He’s looking for me.”
“Stay quiet and stay hidden. I’ll be there in a minute.” I hear the guy's voice getting louder which tells me he’s getting closer. The phone goes dead.
“Shit, step on it. That fucker has Julian.” I’m so angry I can hear the blood bumping through my ears as I pick up the radio and request backup. The second the car comes to a stop I pull my gun and run up his stairs two at a time. I know I’m breaking protocol but I don’t give a fuck. I need to save Julian. When I get to his apartment door, I stop to listen for a second. As soon as I hear a shot fired, I kick the door down and take aim. Julian’s mother is shot dead on the couch and Julian is on the floor beaten with a gun pointed at his head. “Drop it, fucker, or you’re next,” I growl.
“You think you can kill me before I kill him?” He presses the gun to his head as I slowly step inside.
“Do you want to find out?”
He turns the gun to me and we both fire off shots. Mine nails him in the head and his nails me in the chest. “Fuck!” I scream out as I drop to the floor.
“Keegan.” Julian jumps up and runs over to me.
I hear Chloe’s voice behind me. “Shots fired. Officer down, I need a bus, damn it.” She kneels down in front of me. “Damn it, Keegan. Why the hell didn’t you wait?”
“Julian would be dead.” She’s applying pressure to my chest when two paramedics arrive with a stretcher.
“Lexi, let’s go, we’ve got an ambulance on the way. Gunshot wound,” Harper calls out, grabbing my arm as we race off to meet the paramedics. The doors to the vehicle opens and the men rush out rolling the stretcher. My eyes go wide and fear takes over when I see it’s Keegan.
“Keegan. What happened?”
The paramedics are rambling stuff off to Harper as we wheel him inside. “Julian is on his way. He’s hurt. We got a call, rushed to his house.”
“Just relax, we’re going to take care of you.”
“Julian’s been beaten, his mom is dead.” He licks his lips. “How fitting both my parents were killed by a junkie, and now it’s my turn.” He’s barely able to finish his words before he blacks out.
“NO!” I scream out. “You will not die, do you fucking hear me?” The doctors wheel him down the hall to the OR where I should be helping but I can’t, not with Keegan. I run to the nearest wastebasket and empty the contents of my stomach as I cry. When I’m done Harper pulls me to a chair to sit with me while the doctors work to save his life. “God, please, I know I’m not a good catholic, but I need you to save him. Please,” I beg as Harper rocks me.
Chloe comes running through the door. I’m out of my seat and in her arms in minutes. She has blood all over her, I instantly panic. “Oh my God, you’re wounded, too.” I begin scanning her body checking her over.
She shakes me. “Lexi, I’m fine.” My eyes meet hers. “It’s Keegan’s.” That’s when I notice his blood is on my scrubs. My eyes well with tears for the man I love. I close my eyes and silently pray one more time. ‘I’ve already lost two people I cared deeply for. Please don’t take him away from me, too.’
“Come, let’s go shower and grab you and Keegan some things and we’ll come back. By then, he’ll be out of surgery.” Chloe pulls me out of my head.
“I can’t leave.” I shake my head in defiance.
“Lexi, he is going to be in there for a while. I’m on my way to check on things. I will make sure they notify you immediately. Go change your clothes and I promise you will be the first person I call.” Harper looks me in the eye.
Suddenly I need to get out of here. I need to find some comfort, and the only place I can do that is in my room.
Chloe pulls up to our place and I can’t get inside quick enough. I run straight to my room and begin digging through my drawer. My brows furrow when I realize it isn’t there. I’m like a lunatic throwing clothes around my room, emptying drawer after drawer, but it’s nowhere to be found. “What are you looking for?”
I jump turning to see Chloe standing in the door with her arms crossed at her chest. “You know what I’m looking for. What did you do with it?”
She shakes her head. “Not this time. It’s gone.”
“What? You got rid of it?” I scream at her, my eyes wide with anger. “How could you do this to me?” I pace my room pulling at my hair.
“I did it for you. You don’t need alcohol. You don’t need Jose Cuervo, as you say. You need your friends. You need your family, and we’re here for you, but you need to lean on us.”
My hands are shaking from fear, anger, frustration, so many emotions all at once. I have no idea what to do, because my typical go to is no longer available. My body collapses to the floor and I sob. “I can’t lose him, too. Please, I can’t lose him, I love him, and I need time with him, time to thank him for saving me, time to save him from his past.”
Chloe takes a seat behind me and wraps me in her arms. “He’s a strong guy. You have to believe he will pull through.”
“I need him to. He can’t die like this, not from a druggie he’s been fighting so hard to protect people from. It’s not fair.”
“I know, sweetie, I know, but he probably saved Julian’s life, and I know that’s hard to keep in mind right now but it’s true. Now, you need to clean up and change so we can get back.”
The thought of getting back quickly snaps me out of my funk. I jump up from the floor, gather some clothes, and begin changing with Chloe right there watching. “Stop staring at me and go.” Her brows shoot up but she says nothing. She walks out of my room to change as well.
When we meet up in the kitchen she tells me she’s ready, so we rush back out the door, but because of traffic it’s taking us a bit longer. “Can’t you use that siren of yours?”
“No. I can’t just use my siren because you’re in a hurry.” She shakes her head, angry I even suggested it, but I don’t care, I just want to get there.
She pulls into the parking lot for the Emergency room and parks her car. We both run in to see a few cops in the waiting room, but Harper is nowhere to be found. I go over to the desk. “Hey, Jenny. Any word?” She shakes her head.
“I’ll call Harper and let her know you’re back.”
“Thanks, does Cheryl know that Harper sent me home?”
She nods. “Don’t stress over it. Cheryl gets it, trust me.”
“Cool.” I walk over to the waiting room where Chloe is talking with some of her fellow officers. They’re asking her what happened, and if she’s okay.
She looks at me sitting in my chair with my head back against the wall. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, go.”
She shakes her head. “Captain is on his way. He’ll be here any second.”
The room is full of cops chatting waiting for word on their friend, and it feels like forever before Harper comes walking through the damn door. She walks straight up to me, squats in front of me, and looks into my eyes which are now welling with tears because I fear the worst. “He went into cardiac arrest but they were able to revive him. He’s lost a lot of blood and the next twenty-four hours are critical, but they think he’s going to make it.”
I wrap her in a hug letting the tears I’ve been holding back fall. “Thank God,” I whisper as she rubs my back.
She pulls away. “You’ll be able to see him shortly.”
“Thank you so much.”
“I also thought you would like to know that Julian is here, and he is doing fine. He has a concussion and some fractured ribs but he’ll be free to leave in a few days.”
This poor kid. “Is he alone?”
“His grandmother is with him, but you can go see him if you want, and I’ll come get you once it’s okay for you to visit with Keegan.” I give her a tight smile.
“Hey, everyone. Keegan has made it through surgery. It was a little rough going for a bit but they think he’s going to make it.” The room erupts into cheers for my man and I can’t help but smile. He is lucky to be surrounded by an amazing team. “Let’s go.” Harper links her arm through mine and leads me to Julian’s room. When we get there my heart breaks a little. He is really badly beaten, and he looks like he’s in pain.
“Oh, Julian. How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts pretty badly, but I’ll be okay. How’s Keegan? No one will give me answers.” He looks panicked.
“Calm down. He made it through surgery, and they are expecting him to be fine. I’m waiting for permission to go to his room.” I turn to his grandmother. “Hi, I’m Lexi. Julian has been working with my boyfriend.”
“I know and I’m thankful to him for saving my grandson. I’m sorry he got hurt in the process, but if it wasn’t for him I probably would have lost him.”
I nod. “He cares about him.”
She sighs. “I know and I’m thankful.”
I want to ask her if she is going to take custody of Julian, but that’s a personal matter, and I’m not sure now’s the time to bring it up. Instead we all sit quietly watching the TV. I glance over to see Julian is sleeping peacefully. “I’m going to go check on Keegan,” I whisper.
His grandmother follows me out. “Please thank him for me. I know I wasn’t around much, and Lord knows I probably should have been, but I’ll make up for that now.”
I place my hand on her arm and give her a gentle squeeze. “We’ll be there to help him through this.”
I turn to see Harper walking toward me. “I was just coming to get you.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, that crazy boyfriend of yours woke up and asked for you.” She shakes her head. “He acted like he didn’t just go through major surgery.” I laugh. He really is a stubborn man. I say goodbye to Julian’s grandmother and hurry down the hall with Harper to Keegan’s room. When we get there the doctor is there checking things out and giving him an injection into his IV.
“I’m just giving him some pain medication, but he’s doing fine.”
“Thanks, doc.”
He leaves the room and Keegan rolls his head to me. His eyes are already droopy from the pain medication. “I got the bastard.”
“I know, you did good. Now rest.”
He fights to keep his eyes open. “I love you, Lexi.”
“I love you, too.” And just like that he’s sound asleep yet again. I curl up in the chair next to his bed to try and rest a bit before he wakes up again.