Chapter 5
Charlie was at work. His thoughts were filled of Shareena, the baby they’d accidentally made together, and trying to figure out how his work schedule would make him a half-way decent partner.
He’d spent the last few years just screwing off, and he’d been lucky, and extremely careful with women. Until her. Something about her had him lose his head, and he still wasn’t sure what it was that made him lose track of time or get lost in physical sensations so he made errors or mistakes.
She was different. He could tell that much, but what did that mean? That he loved her? He knew her, but they were still getting to know one another. You can’t just meet someone and love them, could you? He believed in chemicals and animal lust, but the heart and emotions getting involved where a different story and he’d always made a point not to get involved.
He was on a stake out with his partner, a grumpy old man named George Stiff who was snoring next to him and let him do most of the watching. They were waiting for a navy man to get off the ship to arrest him. They didn’t want to create a scene, and approaching him once he got off the boat was the best way to avoid a scandal. Pictures of the man had been sent to the Navy Intelligence Office, they had included him selling weapons and items off the ship in different ports. He had to be held accountable, and the evidence was solid. So it was just a matter of picking him up.
He had a picture of the man in his lap, and was mentally checking off the men and women who got off the ship until he saw the one they were looking for. Nudging his partner to wake him up, he started his car, and followed the sailor. Who veered away from the groups heading towards the bars and downtown area?
Following him, he was curious what the man was up too. When he went into an alleyway, he parked outside of it and got out of his car, drawing his weapon. He nodded at his partner then went into the alleyway, only to see the sailor go through a back door of a building and it slamming shut. Following him, he went to the door and tried the handle. It was unlocked and he went in.
A large warehouse with boxes and bins were stacked in small rooms, and the place looked like a maze. Following the flashes of the man’s white uniform, he found him stopping to open a box and take a gun out. He was busy loading it when Charlie approached him.
“Mr. Danner? We need to talk, can you put the weapon down?” Charlie approached the man cautiously.
“Who are you?” The sailor looked at him, nervously, his hand tightened on the gun and it made Charlie raise his gun a notch higher.
“I’m Charlie, with the Navy Intelligence Office. I need you to come with me, we need to ask you some questions.” Charlie tried to be calm and address the situation to keep the situation defused. The last thing he expected was the man’s eyes to widen and him to shoot at him. Feeling a burning sensation in his shoulder, he realized he’d been hit, and he fired back before diving to the ground as the man shot at him again.
“Put the gun down Danner, I don’t want to shoot you, last warning,” Charlie told him, taking cover behind some of the boxes and bins. He saw a glimpse of his partner coming up behind him, and kept talking, to distract him. Shooting a man was the last thing he wanted to do, so if they could get out of the situation all alive, in relatively one piece that would be his goal.
His partner put a gun to the back of Danner’s head and told him to drop his weapon. When the sailor did, cursing, Charlie stood up and came out, his shoulder throbbing in agony.
“Think you can handle cuffing him?” Charlie asked, feeling a little dizzy and light headed.
“Sure, we need to get you back to get that looked at, think you can make it?” Stiff asked him, eyeing the blood pooling into his clothes.
“Yeah, if anything weird happens, my girlfriend may need to know. She’s my last called number in my phone.” Charlie told him as they walked out to the car.
“I’m driving, get in the passenger seat,” Stiff ordered him, not wanting him to drive wounded.
They rode back to the station where they dropped the suspect off, and Charlie ended up being forced to go to the hospital emergency room to be checked out and treated, then had to write a report about shots fired and being hit in the line of duty. He sighed, he didn’t get in fire fights very often, but this was his least favorite part of the job.
He texted Shareena after he’d been patched up, but they were keeping him for observation after digging out the bullet and stitching up for a few more hours before releasing him. He had to do the paperwork as soon as he was released and could go back to the office. Right now, he just wanted to see her beautiful, chocolate face.
She arrived a little while later, looking a little traumatized. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’ll live. Couple days on painkillers and I’ll be good as new,” Charlie joked and then pulled her closer to him so he could kiss her. “I’m glad you came. You make it less boring to sit here in this bed. There’s nothing good on T.V.”
“Oh, one of those are you?” She smiled and rubbed his arm affectionately.
“One of what?” He asked her, curiously and cringed when he moved in the bed and his entire arm felt like it was on fire and being stabbed by a knife. A burning knife.
“A big, strong man, until he’s injured. Then whines because the radio is broken.” Shareena giggled. “It’s silly, I dunno. The idea of you sitting here hurt has me a little freaked out.”
“Well, I’m okay.” He reassured her. “So, what did you do today?”
“I had a few photo shoots for senior proms, and then I went and took some nature photography, and I have a scheduled appointment this afternoon for a lady who wants me to take pictures of her cat.” Shareena grinned. “I do a lot of dogs and babies too.”
“Sounds like a busy day, I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?” Charlie asked, not wanting to slow her down if she had other things she needed to do.
“No, there’s nowhere I’d rather be, than right here with you right now,” she told him and leaned down to kiss his head affectionately. “My appointment isn’t until nearly dinnertime, so I have a few hours.”
“Good,” Charlie said, then watched the nurse slide the glass door open and come in. She was holding a needle and gave him a half-smile.
“Pain meds. It may make you sleepy, but if you rest up, they doctor will let you go home tonight, as long as you have someone to drive you.” She said and walked over to the IV and inserted the medication after verifying his patient information.
“I’ll take him home. Just text me and I’ll be on standby to come get you,” Shareena told him and then sat with him until he fell asleep from the meds knocking him out.
When she came back a few hours later to take him home, she realized that she’d been his only visitor.
She helped him out to the car, by carrying his bag of items, and wouldn’t even defend him when the nurse insisted on using a wheelchair to take him out to the car.
“I was shot in the shoulder; my legs work fine!” He muttered, but the nurse ignored him, reminding him that the medication for pain could make him walk wobbly, and it was a liability and she wasn’t going to lose her job because of his pride.
Shareena tried to bite back a grin, and almost succeeded until he looked up at her and gave her a glare.
“Just you wait, when you’re having that baby, and they make you use wheel chairs and you just want to walk,” he muttered. He climbed into her car and let her drive him back to her house for the night.
“We should probably talk when you’re feeling better, about getting a house together,” he told her once he got inside of her apartment. “My lease is almost up on my apartment anyways, and the market’s not bad for buying a house right now.”
“Let’s talk about it in the morning, when you’re feeling better,” she told him and handed him the prescription she’d stopped at the pharmacy to pick up on the way home.
“I’m not an invalid,” he told her and then laid down on the couch and let her bring him some water to swallow the pills with.
“No, but you got shot, and it is okay to need a break for a few days while you recover.” She told him gently. “Besides, once you are feeling better, you can brag about how tough you were to all your friends.”
“No, I’ll be bragging about how my hot girlfriend fussed over me and took care of me and I let her,” he said and groaned when he moved and bumped his shoulder on the back of the couch.
“Let me grab you a couple of pillows,” she said, frowning, watching him try to get comfortable. “Or, you could come lay on my bed with me.”
“Your cat will lay on my head,” Charlie muttered, already dozing off again.
Shareena went and got him pillows and a blanket, and helped prop him up so he’d be more comfortable and then snorted when her cat jumped up on his chest, curled up and started to purr.
If he’d been worried about the cat, laying out in the open made him a much easier target when she could have locked him out of the bedroom. Shaking her head, she went to go do some editing work on the photos, and keep an eye on him tonight. The nurse had made her promise to watch for fevers and other signs of complications for the first couple of days.
She had been so focused on work and him, she’d almost forgotten about the baby.