Eighteen

 

 

Aleksy’s heart broke for that little girl when he stepped into the room.

“Daddy!  Please Daddy!  Wake up, Daddy!” she wailed.

The man kneeling next to the injured man on the floor looked up at Aleksy with pleading eyes. He knew that look.  He’d seen it before.  Time was of the essence here.

He stepped over to her and knelt on the floor, ignoring the blood seeping into his pants and the shallow breaths that the injured man was pulling into his lungs.

He reached over and placed a gentle hand on the little girl’s blonde hair.  “Hey there. I’m Aleksy.  Is this your daddy?”

She wiped at her tears, smearing blood across her cheek in the process, as she nodded her head, “Uh huh.  He won’t wake up.  You have a weird name,” she said as she looked up at him.

He smiled, “I do.  It’s Greek.  What’s your name?”

“Lily.”

“How old are you, Lily?”

“Nine.  And I’m only talking to you because you are a po-po-police osifer.  My daddies told me that was okay.”

“Your daddies are very smart.”

She frowned, “Daddy Luke is gone.  I don’t want Daddy Liam to go away too.  Please make my daddy better.”

His heart broke even more.  This poor little girl had already lost one father?  Who would take care of her if she lost the other?

“This wonderful man here is going to fix your daddy Liam.  But we need to move away a little bit so he has room to work.  Will you sit with me over on the bed?  I promise you’ll still be able to see your daddy.”

She smeared more blood across her face, pushing her hair away as she nodded, “O-o-o-o-okay.”

He was going to stand and hold his hand out to her, but she climbed onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck like an octopus. So, he placed one arm around her back to hold her in place and pushed to his feet.  The moment he took one step away, Trent stepped forward and dropped to his knees in the spot that Aleksy had just vacated.  Aleksy walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and watched the two men work. 

The medic had an elaborate field first aid kit next to him.  He rooted around in it and pulled out a plastic tube along with some other items.

Trent tore open Liam’s shirt and Aleksy bit off the curse that wanted to fall from his lips when he saw the bullet wound on the left side of the man’s abdomen.  If that nicked his liver…..well, considering he was holding the man’s daughter in his arms, Aleksy really didn’t want to think about that.

She was still clinging to him like she was afraid to let go….and afraid to look.  He really didn’t blame her.  He rubbed her back and began humming the tune to an old Greek lullaby that his Yaya used to sing to him. After a while he noticed that she had stopped crying and was she now…….?

“Yeah, she’s asleep,” Trent said from right next to him.  When had the man moved and why hadn’t Aleksy noticed it?

“That was really beautiful,” Trent said.

Aleksy’s frown deepened as he looked over a Liam, still lying motionless on the floor, “Is he….is he….” He couldn’t finish his question.

“He’s got a long road ahead but, yeah, he’s going to be okay.”

Aleksy let out a ragged breath. “Where’s the perp who initiated all of this?”

“He’s in custody.”

Aleksy opened his mouth to ask where but Trent cut him off, “He’s not your concern, Detective, Liam is.  We need to make sure that Liam is not only safe and well but that he’s going to testify.”

“We?”

“Yes, we, Detective.  Your orders are not to let Liam out of your sight.  Mine are to not let you out of mine.”

One corner of Aleksy’s mouth curved up in a smirk, “Who gave you your orders?”

Aleksy figured the man would spin some tall tale about higher ups and government red-tape bullshit, so he was surprised when Trent didn’t hesitate to answer, “I did.”

Wow, this dude had some balls.

“Um…”

Trent laughed and patted Aleksy’s back, “Trust me on this, Detective.  We’re taking him to a safe location.  The only people who will know where we are will be you, me, Liam, this little girl and Kendry over there.”

Aleksy made eye contact and Kendry nodded at him.

“Once he’s well enough to not need a doctor’s supervision, Kendry will leave and then it will just be the four of us.”

“What am I supposed to do about work?” Aleksy said.

“It’s already been arranged with your unit Chief.”

Aleksy huffed out a grunt that let Trent know he wasn’t happy about that.

“What?” Trent said.

“You government types all think you’re so high and mighty, strutting around waving your dicks.  It just pisses me off.”

Trent smiled, “I haven’t waved my dick at anyone….” he paused as his smile grew bigger, “yet.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do.  But this is important, Detective.  We’ve been after this guy for years.  Our entire case now depends on you, me and building trust with Liam.”

“Fine.  Grab a bag and pack whatever clothes and toys you find for this little angel here.  She’s going to need whatever familiarity we can bring her.”

Trent nodded and walked over to the closet so they could all be on their way.