by Amber Heart
Olivia went into the bathroom to get changed and then started plumping up the pillows. It took her a moment to realise Damien was setting up a sleeping bag on the floor.
‘What are you doing?’ She asked.
‘Sleeping on the floor. There’s only one bed.’ He shrugged.
‘Are you serious? We’ve slept together dozens of times and now you refuse to share a bed with me?’
‘I’m not refusing... I just didn't think you’d want to share because you know I still… still have feelings for you.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ She sighed, climbing in. ‘Get in here. I wouldn’t make a dead rat sleep on that floor.’
He did as he was told, turning his back to get undressed, ‘It’s a rather small bed.’ They had to both lay on their sides to fit and, even then, they were nearly nose to nose. ‘I’m pretty sure there are bloodstains on the carpet.’
‘God, we are not paid enough.’ She chuckled before a shiver ran up her body. The room was freezing. ‘Is the radiator on?’
‘It’s broken.’ He sighed. ‘Are you cold?’
‘A little bit.’ He was like a furnace at night, she could feel his body heat a little already, and she wished they were together, just to be wrapped in his arms.
‘Do you want a cuddle?’ He asked and she hesitated. Of course she wanted to cuddle him, but she knew it could make things even more complicated. ‘No strings attached. I just don’t want you to freeze to death.’ He chuckled.
‘Thank you.’ She said, turning over and curled her body against his. ‘That’s so much better.’
They woke up early the next morning to set up surveillance. They were both a little tired, not sleeping brilliantly in the dank room, and the alarm hurt their ears.
‘Morning.’ He yawned, pulling her close, his head settling into the crook of her neck.
‘Morning.’ She sighed, having to convince herself that she had to get up. ‘We should get showered.’ She pushed back the covers and stumbled out of the bed.
‘Did you see the state of the shower? No way am I getting in that.’ He called, sitting up in the bed, watching her walk into the bathroom to check it out
‘Change of plans, straight to breakfast?’ She suggested..
‘That is a fantastic idea.’ He chuckled.
That night, they were ready to catch the drug dealers. A small squad was on standby around the corner, two more cops were in a room above them and more backup was only a call away. The deal wasn’t discreet; they’d decided to do the exchange in the corner of the parking lot, in direct view of Olivia and Damien’s room.
‘I have eyes on the suspect.’ Olivia said into the radio. ‘Dark hair, six foot, wearing blue hoodie and leather jacket. He fits the description.’
‘Do you want to wait a while? See if the supplier makes an appearance?’ Damien asked and she shook her head.
‘The deal’s too small for the supplier.’ Shouts started coming from outside, the dealer pulled a gun and fired a shot.
‘Squad’s gone in early, they’re newbies.’ A voice came on the radio.
‘Shit.’ Olivia muttered, grabbing her gun. ‘Get back up in here now.’ They ran outside together, weapons up.
‘Stop! NYPD, put your hands up.’ Damien shouted, pointing his gun at the dealer. A number of guns cocked around them.
‘Damien.’ Olivia warned.
‘You see, detectives, I’ve got some back up of my own.’ The dealer smirked as a dozen more men appeared in the parking lot. ‘And since you’re outnumbered, I suggest you put your guns down and give up.’ Sirens started wailing in the
‘We can offer you a deal.’ Olivia shouted.
‘You shut your pretty little mouth. I’m not interested.’ He spat, turning his gun towards her.
‘Give up your supplier, we can make an arrangement.’
‘And I’d be dead within a week, rats don’t last long.’ She wasn’t surprised he didn’t take the offer, not many of them do till they’re in custody, but she could tell he was afraid. Maybe he wasn’t as high up in the chain as they expected. The siren’s were getting closer, putting them on edge.
‘We can protect-’ Gunfire interrupted her, she heard it fly past her ear. More people began shooting and many ran to cover. A gang member fell to the ground. In the chaos, the dealer got in his car and sped away. Olivia instantly tried to run after the car, trying to remember the license, but someone grabbed her and held a gun against the side of her head.
‘Put your weapons down.’ The man shouted over her shoulder and the gun fire stopped.
‘Get off her!’ Damien shouted. He could see her trying to not panic, trying to find an escape. A police car pulled up into the parking lot and the guy holding her looked towards them, distracting himself. Olivia elbowed him in the ribs and ducked down, Damien sent a warning shot over the top of his head and he dropped the gun, surrendering.
In the end, they arrested all but two men, one being the dealer, and there were a few injuries on their side, flesh wounds at worse. Ambulances arrived and the situation was explained to the motel manager and guests.
Damien was sat in the back of an ambulance being treated for shock against his will.
‘I’m not even in shock! I’m just pissed off!’ He shouted and Olivia walked up to him, a blanket around her shoulders too. She’d been examined and given the all clear but felt a little shook up. It wasn’t very often she was in such a compromising position.
‘It’s just standard procedure, calm down.’ She sighed.
‘We lost the fucking dealer and you nearly got hurt.’ He only ever got this angry when he was truly invested in his work. ‘All because some rookies got spooked.’
‘We were young cops once, give them a break. I’m fine.’ She said. ‘They feel awful enough already.’
‘So they should! What if you had died?’ He spat.
‘Then I would’ve died because I didn’t see the guy grab me.’ She argued back. ‘Go and speak to them, be civil. We all make mistakes, even you.’
‘I never did anything that stupid.’
‘Yes you did! Sometimes you still do, sort out your attitude.’ She could understand why he was angry, but they’d arrested fourteen men in total, it had been a good result overall. ‘It didn’t go that badly.’
He scoffed, ‘Sure.’
‘Why do I even bother with you?’ She rolled her eyes and walked off.
Back at the precinct, the whole squad was working on the paperwork, filling in reports to get a full picture of what had happened. Damien was typing away at his desk, taking his anger out on the keyboard.
‘You’re going to end up putting a hole in your desk.’ Olivia sighed, dropping a sandwich on his desk.
‘Good.’
‘Why are you so mad?’ She asked, sitting at her own desk.
‘Because we lost the dealer.’
‘Bullshit, we’ve had worse cases and you weren’t this mad.’ She pointed out. ‘What’s really wrong?’
He paused. ‘You had a gun to your head and I couldn’t do anything. It freaked me out. I was useless.’ He sighed, giving up his attack on the keyboard.
She sat forward, resting her elbows on her desk, ‘I can take care of myself, Dame. You know that.’
‘I know, but I’m your partner, I’m supposed to have your back.’ He was beating himself up unnecessarily.
‘I should have been watching my own back. You don’t need to look after me all the time. You’re my partner, not my babysitter.’
‘So you’re not mad at me?’
‘No. But you’re being a grumpy bastard.’ She smiled. ‘Lighten up, everything’s fine.’
‘Yeah, alright. Thanks.’ He smiled at her. ‘I could do with a drink after this.’ He suggested.
‘Or three.’ She smiled. ‘Usual?’
‘Usual.’
Chapter Eight
‘Where are you off to?’ Damien asked, watching Olivia put a bag together.
‘I’ve been asked t
o show some rookies what to do on patrol.’ She sighed.
‘You sound excited about it.’ He chuckled and she scowled at him for a moment.
‘I just keep getting assigned shitty cases that I can solve with my eyes closed. Patrol’s not bad, at least the new recruits are usually funny.’ She shrugged.
‘You really must be bored if you’re starting to like patrol.’
‘For two months, I’ve been stuck with stolen cars, missing persons, a few dog attacks.’ She complained. ‘They think I need time to recover after the motel case.’
‘That was three months ago!’ He scoffed.
‘Believe me, I know. I’m fine, I just want a bit more excitement.’ She joked. ‘Give me a murder or something.’
‘If it’s excitement you want…’ He winked and she rolled her eyes. The last three months had been really easy between them. They were constantly cracking jokes with each other, spending a lot of time together both in and out of work. They were often at each other’s apartment’s, or out for a drink or a meal. They were friends again, really good friends. Sometimes they’d get carried away and end up in bed together, but they agreed that it was just casual, nothing romantic.
So they said.
‘I’m not desperate yet… maybe next week.’ She winked back, zipping up her bag. ‘Anyway, I’ll see you later. Don’t have too much fun without me.’
‘I promise.’ He called back. He chuckled and settled back to his work. Jason appeared from nowhere and scared him. ‘Jesus.’
‘Hey.’
‘Yes, Jason?’
‘So, how’s it going with you two?’ He asked, smirking.
‘Everything’s fine. We’re very happy, thank you.’
‘You mean she’s happy and you’re taking what you can get?’ He asked, taking a sip of Damien’s coffee.
‘Don’t you have some work to be doing?’
‘You’re avoiding my questions’
‘We’re both happy, why are you suddenly so interested?’ He said, trying to ignore him.
‘Because I want to know what’s happening between you, you’re always together.’
‘Yeah, because we’re friends. We go to the bar, we go out together and-’
‘And have sex.’
‘Not a lot!’ He argued. ‘It just… happens.’
‘And you’re not sleeping with other people?’
‘No, I mean, we’re always busy. We get along and it’s amazing when we’re together. I’m not going to downgrade.’
‘Then why are you not together?’ He slapped his arm. ‘It’s painful watching you two act like a couple when you’re not. Don’t think I miss how you look at her when she turns away.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t fancy her anymore, that’s all in the past.’
‘So if she met a guy today, you’d be fine with it?’
‘Totally.’ He said casually, looking at the computer screen instead of his face. He already knew Jason didn’t believe him.
‘Really? You’d be okay if she was holding hands with someone else? What about kissing? If you found out she was sleeping with another guy, that he was the one holding her, making her breakfast after they’d-’
‘Stop it!’ He warned, his hand slamming on the desk. Jason had a big grin on his face. ‘Fine, no. No I wouldn’t be okay with it but I’d have to be.’ He sighed. ‘She’s never going to take me back.’
‘Never say never!’ said Jason.
The emergency radio started echoing from the captain’s office.
‘Shit.’ Damien jumped up from his chair, Jason on his tail. The whole squad gathered around a bigger radio in the captain’s office, a nervous energy between them.
It was too far away for any of them to respond now, they would have to rely on the officers already close by. Many officers responded, radioing their positions.
Olivia radioed in asking for backup.
‘Shit.’ The sergeant muttered. ‘What the hell is she doing there?’
‘She’s on patrol with some rookies.’ Damien explained.
‘The best thing we can do is keep calm.’ The captain said loudly but he was clearly anxious himself.
‘Fucking hell.’ Damien ran a hand through his hair. His heart was pounding.
‘It’ll be okay.’ Jason assured him, putting an arm around him. ‘It’s Olivia. She’s indestructible’
The whole squad stood nervously waiting for any update. It felt like they were there for hours, waiting on any updates they could get. There had been no advances yet, other than some civilians had escaped. Damien sat at his desk. He couldn’t think properly. Becca sat with him after a while, holding his hand.
‘She wanted some more exciting cases.’ He sighed. ‘Wrong place, wrong fucking time.’
‘You know what she’s like.’ Becca muttered.
‘The minute I saw her sat at that bar, I knew she’d be trouble.’ He chuckled.
The sound of gun shots blistered out of the radio.
‘Shit.’ He jumped up, running to the radio.
A women’s voice pierced the comms, clearly in agony.
‘That’s Olivia!’ Damien’s worst fears had come true. ‘Olivia’s been shot.’ He turned and started to run out the office.
‘Go after him!’ The Captain shouted. ‘He’ll reach the hotel if you don’t catch him, he’ll get himself killed.’
The sergeant and Hoffman grabbed their vests and went straight after him but he was faster than they were, and he’d had a head start.
Damien ran seven blocks. His heart was beating rapidly, his muscles burned, but all he cared about was getting to her.
‘Damien, wait!’ They were catching up to him but it was too late, the hotel was just up ahead.
They area was taped off, a crowd had gathered outside and flashing lights were everywhere. He looked around frantically for Olivia, pushing himself to the front of the crowd.
‘Sir, you can’t be here.’ An officer noticed he was trying to go under the tape.
‘I’m a detective.’ He showed her his badge quickly. ‘My partner’s been shot. Female, dark blonde, average height. Please, I need to see her.’
‘We’re trying to recover the wounded officers. No-one’s come out yet but we have people working on it.’
‘Damien!’ Hoffman shouted, running up to him. ‘Come on, step back, you know it’s dangerous.’
‘Female officer!’ An ambulance crew member called, a gurney was being pushed out of the building with a woman lying on it.
‘Liv?’ Damien ran under the tape, Hoffman behind him. He knew it was her. ‘Liv!’ He cried. He went to run to her but Hoffman stopped him, wrapping his arms around him tightly. ‘Get off me!’
‘Damien, come on.’
‘Get him out of here!’ Shouted an officer, Damien recognised him but didn’t listen.
‘His partner’s been shot, don’t be an arsehole. We’re dealing with him.’ Louisa shouted, finally catching up.
‘Sorry, sergeant.’
She helped Hoffman pull him back to the other side of the tape, forcing him to sit on a step.
‘You need to calm down. You’re a detective, god dammit. This is a serious situation, we’ve still got active shooters. I know you’re worried about Liv but other officers are hurt too.’ She snapped.
Damien tried to listen but he couldn’t think about anything else but Liv. He couldn’t lose her.
‘Hey!’ An officer ran up to them. ‘You can follow her to the hospital, we’ve got a spare car.’
Damien was up straight away, ‘Thank you so much.’
‘Don’t mention it, she’s your partner. I get it.’
The journey to the hospital was nerve-wracking and he couldn’t take his eyes off her ambulance. He still didn’t know how bad the wound was and it was driving him insane. They sent her straight into surgery when they arrived and he was left in the waiting room. Sinclair and Hoffman eventually joined him but they sat silently. A paramedic approached
them after half an hour.
‘Are you the officers with Detective Olivia Hardy?’ He asked.
‘Yes, is she okay?’ Damien asked desperately, standing up suddenly.
‘She’s stable for now but she’s lost a lot of blood. Her wounds-’
‘Wounds?’ Sinclair asked. ‘As in, plural?’
‘She has three gunshot wounds: one to the arm, one to the side, and one to the thigh. There’s still a bullet embedded in her arm but we have hope.’
‘So, she’s okay?’
‘For now, it’s looking positive for her.’ He was vague, but it was something.
‘Oh, thank God.’ He almost collapsed onto his chair.
‘Thank you.’ Louisa smiled. The paramedic nodded and left them.
The surgery turned out to be a success, they’d managed to remove the bullet and stitched up her wounds. Damien almost cried of happiness when he found out, he was so grateful to all the people who had helped to look after her.
‘Detective Macken, would you like to see her?’ A nurse asked and he was straight out of his seat. ‘She’s not awake yet, but I’m sure she would like a familiar face when she wakes.’ She smiled.
‘Thank you.’
Damien walked into her room and quietly shut the door behind him. She looked peaceful, she always looked peaceful when she slept. The sheets covered her injuries, except for the one on her arm. She was incredibly lucky, he knew that. As they’d been waiting, news about other officers made it to them; ten officers had been shot in total, including Olivia, two had been killed at the scene and another had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Damien didn’t want to think about the other officers, it was too painful. They all had family and friends who loved them, people who waited for news like Damien did, and now some of them had to hear their loved ones were dead. He took hold of Olivia’s hand, moving his chair closer to the bed. He started talking to her about random nonsense, just joking about like he usually did and he just wanted to hear her laugh.