by Riker, Becky
Josie forced herself to take deep breaths. She realized she was a little warm, so she began to take off the large jacket. Looking down at her attire, she quickly changed her mind.
“You’re here to see the officers who were injured,” the nurse began moving immediately toward the door, “I’m so sorry about what happened.”
Josie realized the mistake that had been made. She wanted more information on Tag and the rest of the team, but she did not want to get herself or the nurse in trouble.
“Excuse me,” she tried to catch up to the fast-walking woman, “I think you misunderstood.”
The nurse spun around, “You aren’t here to see the other officers.”
Josie nodded, “I am, but you saw my,” she was interrupted.
“They’re down this hall,” she pointed, “and to the right. You’ll see them in the waiting room.”
“You don’t understand,” Josie began again, determined to be more assertive, “I’m here to see them, but I’m not a cop.”
The nurse’s eyebrows shot up, “You’re not?”
“No,” Josie indicated her fake uniform. “This is from wardrobe.”
Storm clouds appeared over the nurse, “That’s disgusting. You reporters will do anything for a story.”
It was Josie’s turn to be surprised, “I’m not a reporter either. I’m a stunt double.”
The nurse folded her arms over her chest, “I think you’d better leave.”
“Josie?” a voice sounded from behind the nurse.
The nurse turned as Josie looked over her shoulder.
“Jeremy,” she breathed and hurried to his side, “I heard about the shooting.”
Granger pulled her in for a quick hug, “Thanks so much for coming down, Josie. I know Tag would appreciate it.”
“Would?” she felt her knees going out from under her, but she managed to stand by gripping the front of Jeremy’s vest.
“You know this woman got in by impersonating an officer,” the nurse was not so friendly now.
Jeremy looked down at her clothes, “You filming something?”
Josie nodded, “I didn’t mean to – she just assumed, and I couldn’t. . .”
Jeremy held tight to her, “Never mind, Josie.”
He looked at the nurse, “Thanks for bringing her back here.”
The nurse’s expression softened, “Okay then.”
Jeremy began to lead her back to the waiting area, but she planted her feet and stopped him, “I need to know, Jeremy.”
He frowned down at her.
“Tag?”
His expression remained confused.
“You said Tag would have appreciated me coming,” she paused, “Does that mean. . .?”
Jeremy’s eyebrows shot up, “No, Josie. It’s not Tag. It’s Harry. . .or Harry’s the one in critical condition.”
“Then who was it that you lost?”
Jeremy grimaced and looked away, “A guy from a different team – Jason Roberts. I hardly know – knew – him, but he seemed like a good guy. He was young – had a family.”
Josie couldn’t stop the rush of tears.
“And Harry?” she allowed Jeremy to lead her further down the hall.
“It’s bad,” he whispered, pointing to another man, huddled against the wall, sitting on the floor outside a recovery room.
“How long has he been there?” she held onto Jeremy’s arm when he would have walked away.
“He came in the ambulance with Jacobson. That was about noon. I didn’t get here until almost two, and he was sitting there like that when I arrived.”
Jeremy glanced at the clock, “Three, four hours, I guess.”
Josie opened her phone to text Molly to bring her some clothes and her purse from the set. Then she walked down the hall. She didn’t speak; she just sat down next to Tag and leaned against the wall. About a minute after she sat down, he looked at her.
“Hi,” his voice sounded raw, but Josie assumed that was from attempting to hold back the tears. His eyes were not red from crying, but she could read the fear in them.
Josie reached for his hand and took it in her own, “Hi.”
Neither spoke again for the next hour. Molly sent her clothes by way of a nurse. Josie thanked the woman but didn’t get up to change. She leaned her head against Tag’s shoulder and curled her feet under herself.
“How’d you know?” Tag rested a cheek on Josie’s head.
“Ken called, then Molly. They thought I’d want to be here.”
He didn’t respond.
“Have you heard anything?”
He shook his head, “Not since they came out of surgery. He lost a lot of blood, he’s got some damage to the heart, the spinal cord, the. . .”
Tag stopped speaking to regain some control of his shaking voice. Josie squeezed his fingers in understanding.
“You hungry?” she tried to distract him, “Thirsty?”
He shook his head to both.
“Maybe it’s time to get up and take a walk around, Tag,” she didn’t move away from him when she made the suggestion.
“How’d you even get in here?” he ignored her idea.
She leaned away and opened her jacket, “They thought I was one of you. I did tell them they had made a mistake, but Granger saw me and brought me back.”
“You know that’s a class A misdemeanor.”
“I don’t even know what that means, Officer Madden, but I didn’t take time to change before leaving the set.”
“Your director is going to be peeved when he finds out you’ve left with that on.”
She smiled a little, “This is his jacket.”
“Adding fourth degree theft to the situation isn’t going to help you.”
She swatted at him with her free hand, “He told me to take it so I wouldn’t look like a cop.”
Tag captured that hand so he held both of hers captive. She didn’t mind. She had just relaxed into him when the door to the recovery room opened and a plump blonde emerged.
She looked in surprise down at the pair seated on the floor, but she didn’t comment on their position.
“I was going to go call Harry’s parents.”
Tag rose, pulling Josie with him, “Should I – do you mind if I sit with him?”
She shook her head, but looked apologetically at Josie, “They only want one person at a time.”
Josie held up her bag of clothes, “S’okay. It’ll give me a chance to change.”
Tag hadn’t let go of her hand, “You going to stick around?”
Josie nodded, “Go ahead, Tag. I won’t leave without talking to you.”
He disappeared into the room.
“You must be Josie,” the woman extended her hand. “I’m Abigail Jacobson.”
“How is he?”
Abigail glanced at the door, “He’s holding steady. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”
“I’ve been praying since I heard.”
Abigail’s eyes filled with tears, “Thanks.”
Josie stepped back, “I’ll let you make your call.”
Within the hour, Harry was moved up to the intensive care unit.
“Abigail looks beat,” Tag commented to Josie as they sat with the rest of the team in the new waiting room.
“I’m sure she is.”
“You think there’s any chance I can get her to run home for the night?”
Josie reached up and brushed at his forehead in attempt to wipe away some of the headache, “Could anyone have convinced you to leave me the first night?”
He looked down at the floor.
“Maybe it would be best if you went home for a while, Tag. She’s going to be ready to take a break in the morning.”
“I can sleep here.”
“Okay,” she didn’t push.
Sergeant Lutz approached them, “I’m heading back to the station for a couple hours. Granger and Prince are coming with me.”
“I’m staying here,” Tag assur
ed his boss. “I’ll check in on her.”
Lowell nodded.
Josie watched him stand and remove his belt and vest, so he could give them to the sergeant.
“You look slightly less intimidating now,” she said once they were alone.
“I didn’t realize I looked intimidating before.”
Josie laughed, “Your vest makes you look bigger; so does your belt. Your leg holsters look like something out of an action movie. The whole thing would be a bit scary.”
“Would be?”
“Well, I know you, so I’m not scared.”
He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and rested his face in his palms, “Lotta good all that scariness did today.”
Josie scooted over on the couch and nudged him, “Turn.”
He turned so his back was to her, and she rubbed his neck at the base of his skull. She wasn’t sure what the best way to deal with his headache was, but she figured this couldn’t hurt. He seemed to be relaxing as she massaged the kinks out of his neck and shoulders.
“Do you want a Tylenol? I think I have some in my purse.”
“No,” he murmured. “This is better.”
Josie smiled a little at that.
An older couple came into the waiting room. They sat down across the room. Josie was sure Tag noticed their entrance, but he didn’t look up.
Shortly after their arrival, Tag reached up and touched her hand, stopping the motion.
She leaned away so he could sit back on his side of the couch.
“I found a new apartment.”
“I know,” she smiled at his whispered confession.
“I didn’t want . . .I thought it would be easier. For both of us.”
“Thank you.”
“I bought a Bible too.”
Josie felt a sliver of hope.
“I was trying to place a finger on what made you so desirable, Josie. I’ve had women who were happy to date me, jump into bed with me.”
He looked away in shame over that last admission, “I’m sorry.”
“Tag,” she kept her hands folded in her lap, “I knew that already.”
“You were different, and I liked you, and then I loved you, but you were unobtainable.”
“Maybe that was part of the draw.”
Tag shook his head, “I’ve certainly had my share of women turning me down.”
Josie wondered what their reasons were.
“I don’t like to give up control, Josie. I want to cover all the details so I know everything is done right. I knew I couldn’t control everything; I was never that arrogant. But when I saw you in the hospital, I knew that I didn’t have any kind of control at all. You could have been killed, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was terrified, Josie, like I have never been scared before.”
Josie cocked her head at him, “So?”
“So, I read through the Gospels,” his mouth lifted in an attempt to smile, “I remembered you telling me that people should start there instead of the Old Testament.”
“Glad you were listening.”
He ignored her remark, “And I came to the realization that there was only one way to get rid of the fear I had been experiencing.”
“Jesus?” the word barely made it past her lips.
He nodded.
“Tag,” she pressed a hand to her mouth, attempting to stifle the sob. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“I would have,” he assured her, “but I wanted to make sure I was on the right track. I still planned to, but, well, Josie, I’ve been seeing someone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tag knew the instant he looked at Josie’s face that the words had come out wrong.
“That’s great, Tag,” her voice was garbled, and he wouldn’t have been able to make out the words at all, but he read her lips.
“No,” he gripped her shoulders. “No, it wouldn’t be.”
She seemed a bit shocked at his rough treatment of her.
He softened his grip and his voice, “It wouldn’t be great if I meant it that way.”
Josie didn’t seem to be hearing him. She struggled a little to get away, but he was having none of it.
“Tag,” she whispered, “I think I should go.”
“Josie,” he needed to get this out fast, “I meant I was seeing a pastor – for counseling. He calls it discipleship.”
She remained tense for a couple moments but soon relaxed, “Counseling?”
“Yeah. Not dating,” he lowered his voice because he became aware of the other couple’s eyes on them.
“You became a Christian and are going to counseling?” she had to recap the conversation.
He nodded.
“And you aren’t seeing anyone?”
“No,” he wasn’t done. “I’d like to date you, actually, if you’d be willing, but I wanted to get my pastor’s opinion on it.”
She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue that Tag handed her, “And what did he say?”
“That I’m probably not ready yet.”
Josie made full eye contact with him, as if she was wondering where all this had come from.
“It’s true, Jo. I wanted to call you the day it happened, but I was afraid if I made any contact at all, I wouldn’t be able to keep my distance.”
“Why do you need to?” now she looked miffed.
“Because I’m new in the faith, Josie. You know it would be so easy for me to lose myself in you. Pastor Ernie thought I should grow up a little first.”
Josie threw away the tissue, “I can’t say I’m happy about that.”
He pulled her hand back to his own, “But you’re happy that I met Jesus.”
The smile on her face was answer enough.
“Can you wait a little longer, Josie? I know it’s a lot to ask. . .”
“Tag,” she cut him off, “it’s not. I’ve been waiting with no hope. It will be a lot easier to wait now.”
Tag was about to pull her into an embrace when the man from across the room came and approached them.
“Excuse me,” he seemed reluctant to interrupt, “but are you here visiting Harold Jacobson?”
Tag rose, “I’m Tag Madden. How can I help you?”
“We’re Harry’s parents,” the woman explained. “Abigail called us, but we haven’t heard anything more.”
“You haven’t seen him yet?” Tag glanced down at Josie then back to the Jacobsons.
Mrs. Jacobson shook her head, “We went to the desk, but they said he had people in with him, and we would have to wait.”
Josie’s brows rose.
Tag wondered what these people’s relationship with their daughter-in-law was like.
He glanced down at Josie, “I’ll go look into it.”
She nodded up at him.
“Abigail,” Tag approached the woman at the desk, “did you know Harry’s parents are in the waiting room?”
Her eyebrows went up, “Here?”
“No, at another hospital,” he rolled his eyes. “Yes, here.”
She glanced around Tag, “Are you sure? I mean, they didn’t call to say they were here.”
Tag pointed to the waiting room, “I just came from there. They said the nurse told them they would have to wait.”
She shook her head as she walked with Tag back to where her in-laws were.
“They are both so mild it’s amazing they even spoke to you,” she stopped walking before he opened the door. “Or did you approach them first?”
“Nope,” he held the door for her.
“Marcus, Clara,” Abigail held her hands out to the couple, “how long have you been here?”
“Not long,” Clara kissed the younger woman on the cheek. “How is he?”
Abigail led them out so they could see their son.
Josie looked down at her watch and up at Tag, “They’ve been here almost an hour.”
He nodded and sat next to her again.
“What happened out there?”
Tag scr
ubbed a hand over his face, “I’m not sure. We went in, and it looked quiet. All of a sudden, there were gunshots ringing out all over the building. It’s a warehouse – mostly empty – so it was hard to tell where they were coming from. We tried to duck down, but there wasn’t much to hide behind, and we didn’t know where the shooters were.”
Josie looked a little green, and Tag would have stopped talking, but she raised her eyebrows as if waiting for the rest of the story.
“Roberts caught it first. Harry and I went to go grab Roberts, and Harry got hit.”
“How did you get out of there? Were they still shooting?”
He nodded, “Harry fell next to a bale of clothes, so I rolled us behind there. After he got shot, I could see where that bullet had come from.”
“But you didn’t know if there were other shooters,” she pointed out a fact he already knew.
“Yeah,” he leaned back, “but I knew where one was.”
Josie’s jaw clenched, and he could tell she did not like his answer.
“Prince and Granger came in from the roof. They spotted the shooters right away.”
She breathed a relieved sigh, “So they caught them.”
He shook his head at her naiveté, “Not exactly.”
She frowned.
“They shot them. Those three were not going to go down without a fight – they had already shot two cops.”
Josie muttered something.
He leaned closer, “What’s that?”
She looked him in the eye, “Sometimes I hate your job.”
Tag nodded and held out his hand, “Me too.”
Josie threaded her fingers through his, “Do you think Harry. . .is he going to be okay?”
Tag stared at a spot on the wall, “I don’t know. I hope so.”
They sat in silence, unable to make small talk but not ready to tackle the serious subjects.
“His wife, what is she like?”
“Nice,” Tag wasn’t sure what she wanted to know. “She’s an elementary school teacher.”
“And they have no children?”
“Not yet,” Tag wondered where she was going with this.
“Harry is an only child,” Josie reminded him of something. “If they lose him, they’re losing all their family.”
Tag felt a snap of anger at her suggestion that Harry might not make it.
She must have seen it, “Sorry, Tag. That was thoughtless.”