by Kaety Porter
Chapter 15
Tristan
I’ve just come on duty when my phone rings. Looking down I see that it is the security company. Curious, I answer. The security system at the Habitat house has my information for who to call when any of the alarms go off. Once the new owner moves in, that will be changed.
Once the operator verifies my identity she tells me that the natural gas alarm and the furnace alarm are both going off at the Habitat house. I let the company know that I will go check it out and report back, since it could be just be a loose wire or something.
Pulling in the driveway I find Lia’s car parked there as well. It’s then that I realize that she’d told me that she was going to be here to clean. Pulling out my phone, I call her and get no answer. I try several more times and still no answer. Going to the front door, I find it unlocked. Taking a step inside I’m instantly hit with the smell of natural gas. Calling out to her I say, “Hey Lia, you here? Lia? Baby, where are you?” When there is still no answer, I step back outside and call into the security company and tell them to dispatch emergency services and the power company ASAP. I take a several deep cleansing breaths, before turning back and head into the house. As I approach the basement door I see that something has been wedged under it, holding it shut.
I rip open the door and before I realize it I am at the bottom of the stairs, where Lia lies on the floor. With the alarms still whaling I check her vitals quickly, making sure she is still breathing and has a pulse. Standing back up I go to the emergency shut off for the natural gas, but it’s no use, the line has been cut.
Turning back to where Lia lies on the floor, I scoop her up and head up the stairs and out the door, just as the ambulance is pulling up. I sink to the ground, the fumes from the gas are starting affect me.
There is a flurry of activity all around me and Lia. Within moments, there is oxygen on both hers and my face. Chase arrived right on the heels of the ambulance and is barking orders left and right, all while trying to keep me from interfering with the EMS and to let them check me out.
Within a few moments I watch as they load my beautiful Lia, still unconscious but breathing, into the ambulance and take off, once again separating us.
While EMS fusses over me I look to the sky pleading with whoever is up there listening to let her be all right. Before I am also loaded in the ambulance I look up once again and beg the universe to just let me have her, keep her and love her.
Chapter 16
Tristan
Sometimes it’s helpful to be a cop. Once I was loaded in the ambulance and the crew that was taking care of me realized that I was a cop, I took full advantage of their comradery and got them to call Royan. They instructed him to meet us at the ER, since I knew that he would be the shot caller for Lia while she was unconscious.
Once we got to the hospital, it all became a blur. At some point Chase arrived and then his wife, Hollynd. They became the voices of reason for me, when I would get sick of the doctors and nurses trying to keep me pacified with their non-information about Lia.
Chase was able to keep me calm letting me know that Royan was a force to be reckoned with, not allowing the doctors and nurses to pacify him with non-information, mostly because he wouldn’t let Lia out of his sight.
Eventually, I was cleared to leave the ER, but not the hospital. All that meant was that I got to put my clothes back on, but I had an oxygen tank trailing behind me attached to the tube thing up my nose and I was free to find Lia and Royan. Which I did, but stopped short in the doorway, taking in the sight before me; Lia lying perfectly still, looking almost angelic, while Royan clasp her hand tightly, his chair pulled up to the bedside, as close as it could be.
Wordlessly, I walk to the other side of the bed, taking her hand in mine and sitting. Royan and I sat there for a long while. Eventually he gets up and move around, taking a lap or two around the unit, before he resumes his vigil.
Just after midnight the doctor comes in. He basically says that Lia has severe carbon monoxide poisoning, that he expects her to wake up soon and make a full recovery, but that she will be out of work for a while since they aren’t sure if she will suffer any long term affects from the carbon monoxide poisoning. Royan and I both chuckle when he says that she will need to take it easy for a few weeks.
After the doctor leaves, Royan passes Chase in the hallway while doing one of his laps around the unit. Chase looks me up and down and just as he looks like he’s going to speak I cut him off. Before he can even start to ask questions, I start giving marching orders. I tell him that he needs to get on the phone and find out the status of the paroled inmate that threatened Lia. I tell him that I’m going to get the security company on the phone and get them to send someone over with the security footage. He just nods knowing that it’s better to just let me go and do what I want, because I am going to anyway.
After doing just as I said I would with the security company, I take up my place back by Lia’s side. Eventually, Royan and I both nod off, me on Lia’s left and Royan on her right. It was a long night. Neither of us slept very much, after we nodded off the first time. Nurses and other staff were in and out all night.
Just as the sun was rising, Chase appears in the doorway, next to him a guy who is short but who looks like he could hold his own in a bar fight. Coming into the room, I get Royan to head downstairs to grab us some coffee. Wearily, he agrees and rolls himself out of the room and out of sight. The short guy is from the security company. As he sets up his computer by the window, in a low voice Chase gives me a run down on what is happening.
First, he gives me the update on the former inmate that threatened Lia. Unfortunately, the she has an air-tight albeit; she’s in lock-up in Queens. It seems she beat the shit out of the girl who had been her boyfriend’s side piece while she was in jail.
Angry, since that seemed like the only good lead we have, the security guy calls us over and starts rolling the footage from the Habitat house. I have him fast forward until we see Lia enter the house, then we advance the footage again until 5 minutes before the furnace and gas alarm went off. Focusing mainly on the camera that is in the porch light by the front door, 1 minute before the alarm goes off a person dressed all in black appears at the door. When the alarm starts to sound the person enters the house. Less than a minute later the figure reemerges from the house, running out the door, only they’ve pushed the balaclava up off their head part of the way. Immediately we realize that it’s a female. Even though she’s running, something catches my eye. I make the guy roll back the footage and make it go in slow motion and then pause it. Both Chase and the security guy look at me curiously.
Staring at the screen, hardly believing my own eyes, I point to the woman on the screen, specifically at her exposed neck. Shakily I say, “I know that scar. The woman is Jennifer, my ex.”
Chapter 17
Ophelia
Oh my fucking head!
Who the hell is beating on it and why?
With my eyes still closed I try to figure out what the hell happened, where I am and why my head is pounding. The last thing I remember is . . .the alarm, the basement at the Habitat house and the doors being locked, trapping me. Doing a little self-assessment, I wiggle my toes and roll my ankles. Satisfied that those are working, I wiggle my nose, and realize there are tube things up it and there is air blowing up my nose. Next, I try to move my fingers, only to realize both my hands are being held by other hands. Both of the hands are big, rough and heavy.
Slowly peeling my eyes open I look to my left and find Tristan, with his hand in mine, his body bent in half with his head resting next to it on the bed. On my right I find Royan, a mirror image of Tristan. Very carefully I move my fingers and then squeeze both their hands at the same time. Tristan wakes with a start, looking around, blinking rapidly, confused he looks at me. Dawning realization takes over his face, just as Royan slowly lifts his head and looks around and then looks at me. Royan eyes open wide and a smile takes over his fac
e, just as Tristan’s hand comes up and gently cups my cheek. Looking from Royan to Tristan I try to smile a little as Tristan says, “Hello my Lia, I’ve missed you.” I nod and whisper out “I’ve missed you too.” Dropping his hand, Tristan smiles as Royan moves into my line of sight with a big goofy grin on his face, Royan says, “You owe me a trip to the masseur, my back is killing me.” I chuckle softly since that is one of the first things I said to him when he woke up at hospital after he was hurt in Afghanistan.
My room becomes a flurry of activity once everyone realizes I’m awake. Royan and Tristan both step out of the way to let everyone do their job, but not too far away, one of them always staying within my line of sight.
Once everyone is done poking at me, hooking me up to things and unhooking me from others, the doctor comes in and schedules some tests, assuring me that if they all come back good then I will be able to go home, provided that I do as I am told when I am at home. While I don’t like the sound of that, going home is music to my ears.
Eventually, things calm down and Royan and Tristan rejoin me in my room. Following behind them is someone with what looks like a tray of food, and honestly I am not sure who I am more happy to see the guy holding the food or the two guys who hold my heart. I decide that for the next five minutes after the food is put in front of me, that I am more happy to see the food guy, because he brought me the best beef broth I have ever tasted!
***
Tristan
Relief. Joy. Anxiety. Fury. All the feelings that I feel at the same time, once I was able to shake the cob webs out of my brain after feeling a light squeeze of my hand.
After Lia inhales what she claims is the best beef broth ever and then a popsicle, I see her slip on the proverbial police mask and she starts firing off the questions. As much as it pains me, I can’t tell her what I know, not yet. I have to wait for word from Chase before I can say anything. So I answer as many questions as I can, while enduring Lia’s scowl when I avoid the question or put her off some other way. Royan picks up on this and tries to excuse himself, just as my phone chimes with a message.
Chase: Hope your acting skills are all queued up, ‘cause we’re ready.
Me: Ok, give me 2 minutes.
I tell Lia and Royan that I need to make a call. Lia eyes me suspiciously as I leave the room. I take the stairs down two at a time and head outside. Bringing my phone to my ear, I call a number that I thought that I would never dial again.
Hi Jen, it’s Tristan. Do you have a few minutes; I need someone to talk to?
Fifteen minutes later I ascend the stairs back to Lia’s room and I am greeted with the same suspicious eyes that followed me out of the room. Right now I feel both dirty and relieved. Casually taking up my chair I ask, “So, what’d I miss?”
Both Royan and Lia are eyeing me now, but Royan breaks the silence and says, “Why don’t you tell us, Mr. Double-O Seven.” Closing my eyes and shaking my head I start to say, “I can’t . . .” when my phone buzzes again. Looking down I see a message from Chase.
Chase: Done.
Nodding once and then looking up I see Royan and Lia looking at me like I just stole something. I start again, “Well where do you want me to start?”
I explain that we located the former inmate and what Chase and I found on the video surveillance showed. When I get to the part of where we watched the perp exit the house, I take a deep breath, take Lia’s hand and say, “The person leaving the house was a woman and I know her.” Looking her in the eye I say, “It was Jennifer, Lia. Jennifer is the one that set the alarm off and then trapped you in the basement.”
I swear even The Flash couldn’t have moved as fast as Lia did when she attempted to get out of the bed. Thankfully I managed to restrain her before tubes and IV’s and other things got pulled out or unhooked. Holding her, and then pulling her to me in a hug I say, “Please let me finish. I know you want to go find her and severely damage her, but let me finish, ok?” Struggling against my hold but also hugging me, she stops struggling and I feel her nod.
I continue, “When I stepped out a few minutes ago, it was because Chase set up a trace on Jen’s phone. I was the decoy. We guessed that Jen would answer the phone if she saw that it was me. We needed to do everything fast before the hospital received any calls asking about your status. So I called, and trust me when I say, I hoped I would never have to talk to her or hear her voice ever again, but this was worth it. I called and she did answer. I had Jen believing that you were in critical condition and that I needed to talk to someone, someone to console me. While I was being tortured by the sound of her voice, Chase and a team traced the call and went to where she was.”
I take another deep breath and say, “The message I just got was from Chase telling me that she has been taken into custody. So it’s over, she’s not going to be going anywhere for a really long time and she won’t be getting out on bail. The charges from the false dispatch alone are enough to keep her locked up for a while.
Lia lies back on the bed and Royan sits back in his chair. Lia takes a few deep breaths and then tears stream down her face. Taking her hand in both of mine I kiss her knuckles and say, “Baby, I am so sorry about this. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.” Looking at me she shakes her head and then closes her eyes once again and says, “Royan, can you give us a minute?”
Royan nods and rolls away. Pulling me to her, she looks at me and says, “Why are you sorry? You didn’t make her do what she did.” Dropping my head I say, “No, but if it weren’t for me you would have never been in danger, never been on her radar. I was so damn scared; she almost took you away from me forever.” Sniffling, Lia replies, “Yeah, I know. I was really scared too. And you know what the worse part is?” Shaking my head, I say, “No, what?” A little smile pulls at her lips and she answers, “We didn’t even have sex this time before the universe tried to separate us again.” Sputtering with laughter, I kiss her knuckles again and say, “No we didn’t, so I guess we should just have sex from now on, so that way while the universe is plotting its next scheme, we are at least having amazing sex.” We both start chuckling and move toward each other resting our foreheads together. Lia cups my cheek and rubs her thumb up and down my cheekbone and then whispers, “I love you, Tristan. I love you so much.”
Opening my eyes, I look directly into hers and reply, “I love you too, so much”
And finally, we seal the deal with a kiss. The best kiss, because it’s Lia’s kiss, a kiss from my forever.
***
Ophelia
Late January
“Ollie, I swear if you don’t sit your ass down, I’m gonna call Tristan and rat on you!”
Sticking my tongue out and then rolling my eyes, I flop down on the couch and grab the remote.
Brothers are really freakin’ annoying, especially ones that take great pleasure in watching you be tortured. Most people wouldn’t think that being ordered to “take it easy” or “no strenuous activity” or “take a break from the gym” by the doctor would be torturous, but it is. The doctor is basically ordering you to take a stay-cation. I don’t do stay-cations. I don’t even do vacations. Why would I willingly stay at home and sit on my ass and watch it expand?
I’ve been out of the hospital for a week. Before I was discharged Chase came to visit and told me they found evidence at Jennifer’s house that leads him to believe that she was behind most of if not all of the incidents that happened over the past few months; Tristan’s brake lines, my tires, my Christmas lights, all of it.
Tristan has been coming over and we’ve been having stay-in dates. We had a Lethal Weapon marathon the first Saturday that I was home, complete with popcorn. But instead of rain, this time it snowed. He’s made me dinner and ended up playing a 3-day long game of Risk. I won. But just to make sure that I didn’t cheat, Tristan took pictures of the board each night so he could compare it the next day.
When he’s here it feels perfect. We pick on and harass each other, but we also kiss and love on
each other. This is us and it’s amazing.
February 1st is approaching fast; that’s when I’m done with medical leave. I’m both anxious to return to work, because I am going stir crazy, but at the same time I’m not sure I want to go back. I don’t know if I can do it anymore. Dealing with the some of the worst of the worst that this world has to offer; working everyday with people who have the power to harm you, just because they can or because they got fewer raisins in their bread pudding then their cellmate. Maybe I just don’t have it in me anymore, maybe like Murtaugh and Riggs I am just “too old for this shit”.
Chapter 18
Tristan
Valentine’s Day
“Must keep hands to self, must keep hands to self.”
This is my new mantra.
It’s been two weeks since I last saw Lia. Two long torturous weeks; again we were ships passing in the night. Lia went back to work, but ended up behind a desk. She spent one day doing her regular gig, before concern for her safety became an issue. Apparently, word got around the facility that the former inmate was a suspect in the incidences and the current inmates did not take kindly to this and were focusing way too much on Lia for the warden’s liking.
Also during those two weeks, Lia had a birthday. I was not a happy camper when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to see my beautiful girl on her birthday. I did however use my favorite assistant to deliver her a gift. I sent her a pink tool belt, and in each pocket I stuffed a pair of naughty lacey underwear. One pair was to replace the ones that I ripped off her the night I took her on the ladder, and I made sure she knew they were my promised replacement.