Putting Everything on the Line

by Kathryn Pana

  ‘OK, if you don’t need anything else, I’m going to get going,’ She winked at Kathy as she stood, then smiled before she turned and headed to the door. ‘I can see you are in safe hands. See you later.’ She said, smiling at Will as she left.

  ‘Thought you were coming back at twelve?’ Kathy commented, looking at the clock on her night stand and smiling ‘Never known you to be late before.’

  ‘Yeah, sorry, I was asleep. What did the doctors say?’ he asked while walking towards the bed.

  ‘It’s OK. You look better than you did this morning anyway, and I had plenty of company. After the Captain, Bennett and Palmer came, then Gina, as you saw.’

  ‘Great, at least you weren’t bored, so are you going to tell me what the doctor said?’ Will asked as he sat in the chair next to her. He had an underlying need to know for sure she was going to be OK.

  ‘Yeah. They said I need to stay in for a couple of days, to make sure I am healing right. I have to use those for a couple of weeks too,’ she pointed to a pair of crutches across the room. ‘I am also going to need some physio to get the muscle working properly again.’

  ‘So when will you be back at work? Did they say? I mean, I don’t mind being down a team member but I don’t like the thought of that long term.’

  ‘Well, I sort of need to talk to you about that one,’ she said as she moved uncomfortably.

  ‘Why? Did they say you can’t come back to active duty or something? I mean, they can’t expect you just to sit behind a desk,’ Will reacted, concerned. He couldn’t imagine work without her now.

  ‘No, of course not, takes more than a gunshot wound to stop me, but I have some good news and some bad news for you; at least, they are both good for me.’ She paused and looked at Will. ‘The Captain told me earlier that I passed my Sergeant’s exam.’

  ‘Wow,’ He was surprised. ‘That’s great but you never said anything.’

  ‘No, I know, but I wasn’t really sure how it would all go,’ she paused ‘And it means I am leaving the team.’

  ‘What do you mean, leaving? You can still be on the team as a Sergeant, you can be number two. I know Tom wouldn’t mind.’

  ‘Well actually there are two reasons I can’t stay on the team. First, because they have asked me to lead the new team, as part of the expansion. It is a great opportunity for me. They want me to pick and train five new SWAT members to work alongside you on days, it will take a couple of months to get them ready, but the Captain believes I am ready for this, which is great. The second reason I am leaving, though, is because of you…’

  Will looked shocked. ‘I don’t understand. I mean, if it is because of all this, then…’

  ‘No, it’s not that. Getting shot is a risk of the job, I know that, but I spoke to the Captain and we agree, it wouldn’t be appropriate…’

  ‘I told the Captain that nothing else would happen and…’

  ‘Sergeant, would you let me finish?’

  She sat up a little and smiled. ‘Don’t you see, I want something else to happen. We agreed it wouldn’t be appropriate if we were to be in a relationship. That is, of course, if that’s what you want.’ She looked at him and waited for a reaction.

  ‘Right,’ he paused. ‘I don’t know what to say. I was going to talk about it at some point, of course, but I didn’t know that’s what you wanted, especially after all this happened.’

  ‘Will, I don’t blame you for what happened and I have been wanting something to happen for months, but thought you weren’t interested, but now I know you are, it changes things. So, come here.’

  She took his hand as he stood and guided him to the bed. He sat on the bed and kissed her; it was perfect this time, with no regrets, no guns, just them.

  He sat on the bed and looked at her. She was so beautiful, and he had everything he ever wanted. Someone that liked him for him. Someone who he trusted and could really begin to see a future with. He wasn’t sure though how he would tell her everything: the truth about who he was and about his parents. He wasn’t sure he should tell her until he knew where this was all going. How, though, could he have a relationship based on a lie? Because she was bound to discover the truth in the end.