Chapter Text
Catherine hadn't wanted to ask if they could go to the hospital first thing, after all visiting hours were probably close to being over and she should feel thankful that this man who has only just met is still willing to put her up under his roof so she doesn't have to find a hotel on such short notice.
Besides, as she learns on the drive, Camille is practically unharmed compared to the other detective who had been injured and who was also the very woman they were all supposed to protect.
Except, Jesse insists that they can just barely make visiting hours if he drives fast enough and so after an eight hour flight, without as much as a meal, other than airline food, or a shower Catherine makes it to the hospital with only an hour to spare, making up her mind that she'll insist Richard goes back to his hotel and sleeps while she takes the night watch with Camille. And if he's already been inconsiderate enough to have left, well she'll deal with that in the morning. Now, all she needs to do is get to Camille.
At the hospital, the moment Catherine enters the room, Richard immediately stands up in surprise. Apparently he hadn't expected her to arrive on the same day, but this is her only daughter.
Camille is sitting up in the bed although there is a sling of sorts on her arm and her eyes look glassy and confused which makes Catherine realize how heavily drugged she must be and how much pain she is in.
However, her daughter seems cheerful at least. "Maman. What are you doing here?" Before Catherine can answer, Camille adds a very slurred, "You know what I found out last night? Richard can really help you with his mouth if you ever need that."
At this, Richard goes wide eyed and mutters, "Oh my God, Camille" while refusing to make eye contact with Catherine.
Behind her, Catherine hears Jesse clear his throat uncomfortably before stating, "I'm going to see if I can get Detective Fitch to agree to come home with me," before turning to walk down the hall towards what Catherine presumes is the room his coworkers are in.
.
He's so tired that his hands are shaking, and Louis only realizes this when he catches himself involuntarily rattling the hospital bed railing.
He isn't good at this sort of thing, by which he means being vulnerable in regards to the people he loves. Of course, that had probably to some extent been why his first marriage had faltered, but even before he'd started to pull away in what he thought was protection, there had been signs that although Linda was a good mother, she wasn't what he'd call a kind person.
And of course the only reason he's thinking about that and her today is because earlier when he'd called her, because hearing their son's voice was probably the only thing that could bring him some clarity, she'd picked a fight with him like usual despite the fact that they've been divorced for over a decade now and really only communicate because they have to.
Except this time it had felt especially heinous as when in a moment of weakness he'd blurted out that he might lose Ariana, he'd been met with a bitter "That's what happens when old cats fuck with kittens." Linda had only sounded vaguely apologetic for her comment when he'd been forced to clarify that this wasn't about a lover's quarrel and he'd also been strictly banned from telling his teenaged son anything about what had happened.
So here he is, sitting in a hospital room, staring at his comatose wife without any way to release his swirling thoughts about the day.
"Thought I might find you here." Jesse Longford's voice sounds from somewhere behind him and Louis can't help but jump.
"My home is an active crime scene." Louis doesn't take his eyes off of Ariana's face as he speaks.
"So you're going to sit here wallowing in self pity even though that's not what she'd want." They've known each other long enough that Louis knows the older detective probably thinks he's being helpful, but still after everything today it's irritating.
"And how do you know what my wife would want?" Louis finally turns towards the other man only to immediately realize he's so tired he almost feels light headed.
"You're her source of stability, and if she wakes up and finds out she's suddenly a widow at thirty-two because you dropped dead from an exhaustion-induced heart attack while watching over her bedside, she's gonna blame herself for the rest of her life."
"Jesus," is all Louis can mutter in response. He really is too tired to fight anymore despite his initial anger. In fact he realizes he needs someone to share this last detail, that he'd only learned today, with. "She's pregnant, about three months along and I had no idea. I'm not even sure if she knew because I don't think she would have kept that from me and…" Louis finds himself on the verge of going into a spiral again even though he hates this lack of personal strength.
Jesse however, seems to take it all in stride. "Then that's all the more reason you need a good night's rest. You've both got a long road ahead of you. C'mon, I've got a bed in my guest room."
-
It seems like all that is left to do is fill out paperwork and somehow the remaining members of the two teams have elected to do this over Skype in their respective dimly lit offices. At the Detroit PD, Damon Washington and Harry Anderson and on the Saint Marie side, it's Dwayne and Fidel. It feels weird to Dwayne that both groups are operating in the same time zone despite being so far apart.
"I don't want you to think we're not good at our jobs, but we're not really used to this kind of thing," Dwayne hears himself admit. "I mean you've got a whole department devoted to this kind of thing and we're just a little station in the Caribbean." Dwayne immediately hears how rambly and probably stupid he sounds, but he really doesn't want to think about what happened to Camille and Detective Sanchez.
"My first homicide case, I threw up at the crime scene and then my phone went off during family notification," Washington admits. "Fitch was so mad he tried to get me removed as his partner."
"When the Chief first came to Saint Marie, we weren't too sure about him either. There were some odd rumors from his old department in London, but it looks like we all get along with our teams now. Here on Saint Marie, the police force is like one big family." Dwayne absently realizes he's rambling again.
"Man, Harry and I didn't even know our partners were in a relationship until one day about four months ago when Fitch suddenly tells me that he has to attend his ex-girlfriend's wedding that weekend and of course I was trying to tell him that was a bad idea but he kept insisting he needed to go, and then he just comes into work the following Monday wearing a wedding band and then I see Sanchez is wearing one too and that was the only point when I find out it had been going on for two whole years and neither of our partners had thought to tell us."
"That would be such a breach of trust to me," Dwayne comments before turning to Fidel. "If you had decided not to tell me that you and Juliette were together until after you were married, that would have been it for us."
Fidel looks at him funny before stating, "But Dwayne, you and I didn't even meet until after my wedding."
"Oh right. It feels like we've known each other forever, but with your partner there was really no excuse. Two years dating someone and not even letting your work partner know, especially when it's a coworker? That's some shady dealings."
"That's what I thought at first too. I was pretty pissed off at him." Washington pauses for a moment before adding, "Until he told me that all he cared about was protecting her reputation if it hadn't worked out between them. I think he cared more about that than his own happiness."
With the recent events for both their teams hanging in the air, Dwayne suddenly realizes he doesn't have a sufficient response to the gravity of the previous statement.