Work Text:
It had been a really long time since I last treated a cop, it usually was a rare occurrence. Some were kind of reckless, and this one definitely fit the mold, but from what his sergeant said, he got hurt defending his friends, so that was admirable.
“Okay” I gently began when he sat down at the back of the ambulance, gingerly placing a cold compress over the reddened spot on his forehead. “You suffered from a blow to the head amongst other things, so I’m gonna ask you some questions to make sure you don’t have a concussion”
He nodded, taking the cold compress and holding it himself as he winced a little. The guy didn’t look in good shape, to be honest.
“Can you tell me your name?” I began, going over the simplest questions first.
“Jake Peralta” He replied without hesitance, which was a good sign. I held his chin up to look into his eyes to check his pupils.
“Great, Jake, what do you do?” I asked as I shone a light in his eyes, watching them react correctly to the stimulus.
“I’m a detective at the 99 precinct of the NYPD” He frowned a little, slightly blinded at my small flashlight.
“Good, tell me how you’re feeling then” I saved my small flashlight and intently watched him in search of any slurring in his speech or symptoms of disorientation.
“I have a terrible headache” Jake replied with a sigh. “And I’m pretty exhausted, but other than that I’ve never felt better”
I grinned, knowing his sense of humor was a great sign of health. He grinned back, watching me under the blue and red police siren.
“Are you hurt elsewhere? Do I have to examine you any further?” I asked to make sure, although he didn’t seem badly hurt, just a little bump in the head, luckily.
“I don’t think so, no” The guy seemed pretty drained, which was understandable after the adrenaline wore off and the exhaustion settled in.
“Okay then” I concluded with a small reassuring shrug. “There are no signs of concussion, you should be fine”
“Thanks, doctor” He dedicated me a somewhat goofy but sweet smile.
I nodded and turned around, trying to make sure there wasn’t anyone else I needed to treat. But then I felt a hand on my arm, so I faced Jake again.
“Since you kind of know everything about me now” He began to say once my attention was gathered on him. “Mind telling me something about you?”
I huffed, half amused and half outraged. I could not believe this guy.
“I might have been too quick on my diagnosis, you may have a concussion” I crossed my arms to show how I wasn’t having any of that.
“Why, because I’m flirting with you?”
“Yes, because you could have died and now you’re flirting with the paramedic”
“Yup, maybe you’re right” Jake closed his eyes and squeezed the cold compress against his forehead like that could magically heal a concussion. “I got hit pretty hard on the head”
I chuckled after all, he wasn’t so bad. Maybe a little bit cocky, but he seemed nice.
“You should rest now, okay? Sit tight” I patted his shoulder to comfort him. “You shouldn’t drive until you recover, so they’ll take you home soon”
“No can’t do” Jake quickly stood up, which alarmed me because he was too weak to make any sharp movements. “I gotta make sure everyone’s okay and my friends are-“
He got cut off when he dangerously wobbled, so I rushed to hold him up, resting my hands on his chest and back to steady him.
“Hey, hey, relax” I helped him sit down again, intrigued by his persona. “Everyone’s okay, you were the only one stupid enough to get hurt”
“Gee, thanks…” He kept his eyes tightly closed, probably recovering from a bad case of head rush. “I thought doctors were supposed to be nice when treating their patients”
“Mainly, we are supposed to make sure people don’t do stupid and reckless things so they won’t get hurt like you just did” I insisted, somewhat jokingly.
“Fine” Jake chuckled, opening his eyes and looking up at me from his sitting position. “Can I at least get your name?”
“Y/N” I replied with a small smile. “My name is Y/N”
“Nice to meet you, Y/N” He offered me his hand, which I shook. “I’m the idiot that got a concussion when he pushed a friend out of a car’s way and landed on his face”
*
The job was pretty uneventful for a few days. Nothing big, just a few minor calls here and there. Until one day there was a robbery at a jewelry store. The perps had been taken to the police station, but the two cops had stayed there to retrieve proof and because one of them got hurt.
“So what happened exactly?” I asked my colleague as he drove the ambulance.
“One of the cops tackled the robbers” My partner grinned, somewhat amused. “The other one called us, freaking out that his friend was hurt”
“He got hurt tackling them?” I repeated, dumbfounded by the situation.
“Apparently yes”
“Well, that was stupid…”
“And they called us when they could have taken him to a doctor”
“Yeah, how’s that?”
“I told you, the other one was freaking out and insisted on us going”
“Well, here we are now” I said just as he parked.
As soon as I got off the ambulance, a man approached me, he seemed worried. I would venture that was the man that called us.
“Ma’am, please!” He tugged at my arm with energy. “My friend, take a look at him, he might have some internal bleeding or something”
“I’m sure he’s alright” I said beforehand, trying to calm him down. “I’ll examine him, but try to keep calm, sir”
“Sorry, sorry” He nodded, more serene now. “It’s just… You should have seen it”
“How did it happen?” I asked him as he distractedly looked for someone.
“Well, he stood over one of the stands to cut them off and them jumped to tackle them” The man grimaced just at the thought of it. Allegedly it was a nasty fall. “He was pretty high up, and he fell with a loud thud”
“I figure he might have a few broken ribs then” He accompanied me to the back of the ambulance, where I opened the doors and prepared all my equipment with the help of my partner. “Bring him in, please”
“Okay, thank you” The restless man ran off to call his friend.
“Can you take care of it?” My partner asked me.
“Sure, I got it” With my words, he nodded and sat at the front to wait. I myself climbed into the vehicle to set up all that I needed and put a stethoscope around my neck just in case.
I heard someone sitting down at the back of the ambulance, grunting as they did because of the effort. I recognized the leather jacket and the short brown hair.
“I thought I had seen my fair share of reckless cops” I muttered, gathering Jake’s attention. “But two times in three days? That’s a record”
“Hi there” He replied with an innocent grin, like he wasn’t sitting at the back of an ambulance. “Good to see you too, Y/N”
“Peralta, was it?” I smirked as I rolled up my sleeves and positioned myself in front of him. He nodded, so I kept talking. “I’ll add your name to the list of frequent clients”
“Haha, you’re funny” He began to chuckle forcefully, but was cut off as he grimaced and held his side. “Ouch…”
I nodded to myself, realizing I was right about my hunch. It definitely looked like he had broken a few ribs.
“Take your jacket off, please” I instructed him, accompanying my words with a resigned sigh.
“Ooooh, getting flirty up in here!” Jake playfully wiggled his eyebrows.
“It’s so I can make sure you don’t have any broken ribs”
“Oh”
We stared at each other, almost defiantly. Then he nodded and took his jacket off like I had asked him to do. He made some faces as it seemed to hurt to make any wide enough movements. I almost didn’t have to check to know my diagnosis.
He was left in his plaid shirt, so I rested my hands on his sides and carefully palpated around his ribs. As I moved, he suddenly yelped and jumped up in pain.
“There it is” I definitely felt a swelling in that area. “As I thought, broken ribs”
“Cool” He smirked, but when I glared at him he explained. “I have broken bones, I’m badass now, right?”
“If you had fallen off a motorcycle, maybe” I rolled my eyes at him. “But your friend told me you faceplanted on the floor”
“Dammit, Boyle!”
“Okay, you should to rest for a few days and-“
“Rest? I can’t rest! I have work to-”
“You’re going to rest for a few days” Since he had interrupted me, I did the same, also to emphasize my statement. “I know your kind, you keep jumping into dangerous situations without really thinking”
“Jumping into it…” He repeated, acquiring an absent expression even if a bright smile appeared on his lips. “That’s it, I solved the case!”
“What?” I mumbled, wondering what the hell he was talking about.
“A case I had been stuck with for weeks, I just solved it!” Jake exclaimed happily, but I rolled my eyes at him again.
“See? You only think about work, that’s not healthy” I began to walk away, annoyed at his careless attitude. “And I have to deal with idiots like you just because you enjoy being reckless”
It wasn’t really that what was bothering me. I cared about my patients, maybe too much. And I suffered watching people getting hurt, especially if it was needlessly like it happened with Jake. And yeah, maybe I liked him a little and hated to think such a nice guy was constantly injured because of his job. And because of his pigheadedness.
“Wait” Jake held me by the arm before I could leave. “You’re right, I’ll take a few days off to let my ribs heal”
“Thank you” I replied with an energetic head nod. “I don’t want to see your stupid face again around here, okay?”
“Why are you so mean?” Along with the silly voice he put, he made a stupid face that broke my stoic façade as I smiled in spite of myself.
“I can’t believe you made it into the NYPD”
“You’re still not nice enough to be a doctor, so…”
“I still treated you, so what’s the magic word?”
“Thank you, Y/N”
“Y/N?” A voice said behind me. “The Y/N?”
I turned around to see the man from before, Jake’s friend. I assumed that was the Boyle he was talking about before.
“I made a good impression, it seems” I boasted off, watching how Jake got flustered.
“Well, I mean…” He began to defend himself, but Boyle interrupted him.
“He likes you” He whispered to me, winking an eye.
“Boyle!” Jake complained, throwing his arms up in the air with so much force that he then complained because of his ribs.
“Sorry, sorry… I’ll leave now” As he began to walk away, he grinned at us. “You look good together”
When Boyle left, I turned back round to Jake. He was blushing, so he averted his gaze bashfully. Even though I could almost see the gears in his brain working to come up with a playful comment to relief the embarrassment.
“I meant what I said” I piped up, saving him the effort. “I don’t want to see you around here, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am” He mumbled quietly, briefly looking into my eyes just to avert his glance again.
“Maybe somewhere else” I decided to drop a friendly and somewhat flirtatious comment to lighten up the mood. “Just not at the back of the ambulance”
I grinned at Jake just as he looked up, but before he could say anything else, I left him there. He watched me walk away with his mouth agape and an awed look in his brown eyes.
*
Today I was at the hospital, they changed my shift from the ambulance. They were short on personnel due to a collective flu, so I was supposed to play nurse or doctor or anything that I was needed for in order to help around.
As I walked the hallways looking for something to do in that somewhat tranquil day, I overheard an interesting conversation.
“… yeah, a cop. Bullet wound on the shoulder” I stopped on my tracks at the sound of those words. I had a terrible feeling about it. “He’s awake and out of danger, but he lost a lot of blood and-“
“Excuse me” I politely interrupted the doctor. “Did you say a cop?”
“Yes” She replied, staring at me, probably wondering who I was and what I wanted since we hadn’t spoken before. “Why?”
“I think I know him”
“You do?”
“Probably. Is he friendly, cocky, with a goofy smile on his face?”
“Yes, and he joked around a lot for a guy who was shot”
“Short wavy hair and brown eyes? Pretty attractive?”
“Yup, that’s him”
“Son of a…” I took a deep breath to calm myself down. “What room is he in?”
“Room 90” The doctor pointed it to me, so I thanked her and rushed over there.
When I came in, I found Jake lying in the bed, looking utterly exhausted. His face was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. I could also notice a thick bandage over his left shoulder, sticking out from under the hospital gown.
“I cannot believe you, Peralta” I said to announce my presence, since he was absently looking through the window.
With the sound of my voice, he quickly looked over to me and he gawked at me.
“Y/N?! What are you doing here, are you following me?”
“I could ask you the same thing, stupid!”
“Why do you look so angry? We barely know each other!”
I stomped my feet over to his bed and towered over him, furiously crossing my arms over my chest. He put an innocent face to soothe my rage.
“You’re my patient, and I’m tired of seeing you! Three times in a week?! Didn’t you have enough with a concussion and three broken ribs?”
“I didn’t get a concussion, I thought that was the point of our first meeting, I-“
“You had to get shot too?” I completely ignored his remark. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
Jake’s joking expression shifted to serious for the first time since I knew him. He frowned worriedly and stared at me, noticing how rattled I was.
“Why do you care so much?” His voice was soft yet grave this time as well.
“Because I know your type” I closed my eyes, hating how much I related to him. “And you’re only hurting yourself”
“You… know my type?” Jake repeated, slightly puzzled.
“Yeah, you get too involved. And one way or the other, you end up getting hurt”
“Who do you know like that?”
“Me, I’m like that too” I bit my bottom lip when I felt tears of sadness and frustration arriving to my eyes. I just saw myself in him so much, from the passion and dedication to his job to the use of humor as a coping mechanism. “I used to work on the hospital, but I asked to be in charge of the ambulance when… well, when I got too involved, until I realized… We can’t save everyone”
Jake’s frown became more pronounced, guessing what I was implying. Just like being a cop, being a doctor wasn’t easy. A lot of people depended on you, and if you failed it had terrible consequences.
“Sorry that I reminded you of it” His hand softly fell on my arm. “I wasn’t trying to be reckless or to be cool or anything, I just… I wanted to do my job, save innocent people and catch bad guys”
“I know, it’s just… I didn’t like seeing you get hurt either…”
A small cautious smile suddenly appeared on his lips, which somehow made me feel better. Even if I assumed he was about to say something stupid.
“Were you worried about me, Y/N?” He asked me with a goofy voice.
“You’re stupid” I chuckled in spite of myself, probably what he wanted to accomplish.
“In my defense, I probably looked pretty cool doing all those things…” He made a pause, pursing his lips in a cute way. “Before I got hurt, that is…”
“I mean, you’re no John McClane but…” I was cut off my sentence when he loudly gasped.
“Did you just reference Die Hard?”
“Uh… yeah. It’s like, the best movie ever, right?”
“I knew we were soulmates” With comical urgency, he held my hand.
“You do know the movies aren’t medically accurate, right?” I muttered to tease him. “After losing so much blood, John wouldn’t have been able to even stand against Hans at the end of the first movie”
“Don’t you dare…” He began to saying, causing us both to laugh.
An awkward silence settled, which wasn’t strange between two almost strangers no matter how much they had in common. But Jake was quick to break the ice again.
“Had I known you were here, I would have dramatically asked them to be treated only by you” He joked, but I glared at him.
“Wait” I let go of his hand when a terrible idea formed in my mind, remembering what Boyle said. “Did you get in all those horrible situations just to see me again?”
“What? No!” Jake said with the correct amount of outrage. “I was just trying to do my job!”
“Good” I restlessly rested my hands over the bars at the side of his bed. “Because I thought you were stupid enough already”
“I did think that getting hurt wasn’t as bad if I got to see you again, though” He shrugged, which sent a wave of pain across his shoulder and made him wince. “But now I’m not so sure about that”
I kindly patted his good shoulder, smiling fondly at him.
“That’s great, watching you in pain wasn’t as fun as I thought, you idiot” Jake locked eyes with me and reciprocated the smile.
“Seeing as we’re so similar and have so much in common, maybe we could both take a break…” Almost shyly, he looked away, pretending to watch through the window once more. “Y’know, go out sometime”
“Maybe” I repeated, daring to carefully hold his hand. Feeling my gentle touch, he looked at me and we smiled at each other once more.