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Carlos saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. His cop instinct took over.
"GUN!" Carlos yelled at the top of his voice.
His body tensed like a spring before he sprinted off. The man opened fire. Like a football player, Carlos tackled the shooter. Everyone stared in horror at the two men, who went down simultaneously as another shot rang out. Then silence fell. Carlos and the shooter lay on the ground. Neither of them moved.
TK had watched everything helplessly through the rearview mirror of the ambulance. Shaking, he pushed the driver's door open and rushed to his friend. So did the rest of the 126.
"Carlos!" TK cried out with tears in his eyes.
Owen and Tommy were faster. While Owen pulled the shooter away from Carlos and held him down, Tommy took care of Carlos. TK dropped to his knees beside them.
"Baby," was all TK could say before fear took his breath away.
As soon as Tommy carefully turned Carlos onto his back, he began to stir.
"Hey, hey, easy," Tommy said as she looked for any wounds on the cop's body.
When TK saw the hole in Carlos' uniform, nausea washed over him.
Shaken, he ripped open the shirt.
"Thank God, no blood." TK exhaled in relief. The bullet was lodged in the Kevlar vest.
"Fucking Christ, that hurts," Carlos groaned.
He was about to sit up, but TK and Tommy pushed him back gently.
"Stay down. You need to go to the hospital," Tommy's words left no room for argument.
Tommy looked over at Owen; he had handed the gunman to Carlos' colleagues and was about to call another ambulance.
When TK saw Tommy cast several worried glances in Nancy's direction, he said, "Go ahead. I'll stay with Carlos."
Tommy gave him a curt nod and squeezed Carlos' hand before getting up and hurrying over to Nancy. Marjan and Paul were with her. She looked pretty shaken up. But fortunately, she was unharmed. The man on the stretcher, however, had not survived.
Judd knelt beside TK and Carlos. He had taken off his jacket and placed it under Carlos' head while he said, "Carlos, don't ever scare us like that again. I thought... gosh, that was close..." Judd ran a hand over his face.
"Some days, your timing sucks, babe," TK quipped.
"Don't make me laugh because that hurts like shit."
Carlos screwed up his face.
-----
That evening, Andrea and Gabriel said goodbye after dropping off food for Carlos and TK and making sure the boys were okay.
"So, with the food we have in the fridge, we can feed a whole army," TK said after sitting down on the couch next to Carlos and casting a worried glance at his friend. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" asked TK.
"I keep thinking, what if one of those bullets hit you or Nancy or someone else from the 126?"
"But it didn't."
"I know, yet I can't get it out of my head. That guy took us all by surprise."
"Yeah, unfortunately. But I hope it makes my father think about his impetuous outbursts of anger lately. In my opinion, he should go back to therapy."
"After his little speech at the firehouse, I think he's already toying with the idea," Carlos said.
TK nodded, "I hope so. And now we should go to bed. And I'll try my best to keep my hands to myself."
"Well, I don't think I'd mind a few caresses," Carlos said while slipping his hand behind TK's neck to pull him closer and seal his lips with a searing kiss.
The End