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“Officer Bradford, can I see you in my office please?” Grey calls out as Tim walks into the station.
“Yes sir?” Tim asks as he walks into his superiors office and closes the door behind him.
“You will be working with both rookies today, they can alternate between riding in the shop and studying.”
Where’s Chen?”
“She’s sick today.”
“Is she okay?”
“I don’t know anything other than she called me earlier letting me know she was going to be out today.”
“Alright, thank you sir. See you in roll call.”
They had been getting better and talking more. They had been on a few hikes with Kojo together and Tim had brought her coffee or tea on numerous occasions and even ordered her dinner one night after he knew she had a long shift.
Working together with their rookies had brought back that playful banter, they even threw in a few bets, too. Tim “let” Lucy win for the simple fact that he wanted to see her happy.
He went about his day but knew he would check on Lucy later. Knowing her and how stubborn she was, she must really not be feeling well if she actually took off.
•••
After a very, very long shift with two polar opposite rookies, Tim found himself quickly changing out to head to Lucy’s apartment.
He wanted to stop by the store first to pick her up some flowers and some of her favorite chocolates, too.
After getting to her apartment 30 minutes later, he questioned whether he should knock or use his key. Deciding against the key, to respect her boundaries but also because Celina was probably there as well, he knocked. It only took a few seconds for the door to open to reveal Celina on the other side.
“Oh! Sergeant Bradford, what are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to check on Lucy. Is she okay?”
“She’s pretty sick, she’s been in her room all day. Umm… you can come in.” She moves out of the way so he can step inside before closing the door.
“I’ll be in my room.” She smiles before turning away and closing her bedroom door.
Suddenly, he was nervous. They were doing better but what if he was overstepping? Before he could get too worked up, he heard coughing coming from her room and he made his decision. He didn’t care if she was mad or upset with him, he wanted to make sure his girl was okay.
“Lucy?” He knocks softly on her door.
“Come in.” It’s followed by another cough.
“Hey—“
“Tim? What are you doing here?”
“I… uhh… wanted to check on you. I figured you must be pretty sick if you didn’t come to work today.”
“I’m fine.” She barely gets out before she starts coughing.
“Oh yeah, you’re so convincing.” He rolls his eyes.
“I can’t take care of myself.”
“I know you can. But please let me help you?” He begs.
“Fine.” She huffs out before another coughing fit.
“Have you ate? Do you need meds? Do you need water?”
“Woah, slow down you’re making me dizzy. I could use some more medicine.”
Tim just rolls his eyes but walks into Lucy’s bathroom where she keeps her medicine and got her two Tylenol before walking to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.
When he walked back into the bedroom, she was already fast asleep. He couldn’t help but stop and watch her for a minute with a small smile on his face.
“Luce. Lucy. Wake up.” He gently rubs her arm.
“Huh?” She mumbles, half asleep.
“Sit up a little bit so you can make your medicine. You can go back to sleep after.” She does and he hands her the pills first and then the cup of water. Once she’s done, she hands him back the cup and falls right back to sleep.
He takes one last look at her before he walks back into the kitchen to get rid of her cup. He doesn’t want to leave Lucy here alone incase she needs anything, Celina had left and would be out until later tonight so he takes a seat on the couch and turns on the tv.
He’s not even sure what he was watching, some show on HGTV, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t getting into it.
He found himself starting to doze off when he heard a noise. He turned his head to see Lucy slowly walking out of her bedroom. Tim stands up and steps in front of her.
“Tim? What are you doing here?” She asks confused.
“I’m taking care of you. Don’t you remember I woke you up to give you meds earlier?”
“Umm… no. I guess I don’t. Well thanks. I’m okay, you can go home now.”
“Lucy, you don’t need to lie to me. I know I screwed everything up but I still care about you.”
“You do?”
“Always. And it scared me when Grey told me you were sick.”
“I’m sorry. But really, I’m okay. It’s just the flu.”
“Just the flu or something more, it’s okay to ask for help Lucy. You don’t need to deal with everything on your own.”
“Thanks. I guess I’ll go lay back down. My head is killing me.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Yeah, but we don’t have any food here.”
“Not a problem. I can order you some soup, does that sound okay?”
“That sounds perfect. Thank you, Tim.”
“Always.” He takes her hand and gives it a squeeze.
After their dinner came, they both sat on the couch. Neither talked, the only sound was the tv still on in the background. That was until Lucy coughed and Tim looked over at her.
“How are you feeling?”
“A little better. Helps that I have the best nurse.” She gives him a little smirk.
“Good to know.” He returns the smirk before getting serious, “Lucy, I know now isn’t the time but I’m ready to talk. I’m ready to be the man you deserve. I’m ready to show you how deserving of love you are. I’m not exactly where I want to be yet, but I don’t want to do it alone anymore.”
“Tim… thank you. I’ve seen the work you’ve put in and I’m proud of you. It’s going to take time, but we’ll get there. To an even better place.” She reaches over to grab his hand, giving it a squeeze.
They sit there just looking at each other with so much love in their eyes. Tim can’t help but laugh when their moment is interrupted by Lucy yawning.
“Let me clean this up and we’ll get you into bed. Hopefully you’ll be feeling better after a good nights rest.”
He helps her stand up before he walks into the kitchen to clean up their bowls while she heads into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
But the time he’s back into her bedroom, she’s sitting on the edge of her bed taking her meds. She looks up and him with those puppy dog eyes she knows he’s never been able to say no to.
“Can… can you stay tonight?” She asks shyly.
“If that’s what you want, then yes I’ll stay.” He reaches out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her ponytail.
“I do. I haven’t felt safe sleeping in months and I could use a good night of sleep.”
He can’t help but feel sad listening to her, knowing he was the sole reason for all of that.
“Of course I’ll stay, Luce. Just let me go grab my bag from my truck.” She gives him a nod and he quickly makes his way down and back up into the apartment.
Once he’s ready for bed, he walks over to his side of the bed and carefully climbs in. Once he’s lying down, she immediately scoots over so she’s snuggled up to him. He can’t help but smile against her forehead as he gives it a kiss.
“Good night, Luce. Sleep deep baby.”
“Good night, Tim.” She says although it’s almost inaudible as she’s already asleep.