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“Officer Chen, where’s your boot?” Tim asks looking around the room.
Lucy looks at her watch, roll call starts in about a minute and Seth is nowhere to be found. He’s been acting even more strange lately and Lucy is getting a little worried.
“I’m sure he’ll be here,” she says, more-so trying to convince herself. Tim just shakes his head and turns back around, right as Grey is walking in.
“Officer Chen, where is Officer Ridley?” The lieutenant immediately notices the rookie’s absence.
“I’m not sure, sir. I’ve tried to call him but it just goes to voicemail,” she looks down at her phone once more, hoping he messaged her or something.
“Penn, you know anything?” Grey asks looking over at him.
“No sir.”
“Alright, well let’s move past that for the time being. Nothing special about today. Now get on out on the streets and be safe.” Grey walks over to Lucy while everyone else has started to leave the room to start their days.
“Chen, a word please?” Lucy nods and stands up. She notices Tim isn’t far behind, telling Miles to get the gear and shop ready.
“What do you suspect is going on with Ridley? He’s been acting out of character lately and I don’t like what I’m seeing,” Grey looks between both Tim and Lucy.
“He’s been more quiet the last few days and seems more on edge,” Lucy recalls.
“Alright well I want you to stay in house today. Keep me in the loop if you hear anything and I definitely don’t think it’ll hurt to do a wellness check.” Lucy nods, looking back at Tim who has a worried look on his face.
After Grey leaves, Tim turns to Lucy with the concerned look still on his face.
“Are you okay?”
“I honestly don’t know how to answer that. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I don’t have a good feeling.”
“Call me if you need anything today, okay? I can have Penn study his book and I can catch up on some paper work if you even just need some company.” She can’t help but smile at this “new” Tim. He has been going to therapy and it’s definitely showing. They decided to give their relationship another go and had been back together for a few weeks now.
“I’ll be okay. But thank you.” She gives him a faint smile. He gives her arm a squeeze before heading off to meet Penn in the shop.
•••
A few hours went by, Lucy was working on some paperwork when her phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket to see a text from Seth.
Ridley: I’m sorry.
Was all it said. What was he sorry for? Was he in trouble? Did he just decide to quit? She quickly stood up and made her way to Grey’s office.
He was on the phone and before she could even knock, he motioned for her to come in.
Once he hung up the call, Lucy could tell something was wrong.
“Can I help you, Officer Chen?”
“I just got a text from Ridley saying he was ‘sorry’, but that’s was all.”
“Sit down Lucy, please.” Her heart starts beating fast, in fact she feels like it’s going to beat out of her chest.
“Bradford and Penn were the officers I sent to do a wellness check. When they arrived at his house, there was no answer. They made entry and discovered a body of a female tied up.”
“Where is Ridley now?”
“That’s the thing. He was apparently hiding out in the house just long enough and ending up taking Tim. He let Miles go and he was questioned on scene. Ridley had a gun pointed to his head and Tim knows in order to survive he has to follow his demands.”
“Oh my god, do we know where they are now?!” She has tears streaming down her face.
“Trying to track his car and phone, but nothing yet. I’m sorry Lucy, but know this isn’t your fault.”
“Isn’t my fault? I knew something was off with him, I should’ve said or did more. Now the love of my life is kidnapped and Ridley is doing god knows what to him,” she yells.
Before Grey could say anything else, there was a knock at his door. They both turn around to see Angela standing there.
“We found them. Tim’s being transported to Shaw, Ridley is in cuffs and will be headed back here shortly.”
“Alright, why don’t you two go to the hospital and meet Bradford. I need to stay here and take care of that mess.” The two women share a look before rushing out the door, out of the station and into the car.
•••
After what seemed like an hour long drive, they finally made it to Shaw. They quickly made their way to the front desk where they were immediately pointed in the direction of his room.
Lucy couldn’t help but panic when they walked up to his room and he wasn’t in there. Thankfully, a nurse saw them and told them he was gone for imaging but would be back soon.
They walked into the room and sat down while they waited. Neither women saying a word, both likely coming down from the adrenaline from the last few hours.
Finally, Tim came wheeling back in and his bed was quickly put into place.
“Are one of you Lucy Chen?” A nurse looked between the two.
“That’s me,” Lucy tries to give a smile but fails.
“A doctor will be in shortly to discuss everything with you, but Sergeant Bradford is lucky. You guys found him at the right time.”
The nurse leaves, leaving only Lucy, Angela and Tim, who looks peaceful resting. Not long after, there was a knock at the door and a doctor walked in.
“Detective, Officer, I wish we were meeting again under better circumstances but it’s nice to see you two again. Sergeant Bradford got extremely lucky. It seems like he knew exactly what he needed to do to survive and fought him off to the best of his abilities. Right now, we’re letting his body heal so he’s pretty sedated but nothing came up as a cause for concern on the scans. I’m sure you’ve seen his wrists and ankles are pretty red from being tied up and we have him on an antibiotic just to prevent any possible infection. Now, before I head out and let you all get some rest do you have any questions for me?”
“How long is he going to have to stay?” Angela asks.
“That really depends on him. We want to make sure he can walk, talk, eat, do everything he needs to but it might take some time and that’s okay. Nobody heals the same so it’s just a wait and see game.”
“Speaking from experience, will you give him anything to help with nightmares? It was a big thing for me and I don’t want to see him deal with that.” Lucy is fidgeting with her hands, Angela reaches over and places her hand on top, immediately calming her.
“Definitely. Right now because he is sedated, it’s not a concern but as we wean him off in the coming days, that will for-sure be something we get him started on.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Angela says, earning a nod and smile from the doctor before he walks out of the room.
•••
It took a few days, but Tim finally was fully alert and doing well for the most part. Lucy hasn’t left his side, only once to go home and take a shower but quickly rushing back.
“You ready to get out of here?” Lucy asks him eagerly.
“Couldn’t be more ready.” He says, but she can sense he’s hiding something.
“Tim, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sure I’m going to have nightmares and I don’t want to make you deal with that. With me.” She just shakes her head.
“Timothy, we’ve talked about this. Your pain is my pain and my pain is your pain. We deal with things together. Just because something gets hard or you’re worried about having nightmares doesn’t mean I’m going to leave. Remember how many times you’ve been there for me when I’ve had a nightmare?” he nods his head.
“Gosh, who knew your rookie was a serial killer? I mean, I knew something was off with the dude but certainly wasn’t expecting that.”
“It’s my fault. I should’ve confronted him sooner, talked to Grey.”
“Lucy, none of this is your fault. You had no way of knowing.”
“I just feel guilty. He knew you are important to me so of course he was going to target you.”
“Listen to me baby, this isn’t your fault. I will tell this to you for the rest of our lives if I need to. The only person to blame here is Ridley, and I’m sure he’s going away for a very, very long time.” He gives her hands a squeeze before pulling her in to give him a kiss.
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. “Sorry for interrupting but are you ready to go home?!” Their favorite nurse, Sarah asks smiling.
“So ready. Can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.”
“As much as we love seeing you guys, try not to come back for a while as patients.” She jokes as she starts wheeling Tim outside, Lucy pulling her car up to get him inside.
Once they get home, Tim makes his way over to the couch before sitting down and pulling Lucy down with him.
“Welcome home, baby.” She looks up at him with a smile.
“Luce, no matter where we are, if I’m with you I’m home,” she blushes a little, “but maybe let’s try to stay out of hospitals.” He jokes, earning a light shove to his chest but then a kiss to his lips.
They spend the rest of the day in each others arms. That night, Tim has a nightmare but of course Lucy is there.