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"Fred, Mummy doesn't think this is funny anymore. Joke's over. Where's my phone?" Ellie asked, exasperation showing in the furrow of her brow. She was trying not to yell, trying to stay calm, but her patience with this game of hide and seek was fading fast. "Seriously, Fred, where is it?"
"I 'a'got, Mummy," he shrugged as if it was of no importance.
"You forgot. Well, let's try to remember," Ellie asked through clenched teeth. It had been a long afternoon. It was becoming quite clear that the child minder they'd hired to fill in the gaps on nursery school days was not reliable. She'd called off sick, and Ellie had to take the afternoon off since no one else was available. Alec had reluctantly let her go for the afternoon, unable to argue since he'd have to be one watching Fred if Ellie had to stay at work. It was a tough balancing act with child care in a home in which two detectives worked odd hours. Alec was always willing to do his share with the kids, but there was no way he could be spared at work today.
Some searching finally turned up Ellie's phone at the bottom of a huge bucket of Legos. After a stern talking to Ellie finally had a chance to look at the phone screen, and she rolled her eyes when she saw "Alec- Missed Call" on the screen.
"Probably can't find that file that's in plain sight on my desk," she muttered, opening up her voicemail.
"El- probably gonna be late, so eat without me. I'll try to get home by bedtime, but it doesn't look promising. Anyway..well, if I don't see you later....love you, Ellie."
While it was lovely to get a message of that sort from Alec, it was by no means typical. He wasn't the type to send love messages over voicemail, even though he was quite loving and as she always liked to say, "handsy" at home. He always said the bare minimum on a voicemail. He hated talking on the phone.
For whatever reason, she found herself breaking out in goose flesh. She immediately felt like a moron.
She didn't have long to wonder why she felt so uncomfortable, because the phone suddenly rang in her hand, startling her. "Hello?"
It was Nish. "Ellie, I'm sorry, I have some bad news."
*******
That was how Ellie found herself, for a third time, sitting by an sleeping Alec Hardy's bedside in a recovery ward. His shoulder was covered in bulky bandages. The doctor had assured her looked much worse than it actually was. The bullet had missed anything vital, and the wound would be more of an annoyance than anything. His heart rate had been steady, with no issues there. Alec Hardy had been a very lucky man.
Ellie could measure the distance between his pacemaker scar and the bullet wound in centimeters so she had a fairly good idea of how lucky he was. She took his hand, sighing, wondering how many more times she'd end up doing this.
"I should have brought some grapes," she murmured.
He squeezed her hand in response. "Still tryin' to kill me?" he rasped, eyes still closed.
"Thought about it. Actually, I've decided that if you die first, I'll just haunt you in the afterlife when I go. I'll make it a living hell for you."
"Wouldn't be a 'living' hell, technically," he quipped, opening his bleary eyes to gaze into her red rimmed ones.
Her lips pressed together, barely containing a wave of emotion. He squeezed her hand again. "El...m'fine," he tried to reassure her.
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Wish I'd been there," she whispered. "I would have..."
"Knocked the shit out of the dealer?"
"Maybe."
The corner of Alec's mouth turned up. "You'd have done an outstanding job of it. Or you could've been shot and I'd be the one sittin' there. That's the job."
She nodded, unable to speak. Finally she gasped out a breath and could talk, even as tears filled her eyes. "I'd love to be properly mad at you for getting yourself shot but you're right. I will be properly furious if I find out you sent me home with Fred knowing you were walkin' into a dangerous situation today, to protect me. Because I won't put up with that."
"I was just followin' up a lead. Just questionin' a witness. We had no idea it would go bad. We got 'em, though," Alec assured her.
"It's just....you sent me that voice mail. Fred hid my phone and that's why I missed your call. I had the oddest feeling when I listened to it. Like a feeling of foreboding or...are you laughing at me, Alec Hardy?"
Alec was indeed laughing, almost giddy. It caused a twinge of pain and he winced.
"You almost deserve that for laughing," Ellie groused.
"Are you sayin' you had some Steve Connolly horseshit premonition?" he finally murmured.
"You don't normally get that....gushy. And the 'if I don't see you later?' Why the hell would you feel the need to say that?"
"I thought I'd get in after you were in bed and I didn't want to wake you," he mumbled.
"Since when? I think you had the horseshit premonition," Ellie asserted.
He sighed, and Ellie could see his eyelids were becoming heavy again. "Doesn't matter. M'fine. When can I leave?"
"When the doctor says, and not before, so don't even think about it. I'll handcuff you to the bed if I have to."
He chuckled, and Ellie wondered exactly how high the pain medication was making him. "That's so close to the perfect sentence. If you took out the part about the doctor and we were home....." he mumbled, and even Ellie couldn't resist a smile.
"Down, boy," she quipped.
Something crossed Alec's foggy mind and he slurred, "The kids, do they...."
"I have forty-three texts from Daisy and nearly that many from Tom. They're relieved and worried, and Daisy is really pissed at you for gettin' shot. Tom hopes you got in a shot of your own. Fred knows you have a really big ouchie and has offered his Iron Man plasters."
Alec smiled shakily. Ellie could see it in his eyes then, the moment he realized just how close it had been. He was finished with being tough and joking about it all. "Horseshit premonition or not, I'm glad I called," he murmured huskily. "I hate think I'd never have the chance to tell you..."
Like Alec, Ellie was finished with bravado. She sat next to him on the bed, kissing his forehead gently. "Well, you did. And I'm relieved that you're still here to keep telling us." She pressed another small kiss to his dry lips.
"Love you, El." He relaxed into the pillow again, beginning to doze.
"Love you, Alec." She pushed his hair back from his eyes, smiling. "Right then, let's get you better."