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Once they’re back at the station after the hospital, it’s hard to not notice all the stares and soft whispers from some fellow officers as they walk through. All it takes is one glare from Tim at all of them and they all make themselves scarce. He’s glad Lucy has had her head down since they walked in, she likely wouldn’t even notice.
He ushers her to the women’s locker room, telling her he’s going to grab a sweat set of his to change into. He calls Nyla over once he has it and sends her in to give it to Lucy and to bring out her uniform.
As he waits, Angela slowly walks over to him. There’s so much he wants to say as Lucy’s boyfriend, but as Watch Commander, he knows he can’t say anything. She of course knows that and gives him a side hug instead and a silent ‘I’m here for both of you’. He gives her a thankful tight smile before she walks back to her desk, still watching and worried.
—
It all moves very quickly and very slowly all at the same time. Lucy is photographed at every angle, and his heart breaks even more seeing the bruises on her face now more pronounced. She even has some scratches on her neck that look a little red, but surely the hospital had cleaned them.
He can see it in her face that she’s reliving every moment while she’s standing there. He’s been dreading the fact that he’s going to have to watch her body cam footage in probably just a few minutes now.
He snaps out of his thoughts when he sees Lucy taking a step towards him, picking at the sleeves of his hoodie that’s far too big on her.
He guides her to one of the interrogation rooms, a hand on her back where her duty belt usually would be, where Nolan is already sitting waiting for her. He gives him a terse nod and waits for Lucy to walk in before closing the door and slowly walking back to his office.
When he sits down at his desk, he sighs heavily. If only he had listened to his gut and pushed more for Lucy to ride with him this morning, then it would likely be him in this position instead of her.
He happens to glance at the clock near his computer and sees the time, knowing Kojo’s daycare is going to be closing for the day soon and if they don’t pick him up it’s a boarding fee to keep him overnight. He knew it was still going to be hours before they could leave.
He pulls out his phone, scrolling to his thread with his mom and Genny, figuring he’d just let them both know now since either this evening or tomorrow morning it’s likely going to be in the news.
To: Joy, Genny
Lucy was in an officer involved death today, we’re still at the station where she’s going to be questioned. I can’t answer questions right now since it’s an ongoing investigation. Gen, can you pick up Kojo from dqycare?
His phone buzzes twice almost instantly, the first from Genny saying of course she’ll go pick him up now and to let her know if either need anything, and the other is from Joy saying she hopes everything will be okay and to let her know if they want her to fly in.
He puts his phone down on his desk, not even bothering to answer them. His hands are shaking as he navigates his computer mouse to pull up the footage.
As horribly hard it is to watch it, Lucy did absolutely everything she should’ve done given the circumstances. To see her fight for her life that that, the fact that she almost had that linoleum knife stabbed into her, makes him realize just how close he was to loosing her.
He lets his mind drift off, thinking about the first time he almost lost her and how much it scared him, even though he shouldn’t have felt as strongly towards her as he did at the time.
He startles when there’s a knock at his door, he instantly closes the laptop while looking up. Nolan is standing there with a frown on his face,
“She’s done,” he says softly so his voice doesn’t betray him, “she did good. I know I don’t have to tell you this, but take care of her.”
Tim nods and stands up and grabs his bag, his chair spinning from the quick movement. “Thanks Nolan,” he gives him a nod as he walks past him out of his office.
“Hey Tim,” he stops and turns around to look at him.
“I called her parents like she asked me to,” he frowns again, “They told me to tell her not to call them until she, and I quote, ‘stops thinking her job is meaningful, and gets a real job’,” Tim can see the anger on his face before he even has a chance to get angry himself.
He wants to say a lot of other things but knows getting worked up right now isn’t going to do anything to help Lucy. So instead, “Yeah, they’re lucky they talked to you instead of me,” he bites his lip as he turns to walk towards interrogation, leaving Nolan standing there.
His heart breaks somehow even more when he opens the door to see her staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging the fact that he just walked in.
“You ready to go?” She jumps at the sound of his voice.
She gives him only a nod but doesn’t make a move to stand up. He walks over to her and holds out a hand, she takes it only after she realizes he’s changed out and the body cam is not longer an issue. He helps her stand slowly, giving her a second to just stand before they start walking.
Getting in his truck is a whole thing in of itself, she winces and wimpers every move she makes and he tries to help the best he can without hurting her even worse. Finally, she’s in the truck and her seatbelt is on. He kisses the side of her head softly before closing the door and jogging over to the drivers side to hop in.
To no surprise, the drive is absolutely silent. He knows she’s waiting to break down, he knows it’s coming. He just hopes he can be what she needs to keep her afloat through all of this.
—
Once they got home and he got her some tea that would later go undrank, Lucy insisted she was going to stay up for a bit. He of course understands that she wants and needs some space. He slowly walks himself to the bedroom and goes about his nightly routine, all while finally letting his own tears fall.
He can hear her sobs coming from the living room and it takes everything in him to not rush out there and gather her in his arms. The sound of his phone ringing shakes him from his thoughts.
He grabs it from the bedside table and sees that it’s his mom. He’s tempted to just let it go but realizes she’s probably worried out of her mind, only getting that quick text from Tim earlier.
“Mom, hi,” his voice cracks and he doesn’t even try to hide his emotions.
“Oh Tim, I’m so glad to hear your voice. Is Lucy okay? Are you okay?”
“Uh, she’s going through the motions. And I’m trying to figure out how I’m supposed to be there and help her through this.”
He hears her sigh on the other end, “I wish I could’ve been there for you when it happened to you but I know without a doubt that you’re going to be exactly what Lucy needs. And I’m here if you need anything, I can fly in and help out any way I can.”
“Thanks, but I think for now Lucy won’t want that. No offense to you of course.”
“None taken,” she interrupts him. “Let me know if it changes or if you have to go back to work and she needs company.”
“Thanks mom,” his lips quirk up faintly. “I should go, I’m trying to give her space to process but I know eventually she’s going to come to bed and hopefully she’ll let me hold her.”
“I love you, Tim. It’s going to all be okay, I really believe that. Give her a hug for me when she’s feeling more up to it and please, let me know if either of you need anything.”
“I will, thank you. I love you mom. Good night.”
He sets his phone back down on the bedside table, leans his head back onto the headboard and rests his eyes.
He doesn’t even know how long he has dozed off for when he heard footsteps walking down the hallway. He sits up straight as his eyes lock on the door waiting for her to come in their room.
Her face is of course still very much bruised, red and puffy when she finally took the step inside and he could see her. His heart breaks all over again, once again wanting to jump up and wrap her in his arms. But she wordlessly walks to the bathroom, shuts and locks the door behind her.
Once he heard the shower running, he knew she would probably be in there for awhile so he jumps out of bed and goes to the kitchen to make her a piece of toast, fill a cup with water and grab one of her pain pills knowing the stuff they gave her at the hospital was going to wear off soon, if it hasn’t already.
He climbs back in bed after placing the plate, cup and her pill next to her bedside table and picks up his phone once again. He isn’t surprised Angela has texted him, Celina, Nyla and Nolan too. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, he loves that they checked in on not only her but him as well.
When he hears the bathroom door finally open, he jumps into action, slowly standing up but still keeping his distance from her incase she’s not ready.
“I made you some toast, I’m sure you’re hurting and after you eat, you can take your meds.” She looks over to the table and winces.
“I’m not hungry,” she mumbles still not looking at him.
He sighs, “I know Luce. But trust me, you’re really going to be hurting if you don’t take that. Just a few bites?”
She does, taking exactly three bites before putting it back on the plate and swallowing the pill with a swig of water.
He notices her lip looks worse, knowing she tends to chew on it when she’s anxious. “Baby, don’t mess with your lip or we’re going to have to go back to the hospital if it splits open.”
She doesn’t answer him, only throws back the covers and climbs in. She immediately turns so her back is to him and he just sighs before getting into bed himself.
He waits until he hears her breathing even out before trying to get some sleep himself. He knows the likelihood of nightmares is high, for the both of them, but wants to try to get some rest when he can.
Sure enough, a little less than an hour later, his eyes snap open when he hears Lucy whining. She was now on her back and her right arm moved, hitting his stomach pretty hard.
“Luce,” he tries gently but hopefully loud enough that it’ll wake her. It doesn’t work, she was now flailing her arms and mumbling ‘no’.
“Luce!” he says a little louder this time, still not touching her though.
Her eyes finally shoot open, and he hates that her ears are already filled with tears.
“You alright?” He winces after it comes out of his mouth, wishing he didn’t ask that. She shakes her head no of course.
“What do you need from me Luce? I just want to help you but I don’t want to do anything you don’t want me to.” What he wants to hold her and never let go.
“Couch,” she mutters, so quiet he can barely hear her.
“Ok. Do you want me to come with you?” She gives him a nod, and his lips quirk upwards a little. He quickly gets up out of bed and moves over to her side, offering her a hand to help her get up.
“Easy baby, easy,” he helps her stand and she doesn’t let go on his hand once she’s standing. “Living room?” She nods again.
“I’m going to get you comfortable on the couch and then do you want some tea?”
“Yeah,” she says quietly, “please.”
“I’m on it.” Once she’s as comfortable as she’s going to get on the couch, he kisses her forehead and tells her he’s going to just be in the kitchen and he’ll be right back.
Once her tea was ready, he pours it into her favorite cup, the one from earlier that sat cold that he dumped down the drain. Once he’s back in front of her, he sees she’s fast asleep.
He sets the cup down on the table, grabs the blanket from the back of the couch and drapes it over her and kisses her temple. He finds his spot in the arm chair next to the couch, since he’s definitely not going to leave her alone.
He watches her for a while, watching the rise and fall of her chest before he leans back and finally closes his eyes too.