Page 30 of Dirty Cops Next Door

When I opened the door of the car and slid my legs out to stand up, my knees went weak. Luckily, David was somehow there to save me from falling to the ground.

“It’s okay, princess, it’s going to be okay,” he whispered against my forehead, his lips brushing softly against my hair. His arms held me tightly to his chest, his hands stroking my back. It all felt so good, so right.

I inhaled the scent of him, strong on the coat he wore. His cologne and his own scent. I felt grounded again, safe. I pulled away to ask how Grant was, but he kissed me before I could ask.

It wasn’t overly intimate, just a, ‘hello, I need comfort as much as you’. An ‘I’m still alive and glad for that, but I need to feel something to know it’s not a dream’ kind of kiss. I pressed my lips back to his and leaned into him more when his hands gripped the lapels of my long wool coat.

“He’s alright. Shot, definitely injured, but alright. I’ve been waiting for you. I knew you’d come.” He’d pulled away at last, but only his hands still gripped my lapels.

I put my hands over his and squeezed. “What exactly is wrong?”

“Come and see him, I’ll explain on the way. It’s too cold to keep standing out here.” He took my hand and pulled me into the hospital, the automatic doors sucking in the frigid night air as we moved into the building. I heard the sound of dry leaves skating on the asphalt as the doors rushed closed.

“He was shot high in the right shoulder. It’s going to need surgery. They think they might have to do surgery on his back too but aren’t sure yet. They have to wait for some of the swelling to go down to be certain. He has some burns too, but nothing that won’t heal. Overall, he’s fairly lucky.” A growl at the end of his words let me know the person that had done this to Grant wasn’t going to be so lucky.

“There’s nothing life-threatening then?” I asked as we loaded into an elevator, the door closing quietly before we began to move. In any other situation I would have made a move on him, just to giggle about making out in an elevator, but this wasn’t the time for it. Maybe when we brought Grant home.

“No, but there’s always the threat of infection or a blood clot. I can’t say he won’t have a heart attack either, but he’s in the best place possible right now. Overall, he’s good, Toni. I promise.” He took my hand again and I was trying to blink away tears as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.

He gave me a wobbly smile and we walked to a doorway with two cops on each side.

“She’s with me, boys. Anytime she wants in here, you let her in, you understand?” And just like that, I knew we all really were a unit. David trusted me and he wanted people to know. I beamed a grateful smile to him and followed him in.

The room was lit by a soft white light in a corner, and nothing more. I could hear Grant snoring softly and went to stand over him, moving to the side where I could see him. His face was covered in scratches, his chest was bare except for some bandages wrapped around his left upper quadrant, his right hand was swathed in bandages too, and there were little round things stuck all over his body.

“Are those some kind of metal nipples? What the hell are those?” I looked closely at his chest and saw there was still blood smeared across his skin. I wanted to clean it away but didn’t want to wake him.

“They’re electrodes, for the equipment to check his heart and all of that sort of stuff. It’s okay, Toni, it really is.” David stood across from me, his eyes glued to Grant’s face.

“Alright.” I glanced at the bags and bottles hanging from a stand that fed into his IV line. I saw pain medicines, antibiotics, and a few other things I didn’t recognize.

“He’s on anti-inflammatories, to try to get the swelling around his spine to go down. He woke up long enough to tell the doctors he couldn’t feel his legs. He took a pretty nasty hit to the back of his head when that beam came down on him, and the beam did some damage to his spine, but they can’t tell how bad it will be until the swelling goes away.”

“You said he was going to be alright!” I looked at him, my heart breaking for Grant. “Are you saying he might not be able to walk?”

“Maybe not for a while, no. We just have to wait and see.” I could see his own heart break and took Grant’s hand.

What if he couldn’t walk anymore?