Flip the Colleague [Flip Zimmerman]

Ch 23: Philip

"Alright everyone, we got a new detective coming in today. Looks like she was at the top of her class but she doesn't have any field work under her belt yet." Chief Bridges spoke to the unit as he reviewed the intake forms. "Zimmerman.... I'm assigning her to the file room for now but she's all yours. Make sure she's ready before you throw anything crazy at her."

Flip sighed, taking the forms from Bridges. He was already training Ron on his first undercover case and wasn't exactly looking for someone new to babysit. He skimmed over your information, with no particular interest.

Jimmy, another detective, patted Flip on the shoulder. "You should be used to good work being rewarded with more work around here." He said in jest.

Flip smirked. "Yeah, no shit." He tapped the edge of the paperwork on the table before laying them in a neat stack.

Flip's attention was disrupted when you walked into the conference room, knocking lightly on the door with your knuckle. All eyes in the room landed on you and Chief Bridges motioned for you to have a seat.

"Ahh. Here she is."

Flip's heart stopped at the sight of you. He stood abruptly and reached his hand out across the table to greet you and he noticed how your face flushed with embarrassment as you locked eyes for a mere second.

"Detective Philip Zimmerman." He said, giving you a warm grin.

You shook his hand, introduced yourself, and sat down. "Nice to meet you, Detective Zimmerman."

"Flip. You can call me Flip." His eyes never left you as you nodded and nervously tucked your hair behind your ear. He was enamored by you and he didn't even know why.

Jimmy, watching Flip in amusement, leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I can train her if you want me to?"

"Fuck off, Jimmy." Flip whispered back, eyes still on you.

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The hospital room was quiet now. It was just shy of dawn outside and you had been out of recovery for about an hour but you were still unconscious. Flip sat in a chair to the side of your bed, leaned over, resting his forearms on his knees, rolling his hands together as he replayed everything from earlier that evening.

His eyes welled up remembering how it all happened so fast, yet somehow in slow motion at the same time. As soon as he saw Mandy standing face to face with you, he pulled out his gun and aimed it directly at her head. Only then did it even occur to him that she was about to shoot you. He was ready to kill her regardless. But she fired her weapon a millisecond before he did and even with Sara's help to push you out of the way, the bullet penetrated your upper chest near your clavicle. It nipped your carotid artery and you suffered major blood loss.

It was a chaotic blur leading up until now. Sara was practically a screaming mess as Flip held you in his arms applying pressure on your wound until the paramedics arrived. Silent tears streamed down his face as he tried to stay focused on keeping you alive. Onlookers were running, crying and hovering over him as he held your lifeless body close to him, whispering encouragement into your ear.

He demanded they let him ride in the ambulance with you, showing the paramedics his badge as leverage. He watched you the entire time, feeling helpless, as they worked to control your bleeding and gave you oxygen.

Once in the trauma unit, the doctors were asking for volunteers to donate blood for your transfusion and Flip's blood type was compatible. He told them to take as much as they needed to save you which made some of the nurses crush over how heroic he was being. He never once left your side except when the staff had to force him into the waiting room during your surgery.