𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 | 𝙏𝙤𝙢 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙣

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥

He seemed to be the most upset, and I smiled softly because I knew he and I had a deeper bond with Tom than anyone else here.

"Come on, Doug, let's go find some coffee," Harry suggested as he stood up.

"I'm with Harry," Judy said. "I think it will make you feel better."

Doug sighed and looked towards me. "Would you like us to bring you some too?"

I slowly nodded as Fuller said "Please."

They left then, dragging a begrudging Doug with them.

Fuller and I sat in silence as we waited for them to come back. It was weird because I had only met him once before. He had been kind to me that day I brought Tom his lunch, telling Tom he was lucky to have a girlfriend as sweet as me who took such good care of him. Tom had agreed and told him he was very grateful for me. It had made me feel good and gave me butterflies, not that it was unusual for Tom to make me feel that way. I smiled fondly at the memory.

Suddenly Fuller broke the silence.

"So...Tom told me that you are studying to be a forensic psychologist."

"Yeah," I replied.

He nodded approvingly. "That's a very good field to go in. We actually could use one in our precinct, since some of these cases with young people are so out of hand. We have a few over in the chief's office building, but none at Jump Street."

I nodded. "Well, I've got two semesters left."

"I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks." I said.

Just then, a woman came in to the hospital. She had dark brown hair and eyes, and she looked frantic as she talked to the receptionist.

"I'm looking for my son, Thomas Hanson." She said hurriedly. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

I watched as the receptionist answered her, but I couldn't hear the reply.

This is Tom's mother.

I had never met her before. But Tom had been excited for me to meet her on Christmas. He had apparently told her a lot about me.

She thanked the nurses at the desk, and approached us, obviously having recognized the captain.

"Captain, thank goodness," she said. "I rushed out the minute I hung up with you. They told me a doctor will be here shortly to tell us his condition. I'm so worried." She looked like she had been crying already, and was about to cry again. I felt so terrible for her.

She seemed to acknowledge my presence just now, and by the look on her face, she knew who I was.

"You must be Rebecca," she said sweetly through a sniffle.

I gave her a sad smile back. "Hi, Ms. Hanson."

"Oh, sweetheart, you can just call me Margaret."

Then she walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me, holding me in a tight embrace. I was caught off guard for a split second, but I slowly returned the gesture. It was comforting to be hugged, and it reminded me of hugging my own mother. I felt myself begin to tear up a bit, but this time I let the warm tears stream down my cheeks.

When we finally pulled away, we were both sniffling messes. Margaret and I let out stifled laughs as she reached in her purse and handed me a tissue, and then took one out for herself as well.

"I'm sorry to have our first meeting be in a situation like this," she said, between sniffles. "I've heard so much about you from Tommy."

"I've heard a lot about you as well. I was so looking forward to meeting you at Christmas dinner. Tom says you make the best Christmas cookies." I smiled as I said the last part, thinking of how much he insisted on that fact. God, he was such a dork. Thinking about him made me start tearing up again.

Luckily, just at that moment, the others returned, coffee in hand. Doug handed me mine.

"Here, Becca," he said softly.

"Thanks."

I was grateful for the warm drink. As soon as I took the first sip, I instantly felt calmer.

Right as everyone had finished handing out coffees and greeting Margaret, the doctor came over to our group.

"Ms. Hanson?"

Margaret turned around."Doctor. Is my son okay?" She asked worriedly.

"It's kind of hard to say right now," he began. "He was shot in his stomach, right below his chest."

Margaret began to sob, so I hugged her again, needing the comfort myself.

"He is in a coma right now. But we are hopeful that he will make it."

I was heartbroken.

"Can we see him?" I asked.

The doctor nodded. "You may all go in if you wish."

Fuller thanked the doctor and he left.

"Alright, how about we let Ms. Hanson go in first, so she can have some time with her son alone. Then all of us will go after her."

Everyone seemed to agree with this idea, and Margaret was especially grateful. After getting the room number from the desk, she left.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Finally, about 15 minutes later, Margaret returned. She looked sad, like she had been crying again. After we all said our goodbyes to her and Fuller told her to get some rest and call if she needed anything, she went home. She gave me one last hug as she was walking out, and I could tell she liked me, which made me happy, albeit the situation.

After she left, we all went up to the third floor where we were told Tom was. It was silent in the elevator ride up, and I could feel everyone's anxiety, making mine even worse. Finally, we all piled into the small room. I had told myself that I was going to be fine, and that I needed to stay calm, but it all seemed to fly out the window when I saw him laying in that bed.

I gasped at the scene, and my hand flew to my mouth in shock and horror. Tommy, my strong, selfless, sweetheart of a boyfriend Tommy, lay there, in a hospital bed. His body looked so lifeless, with his dishelved hair, and his skin so pale and discolored. His eyes were closed, but it didn't look like a very peaceful rest. How could it be with all those wires attached to him? The whole sight was too overwhelming to look at, with the beeping of the monitors and my poor, sweet, Tommy laying there so helplessly. I looked around at everyone's expression. Fuller and Harry both looked somber, Doug looked absolutely distraught, and Judy had tears in her eyes.

I couldn't take it anymore. For the first time that entire night, I finally allowed myself to really cry. I broke down in tears, sobbing violently. I turned around to Doug, who held me in his arms as I cried hard against his shoulder. He rubbed my back affectionately, but it only made me more emotional, and I couldn't stop. I don't know how long we all stood there, but all I remember is crying until the sun came up.

-

Fun stuff right? Don't worry, it gets more fun next chapter! 😁

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