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Jays POV
"Mollys?" Adam looks down at me. I nod, "of course" I smile weakly, covering a yawn with my hand. My head snaps up my when I see my partner walking out of the break room with yet another coffee, "you know, too many of those can kill you?" I smile weakly. She scoffs a laugh and sits down, "pfft, you're not that lucky" she jokes in return, and I raise an eyebrow, "seriously though, how many today?" I nod to the mug in her hands. She shrugs, "lost count" she yawns, looking down at the file in front of her. I pause for a beat and she glances up at me, "mollys?" I raise an eyebrow. She nods, "count me in" she smiles as Voight walks back into the room.
~
"You tripped?" Will raises an eyebrow. Imogen scoffs a laugh, "yeah" she scratches the back of her neck. Will laughs, but I can't understand how it even happened. We were both in pursuit of a suspect... one minute we were hot on his heels, and the next minute Imogen was on the floor. She said she tripped over a stone, but I ain't buying into it. I could've sworn she lost consciousness for a few seconds, but she begged me to drop it, she told me I was being dramatic. She's been off for a few weeks now, this isn't the first hiccup she's had, and I can't lie... I'm concerned. I had to cover for her yesterday when she missed a shot, IRT almost wrote her up for it. Imogen nods, downing the last of her beer, "I'll be right back" she sighs, sliding off the stool as she saunters over to the bathroom.
Everyone seems to be at mollys tonight. Fire, med, intelligence. Must've been a busy day for everyone. I look around, trying to spot my partner, although she's still nowhere to be seen. She left to go use the bathroom ten minutes ago and hasn't came back. Unfortunately, there's only one bathroom for the whole of mollys... so there's now an unhappy queue. I look at my brother, "Imogen's been gone a while" I point to the line of drunk people waiting to relieve themselves.
"I'm sure she's fine" Will raises his eyebrows at me. I scoff, "what? Ten minutes is a long time" I dismiss his knowing glare. Me and Imogen have always been close, we've been partners for three years now, what else can he expect from me?
Another five minutes pass and I shake my head, "something ain't right" I push will out of the way so I can get out. Will looks at the man angrily banging on the bathroom door, "hey Hermann, you got a key to the bathroom?" He calls out as I push my way towards the bathroom. I shove the man out of the way as he scoffs, "the hell she doing in there?" He rolls his eyes. I shove him again and pull a face as I knock on the door, "Imogen? You good in there?" I call out. Silence.
"What's going on?" Hermann pushes through the crowd, followed by my brother. I knock again, "Imogen's in there... somethings wrong" I move out of the way as he unlocks the door. He quickly pushes it open, only to find my partner laying on the floor with a small pool of blood surrounding her head and some blood on the sink. Will shoves me out of the way, "call an ambulance!" He yells, "now!" His voice is panicked and I can't help but slide to the floor next to him.
Sylvie Brett rushes into the bathroom and pushes me out of the way, helping will wrap up the laceration on Imogen's head with a hand towel and my heart is beating out of my chest. I stand up as Hermann puts a hand on my shoulder, "she must've slipped, passed out maybe" Brett looks at Will, "weak pulse, how long for that ambo?" My brother yells. Kevin steps into the doorway, "3 minutes" he responds. Brett nods, "she'll be okay..." she looks at Will, who slowly and unsteadily nods at her, "yeah" I don't believe him. I know my brother well enough to know that he's lying...
~
"How is she?" Hank approaches me with a worried expression. I shrug, "we don't know, she's still undergoing a few tests" I shake my head. Adam runs a hand over her face, "she hasn't been looking too good recently, maybe she caught a bug or something" he opposes. Kevin shrugs, "she'll be okay" he tries to reassure himself, although we all find ourselves silently praying.
Around an hour later Will appears with dr Marcel, "she's awake" he announces. I let out a small sigh, "what happened?" I frown deeply. Dr Marcel looks around at the small crowd we've formed, "it's an ongoing condition, but since Imogen's awake and responsive I can't discuss her medical records with you. You can see her, but not all at once. She's exhausted" he informs us. We all look at each other in confusion. An ongoing medical condition? I didn't know she was sick. Hank looks at me, "you know about anything?" I enquire. He shakes his head, "no" he mutters. Kim smiles, "you should go" she nods at us both.
Myself and hank find ourselves entering Imogen's room as she turns to look at us. She sighs, "did he tell you?" She groans. We look at each other and shake our heads, and Imogen purses her lips as she points to the chairs next to her bed.
We sit down and she rolls over to face us as the bandage on her head moves slightly, "it's been going on for a year, doctors don't know what it is" she begins and I can only widen my eyes. She doesn't meet my gaze, instead she stares at the floor, "last month my insurance company changed their policy, and nowhere else covers me. I had to drop them. I couldn't find anywhere else, and even if I did IRT would've suspended me" she shrugs. Hank looks at me in confusion, "I'm always run down, I have no energy and I don't know what to do. They put it down to chronic illness, but they can't give me any answers. I thought I could manage it, but clearly not" she scoffs a laugh.
"Why didn't you tell us? A year? Imogen, that's a long time to struggle on your own" I shake my head in disbelief. She finally looks at me with tears in her eyes, "I had doctors telling me it was all in my head, so I started to believe that. Nobody else needed to be burdened by me, they're my problems... I just thought I could get through it alone" she wipes an escaped tear away. Hank leans forward and squeezes her knee, "you're gonna take a few months off and focus on getting better. Your spot in intelligence will always be there, no matter the circumstances" he nods supportively. Imogen bites her lip to surprise her emotions, as hank leaves us alone, "He's probably going to threaten ever doctor out there, you know that right?" I smirk.
She stares at me for a few seconds, "you could've told me" I grab her hand. She nods, "I know, and I should've. It's just hard... finding the words to explain it. Some days I feel fine, and other days I can't even get out of bed. I missed that shot yesterday because I blacked out, and I shouldn't have put you in that position. I owe you my life" she sniffles. I shake my head, "you can make it up to me by letting me help you" I sigh. She frowns, "jay..." she shakes her head. I raise my eyebrows, "immy, we nearly lost you today. Let me help you" I squeeze her hand. She pauses for a second, "okay" she whispers. I smile, "we stick together, right?" I lean my forehead on her hand. She laughs, "always" she places a hand on the side of my head. We stick together, always.
𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚜
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