"I'm going to need you to come down to Evergreen State Hospital. We have Tom here. He's...he's been shot."
Everything seemed to shatter in that moment. Those words kept echoing in my head, over and over. I froze and let the phone slip from my hand.
"Miss Moore? Miss Moore, can you hear me?" Fuller's voice asked, sounding concerned. I could hear it, but I was in too much shock to answer.
He's in the hospital. He's been shot.
It felt like my worst nightmare had just come true. It was suddenly getting very hard to breathe-
"Rebecca? Are you there?"
Shaking, my hand reached for the phone, which was dangling by the cord from the table.
"Ye-yes, I'm here," I replied in a weak voice.
"Good," he said, sounding relieved. "I know this is a lot for you to take in right now, and you're probably freaking out, and that's all very understandable."
I took a deep breath in, and slowly let it out, trying to calm myself down.
It wasn't really working. Actually, I think I was about to cry.
"...But I'm going to need you to stay with me. Can you drive down to the hospital, or would you like me to send one of my officers to pick you up?"
I almost considered his offer, but I realized that I wanted to help Tom as much as possible. I wanted to be there for him, and I wanted to do that all by myself.
And plus, right now it felt like waiting for someone to pick me up was wasting time.
"No, no I can do it. I'll drive there myself."
"Alright then, I'll see you here in a few minutes."
"Okay." I answered, quickly hanging up the phone.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
I barely remembered what happened after that. I somehow threw something on over my pajamas and got in the car, driving to the hospital as fast as I could. I remember wanting to cry in that moment as well, but I didn't allow myself to because all that mattered was getting to that hospital.
When I finally arrived inside, I rushed to the front desk, and asked for Tom Hanson, despite being completely out of breath.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't release any information about him to anyone who isn't family, and we aren't sure about the exact status of his condition ourselves right now."
"Please... I'm his girlfriend..." I choked out breathily.
They looked sorry, but they still refused.
"Dammit," I muttered under my breath.
It was then that I noticed Tom's friends and captain all sitting in the corner, looking just as helpless as I was. They must have gotten the same answer. I slowly made my way over to them, waving slightly.
"Hey guys..." I said, with a slight smile. I was happy to see them, I didn't want to be here alone.
"Hey, Becca," Judy said softly, standing up to hug me. I tried not to cry as I wrapped my arms around her in return.
When we pulled away, I looked at the rest of the team. They all had somber looks on their faces, and I could tell how much Tom meant to all of them. Even the captain.
"Tommy's mother is on her way," Doug said. "Maybe when she gets here we'll finally BE ABLE TO GET SOME ANSWERS!" Doug emphasized the last part, saying it loudly so the nurses could hear.
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.
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Fun stuff right? Don't worry, it gets more fun next chapter! 😁
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