lucy gave an exasperated sigh when she woke up to her alarm clock ringing. she quickly shut it off and wrapped herself tighter in her disheveled blankets. she blinked several times and finally decided that being on time for roll call was more important than catching a few extra minutes of sleep. as she stood up, though, she felt a wave of nausea that caused her to sit back down quickly at the edge of her bed. confused, she paused for a few seconds and, deciding that she must have just stood up too fast, went on to get ready for the day.
"i made you some breakfast!" exclaimed tamara as lucy walked into the kitchen to pour herself some coffee. "is this another clip-tok recipe?" lucy raised an eyebrow at a cinnamon roll and scrambled egg concoction sitting on the counter. "noooo..." tamara giggled "just try it and then you can judge." lucy rolled her eyes and stabbed at the questionable breakfast with a fork "fine" she gingerly took a bite and almost spit it right back out. "oh.." she paused for a few seconds and forced herself to swallow "creative...." tamara rolled her eyes as lucy took a few more curtesy bites "don't want to be late!" lucy smiled "guess you'll have to finish it for me!" "no way!" tamara laughed and scraped the rest of the meal into the trash "see you later!" she called as lucy rushed out the door.
lucy climbed into her car feeling kind of sore. she was confused because, sure she worked out a few times this week but nothing too intense, and she hadn't eaten anything out of the ordinary for her, except for tamara's disaster of a breakfast this morning. as she drove to the station, she realized that she couldn't attribute her morning queasiness or sore abdomen to her period because it just ended last week. weird, she thought, probably just an off day. she parked her car and walked up to the briefing room.
morning chatter from her coworkers distracted lucy from her confusion... almost. she found herself in a daze before sargent grey dismissed the squad to their assignments. she shook her self back to the present and stood up with some effort and turned to nolan "hey where am i today?" she whispered quietly in hopes to not be overheard by grey who had definitely just finished giving her orders. "uh, with tim, like you have been all month?" replied nolan with some question in his voice. "everything okay, lucy?" he asked searching her face with a concerned look. "y-yeah" she shook her head "no, just making sure i heard right" she shrugged and turned to go prep their shop. she didn't even stop to banter with bradford on her way out the glass doors.
the queasiness lucy felt in her stomach hadn't gone away, and, in fact, lucy could swear it was becoming more nagging as the morning went on. when the distributing officer handed her equipment to load up into the shop, she winced at a soreness she felt in her middle. "you good?" aaron asked, overhearing lucy's small exertion. "yeah..." she trailed off "yeah, i'm fine..." she looked down at the gear she was carrying. "you know, actually, do you have any motrin?" she asked. "oh, yeah, for sure." aaron set down the duffle he was carrying and fished around inside for a few seconds before presenting lucy with a small bottle of pills. "thanks" lucy smiled and popped a couple into her mouth and washing it down with her coffee. "no sweat" aaron nodded and tossed the medicine back into his bag as he turned to set up his own shop for detective harper and himself. whatever it was, lucy, reasoned that some motrin couldn't hurt. maybe she was just sore from an intense foot chase or maybe having some leftover period cramps.
"you're driving today" tim exclaimed just as lucy was closing the back hatch of the shop. "sure" she agreed and made her way around to the left side of the suv. as they pulled out on the streets of la, lucy sent up a silent prayer that today would be calm. the partners made small talk ranging anywhere from predictions on calls they would have to respond to today to childhood memories. conversation came easy for these two, and they reveled in the comfort. tim noticed, though, that his talkative boot wasn't her usual, chipper self today. "everything okay, boot?" he asked turning to study her face. the corners of lucy's mouth slightly turned up at her nickname. "oh yeah" she answered way too quickly causing tim to raise his eyebrows. "why?" she feigned a confused look at her superior officer. "you just seem kind of quiet today" he shrugged not taking his eyes off her face. lucy internally scolded herself "oh, no, just a little sleepy still, that's all" she brushed off his question and making a note to herself to try to act more normal so tim wouldn't think she was a wimp for struggling with an upset stomach of all things. tim nodded slowly and turned back to face the road not entirely accepting his partner's words.
to lucy's relief, they drove around for almost an hour before driving by two men appearing to be pretty drunk and getting agitated with one another outside of a small gas station. lucy parked the shop and she and tim approached the two. "what's going on?" tim asked, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "i'm just trying to get what i'm owed!" spit one man looking intently at the younger looking man present. "i don't owe you shit" spat back the younger one "you're trying to rip me off" he threw his hands up at the older man "woah woah" lucy exclaimed and stepped in front of the his path. the other man was quick to lunge forward with a sloppy punch that caught lucy on her right side. she gasped feeling sudden pain spread through her stomach that took her breath away. "listen" tim stepped in quickly to push the men father apart, "unless you both want to be cited for public intoxication, i suggest you go your separate ways and walk home right now." the fact that lucy remained hunched over with her hand on her side breathing heavily did not go unnoticed by tim. grumbling, the men did as they were told, probably too drunk to put up much of an argument. lucy and tim watched as they turned separate ways and waited a few minutes to make sure they didn't try to pull anything slick. by now, lucy had straightened back up but was still trying to catch her breath quietly so as not to catch attention from her sargent. whatever it was, motrin wasn't helping, and lucy was definitely feeling worse by the hour. "you good, boot?" tim questioned her again "yeah, i'm fine" lucy said shortly turning to walk back to the car. not wanting to irritate her, tim nodded and followed suit.
lucy and tim responded to three or four more calls throughout the middle of the afternoon. each call was more difficult for lucy to focus on her responsibilities, and tim was starting to realize that something was really going on with his partner. "i can drive" tim offered wondering if there was something he could do to help his boot out. she had all but ceased their small talk, and only responded in short sentences when tim engaged in conversation with her. lucy shook her head "i'm alright" she answered taking a small bag of evidence to store in the back of the shop. when she went to close the hatch, though, she gasped at the pain she felt on her right side when reaching up to pull down the door. "lucy?" tim questioned as she reached down to hold her stomach. "hmm?" she asked squeezing her eyes shut and trying to take deep breaths to relax. "what's going on?" tim asked rounding his partner to face her head on. lucy opened her eyes "i'm alright, tim, i just..." she trailed off when tim gave her his signature eye brow raise that told her that he knew she wasn't being honest. she sighed "i just have been feeling a little off today." to her surprise, tim's face softened. "do you feel sick?" he asked "no" lucy was having trouble making eye contact with him "well, yes, but it's mostly my stomach, it just has been hurting all day... i probably ate something funny" she finished mumbling. "do you want me to take you back to the station?" tim asked "no, i'm alright, i just need to suck it up" lucy chucked but quickly stopped realizing that even laughing was now beginning to feel painful. "if you need to go back, you tell me" tim looked lucy directly in her eyes, and she nodded in response. tim reached up and pulled the hatch down and walked to the passenger door. lucy took a deep breath, willing her discomfort to disappear, and made her way to the driver's side.
lucy was feeling worse and worse as she and tim pulled over at some food trucks for a late lunch. she couldn't imagine putting anything in her mouth, so she sipped on water as much as she could while her partner finished off a cheeseburger. "chen, you should eat" tim pushed his plate with fries on it towards her. "i'm just not hungry" lucy said trying to sound as normal as possible. she humored tim by choking down two fries, but she was certain she would see them again later. lucy was counting down the hours until the end of her shift which was very out of character for her.
suddenly, when taking a corner slightly too fast, it happened: lucy's stomach flipped, and she was sure that if she didn't get out of the car, tim would be having her scrub the shop from top to bottom. "chen?" tim asked when she didn't answer, he repeated himself, "boot, you there?" tim asked shaking lucy from her thoughts. she pressed her lips together not trusting herself to open her mouth to answer. "chen are you—" she whipped the shop over to the side of the road cutting tim off. she threw it in park and flung the door open just in time to retaste her french fries and the interesting breakfast combo from this morning. tim quickly reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt giving lucy the freedom to lean father out of the shop. "boot..." tim sighed, not annoyed but growing concerned. tim reached into his side door and retrieved a plastic water bottle. he unscrewed it and reached over to pass it to lucy. feeling the nudge, she reached back with a shaky hand to grab it. "now we're switching" tim said as more of an order than a suggestion. he let himself out of the passenger side and walked around to meet lucy, careful to step over the mess she left on the ground. lucy was gasping to catch her breath while wiping off her face with the back of her hand. "you gotta tell me what's going on" tim said firmly but so gently that it caught lucy off guard. she took a shaky breath and tried to compose herself "my stomach has been feeling worse and worse the whole day" she explained pausing to take a deep breath to calm herself down "aaron gave me motrin, but it did nothing, and now i feel dizzy" she signed "i'm sorry, i—" tim cut her off "you have nothing to be sorry for, but i think we should get you to the hospital" lucy quickly shook her head "i'm sure i just ate something funny" she reasoned "i will be fine after i get some sleep." lucy moved to stand up but groaned at the pain and dizziness she felt causing her to settle back into her seat. "not a chance" tim's voice argued betraying the concern he felt for his partner "let's get you to the other side, and i'll take you to get checked out." lucy frowned but agreed to let tim help her stand. she wobbled as her feet hit the ground, and tim instinctively put his hand on her side to steady her "AH!" lucy exclaimed causing him to back off immediately "i'm sorry, lucy" tim quickly apologized offering her his hand for her to use to steady herself. tears sprung to lucy's eyes "i-i'm fine" she tried unsuccessfully to assure him. as he helped her climb into the passenger seat, he reassured her that they would head straight to the hospital. no sooner than the promise left his mouth, a radio call from harper came through reporting shots fired at her location. tim sighed and looked at his partner who was beginning to curl over herself in the seat next to him "we're close, we h-have t-to go" lucy mumbled. "no— you need to get medical attention" tim argued "this could be something bad," but lucy shook her head and took a deep breath while reaching for her radio "seven adam nineteen is in route, show us responding." "chen, this is non-negotiable" tim said reaching for his own radio "i'll be fine" lucy huffed giving tim a stern look. he wasn't angry, he was scared. scared that something was actually wrong with his partner. he knew she didn't want to be seen as weak, but he wanted to know she was okay. without a word, tim threw the shop in drive and sped toward harper's location with their sirens blaring.
lucy felt every single bump the shop ran over during the eight minute commute to help their squad. she tried her best to smother her noises, but she couldn't help letting out a gasp at every pothole that caused the car to jolt. "chen..." tim trailed off not knowing how to express to her that she was making him more and more nervous "we are going straight to the er as soon as we help harper and thorson" he said quickly willing them to get there faster.
tim slammed on the breaks bringing the shop to a halt outside of a small farm house next to detective harper's already parked shop. chen and bradford hurried out of the car with guns at the ready carefully approaching the house. "we'll go in through the back" harper called as she and thorson made their away around the side of the house. "lapd open up" tim called before quickly kicking down the door so that he and lucy could find their suspect. "clear" lucy called entering the living room. "bedroom's clear" tim echoed beginning to place his gun in it's holster. just then, the two heard a rustling outside the window and saw a young man in plaid bolt away from the house "eyes on suspect, pursuing north on foot" lucy quickly radioed as she sprinted out of the house to follow him. tim was right on her heels not letting her or the man out of his sight. as her feet slammed against the pavement, lucy felt like she might collapse at any second. and to her relief, just as she felt she might lose her chance to catch her suspect, an unknowing woman parked on the side of the road opened the door of her car causing the suspect to collide with the car door and crumple to the ground. not having time to react, lucy tripped over the man, causing her to tumble onto the sidewalk and roll on the grass with a loud groan. "chen!" tim yelled from behind her stopping quickly to place handcuffs on their suspect. thankfully aaron was right behind him, and, realizing that tim's attention was needed elsewhere, he helped the suspect to his feet and informed him that he was under arrest for attempted man slaughter and resisting arrest.
"lucy" tim gasped rushing to address his partner who was curling up on herself on the ground gasping loudly. lucy couldn't respond as the pain in her right side was suddenly becoming overwhelming. she choked back sobs as she tried to orient herself to the direction of tim's voice. "hey— hey" he tried to encourage her to look at him "we got him, luce" tim said softly approaching her "you got him." tim tried to support lucy so that she could sit up, but that earned him a painful yelp from his partner. "what's going on?" harper quickly rushed up to the pair as thorson led the suspect away. "she's been having this stomach pain all day" tim briefly looked up at the detective before returning his attention to his boot. lucy was gasping for breath with tears running down her face. "i-it h-hurts" she choked out attempting to curl further inward on herself. "lucy, we need to get you some help" tim said in a rushed voice placing his hands on her shoulders again "you've got to let me move you."
understanding the urgency, harper radioed for an ambulance to join the scene for the young officer. tim managed to help lucy sit up, although she was so exhausted and in pain that she was almost fully leaning her body weight onto tim. tim instinctively wrapped his arms around his parter and braced his legs on either side of her to offer her something solid to lean against as well as try to ease any amount of pain he could. "the ambulance will be here any minute, luce" he mumbled into her hair. he felt lucy nod her head into his chest that was now wet with her tears. "lucy, honey" nyla knelt down to their level "where does it hurt?" she asked gently. between sobs, lucy choked out "m-my si- ahh" she hissed leaning further into her partner "her right side" tim finished while readjusting his hold on lucy "she was feeling nauseous too right before we responded to this call" he added kicking himself for letting her suffer for so long without forcing her to get medical attention. "bradford" nyla said quietly "you know that could be her appendix." tim's eyes grew wide. of course, he thought, why did he let lucy talk him about of getting help for her. now she was in pain, and he couldn't do anything but hold her while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.
"how much longer?" tim impatiently asked harper as lucy continued to choke out sobs against his chest. just then, she began shivering. not even that, tim felt lucy's entire body begin to vibrate in his arms. tim's worried eyes snapped up to detective harper's "what's going on?" he was suddenly wishing that his know-it-all boot was coherent enough to tell him what was happening to her. "she either has a fever or is going into shock" nyla responded quickly stripping off the thin jacket she was wearing. "here" she handed it to him who adjusted his grip to help wrap the material around his partner. lucy groaned at the lack of contact struggling against tim to move her. "luce, i've got to warm you up" tim urged her to calm down "n-nooo" she groaned not willing to give up the warmth that tim's body provided. tim managed to get the jacket around the part of lucy's body that wasn't resting on him and began rubbing his hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm her through friction. just then, the ambulance showed up, and tim sighed in relief as nyla waved them over to their location. "lucy, we are going to get you some help" tim assured her as he began to stand up with her in his arms. however lucy stopped shaking and gave no indication that she heard tim's words.
"lucy?" he paused looking over her face "luce?" he exclaimed louder. seeing the paramedics roll out a stretcher, he rushed a very still lucy over to it and gently laid her down "she just stopped responding. she was shaking and crying and it's her right side and and..." tim trailed off fully panicked for the first time that day. if something happened to lucy... "she is going to be okay, tim" harper tried to comfort her friend as best she could, but she knew that lucy needed help quickly. her words rendered useless as tim's breathing picked up and he could feel himself begin to panic. what if she wasn't okay? what if help came too late? as the paramedics were loading the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, tim heard a loud cry. "TIM" lucy gasped out blindly reaching out her arm "w-where where's..." lucy had suddenly regained consciousness, and she gasped in pain as one of the paramedics tried to steady her so she wouldn't hurt herself. her touch caused lucy to scream sending chills down tim's back. wasting no time, he rushed to her side and put his hand in hers running his other hand through her hair desperate to calm her down "im here. i'm here, lucy." her panicked eyes found his. "you coming?" one of the paramedics asked quickly. tim didn't look away from lucy or think twice about his abandoned shop. he knew someone would take care of it. he gave a quick nod. nyla watched the doors close behind tim feeling anxious for two of her closest coworkers. "you take their shop back to the station" she called to aaron who had jogged up to join her "i'll take ours and start processing our guy."
although the nearest hospital was just over ten minutes away, the ride felt like eternity. lucy was shivering again and nearly inconsolable as she curled over in pain. "i'm sorry, i'm so sorry" tim repeated over and over again trying to comfort lucy while trying to help the paramedics strap lucy onto the gurney "shh... lucy, it's alright, you're going to be alright— can't you give her something?" he snapped at one of them causing lucy to wince at his words "we need to assess her first " one of the paramedics snapped back. "her appendix might be rupturing, but we need to know for sure" the paramedic explained "hey, officer chen, i am going to feel around a bit" she warned lucy before beginning to press her hands around lucy's abdomen. "ahhhh" lucy cried "s-stop stop pl-please stop" she sobbed immediately letting go of tim's hand and trying to push the woman away. the parametric glanced at tim. "hey lucy" tim said gently reaching for both of her hands "she's just trying to figure out what's going on" he gave her hands a small squeeze and nodded at the paramedic. "look at me, luce" tim encouraged sweetly "keep your eyes on me, i got you" he assured his partner while the woman resumed palpating lucy's stomach for information, tim firmly held lucy's hands in his and tried to keep her still as she squirmed and cried out in pain; as much as it killed him to watch, his eyes never left hers, and he tried his best to remain calm for her. "i think it's her appendix" the young woman agreed stepping back and called to her partner "call ahead and have them start prepping an or— eta 4 minutes." not willing to break contact with his partner, tim knelt down so that he was at lucy's level. he secured his arm behind lucy's back allowing her to curl into his chest again "we're almost there" he whispered not knowing what else to say "just hang on a little longer." "t-tim i-i.." lucy trailed off squeezing her partner's hands desperately for support "luce, we're almost there, and the doctor's going to make you feel all better" tim promised pressing lucy as close to his chest as the gurney would allow. she nodded and choked out a few sobs as the ambulance whipped into the emergency entrance.
as soon as the doors opened, tim stood to help roll the gurney out of the ambulance. lucy gave a panicked cry at the lack of contact and blindly reached out to feel for her partner. "luce, i'm here" tim assured her grabbing her hand tightly "i'm right here, i got you" he leaned over the stretcher allowing lucy to grip his hand with one of hers and her other hand blindly finding his now wet uniform to fist onto. "they are going to make you feel better" tim promised helping the paramedics push lucy through the entrance. "30 year old female possible appendix rupture" the female paramedic announced as they entered. "or 2" a nearby physician responded and began assisting the small team in directing the gurney down a stark white hallway. "sir, you have to wait 0ut—" "NO" screamed lucy cutting off the physician tightening her grip on the sargent. "t-tim pl-please don't go" lucy's breathing was beginning to become rapid, and her body was beginning to thrash on the stretcher. "i'm here" tim bent down and assured his boot "i've got you" he new he needed to keep her calm so she didn't hurt herself anymore. his eyes desperately searched for one of the medics to tell him what to do. although he wanted to, he knew he couldn't come back to the operating room, but he couldn't let her go, not like this.
suddenly, as though they read his mind, a short woman with a mask appeared "we can sedate her here" she explained quickly reaching toward lucy with a clear mask. "honey, this is going to put you right to sleep" the woman explained. "n-no —ahh" lucy tried to fight back away from the outstretched hand. "lucy, hey, luce" tim tried to calm her down gently "hey this is going to help you feel better" he gave her hand a squeeze with one hand and soothingly ran his other hand through her hair. "take a deep breath, this is going to help it stop hurting" tim assured his partner. he could see the fear in lucy's eyes as she stared up at him breathing heavily. "i promise, luce" tim leaned down to rest his forehead on hers. "i'll be right here when you get out."
she took a need breath and finally nodded, trusting her partners words. the anesthesiologist quickly moved the mask so that it covered lucy's nose and mouth. lucy's panicked eyes were still locked on tim's "i'll be right here when you wake up" he vowed again watching her watery eyes slowly blink and finally close. her fingers slowly relinquished their grip on his uniform and hand and he gently placed her arms at her side. "we'll come find you as soon as she's out, sargent bradford" one of the physicians assured tim as he slowly backed away from the gurney. he watched as the small team rushed lucy down the hallway and out of sight through some large double doors. tim slowly backed up leaning against the wall and sunk down onto the floor.
tim had no idea how much time had passed. he was replaying the events of the day over and over again in his head. lucy was struggling before they even left the station. he should have been more attentive. he should have dragged her to the er to get help. how could he have put lucy in so much danger. tim ran a sweaty hand over his face. she had to be okay. there was no way lucy couldn't be okay. a vibration in his pocket interrupted tim from his spiraling thoughts. he pulled out his phone to see it was angela. he quickly answered relieved to hear his best friend's voice "tim where are you" angela wasted no time. she knew her friend needed comfort. "i..." tim looked around the hallway "i don't know" he mumbled rising to his feet. he wandered to the entrance of the hallway and turned to see if he recognized anything familiar. as a cop, he had been to the hospital too many times to count, but this time was different. "tim" he heard a familiar voice and whipped around to find where it was coming from. seeing angela jog up to him, he put his phone back into his pocket. she embraced her friend as soon as she reached him feeling tim's shocked body slowly receive the comfort she was trying to offer. "nyla told us what happened" lopez explained "let's go find you a seat" she gently tugged on her friend's arm to lead him to the waiting room. tim still had barely spoken a word when lopez urged him to sit in an empty corner of a room with several chairs and a table full of old magazines. "she..." tim trailed off "lucy is..." "she is going to be okay, tim." angela assured him placing her hand on his arm "she is a fighter, and she is going to pull through this just like she has pulled through everything else." tim nodded blankly "i should have brought her here sooner" he shook his head refusing to look angela in the eye "she was struggling all day, but she said she was fine, and i believed her" he put his head in his hands "i shouldn't have let her talk me out of—" "tim" lopez interrupted his rambling "lucy is a grown woman, and she can make her own decisions— this is not your fault." tim didn't answer for several seconds before turning to angela "i can't lose her" he said quietly.
close to two hours later, a woman in a white coat entered the waiting room "officer chen?" tim and angela rapidly stood up to approach the physician "lucy is fine, she is still asleep, but she is being moved to a recovery room right now" for the first time tim let himself release the breath he had been holding for the majority of the day "can i..?" "yes, you can see her" the woman smiled softly "her appendix did rupture— mostly likely when she fell, but we were able to remove all the toxins from her abdominal cavity. she is very lucky." tim sighed "thank you" he said earnestly and quickly went to find lucy's room with angela trailing right on his heels.
as tim reached lucy's room, angela stoped him before he could open the door "give me your keys" she directed. confused, tim slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his set of keys "i am going to go grab you some clothes and something to eat" angela explained holding her had out "and feed kojo because i know you haven't thought about anything else all day." tim gave his friend a grateful smile; she was right, his only thought had been lucy, and he didn't even realize that he was fully dressed in his uniform with his duty belt still on. "thank you" he placed the keys in her waiting hand. without another word, angela turned and left tim standing in front of lucy's door.
he slowly opened it so not to wake her and saw that she was still sleeping peacefully with about four too many pillows around her shoulders and head. her face looked so calm-- so different than the scene tim had been replaying in his mind for the last two hours. he quietly pulled up a chair and scooted next to her bed, reaching out to grab lucy's hand. he gave it a small squeeze "hey boot" he said softly "you can open those eyes now." lucy stirred and slowly began to blink her eyes open. suddenly her breathing hitched and she tried to sit up to take in her unfamiliar surroundings. tim was quicker, though, and he jumped up and placed both hands on her shoulders gently pushing her back into bed "luce, it's okay, you're safe, you're in the hospital" he explained quickly trying to answer the questions he knew she had before she hurt herself by moving too much. "what..." lucy looked around and eventually found tim's eyes as he sat back down and pulled his chair closer "what happened?" she asked. "it was your appendix" tim explained "it ruptured, but the surgeons took good care of you, and now you just need to focus on resting and feeling better." lucy nodded slowly realizing that tim was still dressed in his uniform and looked completely exhausted "have you been here the whole time?" lucy raised her eyebrow "uh, well" tim coughed causing lucy to grin "i made a promise" he said seriously "and i like to keep my promises." lucy signed and leaned back into her mountain of pillows "you don't have to stay" she said quietly "i know" he smirked "but i am going to." a feeling of calmness settled over lucy for the first time that day. she felt an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness causing her eyes to begin to droop. tim noticed she was fighting sleep and reached out to place his hand on hers "you can sleep, luce" he assured her "i'll still be right here." lucy nodded as she closed her eyes and interlaced her fingers with his.