CHAPTER TWENTY ONE – High
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IT HAD BEEN A WEEK since Vienna found out about Eddie's fighting habits. On her lunch break she decide to go stop by the firehouse and see how he was doing.
"Hey, Vienna, what are you doing here?" Eddie asked stepping away from the fire truck.
"I just came to see how you were. How's therapy?" Vienna asked him.
"Uh, good I guess, it just feels like I was hit by a bus" He shrugged his shoulders, she chuckled slightly.
"I guess, that means it's working"
"I forgot to thank you for helping me. I shouldn't have been using fighting as a coping mechanism, I'm sorry" He told her as she gaze softened and she sighed.
"You don't need to apologize, Eddie. It's your fault" She assured putting her hand on his shoulder comforting him, he smiled slightly as heat rushed to his cheeks.
"Uh, d-did you leave your rookie in the car?" Eddie asked her changing the subject.
"Yeah, she's fine in AC's on. She's not a puppy" He chuckled, "And if I bring her in, all she'd talk about is the award she's getting later..." Vienna reaction changed when she saw Buck walking over to them as she trailed off from her sentence.
"Is Buck behind me?" Eddie questioned, she nodded. "I'll leave you guys alone" and Eddie walked away as Buck walked over.
"Vienna, please can we just talk" Buck said to her, she sighed and checked her watch.
"I can't, I left Summer in the car and she's like a puppy. She will overheat" She replied turning around and walked towards the shop as Buck followed her.
"Vienna...you can't keep ignoring me" He told her, she chuckled slightly.
"I can," She answered. She grabbed the handle of the cop car but the door didn't open. "Rossi, unlock the door" Rossi shook her head. "Rossi..."
"Talk, then I'll unlock the doors" Summer replied with a slight smirk.
"Fine" She sighed and turned around to Buck. "Yes?"
"Look, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I broke up with you and a regret it and I'm sorry, b-but can we at least be friends" Buck said to her, the blonde tucked her hair behind her ear thinking of a reply as she bit the inside of her cheek.
She huffed, "Just let me think about it, our lunch break is over" he nodded understanding and walked away as the blonde turned to cop car and glared at her rookie. "Open the door, now" she told her harshly and the raven-hair quickly unlocked the door. "I'm gonna make today hell for you"
"Oh, shit" Summer mumbled under her breath sitting back in her seat as Vienna got in the drivers side.
...
"My dad's coming to the ceremony" Rossi said to Vienna as the two walked towards the car they had pulled over.
"It's not a ceremony. It's a photo op with the Deputy Chief" Vienna corrected walking towards the drivers side.
"Okay. Still, it's a big deal to me. I'm proud of this"
"You should be" The blonde replied. "You know you were texting while driving, sir?"
"Oh, I just looked down at my map for a second while I was stopped at a red light" She looked at him with a look of disbelief.
"Yo, running late, smiley face, smiley face, boat" Summer said reading out his text.
"Yeah, okay, the boat was a typo" The man sighed, Vienna nodded.
"Yeah, it's so hard to focus on driving while you're texting"
"License and registration, please" She said to the man, he sighed opening the glove box and passed the papers to her as she walked over to the shop to run it.
"Looks like Trevor's on searchable probation for 11-300" The blonde told her rookie.
"Narcotics"
"Sir, step out of the vehicle" She told Trevor walking back over to him. "Today" he rolled his eyes and stepped out the car. "Step to the back of the vehicle. Arms on the trunk lid, spread your legs"
"There's a packaged powder in here!" Summer yelled checking the car while she searched the man's pocket. "It's wedged up in there, though. At least a kilo"
"Surprise, surprise. Sir, give me your hands" Reyes told him, the man huffed but listened and put his hands behind this back.
"Can't get it out"
"Relax" She assured, "They'll tear it apart, find out whatever it is"
"Uh..." Summer heard say from inside the car.
"You okay?" Reyes asked her. Summer stood up from the car as Vienna stared at the powder on her shirt.
Vienna chuckled a bit, "You got a little something on your shirt"
"Thanks" Rossi replied unamused dusting off the powder on her shirt.
...
"Arrest report done" Rossi said to her T.O. walking past her.
"Eager to get back out there?" The blonde asked her slightly impressed on how quickly she did the paperwork.
"Oh, I do have to add the CHP 180" She answered, opening the file again. "180...That is so weird. It's like a full turn. She did a 180, wow" She looked at her rookie confused. "I wonder if that was a coincidence or something that-"
"Summer" Vienna cut in, cutting the raven hair off. "What are you talking about?"
"Paperwork. Like, uh, formats. The data, you know?" She asked with a chuckle. "Have you ever really sat and thought about how much data we actually collect? Like, terabytes and terabytes of data our whole lives"
Vienna glanced at her rookies shirt and noticed the white powder of on her shift as Summer continue to ramble.
Oh shit, Vienna thought to herself realizing that Summer was high.
"Why don't you come with me?" Vienna asked grabbing her arm.
"Where. Why are you so rough?" Rossi asked her as she dragged Summer into the hallway.
"In here" closing the interrogation room door, she pulled out her touch and shined it Summer's eyes.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Summer asked her looking away.
"Look to the left" She ordered her rookie.
"Okay, look, you don't understand. That kind of computing power and all our data, we are just a few years away from being able to predict crime" Rossi rambled. Vienna gave her a confused look before shining the light in her eye again.
"Look to the left" She hummed out a yes and looked to the left. "Now right. It's like a couple flying saucers in there"
"What?" She asked looking in the mirror while Reyes pulled the flashlight away. "Oh my God. I'm high. On drugs" The younger woman said in a panic pacing around the room. "I-I did drugs!"
"Not on purpose-"
"No, no, I-I don't do drugs. I've never done drugs before" Rossi stammered out.
"Shocker"
"7-Adam-20, go to Channel 2" Grey said over Vienna's radio.
"Grey knows. He knows" She said panic filling her tone as her T.O gave her an unamused look.
"No, he doesn't" Reyes assured her, "But he will if you don't play it cool" grabbing her radio from her belt. "What is it, Sarge?"
"You got Officer Rossi with you?"
"Yes, sir" "I'm here" The two replied at the same time, Vienna shot her a glare "Sorry" She whispered.
"You and West will be receiving the special commendation alone"
"Uh, from the Deputy Chief. Right"
"Why? What happened to Tim?" Vienna asked slightly worried.
"He's been involved in an incident. He won't be attending"
"Copy that" She replied and put her radio back in her belt.
"I'm dead. It's over, I-" The raven hair paused taking a deep breath. "Is this what it feels like to be dead? It's not- it's not bad"
"Look. Don't panic, we'll get through this" The blonde said to her.
"Look, my dad will be there, with the Deputy Chief"
"Give me your weapon" Vienna told her.
"What? Why?" Summer questioned.
"'Cause you can't have a gun if you're high" Summer nodded and pulled her gun out of the hostler and passed it to Reyes. She quickly unloaded the gun and gave it back to her. "We're going to the hospital, get your blood tested. Keep your eyes forward as we leave the station and don't talk to anyone" She listened and looked away from Vienna. "You can talk to me"
"Copy that"
...
Officer Reyes and Doctor Sawyer watched Rossi pace around the hallway while mumbling to herself. "Um, she got some powder on her face- white powder and-" Vienna started to explain to her.
"You need to find out what drug she was exposed to" She finished, Vienna nodded.
"The guy we stopped had prior for PCP"
"PCP is fat-soluble. I mean, that stays in your system for a lifetime"
"Exactly. And if you can hallucinate at any time, you can't carry a gun. It's an automatic retirement, she'll be off the force" Reyes explained to her.
"I'll rush the tests"
"Wait, you don't have to report this, right?" She asked her.
"I'm precluded by HIPAA laws from discussing this with anyone" Grace replied, she nodded.
"Good, if the test comes back positive, I'll fill out an exposure form, but if it's nothing serious, I want to keep it quiet" She told her. Grace glanced behind the blonde, Vienna turned her head to see Summer talking to Tim. "Damn it" and she quickly rushed over to them. "Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Nothing" Tim said to her before turning back to Summer. "I'm not following. What were you saying?"
"Nothing, just some sci-fi movie she won't stop talking about. Go wait by the elevator" She ordered and Summer walked over to the elevator. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I rear-ended a citizen" Tim sighed.
"Bad?" She questioned, he nodded.
"She's in the ER. I don't know how it happened. It just..." Tim started, Vienna glanced over to Summer to see her talking to Buck.
"I got to go" She cut in and walked over to them. "Rossi, I said wait by the elevator"
"I am, see. Elevator" Nodding to the elevator, Reyes rolled her eyes.
"Is she high?" Buck asked furrowing his brows in confusion.
"Nope, she's perfectly fine" Vienna replied grabbing her rookies arm and walked away.
"Ow"
"We're taking the stairs" She told her, Summer groaned.
...
"How are you feeling?" The blonde asked walking into the breakroom where Summer was sat.
"My head is pounding, and my throat is on fire" She groaned as Vienna sat at the table.
"Sounds like you're coming down off whatever it was" Vienna told her.
"Hey" Grace chimed in walking into the room. "I was, uh, looking for Nolan. But since I'm running into you..."
"Not PCP. Please not PCP" Summer mumbled.
"It wasn't PCP" Grace assured her, Summer sighed of relief, "Or much of anything, really. It was horse vitamins and caffeine"
"It was bunk?" Vienna questioned. "But she's been high as a kite all day"
"An allergic reaction can mimic some of those symptoms and from there, the power of suggestion did the rest"
Vienna sighed giving her rookie a slight glare, Summer smiled nervously.
Written: 18/06/2023
Published: 31/07/2023
Word Count: 1772