Under Cover

4 MONTHS LATER

I stood before the gravestone that I had visited every day the past few months, still unable to grasp the fact that the person who rested underneath was gone. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about the night they died and part of me still felt like it was my fault. If I hadn’t been so obsessed with finding my father it would have never happened.

“I'm so sorry… I know you would tell me it's not my fault but I still feel like it is.” I sniffled as I wiped my eyes free of the tears I had been crying for the past ten minutes.

“Oh, I finally get to be free of my rookie status today.” I laughed slightly. “Dad and my boyfriend are throwing a big party afterwards. Everyone will be there, but it won’t be the same without you.”

I sighed deeply and placed the flowers on the headstone before leaning down to rest my head against it for a moment.

“I love you, Mum.” I whispered.

I stayed there for a few minutes until I someone walked up and spoke.

“You alright, hun?” My dad asked as he rubbed my back.

“Yeah, I'll be fine. Lets go.” I said as I stood up and walked back to the car with him.

We drove off and I took the time during our drive to calm down and touch up my makeup.

“Of course I had to start crying before we pick him up today. It's supposed to be a happy day.” I said as I touched up my eyeliner.

“He'll understand, kiddo. He always does.” he smiled then pulled up to the rehab clinic a few minutes later.

The two of us walked inside the familiar building and went straight to the room we had been visiting the past couple months. The smile returned to my face as I was met by my boyfriend who walked over on the crutches he had been relying on the past few months, but before he could get all the way he made me stop a few feet from him while he did the same. I watched as an excited grin made it's way onto his face as he dropped the crutches then walked over to me the rest of the way completely normal and picked me up. I let out a squeal and giggled, wrapping my arms around his neck as I gave him a deep kiss.

“Look at you walking like a young man again. I won’t be able to call you old anymore.” I teased with a giggle as I looked down into his green eyes.

“Good. I'm sick of it. I'll show you just how young I am when we get home.” he smirked.

“Still here.” My dad cleared his throat and I blushed deeply as Harry set me on my feet. “We better get going.”

“Good idea.” Harry chuckled as he grabbed my hand and followed me out of the building he had spent most of his time in the past few months. After he miraculously survived getting shot twice and stabbed he had some recovery time for his gunshot wounds followed by physical therapy to get function back into his leg. He had to have a second surgery to repair some of the damage, but luckily things went well and he was finally back to normal.

My dad drove us to the station where they welcomed Harry back with open arms, excited to see their fellow officer fully recovered. As everyone chatted with him I went to the locker room to get ready for the day. After getting dressed I started to walk out, but paused when I saw the empty locker where my best friend used to get ready. My heart ached as I thought about all the good times we had together that were just lies.

After Dylan I still found it extremely hard to trust people and only Jensen, Harry, and my father were the ones I truly trusted and could open up to. With everyone else I constantly had my guard up even though I had known most of them my whole life. Then again I thought I knew Dylan, too, and look how that turned out. My mind wandered back to watching him get shot in the head and seeing his blank eyes staring at me, pulling me back into that day which was the worst day of my life.

*4 MONTHS AGO*

“Charlie, come on. You have to hurry if you want to catch up to them.” Jensen said as he pulled me to my feet.

I barely noticed when he helped me into the police car and sped after the ambulance because I was too busy staring down at my hands which were covered in blood.

Harry’s blood…

When we arrived at the hospital it felt like everything was moving in slow motion as I rushed inside after the paramedics, watching as they took Harry into one of the emergency rooms to get him stable enough to move up to surgery. They cut off his clothes and quickly pulled out the bullets, trying to stop any bleeding. The heart monitors he was hooked up to held a steady pace and I tried to run in as they shocked him, but my father rushed over to hold me back.

I screamed and sobbed, watching his body jolt with each shock. The monitor stayed the same for too long, but when it finally beeped steadily they immediately rushed him up to surgery leaving me behind. I collapsed in my father’s arms, struggling to breath and hold myself together. I had already lost my mother tonight. I couldn’t lose the man I loved, too.

We waited for hours and eventually my father and one of the nurses convinced me to go clean up. Jensen had brought me some clothes from home so I took them to the room they were going to put Harry in so I could shower. His parents and sister were arriving soon so it would probably be best to be cleaned up and not covered in his blood anyway. I threw away my dress then stepped under the water, watching as the clear water turned red. It took a moment before I finally started to scrub the blood away quickly, needing to get it off my body as fast as possible. When it was finally done I choked out a sob and just sat on the floor of the shower and cried.

I'm not sure how long I was there but by the time I finally pulled myself together Harry's family was already there along with most of the station. Everyone turned to look at me and I ignored them as I walked up to Anne, feeling my eyes water again.

“I'm so sorry, Anne.” I whisper.

“Oh honey, come here.”

She stood up and pulled me into a tight hug, allowing me to cry into her shoulder like I had all night. I fell apart for the hundredth time and it wasn't until the doctor came back that we pulled away from each other.

“It was a pretty complicated surgery, but he should be just fine.” he smiled.

I sighed in relief, watching Anne and Gemma grab their things so they could go see him. I intended on letting them see him first but Anne grabbed my hand and pulled me along with them, knowing I wanted to be there as well. When we walked into the room and I saw him lying there breathing on his own I felt such relief. I walk over to the opposite side his mother was standing on and slipped my hand into his, bringing it to my lips as I kissed his knuckles gently.

“This is the second time he’s saved my life… I owe your son everything, Anne. It took him getting shot for me to tell him I loved him. I should have said it sooner.”

My voice broke as I spoke, looking down at his bruised face as I gently stroked his cheek.

“You can say it from now on. He’s okay now and I'll be happy knowing he has a girl like you who will love him and keep him safe.” She said softly.

He woke up later the next morning when I was sleeping in the chair beside his bed with my head resting beside him on the bed. Seeing him awake brought tears to my eyes again and I immediately told him how much I loved him. Every day after that I was by his side at the hospital since I had to take some leave anyway to see a therapist. I still went to her because I knew I had some serious issues left to deal with and it was a slow but steady process. The nightmares of that night still haunted me, especially after seeing my mother’s body at her funeral. Knowing how she died just killed me and I wish I could have been there to protect her.

“Charls? You okay?”

I turned to see Harry standing in the doorway watching me with a concerned expression on his face. He knew just how bad things were for me and he was there every night when I woke up crying or screaming from nightmares.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” I said as I wiped away the tears I didn’t realize had fallen until now.

He didn’t say anything and instead just pulled me into a tight hug which I immediately melted into. I snuggled into his arms for a long moment, feeling peace once again. He was my saving grace and without him I would be in much worse shape.

“Alright let’s go. Can’t be late for the ceremony.” I said as I looked up at him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He smiled.

The two of us walked out into the main office area where everyone had gathered with the other rookies. There was one of us missing, but that didn’t stop the ceremony from going on. The training officers stood in front of their rookies and I couldn’t help but smile at Harry as he stood across from me with an equally wide smile on his face. I found it funny how we first met, but now here we were so madly in love and happy together. He stepped forwards when it was his turn and replaced my rookie badge with a normal one, cutting off the tie us rookies had to wear with our uniforms. My smile grew as the station erupted in whistles and claps, unable to help myself as I threw my arms around Harry’s neck and hugged him tightly. I giggled as he spun me around before setting me down on my feet.

“Move in with me.” He murmured as he smiled down at me.

“What?” I asked in surprise.

“Your dad is back and selling the house plus you stay with me anyway. Move in with me.” he said.

I smiled softly and gave him a quick kiss.

“Okay.”

Notes