Code Blue..Chapter three....Sorry it's taken me so long to get this one done, I've had the flu for the past few days so send some healthy vibes my way please! Thanks for such a positive response to this story. Someone asked me in an email if I was a police or fireman I am neither actually. That's way too heroic for me. I'm just an ordinary guy working with sick people, that's it.
Enjoy!
Blessings
Taylor.
Ian*
After my very long shift with dick head Trip, I wanted to go see Ryan but I was worried about his reaction plus saying or doing something else that would freak him out. I decided on going home to take a shower and hopefully get some sleep then see him when I was rested and thinking clearly. Normally riding my bike lifted my spirits but as I rode home it did little to lighten my mood. I kept playing the scene of Ryan launching himself off the stool to get away from me over and over, torturing myself.
As a teenager I knew I was a little different from most of my friends and sure I had had crushes before but I had never allowed anything to happen.
In spite of my friends telling me that I was way too softly spoken to become a police officer I did it anyway. I got to laugh at most of them at my graduation ceremony and I have to admit that even I was surprised that I had actually passed all of my training.
I had worked in a few other precincts before but I never really felt connected to any of them. My partners had never taken the time to show me the ropes and I was treated like a nuisance. Ryan was the first experienced officer that took me under his wing and made sure that I was doing ok and I wasn't even his partner. That alone showed me what kind of man he was.
So naturally I had fallen hard. For the first time I had allowed my guard to come down and the guy that I had fallen for has not only lost his partner but the man he loved. That was just my kind of luck! Ryan was a train wreck at the moment and in spite of the chance that I was going to get badly hurt I just couldn't leave him when he needed someone the most.
I arrived home and dragged myself inside. I thought about a shower but I was just too tired to care. I took the time to slip off my shoes and then collapsed into bed. I was asleep in minutes.
Ryan*
My head was fuzzy and I assumed it was from either my fever or the medication they were giving me, either way it felt great. I didn't even know what day it was but some of the guys had stopped by to see how I was doing. The one person I was hoping to visit hadn't yet but there was always hope. This had never happened to me before, having feelings for two men at once. I loved Mark more than Ian but maybe that was because I had known Mark for so long? If I gave Ian a chance maybe I would love him just as much.
I knew now how husbands and wives felt when one passed away. You want to move on but you feel like you are betraying the others memory. I didn't always want to be alone but I was scared of hurting like this again.
It was true that Mark had told me of course that he loved his wife but the heart wants what it wants. There was never any awkwardness or hard feelings between us after our "little chat" which only made me love him more. I didn't want any guarantees that I wouldn't loose Ian too but I wasn't sure that I would emotionally survive another hit.
He still hadn't stopped by and I was unsure of what that meant so I spent my time trying to figure out what it meant and driving myself crazy. I stared out the window. It had begun to rain and the drops hit the window and broke apart. I realized that that was like my life right now. Things were fine until you hit a window and broke into pieces. Why did everything have to be so complicated! I let myself drift off just letting myself forget for a while.
I looked over at Mark and raised my eyebrows in a question. Should we go or wait? He shrugged so I took the lead and we moved into the alley. It was quiet. Too quiet. Every nerve in my body was on hyper alert. We moved in single file clearing the way with each tentative step. I had told dispatch to call for lights and sirens off to the responding units. We didn't want this guy knowing we had help coming. Thinking it was just us and him would make him cocky and hopefully he would show his hand and make a mistake.
Like usual the crims always had superior firepower, which automatically put us at a disadvantage.
This particular guy had a long history of violence and seemed to enjoy inflicting pain on anyone he could get his hands on.
We scanned the darkness all the while moving between the trash cans being careful not to give our position away. There was a soft call on my radio. "The cavalry is here boys. Where are you?" It was one of the responding units. This guy was toast now. He was officially out numbered. "Go left of our car. We're about half way down the alley. He's in here somewhere so be careful you guys."
As lead officer I sent the two men down ahead of us and then onto an adjacent lane way while Mark and I took the alley. I heard another vehicle arrive. "Hey where is everyone?" It was Ian and his partner. I sent a whispered reply. "Go straight ahead then down the alley. We're about half way. Keep it quiet."
There was a small movement over to our right, near one of the huge dumpsters. I signaled for Mark to come with me and sent Ian and Trip to cover us from the side.
I could feel the adrenaline racing through my veins and the tension was palpable. Mark and I moved slowly forward with Ian and Trip watching our backs. There was a loud rustle then an enormous rat ran between us and disappeared into the darkness. We all froze for a second then laughed; letting our guard down for just a minute. A minute is all it took. Trip was the first to go down under gunfire and we all hit the deck.
"There's more than one!" I screamed. "Watch the fire escape!" I tried to reach Trip but I couldn't without getting hit. He lay there gasping for air, blood pooling around his lips and trickling down his chin. "Trip it's ok. I'll get you! Stay there!"
Mark yelled into his radio. "Dispatch! We need assistance immediately. We are under heavy fire with one officer down! Send everything you have!" The night exploded with gunfire. I heard screaming from the other lane way. God they were being hit there too! The whole thing seemed to be an ambush.
