Mom and I spent Sunday glued to the seats next to Nick’s bed. The doctor had given us a vague description of what had happened, which to me was just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Something about cardiomyopathy and it can happen out of the blue. The doctor had confirmed that Nick was doing fine and that they were only keeping him overnight for a couple of days. I didn’t buy it, but I didn’t want to upset Nick with questions. So, when I found him having a light argument with the doctor after my coffee break, I tried to brush it off.

Monday I had to go back to my normal life. The midday shift which was usually the shittiest shift ever. Then again, it was the busiest too. Kevin was already waiting for me with a coffee in one hand and a chocolate covered donut in the other. He smiled wide when he saw me approaching the cruiser.

“Well hello there. I’m glad to see you ready to protect and serve.”

“Not sure I’m really ready.”

We both met at the front of the cruiser. He shoved the last piece of donut in his mouth and gulped down his remaining coffee, then pulled me in for a tight hug.

Having Kevin there to comfort me was becoming a habit and I wasn’t sure that it was a good one. We broke the embrace when Frank and Alex came out of the station talking away about a new case.

“Yo you two lovebirds wanna follow us. Dead hooker on 3rd.” Frank grinned maliciously towards me and Alex just glared at us.

I gave him the finger and we hopped into the cruiser. The day had barely started for me, but I wanted it to be the end of my shift to go home change and go back to the hospital.

We didn’t talk much on the way to 3rd street. I liked that about Kevin. He didn’t tend to smother me with questions and feel-better lines. He angled the cruiser to cover the entrance to the alley, where there was a group of people already gawking at whatever had happened. I got out and adjusted my gun and started walking towards the alley where Alex, Frank and another couple of officers were standing.

There was a woman wearing barely anything splayed out on the ground. Her legs were twisted in a weird angle. Only one heel on and the other laying nearby. Her arms were spread out and her eyes were wide open. Her bright red wig had slipped off her blonde haired head. She laid there lifeless and just seeing her made my stomach knot up.

“What a waste!” Frank snickered and Alex elbowed him in the gut. “I’m just saying.”

Alex bent down and slid his fingers over her eyes. His action made my heart flutter, that was the nice guy I knew and loved. The coroner bent down across from him and quickly explained what he believed had happened. I was too spaced out that I didn’t even hear what had happened. It looked like a shot to the head from where I was standing.

After the whole dead girl…hooker thing, we were paged to a domestic violence call. When we arrived it was like deja vu. The woman was sitting on the curb with a wad of paper against her bloody nose. Kevin and I exited the car with are hands on our guns.

“Did you---” Kevin hadn’t finished his sentence before the woman started yelling at us

“Arrest that bastard!”

“Ma’am are you ok?” Kevin asked.

The young woman was hyperventilating now and crying hysterically. “He tried to kill me. Look…he shot me.” She leaned back and showed us where she had a white blood soaked shirt pressed against her body. “He’s crazy and my son is in there!”

I grabbed my radio and called for backup. “You stay with her I’m gonna go see what’s up with this guy.”

Kevin hadn’t even made it to the door when a tall built guy covered in tattoos flew out the door holding a shotgun in his hands. “Back the fuck up! Or I’ll blow your pig brains all over the place.”

“You don’t want to do that. Why don’t you put the gun down?” Kevin reached for his gun and aimed. He was calmly backing away. I on the other hand wanted to snatch him and run for cover.

The woman stood up and spun around. “You stupid asshole. You can’t point a gun at a cop. Put that thing down. Give me my son.”

“Who will miss a pig? Huh? Come back in the house and I wont hurt anyone.”

“I can’t let her go back in there. She’s bleeding really bad and we need to get her to the hospital.” I’m not sure where I found the courage to speak, but I did.

Kevin finally stood in front of me, I knew he was covering me on purpose. “You should let me…go in there…” the young woman whispered. She was looking bad.

“I can’t…I’m sorry. He’s armed.”

In the background I could hear the crying of a frightened child. One of my pet peeves was when children were involved in domestic violence calls. What the hell did they have to do with anything?

My thoughts were broken by the familiar explorer and another cruiser pulling up. All four men hopped out and aimed at the armed man. “Put the gun down and your arms above your head.” I recognized the voice and when I turned to look at them confirmed it was Sanchez.

“I can’t go to JAIL!!” He hollered and shot a round.

I closed my eyes tight and stood frozen in place. When I opened my eyes Kevin, Alex and Frank were missing and Sanchez was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear him.

“Soph…are you alright?”

“Wha…?” I looked around panicked that the guys were gone. “What happe--” My heart sank when I saw the young women, whose name I never even got sprawled on the floor. Half her body was on the sidewalk and the other on the street. There was a large hole in her chest, blood everywhere. “He killed her? She had a baby!” On queue a little baby boy with only a diaper on staggered out crying from the house.

I ran as fast as I could to grab him. He’d be looking for his mommy and the last thing I wanted was for his little brain to have embedded the image of his dead mother. My guess would have been that he was barely turning one. I scooped up the crying baby boy and cuddled him in my arms. Trying my hardest to keep the tears in, this was not good for me.

It was a whole hour before the young woman by the name, Ebony Williams, was rolled away. Her boyfriend was caught and thrown in a cruiser. The social services took baby Mike from my arms and promised to give him a good home.

My head was pounding. My spirits were at an ultimate low. I couldn’t stop thinking that today was a day of death. And that deaths came by threes.

“Are you alright?”

I looked up into Alex’s eyes, surprised that he was talking to me. “I’m fine. I think. It’s been a rough Monday.”

He shook his head, “Tell me about it. I think you should take some time off.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, “I’m fine. I don’t need time off, this is our job right. People die all the time.” I’m not sure why I said that, probably because I knew why he was suggesting the time off. "You shouldn't worry about me anymore."

"I'm always going to worry about you."

My hand flew up to keep him from saying another word. This was definately not the time or day to talk to Alex. "I can take care of myself. Thanks." With that said I walked away and got in the cruiser with Kevin. "Let's roll."

Fortunately, the rest of the day went by a lot smoother. Minus the massive headache that had come about after the shooting. We rolled up to the station, thankful that the day was over. I was already antsy to see Nick and my mom. Kevin gave me his charming smile and said goodbye.

I headed to the hospital.