You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 54

"Hey, Sarge? Is here good for this stuff?" Jay asks as he approaches Platt and points to an empty spot next to the pots with the various plants. 

"Yeah, there's fine," she replies, and Jay leaves the bags with the soil on the ground. He looks around, observing all the people that are working in the Community Garden. 

"So how long have you been volunteering here?" 

"Eh, since it started. About six months or so. They used to build farm equipment here. They used to make things in Chicago. But then the plants closed and all those jobs..." 

"Yeah, here we are. It's great for these guys though, right?" 

"Yeah. Men, you wouldn't believe what we found when we were cleaning this out. Needles, all that. No wonder the city gave it to us for free. But, you know. Safe space, a place for kids to learn how to grow things straight from the ground. It's a big deal," she informs him and Jay nods. 

"So how come your sunshine didn't come with you today?" she asks him as she takes care of the plants in front of her, and Jay smiles as he thinks of Emma. 

"She went with Vanessa to see the church where Cindy and Christopher got married," he replies, and Platt raises one eyebrow. 

"Two weeks after the proposal and you're looking for churches?" she asks surprised and Jay shrugs his shoulders smiling. 

"We agreed that we want to get married soon. Maybe somewhere in the fall, so the sooner we find a place, the better," he reveals and Platt cracks a smile. 

"I have to admit Jay, I never thought I'd see you so happy," she says honestly, and Jay goes to reach for a little tomato growing on a plant next to him, making her get serious straight away. 

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! That's ready when I say it's ready," she tells him looking at him with a murderous look, and Jay raises his hands. 

"Copy that" 

"Anyway, I want you to help me to spread some manure," she says and Jay pinches the bridge of his nose. 

"Aw, crap" 

"Turkey crap, to be exact," she replies smiling and suddenly a voice from the radio is heard, drawing their attention. 

"22-21, units on a city-wide. We're getting multiple calls of shots fired in the area of 4000 Avers, North Lawndale. No further at this time" 

"Four blocks, left on Avers, couple blocks down," Trudy tells the detective as soon as she realizes the incident is near them and Jay leaves in a hurry. 

Little did they knew, that Jay's responding to the call would be the cause of a series of catastrophic events.

The sight Jay faces as soon as he arrives at the address makes his stomach turn and for a moment he's sure he was going to lose his breakfast right in the middle of the living room, next to the bodies of the two young children sitting on the couch, with their blood on the wall behind them, their eyes blank and the Playstation remotes still in their hands. His head suddenly hurts and his chest tightens as he struggles to breathe. But he quickly returns to reality and in hasty movements takes the little boy who was saved in his arms, and they leave the house. 

Within minutes the entire unit has gathered at the scene with a bunch of other police officers and ambulances. Emma is standing next to Jay and her gaze falls to her partner and to the police officers who come out holding in their hands the two small bodies wrapped in white sheets. The screams and sobs of two women behind the yellow tape make them want to close their ears.

"It looks like a dope hit gone wrong," Jay manages to tell them, and Emma does her best not to hug him as soon as she hears the pain in his voice.