Perfect Storm

Chapter 34 - It's Always Been You

"He's gone."

Kate's knees buckled underneath her, Kevin catching her just before she hit the floor.

'No. They'd gotten it wrong. He couldn't be gone.'

But she knew by Hank's tearstained face that it was true. Adam took Kim into his arms, as did Jay with Hailey, the four of them taking comfort in one another. Kate watched as Hank crouched down next to Trudy, pulling his friend into his arms as her tears soaked the front of his white shirt.

The grief she felt at losing Alvin was magnified by the already persistent ache in her chest at not being able to cross the room and hold him, to run her fingers through his hair and tell him that he was going to be okay. The last seventy two hours had been complete hell and now he was gone. Never again would Kate be able to look into those warm brown eyes or that mischievous face.

"No. No. They've made a mistake. I need...I need to sp-speak with the doctor or-"

Her eyes were frantically scanning the room for anyone in a white coat or scrubs. Anyone who could tell her that Hank had misheard and Alvin was still in surgery. Still with them.

"He's gone, Kate."

Her eyes landed on Hank who was back on his feet, his hand on Trudy's shoulder. After a few seconds, he tore his eyes away and addressed the team at large.

"I know this hurts. But we can mourn Al later. Right now, we have a job to do. We find the son of a bitch who killed him."

And so they did. The Intelligence Team stopped at nothing to make sure the individuals responsible for Al's murder were bought to justice. In the end, it came down to Hank and Carlos DeLeon on a warehouse rooftop.

The unit had gone to Molly's to grieve as a collective but Kate had made her excuses and instead went back to her empty apartment. After a warm bath, she changed into a pair of comfortable leggings and an oversized t-shirt, wishing not for the first time that she could dull the ache in her chest with a bottle of scotch.

'Thanks a bunch kid.'

Sitting down on the edge of her sofa, she stared unseeingly across the room until her eyes focused on one of the few pictures she had on the sideboard. It was the picture that Alvin had sent of him and Hank last Christmas.

It already felt like it was a million years ago.

Then the floodgates finally opened and Kate began to sob, the realisation that she would never have those little moments with Alvin ever again hitting her hard in the chest. He had come to mean so much to her that she had almost forgotten what life was like without him in it.

It could have been minutes or hours later when the tears finally subsided, her cheeks blotchy and eyes stinging. Her limbs felt like a deadweight and, not having the energy to move to the bedroom, she simply tugged the blanket down from the back of the sofa and pulled it over her body, closing her eyes, silently begging for sleep to claim her.

Kate was awakened by her phone buzzing on the coffee table and, squinting at the bright screen, she took note of the time.

2:38am.

"Yeah?"

An unfamiliar voice answered at the other end of the phone but Kate struggled to hear them over the noise in the background.

"This Kate?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Listen, you need to come get your man. He's completely wasted, shouting something about Alvin and Kate. I managed to swipe his phone and I tried to call this Alvin guy but he didn't answer so I called you."