Soulmates

Chapter one

My partner and I were at the hospital, getting a statement from a rape victim. My partner did most of the talking, the girl seemed comfortable talking with her than she did with me. My partner was the one who handled the talking part of our partnership while I did more of the heavyweight part of it.

I step out in the hall as Carrie finished talking with the victim. There was a doctor standing at the nurses station, opening a test results envelope while a hooded man approached her with an aggressive look on his face. I saw a gun inside his jacket and ran in front of the doctor as he pulled it out to shoot her.

I fought him for the gun and it goes off. I wretch the gun from him and shoot him in his arm. Carrie rushes over to cuff him as I clutch my stomach. I turn to the doctor and ask in a protective tone, "Are you hurt?"

I collapse, knocking papers from the counter to the floor. I notice the test results she was opening contained a pregnancy test for a Kelly Dawson and it was positive.The doctor helps me roll on my back and I notice her name on her badge. She was Kelly Dawson and she was pregnant. She checks my pulse in my neck and I say in a gurgled whisper, blood spilling from my mouth, "Congratulations."

She looks at me confused and I hand her the test results. Shock falls across her face as tears fill her eyes. "You saved my baby," she chokes quietly with her hand on her stomach. 

I reach up, caressing her face and meet her eyes. "The baby is fine Jess, she's going to be okay," I say in a raspy whisper as I start to loose consciousness. 

"Come on, stay with me," she chokes quietly, caressing my face. 

"I'm okay Jess," I whisper quietly, meeting her eyes as several people come over to help.

"I'm Kelly, is Jess your girlfriend," she asks softly, holding my hand.

"Jess was her wife. She died two years ago giving birth to their daughter. The baby died at birth too," Carrie chokes quietly walking alongside the gurney as we head for the operating room. 

"I'm so sorry," Kelly says giving me a sympathetic look. 

"I'll be okay," I say quietly as I close my eyes.

 
I woke up in a hospital room and Kelly and my mother were asleep in chairs next to my bed. I smile weakly at Kelly and a nurse enters my room. She comes over, checking my vitals and changes the bandages on my stomach. "She hasn't left your room since you got out of surgery. She's been in a number of relationships, but she's never looked at any of them the way she does at you," she says quietly. 

"How's her baby," I ask in a choked whisper.

"She did an ultrasound last night, baby seemed fine," she says softly and I let out a relieved breath. "Are you two a couple?"

"No, I just happened to take the bullet meant for her" I choke quietly and look at her asleep next to my bed. "I haven't been with anyone since my wife died in child birth. Our daughter died with her."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the nurse says in sympathy. "Can I get you anything to eat?"

I shake my head lightly and say, "Just a coffee is fine, thank you."

She had a hand resting on the bed in my reach, as if she was holding my hand while she fell asleep. I take her hand from the bed and her fingers instantly curl around mine in her sleep. She didn't have a ring on her finger and it gave me hope she wasn't in a relationship. 

"Hi," she murmurs quietly with a light smile. "I didn't get a chance to thank you for saving my life yesterday."

"You're welcome," I say softly and look over at my mother still asleep. "Thank you for keeping her company. She doesn't like hospitals, especially when I have to stay in one."