USWNT & NWSL One-Shot Collection

@* - Ali Riley/Fem!Reader - Officer Down Part 2

POV: Ali Riley

Four days, it's been four days since Callum came to get me from practice, to sit at my fiancée's side. She had survived the surgery, which seemed to take the doctors by surprise, and had been put into a medically induced coma to heal. I had been told what had occurred and I had even seen the body cams for both Jace and Y/N.

I had to think of how I would tell Y/N that Jace had died of his wounds. She and Jace had become quite close friends since they were paired together when we moved from Orlando. Jace's wife had stopped by to check on Y/N yesterday.

We didn't exchange words, unsure of what to say to each other, but the simple presence of each other was enough.

The news had gotten a hold of the whole situation, and my agent tried to keep Y/N's name out of everything, but it had failed. Since it came to light, I had been denying comments and interviews, just to stay by Y/N's side. I had only left her side to go to practice. After practice I headed back to the hospital and curled into my normal chair.

"Ali?" Alex's voice came from the doorway. I motioned for her to come in, as I watched the steady heart rate line on the monitor. The two of us talked quietly for a while, before she brought up something the team wanted to do for our next home game in just a few days.

"The team wants to show our support for both of you, both of them..." Alex explained what the team was thinking and I agreed. It made it a little bit more bittersweet that our next game was against Orlando, my old team.

The days leading up to the game were filled with Jace's memorial and too many tears. I knew that if things had gone even slightly differently, Y/N would have been part of it. It would have been her memorial as well. I went home for the first time since the shooting, and sobbed myself to sleep after the ceremony.

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Game day always gave me a rush, but today was just... different. I gathered my things and headed to the stadium. Parking in my normal spot, I put my headphones in and made my way into the locker room. There, in each locker, was the game day jersey. Not our normal colors, our normal asphalt jerseys were replaced with a solid black, with white lettering, no sponsor logos either. Just a single band of lettering on our left sleeve.

Warm ups went as they normally would, I let my mind wander to just the game. As the two teams lined up, I was pulled to the side by some of my old team mates. I saw a big black band on their uniforms too.

"Ali... How are you holding up?" Erin, Orlando's new number 1 goalie, asked.

"Taking it one day at a time. It's the only thing I can do. I come to practice and media days. I shower and then go to the hospital." I admitted, leaning into the goalie. Several other players joined in. A throat cleared and sent us all back into our lines.

The teams made their way in and after the national anthem, an announcement was made.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we honor two LAPD officers. Officer Jace Patterson and Officer Y/N Y/L/N. The two officers responded to a bank robbery just over a week ago. In the process of rescuing hostages, both officers were injured. Officer Patterson was killed in the line of duty, while Officer Y/L/N remains in critical condition. Tonight both teams honor their service."

I hung my head for a moment, unable to handle the emotions rushing through me at that time.

The game was a blur, ending in a 2 to 2 tie. Some of the Orlando girls came to the hospital to see Y/N, before heading back to the hotel.

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POV: Y/N

It was the irritation of the constant beeping that drew me out of the dark oblivion that was sleep. I struggled to open my eyes, finally managing to do so, only to snap them shut once more as the bright lights of the room burned.

"Y/N?" an unfamiliar voice got my attention. "I imagine it's rather bright, but I've turned down the lights. Can you open your eyes for me please?"

I opened my eyes slowly, so glad that the lights were lowered. I looked at my visitor, unable to actually place who it was.

"My name is Gwen, I'm a nurse. Do you know where you are?"

"Cedars-Sinai... If I had to guess." I answered. My throat felt raw and scratchy. "Where's Ali?"

"Ali went to go get some food with a few women, they looked familiar but I couldn't place them. I think she called one of them Shark or Sharkey." Gwen answered.

"What's Ash doing down here? Did she say when she would be back?"

Gwen looked at her watch and then looked back at me. "She should be back shortly, it's nearly dinner time. She always eats dinner with you."

Before I could say anything, the door opened and several women walked in.

"I'm telling you, that guy was staring at you..." Ali said, looking at Alex.

"Servando would have taken his head off." Alex commented before she looked at me, smiled and looked back at Ali. "Hey Y/N... good evening."

Everyone froze for a second before all eyes snapped to me.

"Hi?" I said, as all hell broke loose. Ali was at my side in a moment, holding my face in her hands as she looked me in the eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears. I wrapped my arms around her the best I could before I felt some pain in my forearm. Looking down I spotted the tape on my IV had pulled a bit.

"Babe.... Y/N. I thought I lost you." Ali said softly.

"I'm never going anywhere. You have been stuck with me since you said yes." I gently tapped her engagement ring. Looking at the others in the room, I spotted Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan and Sidney Leroux. "It's good to see you all here... but Sharkey, Kriegs... what are you doing here? The Gotham game isn't for another 5 weeks."

"It was two days ago, actually." Sharkey said before Kriegs elbowed her in the ribs.

I looked back at my fiancée in confusion.

"Y/N... it's been six weeks since the shooting."

I looked down, a single thought rushing to the front of my mind. "Jace?"

Ali asked the women to leave us alone for a few minutes and I knew at that point that Jace was dead.

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yeah. He died while you were in surgery. I'm so sorry, I know you were friends, partners."

I shook my head. "No. He rushed in and I had to follow. It was his fault. We should have waited for back up." I bit my bottom lip, the tears now falling.

Ali pulled me into her, trying to calm me down.

There was a knock on the door that interrupted anything that might have been said.

Two days later, I was released from the hospital into outpatient rehab to regain the ability to use my leg. My femur had been shattered and had to be rebuilt. My LT had already given me my options for my job. I would have 6 months to requalify, if I wanted to stay on. Or I could medically retire, with full benefits. I wasn't sure what I would choose at this point, but it would be a discussion between Ali and I at some point.

For now, I'll take it, one day at a time.

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A/N: I swear to the Goddess I posted this like the day after the first part... and then it disappeared. So here it is.... 2 months and some days later...

Word Count: 1329