New team

32.Care

Sam followed Andy out of the hospital. They arrived here an hour ago. He couldn't help but spend that time sitting aimlessly in front of the operating theater door. He couldn't, didn't want to think what would happen if, now that they started talking to each other again after ten years, Penny would be missing from his life again, but this time forever. Something told him that he might not be able to cope with such a loss.
Penny had always been his best friend, and even Elvis sometimes acted offended that Sam talked to Penny more when he needed advice than to him. Now he would give anything to hear her laugh at Elvis' offended comments.
The truth was that their meeting in the park and their subsequent rescue operation at Station Officer Steele's house reminded him how much he appreciated her and how much their friendship meant to him. For the last ten years, everything he did, the amount of work he put himself into, and the isolation he had from anything that would remind him of Penny, was his attempt to deny that he still regretted what had happened between them and that no matter how long the separation would he couldn't find a better person anywhere than Penny.
She used to prove it to him every day, just as she did today. For an hour, the uncertainty within him grew, and the look in her eyes just before she jumped right in front of him pricked at his heart. That bullet was aimed at him, and Penny was ready to take it on herself - her eyes said it, he recognized that spark of determination and concern she had whenever she didn't let him walk into the fire alone.
He closed his eyes. He let the scene from an hour ago play out again. As soon as the sound of the shots stopped, the two policemen managed to catch the culprit, but Sam paid no attention to it. The scream froze in his throat as he ran to Penny. He didn't know what was happening around him. The sight of blood staining her hoodie made him immediately act without thinking. He placed both hands on the wound and pressed, quickly changing places with Malcolm, who pressed an additional rolled bandage to the wound. But all the while, Sam never took his eyes off Penny's eyes. He couldn't say anything because of the lump in his throat, but he knew that with blood loss so fast he couldn't let Penny close her eyes. Her face paled and her eyes became strangely calm as they met Sam's. There was no pain in them, only reconciliation with fate.
That was the last moment he saw her. They came here with Malcolm. He himself quit the rest of his duty as soon as he overheard what his firefighters were talking about. He immediately recognized what type of files they were talking about and learned the address of this warehouse. These topics have been discussed at many commanders' meetings recently, but Sam never expected that it could end so tragically.

He sat and sat, letting his thoughts wander as he alternated between running a hand through his hair or getting up and walking down the hall. The door didn't open, and the silence was even more depressing. He sat down again and counted to one hundred to calm himself down. He breathed a sigh of relief. Penny has been through a lot, she'll get over it, he thought. But this time she wouldn't go through this alone, he promised himself. Everything had calmed down around him and now all he could do was wait.

But things got complicated when Sam heard footsteps in the hall. He looked up and saw Station Officer Steele walking towards him with Penny's son. The boy seemed confused, but still smiled when Station Officer Steele ruffled his hair.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" Sam asked, jumping up from his chair.

"What about Penny?" Station Officer Steele asked quietly.

"So, grandpa, what are we doing here?" Andy interrupted them by pulling on Station Officer Steele's hand. Apparently the boy wasn't that stupid and realized that something was wrong. Station Officer Steele picked him up and sat him in a chair and assured him he'd be back in a second before walking with Sam to the other end of the hall.

"What does it look like, Sam?" Station Officer Steele repeated the question in a serious tone.

"To be honest, not very well, sir" Sam lowered his voice to a whisper. "She's lost a lot of blood and the surgery has been going on for almost an hour," Sam summarized the situation. "If it continues like this, I'm afraid it may not end well."