𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬↠The Rookie

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓷𝓮

Dolly-May Bradford, previously Sutton, had shared a blissful marriage for a considerable number of years, with her husband. Even though they had tied the knot at a young age, they had always believed that they had made the right decision. They had grown together, faced challenges together, and celebrated their achievements together. However, lately, something seemed to have changed, and their once rock-solid relationship had started to show cracks, or more specifically it happened after the doctors had told Dolly and Tim it was very unlikely they'd ever conceive.

This was a big hit to the two, after trying for four years to get pregnant, nothing seemed to work, whereas Dolly was willing to suggest options such as adoption, and Tim shut himself off almost completely. 'It's like living with a ghost,' Dolly would tell Angela and Talia routinely before she'd finally had enough, sitting him down one night and handing him the dreaded papers. The man did not take this revelation well, deciding to rather tear up the papers and leave, not returning home for hours, only to find that his wife had gone to her father's by the time he got back and his stuff already neatly packed in boxes in the hall.

News of the two's separation spread quickly, especially around the station, the once happy couple was now on the verge of divorce, and Dolly could feel the looks of sympathy and questioning, she despised them, and she at the moment certainly despised working in the same place as her estranged husband, feeling his stare more than all.

So Dolly did what she did best, she focused on her work, barely leaving the morgue as her days grew long and bland, no longer having anyone to go back home to.

And today was an even worse day than the others, The Vice President was visiting Los Angeles, meaning that she'd been dumped with over three bodies and half-assed reports on the circumstances under which they were found. Stomping up to the briefing room she saw a slew of officers standing inside while they were getting information, this didn't deter Dolly at all, and she couldn't do anything with bodies she hadn't even got clarification on which ones belonged to which case.

"Bradford, Chen, now." Was all she said as she opened the door, far past formalities as being stern was the only way Lucy would learn from her incompetence and she'd just like to humble Tim.

"No, I need-" The woman at the podium began to speak up before Dolly whipped her head to look at her.

"So would you like to come identify one of three bodies I have sitting in my morgue then?" Dolly said bluntly, tapping her foot as she waited for an answer, the woman did not say anything but rather nodded to dismiss Tim and Lucy.

Lucy and Tim exchanged a look with one another as they were dismissed and made their way over to the morgue, a heavy sense of awkwardness in the air before they even stepped into the building itself. They both knew how bad a situation must be to earn Dolly's ire and that they would also be feeling her frustration after the day she'd already had, even more so when she told them the circumstances around all three bodies.

"I need you to identify which body that you found at your crime scene because in the report you gave me no means of identification and I can't believe the night shift accepted it, well I actually can because they're incompetent, but from you," She pointed at Lucy, "I expect mistakes, you're a rookie, you learn on the job, but you," She jabbed her finger in Tim's direction, "You should never make mistakes like this."

Lucy flinched slightly, almost visibly wilting under Dolly's glare. It wasn't the first time it had been acknowledged that she'd made a mistake, but this was certainly the harshest her mistake had been thrown back in her face. Tim's gaze flickered towards her before looking back at Dolly.

"And these three bodies you've got," He asked her, still trying to move past all of that, "they're still unidentified?"

"Yes, because I can't be on Rodriguez's ass about it until he comes in for the afternoon, so I'm supposed to have one John Doe, a homicide victim with an ID in evidence and another homicide John Doe, I suppose you both know where my problem lies." She unlocked the door to the fridge where the bodies were kept, pulling out all three bodies and gently removing the sheets from their face.