Secrets (Never to be Told)

Chapter Seven

Lucy woke up to bright lightning and white walls. Her chest hurt and she felt bandages around her ankle. As she looked around, her eyes fell to Tim, who was sitting in a chair next to her bed, reading a magazine. At a closer look, he was reading a teen magazine.

"Are you reading 'Teen Rebel'?" She laughed and he looked up, smiling.

She joked around, asking him about his BTS soulmate even when she knew that he had no clue who that was.

"Have you been here all night?" Lucy asked, her voice softening as he tried to deny it. "Yeah." He gave in with a low chuckle.

He scooched closer to the bed, reaching for her hand. "Lucy," he sounded serious, and she did not like that. "Why didn't you tell us that you had a daughter?"

Lucy froze and looked away. She felt a couple of tears run down her cheek. "It's just," she started, but paused, trying to find the right words. "I didn't want to seem like someone vulnerable just because I had a kid while I was young. I wanted to prove I could be a police officer who is also raising a kid." She sighed and looked at her lap. "I just didn't want to be 'The Rookie with the kid'. I could finally be Lucy. Just Lucy."

"And you've been doing an amazing job with that. I'm sorry for being so harsh on you. If you need help with anything, call me up, give me a text. I'm there for you." He smiled and squeezed her hand softly. He pulled away when he saw Nolan, Grace and Hailee in the hallway and opened the door soon after.

Nolan was holding a huge pink teddy bear while Hailee was trusted with a small bouquet. "Hey there Luce. I brought you a little something." He held up the bear and Hailee ran over to the side to give he the flowers. "Look mommy! Flowers!"

Lucy's eyes lit up as Hailee climbed into the bed into her arms. "Hey baby. I'm sorry for worrying you." She took the flowers and gave them to Tim who put them on the table. He had zoned out as Hailee brabbled to her mother about the station and how Wesley and Jackson brought her snacks "Can the teddy sleep in my room?" Hailee grinned at her mother and Tim couldn't help but chuckle. There was something about this child, but he couldn't quite place it. Was it because she was Lucy's daughter?

"Of course she can. I won't be going on any dates any time soon and you're just the right fit of a roommate!"

Lucy ruffled her daughter's hair as Grace laughed softly. "I don't know if that's the takeaway, but I wish you fast recovery. Your stats are good, a couple days in the hospital to rehydrate and rest up and you should be fine." She put away her clipboard and waved Hailee and the others goodbye before leaving the room, Nolan following her.

"Are you hungry?" Tim spoke up again with a questioning look. "Yeah, I'm starving. You know what I really want to eat right now?" It was a rhetorical question, and she was joking about it, but when Tim pulled out a paper bag with a veggie burger and fries, she couldn't help but grin widely. "You know me so well". Bradford smiled and gave the bag to her. "Too well."

Hailee watched the two of them in silence. Every time her mother talked about this guy, she looked so happy – even when complaining about his training methods – and she wondered, if there was more to it.

The room grew silent as Lucy ate her burger and Tim watched her, not noticing the stare Hailee was giving him.

"So, you're Bradford?" the little girl smiled as she caught Tim off guard. "Yeah, that's me." He raised an eyebrow and looked at Lucy who was simply shrugging, her smile wide in amusement. "Do you like sports?" Lucy's smile faded as she realized what Hailee was doing. Had she figured it out? She couldn't have. The two of them watched his response, one in fear and one in excitement. "I do. My favorite team are the RAMS."

Lucy watched in silence as Tim and her daughter talked about sports. Is that what they could have had from the very beginning if she'd just had his contact info? Her cooled down fries long forgotten, she leaned back in the bed, following the scene before drifting off to sleep with a smile.

Two weeks later, once she's been cleared for active duty both physically and mentally, Tim was already awaiting her in the bullpen. "Welcome back Chen. How's Hailee?" He often asked about her daughter ever since he'd offered her his help. Lucy had let him take Hailee to school and pick her up while she'd been assigned bed rest and the two of them grew quite close. There even were moments in which she'd considered telling them the truth but threw away that thought soon later.

"Hailee's excellent. She's in a much better mood this week, she even asked me to give you this." She held out a small card reading 'Happy Father's Day!' But it had the 'Father'-part crossed out and Hailee had drawn a cop resembling Tim on the inside. "Thank you for being the best ride to and from school!" Bradford read out loud and laughed. "I mean I picked her up with the shop, so it must be pretty cool." He put the card in his uniform pocket carefully, mentally reminding himself to stick it on his pinboard later.

They headed to rollcall, Nolan got them to sit down and not clap at Lucy's entrance and for a moment everything seemed fine. She was back at work, Hailee wasn't a secret kept away at home anymore and Tim and her got along well even without knowing the truth.

Everything was fine. At least until their phones rang off a deafening alarm in the middle of their shift and she realized: this might just be the end of the world.