My daughter -The Rookie

4- The truth

Grey dismissed us and I quickly walked away. I walked towards the road. I walked until the block ended. When I looked back, I saw the light of all the police cars. The house on the corner of this block had a wooden fence and I leaned against it while closing my eyes, trying not to cry. All of a sudden my legs gave out under the heavy weight of my pain. I broke and I cried. Sliding down the fence, I sat down on the ground with my knees up and my head in my hands. I heard a sound, so I looked up, and I saw a shadow coming right at me. From their outfit I saw that it was a police officer, but my vision was to blurry because of the tears, so I couldn't make out who it was. 'Chen.' I heard from a distance. I was still too zoned out to respond. 'Chen.' I heard again. It was a deep voice, probably a man. 'Lucy, what's going on?' I heard him say. He took one more step towards me and I could finally see his face. The dim street lamp provided just enough light to see Tim's face. It was Tim in front of me, caring about me. I wanted to react but my lips were glued together. I wanted to scream but no sound was coming out. I felt overwhelmed. So overwhelmed because of the sudden changes in my life. Overwhelmed by all the people and sounds around me. Tim probably felt it, because he sat down next to me.

It was quiet for a moment until Tim began to speak. 'You know Anderen. She helped me a lot during the whole Isabel thing.' He started. I looked at him. It was rare for him to open up like that, especially about his ex wife. 'The night she disappeared, Zoe was the only person I trusted to tell.' 'I'm so sorry, Tim.' I said, through my tears. 'Yeah, It was hard but I got through it because of her and I will always be grateful for that.' He ended his story. 'Lucy, I haven't known you for that long, but I can already tell that Zoe was someone very special to you.' He added, changing the subject to the thing he wanted to talk about. 'Yeah, she was a very caring captain.' I tried to avoid telling him the truth. 'I know, but she is a little more to you than that, right?' He pushed. I sighed, knowing the fight against the truth that has been going on for way too long. 'Okay, Well if we're honest with each other I have to be too...' I started but then I got quiet. I wanted to tell Tim, but how? I looked him in the eyes. They looked watery but still caring. I looked back in front of me as I sighed again.

I opened my mouth, but still, the words weren't coming. 'You can tell me, I won't judge you, I promise.' His voice was just about a whisper. 'Zoe Andersen, s- she's my mother.' I blurted out, my face expressing no emotions. I saw how Tim went from worried to confused. 'What do you mean?' He asked, careful, trying not to hurt me. 'When I was younger, I got kicked out by my parents... She found me a couple days later, sleeping under a bridge. When she saw how young I was, she took me in, and... Half a year later... She adopted me.' I said, pausing every couple words to take a breath. My voice was trembling, thinking about everything that happened. I looked from my fingers back at him again. 'How old were you?' He asked, looking straight into my eyes. 'She adopted me on my 12th birthday.' I answered. 'I was really hurt and sad then my parents kicked me out but when Zoe took me in, it felt like I got to know the world all over again. She enrolled me into a public school. We watched movies late at night with snacks. We went camping under the stars in France. S- She cared for me.' I added and slowly, all the bad memories about my parents washed away by all the good memories about Zoe. 'Lucy, I'm so sorry. ' He said to me.

I rested my head against the wooden fence behind us and closed my eyes. I opened them immediately when I was a flashback from my mom, laying there next to that pool, soaking wet and bleeding. 'I just can't believe she is gone.' I said and then I cried. Tears streamed in rivers down my cheeks as I covered my face with my arms. All of a sudden I felt two warm arms around me. I knew it was Tim and that surprised me a little but it felt good, so I let it happen. He pressed me against his body and let me cry.

We just sat there. Me crying and him comforting me. After a while I calmed down but he wouldn't let me go. 'I'm sorry, I...' I tried to apologize for my outburst but he cut me off. 'It's fine, do you feel better now?' He asked. I still had my head on his shoulder when I looked up at him. 'I do, thank you for being here.' 'No problem.' He answered and I turned my gaze away from him when I noticed he was crying. He was actually crying. The though Tim I knew could feel emotions.

'Can I ask you a question?' He respectfully asked me, his voice soft and quiet. 'Hmm- mmm.' I responded. 'You always tell me about how bad your real parents are. Do you still have contact with them?' He asked. 'Well, yes. They're still the people that gave me life.' I answered. 'But you just said they treated you horribly and what you have told me over the last months, they haven't really changed much.' He said, confused. 'I know, but I'm still their child and even though they are not always nice to me, I still love them.' I responded. I don't know why I keep crawling back, I just do. 'You're too good for this world.' He grinned and I slightly smiled back at him through my tears.