In The End

14

       Ponch looked over at his partner and smiled. "Hey, glad to have you back partner!" he called over the roar of the motors. Jon barely looked over as he replied, "Thanks Ponch... glad to be ridin' with you again"
       Frank frowned at the lack of enthusiasm he received. He had thought that if Jon was ready to come back, everything would start going back to normal. But it seemed that his partner's mind had been left at the hospital.
      "You're not still thinking of what happened are you?" Ponch asked. Jon shrugged. "Yeah... I am" "Jon there was nothing you could have done. And Erika-"
      Jon changed lanes rather quickly at hearing her name, making the other officer shake his head. He glided in smoothly beside him. "Alright. I get it. You don't wanna talk. Yeesh, all you had to do was say something man"
      Baker felt awful. He didn't want to push Ponch away or be rude, but he couldn't let him know how upset he was. It was bad enough he was so tired. Jon was very grateful that Ponch hadn't seen him without his sunglasses yet.
       He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night because he had been trying to find the best possible way to bring justice and closure to the Lasky family. However, it had resulted in dark bags under his eyes and, even if the others didn't notice, a sloppy appearance for him.
      On top of that, everyone at the CHP was coming up to him and telling him it was gonna be ok. He would receive sympathetic glances from officers he didn't even really know and pats of the back.
      He just wanted everyone to stop. He didn't want to talk about it right now. He didn't even want to think about it. Jon just wanted to get away from it all for a little bit to clear his head.
      "What'ya say we get seven?" Ponch suggested, "the freeway's pretty quiet today" "No, I'm not hungry, Ponch" Jon replied without hesitation. Ponch rolled his eyes. "Well I am" he replied, irritated with Baker's attitude.
      "Fine. Whatever. We'll do things your way" Jon said shortly and merged into the nearest exit.
******

      Ponch chewed his lower lip as he unstrapped his helmet. "Baker... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I know that you've been through a lot lately and it's been hard. I just don't like seein' you upset..."
      Jon didn't remove his glasses as he started walking up to the restaurant. He shook his head dismissively. "Forget about it Ponch. It's not really you I'm mad at anyway"
      The two walked up and slowed at seeing Getraer sitting at one of the outdoor tables. "Hey Sarge. What are you doing here?" Ponch asked smiling.
      "Oh, I thought I'd change things up a bit. I uh, hear this place is pretty good" Joe replied nodding at the restaurant. "We better order" Jon said, not wanting to stick around to hear the how-are-you-doing speech. "Uh, sure, sure. I just want to talk to Poncherello for a minute"
      Jon smiled slightly and went inside as Ponch sat down. "Hey, whatever it is, I didn't do it this time. I've been on my best behavior Sarge. I have to be... it's like walking on eggshells around him now. He corrects me on every little thing like I might get hurt"
      Joe sighed. "That's uh... that's what I wanted to talk to you about" Ponch furrowed his brows. "You wanted to talk to me about Jon? Isn't it normally the other way around?" "Normally. Seriously though... how is he doing?"
The young officer shrugged. "I mean... considering everything..."
      "Poncherello" Getraer said shaking his head, "I need to know exactly. Lately, he's been getting reports wrong, no one can talk to him, and he's become really distracted. Now, the captain is on my back about this... he wants to know if this is going to... interfere with his job"
      Ponch's eyes widened. "Are they gonna suspend him or something?" Joe bit the inside of his cheek. "They might have him take some forced vacation days..."
      They heard someone scoff and looked up in alarm. Jon dropped the lunch on the table but remained standing. "Thanks for the upmost faith in me. Really appreciate it" he said sarcastically. "Jon-" Joe began but was cut off.
      "No! No! You're so right! I've been on the CHP for a long time but maybe it's time they let me go. Ya know, it doesn't matter that someone I loved might die tomorrow or even today. It doesn't matter that I witnessed every bone in her body being crushed. Naw. Let's just fire me since I can't do my job anymore!"
      "Jon no one's saying that" Ponch insisted. "Let's just have lunch, ok partner?" "No Ponch it's not ok! How dare you guys go behind my back! You know what-" Jon stormed over to his bike and opened the saddle bag.
      He walked back and slammed a small, velvet, black box on the table making Getraer wince and Ponch sigh. "Here. Take it! It doesn't matter anymore. And-" Jon unpinned his badge, "Take this too because it doesn't matter anymore either, right? You think I can't do my job? Fine. I quit, alright"
      Jon backed up with his hands spread out. "I quit. You can just patrol by yourself and pretend everything is ok, but not me. No way. I'm tired of this world! Hurting and killing people constantly. No, I'm finishing this. I'm done."
      Ponch stared after his partner wide eyed and hurt. "Jon wait! What do you mean you're 'done'" Ponch yelled in alarm. "Baker! Don't do something you'll regret! It's not worth it!"
      Jon ignored his friends and sped off, disappearing behind the tall buildings of LA. Ponch was speechless as he turned to look at his sergeant before dashing over to his motorcycle.
      Joe didn't follow. He couldn't. His eyes were trained on the little black box. Ponch hadn't paid much attention to it, but Joe did. He let out a shaky breath as he opened the box and stared in despair at the bright sparkle of a rose gold ring with Diamond chips and a heart cut diamond in the middle. The engravment simply said "E & J T.T.E"
Till The End...