The Walshs

Chapter 1

The school yard was alive with the latest King County gossip. None of it interested me, being the wife of a police officer brought most of the news my way... Eventually...

I leaned against the trunk of the oak tree that sat next to the playground entrance. I casually watched tots waddle and crawl around the park under the watchful eyes of their parents who would softly scold them for sticking things in their mouths or climbing on things they shouldn't. It brought a soft smile to my lips as I reminisced on my son's early years. "Rick and I had another fight this morning," Lori suddenly stated which broke my train of thought and forced me back into reality.

I straightened myself up, brushing a stray piece of my chestnut brown hair behind my ear, and turned to face her. "What happened this time?", I asked with a hint of concern lacing my voice. My brother had mentioned his marital problems to his partner and my husband, Shane. Shane, of course, told me but each time I heard a new problem it sounded like things got worse and worse. Lori sighed and hugged her own chest gently, rubbing her biceps nervously. "It was just a normal argument but I realised something Kate," she confessed with a guilty tone.

"Realised what Lori?"

"Even when I scream and yell at the top of my lungs he always remains calm, to the point where it pisses me off and I become a bitch. But he never calls me out for it. Never."

I chuckled softly and gently grasped her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "That's just Rick hun. He's always been that way, even when we were kids," I replied trying my best to comfort her. "Didn't it annoy you?", she asked.

"All the time but you just learn to calm discuss things with him rather than hollering at the top of your lungs," I explained whilst simultaneously remembering countless childhood arguments with my twin. Lori held my hands, her grip tight as if afraid to let go, and looked into my eyes. "Thank you Kate. Don't know what I'd do without you," she said quietly causing me to smile. Before I could answer her the sound of a police car pulling up caught both our attentions and we turned to see who on the force had showed up.

I became confused when my husband stepped out of his vehicle with a shaken look stirring in his eyes. We both walked over to him, a feeling of dread filling my stomach and causing it to knot. "Shane? Why are you here? You're not suppose to finish until 7," I questioned him with a confused tone. He didn't respond right away. Shane rubbed the back of his head, his nervous tick, and leaned against the hood of his patrol car. "Yeah... Somethin' happened to Rick. He's in the hospital," Shane explained as soft as he could. Immediately we both gasped, covering our mouths in shock. I felt tears sting my eyes as I thought about my brother laying in a hospital bed, in pain. "What happened?"

It was Lori's shaky question that brought me back to the current situation and I looked to Shane for an answer. He outstretched his hands, grasped my hand and then looked back to Lori. "We were cutting off a couple of bank robbers. The report said there was only two suspects but there was a third man. He shot Rick in the back and now he's in a coma..."

Shane looked down as if ashamed of himself for letting this happen. I squeezed his hand tightly causing him to look at me, regret fogging his chocolate coloured orbs. "Don't blame yourself baby," I whispered.

"How do I tell Carl?"

We looked at her. She was clearly distraught but was trying her best to hide it for the sake of her son. "I can tell him if you want," I offered shakily but Lori just shook her head. "No I should do it," she said quietly. The school bell suddenly rang and children began pouring out of the front doors, among them were my nephew Carl and my son Jason. Carl was holding his cousin's hand as they scoured the playground for us. Carl spotted us and pointed us out to Jason before they waved, smiling at us with cute smiles. We waved back, fake smiles plastered to our faces to hide the bad news. The boys walked over to us, Jason let go of Carl's hand and ran at Shane, surprised to see his dad so early. "Daddy!"