The Burden of The Fallen

                                    

                                          
Hailey crouched down next to Trevor, Making sure he was alright. Jake breathed heavily, still severely injured and in pain. Atlas was panicking and freaking out while Captain Trill had gone to get a medic once first responders arrived. "What the hell is going on?" Atlas shouted frantically. Trevor managed to sit himself up against a wall and relax his tense body. "I have no idea. This is the craziest thing that I've ever seen." Captain Trill came running back with a paramedic on his tail. The paramedic ran up to Jake and knelt down. "What happened, Lieutenant?" The medic asked him as she placed a kit on the ground and opened it. Jake grunted in pain as he tried to sit straighter. "I got hit with Shrapnel from an explosion. I don't know whether the shrapnel was from the bomb, or debris." The medic nodded, Indicating that they understood. They applied chlorhexidine to the wound, Causing Jake to tense up from pain. "Hold still lieutenant. I'm going to attempt to remove some of the debris." Jake nodded and took a deep breath. He saw the medic pull out a scalpel and a long pair of tweezers. He closed his eyes. He felt a sharp pain and the tweezers were poked into one of his wounds.  He felt his back tighten as one of the pieces of debris was removed. This process was repeated for about forty-five minutes until all pieces of debris were removed. The medic then applied a cleaning alcohol to all of the injured areas and wrapped his torso with bandages. Jake took a breath and sighed. He relaxed his body and sat loosely against a wall. Hailey sat down next to him and stared at the sky. Trevor was back on his feet somehow, and was assisting in the sweep of the building now that the fire caused by the explosion had been put out.  Hailey sighed as well, seeing that everything was falling apart. "I'm sorry, Jake." Hailey said. Jake gave her a strange look. "Sorry for what?" Hailey looked him in the eye with tears building up. "All this happened when you met me for the first time in years. What if it had something to do with me?" Hailey managed to say without stuttering, though her eyes were watery. Jake smiled slightly. "Hailey, its not your fault. Don't think that" as Hailey was about to respond, Captain Trill walked up to the pair. "Lieutenant, how are you feeling?" Jake looked at him and managed another weak smile. "I'm doing fine, Captain." They sighed. "Sterling, you need to rest." He turned to Hailey. "You're Hailey, Right?" They asked. She nodded. "Yes sir." He looked between Jake and Hailey before turning to her and saying "Could you take Lieutenant Sterling back to his home?" Hailey hesitated before saying. "Yes, of course." She stood up and looked down at Jake. Captain Trill helped him stand up and basically carried him to Hailey's car, while he was loudly protesting that he was fine to walk. He was placed in the back seat of Hailey's car. "Thank you, Hailey." The captain said and walked off to get a report on the status of the building. Hailey started her car and turned around. "Alright Jake, give me directions to your-" She saw him laying back, passed out completely. She giggled and started driving. She paused just before getting onto the street and realized she still didn't know where he lived. She turned to him again and sighed, realizing there was only one thing she could do. She started driving again and drove down the road, away from his house.

Trevor walked through the halls of the third floor, looking for anything or anyone that could be dangerous. He had a working rifle this time with a flashlight display on the side. He sighed and mumbled to himself. "Of course the power to the lights was damaged. Not the alarms, not the security, only the lights" He walked through the building, shining light on anything that looked out of place, until he deemed the building empty and left. When he went outside, the only remaining officers were a few low level beat cops and the captain. Trevor walked over to his captain to give the all clear. "Captain Trill, the building has no noticeable threats or activity. It is safe to send in a recovery squad." The captain sighed with relief at this news. "Thank you, Detective." He then motioned for the recovery team, standing by for an order, to move into the building to attempt to recover documents of importance. Trevor walked over to the swat vehicle parked outside the precinct and took off his tactical gear. He leaned back against a wall, closed his eyes and sighed. Without realizing it, he fell asleep and collapsed against the wall he was leaning on and fell to the sidewalk. 

Jake woke up to a dark room with blinds over the windows. He was laying on his back, covered in blankets with an overhead fan turned on. When his eyes had fully adjusted, he took in his surroundings. He didn't recognize the room he was in at all. There were guitars on the wall, a desk with a computer, a bookshelf crammed with dozens of books and what looked like a chemistry set on another desk.           He sat up and his back started to sting from the injuries. He looked around and found his cellphone on a stand next to where he was lay, so he picked it up. The date on the phone was two days after the events that took place, and it surprised Jake. He got up out of the bed and it finally hit him that he was not in his own house. He saw his gun and badge on the desk so he picked them up and walked out of the room. The house was quite spacious, with only three separate rooms and a huge living room merged with the kitchen. He saw someone standing in the kitchen, washing plates. He walked a bit closer and when he saw they're unique hair, he knew who it was. "Hailey?" Jake asked, standing across the room. She seemed to jump and almost drop the plate she was holding. She turned to him "Finally your awake" She smiled warmly with relief in her calm onyx eyes. He relaxed his body and sighed. "Thank you, Hailey" He said to her with a weak smile. Hailey was wearing a blank crop top with a dark purple skirt underneath a rather large jacket. Jake laughed at this. "That jacket looks bigger than you." Hailey's face flushed red. "Yeah, shut up narc" She teased playfully. They both laughed at each other for a bit. Jake then offered to help Hailey clean but she turned him down. "You need to get rest, Jake." She said sternly, putting her hands on her hips. He sighed and sat down in her living room. While he was sitting, he glanced at Hailey and noticed how much she had matured. Both mentally and... he looked away and cursed himself for his mind wandering like that. He leaned back, stared at the ceiling, and passed out without realizing it.