Back to You
the topic to discuss it at length. “I’m so sorry, honey.” She stroked the top of his hand.
    “Do you know what I did?”
    There was so much painful emotion in his blue eyes that Lynsey regretted even mentioning the promotions. All she wanted now was to take this man in her arms and shower him with all the comfort and love she felt. Instead, she asked, “What?”
    “I actually pulled the woman out of her car and shook her. I shook her right in front of her children! What kind of monster does that make me? I was supposed to be the professional; I was supposed to keep a cool head in a time of chaos. Instead, I just…lost it.”
    “Nicky, you weren’t acting as a cop. You were acting as Evan’s best friend. There’s a huge difference.”
    “Well, Owen showed up shortly afterward and he took control over the whole scene. I remember being at the hospital emergency room and I just couldn’t speak ; I could barely function. They had Evan on his side on a gurney and his eyes were wide open and he was just staring forward, and then he started to vomit all over Owen’s shoes. Owen just held his hand and kept telling him that everything was going to be all right.”
    Evan’s accident had deeply affected Nick, even to this day, she thought. “Evan told me that he has absolutely no memory of his accident, or even weeks prior to or after it.”
    “It doesn’t matter, Lynsey.” He placed his hand over his heart. “I remember. I also remember the incident with the PEG.”
    “PEG?” she asked, puzzled. “What’s a PEG?”
    “It’s a medical procedure. After Evan had been in the hospital for a long while, he became very depressed because things like his dexterity and speech weren’t coming back as quick as he wanted. He became so frustrated that he stopped eating. They were using a feeding tube because his weight had dropped so dramatically. Eventually, the doctor’s wanted to do surgery to implant this PEG tube through his belly to feed him.”
    She hadn’t known the extent of Evan’s recovery.
    “Anyway, since his fiancée bailed on him and he had no family, Owen and I were making all the medical decisions for him. I agreed with the procedure. I thought it was in Evan’s best interest to follow the doctor’s suggestion. But Owen,” he stopped and shook his head. “Owen went absolutely ballistic. He marched out of the hospital and stormed back a half hour later with a bag of take-out from Burger Heaven. He put the burger in Evan’s hands and shouted, ‘Eat the God damn thing or I’ll shove it down your throat!’
    “Wouldn’t you know that from that afternoon Evan started to eat? Afterward, his weight came up, and his health improved by leaps and bounds. If he had the procedure I wanted him to have, would he still be in a rehab hospital wasting away?”
    Nick was a man who rarely showed his emotions, yet today in his kitchen, he was absolutely haunted with pain.
    “Nicky, you are not a doctor. You are a kind, wonderful, and concerned man who wanted what was best for your friend. You and Owen are two completely—and I do mean completely— different men. Maybe the aggression and abrasiveness works for Owen, but that’s not you. You are a good man and you deserve to be a sergeant. But if you don’t want that, it’s your decision and I respect that.”
    Standing up from her chair, she went to him and eased herself onto his lap. Capturing his face in her hands, she looked directly into his blue eyes. “You are magnificent. I am so proud of you.” She then pressed her closed lips gently against his. After a very long moment, she stood again. “I guess I’ll go make those phone calls now.”
    As she started to walk away from the table, she was surprised when Nick grabbed her hand. She turned to him.
    “If I was a sergeant, could you ever love me again?” he asked.
    She smiled at him. “Oh honey, I don’t care whether you’re a street cop or a sergeant, I have always loved you.”
    ***
    Lynsey

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