All is Found - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Thea and I ended up spending Christmas in the hospital. Thea recovered enough to be released before me but she refused to leave without me. The doctors wanted to keep me here longer because of the internal damage the bullet caused. I came to find out that the bullet did a lot more damage then I knew. The doctors had to remove my spleen and part of my liver. After the surgery to repair the damage, the doctors thought it would be best to leave me in a medically induced coma for a few days to help me recover. I also came to find out that I flat lined twice one the operating table. Things were a bit hairy after I came out of surgery. They considered me very lucky the bullet didn't hit a kidney because if it did, I would be in a lot worse shape.
The first few days after I woke up were kind of hazy because of the strong pain killers I was on. It took a few days to get the right balance. Once we did get it right, my doctors wanted me to start getting out of bed and walking around. I've seen Thea go through it and I knew I would be next but I didn't realize how hard it would be at first. Walking more than a few steps was painful and exhausting.
Thea was my motivation though. I saw she was able to get up and move around and I thought that if she could do it, so could I. We worked together during the first two weeks of the recovery process. While we worked together to get stronger, we talked a lot about what we wanted to do for a wedding. Both of us wanted something small, mainly just family and a few friends. During our stay in the hospital we obviously didn't get rings so we had to manage. I had Nikki bring me in two skinny hair ties. I wrapped one around Thea's ring finger later that night and she smiled. I handed her the second hair tie and she wrapped it around my finger. Our first stop when we get out of the hospital would be to go ring shopping.
The day after we exchanged our rings Rory and Scarlett visited us. I haven't seen Rory since I woke up and it was nice to see him. He looked stressed out when he walked in. Scarlett was there to take my statement about what happened during the shooting. Once I told her what I could remember I looked back at Rory.
"I wanted to come and talk to you both about what happened, in person. The man who shot you was part of the gang Thea has been working on breaking up. This was a planned attack against the gang task force. Two other officers were targeted. They were able to escape with minor injuries. You two got the worst of it unfortunately. After the shooting we conducted raids on all known hideouts the gang uses and were able to arrest the final remaining members that were at large." Rory said.
Rory went a bit more into detail when Thea asked for specifics on her case and I just stayed silent. I was surprised to hear that is was one of Thea's cases that was the cause for us to get shot. I think I somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was always a possibility that Thea's job could have followed her home but I was surprised that it actually happened with no warning. Rory didn't stay for much longer after the initial debrief of what happened. Scarlett stayed for a while that day and talked to Thea. I left them to talk and spent some time with Pat outside in the courtyard.
It took Thea a few days to bounce back from that. It helped when I asked Rory if the other guys in the unit would come and see Thea. It lifted her spirits to see her unit and get to spend some time with them.
While we were in the hospital we had a revolving door of visitors always checking up on us. It sometimes got to the point where I just wanted to be alone so I called a nurse and they got everyone out of the room. Sometimes I even wanted some time away from Thea. There was just a lot to take in with what happened that I needed some room to breathe and it was kind of hard to do with people constantly hovering around me.
But finally the day came were the doctors thought I was recovered enough to go home. I was so happy I started crying. Spending just under a month in the hospital was something I never want to do again and now that I'm getting released, I never want to come back. I had to schedule a few doctor's appointments before they would release me though for them to check the progress of my healing.
I told Thea that this was our Christmas gift to each other, finally getting to leave the hospital. I had to use a wheel chair to get out of the hospital while Thea walked next to me, our hands interlocked. When we got outside we were met with a wall of police officers. All of them clapping for Thea. She is wearing her Salem PD windbreaker and hat as we were escorted to the waiting car.
Rory thought it would be a good idea for us to stay at my house for a little while because they don't know if there are going to be any more attacks on police officers. It also helps that Nikki is living with me still so she can help us with things. When we pulled up to my house I got so excited I wanted to jump out of the car before we even pulled to a stop.
With a little help from Nikki and the cane I have to use for the time being, we walked into my house and found that Nikki had set up a Christmas tree and still has presents underneath. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the welcome home banner hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen. Malia is sitting on the couch and when we walked in she stood and came over to us. I gave her a tight hug and broke away from her so Thea could get a hug as well.
"Pat brought Chad and Brad home last night. You also got a package from the American Music Awards that I put under the tree so it's like a surprise present." Nikki said as I made my way over to the couch.
"Has Alyssa been staying here?" I asked wanting to look around my house but needed a rest first.
"On and off. She went home for Christmas, she said she would be back to spend New Year's with us though. As for everyone else they went back home. Halsey is still in New York; she doesn't go back to California till the end of January I think she said." Nikki said and took a seat on the coffee table in front of me. Thea took a seat next to me and sighed in relief.
"Malia can you get Nikki her Christmas present from me please?" I asked.
Malia hopped up from the arm chair and went upstairs. After Nikki got Thea's Bronco back I asked Malia to get the guitar from the trunk and hide it in the house. I didn't want her to open it until we got home. Malia returned from upstairs holding the guitar case and placed it down in front of her girlfriend.
"This is what we were getting when it happened. I hope you love this guitar." I said and signaled Nikki to open it.
Nikki popped the buckles open and lifted the lid. When she saw the guitar waiting for she smiled and picked it up. She ran her hands over the strings and strummed it a little bit before putting it back in the case and giving me hug. When we all settled again I asked Nikki if she could open up the big box from the American Music Awards. Malia helped Nikki get the box open and they pulled out my three new awards. They looked so beautiful and I didn't want to touch them. The glass is perfectly polished and the metal is so shiny I wanted to use gloves to handle them.
I carefully stood from the couch and walked over to the mantle. I moved Chad and Brad over and placed them in between the new awards. Once they were all in place I took a step back and took a picture with my phone to post on instagram. It was about time Chad and Brad got some company; anybody want to give me some name suggestions? I posted the picture and walked towards the kitchen.
Before getting there I turned down the hall I never go down. The downstairs bathroom is here but I went past the door. I opened the door at the end of the hall and walked inside. It's been years since I've been in this room. I walked over to the bed and pulled the white sheet off. Next I pulled the white sheet off the dresser and coughed at all the dust that flew into the air. I took a seat on the bed and looked around the room.
I heard someone walk down the hall and I didn't have to turn around to know it was Thea. She took a seat on the bed next to me and wrapped her arm around my waist. I rested my head on her shoulder and sighed.
"I swear when I first woke up in the hospital, my mom was standing right next to me. That it was her hand on my face. It felt so real." I said. Thea didn't say anything but just kiss my head and held me tight.
"Can we go ring shopping tomorrow?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"Of course baby. Do you want to go back out to the living room? I know that Nikki still wanted to give you your present." Thea said and rubbed my back.
"In a minute, I just want to sit in here a little longer." I said.
Thea let me sit in silence for a few more minutes before we got up and went back into the living room. When we got back someone started the up the fireplace and it was nice and warm in the living room. I settled on the couch again and Nikki thrusted a box into my hand. I unwrapped the paper and found a Louis Vuitton box underneath. I pulled lid off and found the limited edition black and white camo reversible jacket I've wanted since I knew it was coming out.
"Holy hell, how did you get this?" I asked shocked as I took the coat out of the box.
"I made a phone call to a friend who I knew could possibly get it for me and she came through." Nikki said and took the box from my lap.
I didn't know what to say. Nikki made me stand up and helped me into the coat and it was a perfect fit. Before I sat back down I asked her for the box that held Thea's Christmas gift. When I sat back down I grabbed Thea's hand and placed the box in it.
"While you were out of the room one of the first days I woke up, I asked Bianca about your necklace and she gave it back to me. It had some dried blood on it so I asked Nikki to get it cleaned up before I gave it back to you. With the holidays right around the corner it took them a while to get it cleaned." I said and watched as Thea pulled her St. Michaels pendant out of the box.
"Not going to lie, I kind of felt naked without it." Thea said as I helped her put it on.
"I know that feeling. Bianca wouldn't let me wear mine until I handed over my discharge papers." I said and reached for the mini shield around my neck.
"I know it's not much but I never really got to go shopping." Thea said and handed me a wrapped box. I unwrapped it and found it wasn't actually a box, but a picture frame. The picture was of Thea and I in bed. It was from the day after I got home from treatment. Thea and I spent most of the day naked in bed and she took a few pictures of us. I had my head in the crook of her neck, a giant smile on my face, my eyes looking up at Thea. Thea is smiling back down at me and has her arm wrapped around my bare back.
"It my favorite photo of us. In that moment we were so care free and just enjoying life and the passion of our relationship." Thea said.
I looked over at my fiancé and gave her a toothy smile. Thea smiled back and gave me a kiss. The kiss lasted longer than I thought it would with Nikki and Malia in the room. We broke away when we couldn't breathe any more. Once we got our breath back, we walked into the kitchen and Nikki made us some sandwiches for lunch. Thea and I also got to reunite with Stevie and Nicks. Both of our goldfish were getting big and we spent a little time just sitting in front of their tank just watching them swim around.
After a while of watching them, Thea and I made the slow trek up the stairs to my bedroom. Once we got there we made quick work of getting our clothes off and climbing into my bed for a midday nap. Even though we couldn't really cuddle in bed with both of our stomachs still healing, every night we went to bed holding hands. So I wasn't surprised to feel Thea's hand reach out for mine under the blankets of my comforter.