Conflicted (Buddie) ENGLISH VERSION

There's someone inside

If it hadn't been the sound of glass, he probably wouldn't have woke up.

Sitting in bed, Eddie frowned by taking a look at the time on the screen of his mobile phone. He blew. He thought he had been clear with Buck, he didn't want him to come knock at home every hour of the night.

When he lit the light in the corridor, he yawned loudly, his feet dragging on the carpet. He walked to the front door and jumped back squeaking when he felt pain in the soles of his foot. He growled and lit the great light, ignoring the total glare and frowned as he stooped. He raised his head to the small table in the entrance on which photo frames had been placed.

He straightened up, completely on the lookout and listened.

With the frame broken in his hand, he returned to the living room and glanced into the corridor. It was empty.

His eyes landed on the photograph he had picked up among the pieces of glass and he laughed while remembering Christmas market day with Christopher and Buck. The boy had made his list to Santa Claus and talked about it for a whole week without stopping.

Eddie lit the light in the kitchen and his eyes widened when he saw the letter on the table and the knife planted in it.

He swallowed and approached it. If at first he thought he had to remove the kitchen utensil to be able to read the letter, he was wrong. It had been installed in such a way as to be perfectly legible, although the tip of the knife is planted in the middle of the last word.

« Choose your friends Eddie. For Christopher's good »

He spent no more time thinking, he spread out at full speed and crossed the corridor like an arrow.

-Christopher!

***

Los Angeles. It's the city of angels, it's obvious, it's written in the name. Yet, in such a short time, there had never been so much hell in this city.

In less than two years, a natural disaster had ravaged Santa Monica Bay and even today the damage had not yet been erased. A pandemic - although global - had locked people up at home for weeks, driving them crazy and totally depressed.

And in barracks 118, beautiful things had happened, others a little worse.

Bobby Nash had married renowned police lieutenant Athena Grant, and their daughter had joined the 9-1-1 dispatch team. Howard Han lived the announcement of his next fatherhood as a gift from heaven and Maddie lived it from day to day. Henrietta Wilson took advantage of every moment spent with her two children and his wife, finding new tactics to prevent them from writing on the walls.

In four years, several things had happened that deserved their place in hell. Chimney animated by black anger against his captain had taken the car and driven recklessly. An iron bar had crossed his skull at the perfect angle to keep him awake long enough to find himself conversing with his own colleagues about the condition of the car while he was being incarcerated. To this was added the refusal of his marriage application the day before and his separation from the woman he had thought was the love of his life although she never really loved him.

Hen had betrayed her wife and almost lost her for a stupidity she had made and since that day all her actions were aimed at catching up with this mistake and the one that took place more than a year later, when their ambulance while driving hit a young violinist's car and killed her instantly.

Athena had suffered a terrible attack while she was on the trail of a formidable criminal. She had been so affected that she no longer dared to look at herself in a mirror after that for several months. At that time, his open line had broadcast his cries and the sounds of blows and the 118 truck in intervention in the sector had perceived everything, Bobby feeling terribly useless and frightened at the idea of losing his second wife too because of his incompetence.