Discombobulate

Chapter Sixty-Seven

As Winston went in for surgery, Mullen locked himself in the hospital chapel and wept. How painful and unfair life was. First his kid, then his wife, and now Winston.

Greg Sullivan had taken everything and he won in the end.

Cody Mullen sat for two hours in a pew with his head in his hands. He wept for a miracle. He wept for some sort of mercy.

After gunfire had been exchanged, Grant Bowers had been escorted to prison. He immediately folded and told an interrogating officer the plan.

Bowers was supposed to be arrested at the church. Whoever led him out to the patrol car, they were supposed to be shot. It was supposed to be a distraction and throw the other off guard. Sullivan was the shooter because he had better aim. Bowers was supposed to run after the shot. Sullivan was supposed to follow him after shooting the other detainee.

Not a single person had expected the shot to go wrong. Winston's sacrifice threw everyone off guard, including Sullivan and Bowers. Nobody expected to have another person on standby.

Andy wasn't meant to be there and she wasn't meant to be armed. Mullen was thankful she had been there anyway. She entered the building when she heard Sullivan's gun fire. Sullivan still had his gun pointed at Winston when Andy took the shot.

Greg Sullivan's head exploded. His skull splintered into a variety of pieces. He fell over dead as Mullen sat on the floor in shock. It took him a few seconds to register what happened.

Andy ran towards Winston and it didn't take long before he fell unconscious. He was out of it all the way to the hospital. They rushed him into surgery to retrieve the bullet. The doctor promised to give Mullen an update as soon as possible.

That was then and this was now. Mullen didn't know where Andy was. He hadn't seen her since he left with Winston in an ambulance. At some point, Deputy Falcon and Deputy Pelton arrived at the scene.

Everything became a giant surreal blur.

Mullen lifted his head. He used the back of his hand to wipe away a strand of snot. He sniffled a few times and wiped his eyes. His eyes met the red stained glass window at the front of the room.

A knock made him turn his head towards the door. A woman stood outside the door in a white lab coat. A pitiful smile appeared on her face.

Mullen took a deep breath before getting up and walking to the door. Whatever happened, he'd have to accept it. He had to live while carrying the guilt of Winston's injury.

_ _ _

Winston woke up to soft murmurs and the sharp smell of antiseptic. He blinked a few times and tried to take in his surroundings. A group of people surrounded his bed in chairs.

"Hey, he's awake!"

"You're alive!"

"Winston, you scared the shit out of us!"

"What?" Everything for Winston was blurry. It was a struggle to remember things. All he could remember was losing his vision while looking at Andy.

"Let's do this one at a time," Falcon suggested. "Mullen, we'll be in the hallway when you're done."

Winston watched Falcon, Pelton, and Andy leave. He glanced over to see Mullen moving his chair closer to his bed. "Mullen, what the hell happened?"

Mullen chuckled. "Well, hello to you too."

"Have you been crying?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"What happened in the sanctuary?"

Mullen sucked in a deep breath. "I was leading Grant Bowers to the patrol car. I don't know exactly what happened. You tackled me from behind and knocked me to the ground. A gun went off and yo-"

"I got shot?" Winston finished for him.

Mullen nodded and continued, "Sullivan was in a disguise. He meant to hit me, but you threw yourself in front of me. The bullet hit your spine and..." Mullen trailed off.

"What?"

More tears filled Mullen's eyes. He quickly wiped them away. "Winston, you're paralyzed from the waist down."

Without thinking, Winston tried to wiggle his toes. He glanced at the light blue sheet draped across his feet. He couldn't see them moving beneath it. He couldn't feel them. He tried to lift a leg, but he couldn't feel it.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry," Mullen's voice shook.

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault."

"I was there and if I would have been faster, you wouldn't have had to jump."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't force me to jump, I chose to. If I could go back, I'd do it over again. I guess this means my time as the Brimington sheriff is over."

"My time as a detective is over too."

"What? Why?"

"Greg Sullivan killed a piece of me with this case. I don't want to do anything like this anymore. I don't want to see people I love get hurt. No more, I'm done."

Winston reached out and grabbed Mullen's hand. He squeezed it reassuringly, Mullen squeezed his hand back. They'd figure out their future plans together.

After talking for almost twenty minutes, Mullen left and sent in Andy.

When Andy entered the room, the first thing she did was grab Winston's face between her hands. Before he could ask what she was doing, she shoved her lips against his. Flabbergasted and thrown off, he kissed her back.

She pulled back a few seconds later and perched herself at the edge of his bed.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"The last time I held your face, I watched the life fade out of your eyes. I thought you died in my arms. I wanted to replace that with a good memory."

Winston let out a laugh. Seeing Andy smile caused butterflies to fill his stomach. "I heard you took down the bad guy."

"You bet your ass I did. I sent him straight to hell and I'd do it all over again."

"I guess I should be thanking you. You did a better job than me."

Andy shrugged at his words. A comfortable silence filled the room. "Winston?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a crush on you."

"I was kind of hoping you did. I was going to be devastated if you kissed me for no reason. I don't like pity kisses."

"Can I move in with you? Someone is going to have to help take care of you. Plus, I'd like to be your girlfriend an-"

"You want to be my girlfriend?" Winston asked.

A grin appeared on Andy's face, "yeah, I'd love to."

"Well, if you insist, I'd like to be your boyfriend."

"Hey, you two, the door is open. We can all hear you loud and clear. This gushy love talk is kind of disgusting." Marina Falcon poked her head around the door frame and peered into the room.

Andy threw her head back and laughed.

"What's a guy got to do to get some privacy in here?" Winston joked.

"It's hard letting you have privacy when we can hear you sucking faces!"

"Gross," Deputy Pelton muttered.

"Winston, stop screwing around." Mullen threw in his two cents. "Just shut up and kiss her again."

Winston rolled his eyes and moved forward. Pain medication had made his body numb.

Andy did the same.

They kissed each other once more.