You smell like love

Chapter 05

Carlos hated the hospital waiting room. At least this time he wasn't alone, Owen and the rest of the 126 were there with him. It had been his family, his friends, who had taken TK to the hospital, who had held him.

Owen had been there for him, he had cried in his arms while Tommy and Nancy took care of TK. He had told him that everything was going to be okay, he had promised him. Judd and Paul had carried TK's stretcher and Marjan and Mateo had sat beside him in the hospital.

He had tried to figure out how to call his parents but didn't know where to start or what to say. He could give them the good news and tell them they were going to be grandparents, but maybe it would be better to tell them about the accident and that his fiancé was a stupid man who cared about everyone else before himself and had almost killed himself falling off a building.

But he didn't have time to do it, because the doctor came out of the doors that separated them from the emergency room.

Carlos didn't understand why he hadn't been allowed to stay with TK. He could have been there and his fiancé would have felt him close, he could have given him strength and at least he would have known how he was doing.

He jumped up from the chair that groaned under the weight of his body. Owen moved to his side and rubbed his back as he noticed him trembling.

"Why do I feel like killing TK right now?" Carlos said softly as the doctor approached.

"Do you know how many times I've had that same feeling? But TK is like that, TK will put himself in front of any bullet, just to save someone in danger."

"But the baby..."

Owen squeezed his shoulder. "Don't torture yourself, anymore, Carlos. You love him, don't you?" The cop nodded. "Then breathe, let the doctor tell us how TK is doing, I'm sure he'll come out of this, just like he always has."

"Why do I get the feeling there will come a time when TK won't make it out of the next one?"

Owen rubbed his back again and the two stood there waiting for the doctor.

The doctor wore a tired expression, he must have been exhausted after an overly long shift that he must have already extended to take care of TK, but for once, Carlos couldn't care less.

There was nothing he cared about at that moment, nothing that wasn't TK.

"Captain Strand, Officer Reyes; the good news is that the ultrasound in the ER that we did on TK right after he came in still looked good, but there was an abdominal hematoma on the exam, so he's going to need a couple of weeks of bed rest to reduce the risk of miscarriage."

"You said the good news. Is there bad news, Doctor?" Carlos asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. "Is the baby okay?" he asked again, his voice shaking. "And TK? He was in a lot of pain, so much that it knocked him out."

Owen had almost stopped thinking about the fact that his son was pregnant. Now he was back in shock.

"But how... TK is an omega? Since when? I don't care, that doesn't matter now, he's pregnant, my son is pregnant, how... Are they okay now?"

"Can we go in to see him?"

The doctor smiled at them with a warm gesture that must have always worked to reassure the families.

"The baby should be fine. TK is going to be fine too. He has a grade one concussion, a dislocated left shoulder that has already been repositioned, and minor tears in two of the ligaments in his right knee. He may need surgery down the road but bed rest will help him heal as well. That's a lot of injuries and, as you've both made clear to me repeatedly today, pain management is going to be the biggest challenge for him, even more so with the pregnancy."