Hunting Season (Detective Loki Fanfic)

Nine

Floating in and out of consciousness, I faintly hear beeping along with the smell of antiseptics and disinfectants. I was in the hospital. The last thing I remembered was David holding me in his arms. I surely thought that I had died, and a pang of guilt hit me in my heart. I didn't even fight to stay awake. I knew that if I died, Mark had won his fight. And I just let it happen. Was I weak for that? I hoped not. I wondered if he was in jail, or running free and waiting for me right outside this hospital.

I heard two males arguing quietly outside of my room. I opened my eyes, squinting right away at the sudden brightness of the hospital lights. It was night time, but the lights to my room were still on.

"You've gotta stop this, Loki. We've got two missing girls and a deranged father gone mad. What am I gonna tell the families of these girls, huh? That our lead detective is hung up on some fucking girl he just met who was being beat up by her boyfriend? You better be fucking grateful that I didn't suspend you for almost killing him." The man says. I heard nothing in response. It sounded like his police captain from the night of the search party. I smile at the memories of that night. The police captain sighs.

"Listen, Loki. I know I told you to find yourself a girl, start a family of your own and get your head out of your work so much. I didn't expect you to take it so literally and so soon. These girls are missing, son, and their families are watching us like hawks. We fucked up already by letting that Jones kid go, we can't afford anymore fuck ups. When this case is over, you can go back to whatever little love story you have going on. But right now, we need your fuckin' head in the game. She's banged up for sure, but that's not your job to protect her when you're on duty. No more of this, do you understand me?" He says sternly. David doesn't reply.

"Loki, answer me." He pokes.

"Go fuck yourself, Captain. Have I ever let a fuckin' case slip from under me?" I hear a long pause after David speaks. The man sighs.

"No, son. But it doesn't mean that it won't happen." The captain replies. I hear footsteps leading away from the room, resulting in a painful silence. Then I hear the door to my room open.

David steps through the door, staring at the floor. He looks up to me, awake on my bed. A concern look placated his face, his eyes blinking.

"Hey, you. Did...that wake you?" He says gently, eagerly walking over to me and grabbing my hand. He smiles down at me, scanning my face and body.

"No, you didn't. Sorry you got your ear chewed off." I say with a raspy voice, looking into his icy blue eyes. He looked exhausted. Like he hadn't gotten any sleep for the past few days.

"I'm used to it, you know. Always fuckin' up one way or another." He chuckles, defeated. "How are you feeling baby." He pauses. "God, look at your face." Tears start to well up in his eyes as he scans my face.

I was feeling sore, pained, and tired. Every move I tried to make sent a shockwave of pain through my entire body. I cleared my throat, preparing to speak.

"Very thirsty" I chuckle lightly. I didn't want David to know how much pain I was in. It's not like he needed more of a reason to worry about me. Because of me, his job was on the line.

"Right, shit. Let me grab you some water." He says, pouring some water into a plastic cup from the kettle on the night stand. He places a straw into the cup and puts it up to my mouth. I drink, smiling sweetly at him as I look up at his beautiful, tired face. I put my arm up, wincing slightly at the soreness, and caressed his face. He hadn't shaved in a while, I could tell. I ran a thumb over his cheek, as he closed his eyes and let a tear fall. His lips were quivering, and a pained look was written all over his face. He sat back in the chair next to my bed, and wiped a tear from his cheek in the manliest way possible. I smile sadly, knowing that he wasn't a crier and this must have been an awkward thing for him to normally show a woman that he just started seeing. But our situation was far from normal, and we both knew it.