| the 99th precinct |

✩*• 5. •*✩

[1st person, jakes perspective]

- 1 month later -

"jake! i'm so happy for you!!"

charles's voice sung throughout the entire precinct, not that anyone payed it any attention. most were used to hearing charles getting worked up over something.

"oh my god... nikolaj could be best friends with your - "

suddenly i hear a thud, and i realise charles has fainted while i was talking about the big conversation at home about a month ago. chuckling softly i help him up as he starts to open his eyes. amy and i decided not to tell charles for a while. amy clearly wasn't pregnant, nor were we even trying for a baby yet, but we knew charles would blow it out of proportion regardless.

"i mean, it's not that big a deal. we just agreed that we could have a kid together. we haven't even spoken about -"

"how dare you jake, this is the best day of my goddamned life!!! don't try to make me feel any differently"

i look up as i hear the elevator ding. i see rosa speed walk from the elevator to captain holts office wearing her usual clothes topped off with a wide brimmed hat that pretty much covered her face.

odd.

charles and i both seemed confused by the way rosa was acting, so we decided to try to peek through the slats in the blinds inside holts office. all we saw, was rosa sitting on the chair, hunched over, as holt pulled the blinds shut after noticing we were watching. even gina looked up from her phone, curious to the new drama in the precinct.

i tell charles that i'm going to get back to work and i sit down. as i watch charles walk back to his own desk, i can feel the empty presence of my wife not sitting across from me anymore.  it's weird not having amy there anymore. we should be getting a new detective soon to take her place but i'm not sure when. amidst my thoughts, a crash sounded from holts office and rosa opened the door shortly after. she looks at me, rather willingly, before leaving in a huff. scrambling, i decide to get up and follow her.

"thanks for following me jake."

"hey that's alright. what's going on?"

rosa turns around and takes off her hat, gripping it tightly in her hands as a coping mechanism for the anger she seems to be feeling. i close the door behind us as i take a closer look at rosa's vulnerable figure. mascara streaks ran down her cheeks, and her eyes are red and bloodshot. i raise my hand to put it on her shoulder reassuringly before remembering her no-touching policy. noticeably, my hand freezes and drops back down, rosa watching as i do so. suddenly, something unexpected happens.

rosa jumps forward and hugs me.

"i-it's about alicia."

slowly, i pull away from the hug and grab chairs for us to sit on. i can tell this is gonna be important.

"take deep breaths, tell me what happened. did you two break up?"

rosa and alicia became serious very quickly. after their second date, the pair were inseparable. rosa often said she missed her at work, crazy right?

"no! nothing like that. she was just... she was hit jake. by a car. i was asking holt if i could take time off to stay with her at the hospital."

"oh i see... and holt said no?"

"nah, he said yes. the crash you probably heard was me. i don't cry a lot, but when i do i find it really hard to see... anyway, it was a few days ago she got hit and i've been seeing her as much as possible. i thought she'd be ok but the doctors told me they weren't sure if she'd... if she'd make it. "

unsure of whether to hug rosa or not, i nod solemnly before ending up putting a reassuring hand on her knee. her sobs were suddenly cut off and she stood. she began rifling through her pockets before she pulled out some makeup wipes and she scrubbed off the mascara that seemed to come off rather easily. i think she could tell i was going to stand up and stop her, so she simply said:

"it's fine. i'm heading over now. not sure when i'll be back, hopefully when she gets better. if she even will-"

"she will get better, rosa"

i interject pointedly. there's no reason rosa should beat herself up over something she can't fix. rosa nods her head surprisingly fervently, before opening the door and leaving. she is met with amy about to walk in.

"hey rosa! how are - "

rosa cuts her off by hurrying quickly and getting inside the elevator. she stuck her hand out to stop the elevator doors from closing behind her, before yelling a thanks in my direction. i give her a thumbs up and the doors closed.

"what was that all about?"

"it was uh, interesting actually. i'll tell you tonight. what'd you need?"

ames shook her head slightly and walked up to me, slamming some files and a stack of paper on the desk nearby. smiling, she said:

"i think we got doug judy"