Love Me Justly

Part VIII

Adla's heart was beating out of control. Her legs felt shaky while driving to the police station. After hearing the news of a fatal shooting involving an officer, her anxiety levels were through the roof. She could have called the station, but she was too afraid of receiving bad news pertaining to her best friend Aiden. Leah and her family had called Adla and the brunette had reassured everyone that she was fine. The only one who hadn't called was Aiden.

Knowing the young man was on duty at the time, made Adla extremely nervous. As soon as she parked her car, Adla took off running. She didn't know why but her instincts were taking over at this time. Entering the station, her chest was heaving, and she looked around to see what was going on. Her co-workers seemed alarmed but there was only one person Adla was searching for.

"Where's Aiden?" Adla stopped another friend whom she had been working with because she didn't see Aiden anywhere. Panic was starting to set in.

"Looking for me?"

Adla heard the familiar voice behind her and turned around immediately. Seeing the tall man greeting her with a little smile made Adla's body relax. Her arms reached forward and hugged him for a quick moment. Her senses were still on overload. She was usually known for keeping her calm, but Aiden seemed to notice the younger woman's distress. Gently putting his hand on her back, he guided her into one of the empty rooms and closed the door for some privacy.

"You heard the news?" Aiden asked and looked concerned for his friend.

"I did but...I thought you were maybe involved," Adla revealed, her eyes tearing up.

Aiden stepped closer and hugged her comfortingly. He was one of the few people in Adla's life that she didn't mind being physically close to. She felt safe and needed that moment of connection to fully convince herself that her best friend wasn't harmed. As he pulled away, both of them sighed while Adla wiped her tears in embarrassment.

"You know I'd never leave you by yourself," Aiden said with a faint smile to cheer her up. "Who's going to annoy you then?" Adla tried reciprocating the smile but she was still recovering from the initial shock. "I'm fine, A. Look at me. I know this is hard, but we'll get through it, okay?" The policeman added more seriously.

While Adla had gone to college, Aiden had joined the police force after high school. Therefore, he had a lot more experience and unfortunately this wasn't the first time he was confronted with a shooting involving an officer. With the large amount of shootings every year, it was inevitable for officers to get hurt. He was somewhat used to it, as bad as that sounded.

The young woman on the other hand was more so distraught over the fear of losing her best friend. Although their failed romantic attempt had made things a little awkward lately, she couldn't deny that he was the one person who had always been there for her. The idea of losing him scared her a lot more than she had expected. The issue of abandonment wasn't uncommon considering the environment she grew up in. Adla took a very deep breath and began to gather her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out," she said.

"It's all good. The first time is always hard," Aiden answered, assuming the officer shooting was the reason for most of her upset. "And it doesn't necessarily get easier, but you'll learn to cope with it. The officer who was shot is from another precinct and he's still in the hospital. So, there's still hope. It may not have been fatal, after all."

"That's good," Adla replied quietly. "Hopefully he'll pull through."

"Yeah, let's hope for the best," Aiden sighed deeply. "Are you okay though? Do you need a minute? I'll wait outside and maybe I can get some new info before you head out?"