It was nighttime a few days after I got out of the hospital finally. The sun was set, A normal day in my life now... Trapped in my apartment. No where to go. Nowhere I could go for that matter. I moved quickly around the kitchen as I assembled the fixings for a sandwich. I couldn't help but focus on the persistent throb that was emanating from my shoulder. Despite the progress that I made, it seemed my body was intent on reminding me of what I couldn't do.

  The smell of fresh bread and deli meat was a comfort, a small normalcy in the whirlwind of terror my life has become as of late. I spreaded mustard on the bread as I carefully layered slices of turkey and cheese onto the bread. As I reached for the lettuce, I was met by the presence of another sharp pain running down my shoulder causing me to wince and nearly drop the knife.

  "Ohhhhh come on, give me a break." I muttered in anger under my breath as I paused to rub the pain out of my shoulder in a foolish attempt to alleviate the discomfort. I thought I had been doing everything correctly like Darius said but I knew that the impatience was getting the best of me one way or another."

  As I tried to ignore the pain and continue through my task, each movement I made seemed to aggravate the throb until it become a serious ache.

  "Give me a break..." I muttered again under my breath.

  I decided to take a break from the preparation, I reached over on the other side of the counter for a water bottle, only to freeze, dropping the bottle as a worse excruciating pain shot through my shoulder, almost as bad as the night I got shot. My breathing started to quicken as I grabbed at the wound. I felt something wet seeping throughout the bandages. A crimson mask spreading rapidly. Panic surged throughout my body.

  "No, no, no! this is the last thing I need. Not now, not now!" I whispered, as I tried to keep my composure which clearly wasn't working.

  I realized I needed help and fast. Keyword FAST.

  Without wasting another moment, I grabbed my cellphone from the table and with my uninjured hand dialed 911.

  "Come onnnnnnnn, come onnnnnnnn."

  "911 what's your emergency?"

  I took a deep breath of relief as they answered.

  "This is Detective Isabella Grant of the Miami Police Department. 5th Division. I reopened my shoulder wound. I'm bleeding thoroughly throughout the bandages and I need assistance immediately."

  There was a brief pause and I heard the typing from a keyboard in the background. "Someone will be over in an estimate of 2 minutes Detective. Hold tight."

  "How did this happen?" The person on the other line asked.

  I laughed. "I don't know honestly. It's been bothering me for the past couple days and whilst I was making a sandwich and paused because of the pain, I felt this even more sharper pain almost as bad as the day I got shot. Bada Boom. Here we are.

  There was another brief pause, the next thing I heard was a knock at the door.

  I opened the door to find Dr. Toretto stood there, fear etched on his face.

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  "Let me look at that Izzy." Darius said, stepping inside my apartment with the quickness of a thousand waterfalls.

  I moved aside, letting him in. He sat down his medical bag on the coffee table, removed his jacket to reveal a perfectly tailored suit and gently, but firmly guided me to the couch. His hands were precise and sure as he unwrapped the blood-soaked bandages.

  "This might hurt you know that right?" His eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my heart skip a couple of beats."

  'Just do what you have to do...." I replied, bracing myself.

  He worked quickly, cleaning the wound and assessing the damage. His touch was gentle, but the pain was still sharp, causing me to bite down on my lip to keep from screaming out in agony.

  "I've got good news and bad news... You've reopened the wound pretty badly. You've lost a lot of blood... The good news is it's not bad enough that you're going to have to go back into the hospital for surgery, You are, however going to need stitches. And I'm going to have to reapply the bandages."

  "I nodded trying to keep my breath steady a small tear left my eye. "Like I said just do what you have to do."

  He worked in silence for a while, his movements efficient and precise. Despite the pain I couldn't help feeling a sense of comfort with his presence around which I wasn't trying to focus on.

  "There, all done." He said finally, securing the last bandage. "I'm not going to blame this on you need to be more careful Izzy. Your body needs time to heal..."

  I sighed feeling the tension slowly leave my body at the rate of a sloth, knowing what this means and sadly knowing that Darius is right...

  "I know I'm just not good at sitting still... In my line of work, I don't do that, I've been a cop 8 years...."

  Oh believe me I know what that feels like... Sitting around all day, Heck I wouldn't be surprised if you watched everything on Netflix..."

  I laughed, playing along... "Twice...."

  He chuckled, "I know how much you want to get back to work. But you need to try and rest for your own sake... I'll give it two more weeks to heal from this... Then we can chat about you returning to the field... "

  "Deal if I've done it for this long. I can wait one more week... I think. Thanks for coming Doctor I didn't mean to bother you. I'm sure you had plans..."

  He'd laugh, putting everything back in his medicine bag. "I may be your doctor, but it doesn't quite look like we're in the hospital currently, In that case, I'd like you to refer to me as Darius. I get to refer to you as Izzy, So when we are not in the hospital, it's Darius. Got it Detective Grant?"

  I chuckled once again my shoulder throbbing a little bit trying to say hello. "Ugh fine... Darius... My shoulder wants me to call you that as well."

  "Thanks for coming Darius. I didn't mean to bother you, You probably had plans...."

  He'd laugh. "Ohhhhh, please you a bother? Nah... I was in the neighborhood and once I heard your name through my pager, I decided to take it upon myself to be the one who dropped by."

  I nod, " I'm happy you did, Like I said I appreciate it. I'll try to be more careful."

  He nodded looking over to the kitchen and noticed the sandwich fixings prepared on the counter along with the water bottle on the floor.

  "You were cooking when this happened huh?"

  I nod, " Yes, I was my shoulder had been bothering me every day, the past few days and I was hungry. I tried to push through it, Come on, you don't know me by now, I'm stubborn...."

  He'd laugh once again... He then removed his coat smirking at me and heading over to the island to finish the sandwich.

  "You don't have to finish making that I can do it... I'm sure you have plans. I've taken up enough of your time...." I'd say eventually getting up to my feet and heading over to him...

  "Ohhhhh, please, sit down.... Relax... You need it... I got this." He smiled at me finishing making the sandwich and putting it on a plate along with picking up the water that I had dropped on the floor... He walked over to the couch and handed it to me.

  "There you are, ma'am.... Can I get you anything else this evening?" He'd laugh at his corny joke.

  "Thank you, Darius....."

  He nodded slowly, "It was my pleasure, I'll be back about Thursday to see how you are doing... If my checkup is all clear, you will be able to return to the force next Friday... Don't worry Izzy." He'd smirk at me, placing a small kiss on my hand, "Goodnight detective..."

  "Goodnight Doctor...." I'd say, watching him leave, slightly blushing... Everything that just happened was simply a haze.