Page 17 of Booking Burke
“Are you okay?” Cisco asked as the medic started cutting Eli’s uniform shirt off. Next to go were the straps of his bulletproof vest.
“Yeah, I’m fine. We were patrolling the park. The fried clams caught my attention. Eli said…” Burke stopped, trying to get his emotions under control. Crying wasn’t going to help now. “Eli said we had all summer to come back here and eat. He was so excited, Cisco.”
“Bullet wound is under the collarbone. We’re gonna scoop and run.” The medic started barking out other orders. All Burke could do was watch and try to string a prayer together in his jumbled mind.
“Can I go with him?” Burke needed to be with Eli to give him his strength.
“Come with me in my squad car. I want to hear the rest of what happened.” Cisco tugged on Burke’s arm.
Burke nodded. He felt numb from head to toe. “How did this happen? We were talking about making a date then all of a sudden this guy is sticking a gun in our faces.”
“He’s obviously looking for couples. If I had to guess, I’d say he was involved in a bad break up or divorce and he’s looking to inflict the pain he feels on other people.” Cisco was shaking his head. He looked like he had his shit together.
Cisco’s hypothesis about the shooter made sense to Burke. What he needed to focus on was being as calm and collected as the chief.
“Come on, let’s go to the hospital.” Cisco gave Burke’s arm a tug.
Burke’s attention caught on the pool of blood that had been left behind when Eli’s body was moved. “Holy shit, chief. That’s a lot of blood. Can Eli survive after losing…” Burke’s words failed him.
“Eli’s going to be fine. He’s a fighter. There’s no way he’s going to find you only to lose you. Trust me, Burke, he’s going to be okay.”
Nodding, Burke followed Cisco to his cruiser. He knew those words were just the kind of thing you said to someone in a situation like this. Would Eli really fight to get back to Burke?
The ride to the hospital was silent. Burke listened to the voices crackling over the radio. Some officers were involved in a foot pursuit with the alleged shooter. Others were racing to the scene. Burke hoped Eli’s brothers and sisters in blue caught the bastard.
Cisco pulled up to the emergency room at North Shore Medical Center. He parked the SUV and ran toward the ER doors. Burke was hot on his heels. He tried to catch his breath while the chief asked the ER nurse about Eli.
He was trying to focus on what the nurse was saying when he heard loud, slapping footsteps before Burke was grabbed from behind. “Hey, man. Are you okay?”
Burke recognized Greeley Fitzgibbon’s voice. They’d been in the same classes at Salem State and had become fast friends. They’d both be attending the police academy together in July. “No,” Burke squeaked before hugging his friend.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Greeley held him tight.
“What’s the word, Cisco?” a familiar, but out of breath, voice asked.
“They’re rushing him into surgery, Ronan. How the hell did you all get here so fast?” Cisco shot the Boston Cold Case Detective a suspicious look.
“We were just up the road at The Black Cat Inn.” Ronan glanced over at his infant daughter. “Little Miss wanted to visit Uncle Tobin and Uncle Niall.” Ronan’s smile faded. “I’ve got the police emergency app on my phone. It alerts when there’s a shelter in place order or some other kind of emergency. It went off and a few minutes later Marc Kendall texted me. I texted Fitzgibbon. We hopped in the SUV and got here as fast as we could."
Burke turned to see Ronan’s husband Tennyson standing behind him, rocking a babygirl in his arms.
“Where’s Burke?” A voice shouted. “Burke!”
Burke found a smile. That loud voice belonged to Captain Kevin Fitzgibbon, Greeley’s father, and if he were honest with himself, a surrogate father to him. Kevin had been a trusted friend and mentor from the minute Greeley had brought him home for dinner that first time. “I’m here.”
“Jesus, are you okay?” Kevin pulled Burke away from Greeley. He was looking him over as if he were a doctor and not a thirty-year veteran of the BPD.
“I’m fine. Its Eli. The gunman was going to shoot me. He had the barrel of the gun aimed at my head. Eli threw himself at me, knocking us both to the ground. I don’t have a scratch on me, but he…” Burke’s breath hitched.
“Let’s get you out of this thing.” Kevin started pulling back the straps on his bulletproof vest. “Okay, let’s sit down.”
Burke allowed Kevin to lead him to the back of the waiting room. Now that the vest was off, he could breathe more freely. His level of terror was at an all-time high. Burke had never been more scared in his life.
“Kevin, would you mind taking Everly?” Tennyson Grimm offered the baby to Fitzgibbon.
“Tennyson, I’m sitting with Burke. Why don’t you give her to Ronan?” Fitzgibbon’s green eyes glared at Tennyson.
One of Tennyson’s dark eyebrows shot up high on his head.
