One Expectation

Baez' shoes squeaked quietly as she walked the familiar linoleum floors of St Vincent's hospital. She walked the well worn route through the building to the ER, turning left as she entered. She scanned the room and quickly spotted Danny shifting restlessly on a bed in one of the bays. She crossed the room and he looked up as she reached the bed.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked as she hugged him on his uninjured right side.

"Yeah, it's just my arm." He reassured her hugging back.

"How'd you get here so fast?" He asked as he moved over then carefully sat back.

"Your partner called, a perk of us both being cops." She told him smiling as she took a seat next to him on the bed. He stared at her, he wasn't used to having someone be so calm after he was hurt on the job. Seeing her eyeing his left upper arm wrapped in a bandage brought him out of his thoughts.

"EMT said the bullet was a through and through, I just have to get an x-ray to see if there's any damage to the bone." He informed her.

"Humorous." She replied and he frowned.

"The humorous, the bone in your upper arm." She clarified trying not to laugh at the misunderstanding.

"Right." Danny grumbled slightly embarrassed.

"Anyway, after that I'll need to get a few stitches, then I can get out of here." He finished, shifted again and winced in pain. He looked away and sighed, she smiled unfazed by his grouchiness and gently placed her hand on the side of his face.

"Hey." She spoke softly and his eyes met hers. As he stared into her warm, smiling brown eyes his bad mood began to lift and he appreciated her calmness.

"I'm really glad you're okay." She told him smiling as her hand moved from the side of his face to the back of his head. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips, as soon as he felt it he wrapped his good arm around her and deepened the kiss. They were interrupted seconds later by the sound of someone clearing their throat and quickly broke the kiss. They turned towards the sound and saw Frank standing by the foot of the bed looking a little uncomfortable.

"Dad." Danny's clipped greeting.

"Danny." Frank replied with a tight smile.

"Commissioner." Baez smiled standing up.

"You're not on duty are you?" Frank guessed based on the fact that Baez was wearing jeans, a jumper and tennis shoes.

"No." She confirmed.

"Then call me Frank." He told her.

"Okay." She replied realising she was going to have to get used to switching between his name and his title.

"I was in the neighbourhood heading back from a meeting when I got the call about what happened. I thought I'd stop by and see how you're doing." Frank offered before Danny could accuse him of checking up on him.

"I'm fine, just got winged." Danny assured him.

"And the perp?" Frank inquired.

"In surgery." Danny answered and Frank nodded not surprised. Before anyone could speak a nurse appeared with a wheelchair.

"Detective Reagan, radiology's ready for you." She told him as she lifted up the footrests. Danny frowned but did not protest as he got off the bed and took a seat in the wheelchair. Frank and Baez shared a look as the nurse wheeled Danny away.

As she pulled her pyjama top on over her head she heard Danny groan. She turned to see him struggling to undo the buttons of his dress shirt with only one hand. She crossed the bedroom over to him, smiled at him and lowered his hand. He stared at her as she made quick work of the buttons and removed his shirt, being careful as she pulled the sleeve down his injured arm. She also unbuckled his belt and undid the button of his pants before walking over and discarding his bloodied and torn shirt in the bin. She turned back around and seeing he had removed his pants went over and slid the belt out of the belt loops. She picked up the tie he had dropped on the bed and took it and the belt and walked into the walk-in wardrobe.

"So you're not going to say it?" Danny asked curious as he carried his pants to the laundry hamper and dropped them in.

"Say what?" Baez called from the wardrobe as she hung the tie on the tie rack and the belt on a belt hanger.

"You're not going to give me the speech?" He asked taking a seat on the side of the bed as she walked out of the wardrobe.

"What speech?" She replied confused as she walked over to him.

"The one where you tell me that I really scared you today, that I could have died and that you worry about me every time I walk out the door." He listed. She stared at him and realised that every time he got hurt on the job he had heard that same speech from Linda and had been expecting it or one like it from her. She closed the gap between them coming to stand between his legs and rested her hands on his shoulders. He looked up at her and immediately wished he hadn't brought it up.

"Sorry, I know you're not...I'm just used to..." He trailed off and looked down.

"It's okay. I know you could have died today, I have the same job you do. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm a cop, I just don't look at things that way." She explained and he looked up curious.

"To me, today was good day." She told him.

"A good day?" He questioned glancing at his injured arm then back at her.

"Danny, you survived, you're still here, with me. Any day that ends with you still in my life is a good day." She smiled broadly at him. He smiled back, pulled her against him and kissed her. She kissed him back and after a few seconds they broke apart. He let go of her and she rounded the bed as he stood, pulled the covers back and got in. He lay down and watched as she removed an extra pillow and climbed into bed beside him.

"For the record, of course I worry about you, I love you." She stated as she turned off her bedside light.

"I love you too." He told her and kissed her on the forehead. He reached out and turned off the light on his side, she cuddled up to him and they both pulled up the covers.

"Though right now, I have something else to worry about. Your dad invited me to dinner on Sunday."