It has been a monumentally shitty day. First there was the spilling of orange juice on my only clean uniform. I blame Holly for that. Then I almost drove over my crotchety old neighbor. Then Chloe got shot in the neck. Then I got shot at. And now Oliver is missing.

Is that gum on my shoe? Perfect!

"We just got word, they have found Oliver," Steve says knocking my feet from my desk. Yay! I finally take that deep breath I had been holding in for so many hours. With that one breath, all the anxiety of the day so far has suddenly left my body. "Best wants you and Chris down there to help clear the scene. Grab your stuff, ok?" He says looking at his phone before answering it.

"Gail!" I hear my name called from across the to room. Why is my happiness always so short lived? I turn around and see Holly near the front desk.

Man, she looks really worried. I wonder what this is about... She has never come to see me here before... and now my anxiety is back.

I wave her over as I feel Steve's hand grab my shoulder. "That was Best, Ford is in the station," he whispers in my ear.

"I -I know." I feel an instant chill down my spine as I see Ford forcefully making his way through the crowd. Is that a rifle?

I return my gaze to Holly who is gracefully walking to towards me, none the wiser of the shit storm that is about to hit all of us. Can this day get any worse?

The sound is deafening. Holly grabs her ears and I lunge towards her and take her straight into my arms and spin her around to shield her from any wayward flying bullets. I never imagined our first embrace would be because of some nut job shooting at us. Seriously Gail, you are thinking about this now?

As we start to purposely fall to the ground I feel Chris and Steve's bullets whizzing past my head, before my body is viciously propelled forward.

Yup, I have fallen on top of Holly. Oh, and I can't breathe!

I feel Holly lift me off her and turn me onto my back like I weigh nothing more than a feather. She has muscles!

"Gail, look at me, can you hear me? Please Gail, say something," she whimpers.

I hear her. She is very beautiful when she is worried. Beautiful, and a bit blurry. I just need to close my eyes for a bit.

"Gail wake up! No no no! Please! You are my best friend and I have only just found you. Wake up, wake up dammit!"

I slowly open my eyes and catch my breath. "Stop shaking me, Nerd."

She pulls me half up so I'm leaning forward, but still on the floor. I feel her hands ferociously grab at the Velcro on my vest. She pulls it off, then casts it aside.

"Hey, that's evidence" I say. And... she's ignoring me.

She's now tugging at my shirt, basically ripping off the buttons. Her brain running a mile a minute I suspect. I just go with it. She spins me around on the floor as I feel her hands all over the bare skin of my back. I can feel all the tiny hairs on my body stand on end. This is a day of firsts for us.

Her hands make their way around my abdomen as she explores my stomach. Mmm, soft hands. I suppose I am not surprised, she wears gloves all day.Her hands pass over my belly button and I suddenly shiver.

"Fuck, did I hurt you?" Holly just swore! I like it.

Her hands still on my stomach, I bite my bottom lip and quickly shake my head. "Y -your hands are cold." Plus I'm ticklish there. She doesn't need to know that.

"Oh" she says retracting them quickly. I watch her take a deep breath as she drops down on the floor beside me. She wipes the tears from her eyes. "You're fine, you're fine." She repeats over and over. I am fine, but fuck, you're crying!

"You're crying?!" That wasn't supposed to come out like a question.

"Nice observation, Officer". She jabs back, as she picks up my vest and grazes her fingers over the bullet hole.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." I say, knowing exactly what she is going to say next.

"You saved me," she says with new tears falling. And there it is...

I don't like it when people cry. It makes me incredibly uncomfortable, but this is making my heart break a little bit. I give her a small smile and shrug my shoulders. "It was nothing." I say casually as if it was no big deal.

Holly cocks her head. "Seriously?"

I laugh. She looks maaaadddd.

"It's been an hour, Traci, can I go yet?"

"Shut up, Gail, and sit there" she says. How rude!

Steve walks in smiling "You have the all clear, though you are going to be pretty sore in the morn..." I'm already out the door.

I find Holly pacing in hallway, shaking her hands out violently as if she just thought of something terrible, and is trying to physically extract it from her big brain. I can't blame her, it has been a big day, something no one should ever experience.

As I slowly approach her I can hear her mumbling something. "Stupid fucking guns" I hear.

"Gail!" Shit! I've startled her; I wish I hadn't done that.

"Come with me". I grab her arm and drag her into the locker room. I push her onto the closest bench. "Holly, take a seat will you?" I say pleadingly as I hand her a cup of water. "Give me a minute to change and we can get out of here. Did you drive here?" She didn't answer, as she was too busy dipping her finger in her water. "Holly!"

"Wait, what?" She exclaims.

"I said did you drive here today?"

"Ah... Yes, I did" she says, returning her fingers to her water.

"Well you can give me a lift then." I grab the first shirt I see in my locker. I pause for a second, and shake my head repeatedly in disbelief. "You shouldn't have been here today," I say quietly.

"Gail? -I"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." I cut her off. Don't add to her worry, Gail. I take off my shirt, leaving my black under shirt on. I reach up high into my locker to hang it up, and I hear Holly gasp. I quickly turn around. "Wah? What's wrong?" I ask fearfully.

With tears falling again, she is points at my back, while masking her face. I look down and see my top has ridden up above my ribs, exposing a rather large and gnarly looking bruise. I quickly pull my top down and throw the other shirt over it. "It's fine, Holly. It barely even hurts." I say lying through my teeth. This kills like a motherfucker. Getting shot sucks!

Holly's hands run tensely through her hair. She leans forward cupping her face, her elbows digging into her thighs. I don't think I have ever been so worried about someone. Ever. I slide up next to her, and tentatively put my arm around her shoulder giving it a light pat. "I wish you wouldn't beat yourself up about this. Please?" Holly slowly lifts her face up towards mind and stares into my eyes for seems like forever, though it's only been a few seconds. She wipes her tears without breaking eye contact. I lean in a bit, reassuringly I squeeze her shoulder. "I'm fine, Holly, OK? We're fine." I say softly. I guess I shouldn't tell her I got shot at twice today. Before she has time to reply I grab my bag, and I take hold of Holly's hand to pull her up. "Let's get outta here."

It's very quiet on the drive home. Neither Holly nor I say a word. I'm feeling physically incapable of speaking, but I really need to make sure she's ok. Holly pulls into my driveway and I undo my seat belt and turn towards her. "I think you should come in with me. Have a coffee or something, order a pizza? I don't think you should be alone right now, and... I don't want to be either." Personal honesty, that's interesting. Good, she's nodding. That's a start.

I walk slowly up the steps towards the front door, Holly closely following behind. I think it's the perfect time for some meaningless small talk. "You know, I spilt OJ all over my uniform this morning and I'm pretty sure it's all your fault". I chuckle. You are so stupid; you are NOT about to tell why it's her fault. "Anyway..."

I put the key to the door, but they fall to the ground, I bend over to pick them up. Nope, I can't hold this in. "Jesus Christ" I yell as I grab my lower back and immediately stand up straight without picking up the keys. "Wow that hurt." I laugh it off.

I can hear Holly backing away from me. I turn and see her with her hands in the air like she is under arrest.

"Gail, I -I can't." She says.

I raise my eyebrows. You can't what?

"I can't do this... be your friend."

Before I have a chance to respond, she's made a run for it.

I'm running after her, hand on my side, trying to support my back. But I have to stop almost immediately. You fool; you think you can catch up to her?

"Holly, I don't DO running, you know that" I yell at her. "Athletic freak." I mumble to myself.

There she goes. My best friend.