DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me. I was inspired by the film "L.A. Confidential," solely and completely owned by someone else. I do not intend to misuse them in any way.
"The Aftermath"
by Jackie
Chapter One
Lt. Exley took the last piece of advice Dudley Smith would ever give. He raised his badge toward the police cars speeding to the front of the Victory Motel. L.A.'s finest poured out of cars to view the carnage scattered all around the motel. Lt. Exley paid no attention, his partner was dead, or near dead, he turned and ran back into the motel. Bud was as he had left him, lying on his back in the center of the room. Exley ignored the officers who had filed in behind him; he had only one concern, Bud. Bud White had saved his life, unbelievable. He felt small, he was a Lt. and half the officer of the man on the floor, the man he'd called The Thug. Exley dropped to his knees and laid his ear against Bud's chest. "Call an ambulance, he's alive." Exley nudged Bud, "Bud, can you hear me?" Bud moved slightly and groaned, "Bud, it's over, Dudley is dead." Bud gave no sign that he had heard. Exley heard a siren, rose halfway off his knees and fell across Bud. The officers who ran over to help noticed a lot of blood, and not all of it was Officer White's. Chaos broke out again at the Victory motel.
Chapter TwoLynn was not herself, her eyes were swollen from crying, her cheek turning more discolored by the hour, and her brain was on a merry-go-round. The time since the Night Owl murders keep flashing through her mind in disjointed pieces. It was all too much to take in, and in the center of all the confusion was Bud. She just kept seeing Bud: Bud watching her, instead of the movie, his eyes soft. Bud sleeping in the middle of her bed with the moonlight coming through the curtains. Bud making love to her until she forgot all the bad things. With a grimace Lynn re-lived the most recent image, Bud in the rain with a broken heart in his eyes. Sweet beautiful Bud. She knew without a doubt that she loved him. Bud had wanted her and he had loved her. But she had killed that. Lynn tried to get that picture of Bud out of her mind. It was time to move on, decide what to do now. She moved to her bedroom away from the trappings of her past employment, but her bedroom was not an improvement, everywhere were reminders of Bud, a shell on her dresser he had found at the beach, a movie stub from "A Roman Holiday" stuck in the corner of her mirror, and the shirt laying over her chair, size 18 ½ collar, and certainly not hers'. Oh, great she thought, I really need to start crying again. Lynn wiped away the tears and picked up the shirt. I'm going to hang this up for now, out of sight out of mind. Lynn realized too late that the shirt smelled like Bud. "Oh, Hell", Lynn said as that vision of Bud in the rain resurfaced with a vengeance. She just went with it and figured that maybe she deserved the torture. "Lynn, no more crying", she said to herself. The question is, what am I going to do? She'd hurt Bud. The responsibility was hers'. He had been almost destroyed in childhood but had learned to survive anything. Yeah, anything except me Lynn thought. She remembered the look on Bud's face when he told her about his father, and shivered with fear, she was so frightened of what he might do, not to her, but to himself. She knew that what Bud had done to her was wrong, but somehow that didn't matter now. She'd been hit before for a lot less reason, and was not a victim type. But for Bud to have done this was really terrifying. God, if Bud believed he was like his father, he would never be able to handle it. She was so to blame, he had given her his heart and trusted her with his secrets, and she had broken one and ignored the other, she should have known how easily he could be hurt. Poor baby he deserved better. If only they could leave, start over, but Bud wasn't ready to give up being a cop, and she couldn't be Veronica Lake anymore, Lynn doubted any man but Bud would ever touch her again. She had never fucked Bud. What they had shared was not even in the same category, Lynn swore she would never settle for less. She knew how to make sure Bud got what he deserved. Lynn stopped crying as she lifted her suitcase off the top shelf of the closet and started to pack. She'd leave and hopefully Bud would forget what she'd done, and what he'd done. If there was a God.
Chapter ThreeOfficer O'Brien left the hospital on an errand for Lt. Exley. He was to bring a woman to the hospital. "Now." Strange goings on, Exley was hanging around outside the operating room where Bud White had been taken, and he seemed almost frantic, and gees, he looked like hell with a white haunted face and an arm in a sling. He'd heard in the hallway that Bud White had been shot several times. God, who in the world could have gotten to White? O'Brien had seen him in action and was really glad to not be on his wrong side, he could really be a scary man. O'Brien reached his destination just as a woman left the address heading for a car carrying a suitcase. She turned and her beauty stuck O'Brien first and then the condition of her face. Strange goings on indeed. "Miss Bracken, I've been sent to get you." Lynn set her suitcase down and turned back toward him. "I don't need any protection, I'll be fine". O'Brien replied, "Lt. Exley said to bring you." Lynn sighed, "Ok, where are we going?" "The Lt. is at the hospital, there's been some kind of trouble." Lynn reached out and took hold of his arm hard, "Is Officer White with him?" O'Brien replied," Yeah, but Bud's been hurt, and it doesn't sound good." Lynn silently picked up her suitcase and climbed in the car on the passenger side. O'Brien glanced sideways at the women in his car and thought she's real classy and beautiful, even with tears rolling down her cheeks. She could be a movie star. It dawned on him she had started crying as soon as Bud was mentioned. May be he should get to know Bud White. There had to be a lot more to the guy then he had thought. Exley, that cold fish, and now this sad gorgeous girl. Yep, Officer White would be worth watching, if he survived. Lynn griped the handle on her suitcase to keep her hands from shaking. Please God . . . please God . . .
Chapter FourLt. Exley paced up and down; up and down he just couldn't believe that he had been so wrong about Bud. He was slowly beginning to realize that he had been wrong about a lot of things for a very long time. Somehow the death of his Father, and the way he had died had put him on a path. He had never dealt with his father's death. Strangely, Bud fighting for his life was opening up wounds he thought was long healed. He had been a solitary man with a single goal for years, suddenly he felt a strong connection to a man he thought he had hated, putting his path and goals in a different light. At the Victory Motel, Bud had treated him not so much as a fellow officer or a superior, but like a little brother who needed to be protected. Ed finally understood that that is what Bud did, he protected. All the violence and the strong-arm stuff were Bud's way of protecting the innocent and the less strong. He turned back in the direction of the entrance and saw O'Brien and Lynn enter. He ran over to them, "Lynn, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault". Lynn said, "Ed, what is happening?" "Bud is alive as far as I know, he was shot three times, he's in surgery." Exley answered. Lynn straightened up and looked him in the eye. "Bud is alive, I'd know if he weren't. Come into the waiting room and sit down, you look terrible." Exley sat and looked at the floor for a minute, Lynn waited. Exley looked up at Lynn and started talking he told her about the night owl, and Jack, and Rollo Tomasi, and the horrible scary night that was just ending. He was just finishing the Victory Motel saga when a man in surgical clothes walked in. Lynn and Ed stood up trying to read the doctor's face. Unconsciously, Exley reached for and found Lynn's hand and squeezed hard.
Chapter FiveMrs. Ellie Martin had been a nurse at L.A. General for many years and usually went about her business with impartial caring, she prided herself on good care without personal attachment or bias. But, she found herself inexplicably drawn to the big policemen and the beautiful blond, who had literally lived in the hospital since he had been brought in four days earlier. The patient's name was White, and no one had expected him to live, no one but the blond. She had decided that he would live, and had seemed to pour her life force directly into making sure he did. Ellie couldn't resist checking in more often then necessary. The scene was always the same, he was still unconscious, and the blond was sitting next to the bed holding his hand, sometimes talking to him. Ellie hoped that he would wake up, she'd like to see the blond smile, and her sad, ethereal look was almost more than Ellie could bear.
Lynn watched Bud breathe. At first she had found herself breathing in time with him, almost as if she could breathe for him. His breathing seemed freer now and Lynn was gaining hope that he would open his eyes soon. She was terrified of how he would react when he saw her but she was more terrified of being out of his sight. Ed had been there everyday and Lynn and he had come to a form of understanding bordering on friendship. The department had been convinced that Bud was not in the wrong, and he was to be given a full medical retirement should it be necessary. Lynn was sure that Ed had pulled a few strings to remove all problems from Bud's path with the department. For a man without close friends, Ed was developing loyalty skills rapidly; she couldn't fault him in his treatment of Bud or herself. Bud's eyelashes fluttered and his hand tightened under hers. Lynn spoke his name and waited, but nothing more happened. The movement might be a good sign, the doctor's had told her; but they all seemed less then optimistic. Lynn settled down for another long night, waiting and watching.
Bud's first conscious thought was panic. Where was he, and why was it dark? His second was pain. He started to retreat from the pain, and then felt something soft on his arm, the difference between the pain and the softness was so pronounced he had to know what it was. He forced his eyes open and then waited for them to focus. The softness was his Lynn, her hair lying on the bed where she had fallen asleep in a chair with her head on the bed. Bud was over any anger; he just wanted to know whether Lynn might still love him. He drifted into sleep, not the deep unconsciousness of before, but the normal sleep of healing.
Lynn woke in the morning and held her breath to listen for his. This had become habit, the first night she had fallen asleep out of exhaustion and had wakened with a horrible fear that Bud was gone. Since then she started every morning listening to Bud's life breathing in and out. She opened her eyes, and looked at Bud, he looked back! She froze for a second, and then pulled her hand away from his. She wanted him to have the option of being touched by her, or not. She looked into his eyes, and felt her hand recaptured and saw it disappear into his much larger one, he slowly pulled it up until the palm touched his lips. Lynn smiled and then burst into tears. Bud couldn't do much more than stroke her arm and wait, he was frustrated by his inability to take her in his arms and comfort her, and there was something wrong with his mouth he couldn't talk. Lynn drew a ragged breath, and smiling at him again spoke, "I've been so scared. I didn't know if you would ever open your eyes, and if you would hate me when you did." Bud squeezed her hand tighter, and shook his head. His beautiful eyes told her what she wanted to hear. Lynn knew he must have questions so she started telling him what she had rehearsed a hundred times. " We've been here for almost five days. You were shot three times, chest, shoulder and face. You won't have use of your arm for a while, and the doctor's say you will not be able to talk for a while. Dudley is dead, and Ed has fixed things with the department". Bud looked at her pointedly; she knew what he wanted to know. "Ed's been here everyday, but he's here for you, not me." She looked down at her lap and then back up at Bud, "I am so sorry for what happened. I love you Bud, I hope you believe that." Bud squeezed her hand and fell back to sleep. Lynn wasn't real good at waiting, she had so much more to tell him but since now she'd have the chance, maybe waiting wasn't so bad. She gazed at Bud, and marveled that this man was so different from any she had every known or seen, love was strange. Bud moved in his sleep without groaning causing Lynn to smile. Ellie passing by glanced in and got her wish; the blond did have a beautiful smile.
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