Nathalia Ramos as Kennocha Cruz

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Siebzhen

"This way, Mr. Thorpe."

My heart was racing as I ran down the familiar halls, tears already springing to my eyes. My father was the one parent that I wanted to stay alive. I wanted him to be okay, to be here and smiling. He was my rock and I couldn't bear it if anything happened to him. He was my pillar of support and the one thing that kept me living.

"Your father, Noah, was grazed on his left shoulder," Dr. Jaeger explained to me as I caught up to him. I stared, wanting him to rip off the bandaid. "Luckily, it wasn't that bad of a wound. We were able to stitch it up quickly to prevent infections." He continued and I let out the longest breath that I was holding in. "We'll need to keep him in for a week so we can monitor that wound of his," We stopped in front of the door and I could see my father's mint eyes flicker over to me as a smile graced his face. "There's my son!" I ran into the room, arms opened as I engulfed him into my grasp. He was here, he was real.

"You're okay, dad, you're okay." I whispered mainly to myself because this was the consolation that I needed. Noah chuckled as he wrapped his arms around me, tightening his grip. "I'm fine, Brad. There was no need for you to come running all the way down here." He said but I could see the appreciation in his eyes. "Go over there and talk to your partner while my nurse gives me my meds. I promise I ain't going nowhere," He added on when he sensed my hesitation to move. I grimaced before my legs slowly sauntered over to the corner of the room.

"Hey, Alex," I walked up to my partner as he took notes, wondering what he was doing here. "What are you doing?" I questioned and he looked at me, smiling softly. "Sorry that I have to see you under these premises," He sighed and I furrowed my brow. "But this has now turned into a case. Your father was shot, but he was deliberately shot to wound, not to kill." Alex explained and I looked between him and my father, darkness dawning on me. "The bullet came from an M40 rifle, which means that it belonged to a sniper. Where Noah was laying, there was a clear shot from all types of angles if the perp wanted to kill him." Alex further went on and I let out an annoyed sigh.

I couldn't have a moment of peace without people trying to hurt those close to me.

"This was intended to be a warning, Brad," Alex put a hand on my shoulder and I knew what was going to come next. "We know who went after Ivory and us," His voice lowered and I clicked my teeth. 'But we have no idea who this could be." He stated and I sighed. "What's worse is the bullet seemed to be created of its own nature," He dug into his pocket and pulled out an evidence bag. "We found a gold bullet not too far from the scene and when we analyzed it, and there was something unusual embedded into the back seal." He motioned for me to take a look and I held the back up to the light, seeing a black letter rimmed into the gold.

"R?"

I shook my head, moving my gaze to Alex. "Who the fuck is R?" I stammered, wondering what kind of enemies my father had. He was so nice to everyone, so it didn't make sense that someone would target him. "Why would my father be somebody's target?! He literally does nothing!" I couldn't help that I was taking all of my frustration out on my partner. It was getting on my everlasting nerve that someone was picking apart the people that I loved and hurting them. What was worse is that I had no clue who it could've been. "That's the thing," Alex paid no attention to my anger.

"We think that it's someone targeting you."

I swore I got whiplash from his words. Me? Why would someone be targeting me? It made me wonder if this person was related to some of the people I put away. I wouldn't put it past them. "I know what you're thinking and trust me, it's none of the people that we've arrested in the past. This endeavor requires someone of a high caliber, with class and extreme level of skill," Alex looked me in the eyes, his orbs steely and strong. "We think that it's someone that's targeting Santiago."

Once upon a time not long ago, I mentioned briefly to Alex what Santiago was to me. More or less, he was someone important to me; my lover, I should say.

"B-but I thought we eliminated all threats, remember?" I stammered, wanting him to think about how our case mysteriously ended last time. "I know. That's why I think it's someone different this time. Listen, I need for you to talk to Santiago and find out who his potential enemies are. Ask him who would know of your relationship with him," Alex began writing stuff in his notepad. "It has to be someone who's undeniably close to him."

I tilted my head.

"Why?"

Then I began to think about it. "Everyone knows how close he and Terrence are, so..." I trailed off and Alex smirked knowingly. "It's someone who perceives you to be a threat." I swallowed a large lump in my throat as I blinked back and forth.

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

"Go ahead and find out that information. In the meantime, we'll have some men guarding you and your father," Alex pinned me with a fierce glare and I sighed, defeated. "You know," I let my voice fall into a whisper as I made sure no one was listening. "Santi has men tailing me, you know, Milo." I motioned to the man standing in the hallway and Alex rolled his eyes. "I'm sure your little boy toy wants to protect you, but this is for me to make sure my partner stays alive." I noticed that his eyes stayed on Milo's figure for longer than needed and I began to smirk.

"If you come into the station tomorrow, hopefully, you'll have some clues as to who done this and we can further create a list of suspects. Deal?" I nodded as he clapped me on the shoulder, exiting the room. I sagged against the wall, letting out a well-needed sigh. "What's with that sullen look? Put a smile on your face, son." I flicked my emerald gaze over to my father, who was sat up in his bed. I breathed heavily, pushing myself off of the wall when he motioned for me to come to him.

"I'm sorry for this. I'm sorry you were hurt, dad," I bit my lip to stop my eyes from tearing up and my father reached out for me, ruffling my hair. "What are you doing, crying over this old man?" He said in a gruff voice but his face was painted with happiness. "It was just a graze, Brad. No need to worry," I sniffled, looking away as he took my hand in his, squeezing it. "I'm still here." He whispered as a tear fell from my eye. 

I couldn't handle it if something major had happened to him. He was the rock of my life, the man who made me out to be the person that I am today. I would lose it if anything bad happened to him. He was everything to me.

"Is that your phone buzzing like that?" There was a vibrating noise and my father stared at me, both confusion and annoyance rolling onto his face as he waved a hand at me. I snorted, pulling my phone out to see that I had a series of texts, most of them from 20 minutes ago.

Milo Fernandez: I'll be out here waiting if you need me.

Alexandrov Cruz: stay safe, man.

Xenon Reeves: Praying for you and your family.

Bottoms Up

cereal killer: baby brad, is your dad okay!?
milkshake: I hope he is!
property_of_rays: please reach out when you can! we miss you!!!
General!dickhead: it's scary to not know how you're feeling. We want to offer support

Santiago Luzardi: let me know how things turn out

Santiago Luzardi: I miss you already. My life is empty and meaningless without you beside me.

Santiago Luzardi: When your father is all okay and sound, we should continue where we left off ;)

Santiago Luzardi: what you think, big sexy?

I rolled my eyes, my cheeks staining the color of blood as I closed my phone without a doubt in mind. "Ooh, I see," My father raised his brows, rubbing at the bandage on his arm. "My son is in love." He chuckled to himself and I forgot how he reacted when Santiago left. He wasn't mad or infuriated nor was he disappointed. He was just sad and it made me wonder why. "For your sake," I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, wondering why he was looking so somber. "I hope that this person treats you and loves you just as much as he did." Noah smiled sadly as he looked away, running a hand through his copper hair.

It made me question just how much he knew.

"Yea well," I took a deep breath, thinking of Santiago and all the beautiful memories that we shared. "It's like he never left..." I trailed off and my father didn't even look a tad bit surprised. He just looked normal, like everything was okay. He clicked his tongue as he leaned back in his bad, throwing the blanket over himself. "Whatever you do, make sure he doesn't leave again." He turned over on his side and my eyes widened. "I hate to have to punch him again."

That was all he said, much to my chagrin, before Milo knocked, stepping into the room.

"Brad," I nodded, rubbing my father's shoulder as I looked at the back of his head in confusion and in shock. Eight years ago, I made up some bullshit lie as to why Santiago left me, but it appeared that it did no good because Noah Thorpe knew a lot more than what he was letting on. "I'm coming." I mumbled, leaning down to kiss my father on his cheek, promising that I would come by once again when he got discharged. "Sorry that I disturbed your time," Milo sibilated as he rubbed his forehead, clenching the keys.

"What's the matter, Milo?" I followed him into the car parking lot, letting him take over the driving. He seemed like he was in a hurry and I wasn't going to stop him from getting to his destination. I slid into the passenger seat of my Escalade, using this chance to fully admire the beauty of my truck. I had such great taste in men and in cars, it was unbelievable. "I don't know," Milo confessed, sighing heavily as he peeled onto the streets of East Manhattan. He probably broke like three different laws when he was driving but I was off duty, so I wasn't going to complain. "Terrence just called me and told me that there was a code black in the Zonglovia." I furrowed my brow in confusion, wondering what that signified.

"That means that pate has revealed something that would compromise his position. This also means that there is something terribly wrong with him or that something catastrophic has or will occur." Milo explained and I put a hand under my chin, pondering of what events would have to transpire (godfather). I was thankful that my arm was free of the cast because I could use it to think. I didn't say a word until Milo pulled into the gated entrance of 723 Roulette Road, scanning his finger and typing in his code. He flew like hell down the pathway, passing several soldiers who saluted him.

Once we were at the roundabout and he parked in his designated spot outside of Santiago's lavish as fuck house, he turned to me but I was too busy staring at something that I noticed on the way home. There was something blue stuck under my windshield wiper and I had the slightest inkling what it was. I sighed.

"Go ahead," I nodded to him, briefly taking my eye off of the blue note stuck in my windshield. "I'll be right in." Milo looked hesitant but I forced him to go, claiming that Santiago needed him more than I did. He gave me a fierce glare and demanded that I be in within the next five minutes. He ran like fire was on his ass up to the entrance stairs and I got out, removing the note from my car. "What is this?" The note was folded so I opened it, reading the contents.

I'm getting closer, my sweet baby. It won't be too long before we meet again.

By then, I will have decided to kill you.

-Mom

My heart stuttered before stopping as my eyes widened in absolute, bone-crushing fear. My hands started trembling as I snapped my head back and forth frantically, absorbing my surroundings. There were a couple of men in black all around me, but no one suspicious in particular. What the hell was happening and why was it happening to me!? Sweat was building up on my shaky hands as I felt adrenaline and panic mix together inside of me. Calm down Brad, you're stronger than this. I closed my eyes, leaning against the door of my car. I put the note in my back pocket, breathing strongly. I had to figure out what her deal was and fast.

I wiped the sweat from my face, taking deep breaths. Everything was going to be okay. I had Santiago by my side and I could protect myself. I nodded to a few of the soldiers as I stalked up the stairwell, ready to greet Santi with a happy face. After we did, I was going to take him to see Ivory and maybe we could enjoy our time together as a family. 

Like I always wanted.

I scanned my finger in the biometric lock before typing in a series of numbers into the keypad, allowing my entry into the house. When I entered, the sight before me was not welcomed. There were various soldiers out and around, hollering like they had no home training. There were some captains trying to console themselves and their team and I wondered what the hell was happening. I walked further down the corridor and I could see Santiago standing with Milo and Terrence, looking completely distraught. He looked so disheveled and frantic, a lot different than the person that I left 30 minutes ago. 

"Hey," I murmured, walking up to them. Santiago bit his lip before nodding at me. There were tears in his eyes and the atmosphere of the house was tense and morbid. What the hell had happened? "Are you okay, Santi?" I whispered, reaching to intertwine our fingers together. His fingers were shaky and quivering. I squeezed his hand, rubbing his arm. What was wrong with him? I wanted to help him so bad, take his pain away. He looked down at me with those sad cocoa orbs before softly smiling, leaning down to place a soft kiss on my forehead. "I'm fine, love." He muttered lowly and I could hear the agony in his deep voice. He let go of our fingers before he descended further down the hall.

Something was completely off here.

"What's wrong with him?" I poked Terrence in the side, watching as he pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. He looked at me, contemplating if he should tell me, and I glared at him. "It's his mother, Emilia." He turned to fully look at me, stress and fatigue eating at his figure. He looked distraught and completely unfocused as the house ran around like madmen, screeching of the next moves. "What about her?" I blinked back and forth, making sure that I understood what was going on. Something bad had happened, that much I could tell. Santiago would never cry in front of people like this unless it was something of a serious nature.

"She was abducted."