Prove Your Love To Me

 

 

            It had been a long and tiring day. Some teenagers had stolen a bus, taken everybody on board hostage and rampaged around the streets of London. Luckily, nobody had been killed, although the bus driver had been seriously injured by a bullet to the stomach.

           

           

            PC Des Taviner waited impatiently outside the hospital for Sergeant Sheelagh Murphy. She had insisted on staying with the driver, Brian, until she knew he was going to make a full recovery. Finally, two hours later, she appeared.

 

“So he’s gonna be alright then?” Des asked.

 

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. He’s really shaken up though,” Sheelagh replied as she got into the car.

 

“Right,” Des muttered as he got into the car too.

 

“I’m shattered. Drop me off home will you please Des?” she sighed as she flashed him a tired smile.

 

“Slave driver!” He laughed as he pulled away from the kerb. “God I’m starving. Think I will get a takeaway tonight,” Des grinned and licked his lips.

 

“Well done Des! You’ve made me hungry now!” Sheelagh laughed.

 

“Why don’t you come with me?” Des asked, trying to keep his cool.

 

Sheelagh stared at him for a second before replying. “PC Taviner, I’m going to take you up on that. Patrick’s on night shift tonight so he wont know. And don’t you tell him I’ve been eating junk!” She warned him jokingly. She knew that Patrick was against anyone in his family eating junk.

 

“Yes sarge!” Des laughed.

 

“I haven’t had a take away in ages, this should be good!” Sheelagh grinned, as Des pulled up outside the local Chinese.

 

He took her order and left her in the car as he went to get the food. Sheelagh sat in the car thinking about the day she had had and thought about the fact that she had seen another side to Des today. She had seen him upset and frantic with worry as Reg was one of the hostages on the bus. She liked that side of Des and wished he would show it more often, but his bad boy side dominated the caring side.

 

           

            Inside the take away Des’ head was spinning. He couldn’t understand why his heart was racing and his palms were sweaty. He realised it was the fact that the gorgeous blonde sitting in his car outside was Sheelagh. He lightly banged his head off the wall of the take away to try and get her out of his thoughts, but he couldn’t. She was all he could think about, and had been for months. Finally, their food was ready and so he collected it and returned to the car.

 

           

            Sheelagh was still thinking about Des when he got back with the food. She was confused as to why she kept thinking about him, and tried to dismiss him from her mind.

 

“Alright?” Des asked as he got into the car. “Sorry it took so long.”

 

“It’s ok. It smells great,” Sheelagh smiled. “Look, do you want to eat it back at mine?” she asked.

 

“Sure,” Des replied quickly. “I mean, if it’s no problem.”

 

“No, it’s fine. Well let’s go then,” she said whilst smiling to herself.

 

 

            As they pulled up to Sheelagh’s, they were both nervous and had a headache from thinking about each other. They both got out of the car slowly and walked up to the front door. Sheelagh unlocked it and opened it quietly, trying to be as quiet as possible so the kids didn’t waken. They both entered the house, trying to be as quiet as possible, and went into the kitchen.

 

“Have a seat in the living room Des and I’ll bring it through,” Sheelagh said quietly. “Oh do you want a beer or something too?”

 

“Er, yeah alright. If that’s ok,” Des grinned, as he went to sit down in the other room.

 

A few minutes later, Sheelagh brought the meals through and then the drinks through, and sat on the couch beside Des. They talked about the day’s events as they ate. Des tried to cover his caring side as they talked about how Reg must have felt. By the end of the meal, Des was onto his fourth beer and Sheelagh was onto her third Vodka and Coke. She hadn’t drank that much alcohol in a long time and it had gone straight to her head. Des, was also feeling slightly drunk.

 

“I‘d better clear this up,” Sheelagh said, as she tried to get up and fell.

 

She was lying in a heap on the floor when Des tried to get up, but he couldn’t walk in a straight line and fell down too. They both lay on the floor giggling quietly and falling about. They were slightly unnerved too, as they had never seen each other like this and didn’t know how to handle the situation. Eventually, the giggling came to a halt and they sat in silence and stared at each other, their hearts racing. Sheelagh was having trouble holding her head up for long periods of time so Des moved over to sit right next to her. He used his hand to lightly life her chin up, making her look straight at him. She stared into his deep blue eyes and was lost. She didn’t know what to do, she only knew that she wanted to kiss him. She didn’t know it, but he felt the exact same way. He stared right back at her and drowned in her crystal-like eyes. He couldn’t help himself as he moved towards her, the distance between their lips becoming less and less. There lips were now millimetres apart, but Des froze.

 

“Sheelagh, I can’t. I’m sorry,” Des whispered.

 

“Des, just shhh,” Sheelagh whispered back, as their lips finally made contact.

 

Des returned the kiss immediately and slid his arm around her waist, but then he pulled away and stared at her again. Sheelagh stared right back at him, with such desire in her eyes before kissing him again and pulling him in closer.

 

Des stood up and regained his balance before lifting Sheelagh off the floor and onto the couch. He lay on the couch with her and kissed her forehead as she unbuttoned his shirt. He began to kiss her on the lips again, whilst unbuttoning her shirt. Des smiled as he felt the women he wanted pulling him closer…

 

 

            A few hours later, they woke with a start as the house phone rang. Sheelagh reached over to the phone on the table and lifted the receiver.

 

“Hello,” she answered groggily. “Yeah OK love… No Problem… Bye.”

 

Sheelagh slammed down the phone and turned to face Des, who was already staring at her and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

 

“What time is it gorgeous?” Des asked, pulling her in closer to him.

 

“2am. That was Patrick on the phone. He’s got a big job on so he wont be back till later today,” Sheelagh replied yawning.

 

“Good. Means more time with you,”  he grinned as he wrapped his arms around her again and began kissing her neck. Sheelagh was becoming more sober by the minute, luckily she wasn’t one to get hangovers, and she cringed as she felt Des kissing her neck more and more. She was disgusted at herself for what she had done. She jumped up and quickly put her clothes back on.

 

“Sheelagh?” Des asked, slightly confused. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing. Des you had better go now. Last night, it was a mistake and can’t be repeated. I’m so sorry,” Sheelagh replied, clearly very upset.

 

Des felt a sudden rush of anger and sadness and got up to put his clothes back on. He then grabbed his keys and walked towards the door, but before he left he turned round to look at Sheelagh.

 

“If you didn’t want to sleep with me then you should have said so and not just went along with the moment and doing it anyway. Thanks a lot sarge,” he said sarcastically, as he left the house and slammed the door.

 

Sheelagh began to cry and collapsed onto the couch. She couldn’t believe the situation she was in. Lying back on the sofa, Sheelagh cried herself to sleep.

 

 

            Later that day at work, Des had been paired up with Sheelagh and neither of them were happy about it. Des was still upset about last night and was scared too, as he now realised just how strong his feelings for her were. Sheelagh was still upset about last night too; she knew she wanted Des but also knew it was wrong.

 

 

            The only sound to be heard in the area car was the sound of gentle rain hitting the car outside. The silence was hell and so tense that it could have been cut with a knife. Finally a call came through asking them to attend a report of a disturbance at 14 Gateside Drive.

 

“Received. On way now,” Sheelagh radioed in as Des put his foot down.

 

When they arrived at the address, they both sighed simultaneously. They had seen this scenario so many times. A lady shouting out the window and a man picking up his clothes, which were scattered all over the front lawn. Sheelagh shouted up to the lady to let her in whilst Des attended to the man who had by this time given up picking up his clothes and was now swearing and cursing at himself. 

 

“What’s going on mate?” Des asked.

 

“That stupid woman, my wife, has chucked me out because she thinks I’m having an affair,” the man grunted.

 

“Oh right, Mr…”

 

“Hillman. Derek Hillman and my wife‘s name is Suzanne.”

 

“Well Mr Hillman, shall we go inside with Sgt Murphy and your wife and see if this cant be resolved?” Des said, looking up at the window.

 

“Oh alright, but she won’t listen!” Mr Hillman replied, letting out a big sigh. “She never does!”

 

 

            As Des and Mr Hillman came upstairs, Mrs Hillman was kicking off again and giving Sheelagh trouble. Sheelagh was already in a bad mood and wasn’t prepared to take flack off of anyone.

 

“Look Mrs Hillman, you need to talk this through with your husband. Give him a chance to explain his side of the story,” Sheelagh explained.

 

“He is having an affair with some tart. End of story,” Suzanne exclaimed, throwing a photo frame at her husband and missing.

 

“Right. That’s enough,” Sheelagh shouted as she moved towards Mrs Hillman.

 

“Get away from me you pig,” Suzanne shouted, picking up a broken plate and throwing it at Sheelagh then lounging at her and hitting her.

 

The broken plate hit Sheelagh on the side of the head cutting her head and causing her to fall to the floor. Des quickly attended to Sheelagh, who was unconscious. He called for an ambulance immediately and then turned his attention to Mrs Hillman, who was now holding her head in her hands, slumped on the floor in the corner of the room.

 

“Suzanne Hillman, I am arresting you for assaulting a police officer. You do not have to say anything but what you do say may harm your defence or be used as something which you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence,” Des shouted as he grabbed her up off the floor and pulled her down the stairs to the car, her husband following in disbelief at what had just happened.

 

“Sierra Oscar from 432 receiving,” Des said into his radio.

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Can you get another car out to 14 Gateside Drive please?” Des replied.

 

“Received 432. Another car will be with you shortly. Over.”

 

Des turned to Mr Hillman who was still shaking his head.

 

“Right, you’d better get back in the house. If you come down to Sun Hill later, you can see your wife maybe,” Des said as he locked the car, so Mrs Hillman didn’t get out, and noticed Honey and Gary pull up.

 

“Des?“ Honey said.

 

“Look, Sgt Murphy has been seriously injured I’ve got to go see to her until the ambulance gets here. Get Mrs Hillman back to the nick will you? She assaulted the sarge ok?“ Des shouted as he unlocked the car, to allow Honey and Gary to get the prisoner, and disappeared into the house.

 

As Des entered the room, tears came to his eyes. Sheelagh was still lying unconscious, bleeding badly. He held her in his arms and waited for the ambulance to come. Ten minutes later, she was being lifted into the ambulance. Des went with her and sat in the ambulance silently watching the paramedics trying to help her.

 

 

            Des sat by Sheelagh’s bedside holding her hand in silence, tears forming in his eyes. The silence was short lived as Patrick Murphy burst into the room, causing Des to let go of her hand and stand up immediately.

 

“Des, how is she?” Patrick asked, as he ran to his wife’s bedside and held the hand Des had just been holding, much to Des’ annoyance and jealousy.

 

“All they’ve said is she has a deep cut to her head which has been stitched and she may be unconscious for a while yet,” Des replied, scowling at Patrick as he rubbed Sheelagh’s hand.

 

“Oh right. Have you been told to stay here?” Patrick asked.

 

“No. I wanted to stay here. She’s my friend as well as my sergeant and I’m worried about her,” Des snapped back.

 

“Oh, alright,”  Patrick responded, slightly shocked by Des’ attitude and tone.

 

Des pulled up another chair next to Sheelagh and tried to take her hand out of sight of Patrick, but he couldn’t as Patrick was now in a “huff” with him and was watching his every move. Des scowled to himself and wished Patrick would disappear, leaving him alone with the woman he loved. He couldn’t believe how strong his feelings for Sheelagh had gotten since she told him their night of passion was a once off.

 

 

            Hours passed and Patrick had been in and out of the room constantly, much to the annoyance of Des. He had been running between the coffee machine, the toilets and the phone. Des was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Just as he was about to say something to Patrick, Sheelagh’s eyes flicked open and quickly scanned the room. She could see Des straight away and then Patrick came into sight.

 

“Sheelagh?” said Des, as he took her hand. He didn’t care if Patrick saw him take her hand, he just wanted to reassure Sheelagh he was there and she was safe now.

 

“Love, are you alright?” Patrick exclaimed as he grabbed her other hand.

 

“Des, what happened?” Sheelagh whispered.

 

Patrick was a little shocked and annoyed that she hadn’t acknowledged him or asked him what happened.

 

“Mrs Hillman hit you over the head with a broken plate Shee; it knocked you out.”

 

“Are you ok though?”

 

“I’m fine,” Des replied, squeezing her hand.

 

“Patrick? Love, you should be at work,” Sheelagh said as she turned to look at him.

 

“What?! No, my place is here with you,” he answered firmly.

 

“Look Patrick, you can’t afford any more time off. Please love, go back to work. Come and see me after work. That’s if I’m still in here later on,” Sheelagh sighed. She had hated hospitals since she quit nursing and being in them brought back bad memories and made her feel sick.

 

“Alright fine,” Patrick moaned. He was in a bad mood now and stormed off out the room.

 

Des tried to avoid eye contact with Sheelagh. He didn’t know what to say to her. Sheelagh was trying to do the opposite however. She wanted to have eye contact with him, knowing fine well her love for him would grow.

 

“Des,” Sheelagh began. “Look I’ve had time to think about everything that’s gone on recently and I think we need to talk.”

 

“I know we do,” Des sighed, as he accidentally made eye contact. He couldn’t look away now; his eyes had fixed themselves upon this beautiful woman lying on the bed in front of him. Sheelagh tried to pull him closer but Des was hesitant. Finally he gave in and moved to sit closer to her.

 

“The other night Des, it was…well…brilliant,” Sheelagh said, as she began to blush.

 

“Shee?” Des said in amazement.

 

“Des, I only chucked you out because I was scared. I regret it now.”

 

“You regret it chucking me out?”

 

“Yes. It was a mistake and I know that now.”

 

“Shee, look there’s something I need to say, but I’m not very good with the words.”

 

“Yes…” Sheelagh said as she sat up a bit.

 

“I…well…it’s like this…I kind of…love you,” Des muttered and looked away as he could feel his cheek’s redden.

 

Sheelagh sat stunned for a minute. She couldn’t believe she was hearing those three words out of Des Taviner’s mouth.

 

“But do you really Des? Don’t mess me about, don’t lie to me.”

 

Des moved to sit on the bed and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “I do Shee. I’ve never felt this way. I want you; I need you,” Des whispered to her.

 

Sheelagh felt tears come to her eyes.

 

“I love you too Des. I tried to shut out my feelings for you but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t,” Sheelagh answered as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

 

“Look, you want me and I want you. Why can’t we be together. Leave Patrick, Sheelagh. Please?”

 

Sheelagh was shocked. She knew they loved each other and wanted to be together, but she couldn’t leave Patrick. She couldn’t leave the kids either.

 

“Des, I can’t.”

 

“What? Why? You don’t love him and I can give you everything you need,” Des protested.

 

“I know you can and alright, I may not love him anymore, but I still care for him. I just couldn’t leave him; it would destroy him.”

 

“There you go again; putting others before yourself. Look, please Shee?” Des pleaded with her, but she had made up her mind; she wasn’t going to leave Patrick.

 

“Des, look I’m sorry. I do love you but I can’t leave my husband.”

 

Des was really upset now and just wanted to be alone.

 

“I’ve gotta go Sheelagh.”

 

“Des, no. Stay,” Sheelagh begged.

 

“Are you going to change your mind?”

 

Sheelagh paused for a minute. “No, I’m sorry.”

 

Des sighed and left the room quickly, leaving Sheelagh crying.

 

 

            Des didn’t go back to the hospital at all for the remainder of Sheelagh’s stay in there. He had sat outside the hospital for hours though and had seen Patrick visiting her many, many times.

 

 

            A few days later, Des still hadn’t been in touch with Sheelagh, but he knew they’d talk today as she started back at work. He kept his head down as he trudged into the briefing room and sat beside Reg.

 

“Right,” Inspector Gold shouted. “Reg and Tony; burglary at a nightclub and sergeant Smith has the details. Gary and honey; an assault on an elderly woman and again sergeant Smith has the details. And…sergeant Murphy and Des; you two are in the area car. Alright everyone?”

 

“Ma’am,” everyone mumbled.

 

 

            Des wasn’t too happy about being paired with Sheelagh, and she wasn’t exactly pleased either. They sat in silence in the area car, beside Canley fields, for half an hour. Sheelagh was beginning to get upset and Des was getting frustrated. He wanted to say something; but he knew that nothing he could say would change her mind about leaving Patrick. Finally, Sheelagh opened her mouth to speak…

 

“Des, look, about a few days ago…” she began.

 

“What about it?” Des snapped back.

 

“Don’t snap at me Des. Look,” Sheelagh said as she took his hand, “I still love you and I hate the situation I’m in.”

 

“You don’t have to be in this situation Shee. If you leave Patrick you can have a fresh start with me.”

 

“I can’t leave him; I’ve no guarantee that you won’t just run away the first time someone nicer comes along Des,” Sheelagh mumbled.

 

“Is that what you think, eh? Well let me tell you something Sheelagh. I have never felt this way about someone before. I know I want you. I remember the first time I saw you. I fell for you straight away. You made life worth living; you were a reason to carry on. Please Sheelagh, give me a chance. I’ll prove I love you. I’ll tell everyone just how much I love you and how special you are to me,” Des pleaded.

 

Sheelagh could sense the seriousness in his voice and she saw how desperate he was to have her and be with her.

 

“Des, I just don’t know.”

 

“How much do you love me Shee?”

 

Sheelagh blushed and looked away, but Des leant over to her and used his hand to turn her head round gently.

 

“Well?”

 

“Des, you know I love you more than anything,” Sheelagh whispered, as she moved closer to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…