The sounds of the sirens did not faze her. In fact, she was hardly aware of them. She was too busy absorbing what had just occurred. A simple lunch out had turned into her worst nightmare.

            ‘I should have known. This always was a possibility.’

            Haydee slipped a lock of brown hair behind her ear. She looked at the unconscious man in front of her. He had been her husband for twenty-five years, and he’d promised her another twenty five. The paramedics were struggling to keep the bleeding down.

            “Ms. Williams?”

            She didn’t hear the EMT’s voice. Haydee was too lost in thought. Damon was dying right before her eyes, and yet she was so still. She had never lived her life for long without him. But what he had done, what he was doing, did he deserve her grief and tears?

            ‘I will not lay prostrate and wailing over him. I have more dignity than that. Besides, it was not me he took that bullet for…but her.’

            “Ms. Williams, can you hear me?”

            Haydee looked up at the young man. She noticed that the ambulance had finally stopped. There were constant flashes of light in the late afternoon air. The tinted windows did nothing to hide the hordes of “press officials” pressing against the ambulance.

            “I’ll help you out ma’am. Just tug my arm if someone bothers you.”

            The EMT pressed a pair of pink glasses, and an old watch into her hand. Haydee gently took them in hand, and gave a small squeeze.

            “Thank you. I…I can’t go in the operating room with him, can I?”

            The EMT gave Haydee a sad smile. Haydee knew what the answer was.

            “Afraid not ma’am. Please, come with me. Do you need any treatment for anxiety?”

            Haydee shook her head. She could definitely benefit from it, but she was too afraid to sleep. She may miss something crucial. The doors to the hospital burst open and Haydee’s ears exploded with noise.

            “Sixty year old male, two gunshot wounds. One to his chest and the other to his shoulder.”

            Damon’s eyes opened slightly, and his green eyes looked dull. Haydee felt a deep pain in her heart.

            “Wait, isn’t this-”

            “Yes, Damon Gant. He was having lunch with his wife when he got called in for work. It was just around the corner from the restaurant.”

            “We’ve already received other patients from that incident, what took him so-”

            Haydee heard no more of the conversation. A doctor had taken her shoulder and grasped her attention.

            “Mrs. Gant, I presume?”

            “Well, if you’re calling me that Dr. Livingston, you’ve been living under a rock for the past thirty-”

            The doctor sighed and shook his head.

            “I’m just making sure, Ms. Williams. Let me be frank with you, if your husband has suffered damage to his lungs or heart, he may die.”

            Haydee nodded numbly.

            “Please, Ms. Williams if you require medical assistance yourself, ring a nurse.”

            Haydee looked back at the front doors of the hospital. Cameras were flashing endlessly. As the surgeon walked back into the OR, Haydee watched security push back the paparazzi and set up barriers. Haydee’s mouth curled into a small snarl.

            ‘Pariahs, all of them. Sick people, eating off the fame and tragedy of others.’

            Haydee sat herself down in a chair, and tried to breathe normally. As her fingers stroked Damon’s watch mindlessly, she fell victim to her memories. Her small voice was barely audible.

            “The walls…the walls will not claim his photo yet.”

            Thomas Gumshoe. Bruce Goodman, Sr. So many names, so many faces that were peripheral to her childhood. Time was her enemy. More and more, she would visit Damon at work. More and more, she recognized more faces on the wall than she did buzzing around the precinct. The passage of time frightened her endlessly.

            “Time stops for no one…”

            Haydee had begun to find grey hairs. Her eyes and lips were beginning to have stubborn wrinkles at their corners. She feared she may need reading glasses soon.

            “Sixty years old. Damon is sixty years old. That means I’m…forty-seven.”

            Haydee kept running the watch beneath her fingers. The watch had been in use for decades, and it was running smoothly after thirty years.

            ‘This watch…,’ Haydee thought to herself. ‘I gave it to him when he turned twenty-nine.’

            She had been just shy of sixteen. The watch was too expensive for Damon at first. But soon, he wore it everyday. Everyday she would go into his room after school and checked his nightstand for it.

            ‘He wore it every single day…’

            Haydee was soon madly in love with her guardian. Sixteen, and in love with a man thirteen years her senior. But it didn’t seem out of place to her. Haydee believed Damon returned her illicit affections.

            ‘He never imagined, not that I blame him.’

            “Haydee, why are you all dressed up?”

            “The Policeman’s Gala. It’s in a half an hour right? Can you believe I’m ready on time for once?”

            Damon was quiet. He had meant to tell her earlier, but his courage had failed him. Haydee wore a fine dress, with her hair in an elaborate bun. He was certain the jewels she wore were remnants of her family’s past in the aristocracy.

            “Grandpapa said that since I’m sixteen, I should wear my hair up like a proper lady. I feel like my body is finally catching up with my mind.”

            Haydee began to tie Damon’s tie. He sighed deeply while he adjusted his cufflinks.

            “I’m…I’m taking someone else, turtleshell.”

            The numbness enveloped Haydee once again. That night was bittersweet.

            “Mom?”

            “Haydee! How is he?”

            Sophia, her eldest child led Prudence, the middle, and Edmond, the youngest. Damon’s old partner Isaac Haze had driven them to the hospital. He kneeled down in front of Haydee.

            “I…he’s in surgery. I…I don’t know how long it’s been.”

            Her children took seats in the hall, as Isaac paced up and down. Edmond sat silently near his mother, while Sophia sobbed on Haydee’s shoulder. Prudence sat alone, seemingly indifferent. Haydee felt herself slide again into her vault of times long past.

            “Look, I need to get home.”

            “Why, you worried about that girl of yours?”

            The woman rubbed Damon’s arm and hung on him.

            “There’s a thunderstorm, she’s-”

            “She probably snuck a boy over if she’s got any sense of timing. She’s probably screa-”

            Damon rounded on the woman, taking his arm out of her grasp.

            “Find your own ride home.”

            Co-workers were arriving now. The detectives came on occasion and spoke with Isaac. Haydee didn’t pay them any heed.

            “How is he?”

            “The surgeon hasn’t come out with a progress report yet.”

            Something about the first voice bothered Haydee. A male voice spoke up.

            “Bambina, you best be making yourself scarce.”

            Officer Marshall. Haydee looked up and saw the fresh face of Prosecutor Marshall next to his brother. Neil’s face panicked at Haydee’s glance, and he nudged Jake.

            “I don’t need you telling me when I can and can’t do things. A broken arm is hardly anything compared to being dead, Jake.”

            “Miss Lana, my brother and I think you need some rest.”

            “I’m fine. I owe it to Damon to be here for him.”

            “Lana, you need to go.”

            Angel took Lana’s good arm and tried to lead her away.

            “Why are you all-”

            Haydee stood up. It was all too real for her. Brown hair. Pale skin. Dark eyes. Slender, tiny hands. Lana felt the stiffness in the air and turned. She froze in place and her pulse rose. Haydee’s purple eyes flared with a quiet jealousy.

            “Miss Skye, please. This is a trying time, and your presence-”

            Lana felt guilt, but her duty to her superior officer let her stand her ground.

            “I’m here as a concerned partner.”

            “Partner has many different connotations Miss Skye.”

            “I understand that. But frankly, Ms. Williams, now is not the time to discuss this matter.”

            “I happen to think it’s the perfect time to discuss this matter you little skank!”

            Haydee was growing furious. Why? Why did this woman look like her?!

            “Please, Ms. Williams, don’t cause a scene.”

            Her children looked at their mother, confused. The meaning seemed to dawn on Prudence, who smirked sardonically.

            “…fine. Fine! Do whatever you want! You want him? Take him!”

            Haydee felt tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly walked into the restroom, and soon found herself gripping the sink for support. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her favorite little black dress seemed faded. Her heels looked polished and new, but felt worn.

            ‘Time…time stops for no one.’

            The thunder crashed overhead. Haydee cowered beneath her blanket on the couch. The windows rattled, and she feared the building would collapse at any moment.

            “Haydee? Haydee!”

            Damon kicked off his shoes, shrugged off his overcoat and lifted the blanket up.

            “Da…Damon?”

            His black hair was plastered to his face. His hands were freezing. Haydee didn’t care, and flung her arms around him. Damon wrapped the blanket around them.

            “Are you alright now?”

            Haydee nodded. Her nightgown was warm. Damon patted her back, trying to calm her fears of thunder. He swore when the power went out. He tried to get up, but Haydee wouldn’t let him.

            “No. Stay. Please.”

            “Just let me get a candle and-”

            Haydee took his face in her hands. Before he could resist, she planted a kiss on his lips.

            Haydee wept openly. Damon had been having an affair with Lana Skye now for some time. Haydee had known for a while now. The signs were obvious, but out of duty she held her tongue. He denied nothing when she confronted him last year.

            ‘And yet, he still sleeps in the same bed with me.’

            Nothing changed. He still acted every part her husband. Yet his love for her seemingly vanished. Haydee heard the sound of heels on the linoleum. Her worst nightmare stood in front of her, before sitting on the floor with her.

            “What the hell do you want with-”

            “Please, let me speak for myself.”

            Haydee fell silent at Lana’s request.

            “I am in love with your husband. How he feels for me, I do not know. I may just be another cog in the clockwork to him. But I know he has his reasons for me. I’m not expecting him to leave you and marry me. I’m no fool. I only ask that you ask him for his reasons before you judge me.”

            Lana watched Haydee rise and dab her face with a wet paper towel. Haydee sighed and watch Lana leave.

            ‘Yes. Maybe…maybe now he will talk.’

            “…Haydee I-”

            “Yes Damon?”

            “…you…I…”

            Damon sat dumbfounded on the couch as Haydee nuzzled him and covered him in light kisses. Part of him was terrified. But a small part of him indulged in this illicit affair.

            “Damon, hold me. Please.”

            He obliged without thinking. Haydee laid kiss after kiss on Damon, and eventually he reciprocated. It filled him with a sickness and a sense of joy.

            It hadn’t lasted long. He threw her out in fear soon after. Two nights in bed with her drove him mad. Haydee thought she would never feel such sharp sorrow again.

            ‘But that sorrow before ended in a hospital room. Maybe lightning will strike twice.’

            A car accident with her band landed her in the hospital, and her friends under investigation. Damon and Haydee were unexpectedly re-united after two years. They had married a few years after that.

            “Ms. Williams? You need to come with me.”

            Haydee soon sat in a chair by her husband’s side. Their children saw him quickly, before Isaac rushed them home. Only she was allowed to stay the night. Damon slept soundly. She watched the respirator that aided his breathing closely. When all but his breathing fell silent, she buried her head in the sheets and began to cry.

            “…Turtle…shell?”

            Damon opened his eyes slowly. He ran his hand through her hair. Haydee looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

            “We…we need to talk Damon.”

            Damon’s eyes narrowed. His hand stopped in her hair and he grumbled a bit.

            “I suppose that you wish to speak of Lana?”

            Haydee looked Damon straight in his eyes. She would not waver this time.

            “…I see in her, what I lost in you.”

            “Get out!”

            “…what?”

            “I said get out! Out! I will not have this!”

            “But Damon, you said you loved me!”

            “That fire you held when you were younger. The passion for justice, the wish to defy the odds against you and join the legal system.”

            “I do not love you! Not like this!”

            “Look at yourself Damon! Damon, you cry because you’re-”

            “Shut up! Just leave me be, you Lolita!”

            “Lana…Lana lost her parents young. She single handedly raised a little sister while working and going to school.”

            “Please Damon, don’t. Don’t do this. Don’t send me back there!”

            “I understand being from the Soviet Union would have been a great obstacle for you. You only earned your citizenship because you married me. But when you were younger that didn’t faze you. You loved my work. I see in her all I lost in you once I cast you from my life.”

            Haydee fell silent. She absorbed his words as they clashed with her memories.

            “Do you regret it?”

            “Casting you out? Yes. Lana? No, not really.”

            Haydee felt a venom fill her heart.

            “Do you love her?!”

            Damon fell silent. He took his time to think, his long pauses no longer fazed Haydee.

            “She has her uses, turtleshell. I have long since lost the naïve fervor that drives Lana. It will be useful to me in time, I’m sure. That drive would suit a Chief Prosecutor well. If she is loyal, and believes in me, it will be my hand that controls this city when I am Chief of Police.”

            Haydee felt like she should be mad. Mad at her husband’s endless pride and ambition. And yet, she felt good. Haydee felt happy.

            “Damon…”

            Haydee nuzzled Damon’s chest. His hands ran through her wavy brown hair. He kissed her forehead, and gently whispered to her.

            “Hush now, my turtleshell.”

            Damon had a use for Lana. Lana would become his pawn, whether she knew it or not.

            ‘He has no use for me, and yet-’

            Haydee thought to herself as she cuddled her husband. Damon’s whispers filled her ears with joy.

            “Turtleshell…”

            ‘He keeps me so close. I know it’s all a game to him, but-’

            Damon touched her face, and kissed her gently. Haydee’s anger disappeared. Let that woman have his body. She had his mind all to herself. Haydee felt warm in his arms. Damon gave a small grunt when she placed too much weight on his chest.

            “I’m sorry! Goodness Damon, I’m sorry!”

            Haydee sobbed as his pain subsided. Damon took a slow, deep breath.

            “It’s no trouble Haydee.”

            The way her name rolled off his tongue made her blush.

            “Damon…I love you.”

            Damon chuckled as he put a strand of hair behind her ear. Haydee kissed his hand and arm lightly.

            “I know, dearest Turtleshell. You are my wife after all.”

            Haydee’s eyes were wet with tears.

            “I’m proud to be your wife.:

            “Do you wish for me to satisfy you physically more often?”

            “I…you don’t-”

            “I shall then. Lana never could satisfy me the way you did. Turtleshell, once I am released…shall we take a second honeymoon?”

            Haydee smiled warmly at her husband. They talked for some time, before she fell asleep on the edge of the bed. Damon stroked her hair and smirked.

            ‘My inward looking Turtleshell, I can play you like a violin. Such sweet sounds you make, my love. Stay. Stay with me, for you are my most important piece. The Queen threatens all those who stand against the King.’

            She was beautiful to him. A weak, manipulated beauty. He needed her. She could not bear life without him, and that was just fine with him. She would be his eternal puppet.

            ‘Yes. I’ve accumulated some sick days, haven’t I Turtleshell? Perhaps I’ll take you home to Saint Petersburg. Oh, how you’ll love me.’

            Damon felt sleep creeping up on him. She was his favorite pawn. As such, he made sure she was well cared for. A happily married public official had only one way to go, and that was up. Thirty-nine years he’s cared for her. Thirty-nine years of planning for a moment soon in his grasp. Once he was at that pinnacle, once he was Chief of Police, all would come to fruition. And Haydee would be his obliviously happy Queen.