Marshall Law (1)

Wolfie Steel.

(My thanks to Kausn_husky for agreeing to help me with this story, all of the characters in this story are mine, however, Sergeant Lucas Doyle has been given over to Kausn, as hopefully he will be able to add something to the story)

Welcome one and all to my hospital bed, my name is Sergeant Todd Marshall of the Yale City Police Department, or at least that was me until three weeks ago when an armed robbery took a decided turn for the worse, let me take you back to where it all started, Friday 18 May 2013, and I am sitting in the police cruiser with my long time partner Sergeant Trisha Colman.

"Well Trish, what do you have planned for your weekend off huh?"

The Vixen looks back at me and smiles.

"Well Todd, me and the kids are gonna spend the whole weekend with my new boyfriend in Latchfield Springs, there is the most beautiful beach there and it is such a nice place to visit, what does the weekend hold for you?"

I have to give her the honest answer.

"For me, I'm just going to rent some DVD's, get me some booze and get totally wasted, well let's face it, I got no one to take me any place since Jasper kicked me into touch"

There is a slight hiss from Trish's muzzle.

"If you ask me Todd, that Bull didn't know how much of a good thing he was onto with you, I mean c'mon a spunky Fox like you; if you were straight I think my new boyfriend would have some serious competition"

I'm sure that the temperature in the cruiser has just gone up a couple of degrees. Suddenly our plans are interrupted by the radio.

"All units, armed robbery in progress at O'Malley's jewellery store on the corner of Madison Heights"

I pick up the radio microphone.

"Dispatch this is Delta 3, show us as attending"

"Roger Delta 3, proceed with caution, shots fired"

I start the car and put it into gear; I then activate the blues and twos and put my footpaw down hard on the gas. We arrive five minutes later and see that at the moment we are the third cruiser to be attending.

I bring the car to a stop in the middle of the street and both Trish and I quickly exit, as soon as we are out of the car our firearms are drawn. The sound of further police units can be heard approaching the scene.

Trish and I use some parked cars as cover while we try to get closer to the jewellery store. We finally arrive at the rear bumper of the last car; we are now just yards away from the stores doorway. Another officer, a Puma by the name of Gale Pinter, is taking cover behind her cruiser and has the loud hailer in her paw.

"This is the Yale City Police Department, the store is surrounded so there is nowhere to go, now drop your weapons and come out of the store with your hands behind your head"

At first there is no movement, but then one of the robbers slowly walks out of the store with his paws behind his head, as he continues to walk I notice that he is concealing a gun which he is holding against the back of his head.

"Pinter, get down he has a..."

The next thing that I remember is waking up in this hospital bed, my life as a cop pretty much over, I now learn from some of the guys that have been in to see me, that three robbers were taken down that day, but not before they had shot me twice, and shot Trish four times.

Apparently one of the bullets severed my spinal cord and so when I get out of here I will be in a fucking wheelchair for the rest of my life, but still I got off lightly compared to Trish, she paid the ultimate price for doing the job that she loved, she was shot in the head four times, instantly killing her.

I can feel my eyes filling with tears as I think about her two boys and her boyfriend, oh god my heart aches for those guys. I am now more determined than ever to do something good with what is left of my life; the doctors say that it is 95 percent certain that I will be in a wheelchair for the rest of my days, so that leaves me with a 5 percent chance that I will walk again, I kind of like those odds, I mean shit, I've played poker games with worst odds and still come out winning.

I'm brought out of my fighting dreams by the sound of someone entering my room, it is Captain Alonso Myers. The Horse sits in the chair that is next to my bed.

"I guess you have heard about Trish?"

I nod gently; Captain Myers places a gentle hoofed hand on my arm.

"What a fucking waste, she was a brilliant cop"

I sob a little as I reply.

"So was I, but now that has all turned to shit, and for what, just because some guys decide they want to rob a jewellery store, I mean Christ it is hardly an original crime"

The captain strokes my arm softly.

"As far as I'm concerned Todd, you still are a good fucking cop, I know it will be difficult at first for you to adjust, but I am willing to help you in any way that I can"

I move my free paw to his arm and slowly begin to remove it, I try to push it away but the tubes in my arm prevent me from moving it too much.

"Captain, at the moment the only way I can be a police officer is sitting behind a fucking desk, you know that I ain't happy unless I'm in a cruiser keeping the streets safe"

The Horse replaces his hand on my arm, a show of defiance that matches my own.

"Todd Marshall, there is no way in hell that you are going to stay bound to that desk and wheelchair, you know it and I fucking well know it, I give it twelve months before you are back patrolling the streets, you are one determined son of a bitch, and so I think a little time behind a desk will do you some good"

The captain now removes his hand from my arm.

"At least think about it please, I would hate to lose someone like you"

With that the captain leaves my room, and now I am alone again with just the sound of the beeping and hissing machines in my room for company. With nothing else to do I decide to get some more rest, well it's not as if I can go anywhere.

It seems that the captain is determined for me to stay on the force as I am woken up by another visitor, a tall dark and handsome Doberman.

"Pardon me for asking this my friend, but who the fuck are you?"

The Doberman comes closer to the side of my bed.

"My name is Sergeant Lucas Doyle; I'm your new partner"

I let out a deep routed sigh.

"Look at me Doyle; do I look as if I am in any state to continue on the force?"

The Doberman flinches a little but soon recovers.

"Actually Todd, I am a partner with a difference, you see I have been where you are now and I made it through, but I wasn't given half the help that is available these days, now Captain Myers has told me that there is a fighting spirit buried deep within you, and I have to admit I can see it too, but as strong as you are you are going to need help, well I am that help"

I snort a little at his words.

"Oh sure, you can help me when I am stuck behind my desk at work, but as for when I am at home, then I am all alone, who is going to help me then?"

The Doberman begins to bare his teeth.

"You fucking piece of shit, Trish Colman has paid the price for being a good cop, and yet you don't seem to give a fuck, you have ice running through your fucking veins"

It is now my turn to round on the Doberman.

"Don't you fucking dare say that, Trish was my partner for ten long years, she was like a fucking sister to me and I loved her so very much, so help me if I was able to get out of this bed now I would take you a fucking part for saying something like that"

There is a smile on the Doberman's muzzle.

"Well now, it seems that I have just found the spunk in you that the captain was telling me about, back to talking about your help though, as I said before I am a partner with a difference, unlike Trish, I will be with you 24/7, so Foxy like me or not you are stuck with me"

I lay there totally gobsmacked, I have just been played like a two bit piccolo, mind you though, it felt good to feel my blood pumping through my system again, well at least half of my system. With my rant over I gently lower my head back down to my pillow and begin to sob, Lucas stands at my side and gently rubs his paw over my arm.

"Hey now Sergeant Marshall, I knew Trish pretty well, and so I know how highly she thought of you, she loved being in the cruiser with you, heck there were days when she would even volunteer to do overtime just so she could be with you, she knew that she could count on you no matter what, there were days where she told me that she was so upset, especially when that asshole of an ex of hers beat her black and blue, but after five minutes in the cruiser with you her day just got better and better. I might not be your sister, hell at the moment I know that to you I am just an outsider, but I need you and like it or not you need me"

I know that what the Doberman has said is true, we do need each other, but now I am going to have to rely on my partner instead of my partner relying on me.

"Look Sergeant Marshall, when you get out of here you can stay with me while your place is made wheelchair friendly, I want to repay the friendship and solidarity that you showed Trish Colman, it is what she would have wanted"

I let a weak smile grace my muzzle.

"Okay Lucas, if we are going to be partners there are some things that we need to clear up, first the only person that calls me Sergeant Marshall is Captain Myers, and if he calls me it then I know that I am in the shit, so please just call me Todd, next if you knew Trish half as well as you say you did then you will know about my..."

The Doberman cuts me off.

"...preference of the male of the species, relax Todd, like I said before, I want to be your partner in more ways than one"

I blush at his comment and then give a steady yawn; the Doberman takes the hint and leaves my room to allow me to get a little more rest, because he knows that the days, weeks, months and years ahead of me are going to be difficult ones.