It had been 6 months since Mel died, six months since he had watched Frankie pick up her mangled bleeding body from the road and place her in a body bag. Six months since he had stood at her funeral and gave a eulogy, that of course, Grace had written since he had no idea what the hell to say. Six whole months since Frankie had crumbled in his arms after the service and he had escorted her home, all but carried her into her flat, and somehow stumbled into bed with her, the sex frantic and demanding. Both taking comfort in the physical act, the feeling of being so close to someone else, forgetting why everything else hurt so much.
It wouldn't have been so bad had it ended there if he had got out of her bed and left, but he hadn't. He had woken her up, made her coffee and breakfast the next morning, held her as she cried again, pinned her to the bed as they yet again let the passion and heat of the moment take over leading to more sex. When he finally left he drove home and got roaring drunk, an attempt to block out everything that involved Mel or Frankie.
He should have known better, done things differently, handled things differently. Yet he couldn't control himself, the harmless flirting and banter between himself and Frankie finally boiling over leading to meaningless, pointless, grief-filled sex. He took a shower, changed his clothes, yet he could still smell her, taste her, even feel her if he thought hard enough. They only had one day left before the team was due back at work, their leave over after they dealt with Mel's death. He hadn't dealt with Mel's death, not even close, so he just buried it, pushed it away hoping he would forget or it would go away. His drinking had given him a massive headache and he spent the rest of the day sat in the dark watching bad tv and hoping they could all move on come Monday morning.
When he arrived at his desk Monday morning he found Spencer sat staring at Mel's vacated desk, Grace not even in yet, and Frankie had made a very hasty exit to her lab when she saw him. When Grace arrived in Spencer hadn't moved, Boyd was shut away in his office and Frankie was shut up in her lab as usual. Obviously, no one was close to getting over Mel's tragic departure from the team. When they got their first case in it was a complete nightmare, Spencer seeming to work on autopilot, Frankie only coming up to the squad room if she really had, then disappearing as fast as she could. As for Boyd, Boyd just shut himself in his office, the blinds shut and the door closed. Grace was stuck in the middle, trying to help everyone move on while dealing with her own grief for Mel. Grace wasn't the least bit surprised when she came into the squad room three weeks later to see Boyd pacing back and forth with an envelope in his hand, which he thrust at Grace before she had even taken her coat off.
Grace looked down at the envelope, recognizing the neat handwriting as Frankies.
"What's this about?" Grace asked holding the envelope up without opening it.
"Well read it and you'll find out." Leaving her stood in the main squad room as he stormed into his office.
Grace looked at Spencer, then across at Mel's still empty desk before walking through to her office with the envelope. Sitting at her desk she opened the envelope, taking out the neatly folded piece of paper from inside it.
"Superintendent Peter Boyd, I hereby tender my resignation as of immediate effect. A replacement will be sent by the home office to take my place as soon as one becomes available. Until then a duty pathologist will be available when you need assistance, yours sincerely Doctor Frances Wharton."
Grace read the letter three times, each time her vision getting more cloudy. She should have expected this really, one of them finally snapping and leaving. None of them had moved past Mel's death, each of them burying away the pain and grief, no one talking about what had happened or how they felt. She placed the letter on her desk and reached across for a photo in a black frame that sat on the side of her desk.
"Oh, Mel. We're falling apart without you. Now Frankies gone as well. What am I supposed to do? How do I help them?" Running over finger over the framed image of the team at her last birthday party.
She was at the front, Mel and Frankie on either side of her. Behind them were Boyd and Spencer. Spencer had one arm around Mel's waist and one on hers, while Boyd had one arm around Frankie's waist and the other around her. They were all so happy, smiling and facing the camera for a group photo on the pathology departments camera. Everyone had a copy as far as she knew, she had made sure of that. Now they were broken, no more smiles, no more laughter, no more team. Picking the letter and envelope back up she wiped her eyes and headed straight through to see Boyd, his feet on his desk as he stared off into space.
"What have you done about this?" Holding up the letter and envelope as she stopped in front of him block his field of vision.
"What can I do? She's made her mind up. She's gone, left, resigned, packed up and pissed off long before any of us got here." Sighing as he took his feet off the desk and placed them back on the floor so he was sitting more upright.
"Does Spencer know?" Glancing through the window to see Spencer still sat just as motionless.
"Yeah, he was here when I opened it." His own eyes flicking to Spencer in the squad room.
"And? What did he say?" Her anger rising as she tried to drag information out of him.
"Nothing, just read it and passed it back, nodding his head." Taking the letter that was thrust at him.
"Do you not think you should at least talk to her? Find out why she's left, find out if you can change her mind." Grace catching the quick look of remorse and regret on his face as he looked down at the letter, still open in his hands. "Has something happened between you two I don't know about?" His finger absently tracing over Frankie's signature without his knowledge.
"No, of course not." His reply coming out sharp and quickly as if he rehearsed it. "It's just, she wants to go, I can't drag her back by her jeans belt loops. I have to respect her decision if she wants to leave she's free to go." Hoping Grace couldn't see right through his lie.
Grace watched him, watched the way he fidgeted with the letter in his hand, wouldn't keep eye contact with her, seemed to have prepared his speech about Frankie leaving and rehearsed it. She wanted to push him, knowing there was something, something he wasn't prepared to share, at least yet anyway. If she didn't know any better something had happened between Boyd and Frankie, something no one but the two of them knew about. Maybe speaking to Frankie would be better.
"Fine, I'll go see her myself then. I'll at least fight for what's left of this team, unlike you." The venom in his voice as she spat out the last two words before turning on her heels and storming out his office.
"Do it. As long as it's after work." His voice loud as he yelled after her.
Grace went in her office and shut the blinds between her office and Boyds, leaving the ones to the squad room open. She was sure something had happened, she just didn't know when or what. she would get to the bottom of this, no matter how long it took, she would find out what had driven Frankie away.