Hello! Hi! This is my first story for a really long time so I might be a little rusty... I have the next couple of chapters written and waiting to go if there's anyone out there kind enough to read my work! If there any mistakes, please feel free to either leave me a comment or message me, but please try and make you criticism constructive... My ego is a little fragile these days!
This is set somewhere around series 3, I'm not too sure when yet, But Juliette is in on the secret by now. If there any spoilers in the future i'll make sure to give people a heads up.
Just a quick warning, this chapter isn't too bad, though does have some domestic violence themes in it, but future chapters will have some pretty hefty trigger warnings on them, hence why I have rated this fic M, so be warned!
Disclaimer: I would say I own no characters except my OC, but she is a strong independent woman who don't need no man. But yeah, I wrote her, No one else :)
"Nick... Nick honey your phone is ringing..." Juliette sleepily dropped Nick's phone onto his chest and rolled away from him, burying her face in her pillow. It was 4 am, and though throwing the phone out of the window could quite possibly loose him his job, Nick took a moment to seriously consider it before balancing the phone on the side of his face with a sigh.
"Detective Burkhardt." He scrunched his eyes together and groaned his way into a stretch as he pushed himself into a seated position, his beck against the head rest. One heavy fist raised to rub at his eyes but stopped short. Nick's eyes snapped open and he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Standing up sharply he had to take a second for his balance to settle before jamming the phone between his shoulder and his ear to pick his pants up from the floor where he'd left them the night before and wrestle his way into them.
"You found her? Where? The hospital...? But- Never mind, I'm on my way. Don't let anyone in that room." He tucked the phone in the back pocket off his pants and grabbed a clean shirt from the chest of drawers. He was just pulling his boots on when a pair of pale legs appeared in his eye line and with a tired smile he sat up and pulled Juliette down onto his lap.
"You should go back to sleep, I have to go down town. It's nothing to worry about I promise." With careful, gentle fingers he pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear and lent in to place a soft tender kiss on the bare skin it had hidden.
"What did you mean "Found her?" who's her?" Juliette asked, sleep still slurring her words slightly, her eyes half closed against the soft light of Nick's small bedside lamp. The way his eyes dropped to the floor before coming back up to hers with a delayed smile told her all she needed to know; whatever Nick was about to tell her, was not the truth, so she lay a slender hand over his lips and shook her head. The smile she gave him was a little sad though she understood that even though she knew more now, there were still things he wasn't ready to share.
"I'd rather know nothing if it isn't the truth." The air Nick had sucked in to fob her off with a story about an old case escaped in a puff and he gave her a genuine smile, all charming teeth and dimples.
"Sorry, I know, but like I said nothing to worry about. I'll probably be back before you even wake up." In one deft movement he slid an arm under her knees and lifted her gently off of his lap and lay her back down on the bed, pulling the duvet up over her shoulders. Placing one last kiss on her forehead, he grabbed his keys and his jacket and swept out of the room.
–
Nick was leaning against the door frame of a private room on a quiet, sleepy ward when a nurse gently pushed her way past him into the room, smiling in silent apology to him as she took the temperature of her patient with quick, practiced movements and followed the girl's pulse against the tick of her watch. She placed the tiny pale arm carefully back on the bed and turned to Nick,making a time old shooing gesture as she bustled him out of the door and closed it behind her. She lent up against the nurses station and bean to scribble away at a clip chart.
"You must be Nick. I'm Sister Anna Harding, the ward sister tonight. The attending Doctor has had to attend an emergency, but I'm sure I can fill you in." She had spoken to him without looking up until this point, but now she turned to face him and smiled tiredly. Nick took in the dark circles under her eyes and the way she reached up with slightly shaking fingers to smooth her thick blonde curls back away from her face. She must be getting close to the end of a very long shift.
"We have you down as her next of kin on file, but I just wanted to fill in a few gaps. May I ask what relation you are to Miss...-" She lifted the chart up to her eyes for a quick glance and looked back up with shake of her head. "Burkhardt. Sorry, it's been a long shift, I didn't even register that you share a surname. So sister? Cousin?... Wife?" She raised an eyebrow at him, her pen hovering over the page.
It was a moment before Nick replied, he was looking over her shoulder at the tiny form engulfed by the bed and it's snowy white sheets. She looked barely old enough to be out on her own, let alone be his wife, she was so slight. He pushed one hand into his pocket and lifted the other one to the back of his neck in discomfort.
"She's my sister." He replied simply, and realising he was standing like a guilty school boy let his hand drop and bury itself in the other pocket.
"But I haven't seen her in very long time, and she was just a little girl then... She's still little... just a grown up now. She would have been 19 about a month ago... What happened? Why is she here? I saw the bruises..." His hands clenched inside his pockets and he looked down again, trying to get himself back under control. Sister Harding sighed and shook her head, placing the chart back on the desk and turning to face him completely.
"I see cases like this all the time... She's jumpy, paranoid... the bruises on her arms look like someone has grabbed her. Hard. I'm sorry to say it, detective, but this is domestic abuse, without a doubt." She gave Nick a second to process this information, knowing how hard it must be for him before picking the chart back up to give him the details.
"She was struck repeatedly across the face, and judging by the grazing on her jaw, whoever did it was wearing a ring. One of her ribs is cracked, two more are just bruised. Her arm is not broken, but she came close, it will be very tender for a while, she'll need to keep it strapped up for a week or so, just to let it heal properly and to stop her from bumping it around to much" She looked up from the chart and placed a hand on Nick's arm, feeling it tense sharply.
"Detective, you need to take a deep breath, and calm down. Your sister needs you now, and you won't be able to help her if you do something rash. Now, if you feel able to proceed...?" Nick did as he was told, taking a few deep, calculated breaths and unfurling his fists. He knew she was right, revenge doesn't always work out so well.
"Sorry, it's a lot to take in. When Can I take her home?" He squeezed the keys in his pocket, pushing back the urge to just grab his sister and make a run for it. He wasn't sure why, the nurse seemed perfectly nice, and the hospital was as safe a place as any, but he just wanted to gather her up and hold her.
"As soon as she's awake you'll have to fill in some discharge papers, but other than that she's ready to go. The doctor saw her as soon as she came in a few hours ago and-" Nick put a hand on her arm, stopping her mid sentence, his brow furrowed.
"How did she get here? Did she admit herself." Again, the nurse shook her head and sighed, slipping her pen into her breast pocket and putting the chart in the tray on the nurses station.
"No, Detective. They very rarely check themselves in. She was... deposited, near the entrance to A&E. You are welcome to any CCTV footage we have, if she decides to press charges." And with that sister Harding was off, tiredly making her way to the next patient.
So there you have it! Chapter number 1 is up. Please tell me what you think, I love feedback.
Like I said before, the next couple of chapters are written, and hopefully they will get better as I find my way back into the swing of things. So tell me if you want more :)
Thank you very much!