"Frankie!" Boyds voice bouncing off all the walls in the lab as he stepped inside.
Frankie didn't answer, come to think of it Frankie didn't move. Frankie was sat, hunched over, head leaning on her arms fighting the urge to throw up everywhere. When she had that leftover pizza for breakfast, he had warned her not to do it, but she did it anyway. Now she was seriously regretting it.
"Frankie, why didn't you answer?" Boyd asked as he stepped up behind her.
Frankie still didn't move, she didn't make a sound, just continued to mentally wrestle with her stomach. She felt him place one of his hands on her back, the other on her arm.
"Frankie, what's wrong?" The concern evident in his voice.
She turned her head so she could see him and swallowed hard before attempting to answer.
"You were right." She managed to say before she turned a funny shade of grey and nearly flew across the lab to the sink.
Boyd followed her of course, one of his hands running up and down her back while he placed the other on her shoulder. He reached out and turned the tap on, the water hitting the metal sink and spraying back up a little. Frankie was too busy dry heaving to care, the content of her stomach now flowing down the drain. She groaned when she was done, taking a step back so she could rest her forehead on the edge of the cold sink. Boyd never moved, his hand still running up and down her back. After a minute of two he tried to tuck her hair behind her ear so he could see her face.
"You want to try sitting down, can't be comfortable standing like that." He suggested as Frankie gingerly stood up straight.
His hands never left her body as they walked across the lab and back to where Frankie had been sitting. She eased herself onto the stool, her face still grey in colour. When she was seated he went and grabbed a glass and filled it with water, bring it to Frankie and placing it on the desk.
"Have a few sips, not too much though." Pushing the glass closer to her as he watched her for signs she was going to be sick again.
Frankie took a couple of sips, closing her eyes as she did. Her stomach felt like a washer on spin, constantly churning. She placed the glass gingerly back on the table and turned to look at Boyd, his face full of concern.
"Thanks, I'm okay now." She said feebly.
"Course you are." He replied, the look on his face showing he was not convinced.
"What did you come down for anyway?" Looking a little perplexed as he hadn't said why he was there.
"I was a little busy making sure you were okay. We have a case, you're needed. Is there anyone one else here who can cover instead?" Looking around the deserted lab.
"I'm it. I'm fine, really." Going to stand up but swaying a little.
Boyd placed a hand on her back and a hand on her stomach as she seemed to sway. She leaned into him, his solid form seeming to ground her. Boyd slid his arm around her waist, tugging her gently against his chest. She turned her face into his shirt, inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes. The smell of his aftershave, his soap, even his soap powder seeming to calm her. She felt him kiss her temple, his fingers making patterns on her back. She knew they couldn't stay like this for long, they were at work, and a case was waiting for them. She took a couple more deep breaths, slowing open her eyes and looking up at him.
"Better?" He whispered as he kissed her nose.
"Yeah, thanks for this. Definitely no more pizza for breakfast." Trying to make a joke of the situation.
"That's what happens when you get older, things you did in your youth don't agree with now." Earning him a half-hearted dig in the ribs.
"Ouch, and there was me looking after you. You ready to go now?" His arms dropping away from her as he put the professional barriers back up.
"Give me ten to make sure I've got everything and I'll meet you at the car." Stepping back from him and instantly missing his warmth.
"Okay, I'll get Mel to ride with you, if that's okay?" His concern for her still showing.
"Whatever. Here give her the keys so it saves her standing around." Digging in her back pocket and passing him the keys.
Boyd started to walk away but stopped at the door, turning back to see Frankie opening the big silver case and checking its contents
"You sure you're okay?" He asked one final time, which of course earned him a death glare from Frankie.
He held his hands up in the air and back out out the lab, his eyes never leaving her as she went back to checking her case.
When he arrived in the squad room he shouted for Mel and tossed her the keys for Frankie's cars.
"You go with Frankie, please." Giving her a look that said it wasn't open for discussion.
"Sure." She replied, catching the keys and seeing the concern for her friend written clearly on the older mans face.
Mel, Spencer, and Boyd made their way upstairs and into the car park, Mel heading straight for Frankie's car. She opened the car and climbed in, dumping the two empty coffee cups on the floor. Mel wasn't a noisy person as such, but she couldn't help looking around Frankie's car as she waited. Frankies car was quiet clean, the coffee cups being the only rubbish she could see. As she scanned the back seats Mel spotted something familiar hanging out the pocket of the back drivers side door. She lend back and snagged the purple material with her fingers, only getting a grip on the third attempt. She pulled it towards her, the long, thin item dragging along the floor until she could gather it all together. She smiled as she looked at the purple item in her hand, folding it neatly up as she looked up and saw Frankie approaching.
Frankie went to the boot first, dropping her case inside before she got in the car. Mel was sitting with a smug look on her face as she got in, something folded up in her hands. Frankie did her seatbelt up and looked at Mel, seeing if she had hers on. Mel saw her looking and did the belt up, still sat grinning like a idiot.
"Spit it out, Mel. What's so amusing?" Seeing Mels grin widen if that was even possible.
"I didn't think Boyd was into illicit dark alley meetings, thought he would be too old for a quickly in the backseat of a car." Holding the tie up and seeing Frankie turn a lovely shade of red.
Frankie went to snatch the tie but Mel was quicker, pulling it away so Frankie couldn't reach it.
"Doctor Wharton! Having sex down some back alley with a high ranking police officer. Tut tut, what would people say." Mel bursting out laughing as Frankie finally managed to grab the tie and folded it up before stuffing it in the pocket of the drivers door.
"Piss off, Mel. Anyway, it wasn't a back alley. It was the middle of bloody nowhere and freezing." Hearing Mel nearly choke as she laughed so hard.
"Least you did something to keep warm." Mel finally managed to say as Frankie steered the car out the car park.
"I swear, Mel!" Frankie began to say as she focused on the road ahead of her.
"I know, your secret's safe with me. Plus, it's good blackmail for the future." Laughing as Frankie gave her a glare as they sat waiting for the lights to change.
When they arrived at the address that had been given to them Boyd and Spencer were already there, Spencer standing at the open front door looking out. Frankie and Mel got out the car, Frankie going to get her case while Mel went to join Spencer.
"Frankie's going to love this one." Spencer told Mel as she joined him at the front door.
"Is it as cold case?" Mel asked as she saw Frankie coming towards them, blue paper suit already on and silver case in hand.
"Oh yeah, don't come much colder than this one." Spencer laughed as Frankie joined them.
"Boyds inside, straight through, last door on the right." Watching as Frankie made her way down the hall and stopped at the open door.
The smell hit her first, the smell of rotting flesh and body fluids. Her stomach gave a heave, which she swallowed down quickly, stepping further into the room and looking around. Boyd was stood at the window, watching as she took in the scene.
"You need a suit on, and who opened all of these?" Pointing to the three open chest freezers.
"I did, all the plods were to scared." Seeing her look around the room in more detail.
"Great, did you not think to shut them again, preserve the bodies from the air." Walking up to the first freezer and pulling the lid shut.
As the lid closed over the pungent air from inside seemed to rush at her, her stomach again reminding her it was not happy. As she stepped towards the second freezer she felt herself breaking into a cold sweat, her mouth going dry as she reached for the lid to close it. Again the smell hit her in a wave, screwing her eyes shut as she tried to focus on something other than the smell. By the time she reached the third freezer even Boyd noticed the change in her, the little colour she had regained in her face draining away more with each step she took.
She stopped just short of the third freezer, taking in huge deep breaths through her mouth in an attempt to block out as much of the smell as she could. It was no good, the nausea hitting her as she bolted for the door with Boyd hot on her heels. She just made it outside into the garden before she was doubled over being sick again. Mel and Spencer stood watching, both shocked at they watched Frankie throw up at a crime scene. In all the years they had known her, she was definitely not one to get queasy at a crime scene. She had a cast iron stomach, could face off the worst decomposing bodies and smell known to man. Yet her she was, stood heaving in the garden.
"Spence, Mel, go in and start organising, ring back and ask for another pathologist, I'll deal with Frankie." Waiting until Spencer and Mel had disappeared inside before approaching Frankie.
He placed his hand on the small of her back, lending his support as she stayed bend over. When she stood up straight he took in the grey tinge to her face again, this was definitely not normal for Frankie.
Just then Spencer approached them, putting his phone back in his pocket.
"Replacements on the way, they asked if we can do as much as we can as they have a shortage on experts. I said we'd do what we could." Nodding at Boyd before turning and heading back inside.
"I can do this, I just need to pull myself together." Frankie protested as she went to walk past Boyd.
"You are not throwing up at a crime scene then walking straight back in there like nothings happened. Come with me." Taking hold of her elbow and steering her out the garden and back to her car.
Stopping at the boot, he let go of Frankie's arm before opening the boot. He cleared a space so they could both sit down and watched as Frankie sat down beside him. She leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. He slid his arm around her waist and heard her sigh at the contact. After about five minutes Frankie sat up and turned to look in her overcrowded boot. She started to dig around as Boyd watched her.
"What are you looking for?" Seeing her open bags and boxes before making a triumphant sound.
"These." Holding up some small white clips.
"Really! You think that's going to work? It stinks in there." Seeing Frankie use one of the clips on her nose.
"That's what they are designed for. Might help a bit." Standing up and seeing Boyd just shake his head.
"You throw up once more and you're out of there, permanently. Understood?" Making sure she fully understood he was not messing around.
Frankie just nodded her head, turned back to the house and walked defiantly up the path. He gave it a couple of minutes before he followed inside, hearing her bark out orders as he approached the room. When he looked inside she had one photographer taking the usual pictures of the bodies, one taking pictures of the room, one numbering evidence bags of stuff already photographed, and one laying out a body bag ready for the first body to be transported back to the lab. She had but a mask over her face, the sound of her voice now muffed by the nose piece and the mask.
"Has anyone checked with the electric company to see when the electricity went off in the property?" Frankie called out to no one in particular.
"Spence is on to them now." Mel answered from behind where Boyd stood.
Boyd couldn't help the sense of pride he suddenly felt in Frankie. She was obviously sick, yet she had found a way to still do her job and not let whatever was wrong with her effect her. He stayed out the way as she slowly and carefully removed the bodies from each freezer, still looking like she wanted to throw up but managing to keep a grip. As she placed the last bone on the black sheet she looked up and caught Boyds eye, the love and pride he had for her shining through his big brown eyes.
Over the next few days Frankie didn't seem to improve, but didn't seem to get worse either. The sickness came and went, her capacity do her job fluctuating depending on how sick she felt. After fours days Boyd asked her to come up and have a chat with him. She walked into his office carrying the files she had brought up, various test results and the like from the bodies in the freezers.
"Frankie, I've made the decision to put you on a couple of days sick leave. You can't go on like this, it's affecting your work more and more. It can't be from that pizza, that was days ago now. Go see a doctor, get the all clear and you can come back." Watching as Frankie absorbed his words.
He expected Frankie to kick off, shout and scream, rant at him for not asking her what she wanted. When she didn't he became concerned, this was not normal for Frankie.
"If that's what you want. Here," standing up and passing him the four files she had in her hand. "The results on the DNA profiles from the freezer gang. The last file makes for interesting reading." Turning and marching out his office before he could say anything.
He looked at the files she had passed him, there was four files but only three bodies. She had said the last file made for interesting read, which also happened to be a different colour from the other three. He pulled the file out from the bottom of the pile and glanced at the lab label stuck on the top corner, reading the information three times before he could take in what it said. Why was there a file with Frankie's name on it? He opened the file and saw it only contained one single sheet of paper, Frankie's name and some of her other personal detail sat the top. He scanned in the paper, taking in the words and numbers displayed in black and white as his mouth went dry and his palms were sweaty. He looked up from the file and out into the squad room, seeing Frankie with her back to him as she talked to Spencer and Mel. He looked back down and read the information on the paper one last time before he slowly stood up and made his way to the door. He opened it slowly, his mind still reeling from what he had just read.
"Frankie." He called out, his voice sounding hoarse as he swallowed and tried again. "Frankie, in here, now." Finally making it sound like an order.
Frankie turned slowly and looked at Boyd, his features closed off as he stared directly at her. He stepped aside, giving her room to step inside his office. Frankie walked towards him, her eyes never leaving his until she was level with him. He closed the door once she was inside, then went and closed all the blinds so no one could see inside. Frankie stopped in front of his desk, saw the file open and knew this was it, make or break time.
Boyd went around his desk and picked the single sheet of paper up. He held it out to Frankie who took the, noticing her hands shake ever so slightly as she did. She looked down at the paper, even though she had looked at it for a solid thirty minutes when the printer had spat it out along with the other reports. She knew what it said, could see it clearly in her mind when she closed her eyes, like the image was burnt onto the back of her eyelids.
"When did you figure it out?" His words breaking through her daydreaming as she looked up at him.
"Yesterday. It was the only thing I hadn't thought of, or tested for." Passing him the paper back before looking down at her feet.
"Frankie, take a seat. We need to talk about this." Indicating to the brown leather settee against the office wall.
Frankie looked at Boyd before moving to take a seat, one leg tucked under her as she sat down. She looked so lost, so utterly alone and terrified as she sat down. He placed the piece of paper back on the desk and went to sit beside her, placing his arm along the back of the settee as he turned to face her. She didn't look at him, just focused her eyes and her hands which seemed to have gone into fidget mode in her lap. He reached over and placed one of his big hands over hers, her head instantly shooting up so she could look at him. It was then he saw the lone tear, running down her left cheek and everything seemed to slot into place. He shuffled along the settee, moving so he could slid one arm around her back while the other went around her chest. Frankie untucked her leg so she could move closer to him, sagging against him as he enveloped her in a hug.
"I'm so sorry," she mumbled against his shirt, her words swallowed by the material.
"This isn't just your fault, took two of us to get in this situation in the first place." He told her as he kissed her hair. "Now it will take two of us to work through it, together." Feeling her shift so she could look at him.
"You're not mad? We've never even talked about the possibility of this happening, never mind what we'd do if it did." Watching as he reached up and brushed the tears from her face.
"Frankie, you know I'm rubbish at this talking bit, but I need to know, is this what you want?" Watching as she considered what he had just asked her.
"Yeah, I think I do." A smile slowly forming on her lips.
"If it's what you want then let's do it. I might do a better job third time around." Reaching out to rest his hand on her stomach.
Frankie looked down at his hand, placing hers on top of his as her smile grew.
"I can't believe I'm pregnant." Her gaze fixed on their linked hands.
"That's makes two of us." He replied, a smile now forming on his lips as the words sank in.
Another chance to be a dad, to make up for his past mistakes, make amends for where he went wrong before. He could do this, they could do it, as long as they did it together.