Thank you guys for your reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying this story. I am too... I've always had fun writing stories about characters who have to deal with the five stages of grief. o:
And, well, the only thing I have to say is that I go back to school tomorrow. Senior year, bitches! I'm going to be pretty busy, however ... at least, I will be in awhile. During the school year, I tend not to update as much, and only update on the weekends. Thankfully, this story is short enough chapter wise that it will probably be updated faster than my other chapter stories. I was supposed to update my other story, but alas, I only got about three thirds of the chapter done. xD
Oh. Jk, I have one more thing to say. The first person to figure out what the chapter titles come from gets mentioned in the story. (:
chapter two; "who i am."
The couple sat in silence as they rode in the police car. Jace wasn't far from the hospital – five miles, perhaps – but that was far enough in New York City, especially at two am on a Friday night. They spent at least twenty minutes in traffic. Silently, Jace was thankful that this woman – Clary – was in the car with him, because it gave him an excuse to avoid giving taxis tickets for their honking fines. The officer had already called the station and gave them his update and requested a special victim's detective to meet him at the hospital.
By the time they arrived at the hospital, the detective had not arrived. Gingerly, Jace placed his hand on the small of her back. This time, Clary didn't flinch – she took the gesture as something natural and soothing, and a look of calmness flashed through her eyes. That look of calm instantly disappears as they step through the emergency room doors. It was too much for Clary and her hands were starting to shake.
Jace instantly noticed this and pulled her closer towards him in a protective manner. He knew this would happen; the hospital tended to make woman in her situation weary, especially when the doctor was of a different sex. Unsurprisingly, the hospital was busy as ever – but maybe the fact that he was an officer assisting a woman would get her through faster. He wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping the distance between them light.
"I told you I'm not going to hurt you. Therefore, I am not going to let anything else hurt you," He said softly, his voice low enough that only Clary could hear. Her green eyes looked skeptical, but she trusted him enough.
There was that unfamiliar word – trust. She trusted Simon, and he turned her back on her when she confided in him. She trusted her boyfriend, and he abused her. But there was something different about Officer Wayland that Clary couldn't put her finger on it. Instead, she shoved the horrible thoughts away and accepted his gesture, leaning in closer towards him.
It was one step towards progress – towards accepting – and Jace knew it. It brought a soft smile to his lips as they finally managed to get to the check-in counter. The process was speedy and quick, since it was a case of investigation and not a personal matter. It didn't help that Jace flirted with the attendant, who was more than willing to comply with his requests.
It took a matter of ten minutes for the information to be processed and for Clary to finally be admitted, and by that time, the detective still hadn't shown up. This was frustrating; he understood that the detective was probably busy, but he had sent in that request a little over half an hour ago. They didn't take that long, did they? Jace looked at his watch as the nurse sat down Clary on the bed. The nurse was kind, but Clary wasn't exactly responsive – she responded to the questions, but they were the basics: your name, age, date of birth, etc., etc.
There was someone standing outside the window peering in when Jace looked up from his watch, and he recognized the badge hanging around his neck. Finally, the detective was here. He frowned as he looked at Clary and back at the detective. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew that he had to. "Clary, I'm going to talk with the detective. I'll be right outside the door, okay?" This whole situation had him thinking differently. Clary looked up at him with sad, green eyes, but finally nodded. She was turning mute, as many women did during the hospital trip.
He shut the hospital door behind him and turned towards the detective. He was an older detective - possibly in his late forties – had had been on the force for as long as Jace could remember. "Detective Garroway." Jace nodded and gave a tip of his hat, to which the detective responded with a small smile. He looked strained and finally looked towards the window and blanched.
"Clary," He finally muttered and took a deep breath. Jace pushed his brows together – the detective knew her? That was a total surprise; he hadn't seen that one coming. Detective Garroway turned sharply towards Jace, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell happened to her? And more importantly … where did you find her?" His tone of voice seemed so lost.
Jace scratched the back of neck. "I don't know, sir. If I had to guess, I would say that she's a battered woman. Those bruises on her face aren't from falling down." Jace was so sure he had seen the shape of a hand on one of them. "She flinches at little things and doesn't trust well. I reached my hand out towards her and she flinched away and starting sobbing." His heart tugged at the thought of Clary sobbing. "I was four blocks away from Times Square. I honestly don't remember the street. I've been a little more focused on making sure she's okay."
The two men looked back towards the woman in the hospital bed, who was shaking slightly and it looked like she was struggling not to cry. Jace cleared his throat as he tore away from her glance; he couldn't bear to look at her anymore. "If you don't mind me asking, Detective, but how do you know her?"
Detective Garroway's face formed a small, strained smile as he looked back at the younger officer. "She's my daughter. Or rather, my step-daughter – but for all intents and purposes, she's my daughter. A year or so ago, she got involved with a man – his name was Sebastian… something; I don't really recall what it was – and after that, we didn't hear much from her. Four months ago, she completely went off our radar. We haven't seen or heard from her since … until now."
That threw Jace off his balance. He knew that Detective Garroway could not go on with this case now that it was a conflict of interest and he could see the visible pain in his eyes. The older man sighed as he pulled out his radio from the loop of his belt, speaking into it, requesting a new detective to take over the case. Once he was done, he turned to Jace. "She trusts you, Wayland. I can see it in her eyes – and I haven't seen that trust in her eyes in months. Not since her best friend abandoned her, actually."
Her best friend abandoned her? That was cold. Jace tried to imagine a world without Isabelle and Alec and could not do it. The mere thought of it left him breathless. "I'm taking her to the station after this … if … if you want to talk to her," Jace stated delicately. The other man's eyes softened at the thought of this, but in return, he shook his head. So much for trying to change the subject.
"No. I want to and I know Jocelyn wants too as well, but I won't put that pressure on her." He ran his fingers through his graying hair. "I've seen that look countless of times on woman. You never forget it the first time you see it – and then you start seeing it everywhere. She won't accept nor will she fully trust. In her mind, she's having a constant inner battle – she knows in her heart that we won't hurt her, but her brain isn't processing that." He paused, looking thoughtful. "But there's something … different about how she responds to you. For some unknown reason, she's responding to you. She keeps looking over here every few minutes; I don't think she's recognized who I am yet. Go back in there with her. The other detective will be here in a little bit."
"I, uh, okay." Jace was at a loss for words, which was highly unusual. His mind traced back to a little over half an hour ago when he had felt that jolt of electricity shoot through his hand as he touched Clary's. Detective Garroway waved goodbye and Jace stepped back into the room, noticing how Clary's posture had changed. She's responding to you. Her eyes searched for his when the door shut, looking frantic – but that frantic nature changed as soon as she crossed his golden ones. Her rigid body relaxed a little as Jace took a few steps towards the bed, standing next to her.
The other detective came not long after Luke had left. Jace wanted to tell Clary that her step-father had been here, but knew that he shouldn't – that he couldn't. The other detective – Detective Brandwell – was a female, which Jace was silently thankful for. She asked Clary questions, and they only learned a few things: that the assaults were not sexual, but they could have been, that this had been ongoing for awhile, and that it was her boyfriend. After stating who had done this to her, Clary closed up.
The questioning and the examination were done by this point. Charlotte Brandwell had tried to coax Clary into speaking, but she had gone mute once again. There was no point right now – it was a lost cause, and the officer and the detective knew it. After half an hour, Charlotte finally made her way out of the room and back to the station. The nurse followed shortly after, which left Clary and Jace alone in the room.
Clary gripped the hospital bed's railing, keeping her balance steady. She hadn't shown it, but the examination had been driving her up the wall. She bit her bottom lip and the tears started to flow out again. Within seconds, she found her eyes connected with Jace's, who wore a concerned look in them. "Do I have to go to the station?" Her words were nothing more than a soft whisper, and he gave her a small, half smile.
"No. Not tonight, at least. We'll probably have to go tomorrow… but I have the day off tomorrow, and I'll go with you," He had intended to end his sentence right there, but didn't. "If you would like," he added on hastily, praying to God that she wouldn't reject him. She put her hands in her palms, clearly overcome with embarrassment.
"No!" She yelped and Jace looked taken aback, and his eyes flickered with hurt, but he kept his lips pressed in a straight line. "I mean, please, Ja-Officer Wayland … I want you to go with me," she finally stuttered, surprised at her choice of words. Her heart was telling her that yes, yes she wanted him to go with her, but her brain was screaming at her for making such a stupid choice. He's just going to abandon you, you know – just lie Simon. And if he doesn't abandon you, he's just going to hurt you, just like Sebastian… Her brain was telling her, but her heart was telling her another thing. Clary wasn't crazy – she hadn't just imagined that spark that shot through her body whenever Jace touched her.
"If you don't want me to, I understand." She shook her head, protesting what he was saying. Jace was pleased; he didn't know if he had it in him to leave the girl alone, now that he had met her. Silence passed between them, and the nurse came back in. The nurse gave Clary her discharge papers, to which she gratefully accepted - maybe bringing her to the hospital had been a bad idea. Now it was a full blown investigation…
The nurse declared she was good to go, said her goodbyes and left without another word. Suddenly, a thought flicked through Jace's mind, and he frowned. Where was she going to stay? He could take her to her parent's house, if she requested it… But there was no way in hell he was going to let her to back to her apartment (he assumed she lived in with her abuser). A friend, perhaps? That thought was dismissed as soon as it entered his mind – it sounded like the only friend she truly had didn't believe her.
"Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight? Somewhere that's safe," Jace emphasized heavily on the word 'safe'. Clary looked frightened for a moment as she picked up on the meaning of his tone, but considered his question for a moment. There was the matter of her parents, but she couldn't do that to them – not after she had stopped talking to them, not by her choice… What if they didn't believe her, like Simon hadn't believed her?
Finally, she shook her head. "No, I … I don't. I can just get a hotel room or something," she mumbled, not liking the idea. Right now, she didn't want to be alone. The thought of being alone scared her. Jace scoffed at the idea, and a twinge of happiness shot through Clary's heart. To Jace, the idea of leaving her alone was ridiculous – if she was left alone, she could go back to that sick son of a bitch who was hurting or, or … or worse. He choked up thinking about that.
"Absolutely not. I don't like the idea of you being alone." He pursed his lips in attempt to stop the words from flowing out of his mouth, but it didn't help. The word vomit had set in and there was no going back. "You can stay in my apartment, if you would like. It's just me and my cat," Jace asked with a small smile, thinking back to his beloved animal. He figured he knew Clary's answer – so why the hell was he getting saddened by it? But her words surprised him.
"I think I'd like that."
I like to think of Sebastian and Jonathan as two different people, to be honest - well, I mean, they are, but ... y'know.. Haha. And yes, I did mix in Clockwork Angel characters. I quite like Charlotte. /is about two thirds done with the book.
Review, simply for the sake that I don't have any clever threats right now.
