A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews on the first chapter! I'm glad that people liked it :D Here's the next part, it doesn't contain any spoilers for upcoming episodes (or not that I'm aware of, anyway!) and I have introduced a character of my own who may be an advantage or disadvantage for Connie ;) next chapter will see Connie and Rita see each other for the first time since Connie's arrest! I'd love to know what you all think. xx
~Mini Peacelet~
Handcuffs - Part 2
It was cold; really cold. The temperatures were biting, combined with the frosty flurries of winds that oscillated in fluctuating gusts. Rita shuddered as she roused from her perturbed slumber, her entire frame trembling with violent shivers. Tugging her thin - and now damp with a combination of dew and fine drizzle that had started - NHS hoodie around herself as she propped herself at an incline, her orbs blearily scanning her surroundings. She was slightly disorientated, racking her brains to remember and piece things together.
She had drifted to sleep on a grassy surface, in the park. Or perhaps lost consciousness in a drunken state was a more appropriate label. Very classy, Freeman. A discarded bottle of cheap vodka was tossed not far from where she lay, stationed on it's edge. The remainder volume of contents she hadn't consumed had evidently leaked out onto the ground. But influenced by the intense, fuzzy sensation that clouded her head with pounding impulses, she figured that the majority of the nasty, colourless beverage had entered her system.
Precipitously she could recall the entirety of events that amplified to this current moment. Her thoughts were briskly directed to the clinical lead; her adored girlfriend who was locked up in a police cell being scrutinised and practically accused before proven guilty.
Guilty was something she wasn't, of course. Connie wouldn't have murdered anyone. She endured great pride with her career and excellent ability as a consultant in emergency medicine - not her primary fielded category of specialism. Her skilled technique allowed her to perform life dependant procedures that no one else was capable of in the department. Connie Beauchamp saved lives.
Rita leapt to her feet ardently. Dawn was hastily approaching as the dusky shadows that haunted the night gradually began to fade. At a cursory pace, the petite blonde commenced her dash home; before she could return to the police station, she required a shower to eliminate the bitter stench of alcohol and a fresh attire.
A short while later, just gone nine in the morning, Rita entered the police station. It was pleasantly warm inside compared to the crisp cold outside that had chilled her to her bones. Inhaling a sharp breath, she ambled confidently to the desk and patiently awaited someone's precious attention. She perceived a cluster of officers - a mixture of females and males - chatting in the corner chirpily.
"DS Freeman, there's a lady over there. If you would care to decipher and help her with her requirements, then I'll go locate those files we need for that case." A male voice spoke sincerely, Rita was vague paying attention with her own thoughts whizzing fiercely through her head but her head snapped round as something captured her attention abruptly.
DS Freeman.
Her sister had trained as a police detective; in Manchester, though. Not Holby. She occupied her role as a detective sergeant in a police station in Manchester city centre as far as the younger of the two siblings comprehended. Rita peered intently at the woman who appeared to share the same professional status as her sibling, studying to see if it actually was her.
Her height mirrored a number similar to the senior nurse's, dyed blonde hair that was relatively long and restrained in a tight bun, and a figure with corresponding curved and arcs. And as the female pirouetted sharply and marched with poise, Rita's conjectures were confirmed. The officer was her sister; Cali.
The blonde had quickly deliberated twisting round and leaving just to evade a confrontation with her sister. But then she thought of her cherished partner, trapped in an icy cell. She couldn't depart for some trivial justification. She apprehended that it was going to be presumably rather awkward with Cali, though. The tension was thickening, to the extent she could taste it on her lips.
Cali, the older of the two girls by a couple of years, spoke first while her dark orbs narrowed perplexedly as she halted at the front desk, "Rita? What are you doing here?" There was a noticeable mystified hint to her words.
Twitching her shoulders in the approximation of a shrug, the other sister responded cuttingly - perhaps rhetorically, "I could ask you the same thing, Cali."
Things hadn't ended positively between the siblings. Cali had been adamant about Rita's husband's guilt right from the very start, professionally advising her with cautions, in advance, regarding her predicted cynicisms about the situation which evolved to be accurate and true. That was when he nurse had floated off to start her new life in Holby.
"I'm here on a temporary station transfer, to work on a few cases for a short while." The detective's reply was concise but clarifying, lips pursed momentarily, "What about you? Don't tell me you're in trouble, again?"
Rita scowled protectively; ominous and frosty, "Don't patronise me. I haven't done anything wrong." A cutting statement as she folded her arms across her chest frustratedly, "I'm here to see Constance Beauchamp, if that's possible, please? She was arrested last night and I was told to come back in this morning."
Flicking through some sheets of paper, the DS searched for information about the woman in question, briefly scanning for any significant details, "How do you know Mrs Beauchamp?" An innocent, unemotional query yet curious.
"We work together, she's my boss. And we are very good friends." The nurse explained simply, purposely leaving out a certain piece of information, "So can I see her?"
With a small nod, Cali spoke a verbal confirmation, "I should think it'll be okay for you to see her for a few moments. She wasn't very obliging during questioning last night, obstinate that she's innocent. She'll face a day of intense questioning today, though. Perhaps a night in a cell thinking will make her more complaisant. If you'd like to follow me."
The younger blonde's lips quirked into a fleeting smile; Connie was still as stubborn as ever. Her heart crushed at the same time, however, wishing the clinical lead would be more cooperative in order to help herself. "Are you working on this case, then?"
"No, not at the moment anyway." The detective sergeant guided them into a confined meeting room for relative, "If you just wait here, then I'll go and get Mrs Beauchamp. By the way, Rita, it's good to see you again. It would be nice to catch up over a drink while I'm still in Holby."
"Yeah, I'd like that! I'll text you."
With a kind - empathetic - smile, Cali paraded out of the room and to the cell where Connie currently was. She unlocked the door and it creaked harshly, "Constance Beauchamp, you have a visitor."