Nick's shift went OK that night.
He worked alone on a strange car crash case involving the death of the 70 year old woman who was driving. No other cars were involved. Since she'd driven off the road for no apparent reason, he was certain Doc Robbins would find a medical reason; a stroke or heart attack or something.
But for all intents and purposes, she'd been healthy as a horse up until the accident.
The puzzle had kept him occupied all shift and he welcomed the work. He was thinking about staying on for a bit of overtime to examine the car some more. He didn't think it would be a problem since he hadn't used up any O/T since... He frowned as Alex came to mind.
The car... Go check out the car.
Alex woke up Friday morning with a splitting headache and was completely uncertain of just where exactly she was.
She looked around and then covered her eyes from the painful beam of sunlight slanting through the window across from her.
Oh... God. My head.
She looked around again and recognized Alison's living room. Apparently she'd spent the night on the sofa.
Phew. I didn't do anything stupid last night, then... At least not that I can remember.
She stood up and felt her stomach lurch unhealthily. She sat back down and tried to stabilize herself. Finally, she made her way to the kitchen for some water.
She slowly crept back to Alison's room and knocked gently on the door. No answer. She pushed the door open a sliver and looked in. Alison was there, but she wasn't alone.
Oops. OK then, I guess I'll just leave her a note...
She made her way out to her car, wishing she had her sunglasses with her. She squinted in pain as her temples throbbed and her stomach gurgled unpleasantly.
She finally reached her townhome after what seemed like a 100 years and slowly and gingerly made her way up the stairs. She was glad none of her neighbours were around since she was still in her nightclub clothes. She recalled how they'd referred to those early morning returns from being out partying all night during university: The walk of shame. She definitely felt very unclassy at the moment. Her stomach lurched again, and she started to wonder if she'd make it to the bathroom.
Hmmm. I think I might actually be dying here.
She grimaced as she searched her bag for her house keys.
She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice the SUV passing her home just then.
Nick watched Alex make her way inside and felt his jaw clenching. The fact that she was alone didn't make him feel any better about the situation.
Big night out, Alex?
It finally hit home. She wasn't the woman he thought she was. And his sense of loss was now complete.
Later that afternoon, Alex's phone woke her up. Not fully awake, she thought it might be Nick, but then she remembered... She forced down the resurgence of regret and picked up the receiver. It was Maddie.
After trying to pretend that her life was rosey and everything was business as usual, Maddie finally pried the truth from her. After listening patiently to Alex's hungover, self-pitying ramblings, Maddie finally spoke up when Alex explained how she'd pushed Nick away.
"You did what?"
Maddie's tone was that of incredulity. Alex prepared herself for the lecture.
"Alex, we may not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but I have never before doubted your intelligence. Why in God's name didn't you just tell him the truth?"
"Because he knew the consequences long before this... and we still ended up together. He's not taking this seriously enough, and the D.A...."
"Alex, he's an adult. He can make his own decisions. You didn't even give him the choice."
"Well, I won't be to blame for him getting into trouble, or worse, fired. And then there's how it would all look in court-"
"OK, let me put it this way: Didn't Nick do virtually the same thing to you just before you came back to Vancouver? Pulled back without telling you the reason?"
"Yeah, so?"
"How did that make you feel?"
"Don't play psychiatrist with me, Maddie. You know how it made me feel."
"Exactly. And afterward you probably thought he should have trusted you with the truth, right?" Alex had no reply for that and Maddie went on. "So how do you think Nick's feeling right now? As bad as you did... and probably 10 times worse since you'd finally gotten around to admitting your feelings for each other."
Alex felt a dull ache in the region of her heart.
"I know this, Maddie. But it's too late. I did what I had to do and now I have to live with it."
Maddie sighed into the phone. "Yeah, you did. And it was a bad decison, Alex. You can't mess with people's feelings like this. I like Nick and I think he deserves better. He deserves the truth." Alex could almost hear her frown. "But you've made your bed."
"Maddie..."
"I know, I know. Whatever." She paused and Alex knew she was trying to push down her annoyance. "Anyway, mom and dad want to come down for the preliminary hearing, so..."
"No, Maddie... It's not necessary. It'll be quick, I'm sure. Tell them to wait for the regular trial. There's no sense in them coming yet."
She finally convinced Maddie they didn't need to come, and left it up to her sister to convince her parents.
After they hung up, Alex felt renewed despair threatening to overwhelm her. The conversation with Maddie, combined with her hangover brought everything back home for her and she felt the depression taking hold again. Crawling back into her bed, she pulled her comforter over her head and cried into her pillow.
Nick had seriously considered going away for the weekend, and now as he sat looking at his extremely clean livingroom, he regretted not going somewhere.
He'd hardly cleaned all week, but in a frenzy of energy last night, he'd cleaned the entire place. It had all started when he'd sat on his sofa trying to decide what to do with his first night off, and he'd immediately remembered how he'd spent his last Friday evening... Before his imagination took over, he'd started a load of laundry and begun vacuming.
He looked around his place. Short of rearranging the furniture, there was nothing left to do here.
The gym. I'm going to the gym. Hopefully I can work off some of this frustration...
After spending all day Friday hungover, depressed and in bed, Alex was tempted to follow suit Saturday and stay in bed again, but the phone ringing snapped her out of her vegetative state. It was Alison.
"Oh, Al... I'm so sorry if I was a pain in the ass the other night. I hope I didn't do anything embarrassing?"
She heard her friend laughing on the other end of the line.
"Well, there was that one thing..." She paused for effect and Alex cringed.
Oh God. What did I do?
"Nah, I'm just messing with you. You were fine. Drunk, but fine."
"Really?"
"Yep. You started to pass out so we brought you home. How'd you feel in the morning?"
"Like absolute shit, naturally. Man, I hadn't even planned on drinking..."
"Ah, nobody ever does. But guys kept buying you drinks, so I think for a while you were just being polite. Although you still managed to blow them all off."
Alex smirked. "I guess I wasn't in the mood."
Alison snorted on the other end. "Yeah, no kidding."
Alex frowned into the phone. "What do you mean 'no kidding'?"
Something about her tone...
Alison began back-peddling. "Well, you were drunk and clearly not interested in any of the guys. That's all I meant."
She didn't feel the need to mention the central focus of Alex's drunken ramblings that night...
"Oh, man. Was I a bitch?"
"No, no... just drunk; and pretty incoherent for the most part, so even if you were being bitchy, nobody could tell anyway."
They both laughed.
"Oh, great. I must have been a barrell of laughs. I hope I didn't ruin everybody's night."
"Well, you didn't ruin mine, that's for sure."
Alex smirked as she thought of the muscled arm snuggled around Alison the next morning.
"And honestly, you were more entertaining than anything. You kept us all chuckling."
Alex snorted. "Well, I'm glad I was entertaining at least."
They finished off their converstaion and Alex promised to visit her Monday when she returned to doing morning shifts at the cafe.
As she hung up, Alex looked around her place. As usual, her mind strayed back to thoughts of Nick. She chewed the inside of her lip.
I've got to keep busy. I think it's time to give the new place the once over...
In his hospital bed, James Meadfield opened his eyes and looked around. His sister sat in a chair by the window looking distracted. Thankfully, his mother was nowhere in sight.
"Lauren?"
He barely choked the word out through his dry mouth. She turned quickly at the sound, surprised. He'd come out of the coma days ago, but he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness the whole week and hadn't spoken at all until now.
"James? You're finally awake..."
She saw the intelligence shining in his eyes once again and realized he was finally fully conscious. She frowned.
"James, what have you done? We can't possibly cover this up this time. And mother's livid..."
As if on cue, Margaret Meadfield entered the room, walking past the policeman outside the door and closing it quickly behind her.
"For God's sake Lauren, leave him be. He's only just woken up."
She tried to look at her son with a mother's sypathetic gaze, but she didn't quite pull it off. She'd never managed to do it, for as long as both her children could remember. She, of course, was oblivious to her own maternal failings and considered herself the epitome of motherly love.
James blinked at his mother through medicated eyes. He was vaguely aware of a distant pain or two, but they didn't really bother him overly much. The last thing he could remember was feeling certain he was dying, and then it had all gone black. He looked back at his mother and his insipid sister.
Maybe I'm in hell afterall...
He strained to speak. "Get me... water."
Lauren hurried to pour him a glass and Margaret spoke up, commanding her daughter.
"Lauren, go fetch a doctor... but take your time."
She wanted a moment alone with her son before anyone else knew he was finally completely conscious.
Nick was in the shower, trying to release some of the tension in his weary body. He'd gone hard at the gym that day in an attempt to burn off some of his pent up frustrations. The hot spray flowed over him and he sighed appreciatively, his eyes closed.
"Nick..."
He pulled his face from the falling stream and looked through the shower doors. He could have sworn...
As he moved his face nearer to the glass and peered into the bathroom beyond, he thought he saw a flash of movement... His eyes widened as Alex slowly emerged from the mist, clad only in a small white towel. She was smiling at him as she came near.
He gulped. "Alex?"
Her towel dropped to the floor and she slid the shower door open. She watched him, smiling as she slipped inside. He stared back in shock, unable to move.
As the spray reached her, he watched as the water dripped down her naked body, sliding down her breasts... His gaze was drawn to where the slight patch of down between her legs began to glisten, and the water streamed down her hips, her legs... He felt himself stiffening.
She moved closer, one hand outstretched. He drew in a breath as her fingers caressed his cheek. She lay her other hand on his chest and he was aching to touch her back, but still found that he was unable to move.
Her hand slid behind his neck and she gently drew his head down towards her, her eyes looking longingly into his. As their lips finally met, energy pulsed through him and he finally found the strength to wrap his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his throbbing body. He kissed her hungrily, unable to taste enough of her.
She clutched at him, matching his passion in her own kisses. His hands massaged her back and slowly slid down to her bottom, pulling her even closer against his erection. He groaned into her mouth, loving the feel of her against him again.
She pulled back from his mouth slightly and smiled shyly at him. Her hands slid down his wet chest, and then her head dipped down to follow their path. He shivered as her lips touched him, the sensation mingling erotically with the spray from the shower.
She began to slide lower down his body and he had to lean back against the wall for support as her tongue massaged his belly button, her hands clutching at his hips. He thought he might lose control as he felt her hands slide down his hips to his thighs and her lips trailed down below his stomach...
All at once, the sensations stopped and he could no longer feel her touching him. He looked down in confusion...
She was gone.
He looked around but he couldn't see her through the glass doors. He climbed from the shower calling her name, but he didn't see her anywhere. The steam in the bathroom was so thick he could no longer see the walls around him, or even the shower he'd just stepped out of. He felt a moment of panic as he looked around him wildly.
Alex?
Nick's eyes flew open and he found himself staring at his bedroom ceiling. He felt momentarily disoriented and sat up in his bed. Slowly, comprehension dawned on him and he laid back down, disappointment overwhelming him.
Fuck.
He put his hands over his face and tried to get his pulse to stop racing. He frowned as he recognized the pulsations emanating from his pelvic region, and looked down at his arousal pushing against the sheet. He stared up at the ceiling miserably.
Fuck Fuck Fuck.
He sighed and closed his eyes as he reached down below the sheet. He tried to resurrect the Alex of his dream in his mind again, hoping to bring himself to the point of release that she'd been promising him...
