A/N: Thank you so much to everyone how reviewed! I love to hear your thoughts! Here's another chapter! :) Hope you enjoy.
It took some getting used to, especially at the beginning, being Meghan, frozen yogurt girl. It was weird to not be out on the streets catching the bad guys. I was starting to go stir crazy. But I understood the need for rest.
Even two weeks after my arrival in Burbank, I was still taking medication around noon most days, and by the end of the day, I was so stiff and sore that I couldn't change the bandages by myself. Every night after the first one, when I walked into the living room, Casey moved over on the couch and I would lie down while he fixed up the bandages. I didn't even watch anymore. I knew enough to trust him. If he was going to kill me, he would have done it the first night, when I was completely physically incapable of fighting back.
It took time, time to heal, time to adjust. Unless I was at Orange Orange or Castle, I was in Casey's apartment. And, being me, I got bored, quickly. Normally when I'm bored, I would do something active, like go for a run, or go out to a club and hope to find a semi-attractive man. But, since neither of those things were on my 'okay activities' list, I was stuck. One day, I figured out that I could cook things. Prior to this assignment, I ate take out or frozen grocery store meals. I didn't have time to cook, and I'd never learned.
I learned how to do some basic things, and I made tomato soup and grilled cheese one night for Casey when he got home. It had been a trying day at the Buy More, I could tell. He didn't say anything at all, but that was normal. Casey didn't talk much. I was mostly okay with that, having lived by myself for nine years.
Even though I was now capable of putting my own bandages on, I still visited Casey in the living room after my shower. Part of me found solace in being cared for, and part of me wanted a reaction to my nearly naked body, a reaction that I was quite used to, but had yet to get from Casey.
At one of my next doctor's appointments, I was told the bandages should stay off for a couple of hours every day if possible, but that the wound shouldn't rub against anything. So basically, no shirt. I wasn't quite comfortable with that, but I wasn't uncomfortable either. After all, I'd been wandering around the apartment every night in nothing but underwear and a bra.
So, after that particular appointment, I went back to the apartment removed the bandages and my shirt. It was a particularly hard day, my little brother's birthday, and I missed him dearly. I wanted to feel something, because I felt nothing inside my soul except cold. I picked out one of the new bras I bought when I first came here, and paired it with black skinny jeans. I painted my toenails purple, and I started making dinner. It was ready, still warm in the oven, as I waited and waited. I wanted Casey to come home and say, do, something. I looked up every time there was any noise; John Casey was still not home.
Eventually, I ate my portion of dinner, and I washed dishes, and I cleaned up, and still no Casey. By nine, I was far too worried for my own good. I jumped when the doorbell rang, and I jumped up to see who it was. Hand on my gun, I peered through the peep hole. It was Ellie. I opened the door.
"Hi Meghan. I'm sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if Chuck was here. He's out pretty late."
"He's not. Casey's not home yet either. Maybe something happened at the store."
"Yeah. It's not like him to be so late." She sounded quite worried.
"Come on in, Ellie, can I get you some coffee or anything?"
"Oh, no thanks, I'm all set," she said, stepping into the apartment.
"Was I interrupting something?" she asked, in reference to my state of undress.
"No… I was just…"
"Oh my god, what happened to you?" she exclaimed, seeing the still healing wound.
"Occupational hazard," I said. Crap, she doesn't know… "Wrong place at the wrong time while I was in Virginia," I lied.
"You've gotten it looked at?"
"Yeah. I had an appointment today. I've finally been cleared to do more than sit around and knit. Mild exercise, light lifting, sex, you know, the important stuff."
Ellie laughed. Then she frowned.
"John never mentioned that you guys were…"
"We're not." I shivered at the thought. Me, with John Casey?
"Forgive me for asking, but how come you're living with him?"
"Oh, um, I needed a place to stay, and we have a mutual friend who's trying to set us up. Casey's not interested. Neither am I."
I was saved from any more difficult questions when the door opened, and Casey walked in. He looked angrier than usual.
"Well, I should be going. Nice talking to you Meghan," Ellie said. I couldn't help but notice she didn't quite make eye contact with me or Casey as we said our goodbyes. Casey disappeared, and I heated up his dinner, getting it out of the oven just as he reappeared in jeans and a tee-shirt instead of that awful Buy More uniform.
I noticed his eyes travel over my body as I handed him his plate, but he quickly looked away. I went to take my shower, and by the time I returned to the living room with the bandages, he was busy on his laptop. From across the room, I could tell it was surveillance, and then I saw Ellie. He was spying on our conversation from earlier!
I walked into the room, and plopped down on the couch beside him. He closed his computer quickly, and took off the headphones. I stretched out on the couch, poking his leg with my toe as he got up and took the bandages from me.
"The doc finally cleared me for sex," I said. His eyes widened, and he looked away. He put the bandage on for me, as quickly as possible, and then left the room. I didn't see him at all for the rest of the night. I wished that I could tap into his security and spy on him, to see what he was doing and hopefully figure out why he disappeared after my joking mention of sex.
After he avoided me effectively for the entire next day, I decided that action needed to be taken. I made an especially nice dinner, and for the first time I opened my mouth to speak to him while we were eating.
"Casey, last night… I didn't mean that we should be having sex." When there was no reply, or even acknowledgement, I realized this: John Casey does not talk about feelings, ever. That night, I did my bandages myself.
