Happy Castle FanficMonday!
Then
It was only twenty-four hours before the case was officially closed and Kate couldn't find any plausible reason to put off calling Child Services and she chastised herself for delaying the call for this long. There was no reason not to turn Eva over into their care.
Her relationship with Evangeline, if you could even call it that, was an odd one. The little girl spent ninety-eight percent of her waking hours ignoring Beckett. She didn't speak, she didn't look her way, she didn't do anything, it was actually a bit disconcerting.
Kate Beckett was no expert on children, she had spent surprisingly little time with children and babies in her life. But you didn't have to be an expert to know that Eva's behavior was no where near normal. Little kids were supposed to play and be loud and curious. They weren't supposed to be emotionless as they stared at the wall. Kate was sure that the little girl was scared out of her mind. She had seen it when she had first come out of unconsciousness, but those emotions had been packed up and tightly sealed.
The only time she moved or changed her expression from her tiny mask of blankness was when nurses or doctors came in to check her vitals, change her bandage, or administer more meds. Whenever someone came in the door, her gaze immediately flew to Beckett. After an encouraging smile the little girl would look away and clasp Beckett's badge tightly in her hand. Her little thumb would rub the raised edges of the numbers. The badge was huge in her hand and she didn't even have the strength, or maybe it was the will, to lift it. Either way, the badge seemed to give her a little more strength, she wilted under the attention of the hospital staff, but she always sat a bit taller when the badge was in her hand. Beckett was glad that she could offer even a small bit of comfort to the toddler.
As her condition improved, so did Eva's attitude towards Kate. The detective found herself coming in to work early so that she could take a couple of hours off every evening to visit Eva. The first few days she kept up her steady act of ignorance and indifference, but as Kate continued to be there things began to change.
At first, began reading to her. After a few days, she decided that just sitting in a chair beside her bed and trying to make the girl come out of her shell was just not going to work. So she went to the library at her lunch hour and checked out some children's books that looked interesting and brought them to the hospital that night. She explained to Eva what she had and read through a few of them before the girl fell asleep.
She made voices for some of the characters and made sure to hold it so she could see all the colorful pictures. By the second book, Kate could tell that she was listening more intently, and when she started the third she gave up her act and inspected the pictures as well. Beckett had never felt more accomplished then she did that night.
The next day when she walked into the now familiar hospital room she was shocked to find Eva sitting up in bed with one of the books in her hand. The most shocking part: she was smiling. A beautiful, innocent, little smile that lit up her previously pale and sunken face. At that moment, Kate Beckett was a goner, but she pushed it down. She spent the whole evening reading and rereading the books she had brought and for the first time Eva tried to fight off sleep when it threatened to overtake her.
Over the next few days Beckett brought book after book with her to the hospital, taking care to leave some there everyday to ensure she had things to do when she was at work. Everyday Eva grew more and more animated during their time together. She laughed at the more comical books and smiled all through the books they read together. She started pointing at her favorite characters and eventually even went through the books Beckett brought her and picked out the ones she wanted to read.
Her favorite quickly became obvious and Kate ended up reading it at least once every visit. "Dream Big Little Pig" was the one. It was about a little pig named Poppy who had big dreams, shocker, and how her friends and family helped her achieve them. She wasn't quite sure what attracted the toddler to the book, but she guessed it was the bright colors of the pink pig in a purple tutu that drew her to it. Though the story was cute and if she was understanding the stories she guessed that it was helping her feel at ease around people.
On the fifth day, Kate realized just how hard she had fallen for this little girl, and how hard the little girl had fallen for her. She assumed that Eva had been opening up to everyone, but the nurses were still having trouble getting her to tell them about her pain and her needs, even with a chart to point to it was still just a guessing game. She was still grabbing onto her badge, Kate's old one she used as a uniform that she had brought from home, and shying away from them. And if Kate wasn't there the exchanges usually ended in tears.
"Her mental state just doesn't seem to be improving." The social worker told her when she was accosted outside Eva's door with a handful of books the day before. "I'm worried that she has some form of permanent brain damage."
Kate was shocked. "Oh! I thought that she had been doing so much better. She's been improving everyday when I'm with her. I just assumed these things took time, is she not progressing normally?"
The social worker looked entirely confused at this. Kate and the social worker were never visiting at the same time. She was required to be present whenever nurses and doctors checked on her and she spent as much time with the girl as she could, but Eva wasn't her only patient and it was unusually busy for her this week. With Kate's police credentials she was allowed to act as Eva's caretaker when she was there.
"She hasn't been progressing at all from what I've seen. Tell me everything." The young social worker was eager to hear about her young patient and Kate relayed all of her experiences to her. Jamila Blackman was stretched to her limit and she simply didn't have time to dig deeply with her young and seemingly unresponsive patient. And Kate could see where the loud African American woman would not be able to reach Eva. She reminded Kate of Lanie in her colorful scrubs and bright nails. Eva didn't respond well to loud and hovering. She needed a quieter and softer approach. As soon as Jamila learned this she toned it down and Eva seemed to be okay with her, though she still didn't respond as well.
Friday came and Beckett was up to her neck in a homicide. She had next to no time to even eat dinner, much less spend her whole night at the hospital, but she couldn't help but think back to her conversation the day before. If Eva was truly only responding and improving with her than she couldn't take a rain check. She decided that just one book was okay for the night and then she would come straight back to the precinct.
Eva woke up from a nap as she arrived and immediately picked up the Poppy the pig book. The nurses warned her that she had a trying day full of tests and evaluations. They had gotten her up and tried to make her walk around. She had gone through an MRI and an ultrasound. She had just fallen asleep half an hour before she arrived and they were sure she would sleep the evening away.
After a 3AM body drop and a full day at the precinct Kate's usual lumpy wooden chair just wasn't going to cut it, so she tentatively took a seat on the side of Eva's bed. The toddler didn't even seem to notice the change, she simply thrust the book into the detective's hands. She could refuse her nothing so she settled in to read. She only got a few pages in when Eva grabbed a hold of her shirt and rubbed it between her fingers. A few more pages and Kate felt a warm weight on her stomach.
She looked down to find Eva snuggled up to her side, thumb in her mouth, still intently focused on her favorite book. It was almost too much for Kate's heart to take. It felt as if she was going to explode as a wave of pure love washed over her. She had been denying her feelings for the little girl, thinking it was just a normal attachment, nothing out of the ordinary, but she could no longer deny it. This was something special, it was something she could no longer live without. Her day wouldn't be complete without Eva's little smile in it.
She dropped a kiss on the toddler's head when the book had finished and Eva was asleep. She promised herself just five more minutes of this before she would sneak out. She was needed at the precinct, there were families that needed her to get justice for them so that they could find the closure they needed, but at this very moment the boys could manage. She loved her job, she really did, but for the first time in her career she was wondering if her job was still the most important thing in her life.
Thank you all so much for your continued support! I am blown away by all of your kind words. I look forward to hearing from you.
P.S Hopefully there will be another update this week! (If I can keep my life together!). Keep an eye out ;)
