Dani felt much more rested when she woke up the next morning. The house was quiet and when she glanced at the clock she realized the kids must have already left for school, she'd slept in till almost nine thirty, a feat which was almost unheard of for a single mom of two. She took her time getting a shower, threw on an old pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt and made her way downstairs.
"Morning Xeno." She smiled at the man seated at her table.
"Good morning Dr. Santino, there's some breakfast for you in the microwave."
She heated up what looked to be a delicious ham and cheese omelet and then took a seat across from Xeno.
"It's ten o'clock, shouldn't you be on your way to more important things?" Dani asked, taking a bite of her food.
"Nico had a few things to take care of this morning so he asked if I could hold down the fort till he got here." Dani nodded.
"What's he taking care of?" Xeno shrugged.
"Don't know, must be important though if he's not here instead." She gave him a questioning look.
"Only, I know how he's worried about you and making sure you're alright, that's his priority so whatever he's taking care of has to be pretty important."
"Oh." Dani didn't really know what to say to that.
"Anyway, I am sure he'll be here soon." Xeno said with a smile, "Is the omelet okay?" He asked.
Dani smiled, "Perfect."
Nico had just finished talking with Coach. He'd told Dani he would handle the Matt situation and he would. Coach Purnelle had agreed with Nico in that what Matt had said to Dani was wrong. It took a lot of convincing on Nico's part however to get Coach to agree to some kind of punishment. He told Coach that Dani was uncomfortable being around Matt and was worried about how he would react when she came back to work. Coach had given Nico two options, the position Matt was offered in San Francisco last year was still available, Coach could talk to some people and see if he could get Matt moved without to many questions, or Nico could handle the situation himself. Since Nico had promised Dani there would be no dirty work he had to agree to the first option. Nico knew Coach would take care of it with discretion, he had a hard time admitting it but he liked Dani and appreciated her work with the team, Nico knew he'd do whatever it took to keep her out of it as much as possible.
His next stop was the training room to find TK. He was able to catch his eye and call him over without to many people noticing .
"Nico, what's happenin." TK smiled brightly.
"You talked with Dr. Santino yesterday right?" He asked.
"Yeah, it was nice to see her back, she doin alright though, I mean she seemed okay but you know how she can be."
"She's alright, there was a bit of a misstep yesterday but she'll be okay."
"Misstep, what happened?"
Nico sighed inwardly, he hadn't meant to say anything.
"It's up to her to tell you if she wants." TK frowned but nodded in understanding.
"She wanted to know if you'd be willing to come over and talk some more, she knows there's still a few things she's missing from the story, she was wondering if you'd be willing to help her fill in the blanks."
"Sure thing, we'll go right now." Nico took in his appearance and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Okay so maybe we'll go after I shower and change."
It was well after ten thirty when Nico finally arrived, a very enthusiastic TK following behind him. He walked straight into her office and took a seat in one of her chairs, Dani stood just outside the doors. She still wasn't comfortable with going in there.
"It's fine." Nico whispered in her ear. "I'll be out here if you need me." She nodded and took a step inside, closing the door gently behind her.
"So, Nico says you wanna talk, please have a seat Miss. Santino." TK said in what she assumed was his best impression of a therapist. She took a seat opposite him on the sofa.
"You know you're sitting in my seat." She said.
"Not today, today I am giving the advice so I get the chair." He leaned back, making himself comfortable. She smiled and shook her head.
"So what happened yesterday, I heard there was a bit of a bump in the road?" TK asked, falling back into his 'therapist' voice.
Dani was silent for a few minutes; she wasn't sure how to answer.
"It was just a thing with Matt."
"What kind of thing?" She shrugged.
"I don't know."
"I don't know means I don't want to tell you." TK smirked at her when she glared at him.
"He insinuated that since I lost my memory it would be okay for us to start our relationship over, since I have no memory of the first time." TK's face fell.
"He did what!" He stood up angrily and started pacing the room.
"What kind of a dude does something like that? That's low Dr. D, real low, you deserve better than that. I mean really, what the hell!"
"Terrence." He was starting to raise his voice.
"That's bull shit, Matty D's gonna have a little chat with my fist the next time I see him."
"Terrence!" He stopped and looked at her.
"I'll deal with it okay, its fine." TK sat back down across from her.
"It's not fine. Look, I know I don't say it but you're a good person Dr. D, I mean you helped me a lot and you helped a lot of the other guys too and you don't deserve that, especially from Matt. Man I thought he was better than that." TK shook his head.
Dani sighed and leaned back against the sofa. "Yeah, so did I."
"I am tellin ya Dr. D, you let me deal with it, or no, better yet, let Nico deal with it, he's good at makin people disappear."
"No, I already told Nico, no one's disappearing, we'll handle this like adults." TK sighed.
"Whatever you say Doc." He said with a shrug "Anyway, you wanted to talk, what did you want to talk about?"
Dani wasn't really sure where to start.
"Well, I remember you being my patient, I know I was supposed to help you catch the ball but I feel like there's more to the story."
"Oh, much more. I mean you did help me catch the ball, I am doin great with that now, but ya know there were a lot of underlying issues as to why I wasn't catching the ball, mostly anger stuff and you helped me figure that out. I was doin really good but then there was the whole shooting incident."
Dani could see it like a video in her mind, Nico had come to her house to tell her TK had been shot, she remembered being at the hospital, thinking for a brief second that he hadn't made it, but he was alright.
"It was a fan right?" She asked.
"Yeah some crazy SOB from Chicago, but he got his day in court and I am past it now."
She remembered that too, she could see TK on the stand, telling his story, she was so proud of him that day.
"But of course then the real fun started, I was alright for a while but those little white pills became my new best friend."
She could remember when she realized TK was addicted to the pain meds. Something had been off about him during that interview, and while his drug tests came up clean she knew something was wrong. Matt hadn't believed her, she could remember that, but she also knew that Nico did, he was the one that finally brought the evidence to her, pills, lots of them, and a flush for the drugs so he'd test clean.
"We sent you to rehab." Dani said.
"Yeah, wasn't so happy about it at first, tried to bust out, but you took me back and I stayed, almost forty days sober now."
She could remember the intervention at TK's apartment but for whatever reason everything after that was a blank, she tried to remember TK breaking out but nothing came, it was like her brain had put up a wall between her and those memories.
"That's amazing TK, and I am really glad you're doing well. Thank you for talking to me, it helped a lot."
"Aint no thing, I am just glad you're doing better, it's tricky when the fixer needs fixed ya know what I mean?" She nodded.
"I do, but I've been able to fill in a lot of the blanks, I think the puzzle of my mind is just about finished." They both smiled.
"Well, I've got practice so I gotta get goin, ya got my number if ya need some more advice." They both stood and made their way to the door.
"Thanks Terrence." He turned back to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"You changed my life Dr. D, the least I can do is help you get yours back." He said quietly. She smiled up at him.
"Thank you." He nodded and opened the door.
"Session complete! The patient is all yours." TK said, falling right back into his usual self.
"Xeno is waiting outside to take you back to the field." Nico said.
"Alright, then I am out, see ya later kiddies, behave now." He saluted Nico and gave Dani a smile then turned to leave.
"So did that help any?" Nico asked.
"Yeah, a lot actually, I feel a lot more, complete I guess, like I am just about there." He nodded.
"That's good."
"I know I have to go through those files." Dani said, glancing behind her at the stack on her desk.
"Besides that the only thing I am having trouble remembering are things that I know happened recently."
"What do you mean?" Nico asked as they took a seat at her table.
"Well, I remember you finding the pills that TK was taking, I remember you bringing them to me. I remember the intervention we had at TK's apartment but it's like between you finding the pills and the intervention there's a big gap and then after sending TK to rehab I can't remember anything. I tried, but it's just like static, a wall went up and I can't knock it down."
Nico knew that behind those walls were all her memories of Marshall, her office being bugged, everything that had gone on during the time he was missing, and probably that night on the back porch. They were important things, and if that was all she had left to remember, with the exception of flipping through patient files, he knew he would have to tell her, and sometime soon. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair; it wasn't something he was looking forward to.
"We'll figure it out." He said. Dani smiled, he was stressing about something she knew, running you're hand through your hair was a nervous habit, she did the same thing. She couldn't remember ever seeing him do it before now though, she thought hard about it for a few seconds, no there was another time he'd done it, when was that? She was thinking to hard, her head started to hurt. She focused on Nico again, a shorter piece of hair had fallen in his eyes, she reached up and pushed it back, and then she wondered why she'd done that.
"Are you worried about me?" She asked him. His look said he didn't understand.
"This morning Xeno said you were worried about me, that whatever you were doing earlier had to be important because you were to worried about me to leave me alone."
"It's not really like that. I am not worried you'll hurt yourself or something. I am just worried that something will happen to you and I won't be there." She thought about that for a moment.
"You're worried you won't be able to protect me?" Nico sighed.
"I guess, it's complicated."
She'd never felt protected before. Now that she thought about it, Ray wasn't really the protective type, she wasn't really sure now if he was even the loving type. In her brief time with Matt she'd never really felt a sense of safety or protection. He'd made her feel young which was nice for a time but she had to grow up at some point. So why when Nico said that he wanted to protect her did she find that appealing? She was a strong independent woman, why should she need protection? She had to wonder if this was some kind of subconscious thing, she'd been a damsel in distress, lying in a hospital bed with limited memory; Nico had swept in, all prince charming and taken care of her. No, it was deeper than that, a part of her knew that this was how Nico had always been with her, it was probably how he was with everyone he really cared about, he was protective by nature , he wanted to make sure she was safe. She'd never known what that was like but she was finding she was enjoying it; it was nice to be protected.
Eventually Dani convinced Nico to help her go through a few patient files. She didn't really need his help reading them or anything she just wanted him there in case she over did it again. So they both sat in her office, Dani on the floor on the far side of the room, furthest from her desk, she still wasn't comfortable being near it, and Nico sat in the chair across from her. She flipped through patient files and he read the newspaper and it was a comfortable silence. She'd glance up at him every now and then and he'd smile at her and ask if she was okay. She was taking it slow this time, one person at a time and she was okay. She found it was a lot easier to remember than previously when she'd tried to cram all the information in at once.
That was how the kids found them when they got home. Dani had a stack of about ten files next to her that she'd gone through. She was laying on the floor now, her feet propped up on the sofa and a file in her lap.
"Mom, you alright?" Lindsey asked as she stepped into the office. Dani turned to smile at her.
"Hey Linds, yeah I am fine." She sat up and put the file aside. "I didn't hear you guys come in, how was school?"
"Fine, why are you on the floor?" Dani shrugged.
"Easier to spread the files out." She presented it more like a question; Lindsey shook her head and turned to Nico.
"Is she okay?" She asked.
"She's fine." Nico said. Lindsey shrugged.
"Alright, what's for dinner, Ray Jay's starving." She rolled her eyes.
"And he wants to know if he can go out with some friends tonight." Ray Jay said, stepping up next to his sister.
"Well," Dani started.
"It's Friday mom, please."
Friday already? Dani shook her head, how had the week gone by so fast.
"I guess that's fine, just be home by eleven!" Ray Jay gave her a quick hug.
"Thanks, I'll eat with the guys, later!" He called, as he rushed out the door.
"So dinner for three then? Nico are you staying?" Lindsey asked. He glanced at Dani who shrugged.
"Sure I'll stay."
"Great then you can help me make dinner." Lindsey said, turning back to the kitchen.
"Yes mam." She turned and smirked at him.
"You alright?" He asked Dani.
"I'll be fine, go ahead." She shooed him into the kitchen.
"You don't have to read them all tonight Dani." He said as he walked to the door.
"I know but I can get through a few more before dinner." She smiled at him and he offered her one back.
"Is she doing better today?" Lindsey asked as she pulled food from the refrigerator.
"Much better actually, she had a talk with TK and I think that filled in a lot of missing pieces for her." Nico said as he stepped up next to her.
"She seems back to normal." Lindsey said, handing him a pot, "Water and boil." She said pointing to the sink and then the stove.
"There's still a few things she's missing, unfortunately there pieces that are pretty big but hopefully I can help her work through them in the next few days and she should be alright." He explained as he filled the pot with water and sat it on the stove to boil.
"So just like that she has her memories back?" Lindsey asked, a bit disbelieving.
"I know a year seems like a lot and it is but she had a lot of help getting those memories back, having you and you're brother around helped, she's been remembering little things that happened with all of you."
"She told me yesterday she remembered the court observer coming to talk to us and how annoying it was." Lindsey told him, Nico smiled and shook his head.
"She won't have everything back, she'll still be remembering little bits and pieces, it could take almost a month or more for her to get everything back but she's remembering the big important stuff and that's just as important." He told her.
"Will you have to stay with her the whole time?" Lindsey asked, she handed him another smaller pot and laid out the few things she needed to re heat her mom's tomato sauce.
"No, I won't have to stay with her through all of that. The first week or so is usually the hardest, trying to get back to normal and remember the important things but she's doing better and she knows that if she ever needs me she can call." He said. Lindsey glanced at him.
"Have you gone through this before?" She asked, he simply smiled at her.
"Right, if I tell you I'd have to kill you."
Dani smiled as she listened to Lindsey and Nico work in the kitchen, both of them were laughing which was a sound she wasn't quiet used to, especially from Nico. She was able to make it though two more files before Lindsey came to tell her dinner was ready.
"Your daughter is a great cook." Nico said as they started eating, it was only spaghetti and meatballs but it was one of Lindsey's favorites.
"She gets it honest, I learned from my mom and she learned from me." Dani said.
"So it's a Santino thing." He said.
"Santino thing, Italian thing, either way." Lindsey said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Besides I didn't really cook anything, just the pasta, mom made the sauce and the meatballs, I just warmed them up."
"Don't sell yourself short Lindsey, you have to start somewhere." Dani said. Lindsey shrugged.
"Nico's a good cook too." She said in defense.
"Well then next time Nico can cook for us." Dani looked at Nico who was a bit confused at how he'd gotten dragged into this conversation.
"Yeah sure." He said quickly.
"So there's gonna be a next time?" Lindsey asked. Dani and Nico looked at each other.
"Don't be so forceful about it mom, you'll scare him off." Lindsey said easily. The three of them laughed.
Lindsey rushed off to do her homework after everything was cleaned up. To be honest she could wait until Sunday to do it but she wanted to give her mom and Nico some time alone.
It was one of those evenings where it was still warm enough to remind Dani of summer even though it was early October so she grabbed a light jacket and took a seat on the porch out back.
"I won't be here tomorrow." Nico said, appearing at the back door.
"Oh." Dani was a bit surprised at how sad that made her feel.
"I have a meeting with some Lawyers." He shook his head and took a seat next to her.
"Lawyers, what's that about?" It was about Marshalls Will but he couldn't tell her that.
"Just legal stuff with the Hawks, nothing important." She nodded.
"Well, I'll miss your company." She hadn't meant it to sound so needy but that's how it came out.
"I mean not that you have to be here, you can live your life too, I just meant," He cut her off short.
"I know what you meant Dani." She nodded. How was it that he could make her feel like a teenager? She was a grown adult and she couldn't even have a conversation with this man without feeling like a giddy schoolgirl, she put the thought aside.
"You and Lindsey have gotten pretty close." She commented.
"She's a smart girl; she cares a lot about you." He said.
"She doesn't trust very easy." Dani said.
"I don't think it's that she doesn't trust, it's that she's smart enough to know who to trust and who not to trust." Nico said.
Dani had never thought about it that way before, she nodded and tried to suppress a yawn.
"You should get some sleep." Nico said, standing up and offering her his hand. She let him help her to her feet and then walked back inside.
"I'll keep my phone with me; you'll call me if you need anything." He said as they walked to the front door.
"I will, I promise." Dani said with a smile. He turned to look at her; he didn't say anything just nodded.
"Night Dani."
She had to stand on her toes to reach but she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, she wasn't sure why she'd done it but there it was. She was blushing but Nico wasn't showing any emotion, his face had gone unreadable. She closed her eyes and shook her head, that was a stupid thing to do; now she'd gone and ruined everything.
"Sorry." She said quietly. He took her hands in his and she opened her eyes to look at him. There were small cracks in the walls he'd put up so quickly. He leaned in and kissed her back, his lips lingered on her cheek a lot longer than hers had though and she closed her eyes again.
"Don't be sorry." He said quietly, she nodded but didn't open her eyes, he pulled back and she was just about to open her eyes to see where he'd gone when she felt him press his lips to hers. It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds and this time when she opened her eyes he was gone. She blinked a few times trying to clear her head. Had Nico just kissed her, twice? She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair then laughed at herself, now she was stressing.
She felt a bit dazed as she walked upstairs; she changed into her pajamas and walked to Lindsey's room.
She opened the door and peaked in.
"Goodnight." Dani said. Lindsey glanced at the clock.
"Goodnight? Mom it's only nine, Ray Jay probably won't be home for another two hours." Lindsey could tell something was off.
"He's got a key, he'll be fine." Lindsey gave her mom a look.
"You alright, did Nico leave, should I call him?" She was a bit worried, but her mom smiled when she mentioned Nico and suddenly Lindsey knew why her mom seemed off.
"Oh, um, you know what that's okay, never mind, you get some sleep, I have some stuff to do anyway, I can wait up for Ray Jay." Dani just smiled and nodded then shut the door behind her.
Lindsey grabbed for her phone and typed as quickly as she could.
I think you broke my mom.
She laughed at his reply.
I am not taking responsibility for that.
She came into my room completely dazed, she doesn't even want to wait up for Ray Jay, and she always waits up for Ray Jay. If you kissing her means she forgets to be a controlling parent maybe you have to do that more often.
Sorry, I only use my powers for good not evil.
Lindsey laughed a little to loudly and quickly covered her mouth, she didn't want to bother her mom.
Well either way, it's about damn time.
:)
No reply, just a smile. Lindsey rolled her eyes and tossed her phone aside.
So this one took longer than I wanted but I was fighting a cold so hopefully this all flows nicely like I had wanted it to. Also, Nico texting, and maybe boasting about how great his kissing is, yeah, probably out of character but ya know what, he probably is a damn good kisser so he's allowed to brag a little. We're getting to the end of the story now, depending on how I play it out there's about a chapter or two left. I hope you enjoyed this one, it was fun to write!
And how bout that premier last night! another excellent job by the cast and crew, loved it!
Let me know what ya think, reviews are lovely and they keep me goin. Thanks for sticking with me everyone!
