A/N: You guys continue to amaze me with your support and words of encouragement for this little brain creation of mine. Thank you so much to everyone who has read and left such kind reviews and PMs. I really do pay attention to them and take your suggestions into consideration when writing future chapters so thank you for the feedback.
I've had a pretty quiet weekend filled with inspiration and time so you beautiful people get to reap the benefits with another chapter.
Chapters 8 & 9 are done and being edited while Chapter 10 is about a 1/4 of the way thru its first draft and Chapter 11 is outlined. I told you I had time on my hands didn't I? ;)
Ok enough babbling, keep all arms and legs inside the ride, chapter 7 is leaving the station!
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The next morning Gail awoke cold, but not afraid like she had the previous day. She slowly turned to the right to find the bed empty beside her.
'That explains the chill,' she thought as she reached over; laying her palm flat against the cold sheets where Holly's warm body had once been and surmised the brunette hadn't been up for more than 30 minutes or so.
Sighing heavily Gail threw back the blankets and rose to her feet, stretching her sore limbs with a low groan.
Surprisingly she'd slept like a rock after the nightmare last night. The only explanation she kept coming back to was Holly. Sure it was possible that she'd been so exhausted that her mind hadn't been capable of conjuring up more dark traumas to torment her with in her sleep. It also could've been the fact that unlike in the hospital, she was now sleeping on a real mattress that wasn't a few inches thick. In her heart though, Gail knew it was Holly's calming presence that helped her relax enough to rest soundly the remainder of the night.
Gail's mind drifted back to how effortless it had been to let the good doc in, how easily Holly seemed to navigate the extensive minefield and the seemingly impenetrable walls Gail had put up with nearly everyone else she met. She'd put those walls in place to safe guard her heart and after a while people had just stopped trying to come in, but truth be told she wanted to let Holly in.
It was almost as if the brunette knew what she needed without Gail having to say a single word. She thought of how comfortable and protected she'd felt as she laid in Holly's arms and though there had been nothing sexual about it, the sheer intimacy of such an act normally would've sent her running for the hills, but not this time. There was no sense of panic, no claustrophobic feeling of being closed in. And for the first time she didn't feel there were expectations thrust upon her, she could just be.
Gail slowly made her way downstairs stopping short of the first floor when she found Holly sitting at the breakfast bar hunched over a steaming cup of coffee. The brunette sat with her back to the staircase fully dressed for work in a dark blue button down shirt and jeans, her face resting lightly in her steepled hands. After a moment she lifted her head and yawned, bringing the cup to her lips and draining the rest of the coffee before rising to rinse the empty mug in the sink. Holly braced her hands on the counter gazing out the window before lulling her head forward with another yawn.
"Morning," Gail said walking down the last few steps as Holly spun around slightly startled at the sound of her voice.
'Wow she looks tired,' Gail thought as she made her way over to the breakfast bar, taking Holly's now vacant seat. 'Still beautiful, but tired.'
"Hey, good morning," Holly said with her patented crooked smile that made the blonde's stomach do summersaults. "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a baby thanks to you," Peck replied with a thankful nod, a feeling of immense gratitude swelling in her chest for the woman who had not only opened her home, but her heart to her.
"You definitely needed the rest," the brunette nodded fighting to stifle yet another yawn, but failed and brought her hand up to her mouth.
"Apparently you could use some too," Peck said gently, but the doc shook her head, turning to retrieve another mug from the cupboard.
"Nothing a little more coffee won't fix," Holly said warmly pushing the fresh steaming mug in front of Gail who eagerly wrapped her hands around it's warmth with a content sigh.
Gail raised the cup to her lips watching Holly over the rim fill a rather large travel mug with the remaining contents of the pot.
"Don't drink too much Stewart, you'll get all jittery like a tweaker," she said unable to fight the sneaking suspicion she was the cause of Holly's exhaustion and felt terrible for it.
'Here she is comforting and supporting me and I'm causing her trouble,' Peck thought with a frown.
The brunette rinsed the empty pot and refilled the machine for Peck as she chuckled and turned to face the blonde.
"Don't worry officer, you don't make it through medical school without learning to have a steady hand with an excessive amount of caffeine in your system," Holly said with a slightly weary smirk. "I think it may have been a part of one of our practical exams…"
"Really?" Gail asked gullibly, furrowing her brow and flushing red when Holly laughed.
"No not really," the brunette replied still snickering. "But it would make for a good exercise though," she pondered for a moment before glancing at her watch. "Shit I'd better go," she said grabbing the travel mug and heading for the hallway.
"My number is on the counter, I should have my phone with me as long as I'm not in the autopsy bay so don't hesitate to call if you need anything," Holly said warmly, peering around the wall as she laid the collar of her jacket flat. "Try to get some rest, ok? Help yourself to whatever you like, but try to keep the snooping to a minimum," she smiled playfully.
"Police officer, remember?" Peck said, pointing to herself as she had in the hospital. "There's a natural curiosity that comes with the occupation."
"Why do you think I said it?" the doc sassed back with a smirk.
"What's the matter lunchbox; afraid I'll find some skeletons in that massive closet of yours upstairs?" Gail asked taking another sip of her coffee.
"No, but I need to keep some sense of mystery," Holly smirked and suddenly realized she had breached the border of playful banter and had unknowingly started flirting. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "I gotta go."
And just like that she was gone, leaving Gail sitting there in stunned silence. She blinked a few times before turning her attention to the nearly empty cup in her hands and rose for a refill. She stood at the kitchen window, catching a glimpse of Holly getting into her car down at the curb. The brunette fastened her seat belt, a habit Gail was relieved to see she had formed, and then leaned forward resting her head on the steering wheel. Peck furrowed her brow as she set her mug down on the counter and was about to go out and check on her when Holly sat back, started the car and pulled out of the parking spot.
After heading upstairs and taking a long hot shower, Gail made her way back down to the main floor and plopped down in the armchair quickly turning on the television. She flipped through channel after channel stopping every so often when something caught her attention before moving on once again. Finally settling on some mindlessly sleazy mid day paternity test show she zoned out and eventually fell asleep.
She awoke a short time later with a start, looking about the room before finally gathering her bearings. Sighing with relief, Gail rose from the chair switching the TV off and tossing the remote back onto the coffee table. Her stomach growled and she made her way into the kitchen in search of food.
"Who willingly eats this stuff?" she mumbled, pulling a face as she peered into the open refrigerator. Her eyes swept from the organic yogurt on one shelf to the prepackaged salads on the next before finally giving up when she glanced over at the all natural fruit smoothies in the door compartment and pushed the fridge shut once again.
'Looks like I'm going out,' she thought to herself and walked to the door to slip on her boots, but stopped short of the hall when she noticed Holly's note and business card on the countertop, beside them was a small silver key.
"Come and go as you please. Call if you need anything –Holly"
Gail couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from her lips after reading the short note.
'So much for the stereotype that all doctors have terrible handwriting,' she thought as she took in the gentle elegance of the script on the page before setting it aside, pocketing the key and slipping the card into the back pocket of her jeans. She opened the front door and noticed the gloomy gray sky for the first time since waking up from her nap and shrugged indifferently at the thought of potentially getting rained on and head out.
It didn't take long for Gail to find her way once she got her bearings, thankful for the internal city map that had been imprinted upon her brain since she was a child courtesy of Superintendent Mom. She stopped off at a sandwich shop she often frequented while on duty and was silently thankful when there weren't any uniforms inside. The last thing she wanted to do was make uncomfortable small talk. After ordering her favorite sub and taking a guess at what Holly would like based on the ungodly healthy food at her apartment Gail headed out and down a few blocks to the forensics building.
All it took was a flash of her badge to get passed security at the front desk and then she was aboard the elevator on her way down a floor. She was slighting fascinated to learn that the morgue was actually below ground and her overactive imagination quickly flashed back to numerous horror movies she'd seen involving zombies resulting in a slight chuckle that escaped her lips as she pushed the thought from her mind.
With a muted ding the twin steel doors opened into a sterile looking hall way that closely resembled that of a hospital. Various people moved about clutching a wide array of items from file folders to paper bags containing evidence. She stepped out into the hall and must've looked out of place because a young man, probably in his mid twenties stopped just short of entering one of the labs a few doors past the elevator.
"Can I help you ma'am?" he asked from the door way.
"Um yeah, I'm looking for Holly," she said and received a blank look from the tech. "Sorry, Dr. Stewart, I'm looking for Dr. Holly Stewart." Recognition dawned on the man's face.
"Oh, Dr. Stewart is in her office on the 5th floor room 5321," he replied with a warm smile as Gail nodded her thanks and turned on her heel pushing the call button for the lift. "I can show you if you'd like."
Gail smiled. "It's ok, I'll find my way. Thank you though," she said and once again stepped into the elevator car.
True to her word the blonde found the office with no problem and gently pushed the door open expecting to find the doc posted at her desk typing away on her computer, but instead found the room mostly dark except for the faint glow of the desk lamp on the corner of the desktop, the chair sitting empty. Behind her, a noise grabbed her attention and Gail turned, finding her target.
Holly way stretched out on a couch in the corner of the room sound asleep. The brunette shifted onto her side as she slept and her brow furrowed while Gail looked on before relaxing once again. Peck couldn't help, but feel a pang of sadness knowing she was the cause for the doc's exhaustion.
Not wanting to be a creeper by watching Holly sleep, Gail quietly made her way over to the desk to set the deli bag down and scribbled a quick note. She couldn't help, but find it ironic that Holly had better penmanship then she did as she looked at her chicken scratch on the piece of blank paper she'd found. Sparing one last glance over her shoulder at the sleeping woman she gently closed the door behind her and headed back downstairs.
Peck wasn't surprised to find the weather hadn't changed a bit when she stepped back out onto the sidewalk with her lunch in hand and decided to head just down the block to the park. The wind picked up as she stepped out from behind the tall building's protection to cross the street and pulled her hood up over her head to help shield her from the chill. She was thankful she did when a moment later a squad car with 15 Division's patrol numbers rolled past her. Gail couldn't tell which of her fellow officers had been in the car, but with her platinum hair she knew it would've drawn their attention. They would've instantly recognized her and probably pulled over to chat, something she currently wanted no part of.
Instead she followed the street down a little ways where a park sat nestled at the outskirts of the business district and walked down to the picnic area to take a seat on one of the benches.
As she unwrapped her sandwich and took the first few bites her mind drifted back to this past summer when she and her fellow rookies had come here on a rare day off they'd all shared. She remembered it like it was yesterday.
Dov and Chris had wanted to play horse shoes and Oliver- always being up for a cold beer and a barbeque- had quickly rallied the troops for a day out. The whole gang had shown up; Sam and Andy, Traci, Leo, and Jerry, Frank and Noelle; hell even Nick had come out even though he didn't really know any of them yet. Truth be told, it had turned out to be a damn good time despite her aversion to being in the sun for long periods of time. That was the first time she truly felt she belonged and fit in with the group as they laughed and ate and just enjoyed each other's company without the stressors of work to get in the way.
Now was an entirely different story though. Now more than ever she felt like an outsider.
Gail pushed the thought aside and tossed the other half of her sandwich in a nearby trash can, her appetite suddenly nonexistent as she rose from the bench.
'I could use a drink,' she thought and as if her body were equipped with autopilot, headed towards an all too familiar watering hole.
