Didn't Mean to Hurt Her
Platt watched as Burgess and Roman headed out to their beat and the older woman let out a quiet sigh. Ever since her prank a few days ago, the younger woman had been avoiding her, only responding to her when it was absolutely necessary. That was bad enough, but the spark that had been in her eyes was gone. It was like she was dead inside. And that killed her. She hadn't meant to hurt her. It was just supposed to be a prank…busting her chops, as per usual. But it was apparent that she had gone too far. And now, no matter what she did or said, she couldn't get the patrolwoman to respond to her like she used to. It was like she had lost all respect for her. And she couldn't get the accusation out of her head: that she had lied to Burgess. Okay, technically she had. But it was just a little white lie. No big deal. Except apparently it had been a big deal to her. I wish she'd believe my apology, she thought to herself. Oh, Burgess had said that she had accepted the apology, but things hadn't gone back to the way they had been. And now they were all stuck with a new Burgess. A Burgess that was all work, no play, and didn't trust anyone. But how was Platt supposed to know that trust was an issue for her? Despite the fact that she was outgoing and friendly, the younger woman was actually very private. But surely there was something they could do to get her back to the way she had been. Seeing Ruzek coming up, she threw him a smile. "What can I do for you?" she asked.
"You been able to talk to Burgess?" he queried and she shook her head.
"Nope," she answered, causing him to sigh heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"She's not talking to me. I mean, we're friends, we tell each other stuff, but this…it's like she's…" His voice trailed off, as if unsure of how to phrase it.
"Broken inside?" she supplied.
"Exactly," he agreed. "She used to have this light in her eyes and now she's just…guarded, like she doesn't trust any of us," he continued. Briefly, Platt closed her eyes, trying to hide the pain that she knew was probably showing in them. She had done that to Burgess. Somehow, her prank had damaged her faith in them, and even though she was still doing her job to the best of her abilities, she had closed herself off from them. She hadn't meant to do that to the younger woman.
She hadn't meant to hurt her…
Author's Note: Here's the latest drabble. I hope it's okay; my co-writer wrote it.