Giant thanks to all who reviewed! Virtual hugs for all of you.
And I'm on break so I expect I'll be updating this more often now. Woohoo!
She took another sip of her coffee, already feeling the caffeine begin to work its magic, and went back to pretending to do her paperwork. She hadn't touched the forms she needed to fill out yet, hadn't even picked up her pen. As soon as she'd sat down in her chair she'd noticed this morning's paper sitting on Esposito's desk, but more importantly she'd noticed the photo accompanying one of the articles. A photo of a beautiful red-haired teenager playing the violin at a holiday concert. The girl was practically glowing she was so happy, yet there was a distinct air of concentration and discipline around her.
She vividly remembered how happy Alexis had been when she'd been one of five violinists chosen to play in the concert, how she'd immediately made Kate mark that day on her calendar. The girl had practically made the whole building go deaf with her squeals after she'd read the pretentiously worded invitation, quickly sprinting over to hug both her and the teen's father, both of them beaming with pride. She'd never been one for fancy events like that, especially ones that required pretentious invitations. But she was not going to miss Alexis' shining moment, not when this meant so much to the elated teenager. So much had changed.
In only eight days her life had done a complete one-eighty, basically turning upside down. She'd read an article recently about a study that had been done, the experiment showed that when a group of test subjects wore glasses that made them see the world upside down these people saw the world normally again in three days. It took the brain three days to adapt to change, three days to get used to the new reality. If this were true, scientifically proven even, then why wasn't she okay? Why hadn't she simply adapted? It had been eight days since she'd broken things off with Rick, eight days since her father had died. Hell, it had been eleven goddamn years since her mom's murder.
She still missed the way Rick's eyes crinkled when he laughed, really laughed. She would give anything for one more late-night phone conversation with her dad, not caring about what time it was or that she had work in the morning. She desperately wanted to be on the couch, snuggled up with Rick, as Martha sauntered into the loft late at night, Alexis looking up from her studying to unconventionally assume the parental role. And she wanted so many more memories with her mom than she was given. She wanted more Christmas mornings and even those regular mornings where her hair looked like a mess as she wandered out of her room, following the scent of blueberry muffins until she found her mom by the oven. This was not her definition of right-side up.
"Hey, girl." Lanie's voice brought her back to the present, back to the hustle and bustle of the precinct where she'd done nothing productive in the last hour. She really wasn't herself, and by the look Lanie had in her eyes the medical examiner could tell.
"Hi, Lanie." She muttered as she tried to discretely hide the newspaper under the paperwork she hadn't touched, scrambling for her pen and beginning to scribble down words as if she'd actually read the question she was answering. She hoped Lanie hadn't seen the face of the girl in the picture, hadn't caught the desperation as she'd slammed folders on top of it. But judging by the raised brow she was getting that was not the case. But she didn't mention it. Lanie was doing that a lot, not mentioning it. They hadn't talked about that night; she hadn't even confronted her about how she'd ditched her in the bar. And it's not like she was about to bring it up. Instead, her best friend chose to plop down on her desk and smile at her, a smile of both concern and mischief. It was a little unnerving.
"So, hon, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" The M.E. slightly tilted her head to the side, just daring her to lie and say she was visiting family when they both knew that was not the case.
"I don't know." Truth is, she did know. She was going to order takeout, possibly Thai, and sit in her living room with a stack of old movies.
"It's in two days, of course you know."
"Probably nothing," she said before quietly adding, "I don't have anywhere to go." But Lanie didn't seem to like that answer, making a sound that resembled a buzzer when a contestant answered incorrectly on one of those old game shows.
"Wrong. You're coming with me, and no arguing. You and I both know that when I have my mind made up even you can't change it." She sighed, exasperated and touched at the same time.
"But–" She was cut off.
"Kate, what did I just say? Do you ever listen?" The persistent woman leaned forward, narrowing her eyes in examination.
"Fine, I'll come." Honestly, she was surprised at herself. She never admitted defeat that easily. Never, whether she wanted to go or not, conceded that quickly. Maybe even she knew she needed to get away, to get her mind off of certain things. Certain people.
"Good. We leave tomorrow, it's gonna be a long drive so you're gonna have to cut off work a little early." Even Lanie seemed to be a little surprised that she wasn't fighting harder, though she hid it masterfully.
"How early? I'll need to clear it with the captain." She was, after all, ever the professional.
"I don't want to get caught in rush hour traffic so we'll leave around 12 and get lunch on the way. And I don't want any arguments over the radio station. My car, my music." And with that she hopped off the desk and sauntered over to the elevator, not even giving Kate a chance to argue. Not that she would've, she didn't want to be trapped in the car with Lanie's music choices for longer than absolutely necessary. It was already going to take hours to get to Lanie's childhood home, they didn't need to add rush hour to the equation. Lanie had grown up in Rhode Island, in a small beach neighborhood right on Narragansett Bay. It was quaint, relaxing and, well, Kate absolutely loved it.
It was just so splendidly different than what she was used to. Everybody knew each other, neighbors always stopped to say hello to one another. It was like one big extended family. Add that to the fact that Lanie's family was already giant and amazingly welcoming and you had the perfect 90s sitcom, entertaining shenanigans and all. After everything that had been going on recently, she could use that kind of atmosphere. So, for once in her life, she didn't argue. She didn't chase Lanie down and say she had work to do. She didn't pretend to forget about it and then feign some excuse when her friend came to collect her the following day. She needed this. She just needed to forget, even if only for a couple of days. So, she got up and walked purposefully into Montgomery's office, softly closing the door behind her. Since Lanie didn't see her family often they had an extended Thanksgiving, full of family traditions and lots of food. She'd be there for three days. Three days in a different environment, maybe that would be enough. Maybe, just maybe, that's all it would take.
Firstly, time to give credit where it's due. I got the brain adaptation thing, which is completely true, from the TV show Bones. But I thought it was absolutely amazing, infinitely interesting, and suited this situation. Wow, I didn't even notice that little bout of alliteration until I reread that sentence. Weird.
Secondly, this was kind of a filler chapter. I cannot wait to write Thanksgiving at the Parish household. And well, I just had to include Rhode Island. Especially a small beach community. Write what you know, right?
Lastly, review? Please. I'll love you unconditionally.