yesterday I intended to delete this chapter, but then I thought 'what the heck? let's keep more Holly/Gail moments' and re-wrote about half of it; this chapter is meant to be the final of their trauma, because sometimes very little and stupid things can get sb over dwelling on the past :)
Chapter 10 - Unexpected Visitor
"Priscilla, wake up," said the younger police worker, shaking her colleague gently. The other woman was completely soaked by water and almost did not move. "Come on, let's get you inside."
"Gail?" asked the dark haired person on the ground. "What happened? What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?
"I… don't know."
"Come on, stand up," she helped her on the feet and noticed there was something in her arms squirming. "Holly!" yelled the blonde.
"What is… Pris?" wondered the scientist.
"And what are you doing here?" the older officer was obviously still confused.
"First we need to get you warm then talk," practically ordered the doctor. "Shower is over there," she pointed ahead. "I'll bring you dry clothes."
"Hm," the newcomer almost tripped over her own foot, Gail was fast enough to catch her.
"What the hell were you doing?" asked the blonde.
"Oh, yea, this…" She pulled out a wolf-cub from beneath her wet shirt. "Keep it near radiator or fireplace or somewhere warm."
"Here are some t-shirt and sweatpants," Holly thrust the clothes to her friend and turned to her girlfriend. "And what is this?"
"Hm," was all the reaction from the soaked police worker as she left to the bathroom.
"I have no idea," said Gail measuring the grey cub in her hands. "Do we have some spare towel or something?"
They dried the small animal and placed it near the fire to get warm, meantime Priscilla came sauntering towards the sofa. "How did I end up here?"
"That should be our question," said the blonde carrying three cups of steaming tea. "Sit, drink. Oh and…" she searched through a minibar and pulled out a bottle. She poured three shots and placed them on the coffee table when Holly brought sandwiches. "This will definitely warm you up," she smiled and raised the glasses, "bottoms up."
"Cheers," said the other officer sceptically however they all drank the brown liquid. She flushed it down by the hot tea. "That was… something, ew."
"It's forty years old whisky, how can you say 'ew'?!" wondered the blond woman.
"Not in my world."
"Speaking of your world, what brought you here?" asked Holly.
Her friend sighed and slid down from the couch on the wooden floor when the cub demanded her attention. Once she was down, it curled onto her lap closing its tired eyes. "I was enjoying my day off," she frowned trying to remember the details. "I went for a walk to the forest. I walked for a while and then there was a river, spring, wide spring. I was thirsty and needed to drink. I noticed there was this silly creature," she looked down on the sleeping wolf. "I watched as a water wave bowled over it and swept it away."
"So you rushed to the cold water after it," finished the blonde rolling her eyes.
"Yes. No. Not immediately. If I touched it I would leave a human trace and its mother would not accept it back."
"And here it is with us."
"Yea, I could not watch her sink." There was a dream tone in her voice and it was obvious this cub had a new home.
"Her?" wondered Gail. "Any names already?" she asked sarcastically.
"Nah. I'm more worried about her health. It's a miracle she is alive. Holly, could you, please?" Without any comment the doctor stood up and left to her car to fetch for medical kit. "How is she doing?" asked the older police woman once her friend shut the door.
"She is still spacing out sometimes," replied the blond colleague.
"As long as she stays a woman I am fine. I swear she never even thought of becoming a man. She liked to kick men's bums and prove the girl power."
"Honestly I believe there is more into the story than she has told me, but for now and I am glad to have her back. Hopefully I manage to clean her mind from at least some crazy thoughts that the bastard implanted in her." Gail looked down at her hands. She still could see his imaginary blood she had on them.
"And how are you doing?" Priscilla removed the little animal from her legs and crawled closer.
"I don't know. I keep myself being occupied by Holly. Have you ever killed somebody?"
"No," the brunette shook her head.
"Lucky you."
"Yes, I am. If it wasn't for you we all would be dead." She knelt in front of her younger working partner and grabbed her head. Her hands were so cold. "I am no shrink. I spent seven years with one, but anyway here is my point of view: No kill is worth it. No dead is deserved. At the academy you were taught that when you are in grave danger, the first reflex is to pull out a weapon and defend yourself, your colleagues. And that is what you did. You saved our lives. If it wasn't for that, he would kill you. Because you would hesitate he could have enough time to aim properly and I am pretty sure it would be your head with a bullet hole. And do not think he was not calculating. Not even Dov's shouts and pointed gun made him drop the weapon. He rather used it on him.
"So what would happen next… Collins would descend the stairs but Murray would be already prepared for him to shoot him dead too. Then he would finish off me and Dov. And then who knows, most likely he would drag Holly with him, kill Tobi and maybe even kill Chris and take off having his way with our dearest person. And if not and someone would help, it would not change the fact that there would be four police workers dead if you did not pull the trigger first. You chose the smaller evil. You saved us."
"It's your fault after all. If you let us help to cuff him, he would not be able to pull out the gun."
"Well my priority was to keep him occupied while you could search the house for more bad guys. I did not expect him to stab me in the tight, take my weapon and shoot."
"So it is your fault. His dead is your fault!"
"If it makes you feel better then yes. We all should have cuffed him first and let his companions wake up properly and kill us from behind."
"Oh." It seemed that leading a mission was not so easy. The leader had to make decisions fast and the safest way possible, counting with all the 'what if' situations. What if someone came up from the cellar? What if the two accomplices descended the stairs first? But Gail just needed to blame someone else. She had to.
"Listen Peck, you were forced to take a life but you saved at least three others." Priscilla knocked their foreheads together. "I owe you my life. I will keep pissing you off but I will never forget that you saved my life and my best friend."
"Now I am starting to get jealous," came a voice from the door. Holly stood there leaning against the door jamb with a lunchbox in her hand. "I promise my examination will be very painful," she said to her friend.
The older officer spread her arms. "Take me, let the cub live. I am taking the full responsibility," pled the older officer. "Even though she is the cutest of us all." It took them only half a minute to burst out laughing.
"Come on you crazy wolf," smiled the scientist and checked the pupil's dilatation, breathing and temperature. "You are still hypothermic. Gail, please fetch for a blanket." The blonde did as she was told and found the thickest warmest blanket that was available, she wrapped it around her police partner as Holly was checking the wolf-cub. "So far you both seem fine but I will do another check round in the morning."
"Oh it's alright, I don't want to disturb. We will be going once we are a little warmer, maybe after a snack?"
"No way, you are staying until tomorrow. Then we will give you a lift to the city, we need to replenish the fridge anyway."
"Oh, please, don't put any funny images in my head."
Holly poked her into her ribs. "How did you get here anyway?"
"Hm, I am not sure. We were both soaked to the bones, I kept the little one on my chest to provide me with at least some warmth. I knew I had to get to civilisation so I followed the sound and smell of cars on the road. And then I noticed a cottage with a running generator so I headed that way. Oh I remember or maybe, most likely, I must imagine it, there was some weird flying object above my head," the other two women looked at each other with terror in their eyes and blushed deeply, but their friend did not notice them as she was trying to settle her thoughts. "I might be hallucinating I was losing consciousness," she dismissed the idea eventually.
"Yeah, weird," nodded the blond constable. "Erm, what about going to bed? I am really tired," she made a yawn and headed to the suit.
"Since we don't heat up the other room, you are staying with us, Pris," said the doctor. Not even Gail protested. Being hypothermic was no fun and to avoid any consequences it would be better if her colleague slept with them, even though it meant no goodnight make-out session.
"Fine, but I am not lying in the middle," protested the officer and stood up taking the wolf with them. Seeing the horror expression on the blonde's face she grinned. "What? Wolfies are great heaters and you will have two in one bed."
"I am a cat, I hate dogs," warned the younger woman.
At the end the cub was placed by the side of the bed. The scientist lied in the middle so the two police workers would keep distance from their bickering.
The peaceful morning came too soon for the blond constable. And worst of all, she had to get up because her urinary bladder called for being emptied. Once in the bathroom she also took a shower and brushed her teeth. When she was coming back to the room, she heard voices announcing the two other women were awake as well.
"Priscilla, your hand…"
"Huh? Oh well, I cannot help it, you have really beautiful breasts."
Gail leant against the door frame and watched those two friends with a smile on her lips. Normally she would be jealous but any remark that reminded Holly how beautiful woman she was, was more than welcome. The comment earned her colleague a poke into her ribs as Holly nudged her by her elbow. Obviously it was not a very gentle hit as the officer lost her breath for a moment there.
"We've been there, done that, not gonna happen again," said the doctor and turned on her back.
"Hey, it was fun."
"You were desperate."
"Little detail." The smaller woman sat up, straddled her friend and took her hands in her own ones, linking their fingers together. "At least we didn't need any fake thing."
Holly gave her an angry yet friendly lopsided grin and sneaked her leg under the other woman's body, sending her flying off to the ground next to the bed. "That was my stupid idea."
"To be honest I would throw you out of the window if you bring that to me." And she was hit by a pillow.
"Shut up, you dog."
"Now that is a war, Doc." Priscilla stretched out for another pillow and the fight began.
Gail stood still on her spot, folding her arms on her chest, shaking her head at the two thirty years old women behaving like teenagers. She could judge them all she wanted until there was a pillow flying her way.
"Don't stare there like a bloody chaperone," said the other officer and hit her on her side.
"You got it sister." The blonde joined the combat.
It was relieving. After such a long time they laughed and had silly entertainment, just to wash out their brains. It was very liberating. They moved the battle out to the lounge room to have more space. Officers being officers somehow united in taking down the scientist first which led to a heating battle between the two police workers.
"Don't worry my princess, your knight-ess in shining armour is here defending your honour," proclaimed Gail and stood above her girlfriend protectively.
"Shining armour my bum. More like 'I forgot to dress up'. And honour even less especially after you helped me put the good doctor down."
The blonde did not give up and with a new inspiration she managed to win the battle. Dancing happily over her enemy's head, she did not expect another impact as the little wolf jumped into her arms. She lost her balance and ended on the floor as well.
"Nicely done, my little miracle, nicely done," the wavy haired woman called grinning and grabbed the animal behind its neck placing it on her chest rubbing the thick fur.
The three women lied on the ground laughing hysterically as their diaphragms ached. Holly crawled to her girlfriend and placed a peck on her lips. "Thank you for defending my honour, even though you have been beaten by two months old cub."
Finally they calmed their laughing and Gail went to prepare something to eat while the doctor checked her patients again. "You both look good. Try to keep yourself warm and no stupid actions, understood?"
"Yes, Madam."
"Good girl, now let's eat and get you back to the city."
"What are you going to do with the pet?" asked Gail cooking the bacon and toast.
"Hmm, not sure yet. I must talk to Frank, hopefully we can make her a police dog."
"Are you really going to call the cub Her?"
Priscilla stuck out her tongue. "My wolfie," she pouted. "I might go with Miracle."
After breakfast they drove the unexpected visitor back to the city and the two women went shopping some well needed things like whipped cream and ice cream.
They sat on the sofa in comfortable silence, sipping red wine. Holly was staring at her partner for some time, so the other woman turned to face her, "What?"
The doctor shook her head, dismissing some of her thoughts. "Thank you," she smiled, stroking the blond mane, "for taking care of me."
The officer shrugged, "How are you doing anyway?"
The brunette tuned on the couch, placing one leg behind Gail and the other on her lap locking the police woman in between. She snuggled close wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and buried her head in the crook of the blonde's neck. "Holly?"
"I am glad you stayed with me the whole time."
Gail smoothed the leg that was in her front. "Talk to me," she whispered. "How could a loser like him get under the thick skull of yours?"
"Past came upon me and I forgot about growing." The blonde turned her head and looked at her girlfriend nodding to continue. "Whenever there was someone I really cared about, I was left for men. There were three really important women in my life. First one was the typical first love, sun was shining, butterflies flying all over and when she smiled I was melting into a puddle. After two years I thought it was time to make it official, so I went ring hunting and prepared a romantic picnic on a boat. I summoned the courage to propose and… well, she accepted saying that she would marry me once the bigamy was not illegal."
"She had a husband?!"
"Yes. She was not wearing the ring, so I had no clue." Gail hissed but said nothing more. "I had a long walk, thinking where I made a mistake. At the end I threw the ring into the river. It felt good, like throwing the whole relationship to the river and let the water wash it away. For some time I stopped looking for anyone special and just enjoyed the life when one of those one night stands changed into a three years relationship. She was vivid, fun and open-minded. She had very good general knowledge and warm personality. So I thought 'why not?' I wanted to settle down and she was great. I went ring shopping again and invited her to a noble restaurant. All the way I was thinking how to pop out the question when she herself began talking about jewels. I pulled out the velvet blue box and opened it, being more careful than the last time I just waited for her reaction. She liked it a lot, sincerely admiring it. And then she actually pointed out her ring finger showing another kind of engagement ring that her fiancé gave her the night before."
"What?!"
"Yeah, that was my reaction too. She said that of course nothing changed between us. Even though she would be married and obviously I had someone in mind as well, yet she was counting on the fact that we would keep being mistress because we were really great together. And another sign of engagement ended at the bottom of the river. I started to think that it might be a payback with interest for me running out of relationships, especially when I was engaged."
"Metal seekers must get lucky those days. Two rings… wow."
"Four," sighed the scientist. Gail raised her eyes brows quizzically. "Well, that I know of. Priscilla's one and mine three."
"Yours three?"
"Hmm, the last girl…"
At that moment the blonde remembered the previous conversation she had with her colleague about Holly's relationships. "Shoot," she sighed.
"Exactly."
"Huh?" Immediately the officer realised her bad choice of words. "Oh no, I meant damn, like that's really bad, like… shit," she sighed again and placed her hand over her eyes. "I am sorry."
"How do you know about it anyway?" frowned the doctor.
"Erm, it was one of the crazy human dog's attempts to chase me far away from you, she mentioned that your partners had troubles with most of the crap I was dealing with that time, and that once there was a girl with whom it could work out for you until she was…" Gail trailed off. Images of bullet wounds appeared in her head. She felt herself shaking, her heart sped up and breathing was a difficult task to do. She gently pushed Holly's leg off of her lap and stood up. "I need fresh air," she managed to say and went to the door as she felt her blood dropping from her head. At last the police woman reached the wooden railing and leant over, trying to breathe her dizziness away.
"Drink this," she heard Holly's voice like she was under water. A glass was pressed into her hand and the other woman help her drink. It was awful but she was forced to drink the whole glass of some sweet water. Then the scientist helped her to sit down on a bench. "Eat," she threw an opened chocolate bar in her hand.
After a few bites Gail felt better and the blood flow returned to her brain. She shook her head and focused on the brunette. "What the hell happened?"
"A panic attack which made you hypoglycaemic," explained the doctor.
"In English, dumb English."
Holly smiled her typical lopsided grin and wrapped one of her arms around the younger woman. "You started trembling and hyperventilating, I assume your heart rate increased as well, which are symptoms of a panic attack. During every stress the body consummates a lot of sugar –that is why it is said to eat chocolate when you are under stress, to refill the sugar level. To refill your sugar I made you drink this horrible liquid which is practically dissolved sugar in water. It is the fastest way often used when a diabetic goes hypoglycaemic."
"Why did that happen?"
"Obviously guns and shots are not a pleasant topic for neither of us."
"How did you get over it?" asked the younger of them pulling her knees under her chin embracing them.
"I asked for a mission in Iraq." The blonde looked up at her with wide eyes. "Gail," the scientist said gently, running her fingers through the blond hair, "it would be either him or me. Would you want him live and me dead?"
"No!" yelped the constable and leant her head against her companion's shoulder still hugging her bent legs.
"Get a grip. You are an amazing police officer, so stand up for your beliefs and don't let him shatter you like he did to me." Holly gathered her girlfriend in her arms leaning her chin on her shoulder. "I was scared so much that you would leave too. I guess that's why I gave up to Murray. Fear is the arch-enemy of everybody."
"So when I do stupid things I can blame the fear? Cool."
"Don't you? Didn't you ditch me the first time because you were scared?" It was not an accusation more of a deep thought. "Don't you create emergency situation because you get scared? It was the same with me. I was scared you would leave me for a man, so I wanted to become one."
Gail had to think about it and found it true. Fear and uncertainness. "If we ever break up, it will not be because you lack the male part," she whispered and pulled away from the embrace. Maybe giving some of Holly's lectures back might help. "You draw me to you. You sucked me into this relationship. We are in this together. We fight the fear together, understood?" The doctor smiled. "Great, now get me over the shooting crap."
"By a pep talk or other activity?" she arched her eyebrows in suggestion.
"If the other activity includes ice cream and loads of sex, I am up for it!"
"I was thinking about improving your batting skills, but sex is almost as good."
"Holly!" The officer straddled her partner who was openly laughing. "You tease."
The doctor took her girl's head and pulled her down for a searing kiss. Instead of banter, it was full of gratitude. "Thank you for everything, Gail. You saved my life and my mind," she stroked the hair gently. "You had your own trauma to deal with it and yet you put it aside for me. Eight months ago, I would never expect that from you." She grinned, "You are growing despite of you wanting or not."
For a moment the police woman was speechless, wheels in her head working in full speed. "Nah, don't flatter yourself. I just didn't want to stay with two bodyguards who would constantly ask how I was doing."
"Uh huh," Holly smirked. "Keep telling that to yourself. Now let me help you. Whatever you need me to do."
Holly is back, fully back, smiled the constable. "You already did."
They kissed again filling it with passion and desire. Eventually they made it back to the cottage, lying on the couch, making-out until they fell into comfortable silence enjoying each other's warmth and company. They still had several more days to put the ice cream in very good use. That evening they just shared the peace they both had been missing for weeks.
I would like to thank a Guess (PLEASE at least write some nickname or initials) for a valid criticism about me using way to many description instead of names... you know, sometimes it is very distracting to read a paragraph where all you see is: Holly, Gail, Holly, Gail, Holly, Gail,... so I try to avoid using names way too much, but it can result of using description way too much... thank you and I will be more careful next time :)
I am very grateful for your faithful reading!