CHAPTER TEN: GOING ALL WYNONNA

Nicole was woken by her cell phone going off on the night stand. At first, she was vaguely aware of it, still asleep, as it vibrated and rang on the table right next to her head. She grumbled into her pillow when she came to, realising that this was in fact happening, and it wasn't just a dream. In her sleepy state, she had been so sure that it was a dream.

The ringing stopped, and she breathed out, fully intending to go back to sleep with Calamity Jane, who was not all that pleased with the disturbance, but then the phone started going off once more. Nicole squinted her eyes against the red numbers on her bedside clock, and she was very confused when she realised that it was almost two in the morning. On a Thursday.

Flipping herself over, she reached for her phone, which was still ringing persistently, and she could feel herself getting slightly worried – if someone was this persistent, at this time of night, it had to be important, right? And it would most likely be bad news. She felt her eyes go wide when she saw whose name was written on the screen – Waverly. Why was Waverly calling her right now? She felt panic rise in her throat.

Sliding a finger across the screen, Nicole's voice was hoarse and sleep-ridden when she finally answered. "Waves?"

"Nicole?" Waverly's voice was frantic on the other end of the phone, "I'm sorry, I know I probably woke you, but I didn't know who else to call, and I-"

Nicole cut her off, pulling herself up to rest on her elbows as she took in Waverly's hurried words. It was a bit much right after being woken, but she tried to keep up. "Waverly, calm down, OK?" She hoarsely muttered, brushing a piece of red hair out of her eyes and reaching for her glasses on the night stand, "What's, what's wrong?"

Waverly breathed out deeply, voice still quivering as she answered, "It's, it's… it's Wynonna," she finally muttered, and Nicole could hear the worry in her voice, "I'm sorry, but I just, I," she paused, "can you come get us? Please?"

Awkwardly pushing her glasses onto her nose, Nicole was almost halfway across the floor. "Sure, I can come get you," she promised, as she hit the light switch and frantically looked around for her discarded pants on the floor. She found them and hopped on her feet, slipping her leg into them one at a time. "Where are you?"

"At home, I'll, I'll text you the address," Waverly replied, and it suddenly occurred to Nicole that she sounded a bit drunk.

The redhead hesitated, dropping to her feet to pull on a pair of socks. "Waverly, are you… are you drunk?" She softly questioned, breath ghosting across her lips. "You know I don't have a car, right? How can I get you?"

Waverly whimpered, and her breathing was laboured. There was a noise in the background, and it sounded a lot like something had come crashing down. "Please Nicole, ride your bike here, you can drive my jeep, and uh," she breathed out, slowly, shallowly, "and you need to take us to the hospital. Wynonna's… going all Wynonna."

Nicole wasn't entirely sure what 'going all Wynonna' entailed, but she knew that it probably wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. And Waverly sounded really upset, perhaps even a bit scared, so there really was no question whether or not Nicole would go and help her. Even if it meant calling a cab to take them somewhere. But Waverly's jeep would have to do (Nicole hadn't even known she had a jeep. Who the fuck has a jeep? Waverly continued to surprise her). "Sure Waves, I'll, I'll hurry, OK? I'll be there so soon, you won't even know it," she promised, as she grabbed her sweatshirt and a beanie.

"You're the best, I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call," Waverly whispered, just as another loud crash was heard in the background. The other girl gasped, and Nicole felt her heartbeat speed up. "Wynonna, Wynonna, stop it!" Waverly suddenly yelled, and then she was breathing into the phone again, "I gotta go, OK? Please hurry," she finished, before she ended the call, and Nicole was left feeling utterly and entirely panicked.

She knew that it was two o'clock in the morning, but she was suddenly wide awake. She had no idea what was going on with Waverly and Wynonna – especially what havoc Wynonna was causing – but she had a feeling that it wasn't all good. If Waverly was calling her like that, it had to be serious. She had not experienced Wynonna's antics, but she'd heard stories of course, from when they were younger, and even the story of how she ended up at the police station, meeting Dolls for the first time.

The redhead slipped into her vans before tucking on her jacket. She did the round; keys, wallet, phone, and just as she was bouncing down the stairs, thoughts of Waverly and Wynonna spiralling out of control in her mind, she received a text from Waverly with their address.

—

The small, old house was slightly isolated behind tall bushes and a giant gate. There were other houses scattered on the street – Homestead Ave. – but at first Nicole was sure her map had guided her to the wrong location. Up until now she was certain that Waverly and Wynonna shared a three bedroom apartment somewhere closer to campus, but apparently she had gotten that entirely wrong.

She locked her bike and carefully opened the tall gate, still uncertain whether or not she was at the right place. But then she saw a red Jeep Wrangler, and a bike she recognised as Wynonna's immediately, parked right next to each other, and she felt more sure that she was where she was supposed to be. She hurried up the path to the house, and saw that there was light in almost all of the windows on the ground floor, and the front door was slightly open.

She scaled the three steps to the porch and pushed the door fully open, poking her head inside. "Waverly?" She softly questioned. She didn't like that there were no sounds coming from the house; when she had been on the phone with the other girl just twenty minutes earlier, there had been crashes and sounds coming from the background.

She stopped when she was inside what appeared to be a living room. A few chairs were turned over, and there was a pile of broken glass on the side. And – Nicole gulped – was that bloodstains leading towards the staircase? She felt panic rise in her throat, and her concern, as well as her protective cop instinct, took over. She rushed towards the stairs, not caring whether or not she stepped in any of the blood, and hurried down the upstairs hallway. There was a light streaming from a partially closed door by the end, and she rushed towards it, only stopping when the soft sound of Waverly singing reached her ears.

"…take a stick, and knock it off, pop! goes the weasel," she finished, just as Nicole pushed the door open, and looked into the bathroom.

Waverly was sitting with her back against the wall, cradling a crying Wynonna in her lap. There was blood on Waverly's white shirt – it looked like a nightgown – but Wynonna was much more covered in the red substance, and she had some sort of towel wrapped around her upper arm. A giant red stain was slowly making its way through the cotton.

"Waves?" Nicole breathed, her brown eyes scanning over the scene before her. She felt a rush of relief wash over her, because even if there was definitely blood, both Wynonna and Waverly appeared to be physically okay – emotionally, she wasn't so certain. But she didn't know what had happened.

Running a hand through Wynonna's wild mane, Waverly smiled faintly up at her. "She's just started to calm down," she whispered, "thank you so much for coming."

Nicole kneeled down next to her. She could tell that Wynonna was half asleep, her blue eyes drowsy, and she appeared to be heavily drunk as well, if the stink on her breath was any indication. She had definitely had whiskey. Her usually beautiful features where scrunched up, and the way she was cradled in her sister's lap made her look so tiny and fragile. Not usually something one would say in regards to Wynonna Earp.

The redhead brushed a hand over Waverly's bare shoulder. "What happened?"

"She's dealing with some stuff right now," Waverly whispered, her pink lips barely moving as she spoke, "We need to get her to the emergency room, she needs stitches," she said, her green eyes scanning worriedly over Wynonna's blood-soaked arm. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know who to call. I would have called Dolls, but Wynonna didn't want to give me his number, and I've had too much to drink to… to drive," she finished, voice choking slightly as she spoke.

Shaking her head, Nicole silenced her. "Don't worry about," she whispered, softly reaching down to untuck Wynonna from Waverly's arms. "Go and get some clothes and your keys, I'll carry Wynonna downstairs," she said, just as she squeezed her right arm between Waverly's front and Wynonna's back, and tucked the other one beneath Wynonna's legs.

Waverly gratefully scooted away from the scene, and Nicole realised that she was much bloodier than first anticipated. "Thank you," she whispered, her green eyes cloudy with tears as she gazed down at her big sister. "I'll tell you everything, I promise," she said then, eyes moving to stare meaningfully into Nicole's.

The redhead wasn't one second doubting that the brunette was going to tell her; the look in her eyes said it all. "Don't worry about it," she whispered, as she struggled for a moment to stand up with Wynonna in her arms, "you can tell me everything later. Let's just get to the emergency room," she said.

Waverly offered her a tentative smile, before she turned on her heel and rushed down the hallway. Nicole followed her, her eyes glued to the hot mess of a woman in her arms. She had no idea what had caused all of this to happen, but she was pretty sure that Wynonna's heart was breaking, even if she was trying her best to play it cool and collected all the damn time. Nicole knew Wynonna didn't like to think so, but she was a softie on the inside, something she rarely showed other people. But Nicole was beginning to get a good read on her; something about the oldest Earp just made Nicole care so deeply about her as well.

She couldn't begin to imagine the pain that the two Earp girls had experienced in their lives, and she had a feeling that Wynonna had taken the blunt of it. She'd always, always tried to protect Waverly, Nicole was sure of it, even if it sometimes backfired on her, and everything got messed up. But Nicole saw the fierce love and protection Wynonna had for those whom she cared about. It was something Nicole could relate to.

When she came downstairs with the drowsy woman in her arms, Waverly was already outside, unlocking the jeep. They worked in silence, getting Wynonna into the seat, so she could rest her head in Waverly's lap as they drove, and Nicole hurried onto the driver's side, sticking the keys in the ignition, and turning the engine on with a roar.

The drive to the emergency room was silent. Wynonna stirred pretty quickly, the rumble of the car probably waking her, but then Waverly started stroking her brown locks and singing softly below her breath to soothe her. Nicole's eyes were focused entirely on the road ahead of her, trying to calm her panic now that the immediate danger was over, as well as she wanted to give the Earp sisters their privacy, even if that wasn't really possible in Waverly's jeep.

When they arrived at the emergency room, Nicole carried Wynonna in her arms again, Waverly rushing in front of her to the desk, demanding they see a doctor immediately. Nicole knew it wasn't going to be right away though, because they had Wynonna wrapped up, and it possibly looked a lot bloodier than it was. Instead, Waverly got a lot of papers she needed to fill out, and Nicole sat Wynonna down on a blue hospital chair and let the brunette's head rest on her shoulder.

"It's gonna be awhile," Waverly grumbled as she took a seat on the other side of Nicole. It was then that Nicole realised that she was just wearing a thin jacket over her (almost see-through) night gown and had stuck her bare feet into a pair of boots. The brunette clicked the pen and let her eyes scan over the papers on the clipboard.

Awkwardly slipping one arm out of her jacket, Nicole replied, "Yeah, it's like that a lot," she nodded, as she carefully lifted Wynonna's head to get the other arm out as well. The oldest Earp moaned slightly, and Nicole bit her lip, as she slid the jacket out from under her. She dumped it on Waverly's lap, "Put this on too, you must be freezing," she whispered.

Waverly offered her a grateful smile and placed the jacket over her knees, like a little blanket, "Thank you," she said, but Nicole could clearly see the worry linger in her eyes when they graced Wynonna.

"It's gonna be okay, you know," she promised the other woman then, sincerely.

Waverly furrowed her brown as she scribbled Wynonna's details on the paper in front of her. "Yeah, it's just," she paused, biting her lip, but pen still moving, "this day just gets to her."

Nicole swallowed and watched for a second, as Waverly filled out Wynonna's date of birth, "This date?" She whispered, brown eyes trailing the words on the paper. Waverly really had a nice penmanship.

Flipping the cap onto the pen, Waverly let out a long sigh. "It's… it's the anniversary of our father's suicide," she replied, eyes landing on Wynonna again – Wynonna who was drooling slightly onto Nicole's shoulder. "We have this, uh, this tradition, on this date, where we get fucking hammered together," she continued on, eyes finally lifting to meet Nicole's brown ones, "It's this date, and uh, same goes for the anniversary of Willa's, you know… kidnapping," she whispered the last word, a haunted look edging over her features.

Not entirely knowing how to respond to that, Nicole nodded her head softly. She couldn't help but feel sorry for both of them once again; she knew that neither Waverly nor Wynonna probably wanted anyone's pity, least of all hers, so she wasn't pitying them, she was just – so, so heartbroken for them. That they'd had to go through something like that, losing their sister and both of their parents. Nicole couldn't imagine what that must be like… She was suddenly so grateful for her own family, even if they all tended to meddle a little too much in her love life.

"Plus, Wynonna's got a shit-load of other things to worry about right now," Waverly added, looking at Nicole with suddenly very tired eyes, "she's handling them in, uuh, her own Wynonna-fashion, blowing shit up, drinking whiskey and tequila," she flushed, her cheeks turning pink, "I might have tried some bubblegum sake imported from Japan, as well."

Nicole couldn't hide the fond smile that came to her lips just then, because importing bubblegum sake from Japan was just something Waverly Earp would do. Why was it that even when Nicole was trying to keep her distance and stay clear of her, Waverly still managed to be absolutely adorable? It was hard trying to find another date when Waverly was being all cute like that. And of course it didn't help that Nicole had to get out of bed in the middle of the night to help the other woman, but that was something she'd never not do, because Waverly had sounded absolutely panicked and distressed. So of course Nicole had to go and help her, that was a given.

"Maybe getting drunk is not the right way to handle your memories anymore, huh," she finally said then, arching an eyebrow to further prove her point.

Waverly sighed. "It never has been. But it's the Earp way," she commented, before pushing herself out of the chair and blinking tiredly down at the redhead and her sister. "I'm gonna go hand these in, and then I'll hunt down some coffee for us. That OK?"

Nicole couldn't hide the grin that came onto her face then. Coffee was exactly what she needed if she had to stay awake for only God knew how many hours more. "Yes, please," she sighed. "I'll take good care of her 'til you're back," she promised, noticing Waverly's worried look in Wynonna's direction.

Bending down to press a kiss onto Wynonna's forehead, Waverly whispered a low, "Thank you," before briefly pressing her lips to Nicole's cheek in a kiss as well. She stepped back then, watching them intensely for a few moments more, before she turned on her heel and went towards the front desk.

Nicole couldn't help but watch her as she handed in the papers, before the nurse pointed her in a direction down the hall. Nicole's brown eyes followed her movement, until she was out of sight, before they turned downwards to look briefly at Wynonna. The other woman was still sleeping, so Nicole reached for her jacket, which Waverly had discarded on her abandoned chair, and fumbled with the pocket for a few moments. She finally got her phone out, and she unlocked it, absentmindedly scrolling through her social media accounts.

She opened Tinder then, as she might as well spend her time doing something, and she swiped through the different faces on screen, wondering why it was that none of them seemed to catch her attention at all. Even the ones she would have usually deemed to be her type, she just wanted to swipe towards the left, because they were just… Not Waverly. Apparently. Nicole groaned to herself and determinedly swiped ten girls in a row to the right, before she dropped her phone onto the spare chair next to her.

Wynonna mumbled something incoherent as she adjusted herself on the seat. Nicole just wanted to let her sleep, she'd be up soon anyway, when she was going to have her wound looked at, and Nicole couldn't help but wonder what had happened to cause such a wound in the first place. Waverly had only explained so much. The brunette tilted her head back, letting it hang limply over the back of the chair, before she started to snore loudly.

Nicole shook her shoulder slightly and readjusted herself in the chair as well, before she took to people watching, like she would usually do. When they were younger, her and Nathaniel used to always make up stories about the people they watched; it was something the two of them shared together, that Nadine had never been a part of, and she'd continued to do it in her adult life, whenever she needed to kill time.

She paused though, when a very familiar shape appeared what seemed to be out of nowhere, and Nicole had to blink a few times to make sure that she wasn't imagining things in her tired state. Nope, she definitely wasn't. That was Shae right over there, dressed in a white lab coat with blue scrubs underneath. Nicole turned her head to the side, ducking slightly down in her chair, hoping that Shae would be too busy, too tired, too much in a hurry, to notice her.

What was Shae even doing there anyway? Well, of course Nicole could tell what she was doing, but was it really already that time when Shae was going to be interning? Apparently so. Nicole cast her eyes downwards and started counting the titles on the floor. She got to five, before a pair of feet came into vision.

"Nicky, is that you?"

Looking up, Nicole forced a strained smile onto her face when she came face to face with her ex-girlfriend – the ex-girlfriend whose texts she hadn't bothered to answer. "Shae, hi," she whispered, brown eyes scanning over the familiar features. Shae was still as incredibly beautiful as she'd always been. Even wearing scrubs and a lab coat.

Shae's eyes scanned over her face briefly, before they moved to graze over Wynonna's sleeping, snoring form. "What are you doing here?" She questioned then, even though it should be obvious. Wynonna did have a lot of blood all over her clothes.

Nicole hooked a thumb sideways to point at the drooling brunette. "Wynonna's uhm, she's hurt," she replied, sneaking a glance pass Shae in hopes of seeing Waverly's bubbly form skipping down the hallway with two cups of coffee and a great excuse to send Shae away.

"I can see that," Shae scoffed, her brow furrowing. "You're not hurt, are you?"

The redhead shook her head. "Nope, just Wynonna," she replied, before offering Shae another awkward smile. With dimples and all.

Shae shuffled her feet. "Well, do you need me to take a look at her?" She offered, her eyes once more landing on Wynonna, more specifically the blood-soaked towel around her arm. "I can do her stitches, you know. I'm supposed to be on my break, but…" she stopped talking, brown eyes moving to Nicole's with questions arising in them.

It probably wasn't the ethical thing to do, and it was definitely not what Nicole wanted to do, but she had to think of Wynonna – and Waverly – and the sooner they got Wynonna stitched up, the sooner Nicole could drive them home and then ride her bike back to her own bed. She glanced at Wynonna, before turning to nod at Shae. "She's uh, pretty intoxicated, too," she warned her.

The dark-haired woman offered Nicole a nervous smile. "I'm sure I can handle it," she promised, before nudging her head towards Wynonna. "Grab her and follow me, yeah? As far as I recall, it should be no problem for you to carry her."

Nicole felt her face flush a little, but she turned to Wynonna to get a good hold of her, thankful that Shae wouldn't be able to see the way her cheeks pinked. She tucked the sleeping brunette into her arms and followed Shae down the hall to an unoccupied room. She dropped Wynonna onto the white hospital bed and sat down on the spare chair, immediately reaching for her phone to text Waverly their room number.

Shae was fidgeting with a few things, before turning to the computer. "What's her name?"

"Wynonna Earp," Nicole replied, and watched as Shae started typing on the keyboard, "that's Wynonna with a Y and two N's," she added, for good measure.

"Thanks," Shae mumbled, as her eyes started reading over Wynonna's file on screen. Nicole could see the way her brow furrowed. It was something that always happened whenever she was concentrating or really confused about something. Nicole wondered which of them was the cause right now. "Can you wake her?" She questioned then, as she wheeled closer on her chair, a suture kit in her lap.

Nicole took a good hold of Wynonna's thigh, squeezing it – probably a little roughly – as she shook her. "Wynonna," she hissed, watching the other woman closely, "Wyn, wake up! We gotta do your stitches, yeah," she continued, as Wynonna seemed to stir a little, her face scrunching up in dissatisfaction at being wakened. "Wynonna!"

"Damn, lower your voice," Wynonna grumbled, as she opened her eyes, squinting against the hard fluorescent lights in the ceiling. She blinked as she tried to sit up straighter, "Fucking Haught-stuff," she continued to mumble, looking around herself, clearly confused. She paused, taking the scene in front of her in, before turning to Nicole. "Red, where the fuck am I?"

"Hi, I'm Shae," Shae said then, introducing herself by rolling her chair a little bit closer, "I'm here to stitch up your wounds. Do you know how much you've had to drink tonight?"

Wynonna stared at Shae, clearly not comprehending that this woman was for real. She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I count my shots," she simply replied, her blue eyes staring piercingly into Shae's.

"Wyn," Nicole said then, "Shae's actually my ex-girlfriend, she agreed to uh, to fix your arm and stuff… otherwise we'd still be waiting outside. For a long time, I think," she added, before turning to Shae for confirmation.

Shae nodded.

Wynonna didn't look impressed at all with that information. "Where's Waves?" She demanded to know then, as she held out her arm for Shae to look at. She didn't even wince as the brunette started to unwrap the towel from her body.

"Coffee," Nicole replied with a shrug.

"Let's see, shall we?" Shae interrupted them then, before discarding of the now very red towel into a waste basket. Her eyes turned wide when she saw the damage to Wynonna's arm. "Okay…" she trailed off, turning to Nicole with a questionable look in her eyes, "We need to clean this for glass, I can tell. Might need a shot. What uh, what happened?"

Wynonna didn't answer, so Nicole had to do it, but since she didn't know what had happened (except for the drinking), she just shrugged her shoulders. Waverly chose that exact moment to come barging into the room in true Waverly fashion; practically kicking down the door with her foot, all wavy hair and bloody nightgown – and a practically frantic, worried look in her eyes.

"Wyn," she elated, discarding both coffees onto a spare table as she practically fell on top of Wynonna to hug her.

The oldest Earp was still groggy, "I'm right here, Waves," she commented, a befuddled look on her face.

Waverly turned to Nicole then. Her eyes were narrowed in on the redhead and she punched her lightly on the arm. "Don't fucking leave like that," she huffed, but her eyes were full of love just the same.

Nicole offered her a dimpled grin and held up her cell phone. "But I sent you a text," she offered.

"Mind telling me how you got so much glass into your arm?" Shae interrupted them once more.

Turning to look at her, Nicole was surprised by how she'd suddenly forgotten she was even there. That was the effect Waverly had on her. Even when they were in the middle of the emergency room, and Shae had a pair of tweezers in Wynonna's arm, Nicole still managed to forget anyone but Waverly.

When no one answered, Shae sent Nicole a look that Nicole had been very familiar with by the end of their relationship, "Nicole?"

Waverly huffed and took a seat next to Wynonna on the hospital bed, interlacing her fingers with her big sister's. "There might have been some throwing of things and perhaps a bit of shooting," she replied, clicking her tongue. "Don't worry, doctor, I had it all under control, it was entirely an accident, and Wynonna's just…"

"…being Wynonna," Nicole and Wynonna finished for her, at the same time.

Grinning sheepishly at Shae, Waverly nodded. "Yeah? So can you stitch it up now? I handed in the forms and everything."

Shae nodded and bent her head to focus on the task of removing glass from Wynonna's wound.

Nicole grabbed one of the coffees from the table and offered the other one to Waverly. "See Waves, I said I'd take good care of her," she teasingly said, gulping down a large sip of coffee, relinquishing in the way her energy seemed to spike by just the smell. The taste wasn't too good though, it being hospital coffee and all.

Waverly offered her a genuine smile. She looked so tired suddenly, like she just wanted this day to be over so she could sleep for hours and not worry about a thing. "I know that, Nicky," she whispered, taking a short sip of coffee, "that's why I called you. You're always there when I need you."

Try as she might, Nicole couldn't hold back the smile on her lips.

Wynonna grabbed the coffee out of Waverly's hand and offered them both a pointed look. It appeared that she was feeling slightly more energetic, at least the colour had returned to her face and she'd wiped the drool off her chin. "Stop flirting with each other in front of Red's ex-girlfriend," she just commented, before raising the cup to her lips.

Waverly's eyes widened and her head snapped to the side, landing on Shae immediately. She looked surprised, and Nicole didn't blame her. It wasn't like she'd counted on running into Shae tonight either. "You're Nicole's ex?" she whispered then, breath ghosting over her lips.

Shae dropped the tweezers and the last piece of glass into a metal bin, before ridding her right hand of the latex glove and offering it to Waverly. "Shae Pressman," she introduced herself, a stiff smile on her face.

Shaking her hand, Waverly replied, "Waverly Earp."

"Can you feel this?" Shae turned to Wynonna then and pressed her finger towards the edges of her wound. Nicole winced just by sight, but Wynonna appeared unaffected.

She shrugged. "Can't say I can, doc," she commented, before raising the coffee to her lips once more. The look on her face was one of complete indifference.

Shae smiled in satisfaction. "Alright, let's get you stitched up."

She worked in silence, stitching up Wynonna's arm. The oldest Earp just gulped down on her coffee (Waverly's coffee), and the youngest Earp ran a hand absentmindedly through her sister's curly hair, while staring off into space. Nicole didn't want to look at Shae's work, so it wasn't entirely odd that her eyes ended up on Waverly's face. She couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind right now. Nicole had never thought that Shae and Waverly should ever meet each other, but if it were to come to that, this scenario had definitely not been in her plans. A shit-faced, wounded Wynonna, a tipsy and tired Waverly and a working, professional Shae. It really wasn't a match, like, at all.

Nicole could only begin to wonder what Shae and Waverly were thinking of each other right this moment. She knew it shouldn't bother her what they thought, but the two women were so different, Nicole could hardly imagine anyone being more different. What did that make of her though?

Nicole just wanted to wipe the tired, sad look off of Waverly's face, but she had no idea how.

"There," Shae finally said then, straightening her back and smiling brightly at Wynonna, "all done!"

Wynonna flicked her arm slightly, twisting it, testing it. "Thanks doc," she commented, before falling onto the bed again with a giant huff. She closed her eyes.

Shae turned to Waverly and Nicole, an unsure look edged across her face. "So, I guess I'm gonna have to tell you how to take care of her, since I doubt she'll remember anything in the morning," she motioned towards Wynonna on the bed and smiled stiffly at Waverly. "You're sisters, yeah?"

Nodding, Waverly grabbed Nicole's coffee and took a sip of it. "Yeah, I'll be super good at it, I promise," she replied with a forced cheeriness. A thoughtful look came upon her features then, and she glanced briefly at Wynonna, before turning back to Shae. "Actually, I have some things I'd like to ask you now that we're here… if you don't mind?"

Shae stood up from her chair and moved towards the door. If she found the proposition odd, she didn't show it. "Sure," she said, nodding her head, "If you'll just come with me, we'll go through everything. She'll need to have her stitches taken out eventually," she finished. She had a hand on the door handle and allowed Waverly to pass her into the hallway, before she turned to Nicole with a sigh. "Take a few minutes and then get her out of here, OK?"

"Sure thing, boss," Nicole replied, not really daring to lock her eyes to Shae's. She did though, because she knew she had to.

"Good," Shae gave her a curt nod as she turned to leave. "And oh, Nicole?"

Nicole bit her lip, "Yeah?"

"Answer my text please," Shae finished, before she turned on her heel and guided Waverly down the hallway with her.

Nicole grumbled to herself as she turned in the chair. Stupid Shae, and her stupid need to be in charge and come out on top. A quality Nicole had never particularly liked about her. She sighed heavily, but her eyes widened when she realised that Wynonna was sitting up again, watching her with an amused expression across her face. Actually, she looked far too amused for Nicole's liking. "What?" The redhead grumbled, shifting in her seat.

Wynonna chuckled. "Nothing."

Narrowing her eyes in on the brunette, Nicole retorted, "Somehow I doubt that."

Wynonna shrugged. "Well, your ex-girlfriend is surely something," she commented, wriggling her eyebrows. "She must've been a firecracker in bed, huh."

"Stop it," Nicole just replied. She didn't even have the energy to argue more about it.

Prodding on, Wynonna lazily swung her legs over the side of the white bed, dangling them back and forth like a little child, "Did you see the sour look on Wave's face when she realised that the gorgeous lady doctor was your ex?" She questioned then, nudging Nicole's calve with her boot-covered foot. "I'm telling you, she was more than a little jeally," she teased.

'No,' Nicole thought to herself, even though Waverly had had a certain look on her face after Shae had introduced herself. "Waverly wasn't jealous," Nicole stiffly replied as she tried to hold back a yawn.

Wynonna hopped off the bed. "Sure she was, she likes you."

Nicole pushed her chair back, standing up and offering Wynonna an arm to hold onto if needed. "Nope," she replied. Mostly because it felt like the right thing to do, but also because she didn't need to get her hopes up. Waverly didn't like her. Some girl on Tinder probably did.

Ignoring her extended arm, Wynonna stuffed her hands into her pockets. "You're an idiot," she commented.

Feeling the need to defend herself from such accusations, Nicole answered in a hurry. "Well, she has a funny way of showing it then," she said, as she followed Wynonna out of the door, once more trying to suffocate another yawn. Wynonna looked at her in utter confusion. "You know, going on dates with pretty blonde girls and all," she explained as they came to a halt in the silent hallway.

Wynonna licked her lip. "What blonde girls?"

"At Shorty's," Nicole replied, and this time she couldn't hold back a yawn. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

The brunette across from her broke into a startling laugh. "What!?" She cackled, "Are you talking 'bout Chrissy?" She shook her head, apparently very amused by this situation, "Red, that's Waverly's best friend from back home. She was just visiting," she commented, before turning to stalk down the hallway again.

Nicole hurried to keep up, not sure what to make of the wave of relief that washed over her right then and there. It shouldn't matter that this Chrissy person was just a friend – because Waverly wasn't interested in her anyway, right? – but somehow it did matter. She breathed out. "What? Really?"

"Really," Wynonna retorted, snapping her fingers in demand, "Now give me the keys, I'm driving."

"You're drunk," Nicole replied, as they came to a halt at the entrance, waiting for Waverly to return to them.

Shaking her head, Wynonna said, "Nope, I'm not, I'm fresh and ready to get back home. I don't have time for the boring driving of a narc," she offered Nicole a pointed glare, blue eyes zooming in on her. "Besides, you're looking mighty tired, Haught-shit."

Nicole grumbled and fingered the keys in her pocket. Maybe she should let Wynonna drive? Or it was probably safer to let Waverly drive. She answered, throwing a punch in Wynonna's direction, "Well not all of us spent the majority of our time here sleeping."

Wynonna shrugged her shoulders, "Well, I just know how to make the best of a situation, Red, you should try it sometime," she retorted, before she pounced forward and snatched the keys from Nicole's hand. Not that it took much effort, because Nicole was way too tired to make much of a hassle.

"Wynonna…" she trailed off. She did not have the energy.

The brunette offered her a giant smirk. "Yeah, Red?"

Nicole sighed. "Just abide by the laws, will you?"

Wynonna broke into another belly laugh, just as Waverly joined them, tucking a few papers hurriedly into her the huge pocket of her jacket. She offered them both a confused, yet tired, look, "What's going on?" She softly questioned, raising a hand to rub her eyes.

Nicole pushed her glasses onto the tip of her nose. "Apparently your sister's driving."

Waverly breathed out as she turned to Wynonna, "Just don't kill us, yeah? We've spent enough time at this place for one night."

Wynonna turned to push through the double doors in search for the jeep, and Waverly and Nicole trailed after, albeit slower, both of them dragging their feet across the parking lot. Nicole didn't want to say anything, she didn't know what to say, it seemed like they were all talked out, so even when Waverly's hand came down to lightly grasp her own in a tight squeeze, she kept her mouth shut.

Maybe Wynonna was right. Maybe Waverly did like her. Nicole just wasn't sure if she should get her hopes up.