All errors are my own. Thoughts appreciated as always.
Moment of Truth:
Eames had lost count of just how many times they'd been in this room in the course of an investigation. How many bodies had they looked over, Bobby had explored, had listened to the ME give her verdict on a cause of death? Too many to count she realised. Bobby walked along the sterile looking corridor in between herself and his Captain. He hadn't spoken a word since being informed of the discovery of the body. They paused outside of the morgue. Eames took a deep breath and looked at her partner.
"You know that you don't have to do this, don't you? Her DNA is on file for comparison" Bobby looked at her.
"I have to" he told her and she just nodded.
"You ready?" Deakins asked. He looked at him and it was his turn to take a deep breath. Then he nodded.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the shrouded body on the examination table. Bobby ignored the sympathetic looks, didn't hear the words spoken to him. He walked to the table and stared down at the green sheet. His heart pumped in his chest. Please don't let it be her, Please God don't let it be her. He couldn't stop the nerves squirming in the pit of his stomach. He took another deep breath and reached for the sheet.
"Let me detective," Elizabeth Rodgers' quiet voice made him lift his head and look at her. He just nodded and dropped his arms by his side. He watched as she gently drew the sheet back.
She was filthy and her head was bashed and bloody. At a guess once upon a time she'd been a blonde. And she was wearing a t-shirt. The breath rushed out of his lungs and he felt tears burn the backs of his eyes.
"That's not her. That's... that's... not... Jenn," he told her quietly. Dr. Rodgers frowned.
"You're sure?" Bobby looked at her and he nodded.
"I…I can see why you'd think it was her, but...but it isn't" he felt weak, a little giddy from relief "Jenn was wearing a white…shirt...b..blouse, this lady isn't. Jenn is pregnant, just about starting to…show" he paused again and swallowed, pointing briefly at her stomach "again, this lady isn't. It's not my wife" He became aware of Eames coming to stand beside him. She also looked at the body.
"He's right, that's not Jennifer Copeland," she confirmed. Bobby turned, swiping his face with one big hand.
"Bobby, don't go getting your hopes up," she told him. He looked at her
"What if she's alive? " he told her in a fierce whisper. Deakins phone began to ring again. Bobby turned and looked at him and watched him as presently he concluded his call.
"Another woman's body has been washed up, again down river from where they both went in" he informed them both. The ensuing silence was heavy. Bobby slowly shook his head, feeling the fear reinstate itself.
A short while later they both watched the gurney that held the body bag being taken into Rodger's morgue. Eames regarded her partner. He hadn't said another word since the Captain had taken the second phone call but his body language spoke volumes. His eyes were dark and pain filled, his arms tightly crossed against his chest. His shoulders were slumped.
"Why don't we take a walk?" she suggested quietly. For a moment he didn't look at her and she thought that he hadn't heard her. Then there was the slightest movement.
"She's a strong swimmer, stronger than anyone. She's got to survive this; she has to. I can't give up on her" he murmured, his voice barely audible. She watched how he straightened and moved across the narrow corridor to the look in the doorway.
"Bobby" she followed him, took his arm. She had to get him out of here. He wasn't listening as he stared intensely at the occupants of the morgue the Captain, Rodgers and two mortuary assistants. He watched Rodgers unzip the body bag and take a look inside. The Captain did likewise. They seemed to stare at it for a second before Rodgers turned her head and looking at him. Bobby swallowed.
"Bobby" Eames hissed again.
"No…" he straightened as the Captain came out of the morgue. He stood in front of them both. Another silence stretched out between them. Bobby frowned.
"Well?"
"She's...received a serious head injury which makes identification difficult but a DNA test should confirm that the body is that of Nicole Wallace" he informed him huskily. Alex looked at her partner as he seemed to sway. She grabbed his arm as the Captain did the same.
"Goren…take it easy" Bobby stiffened.
"I'm…fine…I'll be… okay," he told them, easing himself out of their hold.
"I'm taking you home" Eames' tone brooked absolutely no arguments. Bobby shook his head and lifted both hands, palms outwards.
"I've told you…I'll be fine" and he moved past them to go into the morgue.
Rodgers didn't say anything about the tall detective's presence in her morgue. Over the years that she had worked here, she had gotten used to it. What she wasn't used to was the silence. She was used to him asking questions, she was used to listening to his theories about how a death was met but this was the first time where he was utterly silent.
He stared down at her body. He refused to feel anything. She had taken his wife from him. He wondered whether it had been intentional. Something told him that it hadn't; she hadn't expected Jennifer to fight back the way that she had. He took a deep breath. Nicole had made a point of grabbing her as she'd lost her balance. Maybe it had been intentional from that point. Jennifer had bested her then and given their personal past history, it was the perfect punishment. I made you feel, so now you're returning the favour.
I'm falling…falling through time but at the same time it goes so fast. I hit something hard and feel the sting of pain. I'm engulfed and sinking. Then I remember and I begin to kick. I remember the swimming lessons from school. I remember when I had to hold my breath. I feel weighted down and it's my clothes, my jacket. Or is it? Someone had a hold of me and I struggle; the will to survive is strong and I shake the person off. It's dark and I can't see anything. I'm still being pulled down and my limbs start to tire and ache, the chill of the water invading and conquering. I think about maybe giving up, but I manage to get my jacket free, as my lungs feel ready to burst. I kick for the surface but I sense a darkness around me that has nothing to do with the river itself.
I'm dying…
Bobby didn't know what to do with himself; he'd never been good at waiting for anything. He wanted to be out there, searching for her. Being stuck here made him feel claustrophobic but neither the Captain nor his partner thought that being away from the squad room was such a good idea right now. Eames had given him the option of staying here or going back home and he knew that she would stay with him until…no; he wasn't going to go there. Until there was concrete proof then he just wasn't.
Instead he sat at her desk and agonised over her. He stared at her phone, her blotter and the space where she usually kept her files neatly stacked. He sat back and thought some more. She kept her desk impersonal, some of the other detectives desks held photos of loved ones but Jenn's as well as his own, didn't. He leaned forwards and rested his elbows on the desk, propping his chin against the palm of one hand. He looked down and then, after a moment, leaned down. He opened the bottom drawer and saw her purse inside. For a moment he stared at it before lifting it out.
It was small, made of black leather. He opened it and one by one lifted each item out. Make up; a lipstick and compact, her wallet, and a greetings card? He opened it up and his heart almost stopped in his chest when he stared at the sonogram picture. He closed it and replaced it in her purse. Frustration boiled anew. Where was she? Maybe she was in a hospital somewhere, unidentified and confused and waiting for him? Maybe Eames was right, she had been washed out to sea and then if that was the case, then there would be a very good chance she'd never be found. He got to his feet,at the same time drawing looks from his colleagues. They knew, they all knew now. No doubt they pitied him, wondered what he was doing here. He felt a surge of anger that bordered on the irrational. He didn't need this.
"Bobby?" there she was again, always within range and it annoyed him, it annoyed the hell out of him.
"Leave me alone…leave me the …hell…alone" he growled and dumbfounded, Alex watched him storm away.
The vagrant picked his way along the shoreline, keeping his eyes peeled for anything he could use to earn a bit of money. When he saw the bundle of rags ahead of him, he made his way towards it. Perhaps there was something saleable there? As he got closer, he realised that it wasn't a bundle of rags; it was a person, a woman. He looked across the river in shock; she'd come from in there? He wondered whether she was a mermaid. He looked down at her. It was definitely a woman but she couldn't be a real mermaid because she was wearing regular clothes, smart clothes too. He crouched down beside her.
"Hey lady…are you okay?" he gently touched her face. She was covered in mud and dirt and was freezing cold. He also saw that her head was bleeding sluggishly. His hand shot back when she moaned quietly and tried to move. His eyes widened.
"Help…me…please…"
"Are you a mermaid?" he breathed. Her clothes were wet and filthy. He saw her eyes open and then close again. She began to move her legs, tried to move her arms but she had no strength. She needed help.
Tbc….
