Chapter Eleven
At the unpleasant hour of five-fifteen a.m. Kate Beckett left her apartment on Friday morning. As she usually did with mornings she worked the early shift, she had intentions to visit the precinct gym to run a few miles before going on duty. For some reason the run was much more effective at waking her up than several cups of coffee. Granted, by mid-morning, she needed the coffee too, but the run was certainly a more productive way to start the day.
That Friday, the very first of the new calendar year, Kate found herself drawn not toward the Twelfth, but instead towards Beth Israel. Inexplicably, she woke up that morning thinking about Nick and decided it would be a good idea to visit him on the way in to work.
Over a week had passed since his accident and he had been in a coma for the duration. Each update she heard from the doctors seemed positive; his brain and organ functioning were not deteriorating, they frequently told her. Still, she could not imagine many scenarios in which a coma lasting longer than a week could have a happy ending. True, she was not a medical professional, but she had seen her fair share of medical issues with both happy and sad endings.
At that early hour, one lone woman sat behind the nurse's station counter. Kate said a polite hello to her before walking the familiar path to Nick's room. Just a foot past the threshold, she stopped when she came face to face with another figure.
"Kate," Rick said with great surprise. He had fully expected to be visiting his brother alone at that predawn hour, but he could not say he was disappointed to see her.
"Rick. I ah…wow, what are you doing here? It's crazy early," she said with a laugh. If she did not need to be at work within the hour, she definitely would not have been awake.
"Ah, the life of a writer," he said with a laugh. "I'm a bit of an insomniac. Usually if I can't sleep I go for a walk or something, but this morning I found myself walking here."
He'd gone to bed at midnight, which was practically early by his standards, but been awake again by four a.m. He tossed and turned for twenty minutes before abandoning his bed and went in search for a notebook he had been writing in a few months prior. In doing so, he'd found an old photograph of himself and his brother when they were children and his thoughts had turned to Nick.
Before the accident, Rick had not spoken to his brother in several months. Nick had reached out on occasion, but Rick continually dodged his calls. His parents had made mention of it once or twice as well, but he'd brushed them off. He just wasn't ready to talk to Nick because he had no idea what he would say to him.
Despite the lingering animosity, Nick was his brother and Rick genuinely did not wish anything bad for him. Thus, hearing about Nick's accident was an upsetting blow. What if—god forbid—Nick never woke up? Their final words to each other would have been angry ones. They would never get the chance to settle their dispute all because Rick had been too stubborn to answer the phone. That's what tore him up.
"Well, I don't want to intrude; I'll just visit later," Kate promised. She turned to leave the room, but he stopped her.
"Hey wait. I, um, I feel like we just keep getting off on the wrong foot and that's probably mostly my fault," he said with a guilty smile. If he could not make his peace with Nick, he decided he at least had to try with his fiancée. At least she was conscious and thus able to talk to him. "I mean, we're going to be family, right? Let me buy you breakfast."
"I'm sorry; I have to be a work soon," Kate explained simply.
"Right, right…well, what time is your shift over? I can meet you." It wasn't like he had any other plans that day except for perhaps a nap.
"Ah, um," she stammered, glancing down at the watch she wore, not exactly trying to buy herself time, but grateful for the moment to think anyway.
Sensing her hesitation, Rick backtracked. "Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the spot. Just trying to be nice since I've been kind of a shitty almost brother-in-law."
The embers of guilt in her gut growing to a full flame, she said quickly, "No, no I was just trying to think of my schedule today. I get off at three so I can meet you at three fifteen?" she offered. Truth be told, she wanted to spent a limited amount of one-on-one time with members of the Palaburn-Rodgers clan so she could keep her lies at a bare minimum, but as long as she kept their meeting short and their conversation focused on him it wouldn't be that bad…right?
A smile grew on his face. "Great! I'll meet you outside your precinct."
Nine hours later, the absolute last thing Kate wanted to do was interact with anyone. She wanted to go home, soak in a bubble bath, and not move from her couch for the rest of the evening. Hell, she was even contemplating not eating dinner as it required too much effort. Yet, she did not have that option. She had a predetermined get-to-know you date with her fake future brother-in-law. With no means to contact him, she couldn't even cancel so she plastered a smile on her face and headed out of the employee locker room, silently praying that despite her exhaustion she'd be able to keep all her lies straight.
Stepping out onto the city sidewalks, she looked to her left and right, worried she would be unable to find him, but he was easy to spot. Leaning against a parking meter a few feet away clad in jeans and heavy winter coat he smiled at her and waved. "Hey…so coffee?" he offered her with a smile.
She let out a breathy laugh. "Actually, with the day I had I kind of just want a big bowl of ice cream."
"I can do ice cream." He nodded for her to follow him and led the way up the nearest cross street. "Any particular flavor?"
"Mint chocolate chip is my usual go-to," she confessed.
"Ah, yeah I'm not a mint fan," he said.
"Really?"
"Well, not in foods. I can handle it in gum and toothpaste, but I don't like eating it," he told her.
"Interesting," she nodded then hurried along with him as they crossed the next street.
"I know this great place—it's a little bit of a hike, though. Want to get a cab?" he offered.
She considered the air temperature, which despite being the second day of January was not all that bad. "How far?"
"Maybe a fifteen minute walk?" he guessed.
"Walking's fine."
Truthfully, the walk would give her a little more time to clear her head. Though she had hoped to do so in quiet, halfway across the next block he asked her, "Rough day, huh? Guess you probably have your fair share of those in your line of work."
"I suppose. Usually you can at least find some silver lining in them—helping people, catching whoever wronged them…." And then there were days like that one: a ten year old girl hit and killed by a texting driver whose vehicle jumped the sidewalk. There was no silver lining in that.
Much to Kate's relief, the remainder of their walk was mostly silent. Just as she was really beginning to feel the chill in her extremities, they reached their destination: a family owned ice cream shop tucked away between two larger chain stores. Had Kate been walking down the sidewalk alone she probably would have missed it, but Rick was clearly a regular; they knew him by name behind the counter.
While Kate chose a single scoop of the mint chocolate chip, Rick ordered the chocolate chip cookie dough with sprinkles in a cone with a chocolate coating. Though they intended to eat their ice cream inside the store, they had been sitting at one of the tiny two-seater tables for barely a few minutes before half a dozen school children blasted through the door laughing and chattering on loudly.
Sensing some tension from Kate, Rick suggested they take their treats outside and hopefully find another place to eat. She agreed, and they made their way out the door past another group of pre-teens. If possible, this group was even rowdier than the first and in their enthusiasm jostled Rick so much that his ice cream cone mashed into Kate's shoulder, coating her coat and the ends of her hair in the milky dessert.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry," he proclaimed immediately. Great, just great. First, he questioned her relationship with his brother. Then, he inadvertently told her coworkers she was pregnant when she actually was not, and now he'd covered her with ice cream! How was that even possible?
"It's okay," she sighed, wiping at the ends of her hair with the napkin she held. She had already been planning to take a bath when she got home and her coat would recover. "Wasn't your fault."
"I know, I know, but Jesus I'm such a mess… why don't you come to my place and clean up?" he offered.
Her eyes darted up towards him at the unexpected invitation. "Oh no it's not that bad. Really."
"I literally live a block away. It's the least I can do. Please?"
Kate gazed down at her hair and coat, blowing out air between her lips. The damage wasn't that bad and of course she could have made it to her apartment (as unpleasant of a subway ride as that would have been) but, as long as he was offering… "Sure, why not."
His face relaxing with relief, Rick led the way towards Broome Street.
A/N: Oh Rick... :)
