Chapter 11: Closure
A/N: All done! Now I can start working on one of the other billion fics in my head. Thanks for reading, and for all the feedback peeps.
There was no doubt about it in Richard's mind, there was something wrong with him. If he was solving a case, he was quite happy to have all eyes on him whilst he went over the details and revealed the killer, but in any other situation he'd rather be on the periphery, keeping to himself. But this was important, he needed to do this. Stand up, and say nice things about her – lots of wonderful qualities to pick from. He'd briefly considered begging the Commissioner to do it, but thought people might think he didn't care which was far from the truth.
Millie graced him with a small smile of encouragement from another table. She'd managed to stay an extra day on the island after the incident, whilst it was decided what Colin Boot would be charged with and where, rather more importantly, he'd be tried. However despite not wanting to leave Richard, she'd been forced to return to the UK – though not a day had gone by during that time when she hadn't called him. She'd flown back in for today, doing the rather insane thing of arriving on a Friday night and having to leave first thing tomorrow morning – but she'd insisted she was going to be here.
She'd brought with her an A & E Doctor boyfriend Richard hadn't actually known existed. When he realised how serious it was between them the over-protective side of his personality kicked into full gear and he found himself asking the young man about his intentions towards Millie. Millie had laughed at his seriousness, but not unkindly. Luckily the gentleman in question proved to be polite, charming and completely smitten with Millie. Richard found he was intensively grateful for his existence – proof Millie was actually practising what she preached.
When Millie had gotten ten minutes alone with Richard she'd asked his opinion on her boyfriend and he told her he approved.
"Good, because I think I might ask him to marry me," she'd surprised him by saying. "I think recent events prove life is too short for us to spend any more time trying to be certain that it will work forever, because we'll make it work." Looking back, he wondered how much of that stumbling little speech was actually for his benefit.
This situation was ridiculous, and he sighed loudly earning a raised eyebrow from his neighbour. Oh well, he might as well have a moan about it.
"You know, I checked and no law enforcement officer in the history of Saint Marie has ever been shot three times in the line of duty. Therefore I don't see how it could possibly be tradition that should such an event occur the officer in question gets a party where their boss has to say nice things about them."
Camille grinned, "It's a new tradition, and we're setting a precedent." She shrugged and then grimaced when the movement pulled at her wound.
Richard was concerned but before he could start fussing she warned him off with a look and told him, "Get on with it then!"
The second sigh was even bigger.
The next day, when Richard returned home from dropping off Millie and her fiancé to the airport, he found Camille sitting on his veranda with a suitcase, having some sort of staring match with his lizard.
"Are you going somewhere?" He asked, rather perplexed. Opening up the bungalow she followed him inside, going to drag to suitcase in but he took it off her, and she just smiled and picked up a shopping bag she also had with her.
"Well, if you ask my mother, I've had to go to Guadeloupe to see a physiotherapist for a week," as she spoke, she started to unpack things from the shopping bag. Her statement had done nothing to lesson his confusion, and the fact she'd just put a new French press in his kitchenette was also not giving him much of a clue.
"Where are you actually going? And why are you putting coffee in my cupboards?"
"I need to get away from my mother's fussing, and because I need coffee in the mornings."
"Camille, you just got out of hospital, you need fussing over. The bullet pierced your lung for God's sake!" he protested.
"Yes, I have just got out of hospital, where I was stuck for a month being coddled by nurses. By the way, I'm pretty sure you didn't need to bribe them every day with chocolates and charm to get them to look after me better. Instead they just teased me relentlessly."
Richard looked sheepish, "I was just trying to help. So they told you then?"
Camille took a step towards him, and placed her hands on his chest, "Well, I think it was very sweet of you. They didn't have to tell me, it was pretty obvious something was going when they kept telling me what a lucky woman I was to have such a charming, kind man care about me so much instead of coming to me and threatening to kill you."
Her proximity seemed to have caused him to cease being able to form sentences, "So, can I hide here for a week with you?"
He decided he needed to look her in the face to ask the next question, "Do you mean, um, like, what I'm trying to say is..."
"Yes," Camille interrupted him. "I have no intention of either of us sleeping on the sofa. And get that look off your face I'm not made of china! One of the nurses kindly assured me as long as I didn't swing from any chandeliers I'd be fine."
Richard looked like he was trying to work out the logistics of that, which frustrated Camille who was still waiting for an answer. He seemed to come to some sort of conclusion.
"If your mother catches us, she's going to kill me," he told her, hands moving onto her hips.
"Well we better stay out of her way then," Camille was grinning like a school girl.
"In fact, maybe we should keep leaving here to an absolute minimum," he told her, somehow managing to pull her closer and yet still not close enough.
"Oh will you stop teasing and kiss me!" he did, and Camille was very, very glad she was no longer attached to a heart monitor because she was pretty sure it'd be indicating some kind of tachycardia right now.
He pulled back from her, and whilst she was grateful for the oxygen break she also wanted him back.
"Want to unpack?" he asked all innocently, which completely threw her.
"Huh?" She really just wanted to go back to what they'd been doing.
He laughed at her and she glowered at him, but then he pulled her back in for another kiss and this time Camille had no intention of letting him stop.
