Author's Note: Another chapter full of drama for you! Summer is real crazy at my job, so it's difficult to get writing time, but I'll try not to delay too long :) Thanks to everyone who reads and comments.
For the guest who commented in the last chapter that pregnant women should avoid alcohol: You are correct. And if you look back, Gail hasn't had any alcohol since getting pregnant. She has joked about having a beer belly, but she only meant that she thinks her baby bump looks like someone who drinks a lot of beer. She isn't actually drinking beer. Holly wouldn't allow that :)
Desk duty sucked. This wasn't the first time Gail had thought this. She had always had a distaste for being stuck in a chair all day when she could be out making the streets safer. She understood the need for someone to man the front desk; she just didn't want it to be her. She'd rather be driving around, answering calls or even issuing traffic tickets. Anything but staring at a phone on what had to be the slowest day in the history of fifteen's existence.
It crossed Gail's mind that soon enough, this would be Gail's duty every single day. It was bad enough to have to do it once a week as part of an established rotation. Every day, just sitting, answering calls about lost dogs and ridiculous noise complaints. Gail sighed dramatically and spun around in her office chair. As she came to a stop, she felt a strange flutter in her stomach. She brought her hand up to cover her slightly rounded belly and smirked slightly. After spinning around again and feeling the same sensation, she pulled out her cell phone and hit the first speed dial. When Holly's voicemail picked up, Gail groaned and left a message.
"Lunchbox. Call me back immediately."
Gail put her cell phone on the desk and then spun her chair in a circle again. Once more, she felt the bubbly sensation low in her belly. She giggled slightly and then remembering where she was cleared her throat. She picked up her cell and tapped out a text message to her wife.
Wife: Call me ASAP. No one's dead.
When her phone buzzed thirty minutes later, Gail was on the desk phone, filling out paperwork on a complaint about "devil music" blasting from a "cheap" car in a wealthy neighborhood. God, rich people were the worst. Her cell phone lit up with her wife's picture two more times before she was able to get off the phone with the obviously racist citizen filing the complaint.
When she was finally free to pick up her cell, Gail saw that Holly had sent a response text.
Lunchbox: I'm glad no one died, but that still leaves a lot of other possibilities.
Gail chuckled and hit the speed dial for her wife.
"Hey, what's up?" Holly answered, trying to sound nonchalant and not at all worried that Gail hadn't answered her calls.
The blonde saw through it. "Hey, sorry I didn't answer. Literally the only call I've had all day happened like one minute before you called me back."
"It's fine. Everything ok?" Holly was less interested in why Gail hadn't answered than why she had called in the first place.
"Yeah, everything's fine, other than being bored out of my mind. But um, the reason I called was that…well, I thought you'd want to know that I think I felt the baby move." Gail smiled in anticipation of Holly's reaction.
"What? Really? When? Are you sure it was the baby?" Holly asked in rapid succession.
Gail laughed. "Pretty sure. It was just before I left you that message. I spun around in my chair and I felt this fluttery feeling in my stomach. It happened a few times."
There was a brief moment of silence before Holly responded, her voice thick with emotion. "Aw, Gail. That makes me teary."
"Holly, this is the first good symptom I've had. Why are you crying?"
"Happy tears, honey. What does it feel like? Can you feel it on the outside?" Holly said as she wiped tears from her cheek.
"Not yet. It feels sort of like bubbles. It's really subtle, but it was definitely the first time I have felt it. Sort of cool, but also kind of weird."
"Ugh, I can't wait until I can feel it too. That's so exciting! I'm so glad you called to tell me." Holly said softly.
"Well, I have strict instructions to inform you any time anything happens."
"Good to know you occasionally listen to me. " Holly teased.
Gail rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You know you're the only person I listen to. And definitely the only one who can tell me what to do."
"I feel honored." Holly smiled.
"You should! Ok, I have to go. If Oliver catches you on your cell phone at the desk, he makes you bring him donuts for a week and won't let you eat any of them." Gail glanced through the glass doors that led into the station.
"Ok. I'm glad you called. Text me if you feel the baby move again. I love you."
"Love you too! Bye." Gail said quickly and hung up. Back to doing nothing. She spun in her chair a couple more times to see if she could feel the fluttering again. When she didn't, she settled for filing the stack of paperwork she had been procrastinating all day.
The next day, Gail was glad to find herself back on patrol. Even Andy's incessant discussion of relationship drama couldn't sour her mood.
"I mean, seriously, he can't just expect me to read his mind. I know he has feelings. Why won't he just tell me what he's thinking? It's probably so much easier to be a lesbian," Andy lamented. "Girls don't feel the need to hide their feelings."
"Uh huh." Gail muttered absently as she stared out the window. Tuning out McNally was a skill that she had perfected over the years.
They came to a stop at an intersection and Andy turned to look at Gail. "What? You aren't even going to yell at me for making generalizations about lesbians?"
Gail turned to look at Andy. "Not today, McNally."
Andy squinted when she noticed something odd on Gail's upper lip. "Is your nose bleeding?"
"What?" Gail wiped the back of her hand under her nose. She pulled it away and saw blood. "Shit." She tilted her head in the air and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't just stare, McNally. Get me some napkins or something!"
"Oh right!" Andy put the car in park and ran around to the trunk for the first aid kit. She grabbed some gauze and hustled back to the driver's seat.
Blood was running down Gail's face and dripping onto her uniform. "Here, Gail." Andy placed the gauze under Gail's nose until the blonde grabbed it. "Are you okay? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
"It's just a bloody nose, McNally. I'm not dying." Gail mumbled through the gauze that was partially covering her mouth.
"Yeah, but you're pregnant. And that is a lot of blood." Andy said, worry evident in her tone.
"We're not going to the hospital for a bloody nose. Just drive to the lab. Holly will know what to do." Gail grumbled.
Andy hit the button to turn on the lights and siren and quickly peeled through the intersection.
Sitting at her desk, her glasses atop her head, Holly was staring down at a stack of paperwork when Andy and Gail appeared in the hallway outside her office. Andy was guiding Gail by the elbow as the blonde had her head aimed at the ceiling with a very blood-soaked piece of gauze pressed to her nose.
"Hey, Holly?" Andy said as they got close to the door.
Holly looked up and took in the scene before her. Shortly after recognizing that it was Andy and Gail, she realized that her wife's face was covered in blood. Feeling a chill run through her, she flew out of her chair and grabbed Gail's free elbow. "Oh my god, Gail! What happened?"
"Bloody nose." Gail mumbled.
Holly guided Gail to a nearby chair and pointed with her free hand. "Andy, there's a first aid kit in the lab on the wall by the door. Can you grab it?" Andy nodded and jogged off.
"Did you get hit? Are you hurt anywhere else?" Holly said as she put one hand on Gail's head while the fingers on the other moved to pinch the bridge of Gail's nose.
"Nothing happened. I was sitting in the squad and it just started bleeding." Gail let her arms fall to her lap, bloody gauze still in hand, allowing her wife to take over the care of her face.
"Jesus. How long has it been bleeding like this?" Holly asked.
"Like 5 minutes. We weren't far away." Gail choked out, trying not to get blood in her mouth.
Andy rushed into the room and held gauze out to Holly. The doctor took it and held it up to Gail's nose, continuing to pinch the bridge of her nose with her other hand. "Andy, can you go get some wet paper towels from the bathroom so Gail can wipe off her mouth?"
Without saying a word, Andy jogged out of the room again.
"I'm ok." Gail said stuffily.
"Mmhmm. You look fabulous." Holly said sarcastically.
"Nose bleeds are a normal pregnancy symptom right?" Gail asked tentatively.
"Yes. Although this one is really bad." Holly pulled the gauze away briefly to see if the bleeding was stopping at all. "You are determined to get every single pregnancy symptom possible, aren't you?"
"Can't control it." Gail muttered.
Holly sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just you showing up with blood everywhere is kind of my worst nightmare."
Gail blushed. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize. In terms of reasons you could be bleeding, a nosebleed is one of the better possibilities." Holly tried to joke, but the worry smothered any humor in her words.
Gail lifted her hand to squeeze Holly's wrist. "I'm ok, baby."
"I know." Holly said as she smiled wearily at Gail. Before she could say anything else, Andy came back in with the paper towels.
"How is she? Is her nose still bleeding?" Andy asked as she passed the towels to Gail.
"I can still talk, McNally." Gail brought the wet towel up to her mouth and chin to wipe the blood away.
Holly pulled the gauze away from Gail's nose. "Ok, I think it stopped."
"Does she need to like go to the hospital since she lost so much blood?" Andy asked.
"Andy! I'm not deaf or mute. I can answer my own questions and I'm not going to the hospital."
Andy raised her hands defensively, but Holly jumped in. "Gail, be nice. Andy just wants to make sure you're ok." Gail groaned but didn't say anything else. Holly turned to her wife's partner for the day. "She doesn't need to go to the hospital. Nosebleeds are a normal pregnancy symptom. As long as she doesn't feel lightheaded, she should be fine."
"Yep, I'm good." Gail stood from the chair and put her hand on Holly's shoulder to test her balance.
Holly put a hand on her wife's waist. "Feel ok?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." Gail said softly, looking sincerely into Holly's eyes. As much as she hated the attention from Andy, Gail knew her wife would not appreciate it if she brushed off her concern. "Let's go McNally. We've got idiots to arrest."
Holly took the paper towel from Gail's hand and used it to wipe a spot of dried blood from Gail's cheek. "Be safe, please."
Gail smiled. "Always." She leaned in and kissed Holly on the cheek. Holly caught her before she leaned away and gave her a proper hug. The cop wasn't usually one for public displays of affection at work, but she wasn't going to begrudge her wife a little comfort considering the circumstances. When they broke apart, Gail squeezed Holly's hand. "I'll see you later. Love you."
"I love you too." Holly said. "Thanks for bringing her here, Andy. And for watching out for her."
Andy blushed and Gail rolled her eyes. "Alright. Enough bonding. Let's go."
Gail strode out of the room with Andy jogging to catch up. Holly shook her head, took a deep breath and walked back around to collapse in her chair.
A few hours later, Holly was finishing up the last of her paperwork when her phone rang. She glanced over and saw Gail's face flashing on the screen. She smiled and lifted the phone to her hear.
"Hey, honey."
"Hey, Lunchbox. You almost finished at work?" Gail asked.
Holly could hear some commotion in the background of the call. "Yeah, just a few more minutes and I'll be out of here. Any more nosebleeds?"
"Nope. But hey, I need you to pick me up. I'm not at the station." Gail said hesitantly.
This wasn't the first time this had happened so Holly didn't think too much of the request. "Alright. Where are you?"
"Don't freak out because it's not for me, but I'm at the hospital." Gail said quickly.
"What? What happened?" Holly said loudly as she leaned back in her chair.
"It wasn't a big deal. McNally got into a scuffle with a suspect and she needed a few stitches. She'll be fine."
Holly put her hand to her forehead. "Are you sure you're ok? Tell me the truth, Gail."
"I'm ok. I promise. Can you please come pick me up?" Gail said impatiently as she rocked back and forth on her feet.
"Of course, honey. I'll be there in a few minutes." When they hung up, Holly stood from her chair to gather her things in her bag. She felt anxious in the pit of her stomach. Even though Gail had said she was okay, Holly couldn't help but worry about what could have happened.
Holly picked Gail up from the hospital and drove her home. There hadn't been much conversation in the car. Holly was still thinking about all the things that could have happened to her wife and Gail was simply too exhausted to keep her eyes open. Once the adrenaline from the interaction with the suspect had worn off, all the remaining energy had drained from her body.
When they pulled into the garage, Holly turned to look at her wife. Her head was leaned back against the headrest, one hand in her lap with her thumb resting on her stomach. Holly reached out and gently rubbed her wife's shoulder.
"Honey, wake up. We're home."
Gail moaned and her eyelids opened briefly. "So tired, Lunchbox."
"I know, Sweetie. Let's go in and you can rest on the couch until dinner is ready."
Gail nodded and lifted her head. She unbuckled her seatbelt and rested her hand on the door handle, giving herself a moment to gather the energy to walk. By the time she opened the door, Holly had made her way around to help her wife out of the car. She put her hand on the blonde's arm and guided her inside. Gail walked directly to the couch and flopped down face first without saying a word. Holly shook her head with a chuckle and pulled a blanket off the back of the couch to cover her wife up.
An hour later, Holly was able to get Gail to wake up and move to the dining table to eat dinner. As Gail ate, she began to wake up little by little and soon noticed how quiet her wife was being.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
Holly had been lost in thought. She looked up from her plate. "Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm ok."
"Lunchbox. Tell me what's on your mind. I can hear the cogs spinning."
Holly set her fork down on her plate and took a deep breath. "How did Andy get hurt?"
Gail screwed up her face. "I told you. She got into it with a suspect, but we got him and she'll be fine."
"But how did she get hurt? Did the suspect have a weapon?" Holly continued to look at her plate.
"He had a pocketknife. But it was tiny and he got one good swipe in before we had him on the ground an in cuffs."
"So Andy got stabbed?" Holly said with resignation.
"I mean if we're getting technical. It only needed like three stitches though so I'm not sure it really qualifies as a stabbing." Gail reached her hand over and gently placed it on her wife's arm.
At the contact, Holly looked up into her wife's eyes. "You were there. That could have been you. You could have gotten stabbed."
Gail sighed. "Holly, we had the situation under control. I know it's scary, but we are both ok. We handled the situation exactly like we were trained to."
"But Andy still got hurt." Holly said sadly.
Gail looked down. "I don't really know what to say, Holly. This is my job."
"When are you planning to go on desk duty?" Holly knew she had to ask.
Gail pulled her hand away from Holly's arm and Holly didn't miss the implication. "I hadn't really decided yet. I'm still barely showing and I'd like to avoid desk duty as long as possible."
Holly nodded. She wanted to say that she wanted Gail to start desk duty tomorrow. She wanted to yell that the baby had moved and Andy had gotten stabbed. Everything inside of her wanted to beg and plead for Gail to think of the baby, to think of what could have happened. But Gail's body language didn't indicate that she would be receptive to this. Normally Gail was very patient when Holly expressed her worry about Gail's job. But she was exhausted and Holly could tell that she was particularly proud about how she and Andy had handled the situation with the suspect. Now was not the time to bring it up.
Holly stood up and took her plate into the kitchen. And as much as Gail knew that her wife wasn't ok, she didn't have the energy to do any more. She knew her wife was upset about Andy getting hurt and that she would probably prefer for her to go on desk duty immediately, but after spending the most boring day in recent memory at the station, Gail wanted to avoid that just a little bit longer. And really, when the day was taken into full account, Gail thought it important to note that she hadn't been hurt. She had done her job and she hadn't gotten hurt.
"Why don't you head up to bed?" Holly said. "I know you're exhausted. I'll clean up." The brunette washed off her plate and started to put the leftovers in a tupperware.
Gail picked up her plate and took it into the kitchen. She set it down and then put her hand on her wife's hip. "Holly."
Holly stopped what she was doing and turned to face the blonde.
"I'm ok. I promise." Gail said gently.
Holly nodded as tears filled her eyes. "I know."
The blonde wrapped her arms around her wife and pulled her in close. "I love you." Despite not wanting to discuss any further what was bothering Holly, Gail wanted her wife to know she wasn't upset with her.
Holly pushed her nose into Gail's neck and cried softly. "I love you too." And she did. She really did. Sometimes it was a real inconvenience to her mental health how very much she loved that woman.
The tension between the women lingered into the next day. Silence had been their constant companion as they got ready for work, ate breakfast and drove in for the day. They kissed and exchanged "I love you's" as they parted, but the awkwardness that saturated the car was causing them to tread on eggshells. They both knew they needed to talk, but neither was prepared to be the first to bring it up.
Gail had still texted Holly throughout the day. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought if she could continue to show Holly that she was fine at work, that she wasn't hurt, then maybe her wife would realize she had nothing to worry about. It was wishful thinking really, but Gail was willing to fool herself into believing it was helping. For Holly's part, her responses had been adequate, but lacking their normal affection and jest.
A couple of hours before the end of her shift, Gail found herself back at the station, completing her paperwork for the week. She was just about to get up for a bathroom break when Traci walked up to her desk.
"Hey, Gail. Can I talk to you for a minute?" She put her hand on Gail's shoulder.
"I can't stop you. But make it fast cause I gotta pee." Gail stood up and leaned against the desk.
"Well, I'd like to talk to you in private, so let's go to the locker room." Traci said.
Gail screwed up her face in confusion. "Did my brother do something? Just because we share the same DNA doesn't mean I can explain his behavior."
Traci grabbed Gail's arm and started leading her away from the desk. "It's not about your brother."
"Alright, you're being super cryptic and you know how I feel about that. What's going on, Traci?" Gail kept walking but turned to glance at her sister-in-law.
As they walked into the locker room, Traci pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed a number. "Sit down." She pointed toward the nearest bench.
"Traci, what the hell is going on?" Gail put her hands on her hips.
"Sit. Down." Traci said with authority and raised her eyebrows.
Gail sighed loudly and sat on the bench.
"Alright, I've got her." Traci said. She walked over to Gail and held out her phone. "Here. It's Holly."
Gail's mind began to race. Something wasn't right. "Why did she call your phone? Why didn't she call me? What's going on, Traci?"
"Just talk to Holly. She will explain everything." Traci pointed at the phone that was now in Gail's hand.
The blonde made an angry face and held the phone up to her ear. "Holly, if this is some sort of joke or prank, I should worn you that it isn't going over well."
"Gail, this isn't a joke. I have to tell you something, but I want you to stay calm, ok? The important thing to remember is that I'm ok." Holly said calmly.
Gail clenched her free hand into a fist and growled her response. "Of course you're ok. Why wouldn't you be ok? What the hell is going on, Holly?"
"Something happened at the lab today, but I'm ok." Holly was trying to keep her voice even and soothing.
"Stop saying you're ok and tell me what's happening. I will murder that assistant of yours if you're at the hospital. I mean it, Holly, I will peel his skin off and…"
"Gail. This wasn't my assistant's fault." Holly said placidly.
"Tell. Me. What. Happened. Right now." Gail said angrily. She was losing her patience; she needed to know what was happening with her wife.
Holly sighed. "I started an autopsy today and when I was examining the body, I noticed something was wrong with the fingernails. Normally the nail beds are all one color, but this time…"
Gail interrupted her wife. Her heart was beating rapidly and she was starting to feel sick to her stomach. "Holly, I love that you're a nerd, but I need you to skip the scientific explanation."
"Right, sorry. So the fingernails showed signs of hemorrhage, which could indicate that the victim died of something contagious. Something that could still be contagious. So I had to initiate quarantine procedures. The Public Health Agency is on the way to test samples from the body, but I can't leave until they find out what it is."
Gail's pulse was rapid and she felt like an anvil was sitting in her stomach. She stood from her seat. "I'm coming over."
Holly shook her head. "Sweetheart, you can't. The lab is under quarantine. They won't let anyone in or out."
"I don't care. I will force them to let me in. I'm coming." Gail started walking toward the exit, but noticed that Traci was blocking the door. Gail flashed her most violent scowl. "Traci, move."
"Not gonna happen, Peck." Traci put her hands on her hips.
Holly tried to get her wife's attention. "Gail, I called Traci so she would keep you from coming over here. I knew if I called you first, you'd be halfway here before I could get ahold of anyone to stop you. She isn't going to let you anywhere near the lab."
"Don't make me tackle you, Traci." Gail growled.
"Steve is outside. Even if you get through me, you still aren't going anywhere." Traci said with a measured tone.
Gail turned around and collapsed back onto the bench. Tears started to fill her eyes. "Holly. I need to come. I need to be with you."
"Honey, you can't. I know you're worried, but it's just a precaution. And you're pregnant, sweetheart. Even if they would let you in, you need to stay away. And you need to stay calm. Too much stress isn't good for you."
"You're under quarantine, Holly. There's no way I'm not going to be stressed about that." Gail said. "What do you think the victim died from?"
"There are a lot of possibilities, honey. I really don't want to guess."
"Don't make me google it, Holly. Ebola, plague? Tell me." Gail said firmly.
Holly sighed again. "Those are possibilities. But very, very rare possibilities."
Gail brought her hand up to her forehead. "Oh god."
"But sweetie, there are other, less deadly, possibilities that are far more likely. And even if it is something like that, that doesn't mean I contracted it. My exposure was very limited." She knew this would provide very little comfort, but she had to try.
"I don't want your exposure to something deadly to be limited. I want it to be zero, Holly." Gail felt the fear spreading through her chest as she thought about her wife getting sick. "I can't…you can't…" Her breaths were growing uneven.
Traci noticed and walked over to the bench. She sat down next to the panting blonde and put a hand on her back. "Gail. Take deep breaths."
"Sweetheart. I know this is scary, but the most likely outcome is that everything will be fine. There is no reason to panic." Holly was worried this would happen. Gail did not respond well when Holly's health or safety was even remotely in jeopardy.
Gail took some deep breaths, trying to control her emotions. "Holly," she said with a trembling voice. "I'm sorry about last night. If you want…"
Holly cut her off. "Honey, it's ok. We're ok. Let Traci and Steve take you home. They should have the test results in a couple of hours and I'll call you as soon as I know something." She wanted to say that she'd be home in no time, but she truly didn't know what the outcome would be. She didn't want to give her wife false comfort.
"You're not allowed to die, Holly. Do you understand me?" She was trying to sound fierce, but it just came out in barely distinguishable squeaks.
False comfort be damned. "I'm not going to die, honey. I have to feel the baby move, remember? Have you felt it today?"
"Yeah, a little. A couple of times." Even though she appreciated her wife's attempts to distract her, Gail couldn't focus on anything other than the current crisis. "Holly, I can't do this without you. I can't have a baby without you." Gail was starting to panic again.
"Gail, listen to me. You are not alone. I'm not going anywhere, ok? I'm right here. I know it's really hard not to panic, but just please trust me when I say that I'm not worried yet. It's very likely that I will be home with you in a few hours. Ok?"
Gail took a deep breath and held onto the fact that her wife, a doctor, wasn't worried yet. "Yeah, ok."
"Ok, just try to stay calm, sweetie." Holly really did not want Gail to have a panic attack over this.
"Mmhmm. I'll try." Gail was not very convincing.
"Ok, I'm going to go so Traci and Steve can get you home. But I love you and I'll talk to you soon, ok?"
"I love you too, Holly. So much."
After they exchanged a few more sentiments and said their goodbyes, Gail put her face in her hands. This couldn't be happening, not to Holly. Her wife was too good for something like this to happen. Gail wouldn't survive it if something happened. She couldn't survive a life without Holly.
"Hey, I know you're probably thinking the worst right now, but don't go there ok? Holly is going to be fine." Traci rubbed her hand up and down Gail's back.
Gail lifted her head and looked at Traci, tears still shining in her eyes. "She has to be ok, Trace. It's Holly."
"I know. She will be." Traci stood from the bench and grabbed Gail's elbow. "Let's get you home."
As they left the locker room, Traci said another prayer for the doctor. Because if something were to happen to Holly, she wasn't sure Gail would recover.
Another Author's Note: Sorry about the cliffhanger! Or am I? :)