Holly walked into the bedroom rubbing lotion onto her arms, not fully paying attention to her surroundings until she reached the edge of her side of the bed. She paused, squinting her eyes, and looked back and forth from her side to Gail's. She tilted her head to the side and gave her girlfriend a sympathetic look. "Gail, honey, have you forgotten what side of the bed you sleep on?"

Gail couldn't quite tell if Holly was seriously asking and for a second it made her wonder as well – having a concussion was playing tricks with her head. She saw the slightly worried look on Holly face, again not sure if it was real or for play, and it reminded her why she laid there in the first place. It had been a long day and she was exhausted, but she really wanted to discuss Holly's nightmares. She had held off during dinner - still processing her mother's visit - and was content to curl-up on the sofa with Holly watching a movie afterwards, but now she knew this couldn't wait. Still she wanted to ease into the conversation, and bantering with her girlfriend was always a good way to start.

"No. I know perfectly well where I sleep. I get to hang off those three inches over there while you 'starfish' the rest of the bed."

Holly laughed and just nodded her head in confirmation, accepting the truth of the statement. In her defense usually some part of her - whether it be a linked hand or a hooked foot - was hanging onto Gail while they slept insuring she didn't actually fall off the bed. Based on their personalities, one would think Gail would take over the bed, but somehow that wasn't the way it worked out. They always started wrapped in each other's arms and typically even woke up that way, but Holly knew from Gail's many comments on the matter that at some point in the night she took over the bed. She had to take Gail's word for it because once she closed her eyes, she was out like a light until morning.

"Okay, so why are you on my side of the bed?" She then put her knee on the bed and gave that smug smirk she knew always made Gail smile and engage in rounds of banter. "Don't think you're going to try and get me to break doctor's orders. Even you, Officer Peck, can go an entire week without sex. If this is some new idea of yours to get me to cave into temptation it isn't going to work?"

Gail bit her lip trying to hide her grin and pointed her finger knowingly at her girlfriend. "A: I don't need new ideas, honey. B: It should be noted the doctor never actually said the word 'sex.' What he said was that I should refrain from physical activity. And C: It's you that couldn't go a week, not me. You must be climbing the walls over there with me looking so good lying here on your side of the bed."

Holly crawled onto the bed, and over Gail, hovering above her on hands and feet but not actually touching an inch of her girlfriend's body. She bent down, making sure she didn't put any of her weight onto Gail, and traced her tongue over Gail's lips then huskily whispered in her ear, "What we do in this bed, not to mention other places around this home, would most certainly be classified as physical." She lightly bit the lobe of Gail's ear and kissed a particularly sensitive spot on her neck before lifting her head to look at the blonde. The way Gail's eyes had clouded to a stormy blue aroused her to no end, but she tampered it. Instead she smirked, "And if that's a challenge, this could get very interesting, very quick."

Gail lifted her head off the pillow and grabbed Holly's shirt to pull her down and capture her in a kiss. Holly was taken too much by surprise to stop her and fell forward. The pleasure of the kiss only lasted a second before the pain from the weight on her ribs became too overwhelming. Gail couldn't stop herself from crying out.

"Ahh…sonnofabitch!"

Cats jumped slower than the way Holly did off Gail and onto the other side of the bed. She stayed close though laying on her side facing the blonde. "Oh god, Gail, are you okay? I can't believe….Dammit!"

Gail grabbed the duvet and pressed it over her face, biting at the material to keep from screaming. She could hear Holly telling her to take deep breaths, which personally sounded like the worst idea ever, but did so nonetheless and found it actually helped. After a few minutes she removed the blanket but kept her eyes closed continuing to concentrate on her breathing as the pain reached tolerable levels.

"Gail, I'm so sorry. We should go to the emergency room and get x-rays. I may have…"

"You did nothing. Holly, you did nothing. I'm okay; the pain is gone." They both knew the last comment was a bit of an exaggeration for Holly's benefit, but Holly let her have it.

"That was stupid. I could've really hurt you. Do you know easy it would be for your ribs to fully break? If that happened, it could…"

Gail reached over and put her hand on Holly's chest. "Stop. I'm not going to break. I shouldn't have pulled you down like that. I was being careless, but it's okay. I'm fine."

Holly rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. No matter how hard she tried to lift it, the stress of the week was weighing heavily on her and threatening to bury her.

Gail stared at her girlfriend watching the dark emotions circle above like falcons and pull her into whatever dark abyss she was allowing herself to fall. It had been months into their relationship before Gail really allowed herself to recognize how much she supported Holly. Mostly she believed it was the other way around and never saw herself as someone who could say the right words or push someone in the right direction. That was for other people – people more emotionally stable and open. She still didn't always get it right, but now she always tried knowing that was Holly wanted and what she wanted as well. She knew she couldn't go another night watching the woman she so desperately loves toss and turn in torment brought on by worry about her. She had to do something.

"Hey. Hol. Holly, look at me," she said softy. Her body constricted at seeing a tear silently fall down Holly's cheek as she shook her head no.

Gail took Holly's hand in her own placing them both on Gail's abdomen. She lifted her shirt and pushed Holly's hand up so it was lying on top of her cracked ribs, underneath her right breast, and kept her own hand above to keep Holly's in place.

"Do you feel that? It's not broken. Holly, I'm healing. I didn't die and I'm not going to break. I'm going to heal, but I need you to heal with me. Please look at me. Please let me help you."

Holly slowly turned on her side, keeping her hand under Gail's. She looked under her hand and saw the technicolor array of blues, green, and purples coloring the pale skin. She had seen it before, but had regarded it like a doctor would and not a significant other. She closed her eyes again and her lips trembled as she was reminded of the gut-wrenching fear she had felt in those minutes when she didn't know what had happened to the love of her life. In those minutes when both of their lives hung in the balance of life or death when Holly knew, without doubt, that a large part of her would have died on that field along with Gail.

Holly removed her hand and leaned over to lightly kiss the bruised skin allowing some of her tears to fall as if they could somehow fix the fractured bones underneath. She felt Gail's chest constrict as she took in a sharp breath and for a moment Holly thought she had hurt her. When she felt Gail's fingers dance through her hair she knew she hadn't. They had both needed this – needed this moment.

Gail trailed her fingers out of Holly's hair and down her cheek, lifting her chin away from her chest and up so Holly would lie back on her side. She pushed her shirt down and carefully turned on her right side so they could fully face one another. She wiped the wet tears off Holly's cheek with her thumb and then pushed her hair back behind her ear before resting her hand on Holly's arm.

"I'm lying on this side of the bed because the doctor told me I was supposed to sleep on my right side, which I have to say seems counter-intuitive to me but whatever. See, the last two nights I have laid in this bed awake from insomnia listening to you toss and turn and call out my name – and not in the way I typically prefer." Gail stopped and returned the brief grin Holly gave her and ran a finger down her cheek crossing the smiling lips before continuing. "I didn't wake you last night because I was bored. I woke you because I was worried about you. You were crying in your sleep."

Holly averted her eyes slightly and took in what Gail was saying. She had no recollection of this but knew Gail wouldn't make it up. "I don't remember…"

"I know. You haven't woken up. I wasn't facing you and I couldn't reach out and comfort you and that really bothered me so tonight I'm on your side of the bed so I can be here for you. Holly, I may have been the one thrown backwards from a bullet hitting my vest, but it hit us both. I heard your voicemail and I hear your cries at night. Talk to me. Please let me help you."

Holly bit her lip and reached up to take Gails' hand in her own. She quickly shook her head trying to push away all the fear and worry, but couldn't. She needed to let Gail help her.

"I was just so scared. I didn't know what was happening. RJ called me from the park and was giving me these little bits of information. I could hear the yelling and running in the background and then he told me a female police officer was involved in the shooting and I just lost it. I didn't know what to do or where to go."

"I wish I could change this part of my job. I wish I could take away that fear and I am sorry, so unbelievably sorry, you had to go through that. Holly, you have to know that you are more important than my job and I will leave it in a heartbeat, or happily go ride some desk for the next forty years, if it means you get to sleep soundly."

"I know and you have no idea how much that means to me. When we've talked about it before I've said I didn't want that and I still don't. I fell in love with you knowing who you are. Hell, the first time you kissed me was on a day you were shot at and I stayed then and I will always stay. Sometimes though the worry gets the best of me."

"I can't promise you this will never happen again and I can't promise that the next time it won't be worse. What I can promise you is that I will do everything, and I mean everything, in my power to make sure I walk through that door every single day. I will wear my vest into the shower if it eases your worry even a little."

Holly laughed through her tears and leaned forward giving Gail a quick peck on the lips. "That would really hamper our shower time…I love our shower time."

"Back away, Stewart, or all doctor's orders are getting thrown out the window. I'll see to it you sleep like a baby tonight out of pure exhaustion."

"I've got a few ideas of my own on how to cure your insomnia, Peck, but I think what happened a few minutes ago was enough to keep me in the nunnery for at least the next week if not two."

Gail scrunched her face in mock anger, "Oh, just shut your mouth right now about two weeks. Besides the nunnery would totally kick you out after three days. Maybe one if you ever showed them that thing you do with your tongue and nose when you…summmffff…"

Holly had put her hand over Gail's mouth stopping her from talking. "Cop, we really need to stop this now or I'm about to get extremely creative in how I touch you without ever touching you or you are going to get quite the show when I just reach under my side of this blanket and…"

This time it was Holly's mouth that was covered, but by Gail's mouth and not her hand. They laid there for quite a few minutes just kissing and casually making out both not letting anything get too out of control before Gail pulled back.

"We are so not lasting the rest of the week."

Holly tilted her head lost in thought before responding, "It's not necessarily the physical part…we could easily work that out." She then gave Gail a wicked smile, "It's the earth-shattering orgasms I give you that would probably hurt your ribs and head."

Gail just laughed. "You know, I can't even respond to that."

"Because it's true."

"Sure it is. I love you, you know that? …You geeky sex goddess."

Holly grinned, "Yea, I know. I love you too, Gail Peck, officer of the law."

Gail got serious again, "Hol, I think maybe you should talk to someone about what you're going through - someone who understands more than I can."

Holly knew how difficult it was for Gail to start going to therapy so she was careful to not dismiss the idea for fear it would offend her girlfriend. "Maybe I will. It's only been a few days. Talking with you about this…it helps. I just need some time."

"I know. I won't push, but I don't want you to have to do this alone either. You have me - you'll always have me - but some of this I won't be able to understand. I'll see it like a cop and that's not what you need. Look, I'm not saying you need to do a permanent rotation on my shrink's couch. That's only reserved for the lunatics like me. I'm just saying that there are people that go through what you do and it may be helpful to talk to them. Celery goes to a support group sometimes that is sponsored by the department. It's for the families of officers and meets every few weeks. Just think about it, okay?"

Holly thought about Gail's offer. It actually didn't sound like a bad idea. She prided herself on being strong and independent – on being a rock in their relationship, but she knew is she didn't get this worry reined in it would eat at her until it became a problem. She nodded her head against the pillow, "Okay, I'll call Celery and look into it."

"Thank you.

"So you and Oliver spent all day talking about me? Should I be worried or honored?"

"We didn't spend all day… We talked about a lot of things."

Gail and Holly both relaxed into their pillows, still facing each other, knowing that the more difficult discussions were over for now. Gail's leg naturally came forward and intermingled with Holly's. This is what they did. Every night they would lie close, almost nose-to-nose and talk about their day. It was their favorite time.

"Oh, yeah, what else did you two do to stay entertained? I saw the board games stacked on the table."

"Shaw's not as good as you. I kicked his ass."

"I bet you did."

"We did have one interesting chat that I need to talk to you about." Gail tapped Holly's hip a little in nervousness. After all they discussed, it probably wasn't the best time, but it was on her mind and she wanted to share.

Holly regarded the change in her girlfriend's expression and tried to figure out what Oliver may have said. She was lost. "Okay, what's going on."

"Oliver talked to Frank about making some changes in his career. He wants to apply to the next open staff sergeant position."

Holly smiled, still a bit confused. "That's great. Not sure how it involves us though."

"Well, he needs to get his numbers up. He made some kind of deal with Frank to do less training and a little more, I don't know, arresting. He wants me to join him."

"I'm not sure I know what that means."

"He asked me to be his partner for the next year or two. Stay in the 15th as an officer."

Holly took a second to think through what Gail was talking about. Whether Gail was in uniform or not didn't really change her level of worry, so that wasn't really an issue. She just wanted to make sure Gail made a decision best for her and not Oliver, her mother or anyone else.

"Well, you want to stay in the 15th. Of the options we've discussed, that has always been consistent. You've been leaning toward homicide though. Does this change that?"

Gail also took a moment to ponder the question. "I work well with Callaghan. I assume that's why he put me on his list, but I don't know… I feel like I still have a lot to learn. These last few years have had their ups and downs and I've made mistakes."

"You've also done incredible work, Gail. Don't forget that."

Gail lifted their linked hands and kissed Holly's before setting them both down in between them. "Thank you. I just…I think I would be a better detective someday if took the time now to learn more as an officer. Plus, it's Oliver. I can't imagine a better partner."

"Sounds like you know what you want to do."

"If staying in uniform…"

"No. Gail, do it. I'm here. I'll worry, but you could be a baker and I would worry the ovens would explode. We'll work through it."

Gail chuckled, "I never thought, five years ago, I would actually be choosing to stay a beat cop."

Holly grinned, "And did you think five years ago you would by lying in bed with a woman?"

Gail's head bent back in laughter, "Nah, I guess I'm just full of surprises, aren't I? You know I wouldn't change any of it though. I wish some of it had been easier with a lot less tears and drunken nights, but if it meant getting here, with you, then I would do it all over again. I love it here, with you..." Gail winked at Holly, "...my woman."

Holly lovingly looked into the blue eyes staring back at her. The clouds had shifted and moonlight was peeking through the curtains casting a soft light over Gail's face. In all the time she had known and loved the woman next to her, she couldn't recall ever seeing her quite this beautiful. It almost took her breath away. Tonight she was holding the hand of a woman that had found peace; had found a future in their love and Holly couldn't imagine spending even a second of her life not connected to this maddening, funny, smart, beautiful woman that challenged, mystified and filled her with more love and passion than she ever though possible. Before she could even process what she was saying the words were out.

"Marry me?"

Gail squeezed Holly's hand and scanned her face briefly for any signs of regret or surprise in the question she just asked. What she saw instead was hope. She didn't need time to think about her response. It was the easiest thing she had ever answered.

"Yes."

"Yes?" Despite questioning Gail, Holly was already forming a huge grin.

"Are you questioning my response? Should I have not said that? I can take it back!" Gail sounded exasperated but her grin equaling Holly's gave her away.

"Don't you dare!"

"Maybe I will. Maybe I'll ask you instead."

Holly just laughed. "I asked you first. You'll never get that prize, Cop."

Gail leaned forward and kissed Holly soundly. "You are the prize, Nerd."

"I love you. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love another person. Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. I can't wait to be yours."

Gail mouthed 'ditto' back and closed her eyes allowing the tears to fall. A year ago she was lost, waking up in the middle of the night to nightmares of being held captive in a cold, dark place, and trying to make a relationship work on the idea of love instead of the actuality of it. Tonight she was lying in bed next to a woman that brought her more joy than she had known was possible. Her family was trying to repair itself; her friends were all finding their way and doing it together; she had a clear vision for her job and most importantly she had a future waiting for her with Holly – with her fiancé.

There would be bad days – arguments and moments when the job caused more sleepless nights. There would be extraordinary days too – weddings and children; holidays and making love under the stars and moonlight. For every day there would another and that is why Gail knew it would be so easy to say yes. Because a day spent with Holly would always get to end holding each other, talking about their day, and kissing one another good night and that made it all worth it.

Good night, Holly and Gail.

A/N: I hate to say this, I really do, but this story is now complete. I know there is more to write in this world, but I haven't found all the words yet and I don't want to leave anyone hanging, so I am completing it. Maybe in a while I will unlock this part of my imagination again and take you all on another journey, but not today. I cannot thank you enough for joining me on this one. I appreciate every read, favorite, follow and review more than you could know. Please consider writing something about this one last time. I would love to know your thoughts - whether they be a favorite or least favorite moment, chapter or plot point. All feedback inspires and you all have truly inspired me. Regards, thelittlerat