Thanks for the reviews...now for Lilly's part. Hope you enjoy, I promise it is building up to...something! Although how that "something" is revealed is giving me a headache at the moment...
Disclaimer: Don't own Cold Case, but as of today I own a huge amount of embarrassment as I got locked in the gym and had to run into the foyer, shouting, wrapped in only a towel when the lights went out! Not sure if I'm going to be able look the gym manager in the eye from now on...
Lilly Rush didn't have much to thank her mother for. There had been the time they had played in the snow together before Christina was born and her father was still around, the times when her mother had read The Velveteen Rabbit to her, and the red bike that had mysteriously appeared on their porch one Christmas Day morning, but she had never been more grateful to her mother than she was at this precise moment.
Granted a phone call from the hospital informing Lilly that her mother had been admitted to the hospital, unconscious no less, should not be a reason for her to be grateful. But it meant that she didn't have to deal with... whatever the hell had just happened in the conference room between her and Scotty. Right now, all she had to do was get to the hospital, speak to the doctor and get the usual spiel about what to expect after someone has had their stomach pumped, wait for her mother to wake up, then make sure she was discharged and put safely in a taxis to whenever the hell it was her mother was currently living. For that distraction Lilly would be forever grateful.
So frantic was she to get away from Scotty, to get away from that conference and to get away from the damn hotel, that even in her 7 month pregnant state she managed to run out of the hotel all the way to her car, completely oblivious to the strange looks she was getting and the festivities going on around her.
Lilly Rush was stunned. Upon arriving at the hospital she had promptly been shown into a secluded waiting area to wait for the doctor. Lilly knew what the secluded waiting area meant, she had been a cop for 15 years after all, and she started to pace frantically wondering exactly what had happpened to her mother. The secluded waiting areas were always used to deliver bad news, and strangely the thought that her mother was seriously ill, or even dead, did not sit well with her. She had been practically estranged from her mother since she was 19 years old, ever since she had rode off with her first boyfriend, Ray, on his motorcycle. But she always knew her mother was, well, there. The thought that she might not be made Lilly feel uneasy. However much she hated her mother for putting her through what she did when she was a kid, however much she blamed her for stealing her childhood and for her attack, at the end of the day, she was still her mother, the only parent she had really known, and a tiny part of Lilly loved her. Maybe it was because she was about to have a child, maybe it was because her pregnancy meant all her hormones were out of sync, all Lilly knew was that at that moment she just really wanted her Mum to be ok.
Not ten minutes later Doctor Patel arrived and delivered some news that she never expected to receive. This was not a normal hospital visit for her mother, no, this time her mother had gone and got herself in serious trouble. The years of drinking had finally taken their toll on her body and she had been diagnosed with end-stage cirrhosis of the liver. If her mother drank again she would die.
So here she sat in her mother's hospital room waiting for Ellen Rush to wake up so that she could deliver the earth-shattering news to her mother, news Doctor Patel had said would be better delivered by someone close to his patient. News that she was 99% sure her mother would completely ignore. She supposed she made quite a funny sight, sat in a hospital room at 3am at 7 months pregnant in her long ball gown glaring at the woman who had given her life like a moody teenager. At least one of the nurses had been kind enough to find her a padded chair, although she could hardly say it was comfortable especially given the restricted clothing she was currently wearing.
Lilly looked over at her mother and wondered if there really was anything wrong with her. From where she sat her mother looked like she normally did - same pale complexion, same deep lines caused by her alcoholism, same peacefully expression she had whenever she passed out after drinking the pain she evidently felt into oblivion. However, she had seen the blood test results and the ultrasound and she knew that if she turned on the lights her mother's pale skin would have a yellow tinge. Whether she liked it or not, her mother was in fact dying.
After all these years without her mother in her life, having lived a childhood full of neglect at her mother's hands, the news that her mother's life was coming to an end still shocked her and she was filled her with sadness and a nagging sense of responsibility as it became evident that Ellen Rush could no longer look after herself, and as the only daughter around, Lilly was going to have to take on the responsibility of looking after her mother in her final days.
Ever since Lilly had turned 18 she had been self-sufficient, sometimes working 3 jobs just to get by before she got accepted at the Police Academy, so having her mother live with her, having to suffer through the endless battle of trying to get her to stop drinking, of trying to find all the hiding places her mother would use to hide the alcohol she would no doubt smuggle into her house, filled Lilly with dread. She was 7 months pregnant! She was supposed to be relaxing, nesting, decorating her baby's room, enjoying the last few weeks before Bean came into her life. Now though, now she was going to be worrying about her mother, nursing her and making sure the end of her life was comfortable, because no matter how badly Ellen Rush had screwed up as a mother, there was no way Lilly Rush was going to let her mother suffer the way she had. She had too much pride for that.
Reaching into her bag to see if she had any change for the vending machine, she automatically checked her phone and was disturbed to see she had 7 missed calls. Quickly flipping open her phone, her heart fell into her stomach as she realised they were all from Scotty. With all that had been going on she had managed to put the incident in the conference room into the back of her mind, instead focusing her attention on her mother's current state.
Part of her wished Scotty was here, he always made things seem...better...somehow. She let her mind drift back over the past 7 months, from their night of passion, to the night she had told him she was pregnant. She remembered how he had come back after initially running away and refused to leave her doorstep until she let him in. She would never forget the speech that followed and he had stuck to his word, exceeded it really. He'd made lunch for her everyday and taught her how to cook, been at every doctor's appointment and become a walking fountain of knowledge on anything pregnancy related. He'd cleaned her house to her specification, done some gardening, brought her food, changed the litter trays and somewhat bonded with Olivia and Tripod. Hell, he had helped her more in the last 5 months than any of her previous fiancé/boyfriends in the past 20+ years of her life!
She remembered how he'd cared for her in her week of morning sickness and put up with her frequent mood swings, mood swings that prior to her pregnancy she thought were just excuses pregnant women made up. She fondly recalled her 12 week scan and the tears she had seen in Scotty's eyes at his first glimpse of Bean. Afterwards he had insisted on being in Stillman's office with her as she'd told Boss about their situation, and even though she suspected that Boss, Will and Nick, had all had "words" with Scotty, he never let her know what was said or the pressure he was under.
She remembered their first shopping trip together to buy maternity clothes and how she had been surprised at his eye for fashion, getting her to try on things she never normally would have. He had insisted on carrying every bag that day and she was sure he wouldn't be able to move his arms for a week afterwards, not once had he complained though.
He had comforted her through her bump envy when it took her a long time to "pop". He'd done his best to handle his parents disapproval when they had first met and she loved how involved he wanted to be in Bean's life already, making sure he spent every moment that he could talking to Bean or rubbing her stomach so that the baby would get to know his touch. He'd insisted on paying half of everything for Bean too.
She could see the positive effect that Bean was having on Scotty's life already. When they had been interviewed by IAB she was sure that Scotty would end up punching Browne once he found out their history, but somehow he had refrained from doing so because he already loved Bean so much and that touched her deeply.
She remembered how she had told him about her attack at Thanksgiving and how he had simply listened to her and reassured her when her self-doubt had gotten the better of her. When they were giving thanks during dinner she would never forget Scotty saying how thankful he was that Bean was in his life and how thankful he was to now have a family of his own. In private he had told her how grateful he was that she let him be involved as much as he was and how Bean had helped heal some of the pain Elisa had caused. That admission along with the pain in his eyes had melted her heart.
She thought back to the day the team had received the invitation to the Christmas Ball and how he had agreed to be her date, no questions asked. Granted, she had pretty much demanded that he come, but he hadn't complained once. She recalled tonight itself and how he had helped her with her shoes even though he still had to finish tying his bow tie.
Then her mind drifted to the spa and her conversation with Sarah. Erotic dreams were apparently a part of pregnancy, but why did her dreams always feature Scotty? Was tonight purely as a result of the pent up sexual frustration she had been experiencing?
She couldn't deny that her and Scotty's relationship had grown over the recent months. She could talk to him and she knew it wouldn't be repeated, he wouldn't judge or ridicule her, he would just try and help her. She loved the banter they had and she missed him when he wasn't around, she missed his laugh, his smile, his masculine scent. The house was just so quiet and empty without him around and she often thought about calling him and inviting him over, but she didn't want to impose on his life more than she already was.
Being grateful to her partner for having her back and being there for her was one thing, but there was no excuse for the way she had acted tonight. She couldn't believe she had hit Scotty, but what he had said had hurt her deeply. She would never cheat on anyone.
WHOA! Where had that come from? Her and Scotty weren't together, she hadn't cheated on him. She had every right to dance with Kite and not be dragged across the ballroom just because her work partner was jealous. Hell, she had could have kissed Kite on the dance floor and it shouldn't have bothered Scotty in the slightest because he was just her partner, her friend. Well, maybe her best friend of recent, but she and Scotty weren't together and she didn't...
CRAP!
She did.
She liked Scotty Valens.
Reluctantly she had to admit, that no, tonight's make out session had not occurred purely due to her pregnancy hormones. She had wanted Scotty to kiss her, part of her had been thrilled by his possessiveness, his anger, his jealousy. The intensity hadn't scared her like it normally did because she trusted Scotty, she knew he would never intentionally hurt her, either physically or emotionally, and she knew that if he saw the bruises that had started to form on her arms he would never forgive himself. He had more than proved that he was going to stick around for her and Bean in the past few months and for once that didn't scare her.
How had this happened?
But if she was not mistaken, it was Scotty that had initiated the kiss, Scotty who had lifted her leg onto his waist, Scotty who had pushed his hips forward into her pelvis making her wetter than she ever thought possible. What did that mean? Why had he acted in such a carnal way tonight? Did he feel the same way she did?
Lilly nearly jumped out of her skin as the phone in her hand stated to vibrate again. Checking the caller ID she realised it was Scotty and a wave of panic washed over her.
She couldn't speak to him now! Not with the way her mind was whirling and the direction her thoughts were going in!
Breathing a sigh of relief as her phoned stopped vibrating, she thought about what she could do. She couldn't face Scotty, not yet. Next weekend was Christmas and she knew that Scotty was off the week between Christmas and New Years, if she could somehow manage to avoid him this week then maybe it would give her enough time to figure out exactly what she felt for Scotty Valens.
Glancing over at her mother a plan formed in her head. It did mean she would have to do something that she never thought she would have to do, but given the circumstances she was willing to do it. Flipping over her mobile phone once again she typed in the familiar number and waited for the recipient to pick up.
"Hi Boss, it's Lilly"...
"Lilly! Is everything ok? Is Bean alright?" John asked sleepily, although panic was evident in his voice. It was only then that Lilly realised that she was calling her boss at 3am on a Sunday morning.
"Yes, Bean and I are fine. It's my Mum, she's...in the hospital. She's sick."
"Is there anything I can do?" John replied with concern, the sleepiness having completely disappeared from his voice.
"Boss, I need to take some lost hours..."
Will try and update before Christmas, but if there's nothing posted on here by Friday there probably won't be another update until after Christmas as I'm stuck at my parents house until Boxing Day. :-( So, in case I don't get chance, Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you all have a great long weekend. I have Friday off too so no work for me for 5 days! Whoop whoop! Although I do have my appraisal on Tuesday so there could be no work for me after Tuesday depending on how things go...