AN: Thank you guys so much for the reviews so far! Here's another update, since I neglected this story over Christmas! Let me know what you think ;) Enjoy x


CHAPTER 28

"So that was interesting.." Said Gemma as she continued to drive them to their destination. Cate had been staring out of the window, her hands in fists resting on her lap. Slowly she uncurled her tense fingers and looked down at her palms, marks from her nails imprinted into the skin of her hands. "Haven't spoken about yesterday then?" she continued and Cate turned her head slightly to look sideways at the brunette.

"We spoke on the phone.. He told me he'd need to explain in person. I could hear music and shouting in the background.." Cate explained, turning her gaze back to her front where she looked out of the windscreen and the road they were travelling on. "Judging by the woman on his lap this morning, he was a little busy last night." She added, feeling the anger still bubbling away in the depths of her stomach. Really, she could do with a good run or a boxing session at the gym to release all of her negative energy; but it was out of the picture for now. "And there was me thinking maybe I was a little hard on him during our phone call.." Cate scoffed and shook her head, reaching up to sweep some hair out of her face. She couldn't believe she was second guessing herself, thinking that perhaps she should've given him the benefit of the doubt last night and believed him. She'd started thinking that she'd jumped to conclusions, but apparently not, since she'd seen him now with her own eyes in a compromising position with another woman.

"Well.. Men are idiots, sweetheart." Gemma concluded and Cate let out a short laugh.

"Tell me about it.." She grumbled and cast a glance at the mirror on the side of the car where she noticed the bikes following behind them. Looks like they were all heading there together. She didn't know how she'd manage if she had to be around Juice all day.

"Here we are." Gemma stated as they pulled into the parking lot of one of the local large parks where Cate noticed people were already there setting up stands. Once the car had pulled to a stop she opened the car door and climbed out, pushing it shut behind her where she then turned to observe her surroundings. With one hand on her hip, she lifted the other to shield her eyes from the sun; even with sunglasses on, the late morning sun was still incredibly bright and warm. "So, doc.. I thought I'd have you as our on-call first aid provider.." She heard Gemma from the back of the car and she turned around to face her. Gemma had a grin on her face and was holding a first aid bag.

"Thanks for the warning.." Cate teased and took a few steps towards the woman, where she reached out and retrieved the bag from the older woman. She looked down at it and twisted it in her hold. "It'll do.." Cate joked and pulled the strap over her shoulder, the bag resting against her hip. "You should've said and I'd of bought my one from home." Gemma shook her head and gave a gesture of her hand.

"It'll be better to save it, you never know when you'll need somethin' like that." Gemma stated, almost ominously, and Cate gave a slow nod of her head. It were almost as if she were insinuating that she would need it, even though it hadn't been used since she'd owned it.

"Sure.. Well, I'll go set myself up then." Cate laughed, since there wasn't much to set up. The contents would remain in the bag unless she needed them, so really, she didn't really have anything to be doing. The sound of engines rumbling filled her ears and a glance over her shoulder revealed that the men on their bikes were just pulling into the parking lot too, pulling up in a neat line of diagonally parked bikes, like a domino line of Harley's. She hadn't meant to, but her gaze fell upon Juice as he lifted his helmet from his head, his gaze catching her own. For a split second, she felt how she usually felt when she saw him, before she was mad at him. Butterflies briefly fluttered in her stomach and she felt as if he were staring right into her soul. However, seconds later the butterflies burnt away and the intense feeling of sickness from her anger replaced them. She felt as though her sunglasses were holding back intense red lazer beams and without them, she'd burn a hole into his chest. She dragged her gaze away and turned on her heel, following behind Gemma.

Cate helped prepare what she could but since there were so many of them, everything was set up in a reasonable amount of time and before she knew it, they were done and there was nothing left to be done. Now they had some time to relax before the locals started to make their way down. Cate had perched on the ground behind Gemma's chilli stall, her first aid pack sat on the grass down by her side. She'd been told that Gemma's chilli was the best and in all honesty, it smelt wonderful, and she made a mental note of getting around to trying some at some point in the afternoon. For now, she'd lost her appetite because of how her morning had started.. Her anger and the shock of what she'd witnessed had left her not wanting to do much. She sucked in a breath and let it out in a heavy sigh as she looked around at her surroundings. It was times like this when she was aware of how much of a social outcast she really was.. She didn't really know anybody and if she did recognise someone, she didn't really know them well enough to go up and spark random conversation. Maybe it was better that way.. It had been her norm for so long; maybe trying to change that was why everything was going so sour. She'd flipped at a woman and embarrassed herself in front of her colleagues, embarrassed herself in front of the garage workers, embarrassed herself in front of Gemma. Maybe it was better to just remain isolated?

"Ugh.." She grumbled and lowered herself onto her back so she was lying down, her arms resting on her stomach, knees bent up. She shut her eyes beneath her sunglasses and drew in a deep breath through her nose which she let out slowly, her skin cool since she'd situated herself in the shade of a tree.

"Cate?" A feminine voice captured her attention and she opened her eyes and tilted her head towards the sound. Through the sepia hue of her sunglasses, she spotted the older blonde woman she recognised to be Luanne.

"Oh, hey." Cate responded and sat back up but didn't bother to rise to her feet, since the blonde had taken a seat not far from where she was situated on the grass.

"I thought it might be you.. How have you been, sweetie?" She asked with a smile and Cate returned the gesture.

"I've been good thanks.. Enjoying some time away from the madness that is the hospital.." Cate joked, trying to seem like a normal woman and make some casual small talk, even if it was a lie.

"Oh I bet you are! I wanted to thank you actually.." Cate raised an eyebrow slightly. Thank her for what? "For taking care of my silly girl, Sandy.." Luanne continued and immediately answered Cate's internal questions. She'd totally forgotten about that incident.. Probably due to the fact that Juice had randomly shown up and distracted her.

"Oh.. Don't worry about it.. How's she doing?" Cate asked, not really massively interested since she wasn't technically her patient anymore and was in the hands of the obstetrics team, but it felt like the right and normal thing to do.

"Oh she's fine! She's right over there actually.." Luanne pointed over the pathway and down a bit, towards a little gathering of people. That's when Cate's gaze fell upon Juice, who was stood with the 'prospect' she'd seen at the hospital too, and were seemingly in conversation with the pregnant woman she'd treated. "She's decided to keep the baby.. I told her it was her own choice and I'd support her no matter what.." She barely registered what Luanne was saying, since she was fixed on the scene.

"Is she your daughter?" Cate asked, briefly glancing at Luanne before immediately returning her gaze back towards Juice and the young woman. It was then she found herself wondering something. Was it Juice's child? He'd appeared at the hospital with her and now here he was talking and laughing with the woman.

"Oh, lord no. But we're all one big family, sweetheart!" Luanne spoke and Cate simply gave a slow nod of her head in response to her words, not really paying a massive amount of attention. Sure, she was taking in the information, but she could've tried to appear more interested in the other woman.

"Is the father of the baby supportive?" Cate enquired. She looked back at Luanne now, but kept occasionally glancing over in the other direction. She wanted to appear interested as she subtly dug for information. She was good at doing it, she had to do it a lot with her hospital work.

"Oh, completely! He's right over there actually.." Cate felt her breath catch in her throat as Luanne gestured back towards where Sandy was stood with Juice and the others. "The handsome blonde.." Cate felt the tension in her body ease immediately.

"Oh thank God.." Cate breathed out with the breath that she'd been holding.

"What's that?" Luanne questioned and Cate's eyes widened beneath her glasses.

"Oh.. I just mean, thank God she has a good support system. It's really good to have." Cate explained, digging her way out of a potential hole. It seemed like the older woman was buying it too, since she smiled widely down at her.

"Oh I totally agree with you, darlin'.." Luanne agreed and Cate smiled a small smile at her. She turned her head and looked back over towards Juice who was now laughing, his cheeks dimpling which made her heart melt no matter how angry she felt. However, it was annoying to see him having such a blast when she was feeling rubbish about everything. How could he be so care free and laughing with other woman after the way she'd caught him this morning? She clenched her teeth and curled her fingers around some tufts of grass at her sides. It was then she spotted Wayne not too far from Juice, at a hot dog stand with some other officers; Hale included.

"Luanne, I'll be back in a minute.. I just need to go and see somebody.." Cate said as she pushed herself up to her feet and brushed some stray pieces of grass from her jeans before leaving Luanne to make her way down the path towards Wayne. She kept her head held high and as she neared Juice, she cast him a side glance and noticed him pause with what he was saying as he caught sight of her and seemed to stare at her, until she passed him and looked away from him. She wondered if he was still watching as she neared Wayne and the hot dog stand. Why did she care though? She felt this need to be noticed by him but she didn't understand why. "Hey Wayne.." Cate greeted the older gentleman as she reached him, a small smile present on her lips. He turned around and smiled in return.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you doin'?" He asked, holding a hot dog in his hand.

"Not too bad.. It's nice to see a familiar face though, I gotta say." She admitted, sounding very relieved. It was true. It was comforting to see somebody she knew well, even if the last time they had seen each other was when he hosted a mini meeting between her and her creepy psychiatrist.

"Who are you here with?" He asked kindly and she noticed him glance over her shoulder at someone. She didn't look but she wondered if he was taking a glance at Juice, wondering if she'd attended with him since he was now aware of them hanging out a few times.

"I came with Gemma.. I'm on first aid duty.." She laughed, nodding with her head towards the direction of the chilli stand.

"Gemma, eh? Well make sure she doesn't work you too hard, sweetheart." He had started off almost sceptical but ended with a joke. Cate smiled and gave a small shake of her head.

"Don't worry.. I'm sure I can handle some grazed knees and splinters in fingers." Cate joked, resulting in a laugh from Wayne. It was then she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket, alerting her of the fact that it was ringing. She reached back and pulled out her phone, looking down at the 'UNKNOWN' caller ID on her phone. She frowned slightly and looked over her shoulder towards Juice; he wasn't on his phone, and he'd caught her concerned gaze and returned it with a questioning one of his own which she ignored. "Sorry, Wayne.. I just need to get this.." Cate looked back down at her phone and then answered the call, bringing the phone up to her ear. Perhaps it was the hospital? "Doctor Phillips speaking.." She greeted in her professional phone voice. She was met with quiet. "Hello?" She repeated, rolling her eyes at the silence she was met with.

"Hecate?" Cate's expression suddenly dropped. Why was Ross calling her?