Here is a little story I thought up after talking to cute-little-ali-cat and seeing her headcannons, questions and musings post about Michael and Lindsay. I hope you're ok with me running with that post and inserting some of the great stuff that you wrote down about them both.
It's a cute story of them with a valentine's day twist. A little bit of hurt Lindsay and Dryden taking care of her. Honestly, I feel like my headcannons change every second but enjoy the story. Also, I know that this isn't what Crime Audit do but the story I needed to slightly change it as the story needed some action. I think this is the longest one shot that I've wrote in my who life and it took me around 10 days in all so enjoy it.
The clock on the bedside table read 08:32. The morning glow from the sun filled the hotel room with light. The couple on the bed didn't care for the rising sun, didn't care about the minutes on the clock ticking by, didn't care that they were wasting time by lying there together. They were just glad to be enjoying the company of each other. The only time they ever really got together. Both cuddled up together making this most of the moment.
Lindsay ran her hand along Dryden's chest, her fingers gently grazing up his neck and then down his body. Her head nestled in the crook of his neck as she did so. "I need a to grab a shower before work." "Do you need to? Can't you just here for a while longer." Lindsay whined as she pouted and made sad eyes Michaels's hand lightly gripped Lindsay's chin. "As much as I would like to stay here with you, we do have work in half an hour, and you need to get changed." His hand dropped from her face. "I'm going for a shower." He turned and got up from the bed. Still naked from the previous night activities. His clothes littered the ground. "Can I join you? Please?" This made Dryden laugh. He turned to face Lindsay. "If you join me you know that showering won't be the first thing on my mind." Lindsay sat up in bed. The white hotel sheets covering her naked body. "Maybe that's a good thing." Michael turned back and crossed the floor to the bathroom. "Get ready Lindsay."
Lindsay dropped back onto the bed. A smile on her face. Thinking about the view that was just before her and the activities of the night before. Thinking about getting ready, Lindsay turned her body and planted her feet on the floor, except it wasn't the floor she felt, it was Michael's trousers from the day before. Picking them up in an effort to fold them and stop them from having more creases, Lindsay felt something small and heavy in the pocket. She was confused. Looking up to see if Michael was around, she found that the door to the bathroom for still tightly closed. Sticking her hand into the pocket she found a box and on taking it out she could make out a jeweller's name on the top. She wondered, had she just spoiled a big surprise. "Might as well open it now since I've gotten this far." Lindsay thought to herself. She tightly gripped the box and opened the lid. To her surprise she found a necklace nestled inside. The pendant was a bird, a swallow specifically. Which symbolized loyalty, freedom and hope the note on the inside said. She gently closed the lid, and put it back in his trouser pocket, and put his trousers back where she had found them. Thinking to herself if she should tell him and let the secret slip.
Lindsay was dressed and doing her make up in the mirror by the time Dryden came out of the shower. He was dressed in a white buttoned shirt and smart trousers as he came out of the bathroom. As he walked across the room towards the bed Michael did up his cuff buttons. He sat down on the edge and pulled his smart work shoes towards himself and put them on, quickly doing up the laces. He bent down and picked up the trousers he wore yesterday to put in his bag and heard a thud. The necklace that he was going to give Helen, to make up for the fact that he wasn't going to go with her to see her sister had dropped from the pocket. He had forgotten he had put it in there but then again, he had also mistaken the day that she was leaving and had forgotten to give her that too. "What did you drop?" Lindsay voice said from the other side of the room. Looking at him in the mirror as she said. He only had one option and picked it up. "I got you something, but I was so excited to see you yesterday I forgot to give you it." He walked across the room towards Lindsay. "Open your hands, close your eyes." She did so. Making it seem that she didn't already know what he was going to give her. He placed the box in the palm of her hands. "You can open them." She did so and lifted the lid, expecting the necklace that she had already saw. "Oh, Michael I love it. It's beautiful." She smiles brightly. "Could you put it on me?" "Of course." he replied. She grasped her hair with her two hands and lifted it up so he could access her neck. Michael undid the claps of the necklace and placed it around her neck, closing it after he did so. Lindsay let her hair drop and took the necklace between her fingers. "Thank you." She said as she looked at him again in the mirror. She turned around in her chair and then stood up so that she was facing him. She leaned in to kiss him and he reciprocated. Michael lifted a hand and stroked Lindsay's face. "I need to go." "Oh ok." Lindsay sat back down on the seat. She watched Michael quickly pack his belongings and when he got to the bedside table he stopped. Michael took out his wallet, pulled £80 from the back of it and dropped it down. "That's for the room. I'll see you at work. Thanks for last night it was great. You should be quick your shift starts in 10. I've heard the boss might be mad if your late and you'll need to make it up to him." Michael laughed at his joke. "Well you can tell him I'll do everything I can to make him feel better." Lindsay said. She smiled at him. "I need to go. Bye Lindsay." "Bye Michael. She told him as he left the room and the door shut behind him, leaving her alone. She turned back around. Put her make up away, tidied her belongings and the hotel room and quickly left behind him thinking that she'll need to leave her belongings in her car boot for her shift today as she didn't have time to go home.
Lindsay could see that Michael had already started the team briefing by the time she got into the office. "And so that's when the armed response team will." Michael stopped his sentence when he saw Lindsay enter. "Great Lindsay, glad to see you could make it." She dropped her bag on the floor at her desk and took her jacket off. "Sorry sir, traffic was murder." She grabbed a notepad and pen and walked towards the board, taking a spot beside one of her colleagues. "Go in and then we'll follow. It's a big place, so, I want mostly everyone downstairs collecting and cataloguing items. I want Sophia, Margaret and Lindsay upstairs in the offices. I want you all to take and box each when you go up and split up, take an office each and take all the files from the cabinets. This should make it quicker. Leave no stone unturned. We must find out where else they are storing it. Thanks everyone." Michael said. "Get ready to leave. We go in ten." The team started to disperse. Most leaving with notes and exiting the room to get their vests from the locker room. "Lindsay can I see you?" Michael shouted over the noise. "I need to catch you up on what you missed." As her colleagues excited the room in one direction Lindsay followed Michael into his office in the opposite direction. "I thought I told you explicitly this morning not to be late." "Sorry, sir, you didn't leave me with a lot of time this morning and I wanted to make sure that I looked good for you." "Lindsay, you look great whatever you wear and even when you're wearing nothing at all." Lindsay smiled, bit her lip, looked down and blushed. Dryden loved the reaction from her." "You're upfront with me. Ailee and Jason are leading the others. Firearms are going in first just to make sure that it's clear, but it shouldn't be a problem. We've been surveilling them for a while and they're never around during the day. I think that's all. You better get ready, we leave soon." Lindsay nods and leaves the room back into the main office. Her teammates had returned and were just waiting for their boss to return. Lindsay crossed the office, grabbed the vest off the back of her chair and put it on. Michael followed a few moments later, closing his office door behind him. "We ready to go?" He asked his team. They all nodded in response. "Then let's go." They followed Michael out towards their waiting cars. Ready to start the task they had been given.
Lindsay looked out of the passenger side window, through the grey metal fencing towards the warehouse. "No movement." She spoke into her radio. "Let's hope it stays that way." Came a response from the car behind her. Lindsay felt uncomfortable, kind of like sitting ducks waiting until armed response finally arrived. "T-minus 2 minutes." A voice came from the radio. It felt like the longest 2 minutes of her life. She was glad when armed response finally drove by them in their van. Their team had been watching this crew for months and it was finally their chance to get them. Everything was resting on these moments. Dryden started the car and followed them in. The other cars in their convoy got on their tails. Pulling into the carpark, they found the van empty and the warehouse open, the AFO's busy at work. The team leader standing outside. "How does it look?" Michael asked. "Looks clean from our first sweep but we'll stick around just in case the show up." Dryden tapped the AFO on the shoulder. "Thanks James. Right guys let's go in." He shouted to his team. They followed Michael into the warehouse, boxes at the ready, hoping to collect the evidence they came here for. "Right guys, do you all remember your positions, now get to work." The team dispersed further into the warehouse and started to shift through and bag up the hundred pieces of evidence that they were just discovering. Clattering of metal erupted throughout the warehouse. Michael looked up towards the stairs to see to see 2 AFO's coming down decked out in their gear. "All clear Sir." Good. Thanks." Michael replied. "Right, you can go upstairs, take a room each and grab everything you can. Even if it doesn't look important, we want them to be surprised when they come back to find that there is nothing left." The girls left Michael and went upstairs, Lindsay following close behind the other two.
When Sophia pushed open the door it revealed a long narrow corridor with offices on both sides. "I'll start in this one." Margaret said pointing to the office directly to her right as she came in. "I'll be in the one right beside you." Sophia stated. "I'll start at the other end and work backwards." Everyone nodded in agreement and got to work. Lindsay pushed opened the door to see a non-descript office. The only thing of life in the room was the dead plant shoved in the corner. Lindsay entered the room and closed the door behind her. She placed the cardboard box on the table located in the middle of the room and walked towards the filing cabinet. Finding the bottom drawer empty she opened the one above. Scrolling through the drawer she found numerous files relating to finances, payrolls, payslips. She had hit the jackpot! She scooped as many files into her hands as she could and was about to transfer them into the carboard box when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She turned around and looked up to see something she hadn't been expecting. A man of average build wearing dark clothes, black boots and a black balaclava descending from the ceiling. She looked at him, he looked at her as they both locked eyes. It felt like a century but was only mere seconds. He let go from the roof and dropped onto the table with a thump. As quick as he arrived, he left. Jumping from the table, towards the open door. Lindsay dropped the files from her hands and quickly chased after him, she was only a few steps behind him when he swung the office door behind him, Lindsay between the door and the frame as he did so. Everything felt slowed down but she still couldn't stop it in time. The door swung heavy and fast towards her, making contact and striking her in the head. She dropped to the floor. Her vision going black as she fell into the corridor. Wishing she could shout, willing for her body to move, wishing for someone to find her soon.
Heavy running footsteps could be heard from all around the warehouse. Michael looked up from where he was standing with a DC to see the dark clothes figure making his way furiously down the metal stairs. Pushing his way through some of his female colleagues when he got to the bottom and out the open door at the end. "Someone grab him." Michael shouted. Two AFO's took his direction and took off quickly after the assailant. "Lindsay" Dryden said quietly to himself. He remembered that she was the only one left upstairs. Margaret and Sophia were fine. He could see them in his eyeline. Emotionally shaken as anyone would be after being brutally shoved out of the way. His team certainly were but Lindsay was the only one he couldn't account for. He broke into a run, turning at the bottom of the stairs and climbing them as quickly as he could. When he opened the door at the top, he made out Lindsay. She was lying on the carpet, arms outstretched, blood pooling around her head. It tugged at his heart strings. A tear entered his eye and as quickly as it entered, he wiped it away. He had to be professional in this moment but how could he when his love was lying there broken. He rushed over. "Lindsay." he whispered. He put his fingers to her neck to check for a pulse. It was faint. "Lindsay." He called again. Lindsay made a small groan. The door opened behind Michael and he quickly turned around to see Sophia standing there. "Phone for an Ambulance." She turned and as quickly as she arrived, she was off again. "Lindsay, can you hear me?" He brushed the hair that had fallen into her face. "Michael, is that you?" Her voice was weak. She sounded scared. It hurt him to see her like this, but he had to be strong for her. "Yes, Lindsay. It's me. I'm here. Don't move the ambulance is on its way." "My head hurts." "I know, baby. Just hang on. They will be here soon."
When the paramedics arrived, they left the ambulance in the car park and were shown straight up to the office. There they found Lindsay sitting against a door frame, tissues to her head. "Hi, we got a call about a head injury." The paramedic said aloud. "Yeah, I told her not to move but she was persistent." Michael replied. The paramedic bent down and placed her bag beside Lindsay. "I'm just going to have a look, ok?" The paramedic careful peeled back to tissue that Lindsay had been holding to her head and examined the wound. Lindsay winced in pain as she prodded the deep gash running along her hairline. The paramedic took her gloves off. "You will need to go to the hospital. That is going to need stitches and you may need an MRI just to rule out any debris in the wound." The paramedic took some gauze of her bag. "Lindsay, I'm going to give you this to hold to the wound just to stem the bleeding, but we'll wrap it up in the ambulance before we go. Are you ok to stand, or do I need to get the stretcher?" She asked. "No, I'm ok. I can walk." Lindsay moved from a sitting position on the floor and took her time in getting up due to her left hand pressed on her wound. Michael gently grasped a Lindsay's other arm and helped to pull her up. He kept his arms linked in hers as he guided her down the corridor towards the stairs. When the got to the top, Lindsay could feel her knees go weak. Michael caught her in time and lifted her back up, slowly rubbing the bottom of her back with his left hand to calm her down. "Hey, don't worry I've got you." Michael whispered in her ear as he looked into her eyes, she looked back into his and replied softly "Thank you." He kept her close as the continued to walk down the stairs one paramedic in front and one behind, Michael beside her all the way down making her feel safe. When they got to the bottom, Michael let go of her arm. "Go to the ambulance Lindsay, I'll be coming with you I just need to sort this out first." Lindsay nodded and the paramedic guided her towards the ambulance. Michael walked over to Jason, who was standing away from his colleagues who had gathered in a group to watch Lindsay being taken away. "You're in charge now, ok? After you've finished, I want all of this taken back to the office and placed into evidence. Have they found him?" "No, sorry sir. He got away. The AFO's are on the way back." Michael took in the information. He stepped back and got his officers attention. "Right guys, from now on I want everyone with an AFO when you're searching, I don't want anything like this happening again." His colleagues nodded as they got back to work. Michael turned back to Jason. "I'll be at the hospital if you need me." Michael ran off to join Lindsay in the ambulance.
The paramedic helped Lindsay into the ambulance and onto the stretcher. "I'm just going to change your padding and then bandage you up." Lindsay let her left-hand drop from where she was holding her wound and the paramedic got some new gauze from the cupboard and started to wrap Lindsay's wound. "How would you rate your pain on a scale of one to ten?" She asked. "About an 8." Lindsay replied. "That's quite high, I'll insert an IV and administer some morphine. That will help with the pain. Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" Lindsay looked down to where she was lying on the bed and thought of that morning and every other time she had been with Michael. "No. I'm not." She said as she shook her head. "That's good, I'll just start prepping and then I'll get started." There was a knock on the back door of the ambulance and the paramedic looked round from where she was standing beside Lindsay. "Can I come in?" Michael asked. "Yeah, come on up. We are just about to get ready to leave." The paramedic finished putting the IV in and Michael slid in and sat on a seat across from Lindsay. "That's us done. I'll just go close the doors." The paramedic slipped away and Lindsay turned to face Michael and gave him a small smile. He smiled back and grasped her hand and pulled it towards him, trying not to disturb or bring pain to her. He brought it up to his mouth and gave her knuckles a kiss. The paramedic shut the doors with a bang and the ambulance started to move.
When they arrived at the hospital the paramedic opened the door towards a wheelchair and a nurse waiting beside it for her arrival. Lindsay was helped out by the paramedic and placed into the seat. She was wheeled from there through the A&E waiting room, Michael following close behind towards a door at the other end of the corridor. "Sorry sir, you'll need to wait here. I'll come and get you when she's ready." Michael stopped and watched Lindsay be pushed through the double doors hoping that he would see her again soon. The nurse continued to push her through towards the x-ray department and pushed the brakes on. "The radiologist will see you in a few minutes and then I will be back to pick you up." The nurse then left leaving Lindsay sitting on her own in the corridor. About half an hour later the door beside her opened and she watched as a girl on a trolley was wheeled out with a team of people around her. It made her frightened, the radiologist came out not soon after and whisked her in. "Hi Lindsay, good to see you. What we will be doing today is just taking a few pictures of your brain to see if you have any debris from your incident and then you'll be sent to be stitched up. That seem ok?" Lindsay nodded. "Good what I'll need you to do is empty your pockets and then lie down on that bed." Lindsay put her hands inside her pockets to see if she had anything inside them realising that she had left everything she might have needed in her handbag at work. She then sat on the table and let the doctors get to work.
30 minutes she was back outside and being wheeled towards a side room in A&E. When they got there the nurse stopped the wheelchair outside the door. "If you could just sit on the bed in there Lindsay, I'm going to get a doctor to have a look at your head. The door shut behind her leaving her alone for the meantime with nothing to do but watch the clock. The door opened and a doctor entered the room. "Hi, Lindsay I hear you got into a fight with a door." Lindsay laughed. "Yeah, I came off worse." "Yeah, I heard. I've been having a look at the scans the radiologist sent me and there is no debris left, which is good, and I will be stitching you up and sending you on your way. That sound good." Lindsay nodded again. "What I will be doing is cleaning around it with some wipes, numbing it with an injection and then stitching it up. Are you afraid of needles Lindsay?" "No, I'm not." Was Lindsay's reply. The doctor got to cleaning when there was a knock at the door. "Come in." was shouted and Michael peaked his head around the corner. "How is it looking?" He asked. "I'll survive to fight another day." Michael took a chair opposite Lindsay. "That's good I can't have my best officer down." The doctor prepared the needle and then inserted it into Lindsay head. Lindsay winced. Michael gasped. A knock again at the door. Lindsay made out of the corner of her eye an officer standing in ceremonial dress. She looked up at his face. It was the DCC. Michael stood up and left the room. "I'll be back in a minute." He called.
"How is she?" DCC George Marsden asked Michael as he stepped out the room. "Good sir, she's getting stitched up just now." "Good, that's good. Your team has finished. Everyone is back at HQ. I heard what happened so I thought I would come down and here how she was doing and drop your car back off to you. Here are the keys." Michael opened his palm and George dropped them into it. "She doesn't come back until Monday. Tell her to rest and that she will be on desk duty when she comes back. Just until her head heals." "No problem sir, I can do that." The DCC left and Michael returned back into the room. "What did he want?" Lindsay asked. "Just if you're doing ok. The team is finished and I've to take you home once you're done here." "That will be soon." The doctor said as she finished of wrapping Lindsay's stitches. "I going to go get your painkiller prescription and your discharge letter but what I need you to do is try to keep your stitches dry for the next couple of days. If you are thinking of washing your hair due to some of the blood that's dried in it, I suggest using a wetting it with your fingers and just using water around the wound. You can use shampoo everywhere else. What I do need to ask though Lindsay is do you have someone to look after you for the next few days?" On hearing this question Michael replied "Yes, she does." "That's good. You'll need to watch her to make sure that she doesn't faint suddenly. If you do, that's bad and phone an ambulance and come straight back in. If something goes wrong and you're stitches burst then come straight back in. No strenuous activities." "No problem, thank you doctor." "I will be back soon with your items, just wait here." The doctor said and then left the room. Michael and Lindsay were left on their own. "What about Helen?" Lindsay asked looking up from the floor towards Dryden sitting on the chair. "She's away to her sisters for the weekend. You've got me for that time, that's if you want to, of course." "You heard what the doctor said, I'm fragile and need looking after. Of course, I do Michael, thank you." Lindsay smiled and Michael smiled back at her. They were interrupted by the door. The doctor had come back, discharge letter in hand. "This is for you Lindsay and with that we can say goodbye." Lindsay swung her legs, jumped from the bed taking the doctors letter from him. "Thank you." She left and Michael followed behind her. "Where to next?" He asked. "I need to go to the police station and pick up my bag. I left it there this morning. Actually, how are we getting there?" Michael took the keys from his pocket. "Marsden dropped them off when he came in. "After that we should go and pick up your prescription, get some takeaway and then take you home. You've had enough excitement for one day." They walked out into the carpark; Michael's arm linked with Lindsay's just to make sure that she didn't fall while they were walking across it. When they got to the car Michael opened the door for her and made sure that she got in safely even going so far as to do up her seatbelt. Going around to the other side Michael got in and put the car into first and they started to make their way towards the station.
When they arrived, Michael parked the car in the underground car park leaving it in first. "Are you coming with me or shall I leave you?" Michael asked. "I'll stay here and wait until you come back." "No problem." Michael closed the door, locked it behind him and made his way across the carpark towards the entrance. When he got through the door using his pass, he climbed the stairs towards his department located at the top of the building. He pushed open the door and was welcomed by the staff busy at work. One by one they noticed him and stopped what they were doing. "How is she doing sir?" One of his colleagues shouted. "Is she ok?" Another chimed in. "Yes guys, she's ok. She got stitched up at the hospital and I'm going to be dropping her off back home to rest. She's on desk duty for the rest of the week which I'm sure she'll be happy with. I've just come to collect her bag. How did the op go? Did we get anything good?" Michael asked. "It's going to take a while getting through it all but so far, we've got names and addresses of their distributors." "That's fantastic news, you deserve a trip to the pub. Have the first round on me." "Are you not coming sir?" Sophia asked. "No, I can't I need to get back to Helen. Here's £50." Michael said taking out his wallet from his back pocket. "Buy a bottle on me. You deserve it after the hard work you all put in today. I'm proud of you." One by one his colleagues stopped what they were doing and let go of the objects they were holding. The work they were doing could wait another day. Jason came over and took the money out of his hand. "Thanks sir." His team gathered together and made their way out of the office, laughing and joking about what mischief they could get out to tonight. Michael made his way over to Lindsay's desk and picked her handbag up off the floor. He found her phone and purse on the desk and tucked it safely inside the bag. After doing so he left the office, making sure to lock it behind him and made his way back to Lindsay in the car park. Crossing the carpark, he unlocked the doors and got into the car passing her handbag over to her as he did so. "I saw the team leaving, they seem to be in high spirits." "Yeah, after what happened they were able to collect details of the distribution warehouse so they are off to the pub." "Sounds fun." Lindsay said. "Yeah but I thought what would be even more fun is if we spent tonight together instead." "I believe that statement is correct Michael." Lindsay said. "What would be even more fun is if we could go and get some food. I'm starving." Michael turned around to face her. "We can do that." Michael smiled at her. He pulled the car out of the parking space and drove it out of town towards Lindsay's place.
Michael pulled up the car in front of a group of shops making sure that the car was facing onto the main street. Picking up her prescription off the dashboard, Michael left Lindsay in the car telling her he would be back soon. He thought making his way into the pharmacy would be the best place to go first just in case he had to wait. He walked into the pharmacy, prescription in hand towards the front desk, after exchanging niceties with the pharmacist he handed it over. "It's about a 10-minute wait for that, is that ok?" "Yeah sure." Michael said. The pharmacist looked down at the prescription and noticed that it hadn't been signed. "Oh sorry, I'm going to need you to sign for it and date it." Michael took it back from her and took the pen that she held out for him. He quickly signed his name and looked at the other box. "What's the date today?" He asked. "Today? It's February 14th. Valentine's day." It clicked in Michael's head. The reason why his wife was so angry with him about the fact that he had decided to work today and the reason why she went to her sisters. He finished dating it and handed it back to the pharmacist. "Will you be waiting or will you be coming back for it?" "I'll be next door but I will be back for it, if that's ok." Michael replied. "Sure, no problem." Michael turned to leave the store when he spotted an advertisement display for Valentine's day. It hit him that there was a high chance that Lindsay knew what day it was as well and that she probably thought that he had something planned, he hadn't and he had to think quickly. He rushed quickly into the co-op next door. Spotting the dwindling flower display he picked up some red roses lightly muttering to himself that he was "Surprised there was any left." He then went to the wine section, spotting the non-alcoholic versions he picked one up and grabbed a tray of chocolates on his way to the checkout. Leaving the co-op, he went back into the pharmacy stating that he was here to pick up her prescription, stating her address as being "38 Wilton Lane." He was able to get it. He left there and went into the takeaway grabbing a beef curry for himself and Lindsay's favourite fish and chips and went back to the car. When he arrived back, he opened the door to get it and heard Lindsay asking him "What took you so long?" before turning her head to look at him, when she did, she was pleasantly surprised, a smile graced her face as she saw Michael holding the red roses at her. "Michael, I love them." She brought them to her nose and smelled them. "I thought you had forgotten." He got into the car and shook his head. "Of course, I hadn't. What do you take me for?" He lifted the bag over Lindsay and placed it on the floor at the front of her feet. "I also got your painkillers, non-alcoholic wine and your favourite, plus a few sweets for later." Lindsay turned and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Michael, you're so sweet." He rested a hand on her right leg. "Anything for you." He ran a hand through her hair and kissed her temple. Lindsay giggled. There was a small part of her that hated the fact that he could evoke this reaction from her, he loved it, he felt in control. He reversed the car out of the parking space and they raced to Lindsay's house, ready to spend time with each other.
When they arrived at her house, Michael made sure to do the heavy lifting, carrying the bags into her house after she let them in, making sure that she got in first. He carried them through to the kitchen and placed them on the floor. "You should go and sit down and leave me to dish this out. Go and choose a movie for us to watch." "I'll just put these in water first." Lindsay grabbed a vase which was sitting on the windowsill and filled it with water. Taking the plant food from the bouquet she squeezed it in too. She then cut the roses from the packet and placed the roses inside the vase. Taking it with her she placed it on the dining room table and went into the living room to pick a DVD to watch from the extensive collection she had. Michael finished plating up the food and took it through to Lindsay going back a second time for the wine glasses and Lindsay's tablets. He took a seat beside her and passed her plate to her. Lindsay pressed play on the recorder and they cuddled in together for the duration for the film. Nearing the end, after the dinner had been eaten, the wine drunk and the tablets taken, Michael could feel Lindsay slumped beside him, heavy on his arm as she snored quietly away. He gently shook his arm to get her to awaken. "Lindsay." Michael whispered. She mumbled and he shook his arm again. She lifted her head, her eyes weary with sleep. "Hey sleepyhead." Lindsay took in the surroundings around her, the films credits started to play on the TV. "Did I fall asleep?" She asked. "Yeah, you did. Have been for a while. Didn't want to wake you, you looked so cute and thought you might need it after today." Lindsay wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jumper. "Thank you, Michael." "You should go upstairs to bed and sleep if you're that tired. I can stay down here and do the dishes before I come up." Lindsay sat up from where she had been leaning on Michael's shoulder. "I need to have a shower first, get this blood out of my hair." "You can't get your stitches wet." Michael replied. "You go up and run yourself a bath and I'll be up to help after I clean the dishes. That sound good?" Lindsay nodded. "It does, thank you Michael." She got up from the couch and walked into the hallway and upstairs, leaving Michael behind. He collected the dishes from the table and took them through to the kitchen. Washed them in the sink and put them away in the right cupboards following Lindsay upstairs soon after.
Lindsay climbed the stairs, went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat. She felt so tired and didn't feel like she had enough energy to wash herself. She got up and leaned over the bath to put the plug in and turned on both taps to full and plonked herself back on the toilet. She could hear Michael on the stairs a few minutes later, that was good as the bath was nearly full. Walking down the corridor she could see him rolling the sleeves of his white shirt up to his elbows. She bit her lip, it stirred something inside her. He entered the bathroom; put a plastic cup he was carrying on the window ledge and learned over to turn the taps off. He lifted a bottle of bubble bath from the side and poured some in the bath water, swirling his hand around in it to make it bubble up. Shaking his hand after he finished to dry it off. He turned back around to Lindsay and placed a hand on her cheek. She rubbed her face into it. "You ok?" He asked. She looked up at him. "I'm just so tired." in turn he said "I know, we're nearly there, you can go to sleep soon, arms up." She did as she was told. Lifting her arms above her head Michael grasped the hem of her jumper and pulled it up over her head, she shook her head out of it and Michael quickly folded it up and placed it on the window ledge beside the cup and bowl. "Stand up." Lindsay did. Michael kneeled down, unbuttoned her jeans and slid them and her pants down her legs. Lindsay stepping out of them when he got to the bottom, making sure to grab onto his shoulders to make sure she was stable. He stood back up, unclipped the back of her bra and slid it down her arms dropping it on the floor soon after. He grasped her hand and pulled her towards the bath. She lifted her legs, one after the other, and with Michael's help stepped into the bath and sat down in the water. Grabbing the cup from the window ledge, he scooped up water from the bath. "Tilt your head back." He said. She did and Michael placed a hand on her forehead to make sure no water got on her wound. He repeated it a couple of times to make sure her hair was completely wet. He then dropped the cup back into the water and put this hand through it to get it wet. He then took her fringe in hand and started to work his hands through it to get the dried blood out of her hair. When he finished, he took a dollop of her favourite shampoo onto his hands and gently massaged it into her hair, working it into a lather and then gently rinsing the shampoo back out. He took the cup again into his hands, filling it with water and then gently tipped the water out over her body. He took a bar of soap from a dish and rubbed it over her body. Down her legs, over her arms, making sure that every last bit of her was clean and washed it back off her when he was finished. Leaving her in the bath he turned around to grab some towels from the cupboard and sat them on the toilet. He picked up her hand and gently pulled her up from the bath, she stepped over the edge and planted her feet back on the soft bathmat. He picked up a body towel and wrapped it around her frame, tucking it in on itself to keep it up. He took the smaller towel, draped it over her head and wrapped it around itself, tucking her hair inside it to get it dry. He took his hand in hers and walked her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She took this time from behind to wrap her arms around his torso and lean into him. Her head resting on his shoulder to save what little energy she had left. When inside she plopped herself on her bed. Dryden started to look through her chest of drawers finding a pair of black cotton pants for her to wear and then opening the bottom door to find her pyjamas. "What do you want to wear?" "The spotty ones." was her reply. He picked them up from the drawer and laid them beside her on the bed. He turned to leave the room. "Where are you going?" She asked. "To tidy up. I'll be back when I'm done." He left the room and went into the bathroom. He unplugged the bath and let the water drain away he then picked up her clothes from the various places they had landed and took them downstairs to the laundry basket. He picked up a glass from the draining board and filled it with water, picked up her tablets from the table and took them upstairs, turning off the lights and making sure the door was locked as he went. When he arrived back into the bedroom, he saw Lindsay still sitting on the bed. "You didn't move?" He placed the glass and the tablets on the bedside table. Lindsay shook her head. "No, I didn't. Sorry." "That's no problem. We can take it slowly." He walked over to her dressing table and picked up a bottle of body lotion and then went back to Lindsay. Kneeling in front of her he squeezed out some into his hands and started to massage it into her skin, regularly topping it back up and moving onto other parts of her body before finishing the task. He took her pants off the bed and put them over her feet, sliding them up her legs and saying "sit up" when he got to the top of her thighs so that they would be comfortable at the top. He did the same with her pyjama bottoms and her top, kissing her forehead when he was done. "Now your hair." He took the hairdryer from where it was wrapped up on her dressing table, plugged it in and switched it on. He sat behind her on the bed and shook her hair through his hands, making sure to regularly move the hairdryer to get all her hair dry. Covering up her stitches with his hand to make sure it didn't come into direct contact with the heat. He turned the hairdryer off at the handle and went over to unplug it. He then went to the top of the bed and lifted the bedsheets. "Come on." Lindsay stood up from where she was sitting at the bottom of the bed, walked around to where he was standing and slid in under the covers, wrapping them over herself. Michael let them and then started to undress himself, the shit and the pants he was wearing flung over the back of a chair in her room and got under the covers with her.
They lay like that there for a while. The only sounds in the room were the sounds of them breathing together. Lindsay's eyes closed, the good side of her head resting in the crook of Michael's neck. "Can I tell you a secret?" Michael broke the silence between them. Lindsay was surprised by this question but wanted to know more. "Course." Michael pulls Lindsay in closer, lightly pressing a tender kiss to the top of her forehead. "You'll think I'm crazy but when I saw you today lying there, I honestly thought I had lost you. I don't know what I was going to do if I had. I love you Lindsay Denton. You mean the world to me." Lindsay opened her eyes at his confession of love and looked up at him. "I love you too." "I think we should get married." This took Lindsay by surprise. "What?" She breaks out of his hold and sits up. "Where did that come from?" She looked down, bit her lip and then smiled. She was in a state of shock. "You're crazy." "No! I know how it sounds and that I'm still married to Helen but honestly, I think I'm madly in love with you Lindsay Denton. I don't know what I would do if you're not around." Her eyes were wide, she couldn't believe it. "What's happening in your eyes there missus? You think I'm wrong? You don't think it's true." "It's nothing. I just didn't except you to actually say it. I'm overwhelmed. I'm glad." She smiled widely, her teeth showing and took his face in her hands. "It's what I've been waiting for." "So, it's a yes." Lindsay nodded enthusiastically. "YES! It's a yes. Of course, it's a yes." She pulled him closer to her and kissed him. He responded just as passionately. They broke away from each other. "As much as I would love for this to continue, you have a head injury and I don't want to hurt you more than you already have been." She ran a hand through her hair and rolled her eyes. "Ok. Fine." "I promise you that when you're feeling better, I'll make it up to you." Her right hand grasped his right hand and they locked them together. "I'll hold you to that Michael Dryden but right now all I want to do is sleep." "Then do so." He used his hold to pull her back down towards him and the bed. She squeezed herself back up beside him and rested her hand on his chest. "I can't wait." She closed her eyes and within a few minutes was fast asleep. The dreams of her future playing inside her mind.