Mending Starts With An Apology
"I'm sorry," Malcolm said.
Edrisa's mood was dampened a bit and he only had himself to blame for it. The cheerfulness she displayed was guarded and she was working really hard to contain it.
"What can I do for you Bright? Do you have another sample for me to test?" she asked effectively cutting off any continuance of a heartfelt discussion.
Malcolm shifted a bit under her silent gaze. "Um…no. Well, not yet. I'm sure another case will come soon."
Edrisa just nodded. "Well, ok then. If that happens, I'll be there. Now, if you would excuse me, I have some paperwork to complete," she continued.
No goodbyes. No waves. No starry-eyed looks. Edrisa turned her back and closed the door to her office leaving Malcolm with the only choice to leave the morgue.
##
JT noticed the awkward silence amongst the four of them but chose not to comment. Edrisa had always been succinct in her explanations but there was a bite to her words that wasn't there before.
"Female…mid-20s. Asian. Her throat was slit," she said struggling to continue her assessment. The emotional toll over her conversation with Bright earlier in the day coupled with the victim was threatening her mental state.
JT, Dani and Malcolm looked on hesitantly and silently urged the other to break whatever invisible turmoil was going on with her. Malcolm squatted down and called her name quietly. Edrisa blinked and turned towards the body that occupied its space. His eyes imploring her to tell him what's wrong was only turning her off even more. His normally calm presence was not helping whatsoever.
She regained her composure and continued. "Her throat slit. She put up a fight against her attacker. Based on the post-rigor mortis, the victim's time of death was between 1am-4am this morning. I'll know more once I do an autopsy," she said and left the group.
Dani narrowed her eyes. "Ok. What's up with her?"
JT shrugged his shoulders and stared at Bright. "Do you know?"
Before Bright could answer, his father called. "Great. Dear old dad," he muttered.
##
Malcolm was tasked once again talk to Edrisa. "She listens to you," JT said. "Homegirl is acting weirder than normal."
"I may not be the best person. I tried earlier, and she basically cut me off," Malcolm said.
JT nodded slowly. "Did you do something wrong on your date?"
Malcolm winced. "It wasn't…she misunderstood," he said feeling guilty.
"Maybe the phrase it's a date was the wrong choice of words. Hey, all I know is that you need to make it right, so I can go back to feeling uncomfortable when you two murder nerds get together," JT said.
"You're right. I'll be right back," Malcolm went to the morgue.
"Edrisa!" he called out half-expecting her to pop out from her office, but she isn't there. He looked at his watch. 5 o'clock. He exhaled sharply knowing he had to go to her apartment.
##
"Mom, I'm fine," Edrisa said on the phone.
Edrisa leaned against her kitchen island while making tea. She listened to her mother worry constantly over the rise of violence towards Asians and Asian-Americans.
"Mom, I'm surrounded by law enforcement on a daily basis," she reiterated for the thousandth time. "I'm perfectly safe."
She can hear her mother's disapproving scoff. "And after work? You need a boyfriend to protect you," she countered.
Edrisa sighed sharply. "I'm a 21st century woman who is very independent and doesn't need a man to protect her. If anything, perps need to look out for me. Black belt," she said trying to be nonchalant about the matter. Upsetting her mother even more by confirming her own worries wouldn't do any good.
The doorbell rang and Edrisa looked towards her security camera. Her heart stammered in her chest. What was Bright doing on her doorstep? In fact, how did he know where she lived?
"Mom, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon. Love you," she finished and hung up.
##
Malcolm counted to twenty in his head. He hoped Edrisa wouldn't slam the door in his face.
"Bright," Edrisa said curiously. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"I asked the team," he admitted shyly. "I came down to the morgue, but you already left."
She only nodded waiting for him to say something else.
"Oh…this is for you," he said pulling out a cherry lollipop. She reluctantly took it putting it in her coat pocket.
"Why are you here?" Edrisa questioned again.
"May I come in?"
"No," she said her voice hardened.
Bright doesn't know how to respond to an upset Edrisa. He knows he screwed up and feels awful.
"I screwed up. I'm sorry," Malcolm said.
"What are you sorry for Malcolm?" Edrisa questioned tilting her head. His eyes widened at the use of his first name. He can't recall her saying it in a casual conversation.
"I misled you," he said. "I didn't mean to."
Edrisa shook her head. "No Bright. You used me. I should know better honestly. My mother always said I didn't know how to read people and it was going to get me into trouble."
He was about to refute her argument, but she didn't give him a chance. "I guess it's my fault for jumping to conclusions. I mean who would ask someone out in the middle of analyzing a crime scene. Gosh, I must be desperate. I know I'm not as strong as JT, or beautiful as Dani or as normal as Gil. You… but you could have corrected me at any point during the day. Instead, I let myself enjoy the fact that you were interested, and my crush was no longer one-sided."
Bright can see her stress building and her eyes build with frustrating tears. "I felt like an idiot after you left my morgue. And yes, I know I went overboard with the petals. Maybe I deserve to get blown off, but I didn't expect the one person to hurt me to be you. I was the first person to not ridicule you because of your past. We bonded over our mutual interests and for the first time in a really long time I felt understood."
Malcolm took a step forward. She tried to take step back but hit the back of her front door. "I'm sorry. You're right. I weaponized your feelings. It was wrong. It's no excuse but I had something with Ainsley."
Edrisa sighed. "You're not the only one with issues Malcolm and I understand Ainsley is important and you would do anything for her but it's not an excuse to treat people like crap."
"I know," Malcolm said down casting his eyes. "I know. For the record, you're strong and beautiful and normal. Normal is relative and you shouldn't compare yourself.
"Right," she deadpanned. "Bright, I know you're trying. I need a minute and please just give me that."
##
JT asked Malcolm if he spoke with Edrisa. Malcolm rubbed his eyes. "Um, yeah…it went decent."
"Decent? You screwed up the apology, didn't you? How?"
Malcolm rubbed his hands over his face. "I didn't screw it up. Edrisa needs time."
JT shrugged his shoulders. "Yep, you screwed up."
##
Malcolm sensed something was wrong as he walked up to the crime scene. Gil is looking too stoic for his taste. Dani was already at the crime scene talking to a witness.
"Bright," Gil greeted.
"What do we have?"
Gil pulls Malcolm to the side. "Listen to me kid…it involves Edrisa."
Malcolm zeroes in on the body on the ground and can feel his body near collapse. Not her. He runs over but the victim isn't her.
"Bright," Gil says quietly snapping Malcolm out of his buzzing thoughts. "She's over there talking to Dani."
Malcolm raises himself up and starts heading in Edrisa's direction. She's sitting next to an older woman who is hovering closely. Edrisa is wild eye and it doesn't seem Dani is getting anywhere with her questioning.
"Edrisa," Malcolm says.
Her eyes connect with his and she burst into tears. Then, he notices the shaking of her body and goes to her, but Dani stops him.
"Evidence," Dani whispers.
Malcolm notices the blood and scratches on Edrisa's body and the bruise that is forming on her neck. He deduced she was the victim of a hate crime.