The way you cannot look me in the eyes
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned.... you know the
drill.
Summary: Carter worries about a friend.
Author's notes: Just another weird idea. Pretty out of character, but hey,
it's my story. There might be another chapter, depending on whether someone is interested in reading it or not. ;)
Feedback appreciated, as always.
special. Someone worth the time of her day. Walking past him she had
decided that he didn't even deserve a short "Hello". She'd keep her head
down, or looking sideways, smiling and giving that Hello to someone else.
Working with him she never spoke more words than she had to, and those
words were cold.
It had been a long time since she had looked into his eyes.
Other people would talk about her, and wonder why she was so happy. Why she
was always smiling, and why she was dressing up every day. They assumed
that she had found someone new. That she was in love.
But they didn't look into her eyes. They didn't see the despair she hid
behind that facade. He had seen it, but done nothing about it. He wasn't
going to take the first step. She was the one playing this game, not him.
When she greeted him in the halls, he would ask her what's wrong.
He imagined the scene in his mind for the millionth time. Her walking down
the halls, looking down the way she used to, and then suddenly looking up
at him, smiling like she'd just realized that he was there. Like he'd come
back from an unexisting journey, to see her. She'd smile at him and look
warmly at him, letting him know that he was still someone special.
And he would start talking to her, they would laugh together, and after his
shift, he would wait for her, and then they would leave together. Walk side
by side, talking about everything that was going on, like they always had.
But she never looked up.
She never smiled.
One day she wasn't there anymore. For three days, she didn't show up for
work, and as his shift came to its end, he realized that he needed to know.
It was probably nothing, she was probably out sick, that was what he had
been telling himself, but suddenly it wasn't good enough anymore. This
stupid silent treatment they had been doing meant nothing, he realized, if
she was in trouble. He should have seen that earlier.
She wasn't on a leave, he heard, and when he talked to Kerry Weaver, he
found out that she hadn't called in sick either. She simply didn't show up,
which had made Kerry furious, he learned.
Something was wrong with her if she didn't bother to come to work. She had
given up her life for this job. She wouldn't just walk away, unless something was really wrong.
Now he was scared.
He walked towards her house. It was the only house in the neighbourhood
where the lights were not turned on in any window. Maybe she had left,
maybe she was no longer interested in walking down the streets of Chicago.
Or maybe she was in trouble.
He reluctantly knocked on the door. The house remained silent. He was about
to turn and walk away, but something made him wait. The door was unlocked,
he realized. He opened it and walked inside. A scent of incense lingered in
the hall.
He found her sitting on the living room floor. She was slowly rocking back
and forth, humming softly to herself in Chinese. He spoke her name, but she
didn't react. He sat down next to her, but she just looked right through
him, like he wasn't there. Her eyes did not allow her to see anymore. She
was beyond reach.
He embraced her. He wanted to protect her from whatever had made her like
this. He wanted to make her smile for real again. But he couldn't. So he
just held her tightly for hours that night, while she was mumbling the same
phrase over and over again.
"Dui bu qi."