***I know, its been a whole few hours since I posted 19, but I've got some
many dang ideas flowing around, they're going everywhere!***
((Right after 19!))
Garret's house
~~Garret~~ I felt myself wince as Renee pulled one of the last pieces of glass out of my arm. Only a few were still left, and there were a couple small bits ground into my knuckles, but I could deal with those myself. I smiled up at her as she wiped the tweezers off with a paper towel, and set them on the table.
"Get the ones in your hand yourself? Or do you want me to?" She smiled at me.
I nodded. "I'll do them, give me the tweezers." I held out my hand.
"So where's this food you were talking about having over here?" She stood up and wandered towards my fridge.
"I can call and order us something, if you want anything special." I reached across the table and grabbed the tweezers myself, and I started plucking the shreds out of my hand.
"Know any good Italian numbers?" She leaned into my fridge, and grabbed two beers. "Mind if I help myself?"
"No, go ahead. Check on the piece of paper by the phone, there might be some good places on it." I gave my hand and arm a final check. "Finally, I'm done."
"Good, now how were you planning on fixing that door in your office?"
"Was the janitor even attempting to clean it up?" I walked over to the sink and ran some water, rinsing my arm off.
"Not when I was there. I got a very scared Lily pretty much worshipping the piece you dropped on her desk though." She grabbed the phone? "What do you want?"
"Surprise me." I turned off the water and headed out of the room. "I'm gonna go get some peroxide or something to put on this, I'll yell if I need ya."
"Alright Garret."
I heard her start dialing the number as I walked out of the kitchen, heading down the hall to the bathroom. I rummaged around in the cabinets until I found what I was looking for. Hydrogen Peroxide, Neosporin, and Excedrin. These would work just nicely. I unscrewed the cap of the peroxide with one hand, and as soon as I poured it on my arm, it burned like no other. I bit my lip, and attempted not to focus on my sizzling arm.
"Garret, you alright in there? I got us some pasta, and some bread. Is that okay with you?" I heard Renee yelling at me from the kitchen.
I only nodded my head, knowing full well that if I tried to talk, I'd scream.
"Garret?" She walked into the bathroom and stood behind me. "You alright?"
I shook my head, thinking to myself. No, my arms on fire, thank you very much. I finally managed to croak out an "I'm fine.", which only prompted her to look at my face in the mirror.
"Let me see it." She pulled my arm away from the sink. "Too much peroxide." She pushed my arm under the faucet and turned on the water. "Rinse it out."
"I am." I rinsed out the cuts, quickly turned off the water, and grabbed a towel and wrapped my arm in it.
"Come out into the kitchen, I'll bandage you up. Got any suture stuff?"
"Not here, I've got some at work though."
"Nice try, you're lucky I keep a disposable one on me at all times. There's one in my purse." She turned and walked out of the room.
"Fine, be right there." I leaned over the sink and splashed my face with the water, then I walked out after her. "Do I get Jello after my hospital stay?"
"Depends on how bad I make your throat hurt with all your screaming, you big baby."
((Back at the Morgue))
~~Nigel~~
"Jordan, can you come here, I need you to do something for me Luv." I picked up the child dummy that we kept lying around the morgue, for reasons I never thought of until now.
"What Nigel?" She walked into the room, and paused when she saw me in a face shield, holding the dummy up by the arms.
"You're the one good at re-enacting these things, come here." I adjusted my grip on the arms. "Stand behind the dummy.
"And do what?"
"Spit in my face."
"WHAT?!" She laughed. "You want me to spit in your face?"
"Yes, I need to get the possibility that it hit the cigar."
"But Nigel! I'm older than the kid." She stood at the spot I motioned to.
"That's why you're farther away. Now spit."
"Alright, fine."
"Jordan, wait." I dropped the dummy down.
"Yes? Afraid I'll miss?"
"No, afraid that it won't prove anything. So spit at me, as fast as you can, as many times as you can."
"What will that prove?"
I nodded. "Just do it, I'm gonna be moving, so don't try and aim, just spit."
She laughed. "Alright Nige, here goes nothing."
I lunged at her, and she spit at me, then continued to spit until she nearly fell over laughing.
"What's so funny?" I quickly took off the face shield and laid it on the counter, and snapped a few photos of it.
"I was spitting on you..."
"In all the right places Jordan." I held up the mask. "He was smoking the cigar while beating on the kid. We just gotta figure out how he died."
"You already autopsied him right?"
"Inconclusive. Ran every test in the book, from drug to pregnancy."
"You ran a pregnancy test on him?" She glared up at me.
"It was the only one I hadn't done yet, so I did it."
"Poisons?"
"All of them." I nodded.
She grabbed the case file from the countertop, and started leafing through it. "Nothing huh?"
"Nothing. That's what pisses me off. We have the cigar, but no ID on the dad. We don't have a weapon, but we have where he was found." I sighed.
"Wait Nigel." She held up her hand.
"Yes Jordan?"
"He was found in the alley right?"
"Yeah, I've told you that." I looked at her. "What are you thinking?"
"There's not anything that says he was killed there, Nige."
I stared at her blankly, then looked down at the papers in her hands. "I cannot believe that I...bloody hell..." I grabbed onto the edge of the exam table for support. "Nigel, you stupid git..."
~~Jordan~~
"Nigel, what's wrong?" I reached out to give him a hand, but before I could, he looked up at me, his eyes blazing. "Nigel?"
He didn't say a word, he just walked out of the exam room and down the hallway. I set my notepad down on the table, and ran out into the hallway after him. He was already out of sight by the time I got into the lobby. "Lily?"
"Yes Jordan?"
"Where did Nigel go?"
She pointed. "The stairs."
"Thanks Lily." I nodded to her, then went towards the stairs, forcing myself not to run. I slowly opened the door to the stairwell, and I heard the pounding of feet above me, then a door slam shut. I jogged up the stairs nearly two at a time, then I slowly opened the door to the roof. "Nigel? You up here?"
"I'm over here Luv."
I looked over, and saw him standing at the edge of the roof, looking out towards the city. I slowly walked up to him, and placed a hand on his back. "You alright Nige?"
"I'm just mad."
"Why?" I rubbed his back gently, even though I already knew the answer.
"I let that slip. One detail, but so simple. I thought I knew it all..."
"We all make mistakes Nigel. All of us miss something..."
"But it was so obvious. The kid couldn't have been killed there. He didn't have any marks from the cardboard he was lying on. There was no evidence of anything going on in that alley...but I missed it."
"What are you going to do now?" I snuggled up to him, trying to get him to give me a hug.
"Go back to that bloody cigar store and beat the living hell out of everyone that walks in until they give me some information." He sighed. "Then, go get drunk off my ass and sleep away the next week and a half."
"I know the place to help you with the second part." I smiled up at him, and he finally gave me a hug. "I know Luv. I know."
"We even welcome service dogs."
"You and your puppy love Jordan." He smiled at me, then his face fell, when he saw me turn away from him.
All I could think about was Woody at that moment, and how great our first dance together was, and how great he was.
"Oh God...I'm sorry Jordan."
"It's okay, it's just still there, in the back of my mind."
"And I bring it out. I'm sorry baby..."
I turned around and faced him. "It's fine, really. Let's go back inside."
"Alright."
((back to Garret's house))
~~Garret~~
"Where did you learn how to administer stitches Renee?"
"Girl Scouts." She deftly placed a few into one of the larger cuts on my arm. "Hurt yet?"
"Nothing that can't be made better. You were in Girl Scouts?" I laughed quietly, until she stabbed me again with the needle.
"Yes, looked good on the application to law school. No laughing, or you're going to be sporting some extra string in places you wish you didn't know about."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You suggesting something?"
She winked. "We'll find out after Italian food."
"Alright, just finish and wrap me up, alright?"
"I will Garret." She closed the last of the wounds that required closing, and started to cover them with little gauze strips. "Got long bandage stuff?"
The doorbell rang just as I was about to answer her, but she silenced me when I started to stand up. "I'll get it. You sit."
I nodded, then leaned back in the chair. I heard her talking with the delivery guy for about a minute, then I heard the door shut, and the click of her heels as she walked back into the room.
"That was about?" I grinned at her.
"He was thanking me for tipping him a twenty."
"A twenty? Big spender..."
"Nope, he was cute." She unpacked the bag. "Pasta?"
I nodded. "I've got wine." I stood up and walked over to the far cabinet on the wall, and grabbed a bottle and two glasses.
"Break out the fancy stuff for me huh?"
"Sure, why not. I don't plan on going back to work today, and Abby won't be here until this weekend, so who cares if I get a little drunk?"
"I will, when I watch you come into work and stare at your door like you don't know what the hell happened." She passed me a plate of food. "Eat."
"Yes m'am." I grabbed it from her.
"I'm serious. You've lost alot of blood. You need exercise and food to help get it back."
"I've got the food, where's the exercise?"
"Depends on how drunk we get." She smiled at me, then started eating.
"Fine, I'll eat." I started eating as well, and we both kept shooting each other looks over our forkfuls of pasta. After we had both finished, I got up to put the plates in the sink, and to rinse off the silverware.
"Garret?"
I turned around. "Yes Renee?"
"Can two friends...you know...and still be friends?"
I looked at her. "I think so..."
She nodded. "Good."
I turned back around, started rinsing off the plates, when she walked up behind me and kissed me on the back of the neck. I froze for a split second, then I turned off the water and turned around to face her. "Renee?"
"Yes Garret?"
"Do you consider us to be friends?"
"Yes, I do."
I nodded softly, then leaned in to kiss her myself. "Good." When I pulled back after, I looked her in the eyes, trying to get some type of reaction from her.
"Garret?"
"Yes Renee?" I smiled at her.
"Take off the tie. You can't exercise in a tie." She leaned in and kissed me, and I smiled to myself.
"Yes m'am."
TO BE CONTINUED:
***THANKS FOR READING! HOPE YOU ENJOY!!!***
((Right after 19!))
Garret's house
~~Garret~~ I felt myself wince as Renee pulled one of the last pieces of glass out of my arm. Only a few were still left, and there were a couple small bits ground into my knuckles, but I could deal with those myself. I smiled up at her as she wiped the tweezers off with a paper towel, and set them on the table.
"Get the ones in your hand yourself? Or do you want me to?" She smiled at me.
I nodded. "I'll do them, give me the tweezers." I held out my hand.
"So where's this food you were talking about having over here?" She stood up and wandered towards my fridge.
"I can call and order us something, if you want anything special." I reached across the table and grabbed the tweezers myself, and I started plucking the shreds out of my hand.
"Know any good Italian numbers?" She leaned into my fridge, and grabbed two beers. "Mind if I help myself?"
"No, go ahead. Check on the piece of paper by the phone, there might be some good places on it." I gave my hand and arm a final check. "Finally, I'm done."
"Good, now how were you planning on fixing that door in your office?"
"Was the janitor even attempting to clean it up?" I walked over to the sink and ran some water, rinsing my arm off.
"Not when I was there. I got a very scared Lily pretty much worshipping the piece you dropped on her desk though." She grabbed the phone? "What do you want?"
"Surprise me." I turned off the water and headed out of the room. "I'm gonna go get some peroxide or something to put on this, I'll yell if I need ya."
"Alright Garret."
I heard her start dialing the number as I walked out of the kitchen, heading down the hall to the bathroom. I rummaged around in the cabinets until I found what I was looking for. Hydrogen Peroxide, Neosporin, and Excedrin. These would work just nicely. I unscrewed the cap of the peroxide with one hand, and as soon as I poured it on my arm, it burned like no other. I bit my lip, and attempted not to focus on my sizzling arm.
"Garret, you alright in there? I got us some pasta, and some bread. Is that okay with you?" I heard Renee yelling at me from the kitchen.
I only nodded my head, knowing full well that if I tried to talk, I'd scream.
"Garret?" She walked into the bathroom and stood behind me. "You alright?"
I shook my head, thinking to myself. No, my arms on fire, thank you very much. I finally managed to croak out an "I'm fine.", which only prompted her to look at my face in the mirror.
"Let me see it." She pulled my arm away from the sink. "Too much peroxide." She pushed my arm under the faucet and turned on the water. "Rinse it out."
"I am." I rinsed out the cuts, quickly turned off the water, and grabbed a towel and wrapped my arm in it.
"Come out into the kitchen, I'll bandage you up. Got any suture stuff?"
"Not here, I've got some at work though."
"Nice try, you're lucky I keep a disposable one on me at all times. There's one in my purse." She turned and walked out of the room.
"Fine, be right there." I leaned over the sink and splashed my face with the water, then I walked out after her. "Do I get Jello after my hospital stay?"
"Depends on how bad I make your throat hurt with all your screaming, you big baby."
((Back at the Morgue))
~~Nigel~~
"Jordan, can you come here, I need you to do something for me Luv." I picked up the child dummy that we kept lying around the morgue, for reasons I never thought of until now.
"What Nigel?" She walked into the room, and paused when she saw me in a face shield, holding the dummy up by the arms.
"You're the one good at re-enacting these things, come here." I adjusted my grip on the arms. "Stand behind the dummy.
"And do what?"
"Spit in my face."
"WHAT?!" She laughed. "You want me to spit in your face?"
"Yes, I need to get the possibility that it hit the cigar."
"But Nigel! I'm older than the kid." She stood at the spot I motioned to.
"That's why you're farther away. Now spit."
"Alright, fine."
"Jordan, wait." I dropped the dummy down.
"Yes? Afraid I'll miss?"
"No, afraid that it won't prove anything. So spit at me, as fast as you can, as many times as you can."
"What will that prove?"
I nodded. "Just do it, I'm gonna be moving, so don't try and aim, just spit."
She laughed. "Alright Nige, here goes nothing."
I lunged at her, and she spit at me, then continued to spit until she nearly fell over laughing.
"What's so funny?" I quickly took off the face shield and laid it on the counter, and snapped a few photos of it.
"I was spitting on you..."
"In all the right places Jordan." I held up the mask. "He was smoking the cigar while beating on the kid. We just gotta figure out how he died."
"You already autopsied him right?"
"Inconclusive. Ran every test in the book, from drug to pregnancy."
"You ran a pregnancy test on him?" She glared up at me.
"It was the only one I hadn't done yet, so I did it."
"Poisons?"
"All of them." I nodded.
She grabbed the case file from the countertop, and started leafing through it. "Nothing huh?"
"Nothing. That's what pisses me off. We have the cigar, but no ID on the dad. We don't have a weapon, but we have where he was found." I sighed.
"Wait Nigel." She held up her hand.
"Yes Jordan?"
"He was found in the alley right?"
"Yeah, I've told you that." I looked at her. "What are you thinking?"
"There's not anything that says he was killed there, Nige."
I stared at her blankly, then looked down at the papers in her hands. "I cannot believe that I...bloody hell..." I grabbed onto the edge of the exam table for support. "Nigel, you stupid git..."
~~Jordan~~
"Nigel, what's wrong?" I reached out to give him a hand, but before I could, he looked up at me, his eyes blazing. "Nigel?"
He didn't say a word, he just walked out of the exam room and down the hallway. I set my notepad down on the table, and ran out into the hallway after him. He was already out of sight by the time I got into the lobby. "Lily?"
"Yes Jordan?"
"Where did Nigel go?"
She pointed. "The stairs."
"Thanks Lily." I nodded to her, then went towards the stairs, forcing myself not to run. I slowly opened the door to the stairwell, and I heard the pounding of feet above me, then a door slam shut. I jogged up the stairs nearly two at a time, then I slowly opened the door to the roof. "Nigel? You up here?"
"I'm over here Luv."
I looked over, and saw him standing at the edge of the roof, looking out towards the city. I slowly walked up to him, and placed a hand on his back. "You alright Nige?"
"I'm just mad."
"Why?" I rubbed his back gently, even though I already knew the answer.
"I let that slip. One detail, but so simple. I thought I knew it all..."
"We all make mistakes Nigel. All of us miss something..."
"But it was so obvious. The kid couldn't have been killed there. He didn't have any marks from the cardboard he was lying on. There was no evidence of anything going on in that alley...but I missed it."
"What are you going to do now?" I snuggled up to him, trying to get him to give me a hug.
"Go back to that bloody cigar store and beat the living hell out of everyone that walks in until they give me some information." He sighed. "Then, go get drunk off my ass and sleep away the next week and a half."
"I know the place to help you with the second part." I smiled up at him, and he finally gave me a hug. "I know Luv. I know."
"We even welcome service dogs."
"You and your puppy love Jordan." He smiled at me, then his face fell, when he saw me turn away from him.
All I could think about was Woody at that moment, and how great our first dance together was, and how great he was.
"Oh God...I'm sorry Jordan."
"It's okay, it's just still there, in the back of my mind."
"And I bring it out. I'm sorry baby..."
I turned around and faced him. "It's fine, really. Let's go back inside."
"Alright."
((back to Garret's house))
~~Garret~~
"Where did you learn how to administer stitches Renee?"
"Girl Scouts." She deftly placed a few into one of the larger cuts on my arm. "Hurt yet?"
"Nothing that can't be made better. You were in Girl Scouts?" I laughed quietly, until she stabbed me again with the needle.
"Yes, looked good on the application to law school. No laughing, or you're going to be sporting some extra string in places you wish you didn't know about."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You suggesting something?"
She winked. "We'll find out after Italian food."
"Alright, just finish and wrap me up, alright?"
"I will Garret." She closed the last of the wounds that required closing, and started to cover them with little gauze strips. "Got long bandage stuff?"
The doorbell rang just as I was about to answer her, but she silenced me when I started to stand up. "I'll get it. You sit."
I nodded, then leaned back in the chair. I heard her talking with the delivery guy for about a minute, then I heard the door shut, and the click of her heels as she walked back into the room.
"That was about?" I grinned at her.
"He was thanking me for tipping him a twenty."
"A twenty? Big spender..."
"Nope, he was cute." She unpacked the bag. "Pasta?"
I nodded. "I've got wine." I stood up and walked over to the far cabinet on the wall, and grabbed a bottle and two glasses.
"Break out the fancy stuff for me huh?"
"Sure, why not. I don't plan on going back to work today, and Abby won't be here until this weekend, so who cares if I get a little drunk?"
"I will, when I watch you come into work and stare at your door like you don't know what the hell happened." She passed me a plate of food. "Eat."
"Yes m'am." I grabbed it from her.
"I'm serious. You've lost alot of blood. You need exercise and food to help get it back."
"I've got the food, where's the exercise?"
"Depends on how drunk we get." She smiled at me, then started eating.
"Fine, I'll eat." I started eating as well, and we both kept shooting each other looks over our forkfuls of pasta. After we had both finished, I got up to put the plates in the sink, and to rinse off the silverware.
"Garret?"
I turned around. "Yes Renee?"
"Can two friends...you know...and still be friends?"
I looked at her. "I think so..."
She nodded. "Good."
I turned back around, started rinsing off the plates, when she walked up behind me and kissed me on the back of the neck. I froze for a split second, then I turned off the water and turned around to face her. "Renee?"
"Yes Garret?"
"Do you consider us to be friends?"
"Yes, I do."
I nodded softly, then leaned in to kiss her myself. "Good." When I pulled back after, I looked her in the eyes, trying to get some type of reaction from her.
"Garret?"
"Yes Renee?" I smiled at her.
"Take off the tie. You can't exercise in a tie." She leaned in and kissed me, and I smiled to myself.
"Yes m'am."
TO BE CONTINUED:
***THANKS FOR READING! HOPE YOU ENJOY!!!***