***Sorry for my long absence, I was off in Alaska for 2 weeks, but now I
have returned, with writing!***
CHAPTER 21:
(The next morning, after chapter 20)
~~Garret~~ I'll have to admit, waking up next to Renee was just a little bit odd. Not to mention that my arm felt like it was on fire, but that's only second to the fact. I didn't move at first, because I didn't want to wake her up, but I was soon greeted by the annoying chirping of my pager. Then my cell phone ringing. I carefully leaned over and grabbed it, managing to answer it near silently.
"Macy."
"Garret? Where the hell are you?"
"Good morning to you too, Jordan." I rolled on my side, away from Renee.
"It's not morning anymore, and the phone is ringing off the hook here." She paused briefly. "Were you still asleep?!"
"Yes, I was. What do they want?"
"Well, the DA's office would like to know where Renee is, got any ideas?"
I swore that I heard her snicker, and I sighed deeply. "What's in it for me?"
"Did you say something Garret?" Renee stirred and snuggled up behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"I was just talking to Jordan. Seems your office has been looking for you." I smiled as I handed the phone to her. "See for yourself."
"Hello?" Renee took the phone from me and smiled. "You're looking for me? Well, tell them I'll be in in an hour. Thanks Jordan. Bye." With that taken care of, she hung my my phone and threw it on the floor. "They always bug you this early?"
"Never fails." I smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead.
~~Jordan~~ As I hung up the phone, I was greeted by a very confused look from Nigel.
"Find Doctor M.?" He smiled at me.
"And Renee. Together."
"You mean...he was...shagging her?"
I nodded. "From the sound of his voice, all night long. He's wiped out."
Nigel laughed as he leaned back in his chair. "He who lies with the dogs..."
"Nigel, come on, give him a break."
"He already had one. His window!" He shot a thumb at the now cardboard covered doorframe in Garret's office.
I had to admit, that was slightly funny. "Nigel, seriously, did you get any information off my spit yesterday?"
"Right. Your spit. Well, comparing the fact that the saliva from the boy was on the cigar, and showing the bruise patterns that match those of an average adult hand, you were semi-helpful."
"Only semi?"
"Only semi. You're not a six year old boy. At least you don't look like one."
I playfully chucked a pen at his head. "What does that mean?!"
"Oh nothing. Just means that you're fun to play with."
"What type of play?" I took another pen out and prepared to fling it at him.
"Any type you want. And those are Bug's pens."
"Yes, those are my pens. Why are they getting flung around the room?" Bug walked past the door to the office he and Nigel shared and stopped.
I started to talk, but Nigel butted in. "We were just playing around Buggles, no harm done."
"See for yourself. They aren't your pens." With that, he walked off.
I glanced out the door at Bug's retreating figure. "Nope, can't see it."
"What can't you see?"
I looked at Nigel. "The stick up his ass."
"Jordan! That was harsh!"
"I know, but it's true. Ever since last week he's been acting really moody."
"I think he asked Lily out." Nigel twirled around in his chair to face his computer.
"Whaaa? Bug? Ask Lily out?" Alright, this was interesting.
"He said something about getting the nerve to do something, and then he got all pissy the next day. What else would he have done?"
"Maybe he got...in trouble for something?"
"Luv, it's Buggles. He won't get in trouble for anything around here."
"True." I glanced back down at the stack of files I had kept in my hand the whole time and nodded. "I've gotta get these things signed so our fearless leader doesn't beat me."
"You're right, if he's shagging Renee he IS fearless."
With a final throw of a pen to Nigel's head, I walked out of his office laughing. So true, yet so amusing. Now to wait for Garret to show up so I could get his side of the story.
~~Garret~~ I wonder how many people Jordan's already told about this... I thought to myself as I stepped into the elevator in the lobby. It wasn't crowded, since most everybody was already at work, being that it was almost noon. When the doors to the morgue slid open, I locked eyes with two people. A very confused Lily, and a equally confused Peter. I walked up to Emmy's desk and signed myself in as Lily approached from the right.
"Hi Dr. Macy...how are you feeling today?"
"Lily, I'm fine. My arm is fine, and I do not need counseling. I have alot of work to do today, so I'd appreciate it if we didn't talk about the events of yesterday alright?"
"Sure Garret, I just felt that you should talk to Jordan. She's still a little shaken up over the whole thing."
"What whole thing."
She looked at me expectantly. "You know, yesterday, right at about eight- thirty...before Dr. Stiles got here and you hurt your arm. You went into Jordan's office and talked to her...you walked out after a minute and slammed the door remember?"
I thought back to yesterday, remembering my whole tirade about how she didn't understand we were trying to help her...how we all loved her.
"She didn't come out of her office for an hour...Nigel said she was crying...that was the whole reason you left after you punched your door."
I remembered now. I had gone to talk to Jordan and ended up sleeping with Renee. I laughed to myself. "Great train of thought I have..."
"What?" Lily looked up at me.
"Nothing. You know where Jordan is?"
She nodded. "In her office. She just went in there with a stack of folders to sign."
"Alright, thanks Lily."
"You're welcome Garret." With that, she turned and walked in the other direction, and I headed for Jordan's office.
A few quick taps on the doorframe and I had her attention. "Jordan, can I come in?"
She nervously looked up at me. "Sure."
I walked in and shut the door behind me, then sat in one of the chairs that she had in front of her desk. I didn't say anything for a few minutes, I didn't really know what to say.
"Yes Garret?"
"I...wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I'm a jerk?" I shot a glance at the floor, avoiding her gaze.
"No...why would I think you were a jerk?"
"Jordan, seriously. Do you think I'm a jerk? I need to know."
"Why would I think you were a jerk?"
"For making an ass of myself and saying all that mean stuff to you."
She paused. "Oh, that."
"Yes that." I searched her face for signs of what she thought.
"Yeah, I think you're a jerk."
I knew it. "Alright."
"But that doesn't mean that you're always a jerk. I forgive you. I was being stupid because I didn't want to talk to you about Woody yesterday, and I was pushing you away too hard. I didn't want you to help me." She smiled at me.
"You didn't want me to help?"
"No, I didn't."
"Do you want my help now?" I looked up at her.
She nodded, not saying a word.
"Alright. You've got it." I dragged my chair around the desk and sat next to her. "I'm not as trained as Howard is, but I'm a good listener."
~~Nigel~~
"Peter, I need you to get me a fresh set of blades, these are getting pretty dull." I examined the blade on the scalpel I was cutting with.
"Sure Nigel. I'll go run and get one out of the storeroom, we're out in here too."
"Alright." I paused and snapped a few new photos of the inner lining of the trachea before grabing some tissue for a sample. It was irritated, and I was hoping I could get a trace to find out what exactly had caused the swelling. If it was smoke, I was hoping I could trace what kind, maybe even down to the type of cigar used. With that, I could pin it closer to someone at the cigar shop.
"Here Nigel." Peter handed me a new set of blades.
"Thanks Peter. Could you take this down to trace and have them run it. Make it an urgent case alright?"
"Okay, you want me to just change? I mean, if you've got it in here..."
"Sure Peter, go ahead. Just take that down there right away."
"Will do." Peter quickly walked out of the room, and I glanced down at the kid's body.
"I've cut you open more times than I've cut open a triple homicide case...but still no answers. Why won't you let me figure out what happened to you?" It only then struck me as odd that I was conversing with a dead body. Not that I hadn't done it before...that train wreck thing was a whole other situation...but I needed his help on this. I had to be like Jordan, and let the dead speak their tales.
~~Jordan~~ I can't belive that Garret is actually in my office talking to me. This has got to be the first time that he's come to me, instead of me running into his office whining like a baby.
"Jordan? Are you listening to me?" Garret touched my arm gently.
"Yeah, I am. I was just thinking about what you said."
"What did I say?"
"That you were...having...nightmares about killing Woody."
He sighed. "Good...I thought I was supposed to be helping you, not you helping me."
"You aren't perfect, you need help too." I smiled. "And I'm beginning to think mental help is in order after calling you and getting to talk to Renee."
He laughed. "That's up to me to decide."
"I thought you didn't like her."
"She has a good side. A very good side."
"Well, I can see the doctor side, she must have been the one to wrap up your arm, God knows you wouldn't have done it yourself."
He nodded. "Yeah, that was the reason I invited her over."
"You invited her to your HOUSE?!" I let out a squeak.
"What?! You think I was going to meet her at a motel or something? I wasn't planning on sleeping with her...it just kinda happened..."
"You were getting glass dug out of your arm and you find that stimulating HOW?"
"She's a very good nurse." He winked at me.
"Oh, I don't even want to know about it Garret!" I covered my face in mock disgust.
"Know about what?"
We both looked up to see Renee standing in the doorway, holding a small paper bag.
"Nothing, me and Garret were just talking about..."
"Me. I know. I heard most of the conversation from about...meeting me at a motel." She smiled and sauntered across the room to Garret's side. "I brought you something."
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Jello. God knows your throats gotta hurt after all the yelling you were doing last night."
I instantly felt the need to gag and tried to get up to excuse myself from the room, because I was sure she was about to jump him and they were going to go at it like rabbits on my desk, and personally I didn't want to add that to my list of horrific experiences for THIS lifetime.
Garret stiffled back a choke, completely in shock. He stood up and walked over with her to the doorway, and he took the bag from her hand. "Thank you Renee." With a sideways glance in my direction, he turned back to face her.
"You're very welcome." She leaned in and planted a long kiss on his mouth.
I was still sitting at my desk, mouth gaping, staring in shock at what I was sure was an exchange of tongues. In my office no less. I was about to say something when Garret pulled away from the kiss.
"Renee, not here."
"My apartment, at eight." She smiled at him
"I'll be there" He gently placed another kiss on her lips, and I watched as he had to fight himself to pull away from that one.
"Great." Renee smiled, then looked over at me. "See you later Jordan. Garret."
"Bye Renee." Garret watched as she walked down the hall, and then turned back to me.
I probably had a look on my face that combined being ready to pass out, throw up, and kill myself all at the same time.
"Jordan?" He waved a hand in front of my face.
I didn't answer him.
"Jordan?! You alive? Or did the thought of me having a sex life kill you?!"
I shook my head. "No, but you saying that just did."
"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kiss her in here either."
"Sure." I raised an eyebrow up at him. "Jello?"
"You don't want to know Jordan."
"Oh, I think I already do, seeing you two get all up on each other in my doorway was proof enough."
He sank down into the chair next to me. "I'm sorry Jordan..."
I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. You're a big boy now. You can have a sex life."
"Thanks for permission."
"You're welcome." I smiled at him again. "You going to share that Jello?"
He shook his head. "Nope. I need it. My throat hurts."
"Sick."
TO BE CONTINUED:
***THANKS FOR READING I KNOW IT WAS SHORT AND STRANGE, BUT I'M BACK!***
CHAPTER 21:
(The next morning, after chapter 20)
~~Garret~~ I'll have to admit, waking up next to Renee was just a little bit odd. Not to mention that my arm felt like it was on fire, but that's only second to the fact. I didn't move at first, because I didn't want to wake her up, but I was soon greeted by the annoying chirping of my pager. Then my cell phone ringing. I carefully leaned over and grabbed it, managing to answer it near silently.
"Macy."
"Garret? Where the hell are you?"
"Good morning to you too, Jordan." I rolled on my side, away from Renee.
"It's not morning anymore, and the phone is ringing off the hook here." She paused briefly. "Were you still asleep?!"
"Yes, I was. What do they want?"
"Well, the DA's office would like to know where Renee is, got any ideas?"
I swore that I heard her snicker, and I sighed deeply. "What's in it for me?"
"Did you say something Garret?" Renee stirred and snuggled up behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
"I was just talking to Jordan. Seems your office has been looking for you." I smiled as I handed the phone to her. "See for yourself."
"Hello?" Renee took the phone from me and smiled. "You're looking for me? Well, tell them I'll be in in an hour. Thanks Jordan. Bye." With that taken care of, she hung my my phone and threw it on the floor. "They always bug you this early?"
"Never fails." I smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead.
~~Jordan~~ As I hung up the phone, I was greeted by a very confused look from Nigel.
"Find Doctor M.?" He smiled at me.
"And Renee. Together."
"You mean...he was...shagging her?"
I nodded. "From the sound of his voice, all night long. He's wiped out."
Nigel laughed as he leaned back in his chair. "He who lies with the dogs..."
"Nigel, come on, give him a break."
"He already had one. His window!" He shot a thumb at the now cardboard covered doorframe in Garret's office.
I had to admit, that was slightly funny. "Nigel, seriously, did you get any information off my spit yesterday?"
"Right. Your spit. Well, comparing the fact that the saliva from the boy was on the cigar, and showing the bruise patterns that match those of an average adult hand, you were semi-helpful."
"Only semi?"
"Only semi. You're not a six year old boy. At least you don't look like one."
I playfully chucked a pen at his head. "What does that mean?!"
"Oh nothing. Just means that you're fun to play with."
"What type of play?" I took another pen out and prepared to fling it at him.
"Any type you want. And those are Bug's pens."
"Yes, those are my pens. Why are they getting flung around the room?" Bug walked past the door to the office he and Nigel shared and stopped.
I started to talk, but Nigel butted in. "We were just playing around Buggles, no harm done."
"See for yourself. They aren't your pens." With that, he walked off.
I glanced out the door at Bug's retreating figure. "Nope, can't see it."
"What can't you see?"
I looked at Nigel. "The stick up his ass."
"Jordan! That was harsh!"
"I know, but it's true. Ever since last week he's been acting really moody."
"I think he asked Lily out." Nigel twirled around in his chair to face his computer.
"Whaaa? Bug? Ask Lily out?" Alright, this was interesting.
"He said something about getting the nerve to do something, and then he got all pissy the next day. What else would he have done?"
"Maybe he got...in trouble for something?"
"Luv, it's Buggles. He won't get in trouble for anything around here."
"True." I glanced back down at the stack of files I had kept in my hand the whole time and nodded. "I've gotta get these things signed so our fearless leader doesn't beat me."
"You're right, if he's shagging Renee he IS fearless."
With a final throw of a pen to Nigel's head, I walked out of his office laughing. So true, yet so amusing. Now to wait for Garret to show up so I could get his side of the story.
~~Garret~~ I wonder how many people Jordan's already told about this... I thought to myself as I stepped into the elevator in the lobby. It wasn't crowded, since most everybody was already at work, being that it was almost noon. When the doors to the morgue slid open, I locked eyes with two people. A very confused Lily, and a equally confused Peter. I walked up to Emmy's desk and signed myself in as Lily approached from the right.
"Hi Dr. Macy...how are you feeling today?"
"Lily, I'm fine. My arm is fine, and I do not need counseling. I have alot of work to do today, so I'd appreciate it if we didn't talk about the events of yesterday alright?"
"Sure Garret, I just felt that you should talk to Jordan. She's still a little shaken up over the whole thing."
"What whole thing."
She looked at me expectantly. "You know, yesterday, right at about eight- thirty...before Dr. Stiles got here and you hurt your arm. You went into Jordan's office and talked to her...you walked out after a minute and slammed the door remember?"
I thought back to yesterday, remembering my whole tirade about how she didn't understand we were trying to help her...how we all loved her.
"She didn't come out of her office for an hour...Nigel said she was crying...that was the whole reason you left after you punched your door."
I remembered now. I had gone to talk to Jordan and ended up sleeping with Renee. I laughed to myself. "Great train of thought I have..."
"What?" Lily looked up at me.
"Nothing. You know where Jordan is?"
She nodded. "In her office. She just went in there with a stack of folders to sign."
"Alright, thanks Lily."
"You're welcome Garret." With that, she turned and walked in the other direction, and I headed for Jordan's office.
A few quick taps on the doorframe and I had her attention. "Jordan, can I come in?"
She nervously looked up at me. "Sure."
I walked in and shut the door behind me, then sat in one of the chairs that she had in front of her desk. I didn't say anything for a few minutes, I didn't really know what to say.
"Yes Garret?"
"I...wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I'm a jerk?" I shot a glance at the floor, avoiding her gaze.
"No...why would I think you were a jerk?"
"Jordan, seriously. Do you think I'm a jerk? I need to know."
"Why would I think you were a jerk?"
"For making an ass of myself and saying all that mean stuff to you."
She paused. "Oh, that."
"Yes that." I searched her face for signs of what she thought.
"Yeah, I think you're a jerk."
I knew it. "Alright."
"But that doesn't mean that you're always a jerk. I forgive you. I was being stupid because I didn't want to talk to you about Woody yesterday, and I was pushing you away too hard. I didn't want you to help me." She smiled at me.
"You didn't want me to help?"
"No, I didn't."
"Do you want my help now?" I looked up at her.
She nodded, not saying a word.
"Alright. You've got it." I dragged my chair around the desk and sat next to her. "I'm not as trained as Howard is, but I'm a good listener."
~~Nigel~~
"Peter, I need you to get me a fresh set of blades, these are getting pretty dull." I examined the blade on the scalpel I was cutting with.
"Sure Nigel. I'll go run and get one out of the storeroom, we're out in here too."
"Alright." I paused and snapped a few new photos of the inner lining of the trachea before grabing some tissue for a sample. It was irritated, and I was hoping I could get a trace to find out what exactly had caused the swelling. If it was smoke, I was hoping I could trace what kind, maybe even down to the type of cigar used. With that, I could pin it closer to someone at the cigar shop.
"Here Nigel." Peter handed me a new set of blades.
"Thanks Peter. Could you take this down to trace and have them run it. Make it an urgent case alright?"
"Okay, you want me to just change? I mean, if you've got it in here..."
"Sure Peter, go ahead. Just take that down there right away."
"Will do." Peter quickly walked out of the room, and I glanced down at the kid's body.
"I've cut you open more times than I've cut open a triple homicide case...but still no answers. Why won't you let me figure out what happened to you?" It only then struck me as odd that I was conversing with a dead body. Not that I hadn't done it before...that train wreck thing was a whole other situation...but I needed his help on this. I had to be like Jordan, and let the dead speak their tales.
~~Jordan~~ I can't belive that Garret is actually in my office talking to me. This has got to be the first time that he's come to me, instead of me running into his office whining like a baby.
"Jordan? Are you listening to me?" Garret touched my arm gently.
"Yeah, I am. I was just thinking about what you said."
"What did I say?"
"That you were...having...nightmares about killing Woody."
He sighed. "Good...I thought I was supposed to be helping you, not you helping me."
"You aren't perfect, you need help too." I smiled. "And I'm beginning to think mental help is in order after calling you and getting to talk to Renee."
He laughed. "That's up to me to decide."
"I thought you didn't like her."
"She has a good side. A very good side."
"Well, I can see the doctor side, she must have been the one to wrap up your arm, God knows you wouldn't have done it yourself."
He nodded. "Yeah, that was the reason I invited her over."
"You invited her to your HOUSE?!" I let out a squeak.
"What?! You think I was going to meet her at a motel or something? I wasn't planning on sleeping with her...it just kinda happened..."
"You were getting glass dug out of your arm and you find that stimulating HOW?"
"She's a very good nurse." He winked at me.
"Oh, I don't even want to know about it Garret!" I covered my face in mock disgust.
"Know about what?"
We both looked up to see Renee standing in the doorway, holding a small paper bag.
"Nothing, me and Garret were just talking about..."
"Me. I know. I heard most of the conversation from about...meeting me at a motel." She smiled and sauntered across the room to Garret's side. "I brought you something."
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Jello. God knows your throats gotta hurt after all the yelling you were doing last night."
I instantly felt the need to gag and tried to get up to excuse myself from the room, because I was sure she was about to jump him and they were going to go at it like rabbits on my desk, and personally I didn't want to add that to my list of horrific experiences for THIS lifetime.
Garret stiffled back a choke, completely in shock. He stood up and walked over with her to the doorway, and he took the bag from her hand. "Thank you Renee." With a sideways glance in my direction, he turned back to face her.
"You're very welcome." She leaned in and planted a long kiss on his mouth.
I was still sitting at my desk, mouth gaping, staring in shock at what I was sure was an exchange of tongues. In my office no less. I was about to say something when Garret pulled away from the kiss.
"Renee, not here."
"My apartment, at eight." She smiled at him
"I'll be there" He gently placed another kiss on her lips, and I watched as he had to fight himself to pull away from that one.
"Great." Renee smiled, then looked over at me. "See you later Jordan. Garret."
"Bye Renee." Garret watched as she walked down the hall, and then turned back to me.
I probably had a look on my face that combined being ready to pass out, throw up, and kill myself all at the same time.
"Jordan?" He waved a hand in front of my face.
I didn't answer him.
"Jordan?! You alive? Or did the thought of me having a sex life kill you?!"
I shook my head. "No, but you saying that just did."
"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kiss her in here either."
"Sure." I raised an eyebrow up at him. "Jello?"
"You don't want to know Jordan."
"Oh, I think I already do, seeing you two get all up on each other in my doorway was proof enough."
He sank down into the chair next to me. "I'm sorry Jordan..."
I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. You're a big boy now. You can have a sex life."
"Thanks for permission."
"You're welcome." I smiled at him again. "You going to share that Jello?"
He shook his head. "Nope. I need it. My throat hurts."
"Sick."
TO BE CONTINUED:
***THANKS FOR READING I KNOW IT WAS SHORT AND STRANGE, BUT I'M BACK!***