Thank you to reviewers on the previous chapters. Now, please enjoy!
...
Bull was back at the office, having temporarily left Cable at the hospital while a few more tests were being run. He had called Marissa into his personal office to help him figure out what he would need to do to make his apartment ready for Cable.
"You're going to have her stay at your place? How do you plan to make that work?" Marissa asked with amusement clear in her voice.
"What do you mean?" Bull asked.
"She is so much like you sometimes," Marissa replied with what she felt was the obvious.
"How?" Bull asked, honestly a little befuddled.
"How is she not?" Marissa countered.
Bull paused and then answered, "I don't see it."
Marissa raised an eyebrow at the doctor's density, but moved on in the discussion. "How severe of a concussion was it?"
"Pretty bad. Nothing that she won't be able to get over - she's young and healthy - but she was out for quite a bit and that is concerning. It's why I want to keep a close eye on her."
Marissa nodded in understanding. As Chunk had joked just a few days ago when Cable had gone traipsing off, excited about some food truck that was nearby, Cable was the office pet. Although she was significantly younger and much less experienced that all of the others on Bull's "inner" team, she got along with all of them. There were occasions when each of them felt the need to gently nudge her in the right direction - all of them having their own style in doing so - but overall, her young energy and enthusiasm was actually a huge benefit in encouraging the rest of the team whenever a day felt particularly long or a case was particularly grim. All of them felt protective of her and once they had heard from Bull in a tense cell phone call from the car that she had had a concussion, they were all on edge until he came in and brusquely announced, "She's fine." A collective held breath had been released.
"What is that going to include?" Marissa asked, referencing Bull's statement of needing to keep a close eye on Cable.
"I'm going to have to make sure she stays relaxed and avoids strain of any sort on her head," Bull was saying, trying to think over how to optimize things so that it would be as easy as possible for Cable to recover.
"So no homework for a bit, I presume?" Marissa asked.
"No. Not for two weeks. Sometimes young people can get better faster, but I want her to take at least two weeks off and just rest. I need to call her school. Or..."
"I will do it," Marissa offered immediately.
"Thank you," Bull said sincerely. "I'm concerned I'd forget. I have her student number and information in the emergency file I shared with the team, and the school already knows she was concussed. You might have to ask to communicate directly with each of her professors so that they will know to not expect assignments or for her to be in class for the next..."
"If I can handle creating mock juries based off of social media and public records, I am sure that I can handle getting her out of class," Marissa interrupted with a gentle chuckle.
Bull nodded with a small smile. "I suppose I can have faith in you after all," he joked a little, although the concern in his face made the attempt at joviality seem very strained. Marissa understood.
"She will need things from her dorm. Do you think that she will be able to do it on her own if you stop by with her, or would you like one of us to go get her things for her? I think Danny has been there before and Cable might be more comfortable with her going into her dorm than any of the rest of us."
Bull nodded. "Can you check if Danny would do that?"
Marissa smiled, resting her hand on his forearm calmingly.
"Of course."
Bull smiled and patted her hand, then pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Oh, and one thing. Tell Danny not to pack anything with screens, no books, not ipods, no movies, nothing exciting or interesting."
Marissa raised an eyebrow. "Are you punishing Cable?"
"No, although I'm sure that she will feel like I am," Bull said ruefully. "According to the most recent concussion recover information, we have to avoid her brain from being overstimulated, which could cause the healing time to be longer and more difficult. She'll need to be in a quiet and restful environment, which does not include video games. It'll be good for her to have a break from them anyways," he said, trying to convince himself of that.
"Good luck with that," Marissa quipped.
