Chapter 13
A few months later, on a sunny morning, Chris is nervously pacing her living room. Her heart rate monitor is beeping from time to time, announcing her nerves to the world.
"Stay calm. This is routine for us," Hazel places a hand on her arm and opens the door. "For you maybe, but for me? This is important!" Chris exclaims and looks at her friend defiantly. Chris knows she made amazing progress, but she couldn't help but still be nervous. This was too important.
"Come on, we can't let Nick wait too long. He is doing this as a favor to me," Hazel shoos her along and down to the car.
After securing her seatbelt, Chris turns to the driver's side and asks, "Why is Nick doing the assessment? From what I understand, it should be you, right?"
"Yeah, normally I would do the assessment myself, but I want to rule out any bias. Any which way. And you know him, so there is already some trust there, right?" Hazel navigates traffic, and her eyes stay forward. "Have you told Jim about today? Is he excited?" she asks nonchalantly trying to steer the topic away from her reasons for not doing her job herself.
"No, I didn't want to get his hopes up or mine," Chris admits quietly. "Hey, stay positive. You are ready. I know it!" Hazel reaches across the console to squeeze her hand. "And I can stay your therapist if you want me to. I just won't be living with you anymore. That's a good thing, right?"
Chris nods silently. This assessment would decide if she could move to outpatient therapy three times a week or if she still needed the 24/7 support. She had fought hard against any obstacles, and admitting out loud she is scared was not something she was accustomed to. Not anymore.
Two hours later, Chris collapses onto the mat. Sweat is dripping from her forehead, and she haphazardly wipes it off with the back of her hand. She pushes up, breathing heavily, and turns to look at Hazel and Nick, who both stare at a tablet.
"I failed, didn't I?" Chris asks, already sensing defeat.
Nick tilts his head and frowns. "Chris, do me a favor and close your eyes," he asks then, and Chris furrows her brows at first but does as she is told. "And now listen… what do you hear?"
"Nothing? My ragged breathing?" Chris questions them, and when Hazel, almost elated, tells her, "Exactly," her eyes shoot open.
"Yes," Nick nods, "You passed with flying colors. Congratulations." He pats her shoulder and then pulls Chris up by her hand.
"Go clean up. We will ready the paperwork and figure out our schedules to see who is available," he points Chris in the direction of the locker rooms. She can't help but smile at the realization she is on her way to getting better. Finally.
On the drive back to her apartment Chris is giddy and almost bouncing off the walls. "Stay calm. Don't overdo it," Hazel laughs when Chris jumps out of the car and all but runs for the stairs.
"I am just so happy. I hadn't expected this day to end like this,"
"I did," Hazel replies. "And I can prove it!"
"How?" Chris raises an eyebrow while turning the key to her apartment.
"Look at the guest room," Hazel laughs, and Chris turns to her, a little sad, after seeing the bags already neatly stacked at the door.
"I am going to miss you," she tells Hazel while pulling her into a hug. "You're still gonna see me plenty. I just won't be here all day, every day, and I think that's a good thing. For all of us,"
"Maybe. But I guess I am a little scared to be alone…." Chris admits prompting Hazel to laugh, "Well, I know a certain someone who'd happily spend all his free time with you…."
"And you wanna go and meet up with Jo, right?" Chris wriggles her brows teasingly. She is happy Hazel finally found someone to be happy with again. She deserved that.
After that, Hazel grabs her bags with a huge smile, and the two women part ways. Chris texts Street if he'd be coming over later. He quickly replied yes but couldn't say when exactly, as he had also made plans to go for a drink with Tan, just to catch up a bit.
Street and Tan had found a relatively quiet table at the back of the bar and were just talking about this and that. Their lives, bikes, and yes, work too. Basic future plans included.
Street is on his way back to the table with a fresh round of drinks when he spots a familiar yet unexpected face in a booth close to their table. He places the glasses down and tells Tan he'll be back in a minute.
He can feel his anger building seeing Hazel all over that woman she seems to be with, and so he isn't going to stick to niceties. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" he all but yells, making the unknown woman jump a bit. Hazel keeps her hand on her thigh and puts an arm around her shoulder though before smiling at Street.
"Jim? What are you doing here?" she sounds surprised, caught.
"I asked first," he growls back and sets his jaw.
"I asked nicely," Hazel retorts and grabs for her drink, "and even if it is none of your business: I was enjoying a drink with my date." She finishes after taking a sip.
"How can you be so…" Street throws his arms, frustrated, not in the slightest keeping his voice down. "What about Chris? Huh?" he grits out and tries to shake off the hand that has landed on his shoulder.
Tan had seen the tense situation and had decided to check what was going on. He looks between them curiously.
"Who is Chris?" the stranger asks and shrinks back a little. "A patient, a police officer I've been working with the past few months. Who is at home safe and sound, waiting for her idiot boyfriend!" she turns to Street, now glaring at him.
"You can't blame me. I told Chris I didn't know when I'd be coming over. We were slammed, and this was planned for a while," Street tries to defend himself. He senses there is something he is missing. "And that's beside the point… it's your job to stay with her, isn't it!" yeah, now he found his footing again. He smirks when Hazel's face falls.
"Please tell me you talked to her after this morning?" she finally says, and Street frowns. "No, we just texted. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, but you should really get home and talk to Chris," Hazel's voice and eyes have gotten soft again. "Don't be mad at her. She wanted to surprise you," she tells him just before Street pulls out his wallet, presses a few bills in Tan's hand, and puts one down on the table.
"I am sorry," he tells them and runs out. Tan stands there laughing with the two women for a moment longer before settling his tab and heading home.
Chris has fallen asleep on the sofa and only slowly wakes up when Street lets himself into the apartment. "How late is it?" she asks sleepily.
"I hope not too late," he admits a bit sheepishly but with a smile that prompts Chris's question, "You know? How?"
When he starts shifting a little bit uncomfortable, she pushes off the sofa. "What are you not telling me?" Chris demands.
Street cringes at the memory. "I kinda, sorta just yelled at Hazel for having fun…."
Chris slaps his arm. "I swear if you scared her away now. She finally found someone she trusts again if you hurt her..." After that, Chris still tells him he acted like a stupid idiot, and then they switch topics. Just wanting to celebrate this important step in her recovery.