Raven and Drew

by WonderChaser

Police Officer Ysabeau Dennis and Dr. Lauren Lewis met for the first time in 2005. Nothing happened but both felt a connection that either one of them never felt before. After a year, a 911 call set the stage for their unexpected but eventful meetup. Now that they met again, will they act towards each other on their own or do they need the help of their friends?

9. Chapter 9 - Fall 2006

Author's Note: As I promised, this chapter has lots and lots of BoLo moments.

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost Girl and the characters. I just used them for my story.

Trigger Warning: Some parts of this chapter will describe scenes of physical abuse so I changed the rating to M.

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Chapter Nine

It was Lauren's turn to stare at the officer, drinking her up. She loved how the brunette's pants hugged her legs. It was looser than the usual pants but it fit her perfectly. It was the first time she saw Bo dressed in plainclothes so she stared longer than the usual. It's my time to stare. She smirked. She carried herself well. And I love red on her. Is she wearing a belt? I would love to unbuckle it and... Shit! What am I thinking? She cleared her throat. She forgot to look at the shoes. She looked down. Not what I expected but God she's hot!

Bo felt the doctor's eyes sizing her up. She was nervous when she realized that this was the first time Lauren saw her on plainclothes. But when she saw the smirk, she blew a breath and felt her relax. She started walking towards Lauren and stopped in front of her. "How are you doing, Dr. Lewis?"

Lauren loved how Bo pronounced the word 'Doctor'. She delivered it with respect and awe. There was also a tinge of seductive reverence. Or maybe she just imagined it. "I'm doing well, Officer Dennis. Thank you for asking. And you?"

"The same." She smiled. She looked down at the table and realized that the doctor was wearing an apron and was tinkering with a pasta machine. "Is it what I think it is?"

Lauren grinned. "Yes it is."

"You were making fresh pasta noodles?"

"Yes I am."

"Wow! I've been watching cooking shows because I really love food but this was the first time that I saw someone making it."

Lauren smiled. "Then let's get it on. But first, if you really were watching these cooking shows, what are the ingredients in making fresh pasta noodles?"

"Uh of course flour, eggs and salt."

"Yeah that would be enough but there was some kind of a secret ingredient. Can you guess what it is?"

Bo looked at Lauren and was immediately fascinated by the doctor's light brown eyes. She didn't know that she stared longer than usual. She just realized it when she heard Lauren cleared throat and said, "Bo, you won't find the answer in my eyes." Lauren grinned.

She laughed lightly and said, "Busted! So what was it?"

"Extra virgin olive oil."

"Oh I didn't think of that."

"That's okay. Not all used this secret ingredient."

"May I ask why fresh pasta noodles?" Bo asked.

Lauren smiled. "Well at first, I was told that the using fresh pasta noodles and dry pasta noodles depends on the sauce. The rule of thumb they said was if you were going to cook an oil based pasta dish, you should go with dry pasta; if it's a cream or dairy-based then use fresh pasta."

"Well, did you believe them?"

"At first. But Bo, I am a scientist and I love to experiment. I tried alternating the sauces to the types of pasta. They taste the same to me. The only advantage that I observed was that fresh pasta noodles were easier to cook."

"And you knew how to make them."

"That's a better reason I think." She keeps on tinkering with the pasta machine then suddenly she got back to the dough. She divided it into 6 smaller pieces and flattened it with her hand until it's about half an inch thick. She dusted it lightly with flour and passed it through the machine rollers at the widest setting.

Bo observed how meticulous Lauren was with the dough. She zoned on the doctor's hands and thought of all the other things those hands can do to her. What? Get off your mind out of the gutter and behave! You already thought of her when you were in the shower earlier. You are in her kitchen! She cleared her throat. "So you really love to cook?"

"I do ever since I was a kid."

"How old were you when you realized you loved cooking?"

"I started cooking when I was six years old. Right there and then, I came to love it. It was fascinating. I cooked my first omelet a few months after."

"Wow that's awesome. Who taught you how to cook?"

"It was my nanny, Nana Lupe. She's a Mexican and was hired by my parents when I was four." She went on and told Bo about her nanny's adventures around the world. "She was like that for 10 years and she learned how to be a great cook. She returned to her home town and shared what she had learned. She told me that she longed to have her own restaurant on her own. But that time, she already met her husband, who was a fellow Mexican and a farmer. They crossed the borders and went to California. They got married and became American citizens."

"So you are from California?"

"Yes. My father was from Torrance while my mother was from Los Angeles. What about you Bo? Are you originally from here?"

"My maternal grandfather was originally from here but my father and his ancestors were from Queens, New York. I was born and raised there but I also came here for vacation and on occasions. When I graduated from college, I transferred here and I lived here since then."

"When was that?"

"2002."

Lauren smiled widely. "Well I was here longer than you huh. I came here in 1995." Then a realization hit her. "I just realized that I was here for 11 years now."

"Do you love it here?"

"Yeah I love New Haven. I love it more now because you are here. "Initially it was because Yale was here. Eventually I saw the charm of living in a city that was not too busy as New York or Los Angeles. I also love that it was near the sea but unfortunately, I hadn't been near the sea since I left California."

"Did you miss your hometown?"

"Sometimes."

Bo waited if Lauren will say something further but she stopped talking and had a wistful look on her face. She wanted to ask why but she stopped herself from prying. She will wait for anything that the doctor was willing to share with her. She heard Lauren sigh and that caught her attention.

"I miss my parents and my brother. I also miss my grandparents, especially my paternal grandparents."

"You have a brother?"

"Yes, my twin brother and his name is Vincent."

"Were you identical twins?"

"Fortunately no, just fraternal. I'm way better-looking than him." Lauren grinned smugly.

Bo chuckled. "I need pictures."

Lauren was shocked. "You didn't believe me?"

"To see is to believe." Of course she believed Lauren but she wanted to be playful. It was nice teasing the doctor.

"How dare you Officer Dennis!" She pouted. "Wait, I have a picture of us here in my cellphone." She put her hands in the pockets of her apron and got her phone out. She scanned the pictures and found what she wanted. "Here's our recent picture. It was two months ago on my birthday." She walked over to Bo and handed her cellphone to the brunette. "He's just taller than me but other than that, there's no way he's better than me."

Bo looked at the picture and saw a tall handsome young man with light brown hair, dark brown eyes and a cleft chin. His arms were around his sister's shoulder and both smiled widely at the camera.

"So officer, what can you say about the evidence?"

Bo pretended to think about it, "Well…"

"Officer Dennis, I really thought you were on my side. Now I had some serious doubts about it. Earlier I thought of having you taste some of my pies but now…" Lauren sighed and shrugged.

Bo was shocked. "Wait! You also baked?"

"Yup. Earlier this morning, I baked two delectable pies. One was Cinnamon Crumble Apple pie and the other one was Spiced Pumpkin Custard pie. And then this afternoon, Ciara and I baked a blueberry pie. So what do you think officer?"

"They all sound delicious doctor! I loved pies and I could say that I had eaten my share of pies when I was still living in New York. My favorite was the Chocolate Cream pie. I had eaten several kinds of apple pies and blueberry pies. I had eaten a pumpkin pie once and that was years ago. So I'm curious with your Spiced Pumpkin Custard pie."

"I can give you a slice but then you know, you contradicted me earlier so…"

"No I did not. I was just teasing you. Of course I believed you." Bo smiled sweetly.

Lauren laughed. "So you will do anything just to taste the pies huh?"

"Of course."

"I relent." The blonde smiled. "I'm sorry if I didn't ask you earlier if you were hungry. When was the last time you ate?"

"Hale and I ate a late lunch so it's okay. But it won't hurt if you will give me a slice of the pumpkin pie." Bo smirked.

"Okay. Please sit down and I'll serve you. What do you want for drinks?"

"For the pumpkin pie? Just water please. Thank you."

Lauren moved to the refrigerator and opened it. She took out the pie and laid it on the table. She went to the cupboard to get a knife. She also took a small plate and a glass.

"Here it is." She put a slice of the pumpkin pie on the small plate and poured Bo a glass of cold water.

Bo eyed the pie and then started eating it. When she ate the first bite, her eyes got wide. And then she ate another bite then another one. "Wow Lauren, that was delicious! And I tasted ginger, cinnamon and something else. The combination of pumpkin, the spices and custard was astounding."

"The other spice was allspice. And thank you Bo. I'm glad that you liked it."

"Liked it? No, I officially loved it." And I officially love you. "This is now my favorite pie."

"Are you serious Bo? My pumpkin pie was better than the chocolate cream pie?"

"Yes it was. That pie was composed of chocolate and cream so it should really be delicious but your pumpkin pie? It was out of this world delicious. Wow!"

"You're not saying that just to ask for another slice, are you?"

"No, of course not. It was really delicious. The other slice, I'll eat that after dinner." Bo winked.

Lauren laughed. "Well thank you again Bo." She went to the refrigerator and take out a pack of sliced pancetta.

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"Do you think we can disturb them now? Our food was already here." Vex wondered while balancing two boxes of pizza.

Hale stood up and over to Vex. "Here let me help you." Vex gave the boxes to Hale.

Ciara smiled. "Do you think they were doing something else in the kitchen right now?"

Vex and Hale laughed. "I don't think Bo will do something to Lauren in there. She's a gentleman, if there's a better word for that. She respects Lauren a lot." Hale explained.

"No need for that Hale. We knew that. I'm worried that Lauren will do something to Bo." Vex laughed.

Hale laughed.

"So give them another 10 minutes or so?" Ciara asked.

"Or so." Vex shrugged.

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"Hey you already finished the pasta noodles?" Bo saw the freshly done pasta noodles. "I didn't see you slicing them."

"Well I used the pasta machine so the noodles will have the same size and thickness. Now I need to sauté the pancetta."

"What are you cooking by the way?"

"Carbonara. Do you like carbonara?"

"I do. I love pasta dishes but my favorite was lasagna."

"Well maybe next time I can cook lasagna for you. But now, I can only cook carbonara."

"Wow!" I officially love you very much Dr. Lewis. "I'll look forward to that." She looked at the packed meat that Lauren was holding. "What's that?"

"This is pancetta. It's a meat product similar to bacon. They were both made from pork belly but pancetta was cured but not smoked. Bacon on the other hand, was smoked. I prefer pancetta to bacon because bacon tended to rub off the smoky flavor to the pasta dish. I will just fry this then I'll cook the pasta noodles."

"Can I help you with anything Lauren? I didn't want to just sit here and not doing anything."

"Okay. Can you help me grate the Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano cheeses?"

"Parmigiano Reggiano is the Italian word for parmesan cheese right?" Bo grinned. "But why Pecorino Romano cheese?"

"Correct, that's the Italian word for parmesan. Pecorino Romano was the traditional cheese used in Italy for carbonara. So here's the cheese grater. I want you to fill up these bowls okay?" Lauren gave Bo two medium bowls to fill in with the cheeses. She then gave the brunette two large chunks of cheeses.

"Wow! So where do you buy your fancy cheeses? Did you usually use the original parmesan cheese or was this American made?"

"I always went to Ferraro's Market in Grand Avenue or in Skappo Merkato in Orange Street. When I'm out of the original, I did substitute it with the stateside made. Those cheeses you had in your hands were the original ones."

Bo looked at the cheese grater. "And hey you have the rotary cheese grater. My work here will be easier."

"And you need this too." Lauren held a knife and offered the handle to Bo. "You need to chop the cheeses."

"Oh right. Do you have a chopping board that I can use?"

"Yeah wait. Here it is."

Bo put down the cheese grater and started to roll her sleeves. Lauren saw her doing it so she walked over to Bo and said, "Please let me do it." She smiled.

Bo nodded and watched the blonde invade her personal space and touched her wrist. Lauren unbuttoned the cuffs and folded her sleeves up to her elbow. When she was finished, she did the same to the other sleeve. Bo's heart was beating loudly. She was flushing and prayed that Lauren won't notice it. It was a simple gesture from the blonde but Bo can't help but feel the intimacy of what the doctor did to her. And God she smells so good.

The doctor was oblivious to Bo's strong emotions at the moment and continued to invade the police officer's personal space. She looked at Bo and suddenly frowned. "Your collar was skewed. Let me fix it for you." She stepped closer and reached for the collar. Bo hitched her breath and closed her eyes. Did she know what she's doing to me?

Bo opened her eyes when she heard Lauren spoke. "There you go. I fixed it."

The brunette cleared her throat and said, "Thank you Lauren."

"You're welcome." The doctor smiled sweetly. Yes I did it!

She turned her back to Bo and turned on the stove. She smiled smugly for what she did. God I wanted to hug her again. She's so beautiful and she smells really good. She put a skillet into the stove and put in the chopped pancetta. She also put a large pot on the other one to boil water for the pasta. Was it her perfume or shampoo that I smelled? She added a pinch of salt for flavor.

Bo looked at Lauren cracking some eggs over a bowl. The doctor whisked it and added some pepper. She then turned to the pancetta and checked if it's cooked. She also checked the water in the large pot if it's already boiling. She then gathered the fresh pasta noodles and put them inside the large pot. Bo stood there and continuously rolling the handle while staring at Lauren. Bo can't help but to admire the blonde more. She can cook and bake, for crying out loud!

Lauren went back to the table and saw the brunette staring at her intently. She cleared her throat and said, "Bo, the bowls were now full."

Bo looked down. "Oh yeah. Sorry." She blushed because she knew Lauren caught her staring.

"It's okay." The blonde winked.

She winked? Oh my God, I'm dying! "So what's next?"

"Here's the bowl of the egg mixture. Please pour the grated Pecorino Romano cheese into it and whisk it until the cheese was dissolved. I'll check if the noodles were already cooked."

"Okay."

Lauren checked the noodles. "Yes, they were already cooked." She drained the noodles and put them into the skillet with the pancetta. She turned off the stove. She turned to Bo and said, "Come here and put the egg mixture into the skillet."

"What, me?"

"Yup. It's simple Bo. Just pour the mixture here." She got a pair of tongs from a drawer near the stove and waited for Bo to follow her instruction.

Bo went to the stove and pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Lauren then tossed the noodles with the egg mixture and pancetta until they were thoroughly coated. She did it for 15 to 30 seconds. She then add a half cup of the pasta water to thicken the sauce. Again, she tossed the noodles until she was satisfied.

"Now we can eat."

"Finally. It smells good."

"Bo, can you please help me with the plates?"

"Sure. Where are they?"

"In the cupboard. Just line them up on the table so I can put the pasta on each one."

Bo gathered the plates and put them on the table. Lauren then placed a serving of carbonara on each plate.

"We can now call them. I bet they are very hungry right now."

"I'll go and tell them that it's okay to go in here."

"Okay thanks Bo. But first, good job. Give me a high five then." Lauren raised her right hand and waited for Bo.

The brunette smirked and raised her right hand and made contact with the blonde's. What an adorable dork.

"Go, call them now. I'm starving!" The doctor emphasized her request by putting her hand into her stomach.

"Yes ma'am!"

Bo went out of the kitchen to call the others. When she was finally in the living room, Ciara, Vex and Hale stared at her.

"Were you two finished what you're doing there in the kitchen for the past hour?" Vex asked.

"Uh yeah. You can go in there now so we could eat."

The three stood up. Ciara exclaimed, "Well finally! We thought you forgot about us."

Vex and Ciara went ahead and entered the kitchen. Hale went to Bo and smiled. "Way to go partner. You were there with the doctor for an hour. What did you do?"

"I helped her cook our dinner." She smiled.

"Really? The hot and gorgeous doctor can cook?" Hale whispered.

"And bake." Bo added.

"Whoa! You are indeed very lucky partner. She can cook and bake? If I were you, I'll marry her right now!" Hale exclaimed.

"Lower your voice! Don't be ridiculous. Not so fast. We need to eat." Bo winked.

"Hey you two! What are doing there?" Vex asked. He turned to Bo and smiled. "What did you do to her for an hour huh? Did you toss chivalry out and kissed her already?" His tone light and teasing.

Bo scoffed. "Of course not, I won't do that to her. I respect Lauren a lot."

"So why were your sleeves folded like that hmmm? They weren't like that when you arrived earlier."

"Well I offered to help her and she said I could grate the cheese. I was folding my sleeves when she said she could that for me. She didn't wait for my permission. She just invaded my personal space and folded my sleeves."

Vex laughed out loud. "Oh my! Just as I thought."

"So what about my honor? Aren't you going to ask me if I felt harassed?"

"I'll humor you. So did you feel harassed? I bet you liked it." Vex winked.

Bo smiled widely.

"That smile told me all I wanted to know. Well come on. Let's eat." The three went inside the kitchen and found Lauren and Ciara waiting for them.

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Nurses' Station 4th Floor

Yale New Haven Hospital

The night was slow on fourth floor of the Yale New Haven Hospital. Nurse Martha Henderson was looking at the schedule of her rounds for the next day when she saw a ginger haired woman lurking outside of the nurses' station. "Hey how are you? You were missing in action for a week. What happened to you?"

"I just went home and visited my folks."

"But did you ask the head nurse's permission? Because she was bugging me for two days now."

"No, it was an emergency."

"Okay. But still, you need to inform her if you were not going to report for work. Was it your first time to be absent without leave?"

"Yes it was."

"Then you need to go to her immediately and explain your side. You'll be lucky if she will just give you a reprimand."

"Okay I will. Thank you." The redhead smiled. "So what happened when I was away?"

"Well you knew Dr. Nadia Woods right?"

The younger woman nodded.

"She was brought to the ER last night and she was unconscious. The nurse on duty at the ER last night, Nurse Leslie Lopez, told me that the doctor's body was full of bruises and welts. The police talked to me and I found out that her husband was responsible for what happened to her."

The redhead was obviously shocked by the news. Her voice quivered when she asked, "How was she now?"

The older nurse saw that the news really affected the younger nurse. "She's okay now. The police already talked to her and gave her statement. Were the two of you close?"

"No. I was just shocked that someone can do that to his wife." Oh my God, what have I done?

"Sad right?" Nurse Henderson sighed. "So are you going to be on duty tonight?"

"Well I need to speak to the head nurse tonight. If she'll allow me, then I'll work graveyard."

"Okay. Let's wait for the next on-duty nurse then I'll go home."

"Was it okay for me to go ahead and speak to the head nurse while you're waiting?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Thank you." The redhead walked towards the elevator. She changed her mind and turned left towards the stairs. She sat down. Her mind was in chaos and she can't stop the tears that were falling. What have I done? She repeatedly asked herself that question. I need to see her. But right now, she needs to break down and chase her present demon.

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Westville New Haven

When Ciara saw Vex, Bo and Hale approaching, she asked Lauren if they could transfer the food and their talk to the dining area.

"That's a good idea Ci." She turned to the other three. "Let's transfer the food to the dining area so we could eat and sit properly."

"I agree but first, what about your drinks? I'll make my own gin and tonic. How about you Bo and Hale?" Vex asked.

"I don't drink any alcoholic beverages except for beer and wine." Bo informed Vex. "So I could go with either one if you have it or maybe I'll just stick to non-alcoholic drinks like Coke, fruit juice or water."

"Really? I didn't expect that." Vex was shocked. He turned to Hale. "What about you bro?"

"I do drink alcoholic beverages but my preference would be mojito and soju. Gin and tonic would be okay for me but now I can't."

"Why?"

"I had a little accident early this morning. That was after I dropped Bo at her house. I was already near my house when I got really sleepy and I drove my car into a tree."

"When the two of you went to the hospital earlier, did you let someone check you for concussion?" Ciara asked.

Bo frowned. "Oh I didn't think of that. But I gave him a Tylenol. He said he just felt a slight headache."

"Yeah it's true Doc, just a slight headache. And I didn't bump my head. I was just shaken, that's all."

"Okay. But just to be sure, stay away from alcoholic drinks."

"Affirmative Doc, thanks."

They transferred all the food into the dining area and got their drinks – gin and tonic for Vex, Coke for Bo and Hale and orange juice for Lauren and Ciara.

The table at the dining area was a 10-seater. Vex sat at the head of the table. Lauren sat at his right while Ciara sat at his left.

"Bo, sit beside Lauren and Hale, sit beside Ciara. There you go." Vex smiled widely. "Alright, I am really hungry but I'm also curious about Nadia and Percy. So maybe we can eat and talk right?"

The other agreed so they started getting their slices of pizza.

"Who wants one of my jalapeno poppers huh?" Vex asked. He dangled a piece in front of Ciara. "You want some Ci?"

"You know that I don't like spicy food Vex." Ciara said while munching her pizza.

Vex shrugged. "How about you Lo?"

"Give me one."

"Are you sure?"

"Vex, jalapeños aren't that hot okay? They only had 2,500 to 5,000 SHU or Scoville Heat Units. The hottest pepper, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, had 2,009,231 SHU." Lauren said.

Vex smiled. "Okay, I'm not really surprised that you knew about that." He looked at Bo and Hale. "How about you guys?"

Bo and Hale nodded. "Why not?" Bo said.

The four of them bit on their respective jalapeño poppers.

Vex frowned. "It was a little bit anticlimactic." He looked at Bo and Hale. "So officers, what can you tell us about the case of Nadia and Percy."

Bo smiled. "I'll let Hale start the story."

Hale relented. "That's fine with me but let me first eat this plate of carbonara over here. Looks good Doc." He winked at Lauren. He twirled his fork into the noodles, lifted it into his mouth and ate it all up. His eyes widened and smiled. "It's delicious." He thought for a while. "There's something new that I've never tasted in a pasta dish. The noodles, you made them scratch right?"

Lauren smiled. "Yes, that's correct."

Hale continuously ate the pasta while eyeing it suspiciously. "The meat was not bacon right Doc?"

"Yes, it's pancetta."

"Oh that's the new one. I've never had carbonara with pancetta before. It was always bacon."

Bo raised her eyebrow. "So how did you know all about that?"

"I told you that I can also cook but not pasta dishes. That's my mom's specialty. Mine's meat stews."

"Oh yeah, the lamb stew that you gave Kenzi some time ago. I just ate a morsel of it because she ate it all up. I was wondering why you never brought me some of it."

Hale blushed. "Well I... I'm sorry Bo. Next time, I'll bring you some."

Ciara was curious. "Who's Kenzi?"

"Yeah I'm curious Hale." Vex looked at Hale. "I know she's Bo's bestfriend but other than that, I didn't know her at all."

Bo looked at Hale. "Hale, answer Ciara's question please." She was giddy that her partner was now being scrutinized and not her.

"Well I... uh... Kenzi was also a friend of mine. I've known her because of Bo. We met two years ago when I finished my training in police academy."

"She's just a friend?" Ciara probed further.

Lauren leaned into Bo and whispered, "Is Hale okay? He seems flustered."

Bo whispered back. "He's not used to people asking him about Kenzi, specifically."

"Why?"

I was the same when people were asking me about you. "He has strong emotions for Kenzi. I don't think he's ready to share though."

"Okay. I understand." Lauren nodded. She looked at Ciara. "Ci, I think Hale wasn't ready to answer that." She laughed a little. "Look at him, have mercy. Well because of that, I'll refill his plate with carbonara." She winked at Hale.

Hale blew a breath. "Thank you Doc."

"Oh sorry Hale. I was just being curious because you had that look for a moment there you know." Ciara smiled.

"Yeah well, they said I occasionally wore my heart on my sleeve so I can't blame you for being curious. But it's all good."

Vex interjected. "What's the look that you were talking about?"

"The look of feeling strong emotions towards a person, the look of longing." Ciara answered.

"Oh I didn't see it. I was looking at my pizza." Vex smiled impishly.

This time, Bo leaned into Lauren and whispered, "There's actually a complication."

"Complication?"

"On Kenzi's side."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll text it to you later."

"Okay."

Vex saw Bo and Lauren were whispering to each other so cleared his throat and said, "Hey, care to share with the class?"

Lauren answered, "Can't Vex. It was a secret. That's why we were whispering."

Bo smirked.

"Okay, okay. Secrets!" Vex frowned. I'll just harass Lauren about it later. "Can we get on with the story? Hale?"

Hale nodded. "Well, Bo and I planned to start our day after lunch but she called me around 9:30 in the morning to tell me that Sergeant Smith called and we were instructed to go to the station for a briefing because Dr. Woods had woken up and was already conscious. When we were already on our way, he called again to tell us to go straight to the hospital because earlier this morning, the Saunder's family lawyer came to town and was asked to represent Percy. But lo and behold, Percy refused and was adamant to represent himself."

"Bollocks!" Vex laughed. "He was digging his own grave, for Christ's sake!"

"Well we all knew that he's not the sharpest knife out there. He's not a trial lawyer, right? I doubt if he could save himself from all of these." Ciara commented.

"Good thing that Nadia was already awake. Did she answer all of your questions?" Lauren asked.

Hale smiled at her. "Save the best for last Doc." He then continued his narrative. "The lawyer and Percy argued inside the room where he was detained. So the sergeant instructed us to get the statement from Nadia's attending physician, Dr. Patricia Holland."

"Nadia's attending physician was Dr. Holland? How? I mean, she was one of our professors back in medical school but she didn't care for Nadia." Ciara said.

"I think she did that because Dr. Holland cared for Nadia as a colleague now." Lauren stated.

"Yeah that's what she said." Hale agreed. He then told them about the pattern they had formed regarding the three times when Nadia was brought to the ER.

"What?! This incident was the third time Nadia was physically abused by Saunders? Fuck! I didn't like Nadia ever since I met her but she didn't deserve that kind of treatment!" Vex vehemently stated.

Lauren was shocked. "But why? Was there someone in Nadia's life that caused this kind of abuse from her husband?"

"On this part of the story, I want my partner to do the talking." Hale winked.

Bo glared at Hale. "Thank you Hale." She cleared her throat. "That someone was Dr. Adam Carlo."

"What?" Ciara laughed. "That pompous bastard?"

"Exactly my description of him." Bo pointed at Ciara. "He gatecrashed our interview with Dr. Holland. He wanted to know how Nadia was and then he started talking. He's so full of himself."

"He's a big flirt. Did he try it with you?" Ciara asked.

Bo blushed and avoided Ciara's eyes.

"Oh he did! How did he do it? Please I'm curious."

"We asked if we could formally speak to him regarding this case. He said yes and wrote his personal number at the back of his calling card. He gave the card to me."

Vex raised his eyebrow. "So what did you do?"

"I received it then I gave the card to Hale." Bo laughed. "I'll let Hale deal with him."

"Good decision." Vex said while looking at Lauren who was looking down at her plate, jabbing her fork at her salad greens.

"There's something else actually..." Bo bit her lip and looked at Hale. Hale sighed.

"Uhuh looks like you're going to say something ugly..." Vex observed.

Bo turned to Lauren. "Lauren, Dr. Carlo told us that Nadia wooed you during medical school but you rejected her several times."

"What? Adam told you that? Why?" Lauren was caught off guard by Bo's statement.

"I asked him how well he knew Nadia. He said they were classmates from their pre-med studies until medical school. He said that they got separated when Nadia chose Genetics over Emergency Medicine and insinuated that she did that because she was quite smitten with you. He said maybe the reason why she chose Genetics was because she thought if she followed you, you will change your mind about your rejection to her advances. Those were his exact words. Right Hale?"

Hale was shocked that Bo remembered Dr. Carlo's words. "Yeah, those were his exact words."

"How dare that slime ball!" Vex's fists were tightly closed.

"He also said that Nadia confessed that she was in love with Lauren but Lauren rejected her several times. Dr. Carlo said that he knew this because Nadia had been going to him crying and devastated every time." Bo added.

"Again, those were his exact words." Hale nodded.

"But I called his bullshit. Dr. Holland did too. She told him it was not necessary to the case. And I thought he blurted it out because he has his own ulterior motive. But Hale and I caught it."

"What was his motive?" Lauren asked her.

"To make you as the bait. But when we told him about the pattern that we formed along with Dr. Holland, he backtracked and got you off the hook. He then put himself into the picture, right in the front and center of it." Bo was silent for a while, her frown more pronounced. "Hale, I just realized something right now."

"What was it?"

"A conspiracy." She then looked at her plate of carbonara and ate like she haven't eaten in days. "Lauren, your carbonara was delicious." She drank her Coke and munched on her slice of pizza.

Lauren stared at Bo and laughed. She had forgotten about Dr. Carlo's indiscretion. "You are adorable when you eat like that."

Bo blushed.

"Wait Bo. You can't just say a word like that and then you don't explain your theory." Hale protested.

"Hale was right. Spill it out Bo." Vex nodded.

Ciara was smiling widely, looking at Bo and Lauren and how adorable they looked together.

"Right. I realized I haven't eaten a single noodle of Lauren's carbonara so I paused my brain." She finished the plate of carbonara and drank another gulp of Coke. "Hale the reason why I haven't laid my theory yet was because we haven't told them the whole story."

"Just tell us your theory then we'll back it up."

"Okay. I think that Dr. Carlo was hiding something. He's covering up for Dr. Woods."

"Explain your theory."

"First of all, in all our interviews it was established that Dr. Carlo and Dr. Woods were close. Why not right? They were friends from their pre-med studies up to medical school. They just separated in their residency but as you can see, they always found the time to be together outside of the hospital. They celebrated their birthdays with each other's company. I think Nurse Henderson was correct. Nadia and Adam were only close friends, nothing else. He may be Nadia's bestfriend after all. So I think, Saunders' jealousy with Adam was deemed unfounded. They were just friends, period. There's someone else." Bo turned to Lauren. "Of course it's not you." She looked at Hale. "Remember when Lieutenant Jenkins made us realize that Saunders may have another life in Delaware?"

"What did you mean by another life? Another wife?" Vex asked.

"Yes, that's correct." Bo nodded at Vex.

"What's the story behind that theory?" Lauren asked.

Bo nodded to Hale. Hale signed, "Doc, Nadia and Saunders were married three years ago. In those three years they just saw each other twice a month, except for those months with holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas."

"They agreed on this arrangement?"

"Yeah. And that's why their marriage certificate was sealed and deemed secret. That's one of the reasons why Bo and I thought that Saunders had another wife in Delaware. I placed myself into Saunders' shoes and I thought, if I were an insanely jealous husband was it enough that I was just seeing my wife twice a month? Of course not. I will definitely have talked to her and convince her to transfer to Delaware for her residency or I can be persuaded to transfer my practice here in New Haven. But in their case, that didn't happen. So there's someone on the side. We just didn't know if Nadia was the side dish or the main course."

"So Bo, when you say Adam was covering up for Nadia did you mean Nadia had someone on the side too?" Vex asked.

"We would soon find out. Our lieutenant interviewed Saunders before we went here and Percy uttered a name. I think she was the key."

"Who was it?"

"Percy said we should ask Adam and Nadia about a nurse in Yale Hospital named Miranda Hamilton."

"Wait... Miranda Hamilton? The redhead nurse?" Ciara wondered. "Lauren, she was the nurse we caught canoodling with Dr. Kirk Wells from General Surgery."

"Canoodling? You have a way with your words Doc." Hale laughed.

She laughed. "Thank you." She looked at Lauren.

Lauren frowned. "Yeah I remembered that because she wasn't apologetic when we caught her. And she actually glowered at me."

"How did you catch them?" Bo asked.

"We caught them in the on-call room. That was two years ago. We were so tired we decided to catch some sleep. It was early in the morning. We opened the door and there they were."

"You didn't hear them?"

"Actually no."

"Who's Dr. Kirk Wells?"

Ciara answered. "He's from the Surgery department. Wait, he's also in our batch in the medical school. Wow. What's with our batch?"

"You haven't catch her with another doctor other than Dr. Wells?"

"No. That would be too much."

Bo smiled. "We need to ask Nurse Henderson if she heard anything about Nurse Hamilton."

"Martha. That's Nurse Henderson's first name." Lauren said.

"I'll take note of that. Thank you." Bo smiled. "Did you have any idea why she glowered at you? Any untoward incident happened between the two of you?"

"No, I was confused when she did that. That was only the second time I saw her. The first time was when Nurse Henderson introduced her to us. She was fairly new when we caught her with Dr. Wells."

"Wow and she was already canoodling with a doctor? That was fast." Vex commented.

"Yes that was fast, considering the phrase that the doctors especially the male ones, attached on her." Ciara said.

"And that was?"

"Sex on a stick."

"So now we established that, why do you think Saunders needed to mention her? Something to do with your conspiracy theory?" Vex asked.

"Well there you have it. She was called as 'sex on a stick'. So she was sexually attractive. What if Nadia and Nurse Hamilton was involved with each other? It may be the thing that Adam was covering up. He's Nadia bestfriend after all. He would do that for her, right?" Bo countered.

"Yeah that's possible." Vex agreed. "Since all the people you interviewed today denied that Nadia and Adam were having an affair. But why would Saunders be jealous of him? And based on the pattern that you had formed, his birthday was significant."

"I am thinking that Saunders is jealous of Adam not because he's having an affair with his wife but the fact that Adam was the only constant person in her life right now. And Adam may know all her secrets. He was the man Nadia was latched into, always. He's also the person she called on her first two trips in the ER. She trusted him that much. And Saunders can't be that person to his wife."

"Considering that Saunders and Nadia started as friends in Yale, maybe his ego was hurt that another man became closer to his wife." Hale added.

Lauren leaned forward and said, "What if Nadia and Miranda were not involved? What if Nadia was involved with someone else? We were considering that because Saunders mentioned Nurse Hamilton's name but what if instead of being Nadia's lover, Miranda was Saunders' spy?"

"I have another theory." Ciara raised her hand. "What if Miranda was both? She was Nadia's lover and at the same time, she was Saunders' spy." She smiled widely. "That's possible right?" She looked at friends around the table.

"So Nadia was spy-banged?" Vex retorted.

Bo grimaced. "I don't like that term but yeah, it's accurate."

"How was Nadia when you talked to her?" Lauren asked.

"As okay as she can be, considering what happened to her last night." Bo sighed. "She was in control of her faculties when she answered our questions although she faltered on some. What I couldn't forget was when she talked about how she got her wounds and bruises."

"It was excruciating to hear." Hale added.

Lauren looked at Bo and Hale. "What do you mean?"

Bo cleared her throat and bit her lip. "She was naked when she was whipped."

"But she was fully clothed when we found her." Lauren stated.

"That's right. She was whipped naked and then she fainted. When she woke up, she was whipped again. After that, she was beaten by a thin stick. She said that was the first time he used that to her. Then he told her to dress up. And then he whipped her again."

An awkward silence engulfed the room. No one had chosen to voice out their comment about what Bo had told them. After a while, a voice was heard.

"Well... I heard the furniture moving..." Lauren's voice was so small Bo had to lean into the blonde's personal space.

Bo understood what Lauren was trying to ask. She touched Lauren's arm and said, "No Lauren, he did not use the chairs to hurt her. Nadia told us that he kicked them when he finished whipping her. Maybe excess adrenaline or something."

Lauren was thankful that Bo understood her. "Alright. It may cause her permanent damages if he used the chair to her."

Ciara agreed. "Yes. Thank God for small miracles."

Vex nodded. "Yeah. But wow, this case looked like an episode of Grey's Anatomy. Look at all the drama - the involvement of one doctor to another then a doctor to a nurse, a spy-banging situation and maybe lots of sex." He smiled wickedly.

"You really loved that TV series a lot huh!" Ciara shook her head.

"Of course, three words Ci! Doctor Izzy Stevens!"

Bo said, "You know what Vex, you and Tamsin will agree on that. She also loved that show because of that character. She also mentioned a Doctor McDreamy and a Doctor McSteamy." She frowned.

"Oh yeah but I don't swing that way. They were good looking dudes but I don't care. Doctor Izzy was enough! Wasn't it Lauren?"

Lauren was caught off guard. "What? I don't know. I watched the show for the story, not for the characters and because of you. I told you I prefer House."

"Okay, okay fine! We should eat more." Vex bit his pasta. "Of course, this is delicious. You already perfected it." He looked at Lauren. "I heard Bo helped you cook this dish."

"I just helped her grate the cheese, put the cheese into the egg mixture and poured the mixture into the pasta." Bo answered.

Vex looked at Bo. "You did all that?" He turned to Lauren. "You allowed her to do that?" He raised his eyebrow.

Bo was confused by Vex's reaction. "I just poured it."

"Hmpf."

Lauren blushed.

"She never allowed me to do that, ever! Oh I can grate the cheese, put the cheese into the egg mixture but I can't pour the mixture into the pasta. Never! But you..." He pointed his finger to Bo.

Ciara and Hale looked at each other and laughed while the brunette bit her lip.

"Vex..." The doctor pleaded.

"Okay." Her bestfriend relented. "But I have to eat extra slices of all the pies you baked, understood?"

Lauren let out a breath. "Okay. I'll get the pies."

"Lo, I'll come with you to get the plates and the knife." Ciara stood up.

When the two blondes was out of the dining area, Vex turned to Bo. He said, "You are lucky I like you Officer Dennis."

Bo shrugged and smiled widely.

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Author's Note: Please read and review. Thank you.