Love Is Your Color
Chapter 18: Just for Awhile
Roxie was very pleased to be returning to work. She and Nick left Sophia with Barbara before heading to the lab. Roxie was nervous and she didn't quite understand why. She had been looking forward to working again, but at the same time she knew she would miss being with Sophia all the time. Roxie sat in the car as Nick drove. She watched as the rain hit against the windows. She took a deep breath. She then felt a hand on hers. She turned and looked at Nick who simply gave her a smile. He watched his wife for a second. He knew that her heart was left with Sophia. The two of them arrived in the parking lot of the Police Department. Roxie got out of the car pulling her hood on. Nick came around the car and laced his fingers with hers. She gave him a smile before they walked inside out of the rain together. Getting inside Roxie took a deep breath. It was time to work. She could only hope to not have any outdoor crime scenes tonight with the rain.
"Hey Rainbow." Nick said as he stopped walking. He pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss. "It's going to be fine and Sophia will be fine." Roxie simply nodded.
They continued inside hand in hand. Getting into the locker room Roxie removed her hood and took off her jacket. Her hair settled on her shoulders. She was pleased that her hair had grown back to shoulder length. She'd spent the prior afternoon at the salon getting it dyed. Her hair was now once again ombre with her natural dark brown on top that faded into a purple that then fades into a pastel blue at the tips, Rainbow Brite was back in action. Walking into the hall Roxie came face to face with Russell.
"Hey Roxie I was just coming to find you. I wanted to talk to you for a second in my office." Russell said.
"Yeah sure." Roxie answered.
"Nick you have a 419. Check with Morgan she has the details." Russell then said to Nick who closed his locker.
"Will do boss." Nick said. "See you later Rainbow." He then said to his wife who gave him a smile and a small wave.
Roxie followed Russell into his office. She sat in a chair in front of his desk while he sat behind the desk. Roxie looked around the office. It seems things hadn't changed at least here.
"So Roxie…" he started. "Instead of having you go straight back to working normal cases with everyone else I want you to work on a project for me, but only if you are up for it. We need to get this Good Girl Rapist behind bars. I think you are the best person to lead this up because you were one of his victims and in talking with other victims you can possibly get more information because you have a connection to this case. I know this isn't normal procedure, but I know you work well and you can kick ass on this."
"Yeah, yeah… I'm down for it. I want this bastard behind bars also." Roxie said.
"So if you need help everyone is at your disposal except Nick. I feel that even though you are personally affected by this case it is different than how he is affected. I don't want his emotions to get the best of him." Russell explained. Roxie couldn't agree more. She knew that this would get to him and she knew right now he was already going through something. Lately he'd been distracted and just different. She couldn't explain it, but she only hoped it would leave. She felt like it had something to do with Catherine leaving and she felt like once he got used to it then maybe things would go back to normal.
"I agree." Roxie replied.
"So how was the drop-off earlier? Barbara said the practice night went well." Russell said referring to Sophia being dropped off with his wife for the night.
"It went well. I miss Sophia so much." Roxie said sadly.
"Yeah it's hard to leave them when they are so tiny, but it's harder when they are older." Russell said. Roxie shrugged. "Well I will let you get to work. Any cases or anything you need. Go for it. Let's get this guy off the street."
"Thanks." Roxie said as she stood and left the office.
The night was going slow. Roxie was going over the cases she already knew including her own. She'd pulled all the boxes of evidence. She starred at the box that had her names on it. She just starred at the name JONES, ROXANNE written on the box. She couldn't believe it was all still here. It all still existed. It was like her memories from that night were all contained into a single box. Suddenly her cell phone rang and she jumped. She took it from her pocket and saw Nick's name. She smiled as she answered the call.
"Hey Babe." She said happily.
"Hey. Morgan and I just finished at our scene. We were going to grab something to eat. Do you want me to pick up something for you?" Nick asked.
"No. No I'm good." Roxie answered as her eyes went back to the box. She let out a sigh.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No not really. Just working." She said.
"Well I will let you get back to it. I love you." He said sweetly.
"I love you too." Roxie said before ending the call.
She put the phone back her in pocket and grabbed a pair of gloves. She put her on her gloves and took a razor. She cut the seal on the box and opened it. She looked inside. The first thing she saw was a paper bag. She took the bag from the box and opened it. She pulled out a t-shirt. It was ripped. It was her favorite shirt at the time. It was purple with the name of her favorite band of the time. She smiled at the shirt remembering when she bought it at a concert. She put the shirt back and pulled out a pair of pink panties. These got her. These were the panties she wore that night. There was a brown bloodstain on it. She remembered taking them off at the hospital and seeing the blood. She quickly returned them to the bag. It was like everything came back at once. She then wondered if she could even do this. Could to take this project on?
The night had taken a dramatic turn from where it had been for Nick. It started out easily enough with a routine call and a roadside dinner that turned into a mess. He and Morgan witnessed a kid crash his car and then they saved him from his car. He now sat in the hospital waiting on news about the kid. He'd actually be shot and they saved his life. The thing is he mentioned others. Could that be true? He didn't know what to think, but the night was growing into morning and he was tired. His cell phone then rang. He was happy to see it was a call from Roxie.
"My Rainbow." He said answering the call.
"My Country Boy." Roxie said sweetly. "What's up?"
"Waiting for this kid to get out of surgery." He answered.
"Yeah I heard about that." Roxie said.
"What are you up to?" Nick then asked.
"Working, but getting ready to head out to get Sophia." Roxie said.
"Working on what?" he asked.
"A special project. Russell asked me to work on something so for now I'm on this project." Roxie answered.
"Alright well I will see you at home I guess…" he trailed off.
"Yeah well I won't wait up. I'm sleepy. Hopefully Sophia lets me get a little sleep." Roxie said with a small laugh.
"Ok well… I love you." He said.
"I love you too." Roxie said. He ended the call and looked down at the screen. It was a photo of Roxie and Sophia he'd taken over the weekend. Sophia was already getting so big. He couldn't believe she was the same little baby that Roxie had given birth to. Being a dad made him proud and it gave him a purpose especially because lately he hadn't felt like he had much purpose.
Roxie walked into her front door with a sleeping Sophia in her arms. She went straight into Sophia's room and gently placed her in the crib before heading to her own room. She was too tired to change her clothes. She instantly got into bed and fell fast asleep. Her sleep was broken by cries. She opened her eyes knowing it was Sophia. She glanced at the clock seeing that she got just over an hour of sleep. Pulling herself out of bed she waked into Sophia's room and picked her up. She rocked Sophia all the way into the kitchen where she lazily made a bottle for her baby girl. She yawned as she walked to the couch and fed Sophia. It was so early, but she was so tired. She didn't know how she would keep this up. Working nights and then coming home to a baby wasn't going to be easy.
Roxie headed into working exhausted. She hadn't seen Nick in nearly 24 hours. She knew he was working a case. She shuffled into the break room to put her things away. She then walked the halls hoping to see Nick around. She hated when they had to go forever without seeing one another. She went into the garage hoping to find him only to find someone she didn't know. It was a blonde woman who was splashing paint everywhere. The woman stood and looked around. Roxie's eyes then met her.
"Umm hi… don't mind me." Roxie said.
"Didn't think anyone was around." The woman said. "Hi I'm Julie Finlay, but just call me Finn. I'm just helping out."
"I'm Roxie Stokes." Roxie said as she looked around.
"Stokes… are you related to Nick?" she asked. "I met him earlier. I mean not related related. Obviously you wouldn't be…ughh no…sorry."
Roxie simply laughed. "No I get the question it's alright. He's my husband."
"Ahh the cute one is married." Finn said.
"Everyone is always bummed when learning that." Roxie said.
"Well you won the lottery on that one." She said.
"I was actually looking for him and he obviously isn't here." Roxie said disappointed. "Well I better get going."
"Yeah see you around." Finn said.
Roxie walked through the lab in a last ditch effort to find her husband. She finally found him. She walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and gave her a huge smile. He instantly pulled her close and planted a kiss on her lips.
"I missed you." He said.
"I missed you. Sophia missed you too." Roxie said sadly.
"Well once this case is done I'm off and we can spend some time together, all three of us." He said looking at her Roxie smiled, she liked the sound of that. "You look so tired." He then mentioned.
"Well I managed nearly two hours of sleep when I got home before Sophia woke up. Then I got an hour for her morning nap and 2 hours in her afternoon nap. So not much sleep had." Roxie explained with a yawn. "I bet you're tired too."
"Yeah, but I'll grab a nap at some point." He said.
"Hey Nick we got those results." Greg said as he came up the hall with Morgan.
"I better let you go. I need to get working also." Roxie said giving him a quick kiss and watching him disappear up the hall. She let out a sigh. She didn't want them to become strangers. She questioned if working was something she could continue doing when they had Sophia at home. She felt so guilty for leaving Sophia already, but she had guilt for not being totally present when home with Sophia.
The weeks seemed to pass and Roxie still wasn't shaking that feeling. She'd been working hard and going home exhausted and dealing with Sophia. She felt like she was only halfway there for Sophia. Tonight she'd made a decision. In the past week she'd gone back and forth on it. Many mornings she and Nick lied in bed and they discussed it. She loved that he was supportive of her decision. Though she still couldn't shake that she knew something was up with him. He wasn't talking about it and she didn't want to force him.
Roxie came into work and went straight to Russell's office. He was at his desk. He looked up to see Roxie standing there. She gave a weak smile as she walked into his office and sat down. Roxie let out a sigh. She didn't know where to start.
"What's on your mind Roxie?" Russell asked.
"I just can't do this. At least not right now. I've been thinking about it and I want to take a leave of absence. I don't want to quit, but I want to take a break." Roxie said.
"I felt this coming." Russell said. "And I understand. You've got the baby and that changes everything." Roxie nodded. She was so happy he understood.
"I've been working on my project with the help of both Sara and Finn. They promised me they would work on it when they could and when I'm back I will be back in it fully." Roxie said.
"That's fine with me. Enjoy your time home with Sophia. You guys will have to come over and visit with Barbara. She's going to miss keeping Sophia at nights." Russell said.
"We sure will." Roxie said happily as she stood. "Thanks for understanding." Roxie said as she left his office. She then walked towards the locker room. She saw Nick getting his things. "I did it."
"So I guess you're going home now?" he asked.
"Yep heading out. I'll see you in the morning." Roxie said as he pulled her close.
"Yeah." He answered before giving her a kiss. He let Roxie go and she gave him a smile before walking out. Roxie was going home. She was going to miss the lab, but it wasn't forever. Just for a while.