A/N: I'm so sorry for this late upload. I've had a lot of things to do lately, and I'm working on writing a professional novel in an attempt to start a writing career.. I was also trying to figure out how to correctly word this chapter. I just simply can't believe how many people are actually favoring and following my story. I really hope that I can keep all of you interested and coming back. I have added a new character to the story which will be one characters of my own creation.
Chapter - 3
Hidden Truth
The long drive from LA to Beverly Hills had long since become worryingly quiet. Every so often, Chloe would risk a glance in Lucifer's direction in order to gauge how well he was holding up and to her dismay would notice him constantly wiping stray tears out of his eyes. A couple of time's she had tried to engage him in conversation, but she was only met with silence, and the feeling that her partner could have another breakdown at any moment. Seeing the full extent of her partner's silent suffering made her blood boil.
At this point, all she wanted to do was bring Malcolm back to life just so Lucifer could give him the appropriate amount of punishment. Deep inside, Chloe felt guilty for having to deprive her partner of that well deserved satisfaction. She had to remind herself that she was an officer of the law and that she was trying to keep her partner walking the path of the straight and narrow and no amount of punishment towards Malcolm was going to help Lucifer deal with his current internal emotional struggle. Chloe wasn't a church going person, and she didn't believe in the concept of original sin.
Chloe Decker was a woman who prided herself on her ability to forgive her fellow human beings for just about anything, but hurting a person who she deemed to have been already mentally compromised was one of the acts on her short list that she couldn't over look or ever forgive. Chloe looked over at Lucifer once again and really hoped that he wasn't picking up on her change of mood. She was trying really hard to keep herself calm and composed, so as to not make her partner any more frightened than he already was. The last thing Chloe wanted was for Lucifer to start thinking that she was becoming angry with him.
The young homicide detective turned her eyes back towards the road and her lips slowly twisted into a grateful smile, as the sky scraper that housed Linda's office finally came into view. She gently pulled over and parked her car in the open parking space that was located only a few feet away from the building's front entrance. Chloe turned to her partner and said, as she unfastened his seat belt, "We're here, Lucifer. I just wanted to make you aware of how delicate this situation is, before we go inside. You need to get yourself to a completely relaxed state and try to remain that way while you're talking to Linda. The last thing we need is for her to start thinking that you need to be hospitalized. If that were to happen, we wouldn't be able to keep working together."
Lucifer looked at her and replied with an apprehensive frown, as he wiped away more tears, "In that case, I no longer want to do this. I know that I wouldn't survive losing you, detective." Chloe took one of his trembling hands into her own and said with a gentle reassuring smile, "Lucifer, that's not something that you'll ever have to worry about. No matter what happens, I'll remain by your side. Lucifer, you need to talk to somebody, and Linda would be the best person to help you cope with what Malcolm did. She can help you overcome all of your fears. All I'm saying is that we don't need her thinking that there's even the slightest risk of you hurting yourself. I can just imagine how many times that temptation has crossed your mind."
The nightclub owner took a deep calming breath and replied in a tremulous voice, "There are times that I wish I was still in hell." Chloe let go of her partner's hand and said as she un-buckled her own seat belt, "Well, that's a desire you're definitely going to want to keep to yourself, Lucifer. It'll get you hospitalized for sure." The youthful homicide detective and her partner got out of the car and calmly started making their way towards the tall sky scraper.
After a short walk to the elevator and a fifteen minute ride to the 30th floor of the building, Lucifer found himself sitting right beside Chloe on the sofa inside Linda's waiting room trying really hard to keep himself calm just like his partner had suggested. He tried taking deep breaths in an attempt to relax, but he could already feel his body starting to tremble and rock back and forth, as the detective's dire warning played itself over and over again in his mind. Chloe noticed her partner's growing distress and announced seriously, as she gently wrapped her arms around his body, "Lucifer, you need to calm down and stop rocking. I promise you that everything's going to be just fine."
Before he could respond to her heartfelt suggestion, a door on the other side of the waiting room opened and Lucifer looked to his left and found Dr. Linda dressed up in one of her finer outfits looking back at him with a frown of utmost professional concern on her beautiful face. The young therapist calmly walked over to the sofa and said gently, as she knelt down in front of her client and took his trembling hands into her own, "Good morning, Lucifer. I can't see that you're not doing to well. May I have the details of what's been bothering you?"
Within a matter of seconds, Lucifer turned to Chloe and began to cry hysterically , as he threw his arms around her tightly. Chloe wrapped her arms around his shaking body and said, as she once again started rocking him back and forth, " Shhh... Lucifer, you really need to calm down and try to pull yourself together. I promise that Linda's only here to help you. She's not angry with you. Helping you with your problems is what she's here for." Linda looked at Chloe and said seriously, as she got back to her feet, "It's more than obvious that Lucifer's in absolutely no shape to have a calm and rational discussion right now, Detective. So, I think that it would be in his best interest for you and I to have that talk. I'm going to go and get one of my colleagues to sit with Lucifer while we're gone. It's pretty obvious that he can't be left alone right now."
Chloe silently nodded. Linda left the waiting and then returned a few moments later with an attractive smartly dressed tall and slender thirty-four year old woman with shoulder length dark brown hair and pearl shaped hazel colored eyes calmly following close behind her. Linda led the way over to the sofa and declared with a calm and gentle smile, as she pulled Lucifer out of his partner's grasp, "Lucifer, I would like you to meet my colleague and friend Dr. Kim Williams. She going to sit with you, while you're partner and I have a talk in my office." Chloe calmly got up from the sofa. Kim announced cheerfully, as she sat down right beside the club owner, "I'm so very pleased to meet you, Lucifer. I think that you and I should take this time to get to know one another better."
Lucifer gave a genuine tearful smile and replied in a shaking voice, "I'm very pleased to meet you as well, Dr. Williams." The new comer giggled a little and said dismissively, "Please, call me Kim. I can see that Linda's a very good friend of yours. Any friend of Linda's is a friend of mine." Lucifer wiped the tears out of his eyes and replied with timid nod, "All right, Kim. You can call me, Lucifer." Kim nodded and remarked with a gentle smile, "Yes, I kind of figured that." Lucifer laughed, as he wiped away even more tears.
Reassured that her partner was in safe and gentle hands, Chloe allowed herself to be led into Linda's office and calmly closed the door behind her. Chloe took a deep breath and announced with an impressed grin, "I have to hand it to you, Linda. That colleague of yours is a miracle worker. I didn't think I'd ever hear Lucifer laugh again." Linda nodded her thanks and replied warmly, "Kim's use to dealing very fragile people. I thought that if anybody could help Lucifer calm down, she could." Linda gestured towards her office sofa and added with a look that suddenly turned seriously, "Now, I need you to tell me exactly what's going on with my patient."
The youthful homicide detective took a seat and replied worriedly, "Well, Lucifer and I very recently had our hands full with an intense investigation into a string of ritual type murders." Linda nodded and said thoughtfully, "Yes, I remember reading about that in the paper. From what I understand the actual killer turned out to be an insane and crooked officer by the name of Malcolm Gramm." Chloe nodded and replied in confirmation, after taking a long deep breath, "Yes. Well, I know that the murders and the killer's death got a lot of press. Unfortunately, there were a few details that were left out. One of the details was that Malcolm had kidnapped my daughter from school."
Chloe went silent for a moment, as she struggled to keep herself calm. Linda sighed and said gently, "Detective, I know this's hard for you, but I promise that the information you're providing will go along way in helping to determine the best course of treatment for Lucifer. It's quite possible that your partner could be a ticking time bomb. We need to do what ever we can to get him through this. So, it's important that you tell me everything."
Chloe nodded and replied calmly, "Lucifer and I got a fix on Malcolm's location which turned out to be an airport hanger. We went there to rescue Trixie and wound up getting into a shootout. Lucifer tried to reason with Malcolm and got shot in the stomach for his trouble. I wound up putting three rounds into Malcolm, and he died not to long after. Thankfully, we were able to get him to the E/R in time, but his near death experience has really shaken him. It's made him highly fearful of other people, especially my fellow officers. He's even seems to be afraid of Maze. It took a lot for me just to get him to come out of his apartment this morning." The homicide detective didn't like adding in false information, but she consoled herself with the thought that revealing the whole truth could easily be disastrous.
For a few long moment's, Linda was quiet as she seriously considered everything that Chloe had just told her. Finally, the therapist cleared her throat and announced thoughtfully, "Well, going by everything that you've just said, I would have to conclude that Lucifer's suffering from a severe case of post traumatic stress disorder which seems to be bordering on psychosis. Such a problem could make his delusions worse to the point that he could wind up suffering a complete mental break down. This isn't something that can be dealt with by the use of conventional therapy alone. At least for a while, Lucifer will need to be placed on medication. I'm going to recommend that he is prescribed 45mgs of Lorazepam. This's an anti-psychotic that should help regulate his brain chemistry and bring him back down to an even keel. He'll need to be under constant supervision. He should not be allowed behind the wheel until we know, how this medication is going to effect him and if there'll be any side effects. Under no circumstances is Lucifer allowed to have any alcohol while he is taking this medication. That could easily lead to an over dose."
Chloe laughed and replied mildly, "Maybe I should just take him home with me and be done with it." Linda was again silent for a moment and then said with a sudden smile, "You know what, detective? You could be very well be onto something with that idea of yours. I have a judge friend who deals in adoption law. I could easily recommend that Lucifer be better off being placed directly into your custody. In other words, you would be given temporary legal guardianship over him. That would make it possible for you to be with him at all times."
Chloe just gave Linda a dumbfounded look. After a moment, the detective cleared her throat and inquired apprehensively, "Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, Lucifer's something of a free spirit." Linda nodded and said understandingly, "Yes, I realize that, detective. However, you and I both need to think of what's best for Lucifer. He simply can't be alone while he's on this medication. It's either we go with your idea, or I'll have to place him into a mental health facility. I don't think that either one of us want that to happen." Chloe silently considered all of the ramifications for a few moment and said with a serious nod, "All right, Dr. Martin. Let's do it." Linda nodded and replied with a grateful smile, "I'll have the medication and custodial papers drawn up and ready for you to sign in the morning."
With a cordial goodbye, Chloe left Linda's officer and strolled back into the waiting room where she found Kim holding Lucifer in her arms, as she did her best to keep him calm and quiet. Lucifer looked over and sighed in relief, when he noticed his partner standing only few feet away from him. Lucifer timidly got to his feet and inquired worriedly, "Is everything all right? I won't be put into a hospital, will I?" The homicide detective smiled and replied soothingly, as she took one of Lucifer's trembling hands into her's, "I promise that I'll explain everything to you once we get back to Lux."
Chloe looked over at the Dr. Williams and added gratefully, "Thank you for looking after him for me." Kim shook her head and replied nonchalantly, "There no reason to thank me, Detective. It's what I'm here for." Without another word, Chloe opened the waiting room door and guided Lucifer out into the hallway while Kim watched them leave with a hint of malice in her eyes.
A/N : I really hope all of you like this chapter. Thanks again for all the favorites follows and reviews. I love hearing what you guys think. As you've probably guessed, there something that doesn't seem quite right with Dr. Williams. And how is the new arrangements for Lucifer going to work out? Will finally have the chance to get use to being around Trixie, or will the little girls presence send him into an even deeper state of panic? And Don't worry though. I promise not to leave you guys hanging and you'll definitely get your answers as the story progresses. So, please stay tuned.