Disclaimer: I do not own any of the music or movies mentioned in this fic and as much as I wish I did.........I don't own GhostWhisperer or any of it's characters, I do however, own those characters which appear in this fanfic, but not in the show. No copyright infringement intended!
Officer Gary Hodges excused himself from Melinda's hospital room for a while to allow his colleague some time alone with her. They often found that domestic violence victims opened up easier to female officers.
Sally King opened her laptop and began typing as she spoke "Melinda, I know that this is hard for you and I understand that you're scared but I need to know....What is your relationship with your husband like?" Officer King asked in a very comforting voice "It's perfect, Jim's....perfect, he's my best friend in the whole world, we talk about...everything and we're always laughing about something, you know?" Melinda said with sincerity. Officer King sighed and gave Mel a condescending smile "Look, Melinda, you don't have to lie to me, okay? I'm not here to judge -" "I'm not lying" Melinda protested "My marriage is fine, my husband is the best.....-"
"I understand if you're afraid Melinda, I was too. I was trapped in an abusive relationship for three years before I found the strength to seek help, you feel alone and frightened. I know what it's like to be hurt over and over by the one person you're meant to be able to turn to for comfort." Officer King laid her hand over Melinda's before continuing "you don't have to take it anymore, you don't have to be alone. We offer support and protection for domestic abuse victims, we can help you to rebuild your life." The officer was tapping away at her laptop, commenting on how resistant Melinda was to admit that anything was wrong.
Melinda held the officer's hand and smiled at her "I'm sorry for what happened to you, but that is not what's going on here. I just fell, okay? Now, please, I just want my husband by my side, I know that you want what's best for me and I promise you, Jim is what's best for me. He has never ever laid a finger on me, I don't think he's ever even raised his voice to me, he's always supportive and loving. When I wake up next to him every morning, the first thing I do is thank God for giving such a wonderful husband. Please, just trust me when I say that this was an accident, serious, but still just an accident. I really appreciate everything that you're trying to do, but I don't need your help. I just want my husband." Melinda turned over and closed her eyes, signalling the end of the conversation.
Officer King sighed and stood up "We'll be in touch , if you decide you want to talk I'm leaving my card on the table, feel better" Officer King said before leaving the room and signalling to Rick that it was safe to go back in.
"Hodges!" she yelled "Hey, how'd it go?" he asked. "She's either not talking or there's just nothing to talk about. I even gave her the whole 'I was a beaten wife too' thing, she didn't cave. I don't know, she seemed pretty clear-headed, I think Clancy's clean. The way she spoke about him....she really loves him......or she's a really good actress. What do we do now? Are we just supposed to ignore the evidence, ignore our instincts? I've typed up the interview so you can review it later. How....-" Sally was cut short when Hodges' phone rang.
"Officer Hodges here"
"Hey Gary it's Troy, how's it the victim?"
"She's doing better, they got her stabilised and she's been awake for a little while now"
"That's good news, did she give a statement?"
"Yeah, she says her husband didn't do it. Sally typed it up, I'll have her e-mail it to you right now, hold on a sec" Officer King had been following the conversation so she was already sending the e-mail. A few seconds later Officer Roberts computer gave a loud message alert.
"I got it Gary, this confirms everything the husband said. We have no grounds to charge him on, we're gonna have to let him go. Uggghh this does not feel right, hey could you put Sally on please?"
"Hey Troy, it's Sally"
"Hey Sal, so was persistent huh?
"Yeah, she insisted that everything was fine between them"
"Well.... I guess I'll go sign his release papers then" Troy said reluctantly
" Wait, WHAT?! Are you kidding me? We're just gonna let him go!? We have stacks of evidence that says he's guilty. What if we let him go tonight and when gets out of hospital he finishes her off? What if he comes in here and turns off her monitors or pulls out her drip huh? Then what do we do? This is ridiculous!" Sally yelled, incredulous that they were just going to let a suspected abuser walk free.
Officer Roberts gave a tired sigh before speaking, "Sally, I understand your concern but we can't hold him without her statement. I'm sorry but I have to let Clancy walk. Tell Hodges to pass the news on to . Look Sally, the best we can do is check up on them from time to time, you can call or we can give them a home visit. We'll do our best to keep her safe, okay? Now, I'll see you back at the station, bye."
"Whatever" Sally huffed moodily.
The officers at the hospital informed Melinda of the decision, while Officer Roberts at PD did the same with Jim. Once Melinda was finally able to relax she fell asleep with Rick chatting away by her side. As soon as the release papers were signed Jim had an officer escort him to Mercy General Hospital. While they drove he felt himself relax, most of the days tension washing away from him, now all he had to worry about was Melinda. As promised, Officer Roberts had let Jim know that Melinda was doing okay and that she had been awake for a while now.
Jim climbed out of the police cruiser and rushed to the ER reception desk "I'm here for Melinda Gordon" he said to the woman behind the desk. "Recovery room 143 sir" she answered politely. Jim ran down the hall but stopped when he spotted a gift shop, he went in and bought Mel a dozen red roses. He figured out his way through the network of hallways until he finally reached room 143, looking through the window he spotted Rick sitting by Mel's side and holding her hand. He put his ear against the door and listened intently, he could hear Rick's voice softly speaking to Melinda.
"...and I know that they let him go, but that just means they didn't have enough evidence. I know you don't wanna talk about it but I'm ready to listen, anytime. Melinda I just want you to be happy."
Jim wasn't sure what to think, he was angry that Rick thought he was guilty but he was also glad to know that Melinda had a friend who cared about her so much. He smiled to himself and was about to open the door when he heard something that washed away all happy thoughts from his mind.
".... falling in love with you was the easiest thing I ever did, but being in love with you is the hardest. I wish you knew, I wish you felt the same and horrible as it sounds I kinda wish Jim was guilty. Not because I don't like him, it's just that it would mean I would get to be your knight in shining armour, you know? Sweep you off your feet and have you as my queen. The point is, this has gotten a little too hard to bear.......I'm going away for a while, I got an offer to do a research programme out in the Amazon Rainforest. I'm sorry to leave you without your ghosty go-to guy, but I just can't do it anymore. I can't keep pretending that it doesn't bother me when you mention his name or when you leave my office and I know you're going home to him. I just......-"
Jim chose that moment to walk in, he glared at Rick who quickly pulled his hands away from Melinda's and wiped away tears that had been silently falling. Jim was absolutely outraged that Rick thought of his wife in any way other than a friend, he took a few steps forward until he was right in front of Rick. "I'll help you pack".