The next day Erin was up early as usual but the short amount of sleep she had had didn't affect her sunny disposition. Something about Erin had changed, the worries that had been burdening her had been lifted and now her face glowed with happiness and she looked so much more calm and relaxed than she had ever done before. Leo was still a little concerned about her and the events that had happened the previous evening and was keen to keep a close eye on her for the next couple of days
"I've got to work today" Leo said over breakfast
"On a Saturday?" Erin said tucking a piece of hair behind her ear
Leo nodded "No rest for the wicked I'm afraid, but Nikki has a day off today and she said she'd like to spend some time with you if that's ok"
Erin nodded slowly, taking in what Leo had just said "Ok"
"Good girl" Leo smiled "She'll be here in about an hour"
Erin smiled and the two of them continued with their breakfast, Erin was mulling over what Leo had told her, she sensed he was concerned about last night still and if he couldn't keep an eye on her then he'd have to get someone else to. But she didn't mind in the slightest, she'd grown close to Nikki recently and looked up to her as a confidante. The two females seemed to have an understanding between them and Nikki was the only woman that Erin had ever felt comfortable around
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"Hey Nikki" Leo said opening the door to the young woman "Thanks for coming, I know it's your day off…"
Nikki cut him off with a shake of her head "It's no problem Leo, I'd love to spend time with Erin she's a lovely girl"
Leo nodded "There was a little hitch last night"
Nikki looked at him with concern on her face "What sort of hitch?"
"She'd ripped the stitches out of that cut on her arm. She was upset about something and I think it was her way of releasing anger"
Nikki looked shocked "Do you think she's a self-harmer?"
"I don't think so; I think it was just a one off thing. We talked things through and she seems much happier today. But I want to keep a close eye on her today"
"Hence why I am here" Nikki finished for him
Leo nodded "She trusts you Nikki; you're a good influence on her"
"So are you" Nikki said insistently
Leo shrugged "I'm going to have to tell Robert about what happened last night. I just hope this doesn't affect the fostering process"
"I'm sure it'll be fine. You talked things through with her and got it sorted, that shows you'll be a great foster parent"
"I hope so Nikki, I really hope so" he sighed
"When do you find out if you can foster her?" Nikki asked
"I'm not sure, there are other meetings and interviews to go through yet and a whole host of other things"
Nikki nodded "Well I'll keep her safe today Leo, you can be sure of that"
"I know" Leo said smiling "You and Harry are the most trustworthy people I know"
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Erin heard a knock at her bedroom door "Come in" she called
Nikki popped her head round the door and smiled "Hey"
"Hi" Erin greeted
Nikki took a step further into the room and took in the view. This was Leo's spare room that Erin was using, it was small but cosy and Erin had started to make it her own. She had a few possessions from her old house but Nikki had been shocked by how little of her own she actually possessed. Erin was curled up on her bed with her soft toy dog on her lap; she'd been absorbed in a book and now was marking her place as she turned towards Nikki
"What are you reading?" Nikki asked as Erin returned the book to a nearby shelf
"Charlotte's web" Erin said with a small smile "It's one of my favourites"
"Mine too" Nikki agreed "So are you ready?"
"Yeah" Erin said grabbing her jacket
Nikki looked at the girl and couldn't help but smile, Erin looked so different to the time when she'd first appeared in the lab. Back then she was a thin, bedraggled looking girl with a drawn face and lank hair but now she was almost a picture of perfect health. She'd lost some of the gauntness she'd previously had and she now had much more colour in her cheeks. Her hair was tied back but it had much more of a gleam to it. Dressed in an ordinary pair of jeans and a t-shirt she looked like any other teenager in London. Erin was beginning to have a normal life and Nikki was relieved that Leo had gotten things back on track with her last night
"I'll be off now" Leo said popping his head round the door "I'll be back around six" he directed this last comment at Nikki
Erin moved towards Leo and he gave her a quick hug and mouthed 'bye' at Nikki before he left the house
"So what do you want to do?" Nikki asked Erin
The young girl shrugged "I don't really know this area very well"
"Good" Nikki said smiling "I'd hoped you'd say that because I have a good idea of what to do"
Erin looked at Nikki with a bemused expression on her face as she followed Nikki out to her car
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Nikki pulled up outside a busy market area in a part of London Erin had never seen before. The market was colourful and full of people. The streets were lined with a couple of old looking shops but most of the space was taken up by market stalls selling various wares. In the middle of it all was a fountain with some benches round the edge. Although it was winter, the sky was blue and there was a warm sun peeking through the clouds, taking the bite off the air.
"I like to come here when I have my days off" Nikki said smiling
"It's nice" Erin said taking in the view as they got out of the car
Nikki smiled at Erin warmly and took her hand as they walked down the road into the market
A couple of hours later the two of them were sitting by the fountain having lunch. The day had warmed up bathing the area in a cheery glow. Erin was sitting cross-legged on one of the benches busily drawing in her sketch pad when Nikki came up behind her holding some sandwiches she'd bought from a local shop
"I didn't know what you'd like so I went for boring cheese and pickle" Nikki said sitting down beside her
"That's fine" Erin smiled scrabbling around in her bag for her purse
Nikki stopped her "My treat" she said
"But…"
"No buts about it!" Nikki grinned as she tucked into her own sandwich
The two of them sat in silence for a while until Nikki broke the stillness when she looked down at what Erin had been sketching
"That's brilliant" she gasped
On the page was a pencil drawing of the market and fountain sketched with minuscule detail. Erin had captured the essence of the place so realistically Nikki was amazed at the girl's talent. Harry had mentioned he'd seen some of her drawings but he'd clearly not found the words that could describe Erin's ability
"It's nothing" Erin said modestly
"It's better than I could do, my limit is stick figures and even then you have to squint to see what it is I'm trying to draw" Nikki said still looking down at Erin's drawing in awe
"Do you want to see the others?" Erin asked shyly and Nikki nodded
She passed her sketchpad over to Nikki who took it carefully and studied each of Erin's drawings in turn. They were all drawn in the same careful detail and each pencil sketch looked so realistic. There were a number of things Erin had sketched ranging from landscapes to sketches of literary characters. Nikki turned over the page and stopped suddenly, on this page there was a sketch of a man, she could tell hours had been put into this drawing. His face was moulded so carefully by the pencil lines and great care had been put into the fine characteristics
"That's my dad" Erin said smiling down at the sketch
"Really?" Nikki said taking in the picture
"Well no…not exactly. I've never seen a picture of him so I was trying to work out what he would have looked like. I guess it's a bit like Pip from Great expectations"
Nikki smiled "You like reading don't you?"
Erin nodded enthusiastically "And drawing. It's my release"
"This is amazing" she said pointing down at the sketch of Erin's dad
"Thanks" Erin said blushing slightly at the compliment "It's nice to have a reminder of him even if I never actually met him"
"Do you miss him?" Nikki said cocking her head on one side thoughtfully
"I don't know" Erin said wrinkling her nose in thought "I don't remember him so I can't say I miss him on a personal level because I don't know what he was like. But I do miss his presence if that makes any sense"
"Perfect sense" Nikki nodded and Erin smiled
"Do you want to know something?" she asked and Nikki nodded "You're the only person I've ever showed that sketch too"
Nikki felt her heart warm inside of her as Erin confided in her. She looked down at the young girl lovingly and pulled her into a gentle hug
"It's all going to be fine Erin, you know that don't you?"
Erin made a noise of agreement
"And you know that Leo Harry and myself will always be there for you no matter what"
"Yeah" Erin said quietly
Nikki released Erin from the hug and the girl smiled up at her "Now you just wait here for a moment and I'll be right back"
Erin looked puzzled for the second time that day but the look in Nikki's eyes had reassured her. So she turned back to her sketch pad with a small smile on her face as Nikki made her way across the market and into a small shop
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Nikki entered a small bookshop on the street corner still smiling at the way Erin had confided in her. She glanced around the bookshop scanning the shelves. She wanted to find Erin something really special so she would remember the day. Her eyes darted across the rows of books until she found exactly what she was looking for. In The corner of one of the shelves was a dusty, old looking volume, Nikki picked it up and smiled, she knew Erin was going to love it and she couldn't wait to see the look on the young girl's face
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"I'm back" Nikki said slightly breathlessly as she sat down on the bench next to Erin, dropping a small carrier bag in the girl's lap
"What's this?" Erin said glancing at the bag and then at Nikki's beaming face
"Open and you'll find out" Nikki grinned
Erin opened the plastic bag and pulled out the contents. Nikki had bought Erin a small pile of book ranging from classic to modern. But one small dusty volume caught Erin's eye. She gently held it in her hands and flicked through the pages, it was a poetry anthology just waiting to be read.
Erin grinned "Nikki thank you so much!" she gushed
"Do you like it?"
"I love it" Erin said hugging Nikki "I have something for you" she said pulling away slightly
"What's that?" Nikki said looking at the young girl
Erin gave Nikki a small stack of papers. On closer inspection Nikki saw that these were a selection of Erin's sketches. There was the one of the market she'd seen Erin doing before, there were a couple of landscape one's and finally there was one of the lab
"Erin, they're beautiful" Nikki gasped
"Do you like them?" she said repeating Nikki's question
"I love them" Nikki laughed "I'm going to get them framed and have them on my wall to show everyone"
"Really?" Erin asked, smiling
"Really" Nikki answered
The two of them sat on the bench smiling happily at one another. The day had been an experience for both of them, which neither would ever forget. For Nikki it had been a chance to spend time with a girl she loved and adored. For Erin it was a chance to spend a day feeling completely happy and for once she would not have to feel scared about what the evening would bring. The two of them sat happily together, basking in the glow of the winter sun just content with each other's company.
Author's note: Phew! Not bad for typing with one hand though it did take me the weekend to do. I also found out I'm going to be in a cast for 10 weeks which basically means my whole summer holidays are going to be spent with me in plaster, and to make matters worse I broke the arm that I write with. This is not a good thing at all :(
