Update! We get a little into the T territory in this chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not mine!
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Within four minutes, the nursing staff was searching the floor for Juliet. Within ten, the entire hospital was on alert and searching for her. Lassiter led the search, his heart racing. They had to find her. As they searched, he began calling everyone he could think of. No one had seen her, including her parents, and he made them all swear to call him if they saw her.
The longer he searched, the worse he felt. This was his fault. He had left her alone, vulnerable and afraid in an unfamiliar environment. Of course she had felt the need to escape. But where had she gone? Where could she have gone? She had no money, and the only clothes she wore were issued by the hospital. Surely someone would see her and contact the hospital or Vick.
Until then, he just had to keep searching.
On the roof of the hospital, Juliet smiled and sat down, a book and blanket tucked under her arm and her bracelet on her wrist. Taking in the warm breeze and fresh air, she could already feel the claustrophobia of the hospital room slowly peeling away.
Picking out a good spot, she spread the blanket out and sat down on it. Then she opened her book and began to read.
After an hour and no luck finding Juliet, Lassiter had sent out every officer at his disposal to scour the nearby area. She had no money, so she would have had to move on foot. She could not have gotten far.
He got an update from the unis; no one had seen Juliet. Growing more frustrated and concerned, Lassiter made another round of the hospital. As he came back to Juliet's room, he noticed a set of stairs that he assumed led to the roof. Glancing around, he jogged up the stairs until he reached a door with an EXIT sign hanging above it. He pushed the door open and found himself on the roof of the hospital. Slowly he stepped through the door, allowing it to close behind him. His cerulean eyes scanned the roof critically, until he saw her.
"Juliet…"
His feet carried him forward, faster and faster until he finally reached her side. She was curled up on a blanket, an open book lying beside her. The wind mussed her long blond hair, and her light eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks. Kneeling down beside her, Lassiter had to fight the urge to brush her hair back. Conflicting emotions were battling in his mind and heart, warring between gratitude that she was okay and anger that she had wandered off on her own in the first place. Finally he called her name.
Her eyes slowly opened, and the look that was there stole Lassiter's breath. "Carlton?"
He nodded silently.
Yawning, Juliet sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. "I must have fallen asleep…"
"Why did you come up here?" He couldn't stop the anger that crept into his voice. "More to the point, why didn't you tell me where you were going? I've been looking for you for hours."
"I'm sorry. I needed to get out of that room."
"I understand that-"
"No, you don't. I can't remember anything about myself, or you or anyone else." Juliet pushed herself to her feet. "I had to get out of there and just… just…"
Getting to his feet as well, Lassiter reached out and grasped her slender shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "You wanted to get out. I understand. But you can't just disappear like that, Juliet. What if something had happened to you?" The thought of something else happening to her made him sick to his stomach.
"I didn't think about it," she admitted quietly.
His anger slowly dissipated as he felt her, warm and there beneath his hands. Letting out a quiet sigh, he pulled her into his arms and held her close. She immediately burrowed into his chest, much to his surprise and delight. "I'm sorry, Juliet," he murmured, relishing the sound of her first name as it rolled off of his tongue. Since all of this had started, he had used her first name more than he had in their entire seven years as partners, and it felt…right.
"I'm sorry, too." Her voice was muffled against his shirt.
"I should have been more aware of how you would feel."
"How could you? This hasn't happened before, has it?"
"Of course not."
"Then you couldn't have known what I would do. I didn't even know what I would do."
He continued to hold her tight, swaying slightly with the breeze that caressed them. "Everything is going to be okay, Juliet," he promised, burying his nose in her thick golden tresses.
Slowly her arms came up and wound around him. "You can't be sure." Her voice was little more than a hushed whisper.
"I can," he insisted. "It might take some time, but you will get your memory back, and things will go back to normal."
Juliet was quiet for several minutes in his arms. "Is this normal?" she finally wondered.
Lassiter froze. He knew this wasn't normal, but he desperately wanted it to be. He wanted to be the one who held her, who protected her and adored her. He wanted this, for the rest of his life.
But he didn't want to, or wasn't ready to say all of that out loud. So he just continued to hold her as they stood there on the roof.
"Julie, honey, you have to make up your mind."
Juliet sat upright in her bed, her hands clutching a bag of her clothes and her eyes downcast. It had been two days since Carlton found her on the roof of the hospital, and since then she hadn't felt as safe as she had in that moment. Carlton had been distant as well, and now she was being asked where she wanted to go now that she was being released from the hospital. Her parents were pressuring her to go with them, Shawn was begging her to let him take her to someplace called Psych, and Carlton…Carlton had told her he would take her wherever she felt most comfortable.
She just didn't know where she would feel most comfortable.
Her mother sat down on the bed with her and took her hand. "Juliet, come with us. We'll take you home, where you can get better faster."
Shawn was standing on the other side of the room. "She should come with me," he insisted.
To her left, Carlton was just standing there, his arms crossed over his broad chest and his blue eyes narrowed. To anyone else, it might have been unsettling. But to Juliet, it was reassuring.
"I don't want to go with either of you," she suddenly blurted out, startling her mother and Shawn.
Maryanne was the first to regain her bearings. "But sweetheart, where will you go?"
Looking up, Juliet met Carlton's eyes. Her voice was resolute.
"I'll go with Carlton."
"And this is your apartment," Lassiter announced as he unlocked her door and pushed it open. He took a step back, allowing her to walk in first. He had taken time to tidy up and air out her apartment, as well as stock the refrigerator with her favorite foods and juices.
Juliet eased into the apartment, taking in her surroundings slowly. "Wow…"
He couldn't help chuckling as he followed her in and locked the door behind them.
Feeling braver, she took her time as she explored the living room, then the kitchen.
Not wanting to breathe down her neck, Lassiter removed his jacket and tidied up a stack of magazines and mail on the coffee table. He had been shocked to say the least when she firmly told her mother and Spencer she wasn't going with either of them, but he had almost been knocked off his feet when she said she would be going with him. Of course he had agreed, because he wanted to do anything he possibly could for her. He had never been able to make a habit of telling her no, and he couldn't start now. "Are you hungry?"
Juliet had opened the refrigerator and was going through it. "Yes."
"Would you like me to cook?"
A pair of surprised blue-green eyes peered over at him.
"You cook?"
"You do cook…" Juliet groaned as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes contentedly.
"It was a requirement for my ex-wife," he explained as he gathered the empty plates.
Juliet opened one eye. "You were married?"
"Yes. I was going through a divorce when we were first partnered up." He carried the dishes into the kitchen and placed them in the sink. Was he really going to talk about this already? He had a hard enough time bringing it up before Juliet lost her memory. Now…
"What happened?"
He almost groaned. "She… We married young, and we had a lot of issues we couldn't work through." He prayed she would leave it at that.
"Oh."
He went back to the dinner table and sat down beside her.
"What about us?"
Suddenly he found himself wishing they had stuck to the topic of his marriage to Victoria. "What do you want to know?"
"We're partners."
"Yes."
"And friends?"
"The best."
"Have we ever dated?"
"No." God, he wished they had.
The look of disappointment that flashed across her face was surprising. "Oh."
Wanting to reassure her, he reached out and gently touched her arm. "Juliet…"
"I'm not really with Shawn, am I?"
He hesitated, his eyes falling to where his hand touched her arm.
"You don't have to say it. I can tell." Her hand came up and rested on his.
"How?"
"I just can." She leaned in closer to him. "I can tell that you're a good man."
"You're the only one," he muttered gruffly.
Her response was a light laugh. He delighted in the sound. Over seven years, he knew every kind of laugh she had, from her nervous laugh to the happiest laugh she had whenever he did something she found particularly amusing. It wasn't often enough for him.
"I'm starting to get a better picture of us." And before he could reply, she closed the distance and kissed him firmly.
After telling her he was divorced, Juliet realized that she was more happy about that than she probably should have been. And when she told him she suspected she wasn't with Shawn, and he confirmed it, she was even happier. But when she pressed her lips against his, she was ecstatic and certain she had never felt anything so right. He was slow to return the kiss, but as soon as he did, she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him closer. He tasted of red wine and grilled chicken, a delicious combination.
Finally, desperate for air, she broke the kiss. But she didn't break the contact. Instead she rested her forehead against his as she caught her breath. "Wow…"
Carlton didn't say anything. He had a faraway look in his eyes.
"Carlton, that was-"
Suddenly he pulled away from her and stood up. "It's late. You should go lay down."
Juliet felt confusion and embarrassment wash over her. "What?"
"Yeah." Clearing his throat, Lassiter moved away from her and went to the couch. "I can stay here tonight, but I'll stay on the couch."
"But-"
"Good night, O'Hara."
O'Hara. He hadn't called her that at all since she woke up, and it distressed her greatly. But instead of arguing, she nodded and went down the hall. Easily finding what she assumed was her bedroom, she went in and closed the door. Then she curled up on the bed and buried her face in the pillow. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something. Slowly lifting her head, she looked at the picture on the nightstand, and new tears flowed down her cheeks.
There, next to the bed, was a framed picture of herself and Carlton.
When he heard the door slam shut, Lassiter swore and dropped down onto the couch. He had finally kissed Juliet, and what had he done? He had screwed it all up. Of course he wanted to kiss her! He wanted to do so much more than just kiss her. He wanted to carry her down the hall and tear her clothes away in a fevered frenzy to discover what was beneath. He wanted to touch and taste her until she sobbed and begged for more. He wanted to feel her nails on his back, to grab the sheets and hear the headboard slam against the wall. He wanted to do that and so much more, but he couldn't. When she regained her memory, she would probably be furious that he had even kissed her. She would request a new partner or even transfer out entirely, and he would only hear from her again in the wedding section of the newspaper.
Groaning, he flung his head back against the couch cushion and scrubbed his eyes with his hands. He was a complete moron, and in the morning he would beg her forgiveness and hope that when she regained her memory, she would still want to be his partner.
Still feeling dejected and uncomfortably aroused, Lassiter stretched out his lanky body along the length of the couch. Then he closed his eyes and settled in.
It was going to be one long, miserable night.
Sometime around midnight, Lassiter's eyes flew open. He had heard something out of place, and it took a few moments for his muddled mind to realize that Juliet was standing beside the couch. He sat up. "Juliet? What are you-"
"Shh…" Moving slowly and purposefully, Juliet lowered herself onto his lap and captured his lips in a slow, sensual kiss.
His mind begged him to stop, but his heart screamed at him to continue. She was wearing a delicate, green shift made of a shimmery, silky material, and his fingers danced along it. "Juliet…"
"Shh," she repeated, running her slender fingers through his hair.
Another kiss melted his mind, and when her fingers began to travel south, any reservations he had were gone. He responded to her with reckless abandon, his hands sliding underneath the flimsy shift. He wanted her, and he was tired of telling his own heart no. So he loved her with everything he hand and more. If things changed in the morning light, at least he would always have this. The memory of loving her, of touching her and knowing nothing stood between them. Tonight, he would have no regret.
Tonight, there would only be them.
To Be Continued...
A/N: *evil smile* Review!
