The Next Morning …..
At five the next morning Meg woke to the smell of coffee wafting through her apartment. It made her stomach growl. It wasn't fair that she couldn't have a sausage biscuit to go with it.
Groaning, the lady Mountie sat up and searched around for her slippers. After a few minutes she found them. At first she put them on the wrong feet. Eventually, Meg shuffled into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Inspector." Fraser greeted her as she came around the corner.
"Morning, Fraser. Did you sleep alright on the loveseat last night?" She asked, using the counter top to guide her to the coffee pot.
"I slept well, thank you, kindly, Inspector." Fraser took her hand and pressed a cup of coffee into it. He got a thankful, blissful smile in return.
"I trust you slept well, Inspector." Fraser took her elbow and guided her to the love seat in the living room. The coffee was black and unsweetened but Meg didn't care, it was brain food.
"As well as could be expected." She shrugged as she stared into her own darkness. After a sip, Meg turned to Fraser, her brows knit. She could sense him watching her.
"If I asked you to call me by my first name, would you, Fraser?" Meg's voice was low but husky as she stared unseeing at him.
"You have but to ask." He answered simply. If Meg could have seen him she would have seen a Ben studying her closely, his green eyes dark and intense, tempted by her. She'd have said she'd seen that look on him only once, atop a train.
"Call me Meg, please." She blinked, wishing she could see Fraser.
"Alright, Meg." He said the name with quiet relish, like looking at a treasure. She grinned behind her coffee cup.
"I should be getting ready." Meg stood up and set her coffee cup on the table beside the lamp. Ben watched as she stretched, stepping carefully around the coffee table, her pajama top showing a sliver of skin just below her belly button. Meg heard him take a sharp intake of breath. She just kept walking toward her bedroom. The naughty smile on her face was only there for a moment.
Ben had to take a long, deep breath to keep from following Meg down the hall, into her bedroom. Taking advantage of her now would be wrong and he knew it. She was vulnerable and scared, two things that didn't make a solid basis for a good relationship. Ben knew that both of them deserved better than that.
By the time Meg was ready to leave for the hospital, Ben had regained his composure. He stood fully decked out in red serge beside the door. She felt her way along the hallway wall, to the center of the living room before she stopped. Ben came forward to take her hand. He noted how it shook but didn't say anything.
"Am I wearing what I think I am, Fraser?" Meg asked, her hands sliding down the thigh of her tan khaki slacks.
"A white button down blouse and khaki slacks." Fraser informed her. He felt a blush rising when he saw the dark lace showing beneath the thin material.
"It's chilly out, perhaps a jacket would be advisable." Fraser said with sudden inspiration.
"Alright, will you get the one I wore yesterday." Meg pointed toward her bedroom. "It's laying on my hope chest." Fraser took off after it, eager to get a full view of her inner sanctum.
"Thank you kindly, Fraser." Meg said as he helped her slip the hunter green jacket on.
The Hospital ….
"Hey, Benny, I brought Dief." Ray Vecchio walked through the lobby like he owned the place. The Armani clad detective had a certain confident swagger to his gait that let the world know who was boss.
"Thank you, Ray." The Mountie thumbed the material of his stiff brimmed Stetson. Meg had been in surgery for almost two hours.
"Where were you last night, I didn't recognize the number on the caller ID." Ray asked, his hands shoved down into his slacks pockets as he watched a few of the comely, young nurses milling about.
"I escorted Inspector Thatcher home last night." Fraser answered without elaborating.
"It was after ten when you called, what'd you do, stay the night?" Ray elbowed his friend playfully. As soon as Fraser hung his head the detective knew the answer. "You did! Fraser, you spent the night at the dragon lady's apartment, wow, that's some overtime." Ray chuckled, watching his friend's face go from a pale flesh tone to a light maroon.
"Inspector Thatcher is totally blind, both retina are damaged." Fraser defended himself.
"So Thatcher's got to have you to babysit her?" Ray watched a curvy blonde nurse walk past carrying a patient's chart.
"Inspector Thatcher needed assistance getting home as well as getting to the hospital this morning, that's all." Fraser said stoutly.
"Can't she get one of her girlfriends to come sit with her?" Ray persisted. He and Thatcher had never been overly friendly but neither wished the other any ill will.
"Ray, she asked me to speak as her representative should something go wrong during surgery." Ben thought back to how afraid Meg had been the night before when she'd asked.
"Thatcher's got to have family or a friend that could have flown in for this." Ray began to wonder at the Inspector's out of character behavior. He'd never known her to ask Fraser for anything so personal.
"No, Ray, I suspect Inspector Thatcher is very much alone." Ben said with a note of sadness to his voice.
"You're just going to play nursemaid until she's healed up then, what, about a month or so?" Ray shrugged thinking what a bleeding heart Fraser was to let Thatcher drag him around by the nose.
"I intend to help Inspector Thatcher until she's sufficiently recovered, yes, Ray." The Mountie sounded a bit miffed at his friend's attitude.
"Are you going to run the consulate from her apartment or turn it over to Turnbull?" Ray asked, wondering how Fraser was going to get out of that pickle.
"The consulate has a guest suite, Inspector Thatcher will be quite comfortable there until she's well." Fraser responded quickly. He'd already thought of that.
"She's a big girl, Benny, let Thatcher take care of herself." Vecchio insisted, turning his attention away from nurse watching.
"Ray, I feel that I am deeply responsible for the Inspector's injury, the least I can do is protect her while she's vulnerable." Fraser answered, studying his high browns for a moment. This could very well be the end of her career and Ben held himself responsible.
"I give up, you're hopeless." Ray waved his friend's concerns away. He'd never understand Fraser's code anymore than he would fully understood his own.
"Let me know if you need anything, Fraser, you know where to reach me." Ray handed Fraser Dief's leash and started for the exit.
"Thank you kindly, Ray." Fraser wished him. They didn't have to fully understand each other or agree to maintain their friendship. Both knew that the other would be there to help in any way should the other need them.
TYKTYKTYK
