A few weeks passed, and Tom was back at work and on another case. He was sifting through photo evidence and case notes, when he winced severely, though he remained silent through his pain.
"Tom?" Mared could tell he was in a state of severe discomfort, she paused, and then reacted when he didn't respond to her. "Come on. Let's go to the break room."
Once there, she continued to speak.
"You need more time. More rest. You are still in too much pain. You shouldn't be here." Mared calmly admonished.
"Please, Mared. I have to. There's no time...". He winced once more.
"Let me see." She quietly commanded. Tom was surprised by the softness of her request.
Tom stared at her with his soulful eyes, and then untucked his dress shirt from his trousers slowly. He then began to unbutton it slowly whilst continuing to look at Mared. He opened his shirt but kept it on his shoulders. He raised the long-sleeved cotton shirt he layered underneath. She approached him more closely. The bruising remained severe.
"Seems as if you've hardly begun to heal." She then went to the mini freezer where a cold gel compress pack was stored in the event of employee need for first aid.
"Sit, please." She gently ordered. "You need this."
Mared then drew very close to him standing over him to apply it for him. Tom's hands dropped slowly, and it was Mared who now held his shirt up, as she held the cold pack to his injured ribs.
Tom. closed his eyes. For a second, Mared's and Tom's bodies very subtly quivered as they understood the space between them was small in measure and the silence seemed to resonate.
In that moment, Prosser entered the room unexpectedly.
"DI Rhys, what is the meaning of this? What are you doing? Tom?"
"Sir," Mared was startled, "I was only helping Tom take care of..."
"If DCI Mathias needs tending to, he can tend to himself at home. Why are you here, Mathias, if you can't function properly and professionally for this case? If you are not well in body, I shall find it necessary to appoint someone else as head of the case. Do you require more time off?" Prosser growled sternly with the faintest hint of concern.
"No, sir." Tom answered.
Mared gazed into Tom's eyes with sad and tender emotion. Her skin looked flushed. Prosser's eyes darted from Tom to Mared and back again, as he pondered the existence of feelings of a certain fondness between them. They seemed very close-almost too close. Had things remained professional between them? Tom could not afford to be reprimanded for any sort of misconduct in his personal life that would affect his professional life. There needed to be professional focus. Prosser contemplated not making the nature of the relationship between DI Mared Rhys and DCI Tom Mathias his business to know, though Tom was too good of a detective to risk losing, so the private conversation and questioning must be had and done.
