Jess had no time to think about Becker's behaviour any longer; the young girl in front of her began to stir. The field-coordinator reached for her hand again, stroking the back of it with her thumb while whispering soothing words. She couldn't say how long it took until the child opened her eyes.
Confused and disorientated, the blonde glanced around. Her gaze fell on Jess, who smiled at her reassuringly. The kid's eyes widened and she looked at Jess almost fearfully.
"Hi, I'm Jess, who are you?" She spoke slowly and kept her voice low, hoping not to scare the girl.
The child pursed her lips and hiked her shoulders. Jess thought for a second and let go of the girl's hand, before placing hers on her chest. "I'm Jess." She then pointed at the girl, "You?"
A shy smile appeared on the youngster's face, "Lotte."
The field-coordinator wondered how she should communicate with Lotte further. If she only knew where the girl came from… "We are in London. Where do you come from?"
Again the child shrugged, but she looked at Jess expectantly. The young woman stood up from the chair only to sit back down again on the edge of the bed.
"London, England, United Kingdom." Jess made an expansive movement with her hand above her head.
"Oh," Lotte's expression changed; she had understood. This time it was Lotte who placed her hand on her chest. "Come from Germany," she whispered with a thick accent.
"You speak English," Jess stated surprised.
"Bit?" Lotte answered, obviously wondering if she'd chosen the right word.
Jess was aware that the girl wouldn't understand what she had to say, but the field-coordinator didn't want to leave without a word.
"Look, Lotte, I'll go and get the doctor to look over you and someone who will be able to talk to you." She squeezed the child's hand comfortingly before she got up. Jess saw the fear in Lotte's eyes when she reached the door.
"I'll be back," she promised.
Before Jess began her search for Becker, the only person she knew who was able to speak German, the field-coordinator stopped by at Dr. Sullivan's office. She asked the medic to wait for their return until he examined the girl. Then she found Becker in the break room, talking to Matt about the new pub that had opened only a few streets down the road.
Jess smirked to herself, but swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue. "Good, you are both here; Lotte woke up."
"Lotte?" Matt asked and stared at Jess confusedly.
"The girl that came through the anomaly, her name's Lotte and she's from Germany, at least if we understood each other correctly," Jess explained and approached the soldier. "Becker, could you come with me so you can translate. Doctor Sullivan wants to examine her and I assume Lotte would be pleased if she knew what was going on."
"You know German?" It was the first time Matt had heard of Becker's knowledge of any foreign languages.
Jess rose to speak before the Captain had a chance to answer. "Sure, Becker's family moved to Germany for three years, when he was ten years old. It's in his files."
"Mmh, must have missed that." Matt muttered to himself but still loud enough for Becker to get it.
Becker stared at his colleague, "You read my files too?"
"Sure," Matt shook his head, amused. "I'm the team-leader."
"Guys," Jess cut in, "Could we hold this conversation? Doctor Sullivan is waiting."
"So, talking about the new pub was the stuff you had to do?" Jess asked when she was walking with Becker to the hospital wing. She couldn't hide the amusement ringing through her voice.
For a moment the soldier was speechless as quickly he searched for an excuse. "No, but the stuff..."
"Was done." Jess chipped in.
"Exactly." Becker eyed the petite woman beside him and Jess met his eyes.
"That's what I thought."
As they continued their walk in silence, Becker wondered if Jess had seen past his walls, if she had any inkling about the feelings he had for her.
Forty-five minutes later Becker and Jess stepped into Lester's office where the rest of the team waited for the pair to learn more about Lotte.
Doctor Sullivan had left the three after the examination and Becker had taken the opportunity to debrief the young girl.
Becker searched for Jess' eyes as the chatter of the others slowly died down, but the field-coordinator didn't look up. Her gaze was fixed on a point on the floor.
Since they had left the hospital room, Jess hadn't said a word. Her face was pale and she was clearly shaken by the revelations. The soldier stepped closer towards her, hoping his vicinity would soothe her a little. He tried to keep his expression unemotional and his voice neutral when he began to speak. He didn't give the others a chance to ask questions during the narrative, he wanted to get it done quickly.
"Lotte is eight years old. She's from Germany. She told us that she went for a walk with her parents on a Sunday afternoon. In a remote forest an anomaly appeared in front of them. There was a creature incursion."
"From her description, I assume it was either a bunch of Velociraptors or Utahraptors. Lotte's parents shielded her from the creatures. Her dad was killed in the attack; her mum went through the anomaly with Lotte, hoping it would save their lives. Her mum died of an infection two weeks ago. Since then the girl has had to fend for herself.
"She isn't quite from our time; Lotte was born in 1977. They stepped through the anomaly in 1985. There aren't any relatives in her time, her parents' had no siblings and her grandparents are dead."
An eerie silence filled the room when Becker stopped, each team member trying to process what the girl had gone through. It was Matt who spoke up first.
"What did Dr. Sullivan say?"
"They will keep her for four or five days under observation. At the moment it seems she's only malnourished though."
"And what will happen to her after she's released?" Emily asked the question that was hanging in the air.
Again, silence spread over the office for several minutes, while the team individually thought about possibilities.
This time it was Lester who began to talk. "She has to go to a children's home."
"No!" Abby and Jess said in unison, horrified expressions on their faces.