The air in the lab was sticky and hot and felt as if it was clinging to every surface. The air conditioning had gone out earlier in the day and it had just turned back on, but it was still hotter inside than it was outside. Lindsay sighed and squirmed in her chair, taking another swig of the ice water she had been nursing for the last fifteen minutes. The condensation was so thick on the glass that it almost slid through her fingers.
Danny walked through the office door, pulling his shirt repeatedly away from his skin in an attempt to create a personal cooling system. It wasn't working any better than inhaling sharply when food was too hot.
"So I'm thinking we all go stick our heads in the morgue freezers," he commented, flopping down in the chair across from her.
"I'm too hot to think of a response except okay."
"Well as long as we're in full agreement."
They sat there for a while, spinning slowly in their chairs, both sapped of any energy required to do much of anything else.
"Hey Montana?"
She glanced up at her rarely used nickname. She had been annoyed by it at first, then amused, and now it was just a part of being friends with Danny.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you for some advice?"
"On what?"
"Dating."
"You want dating advice from me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Cuz."
"Oh well, with an argument like that."
"I won't bug ya after today, I promise."
"Okay, shoot."
He leaned back in his chair and rolled a pencil through his fingers a few times before speaking.
"I've been dating this woman for a little while now. We've known each other our whole lives practically. We were best friends growing up. We have this kind of codependent… nah, she'd smack me for callin' it that. We just have a weird relationship."
"Okay. What kind of advice do you need?"
"See, she's seen me date a lot of other women. Not that I'm a player or anything."
"Of course not."
"But I've dated a lot and she knows it. And I just wanna do something for her that lets her know that she's more important to me than all the others. More special."
"And you can't just tell her that?"
"She's not the greatest at the listening thing."
Lindsay chuckled, liking this woman already. Anyone who could settle Danny Messer without changing him was revered in her eyes.
"You grew up together?"
"Yeah."
"So you probably have a lot of "remember that time when" stories, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you probably did a lot of stuff with her that you never did with anyone else."
"Oh yeah. Though a lot of it was illegal."
"Well not counting the illegal stuff is there anything that you did that you could do again that would mean a lot to her?"
He thought for a while, a smile cracking across his face.
"There was this one night in a tree house-"
"Stop right there, I don't wanna know."
"We were in elementary school, Montana."
"Go ahead."
"I asked her to marry me."
"So you really have always been this way."
"She smacked me with a pillow, said "in your dreams," and dropped an ice-cube down my shirt."
Lindsay chuckled.
"This woman is awesome. Hold on to her."
"I plan on it. Thanks, Lindsay."
"You're welcome."
He stood up from his chair and dug in his pocket for a moment, then produced a nickel.
"Here."
"What is this for?"
"I'm Charlie Brown and this is payment for your psychiatric help."
"Anytime."
He left the room and she shook her head, chuckling to herself. Six months ago she would have put big money on the two of them getting together. As well as they got along, and as much initial attraction as there had been, she wouldn't change the way things were now.
The elevator dinged down the hallway and she looked up just in time to see Hannah and Adam walk off of it.
"Hi Lindsay!" Hannah shouted, letting go of Adam's hand and sprinting into the office.
"Hey, Hannie."
"What'cha doin'?"
"Just some paperwork. What are you guys doing here?"
"I had to talk to Mac and sign off on some reports," Adam answered.
"And after this we're going to the museum!" Hannah whooped.
"Inside voice, squirt. Can she hang out in here with you for a minute Linds?"
"Sure."
"You got games on this computer?" Hannah asked.
"A few," Lindsay said, pulling Hannah up onto her lap. "Want to play Pinball?"
"Yeah!"
Adam smiled and went in search of Mac while Lindsay told Hannah which buttons to use for the game.
"Brudder doesn't have this game on his computer. Plus he doesn't let me play that thing."
"He's kind of protective of his stuff sometimes."
"Yeah and plus I get in trouble if I leave his video games out."
"That is a crime in some parts of the world."
"Are you joking, Lindsay?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Good one."
Lindsay chuckled as Stella came into the room.
"Did you get Sid's report on the autopsy yet?" she asked.
"No. I called down there a few minutes ago and he said something that I think was supposed to be "hold your horses" but I have never heard it so colorfully before."
"He must be busy today. I think I am just going to wait right here for the fax. You were smart and closed the blinds. It's a lot cooler in here than the rest of the building."
"Really? I am not leaving this room."
"So who's this?"
"I'm Hannah," Hannah said, not looking up from the screen.
"Adam's sister," Lindsay explained. "He had to stop by for a few minutes."
"Is that why he took vacation time?"
"Yep."
"Lindsay, the ball is stuck."
"Hit the up arrow key and it will get it out."
"Oh wow, the whole screen moved! Can I do it again?"
"Yeah, but pay attention because you're about to lose your ball."
"Whoopsie."
"That's okay, just launch it again."
Hannah did as she was told, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth as she concentrated on the screen.
The fax machine beeped and Stella walked over to it, reading the page as it was fed through.
"Is that the autopsy report?"
"Yeah."
Stella brought it over to the desk and they started to read through it together as Adam walked in the door.
"Alright squirt, lets go."
"But I wanna stay here with Lindsay!"
"She's got work to do. We'll see her later."
"But-"
"Hannah."
"Okay brudder. Bye Lindsay," she said, sliding down from her lap.
"Bye Hannie. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Alright."
The two of them left the room and Stella chuckled.
"Weird to see Adam in the role of parent rather than child."
Lindsay nodded.
"He's actually kind of good at it."
They both signed off on the report and Lindsay slipped it into the file while Stella stretched.
"I'm going to go get some coffee, want to come?"
"If we can get it iced, absolutely."
They made their way downstairs and out of the building where at least there was a breeze.
"So you actually are dating Adam, aren't you?" Stella asked, a mere 10 feet from the building. Lindsay stopped in her tracks and stared at her friend for a minute.
"I thought we talked about this a long time ago."
"Yeah, we did. But you never answered me really."
"I know."
"Is my radar just off and you guys are great friends?"
"No, your radar is working fine."
"It is?"
"Yes. We're dating and we have been since before you asked me that question the first time."
"I should have bet on this with someone."
"Don't say anything okay? We're not hiding anything, we just don't want everyone in our business."
"I won't say anything, I promise. You know, I always thought it would be you and Danny."
"Yeah, for a while there I did too. But I'm really glad it turned out this way instead."
"Look at you blushing and smiling. You're really happy, huh?"
"Yeah, I am. It's kind of ridiculously, Camelot perfect."
"When did this happen? And how? And please excuse my sudden desire for girl talk."
Lindsay smiled as they slowed their pace to a stroll.
"About two months ago. We were um… it's actually kind of silly. We were watching TV and one of the characters was talking about how some relationships start with friendship and how one day you look at the person and all of the sudden you see something more. And right at that moment we looked at each other and… we just knew."
"That simple?"
"Pretty much. I mean, we did talk about a lot of stuff later, and agreed to take it almost iceberg slow, but for the most part it just happened that fast."
Stella grinned.
"No one knows this about me, but I really love love stories."
"Well I'm glad I could feed your addiction."
"So am I. Can I ask you one more question?"
"Sure."
"Do you love him?"
"Yep."
"So this is a really real thing."
"It really is," Lindsay said with a nod. Life had thrown her a few curveballs, but this one stood above the rest. She would spend the rest of her life thankful that she had caught it.