Part 30

An incessant bleeping final woke Holly. Her body aching from sleeping in the chair she was sat in Holly shifted and blinked, trying to make sense of her surroundings. It took seeing the hospital machinery and the empty bad before panic signals started to register in her mind.

Gail's alarm was going off.

Holly scrambled to her feet as she scrubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Gail?" She asked as her fingers automatically went to the monitor and quickly silenced it.

Ugh. Blessed silence. Now she could think.

Hospital room. She was in the hospital because Gail had been beaten. Her eyes screwed shut as images of her girlfriends bruised and beaten face replayed in her mind, the terror from seeing Oliver stood in her doorway at work with the look on his face.

"God." Why couldn't this have just been a nightmare that I could have woken up from?

But there wasn't time for that because as Holly took in the room around her she realised there was no sign of Gail. The bed was empty. The room was empty. Holly felt her heart speed up.

"Gail?" She called out louder. She knew by the darkness of the room that it had to be the middle of the night so there was reasonable explanation for Gail not to be in her bed. If there had been an emergency surely Holly would have woke up.

Trying not to catapult into complete fear over what might be going on Holly took a second to take a calming breath and go over what she did know. First, there was no sign of Gail in the room and if the nurses had taken her somewhere she wouldn't have stirred from her sleep by the CO2 alarm going off. Which meant someone other than a nurse had taken it off Gail.

Holly's eyes locked on to the adjoining wash room. "Gail?" Cautiously she made her way over to the door and knocked her knuckles against the wood. "Gail? Are you in there?" She asked placing her ear to the door to listen.

The shower was on.

Tears of relief stung Holly's eyes at knowing this had to mean Gail was inside. That was so much better than where her thoughts were flying off in all directions to. She listened to the sound of the water spray and felt her adrenalin start to seep back out of her making her feel tired and sore again.

But she was grateful that she had found her missing companion even if the blonde should be getting out of bed on her own in her condition.

She pressed her palm against the door and sighed. "Gail, I'm coming in." She warned before slowly opening the door and stepping into the steamed up room. There was no way that Gail should have the water that hot, but luckily for both of them Gail was stood leaning over the sink instead.

"Hey." Holly muttered as she took in the drooped shoulders of her girlfriend with a wince, that sort of posture wasn't going to do Gail's injured ribs any good at all.

And then she noticed the hair and her heart clenched painfully in her chest.

Blonde strands were all over the floor and scattered over the back of the hospital gown Gail wore.

Holly walk slowly and kept her voice low and as unthreatening as possible as she approached her traumatised girlfriend. "So, this is happening." She said still hoping that she was dreaming all of this instead of scrambling to come up with a way to fix it.

Gail, her eyes meeting Holly's in the mirror reflection, shrugged. "It's just hair, right?" She said in a shaky voice, and stared down at the scissors still in her hand. A tear rolled down her cheek as she lifted her eyes to take in the change to her appearance.

Her long golden hair was mostly gone.

She looked a mess but the person staring back at her was real and here and that made it okay.

"Yup." Holly replied softly as she came up behind Gail and slipped the scissors out of her girlfriend's hand. "Just hair." She fingered a longer section of what was left of the once immaculate head of hair that now stuck out all over the place at awkward angles at different lengths. That was not going to be an easy fix. Holly tried to smile even as she saw tears continuing to roll down Gail's face. "Can I ask why this couldn't wait till morning, and a professional?" She added a smile hoping to make light of the emotional state Gail was currently in.

Gail bit down hard on her bottom lip, closed her eyes as tightly as she could, then shook her head.

"Okay. That's okay. You don't have to." Holly wasn't going to force Gail to talk if she wasn't ready to, but obviously there was something going on in the blonde's head right now. She rubbed gently at Gail's arm and tried to catch her gaze in the mirror. "Would you like me to try and even this out a little?" She offered as Gail opened her eyes and stared at her, the tears still falling.

Gail sniffled and blinked a few times. She then noticed how bad a job she had done on her head and a giggle bubbled up. "Oh my god, what have I done?" She whispered in shock. Her hand shook but she reached up and pulled at a patch of uneven strands.

"It's not that bad." Holly tempered as she saw panic start set in on the blonde's features.

"Really Holly. Really."

Holly tried not to smile. That sounded a lot more like the Gail she knew. "To be fair you are slightly impeded." Holly added gesturing to Gail's other hand that was still encased with a cast. She was also relieved that Gail had her fluid line removed a few hours ago. The nurses had wanted to leave it in place overnight but Gail had threatened to pull it out herself if it got in the way of her sleep and they had relented.

Gail had warned that if the catheter wasn't removed as well she do it herself.

So, besides Gail impetuous stance on her own healthcare, it was just her girlfriends emotional state and her physical injuries that Holly had to worry about. What was a little hair cut to her then, other than the hatchet job Gail had performed it really wasn't on the radar.

Gail sniffled as she studied her own reflection in the mirror. She was a mess. "I could go bald, right? You'd still love me." She offered before she grabbed at what hair she had left. "Oh my god, what have I done?" She asked in dismay as fresh tears started to fall from her eyes.

Holly shouldn't have to deal with her like this. The older woman was due in court in a few hours and here she was trying to calm her down.

Holly gently wrapped her arms around Gail's waist and stepped up behind her. "It's only hair Gail." She tried to insist.

But Gail closed her eyes again, fighting the instinct to pull away from Holly. But her girlfriend just held her and let her cry. It was enough that she could slowly pulled herself together.

She was alive and she was with Holly. That's what she had to focus on and remind herself of.

"I had a bad dream." She confessed quietly, her tears slowing.

Holly's heart broke at the look on her girlfriends face. She wanted nothing more than to gather the blonde into her arms and hug her hard enough to take all the pain and memories away. But given the injuries Gail was suffering from, Holly was just thankful the blonde was able to stand up on her own, with limited support from her right now.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." It didn't take much guess work to figure out what the nightmare might have been about. She knew Gail didn't handle hospitals well but given the beating and Traci's involvement nightmares about her own kidnapped weren't unexpected.

Gail nodded. She didn't want to talk about it but with Holly with her it was easier to let the images that had woken her in a panic fade.

She reached over for the scissors again and gave Holly a pleading look. "Can you fix it or am I beyond saving?" She asked softly.

Holly smiled and took them from Gail before glancing around the room. She spotted a seat near the shower stall and pulled it over and guided Gail onto it. "I will do my best." She promised then picked somewhere to start and prayed that she didn't make it worse.

xxxxxx

Holly tried very hard not to laugh the following morning as Chris stopped dead when he walked into the room. It was the first time anyone had seen Gail since yesterday. It was going to be interesting to see how everyone acted, and how Gail reacted to them. She wondered who would receive the first death threat from her girlfriend.

"Your hairs…"

Gail narrowed her eyes and glared at her friend. "It's what?" She bit out, daring him to comment on her drastic change in appearance. Even then she was only going easy on him because he was carrying a box of doughnuts.

Coming to his senses Chris blushed then shook his head. "I brought breakfast." He said, quickly depositing the box in front of Gail on the hospital bed as he then glanced nervously at Holly. "I hope that's okay? I know I was meant to stop by last night after shift but-"

"Shut up Chris." Gail cut in before the babbling could get any worse. Then she took a bite of her favourite doughnut. Who was she kidding they were all her favourites. She moaned a little because of the pain to her face but it was so worth it.

Holly looked on indulgently as Chris grab the seat next to her to sit down on. She supposed one doughnut wasn't going to do much harm.

"How is she?" Chris asked Holly before he felt eye burn into him again. "You!" He added quickly as he looked at Gail sheepishly. "How are you? Feeling. The hair's different."

Gail rolled her eyes but decided taking another bite of her doughnut was more important. Especially given that look in her girlfriend eyes. She knew her time with the sugary goodness was limited and scaring Chris wasn't worth it.

"I like it!" Chris added before Gail could take offence to his comments.

Holly chuckled and put her hand on Chris' arm. "It's okay." She said trying to calm him down, as amusing as it was to see the effect her girlfriend had on others it sometimes was a little too much.

Chris sighed and relaxed in his seat. "Oh, good."

Gail watch Holly carefully as she picked out a second doughnut. She was on borrowed time and she knew it. Chris wasn't big on conversations and couldn't really hold his own with Holly so it was only a matter of time now. She pulled the box closer when Holly eyed it. Glaring at her girlfriend when she caught the motion and glanced up at her.

She growled at Holly and took another bite of the doughnut in her hand.

Chris watched the interaction between the pair and laughed. The hair had been a shook to the system having grown used to Gail's longer hair look since the academy but even he knew the pixie look was sort of in. He just didn't understand why his friend would pick now of all times to change her hair style.

It made the bruises on her face stand out more. Not that he was going to mention that either.

Holly stood and held her hand out to Gail and after a reluctant standoff that lasted less than thirty seconds she took the doughnut box and took it over to the other side of the room where some of her belongings were stowed.

Gail pouted at the loss but she had scored two of the treats so she could get all the way mad at her girlfriend. She eyed Chris again, more curious now that she wasn't being distracted by food. "How's the investigation going?" She asked. She was yet to receive a call from SIU or even Best but then it wasn't even early enough for rollcall yet.

Chris' eyes widened as he coughed and sat up straighter at the question. He'd snuck out of the apartment before Dov had got up. He hadn't spoken to his roommate since the conversation in the locker room after shift last night and he wasn't in a rush to either.

He'd stayed away from Gail, not because he'd been told to but because he'd called Holly from his car and been told that she was likely to be asleep till morning, that they'd given her strong painkillers and she was out for the count.

He remembered how easily medication could affect the blonde so he'd reluctantly gone home instead and offered to come by first thing.

He'd just forgot that Gail would be all questions about what was going on.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it." He told her but it was a weak argument, especially with Gail.

Gail snorted. "That well?" Her mother had warned her and so too had Sam. She wasn't sure how this could be blamed all on her actions but then it wasn't the first time she ended up with her neck on the chopping block.

"Um." Chris looked desperately to Holly looking for a way to fix what he'd said.

Holly came back over and took up a spot on the bed beside Gail this time. "Hey," She said to the blonde as she picked up her free hand. "Let's just concentrate on getting you out of here today, all right?" Gail had been adamant that she was leaving the hospital last night after the hair incident had been resolved to the best of Holly's abilities which wasn't too bad in the light of day. But she'd argued that Gail needed to be checked out in the morning just to be sure that she wasn't suffering any lasting effects of the assault.

Besides the obvious.

Chris jumped to his feet as Elizabeth walked into the room. "Hey!" He greeted her and stepped away from the bed to approach Holly's sister.

"Wuss." Gail muttered knowing he'd been looking for an excuse to get out of the conversation she wanted to have with him.

Elizabeth eyed Chris for a moment before eyes caught the buzz cut on Gail's head. "Woah!" Her shook was obvious but Holly was now shaking her head at her from behind the blonde and winced.

It was barely morning as she was already starting it on the wrong foot.

"Doughnut?" Chris asked hurriedly then guided Elizabeth safely over to where Holly had stashed them.

Gail glared at the pair from her spot on the bed.

"Are you sure we can't set them up with each other?" She asked Holly as she watch Elizabeth tuck into one of her doughnuts with a sigh. Holly giggled and pinched her gently in reply. Gail just kept her eyes on the pair across the room. Chris said something to Holly's sister and they both giggled.

Holly grinned then had to look away from her sister and Chris as Gail snapped her head around to her.

"Seriously Holly, just look at them." Gail said in a hushed whisper, nudging her girlfriend as she turned back to watch. Chris glanced over and she smiled at him which earned her a confused look before he went back to paying attention to Elizabeth. "They're flirting!" She hissed through her teeth.

"No they aren't, Gail, I've told you, Elizabeth is gay." Holly told Gail.

Gail would have rolled her eyes at her girlfriend but she was too busy watching the evidence of her theory play out in front of her. Elizabeth just touched Chris' arm and her friend blushed in response.

"That's doesn't mean anything." Holly insisted as she heard Gail snort but now she paid closer attention to her sister as well.

"Yeah right." Gail mumbled. "Anyway, trust me, he's girly enough to pass, she can just ignore his junk down there."

Holly tried not to laugh when Elizabeth and Chris both looked over at them and Gail tried to play off their watch of them. But she lost it a broke into laughter, ducking her head against Gail's shoulder and biting down a little.

Chris eyed Holly then shared a confused look with Elizabeth before he glanced over at Gail. "What?"

Gail sighed.

She was pretty much done with being in hospital.

xxxx

AN/

Slowly but surely updates are happening.

Thanks for reading!