Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters linked to the series. They belong to Dick Wolf and Matt Ormstead. I also do not own any of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med or SVU Characters that might appear.

Gianna Marino - Rachael Taylor

Chapter Four: Home Sweet Home.

Humming to herself as she painted the wall, Gianna was thankful to be stuck indoors especially considering the pouring down rain that pounded against the windows of her home. Just the thought of her new residence made her smile and she had really enjoyed making the place her own with a fresh start to match.

Slowly things seemed to have fallen into place and Gianna had never thought that she would feel so at peace; there were moments that the sadness still crept up on her and took her by surprise.

The soft playing music in the background made her smile, a song that she recognised coming on and she could not help but sing along; she could not remember the last time that she had done such a thing. All her happy memories seemed to be tied to Michael, even if she didn't want them to; there seemed to be no getting away from all the little things that reminded her of Michael and what she had lost.

"Heard he in love with some other chick, yeah that hurt me, I'll admit. Forget that boy, I'm over it," Gianna murmured to herself, her eyes focusing on the wall that she was painting and she was thankful that she had the chance to decorate herself. The light grey colour that she had selected was not much but it allowed her to make her mark on her mostly white walls of her home, the entire place felt a little too clean for her liking but she intended to add splashes of colour about.

"I hope she gettin' better sex. Hope she ain't fakin' it like I did, babe," Gianna laughed shaking her head at the lyrics, it was silly that she was so easily amused and she could hear Michael singing along with her. Thunder crashed in the background snapping her from such thoughts and she turned to look out of the window, her eyes searching the sky for the lightning that would surely follow.

Gianna did not have to wait long and she was even more grateful that she would not have to head outside just yet, she was certain the rain would die off before she had to go out. Despite the terrible weather, Gianna had been enjoying her break from work especially since it allowed her the chance to decorate her own place and unwind a little.

Maggie had insisted that she join the others on a girl's night out, she saw no reason for Gianna to hide away from the world and not make friends with the people that she saw at work. Turning her focus back to the wall, Gianna admired her work for a moment trying to spot any patches that she might have missed when she had done her first coat of the wall; she was hopeful the second would dry quickly so that she could perhaps give it another coat.

Things were moving slow, Gianna trying to make this place her home with memories filling her mind of how it had been when she and Michael had bought their place together; the happiness that they had shared in that place. It had been hard coming home after the accident, the silence that had greeted her as she stepped through the door with Nancy; the place no longer feeling like a home without Michael at her side.

Gianna paused trying to shift the lump in her throat, even now she was surprised by the overwhelming sadness that would creep up on her at times; it would come from nowhere and catch her off guard. All the plans that she'd had for the future had involved Michael, there wasn't a moment that she'd ever considered that she'd not spend the rest of her life with him when they had exchanged their wedding vows.

Instead, here she was a widow at only thirty-two trying to rebuild her life after losing the man that she loved; she doubted that she would ever be able to let go of Michael. He had been her everything, since the moment that they had met until that night that he had been cruelly taken from her; she had never imagined a moment of her life without him. Gianna closed her eyes for a moment, she wondered if there would ever be a moment that she didn't feel like her grief was going to swallow her hole; that she would be able to move forward and be happy like Michael would want her to do.

Wrinkling her nose as she stepped out of the house into the pouring rain carrying the empty paint can in her hands so that it would not be stuck in her home until she could throw it out since she had a shift tomorrow. Jogging as quickly as she could, Gianna headed for the dumpster at the end of her garden and tossed the can inside; she let out a sigh of relief before quickly turning on her heel to hurry back inside.

However, Gianna paused when a soft noise caught her ear and she turned back to the dumpster with a frown not sure where it had come from; she padded closer to the dumpster, her nose wrinkled at the smell and the fact that her trainers were slowly letting in water from the puddle that she was stood in. Her eyes scanned the area around her for a second trying to find the source of the noise before she stepped back away and moved to head back inside again.

This time the noise was even more pitiful and Gianna closed her eyes wanting nothing more than to get out of the rain, but instead she turned back to the dumpster and started to search for the noise. Around the base of the dumpster was a several cardboard boxes that had certainly been there awhile and were drenched through with the rain that had been pouring down for most of the day, even worse they were directly in the way of the drains that had overflowed.

Making a noise in the back of her throat as she reached for the box, Gianna hated the feel of wet cardboard and even worse it seemed to fall away at her fingers when she tried to drag it closer to her. Pulling open the soggy cardboard box, Gianna stared down in surprise at the small bundle of drenched fur that stared up at her with pitiful eyes; her heart breaking at the sight and she quickly scooped the poor creature in her hands.

Tucking it into her hoody, Gianna jogged back to the door of her building making sure that she was careful not to drop the kitten that she had found. Not stopping on the way back into the house, Gianna pondered what she was going to do with the poor thing and she knew that she had some tuna in her fridge that would be a fine start for the kitty once they were dry.

Shutting the door behind her, Gianna fished the soaking kitten from her hoody and kicking off her trainers by the door; she wasted no time in shedding her wet hoody before padding into the kitchen, she gathered her tea towel and started to gentle dry the kitten. The poor thing was shivering and Gianna could not imagine what he had been doing in the box in the rain, she did not wish to imagine the worse but she had a feeling someone had abandoned him there.

He shivered even as she gently dried him and cuddled close to her for heat, Gianna moved to sit on the couch with him on her lap as she continued to warm him up. It had been raining all day and Gianna did not want to think about how long he had been stuck in that box, he felt thin to her touch and he could not have been more than a few weeks old.

He was so little that he could fit in the palms of her hands when they were cupped together, a soft purr slowly emerged as she worked through his wet fur with the towel. Once she was satisfied that he was dry enough, Gianna carefully set the kitten down on her couch before moving to collect the tin of tuna that she had used for lunch.

There was a bit left and she was hopeful that would be enough until she worked out her next move, she had no clue what she was going to do with him and she was not sure how she would manage with a kitten. Mashing up the tuna a little, Gianna was relieved to see that the kitten quickly started to devour the food that was offered; she had worried that perhaps he would not be weaned considering how small he was. It would have meant trying to find an after-hours vet that certainly would not have been a cheap trip, though she knew that she would have happily paid so he would not starve.

"Now what am I going to do with you?" Gianna murmured scratching the back of his tiny ears, a small smile forming as she stared down at him and she had a feeling that she already knew the answer to that. Looking back over her shoulder at the rain, Gianna did not think he would have survived out there on his own and she could take him the vet tomorrow to get checked over. There was no telling what he might have suffered while trapped out in the rain or what might have led to him being left outside in that manner but Gianna was sure that he would be okay here for one night.

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