by Jae
Aiden and Dawn exchanged a long glance. Shit. We were almost there, but we can't keep this from them. "Dawn... Doctor Kinsley can't continue as Evan's therapist, Mrs. LeCroix," Aiden said. She didn't want Dawn to have to stand on the front line alone. She wasn't ready to think, let alone talk about it, but if she wanted the LeCroix family to be a part of Evan's life, they had a right to know.
Roger LeCroix stubbornly raised his chin. "Since when are the police allowed to make treatment decisions?"
Aiden worked hard not to adopt a similarly defiant stance. "I'm not saying it as a police officer, Mr. LeCroix. I'm saying it because Dawn is my partner... my girlfriend."
"I assume she has been your girlfriend before last week. It didn't stop her from being Evan's therapist then," Jill protested while her husband stared at them.
"Last week." Aiden cleared her throat. Last week, everything had been different. "In the course of our investigation, our medical examiner found out that Evan is my half sister."
Jill and Roger LeCroix stared at her. "But... how is that possible?" Jill asked, her face a mask of shock.
"We're not sure yet, but we probably have the same father." That was as much as Aiden was willing to tell them. The details were only for her and Evan to discuss.
Mr. LeCroix folded his arms across his chest. "If you are her sister, why don't you take her in?"
Aiden felt herself go pale. Me? She swallowed. Oh, no, that's not a good idea. We would kill each other within a week. But of course she couldn't tell them that.
"Evan needs stability in her life, not to be handed over to yet another person," Dawn came to her aid. "I think it would mean more to Evan if she lived with someone because they want her to and choose to have her be a part of their family instead of someone who has no other choice because they're related."
Wow. That sure sounds better than "I'm too scared to take her in," Aiden thought with relief.
"We'll let her stay for the moment," Jill LeCroix said before her husband could decide otherwise. "Where is she, by the way?"
Aiden sighed. "She took off when I told her we're sisters. I'm not sure she believed me." If Irene Deming hadn't shown her the DNA results, she wouldn't have believed it either.
Dawn's arm wrapped around her waist. "A part of her knows it's true. That's why she took off. She can't handle it right now. We have to give her time."
The four of them awkwardly said good-bye. Aiden and Dawn walked back to their car, still not seeing a sign of Evan.
"Damn," Dawn muttered as she sank into the passenger seat. "I blew it!"
"What?" Aiden turned and stared at her. "You didn't blow it. You were wonderful. If I'd been here on my own, Evan would be on her way to the next foster family by now."
Dawn insistently shook her head. "I was unprofessional. My role is – or was – to counsel Evan, not to tell her foster parents off!"
"Hell, they needed it!" Aiden saw no reason for the guilty expression on Dawn's face. "The way you defended Evan... it gave me a lot to think about. Her irritating, smart-assed attitude was grating on my nerves, and I admit that even after I found out she's my sister, I had no patience with her. What you said made me think about what it was like for her, growing up in the foster system. That could have easily been me." If her mother had decided not to keep her but to give her up for adoption, she could have ended up in a similar situation. Despite the way I was conceived, I was lucky, Aiden realized. No matter how many times I got into trouble at school, my mother never judged me. She never openly compared me to my father or threatened to give me into foster care.
"Yes," Dawn quietly confirmed. "You're very much alike in some ways. She's like a younger, more aggressive version of you."
"I wouldn't go that far," Aiden said. She wasn't ready to admit they had much more in common than the man who had fathered them.
"Don't worry. You're still my number one." Grinning, Dawn leaned over and kissed her.
Aiden deepened the kiss for a few moments, inspired by the passionate fire Dawn had shown when she had confronted Evan's foster parents. After a while, she moved back and grumbled playfully, "I better be!"
* * *
"This is nice," Dawn murmured. She wrapped the blanket around the two of them and cuddled even closer.
"Yeah, it is," Aiden agreed and found to her surprise that she really meant it. In past relationships, she had never been one for cuddling – except maybe as part of foreplay or right after sex. Now she was completely content to just lie here and hold Dawn close. I wonder if that's a good or a bad sign.
Dawn began to trace the silver necklace Aiden wore. Her finger slid gently down Aiden's neck and over her chest until it came to rest on the oval pendant.
Aiden craned her neck and looked down at herself. She swallowed a lump of emotion when she saw Dawn stroke the good luck charm with the same reverence with which she had caressed Aiden's skin. "Why did your father give it to you?" she suddenly found herself asking.
"Hmm?" Dawn looked up at her.
"I mean... your brother was a cop too, and Saint Michael is the patron saint of police officers, so why didn't your father give the good luck charm to Brian?" She smiled down at Dawn. "I bet you were his favorite, huh?"
Dawn shook her head. "No, I wasn't."
Aiden tickled her gently. "Oh, come on! I've seen pictures. You were lethally cute. There's no way you weren't his favorite."
Dawn chuckled. "Well, maybe I was," she conceded. "But that's not why he gave me the good luck charm instead of giving it to Brian."
"So what was the reason?"
"A few months before my father died, I was in a serious car accident," Dawn said.
Aiden felt all her muscles tighten. She stared down at Dawn. She knew there were no big scars hiding under Dawn's sleep shirt. "Were you hurt?"
Dawn bit her lip and nodded. "I was in the passenger seat of a friend's car when another driver ran a red light and hit our car from the side. My head hit the passenger side window pretty hard. I don't remember any of it, but I was in a coma for three days, and the doctors said it was touch and go."
"W-what?" Aiden's arms clutched at Dawn, pulling her closer. "You never told me about any of this! What happened?"
"I only know what my parents told me about it. Mom says it's the only time she had ever seen my dad cry. When I woke up after three days, the first thing I saw was Dad's good luck charm. He had placed it in my hand," Dawn said and gently touched the silver pendant again. "When I got home from the hospital a few weeks later, I wanted to give it back to Dad or give it to Brian, but they both refused. They said the good luck charm clearly worked for me, so I should keep it."
Aiden didn't know what to say. It was hard to think that Dawn could have died. She pressed her hand against the one resting on the good luck charm. "But now you gave it away. Your father and your brother clearly wanted you to have it." She suddenly felt guilty for accepting the good luck charm.
"They wanted it to protect me from being hurt – and if it helps to keep you safe, it's doing exactly that. Nothing in the world could hurt me more than losing you," Dawn whispered.
Aiden lifted Dawn's hand to her lips and kissed it, silently accepting that Dawn wanted her to have the good luck charm even though it was a family heirloom. "That accident..." She swallowed as a picture of a younger Dawn smashing against the car's window flashed before her eyes. "There were no lasting effects? You're fine, right?"
"I'm fine," Dawn confirmed with an encouraging smile. "I have a little scar, but other than that –"
"Where?" Very gently, Aiden's fingers slid into the strawberry blond hair and felt along Dawn's scalp.
Dawn reached up and directed Aiden's hand with her own. "A little more to the right... there."
"Jesus!" Aiden carefully stroked the scar that was hidden under Dawn's hair. "That's not a 'little' scar!" She shook her head in disbelief. Why did I never notice it before?
"It's not so bad," Dawn assured her. "It can be a little sensitive every once
in a while, but normally it doesn't hurt at all."
Aiden looked into the gray-green eyes. God, she's been through so much in her life... and still here she is, trying to make me feel better. In a way, she's so much stronger than I am. "You're amazing," she said.
Dawn grinned. "So you like women with scars?"
"I like one woman with one scar, so don't get any ideas about acquiring more scars." Aiden told her firmly.
"It's not on my to-do list," Dawn said.
"Good." Without disentangling herself from Dawn, she finally closed her eyes to get some sleep, hoping she wouldn't have nightmares about Dawn and the car accident.
CHAPTER 17
DEL SET A PAPER cup down in front of the doorwoman. I've seen so much of her lately, maybe I should start dating her. Del chuckled to herself.
"What's this?" The tall woman looked up with a frown.
"Coffee," Del said with a smile. "It's for you." She was not above simple bribery when it came to Kade. Getting into the good graces of the woman who guarded Kade's front door seemed like a good idea. "Don't bother calling up. I'm going to surprise her." she called as she strode past the front desk with the other two coffee cups she was carrying.
A woman with a baby-stroller, chatting with an older woman who was loaded down with shopping bags, blocked the way to the elevator, and Del spontaneously decided to take the stairs. At least that would give her some time to think about how to explain her sudden visit to Kade. She couldn't very well tell her "I was getting bored down there in the car, watching your apartment" when Kade didn't even know she was there. Kade would probably accuse me of treating her like a child that needed babysitting and shoot me with my own gun.
She still hadn't found a convincing argument for her presence in Kade's apartment building when she reached Kade's floor. She energetically rounded the corner. A bit of coffee spilled over, burning her hand. Del cursed and fumbled to get a better grip on the paper cups.
Without warning, pain exploded in the back of her head. The last things she saw were the falling paper cups before she crashed on top of them.
* * *
Kade threw her pen down on the legal pad when she heard the piercing scream. Her neighbor's shrill voice had interrupted her work often enough in the past to identify her easily. Don't tell me her Chihuahua escaped again.
She stood and stretched before she slowly made her way to the door. She opened the door and peeked out carefully. Under no circumstances did she want the Chihuahua trying to find sanctuary in her apartment.
Her elderly neighbor stood in front of her apartment door, wildly waving her hands about. "She's dead! Oh my God, she's dead!"
"Your dog?" Kade asked, trying to show a little compassion even though she had never been a big fan of the little rat whose yapping regularly interfered with her work.
"No!" The older woman pointed a trembling finger. "That woman!"
Kade turned her head in the direction indicated.
A motionless figure lay in a puddle of what looked like coffee.
"Call 911," Kade ordered calmly. She took her keys from the side table right next to the door and stepped out into the hallway. Her calm disappeared when she recognized the unconscious woman. "Del!" She rushed toward her and fell to her knees next to Del. "Del?"
There was no sign of life from Del. She was very pale. Blood mixed with the coffee on the floor.
"Oh, God! No, no, no! Del, come on! Come on, you have to be okay! Del?" Kade tried to feel a pulse, but she was trembling so much and her heart beat so loudly, she wasn't sure if it was Del's pulse or her own hammering heartbeat.
Del groaned.
"Del!" Kade leaned closer, not caring if she got blood and coffee all over her clothes. "Del, can you hear me?"
Del rolled onto her back before Kade could stop her. Her eyelids fluttered open. "K-Kade?"
Kade reached out a trembling hand and combed back a strand of hair that had fallen onto Del's forehead. "Yeah, it's me."
"Uh." Del moaned as she tried to sit up.
"No, don't try to get up just yet." Kade gently pressed her back down. "Help is on the way. You'll be fine." She willed herself to believe it.
Del sank back, her head now cushioned against Kade's lap. "What happened?" she asked, looking up at Kade with wide, confused eyes.
A new wave of fear shot through Kade. She can't remember? "I'm not sure," she said. "You shouldn't even be here."
"Wanted to bring you coffee," Del murmured.
Kade looked down at the puddle she was sitting in. "Did you fall? Did you feel dizzy?"
Del frowned, still looking confused. "I don't know. I don't think so."
"It's all right." Kade smoothed her hand over Del's brow. "You don't have to figure it all out right this minute. Are you in pain?"
"No, feels great," Del said, looking up at her with a lopsided grin.
It took Kade a few seconds to realize Del was talking about the small caresses she was bestowing on Del's face. "You are impossible," she said without any real annoyance.
The doors of the elevator pinged open, and two paramedics rushed out, a stretcher in tow. "We've got it now. Move away from the patient and give us some room, please," one of them told Kade.
Kade reluctantly relinquished her place next to Del to the paramedics. She watched anxiously as they told Del to move her hands and feet and shone a light into her eyes.
Del protested as they fitted a brace around her neck and lifted her onto the stretcher. "I can walk."
"No, you can't!" Kade answered. She quickly grabbed her purse from her apartment and followed the paramedics and the still struggling Del to the elevator. "Now stop struggling before I club you again!"
The paramedics stared at her. "You did...?"
"What?" Kade realized how that must have sounded. "No! No, of course not!" She wearily rubbed her face but stopped when she realized her fingers were covered in Del's blood. Her stomach nearly revolted.
"Ma'am?" One of the paramedics gripped her elbow. "Are you all right?"
Kade shook his hand off. "I'm fine."
The elevator came to a stop.
They wheeled the stretcher past the staring doorwoman and outside to the ambulance.
"I'll ride with her," Kade decided.
The paramedic closest to her shook his head. "That's not allowed. I'll tell you which hospital we're taking her to, and you can –"
"I'm a deputy district attorney, and she's with the Police Bureau. I'm riding with her," Kade said with her most determined voice. She flashed her ID at him and pulled back Del's jacket to reveal the badge clipped to her belt.
They lifted Del into the back of the ambulance, and Kade climbed in before they could protest again.
One of the paramedics started the ambulance. Kade was glad that they didn't turn on the sirens. She hoped it meant that Del was not that badly hurt and would soon be fine. She looked at Del, who was lying strapped in on the stretcher, nearly immobilized. There were no windows, so all Del could see were the roof of the ambulance and the medical equipment surrounding her.
"Kade?" Del raised her voice over the sounds of traffic.
"Yes? I'm here," Kade said quickly.
Del cleared her throat. "I'd like to hold your hand, but... well... I'm a little tied up at the moment."
The paramedic looked from Del to Kade, then smiled and moved out of the way.
A little embarrassed, Kade moved closer and laid her hand on top of Del's. Cold fingers squeezed her own, and she gently rubbed them, trying to get some warmth back into them. "How are you doing?" Kade asked softly.
"Fine," Del answered, and Kade was relieved to hear that her voice sounded a lot stronger than it had when she had been lying in front of her apartment. "This wasn't necessary."
"It's their job to decide that, not yours." Kade pointed to the paramedic, who smiled and nodded. What she didn't tell Del was how scared she had been and that she would be able to relax only when she heard from a doctor that Del was fine.
>
"Which hospital are you taking me to?" Del asked.
The paramedic looked up from examining Del's head wound. "The Garfield Memorial Hospital."
"Wonderful," Del groaned.
Before Kade could ask for clarification, the ambulance stopped. Within seconds, they were wheeling Del through the doors of a hospital. Del disappeared behind a curtained-off area, and Kade was asked to stay back and wait.
She wearily settled down on an uncomfortable plastic chair and stared down at her blood- and coffee-soaked sweatpants. No one had ever seen Kadence Matheson in public in such a state of disarray, but right now, Kade didn't care. She couldn't have cared less about what she looked like. What she cared about was that Del's blood on her clothes meant Del was injured and in pain – and there was nothing Kade could do about it.