Nicole was at her locker changing out of her scrubs. It had been a gruesome day and she wanted out of the blood stained clothing before heading home. As she was changing, she felt a presence behind her. Turning she found Champ leaning precariously against the wall watching her. “Damn, but you are hot under those scrubs, Dr. Haught,” he said as he sauntered toward her. She covered herself with her shirt thankful she had not fully striped but only removed her shirt. He backed her against the locker blocking her escape with his arms. “You know, I heard a rumor that you bat for the other team,” he said letting his eyes roam over her and licking his lips. Trying not to show her fear, Nicole lifted her head and replied, “That’s none of your business.”
Licking his lips again and stepping closer, he let his hand move down to her hip and said, “Why don’t you let a man show you what it’s really like?” She pressed her back closer to the locker door and tried to move away, but his other arm blocked her. “I don’t need a man to show me anything," she growled her voice unsteady. "I already know exactly what it’s like........with my girlfriend. As if it’s any of your business." She glared at him trying to be brave. "Now……if you don’t back up, you’re not going to know what it’s like for a very long time because I’m going to disman you,” Nicole threatened. Holding up his hand in defeat, he smiled and replied, “Can’t blame a man for trying.” He turned and walked away smiling to himself as he stuffed her keyring into his pocket.
Nicole was still shaking when she reached her car. How had Waverly faced that and worse when she was just a kid? She was shaking like a leaf and she was an adult. Making matters worse, she couldn’t find her keys, it was dark, and was about to rain. Looking at her watch, it was 1 a.m.. She didn’t want to get Waverly out, but she didn’t want to stay at the hospital either, especially after what had just happened with Champ. It was only about four blocks to Waverly’s new apartment. She decided to start walking hoping the rain would hold off until she got there. Nicole only made it about half way before the heavens opened up. By the time she reached Waverly’s stoop, she looked as if she had just stepped out of the shower. Hoping her phone had stayed dry in her purse, she called Waverly to let her in.
Waverly answered in a groggy state of confusion. Nicole spent several minutes trying to get her to understand she needed to buzz her upstairs. When Nicole finally made it in, Waverly was standing in the doorway completely confused. But, seeing Nicole completely drenched and shaking , she quickly snapped to attention.
“I’ll go find you some clothes. You get in the shower and warm up.” After getting her some dry clothing, she found a blanket and made some hot chocolate for them both.
When Nicole finally emerged, she had stopped shaking but was still chilled to the bone. Waverly wrapped her in a blanket and headed them to the couch. “Thanks,” Nicole said snuggling into Waverly’s arms and sipping her hot chocolate.
“You’re welcome, baby,” Jess replied pulling her close. As Waverly watched Nicole, her aura began to return to normal. Nicole had the most beautiful aura she had even seen, and she had seen many. It was almost always a rainbow of colors. And, when Nicole was excited like the other night, it was almost like a sunburst. Tonight, however, her colors were off. Her reds and oranges were more visible indicating negative energy surrounding her. Waverly wasn’t sure of what was going on, but whatever it was made Nicole nervous and uneasy.
“You want to talk about it?” Waverly eventually asked. Nicole was staring into her mug. “Not really,” she eventually said. “I’d really just like to forget about it.” Waverly sat their cups on the end table. Waverly curled into the corner of the sofa. Nicole moved her girlfriend’s legs so she could lay between them with her head on the brunette’s stomach and wrapping her arm around her leg like a pillow. Waverly pulled the blanket over them and played with Nicole’s red locks. Eventually, Nicole’s breathing slowed as she had finally drifted into a slumber. The morning found Waverly with a crick in her neck and shoulders. She was also stiff from sleeping in such an odd position, but she would do it all again because Nicole needed her. She carefully wiggled from beneath Nicole and made her way to the shower. After a long hot shower to loosen her up, she headed to the kitchen to make omelets and coffee. While cooking she called the hospital and Wynonna told her Nicole was off the next two days. She then called her office and had her secretary reschedule her appointments. Waverly sat at the breakfast table at the window. She didn’t want to wake Nicole, so she put hers in the warmer. Waverly was almost finished when Nicole began to stir. “Morning,” Waverly greeted. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Nicole sat up. “What time is it?” Waverly thought nothing was more beautiful than Nicole with her red bedhead in the mornings and slight grumpiness. “Almost 9. I made some breakfast and coffee if you’re hungry.”
“I am, actually.” Standing, Nicole headed for the bathroom. When she returned, Waverly had her breakfast and coffee waiting. As she sat down beside Waverly, she smiled. “You spoil me.” Grinning, Waverly asked, “Are you complaining?”
“Absolutely not.” Nicole closed her eyes in delight as she took her first bite. “Oh my god, Waves! This is delicious!”
“Thanks,” she replied as she watched Nicole to check her aura. She also was hoping to get Nicole to talk about whatever it was that had her so upset last night. She knew it was more than just a set of lost keys. As they ate, Nicole began to open up. She started with the fact she couldn’t find her keys. She admitted they might have fallen out in her locker when she rushed to finish changing and grabbed her bag hurriedly. Nicole stopped and played with her omelet. Not wanting her close back off, Waverly prodded lightly, “Why were you in a hurry?”
“Something happened….with the new doctor,” Nicole mumbled. “Nicole, what happened? What did he do?” “He, uh, he came on to me…a little too aggressively.” “Did he hurt you? Touch you?” “No. He just made me extremely uncomfortable----scared me to death,” Nicole admitted.
“Baby, what exactly did he do?” Waverly asked trying to encourage her to talk so she could hopefully change the nightmares that she was imagining. Nicole put her fork down, took a drink of coffee, and told her girlfriend what had happened. Waverly kept her own fear reigned in trying to block out visions of her own past that were similar to Nicole’s. Waverly held Nicole’s hand and rubbed her thumb over the woman’s knuckles. She wiped the tears from her own eyes. When Nicole finished, she glanced at Waverly. Seeing her tears, Nicole apologized telling Waverly she shouldn’t have told her. It brought up too many painful memories and Waverly would now worry about her. Waverly kneeled in front of Nicole. Gently caressing Nicole’s jaw, she said, “Baby, no! I’m glad you told me. Don’t you ever be afraid to tell me anything. I lo…..I really care about you. I want us to deal with things together.” Nicole leaned her forehead against Waverly’s. “Thank you,” she whispered. Waverly nuzzled her nose. She had almost told her how she really felt.
In the afternoon, they decided to walk to the hospital and look for Nicole’s keys since the sun was now shining. They walked down the street holding hands. At the hospital, they checked with Wynonna about the keys. She hadn’t seen them but would put Doc on key duty as soon as she saw him. The two women searched the parking lot, around Nicole’s truck, and even looked through the windows to see if they were in the truck. They found nothing. Next they went to search Nicole’s locker. When she opened the door, there on top of her soiled scrubs lay her keys. “What the….?” Waverly and Nicole looked at one another in confusion. “I swear, Waves, they weren’t in here last night.”
“I believe you, baby,” Waverly said examining the keyring more closely. She noticed a latch like the ones climbers use. “Nicole, were they just in your purse or clipped?”
“No, I’d never find them. I always clasp them on the strap.” “Then how did they fall off?”
“Maybe I didn’t clasp it well and…..jerked them off when I pulled my bag out.” Nicole gathered her dirty garments. “I mean, I was pretty rattled last night, after….you know, Champ.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Waverly said skeptically.
“You don’t sound convinced that’s what happened,” Nicole noticing the tone in Waverly’s voice. “Sorry, I guess it’s just me making something out of nothing,” she shrugged. The two walked back to Nicole’s truck and to her brownstone. Nicole loved the architecture of the building. The neighborhood was beautiful and quiet. Her neighbors were also great. They were really kind and basically minded their own business but still looked out for one another. They were often sharing leftover with Nicole since they knew she had hectic schedule and cooking was the last thing on the doctor’s mind when she finished a shift. She would often come home and find food waiting on her doorstep. Walking up the steps, Nicole inserted the key. The door swung open on its own. The women looked at one another. Waverly grabbed Nicole around the waist and stopped her from entering. “No, Nicole! You can’t go in, baby.”
“Someone has been in my home!” she yelled as she tried to pull out of Waverly’s grasp. She might be smaller, but Waverly was strong and able to hold on to her girlfriend.
“Nicole, wait! I have a friend at the police department. Let me call him….please, baby.” Waverly, still holding onto Nicole, tried to reason. “If you go busting in there, you could contaminated the scene and ruin any chance of them finding the person who did this. Plus….they may still be in there.” Nicole knew Waverly was right. But, it was still her home. She needed to be sure it was alright. When Nicole relaxed her pull, Waverly let her back to the truck. She called her friend, Detective Xavier Dolls. “Doll,” he answered his phone.
“Hey, Dolls, it’s Waverly Earp.” “Hey, Doc, it’s been a while,” he greeted. “Um, yeah. I, uh, I need a favor,” she began. “Okay, I’ll help if I can.” “My girlfriend’s apartment has been broken into.”
“Doc, why’d you call me? Why didn’t you just call it in?” Waverly turned away from Nicole so she couldn’t hear what she said to the detective. “Dolls, I haven’t said anything to her, but I think it is more than just a break in.” Sitting up straighter in his chair, Xavier’s attention was held fast by the doctor. She never called unless it was something, and almost always she was right about her hunches. “What do you mean, Doc?”
“In addition to this, her keys disappeared and then magically reappeared last night. Then this happened during that time.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
“No,” she admitted. “My former landlord called yesterday and asked about maintaince on a window at my old apartment. I hadn’t had anything done. He said he found footprints, broken branches on the bushes, and scratch marks on the window pane.”
“Did he call it in?”
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Okay, Doc. I’ll send over a couple of units and check with you old landlord.” Waverly gave him the needed information and hung up.
“Hey, baby,” she said returning Nicole’s side, “they’re on their way.” Nicole leaned against Waverly emotionally exhausted. Waverly wrapped her arms around her. Soon they heard the sirens in the distance. The next few hours were spent watching the officers comb through her apartment, the CSI department analyzing evidence, and Nicole answering questions from the police and neighbors. The neighbors themselves were also questioned, but no one had seen anything. Finally the officers agreed to allow Nicole in the house. They needed to go through the scene and ask her questions and they agreed to let her pack a bag so she could stay with Waverly. Now that they were allowed in, Nicole could see the damage. The living area and kitchen were basically untouched. It was the upstairs in the bedroom and bathroom where the violation of privacy was visible. On the bed lay two outfits neatly displayed. Between them lay a bag with a pair of underwear inside. The panties looked wet. A shudder ran over Nicole. From the closet, Nicole quickly retrieved luggage. She quickly threw some clothing in trying to avoid looking at the bed. In the bathroom, the scene was just as disturbing. On the mirror was drawn a heart with Nicole’s lipstick. It was smeared with what looked like semen. Nicole swallowed back her vomit that threatened to spill forth. She grabbed her brush and deodorant and threw them in her bag. She would replace everything else or just use Waverly’s. It wasn’t until they were back at the loft that Nicole completely fell apart. She raced to the bathroom where she released her previously eaten breakfast. When she was finished, she sat on the floor and leaned against the tub. She accepted the cold wet rag Waverly reached to her and wiped her face. Waverly sat down beside her and pulled her close. Nicole broke again as she lay with her head in Waverly’s lap violently shaking from tearful sobs. Waverly said nothing. She just sat brushing Nicole’s damp hair from her face. She sat in silence, holding her the woman she loved waiting for the emotional release to end. Dusk was falling when Nicole finally sat up. Her brown eyes were red and swollen. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. Waverly touched Nicole’s thigh and ran her thumb in circles. She pulled her head against her own. “Baby, don’t apologize. You’ve had two days from hell. You’re allowed to cry and breakdown all you want.”
“Not like this,” she sniffed. “I don’t do……this,” she said indicating her red, swollen face. “No, you don’t baby,” Waverly admitted. “But, I would really worry if you didn’t.” “I don’t like to do this…..to be….vulnerable…..to be weak.” Nicole pushed her hair back from her face and wiped her face on the now dry washcloth.
“Nicole, babe, this isn’t weak. This…is being human. Without emotion….we are nothing more than robots.” Tilting Nicole’s chin so that she was looking into those deep pools of chocolate, she continued, “And you, Nicole Rayleigh Haught, sure as hell aren’t weak. You are probably one of the strongest, badass women that I know.” She ran her thumb across the red head’s cheek bone and admitted nervously, “And this……just makes me….love you more.” Nicole deepened their gaze and turned her head to kiss the palm of Waverly’s hand. “You love me?”
“Yeah, yeah, I do. I love you, Nicole Haught.” Taking a breath she quickly added, “And it’s okay if you……” Waverly didn’t get to finish her sentence. Nicole captured her mouth twining her fingers into Waverly’s brown luscious mane and pulled her closer. It was like electricity sparking from a newly ignited energy. It was Waverly who pulled away. “Can we take this somewhere else?” To answer, Nicole stood and pulled Waverly to her feet. She barely got her balance before Nicole backed her against the sink kissing and caressing everywhere she could in a heated frenzy. Nicole bent down and placed her hands under Waverly’s backside and lifted. Waverly wrapped her legs around Nicole’s waist.
In the bedroom, Nicole released Waverly and she slid her legs over Nicole’s hips never releasing their lips. Their kisses deepened. Tongues and hands explored. Clothing was removed and discarded haphazardly across the room. Falling into the bed in a tangle of limbs and caresses, the two made love into the night
