Better Together

Up the Stakes

The drive to the hospital was silent, neither Fin or Olivia quite sure what to say to each other in light of what had almost happened at the bar.

When they reached the hospital, they immediately became embroiled in the case, leaving no room to discuss what was going on between them, though they might not yet have had it in them to do so anyway.

...

Both detectives were stunned by the state of the victim that lay in the hospital bed. The perp had carved curved wounds into her face and arms.

They quickly overcame the shock, going inside to console the woman and ask her about the attack.

"Emily, did you know the man who attacked you?" Olivia asked.

The young woman shook her head. "No. I'd never seen him before."

"Can you tell me what he looked like?"

"Tall, dark-haired. He was too strong. I didn't move at all. I couldn't. It's my fault that I didn't try to fight harder."

"It's not your fault. No part of this is your fault."

"I'd just left the store. He pulled me into an alley, pinned me against a wall. He was yelling at me. I didn't understand what he was saying."

"Was he speaking a different language?"

"No, he just wasn't making any sense. He was angry, I could tell that, but he was stringing random things together, like he was yelling at more than one person."

"Okay. Did he say any names?"

"No, I don't think so."

"What else do you remember?"

"He did say something about getting even. He pulled out this awful, curved blade. It hurt so bad. That was blood everywhere." She began to cry. "I never did anything to him. I'd never seen him before. Why would he need to get even?"

"I'm so sorry. I can't answer that. You can't think of anyone with a grudge, can you? Someone who got mad at you, even if it didn't seem like a big deal?"

"No, I can't. Angry enough to do this? Why would anyone do this?"

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Emily. We're going to do everything we can to catch this creep. Is there anything else you can remember about what happened? Something he did? Something about him?" Olivia prompted.

"He did smell a little strange, kind of smelled like the dairy cooler at the grocery store where I work."

"You mean like spoiled milk?" Fin asked.

She nodded, grimacing. "Yeah, that's what it was."

"Alright, thank you, Emily. I know it was difficult to talk about, but it's gonna help us catch him. If you think of something else or need anything, call us, okay?" Olivia said, handing her business card to the young woman.

Fin nodded toward the door, and Olivia followed him out. Once in the hallway, she sank against a wall, sucking in a breath. Fin propped an elbow out, remaining by her side. He didn't hesitate to touch her, not like he used to. He reached out and placing a hand around her shoulder, squeezing lightly.

Olivia blinked away a few tears before turning to weakly smile at him. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Talk to me, alright?"

"This job, it doesn't get any easier."

"It doesn't."

"I've never seen anything like that. Perps get off on hurting women, but uh, the wounds," she thought a moment, mind switching back to analysis, "it's almost personal. I mean, for him to mark her like that. She'll have scars for life."

"The thing she said, though, like it was multiple people he was yelling at, why would he target her specifically?" Fin asked.

"If he chose her to take out all of his anger on, maybe she reminded him of one of the people? Or she was one of them? I'm not even sure where to start, maybe the grocery store where she works."

"In the morning," Fin said firmly.

Olivia cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"We'll follow up on leads in the morning. Nobody's gonna be at the store at this hour anyway."

She nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." She pulled out her phone to check the time. "It's already 3:45. Is there any point in going home? Maybe I can drop you off and head to the precinct, get changed there and catch up on some paperwork."

"Ah, ah, ah. You need to sleep for at least a few hours."

"Yeah right," Olivia scoffed. Falling asleep was a struggle on a normal day at a normal time.

"You can crash at my place 'til it's time to go in. You know, if you don't wanna drive home."

"Fin-"

"You need real sleep, not coffee and eye drops."

"I don't want to impose."

"No imposition."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now, let's get a move on before we end up just going into the precinct."

...

"Hang on. What're you doing?" Fin asked as he emerged from his room to see Olivia on the couch.

"You said I could take a nap," she protested as she threw her head back on the armrest.

"Yeah. You're not sleeping on the couch."

Olivia's head flew up, and she looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

Fin chuckled. "I'll sleep on the couch. You can take my bed."

"No way."

"I put clean sheets on it."

"It's not that. I'm not kicking you out of your own bed."

"You're not, and I'm not kidding. If you don't get your ass up, I'll carry you in there myself."

Olivia flushed, standing quickly and muttering an "alright, fine" as she passed him.

"Sweet dreams, Liv," Fin said cheekily.

"Yeah, yeah," she said. She was going to be sleeping in his bed. The dreams would be something alright.