You Were A Dream I Once Had

Chapter 2

 1 Year Later

"You are really doing this?" Jake asked Holly as she walked around her kitchen preparing their meal.

"Yeah, I'm really doing this." She placed a chopping board down and started slicing some tomatoes.

After breaking up with Gail (did they really break up...well that didn't matter now), she had binged on tomatoes to make up for the lost time.

"Why?" Holly placed the knife down and turned to face Jake who was sitting at her breakfast bar sipping on a glass of wine.

"Because..." She wasn't sure what to say to him. Jake had become such a great friend and supportive, he was not only her assistant but the only person she could trust in San Francisco. "Because I am ready. For the first time since Gail..." Holly had eventually told Jake the full story of what happened between the pair and he now fully understood her dismissal to start a new relationship when she was still in love with her ex. "I feel like everything is starting to piece together, you know. I don't want a relationship with anyone other than her, but news flash, she isn't here."

"So you are replacing her with a mini you. Come on Hols, are you sure you are ready for the restless nights and throwing up your breakfast?"

"Yes I am, plus I always have you to moan to about everything."

"Doubt it." Jake smiled at her. "If this is what you want, if you want to be a single parent and raise a mini human, then I will support you if I can." He walked over to Holly and hugged her. "Plus I am going to be an awesome Uncle."

She had been thinking about all the pros and cons of having a baby, alone, and in a city, she hardly knew herself, but the pros always came up trumps compared to the cons.

Jake pulled away from the hug and sat back in his chair whilst Holly continued to prep dinner.

"Do you need my little guys, is that why you are making me a nice meal and getting me drunk." Jake asked and Holly spun around and pointed the knife at him.

"You are disgusting. Thank you for the offer but no, I have already found a donor through the system."

"So my guys aren't good enough for your offspring." Jake could be such a drama queen at times, it was probably the only stereotypical gay thing about him.

"No not at all, I just thought it would be easier." Holly smiled at him and turned back around to finish her task. "But thank you...for the offering."

"Maybe next time you will accept my kind offer."

"You are a small comment away from having a tomato between your eyes."

They both laughed and continued the night, eating, and watching movies, finally Jake fell asleep on the sofa and Holly went to her room.

She stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself and pulled up her top, sticking her belly out. It wasn't going to be that bad being a single mom, was it?

Only time would tell.

Gail stood there looking at herself in the mirror feeling like a stranger was looking back at her.

Her hair was getting longer now, which she was grateful for. As much as she loved the short hairdo, as she didn't have to do much with it, she missed the long hair she used to have. It wasn't blonde anymore, after dying it darker for an undercover case she had to work on, she opted to keep it that way.

She moved closer to the mirror and looked into her own eyes, stretching her eyelids with her thumb and index finger. They seemed colder than before, and not just the color, there was no emotion behind the blue eyes.

She heard footsteps behind her and stood up straight, patting herself down to remove the invisible dust on her uniform.

"Peck." Frankie Anderson said as she walked into the locker room heading towards the lockers.

"Anderson." Gail replied and pushed her hair back into a ponytail, ready to start her shift.

Gail and Frankie never evolved into anything other than a quick one-night stand neither of them spoke about again. They had become sort of friends over the past 6 months after the incident; she had helped Gail a lot recently.

Losing Sophie to a family that could love her and give her everything that Gail couldn't started a chain reaction of bad things. Her mom and dad still wouldn't talk to her after what happened with Steve but at least Traci had come around and they could finally mend the cracks in their friendship.

She thought about Holly a lot, she still got butterflies thinking about the Doctor, but as soon as she remembered that she let her leave, it was like someone had stood on her heart.

"You alright there Peck?" Frankie asked her slamming the locker shut.

"Yeah...fine..." Gail gathered herself ready to start her shift and gave herself one more look over before she headed to the exit.

"You need to sort whatever is going off in your head Peck. You are making me emotional never mind you." Frankie shouted after her.

"Whatever Anderson." Gail replied and headed down the corridor.

"Mother..." Gail scrunched her eyes up at the pain her ribs were giving her. It was another shift, and another bruise to go with the rest of them. This time it was her own fault. While trying to catch a young boy, who they wanted to question about a mugging the previous day, he decided to run for it. Gail, of course, went after him, and that is when she made best friends with a bin and the floor.

Now standing in her bedroom, with just her underwear on, she could see her skin turning a nice purple color.

She lived alone now, it wasn't supposed to be like that though. It was meant to be herself, Holly and Sophie, all under one roof, and trying to start a family.

Gail looked at the time on the clock that was placed on her bedside table.

It was just after 11pm, if she took painkillers and laid there for a little while she would eventually get to sleep.

Changing into her tank top and boy shorts, and taking some painkillers, she crawled into bed and laid there staring at the ceiling.

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because she woke with a jump and doing that, made her ribs hurt even more.

It had been the same dream as the past year. Holly and herself were in a dark room, running towards the light but the faster they ran, the further away the light became. They were holding hands, but then Holly slipped and let go of Gail's hand. This was when something grabbed Holly's feet and pulled her in the opposite direction. Holly was screaming Gail's name and something about saving him. Gail had no idea who he was but she tried to reach for Holly but when she did Holly faded away.

That was when she would wake up, crying and screaming Holly's name into the empty room.

"Fuck..." She held her ribs and let the tears roll down her face, both from the pain on her side and the nightmare. "Fuck Holly, I miss you."