Psychopathy

Chapter 73- Cookie Toss

Things weren't as normal as Isabel would have hoped for. She had started feeling sick, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get it to go away. She'd tried some over-the-counter remedies, but none had worked so far. And now she was starting to get worried. She didn't know what kind of bug she may have picked up, but she would find out. She had grabbed a cookie before she went to the doctor, but she couldn't think about eating it now. She simply tossed it into the trash as she went inside the hospital, hoping some good news would come out of the day.

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"So, Baby Girl, what's it like having Ciara around?" Morgan asked, and Ciara looked up from the file she was looking at. The phone was on speaker, as it normally was, and she wondered if Morgan knew that. If he knew that she could hear his every word, would he have still asked the question?

"Oh, my sweet chocolate thunder, it is such a joy. I know it's only been a week, but if I had known how great this would be, I would have had her work with me from the beginning. I mean, unlike Akilah, Ciara actually helps," Garcia said.

"Hey!" Akilah cried from the background. "Don't come at me like that! It's not my fault that I was laid up with a concussion!"

"Aw, I know that, Red Fury. I was just kidding. Once you healed up a little, you were pretty helpful. But anyway, I need you all to know that you aren't ever getting Ciara back. Even when she's cleared, I'm going to fight to keep her here with me," Garcia said, and Ciara scoffed a little bit.

"Shouldn't that be my choice?" she asked, and Garcia laughed.

"You're right. But just know, I will still be trying to convince you to stay here," she promised, and Ciara smiled, shrugging noncommittally. She wasn't trying to think about what she would do when she was cleared to travel and work in the field. That was probably a long way away. For now, she was just going to settle in and do her job with Garcia. It had only been a week, but she was enjoying it as much as Garcia was.

It helped her, settling back into a routine. Getting up at a similar time every day, going to work, and doing the same things when she got home. True, she didn't get home at the same time depending on the case, but it still was comforting to have something to do. And it was a lot of fun working with Garcia. She truly was a ball of sunlight, and when Ciara was with her, there was always fun to be had.

Molly had joined Garcia's expansive collection of figurines, fitting in perfectly with the unicorns and other small animals. And that kept Ciara feeling safe, despite all of the things that came across Garcia's screens. Crime scene photos had never bothered her before, but something was different now. Whenever she saw mutilated bodies, evidence of torture, and victims of sexual assault, the scars on her body would start to twinge. She'd remember how it felt to be on the receiving end of such brutal torture. And if she wasn't careful, those memories would be brought right back to the surface. If she wasn't careful, that darkness would start to choke her.

But the two women had a system for that. They'd never talked about it, but they'd still set it up. All it had taken was Garcia's watchful eye and her ever-present need to help. Every time Ciara felt the darkness start to steal the air from her lungs, she would grab the Molly figurine. At first, she wasn't even sure why she did it. Maybe it was just because she knew that if anyone could protect her, it was Molly. That bad-ass mama bear could protect her from anything.

Garcia noticed it the first time around, and she "accidentally" spilled her coffee and asked Ciara to go to the storage room to grab some paper towels. It wasn't until Ciara was looking for something Garcia requested in her drawers that she saw a full roll of paper towels. And not the one she had gotten. Ciara understood then. Garcia knew she needed to step away from the room and had sent her on a quest. And since then, whenever Ciara grabbed the Molly figurine, Garcia sent her out of the room on some sort of quest.