Charlotte looked at herself in the mirror, fixing her hair and smoothed out her clothes, making sure she looked fine before going on a scone run with Wesley. As she reached for her phone, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. The room around her seemed to blur, and in an instant, she was transported back to that haunting day.
Ben's cold eyes stared into hers. She could feel the chill of the knife's blade plunging into her side. The searing pain tearing through her body. She let out a small gasp, feeling the blood soaking through her clothes, the chaos of the moment overwhelming her senses. "Charlotte?" Ben asked.
Charlotte shook her head at the illusion that was in her mind as Eddie shook her back into reality, "Charlie? Are you okay?" He asked.
"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine," Charlotte replied, taking a slow deep breath in to try to steady her racing heart. "Did you ask me something?"
"Yeah, I came to tell you Chris and I were ready whenever you were," Charlotte nodded and grabbed her things so they could drop Christopher off at school and then Eddie dropped her off at the coffee shop she was going to meet Wesley at.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte stared at the scone on her plate, her thoughts drifting back to the flashback she had experienced that morning. Across from her, Wesley seemed lost in his own thoughts, likely replaying his own traumatic memories. The usual lively chatter between them was replaced by a heavy silence.
"How have you been holding up? Since the you know..." Wesley finally asked, breaking the quietness between them.
"Hm? Oh, fine, I guess," Charlotte replied, snapping back to the present. "I mean, just nightmares here and there, but nothing that hasn't happened to me before. You?"
"Yeah, same here," Wesley said, his voice low.
They fell into silence again, the café's ambient noise filling the void. It wasn't their normal talkative scone run, but every now and then, one of them would make a comment about work or crack a joke. Despite their efforts, the conversation remained subdued, each of them wrestling with the lingering effects of their trauma.
As their time together drew to a close, they exchanged small, encouraging smiles. Both had to head to work, but there was a silent understanding between them—an unspoken bond formed from shared experiences and mutual resilience. Neither of them realized the depth of the other's struggle, but in their quiet companionship, they found a measure of solace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Charlotte arrived at the station, she felt the familiar tension creeping back into her muscles. The weight of the morning's flashback and the subdued conversation with Wesley lingered in her mind. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she slipped into a quiet corner of the locker room.
With trembling hands, she reached into her bag and pulled out the small bottle of pain medication left over from her doctor's prescription. She knew she shouldn't rely on them, but the urge to numb the emotional and physical pain was too strong. Shaking out a single pill, she swallowed it dry, her heart pounding with a mix of guilt and relief.
Charlotte leaned against the cool metal of the lockers, taking a deep breath as she waited for the familiar numbness to wash over her. She needed to get through the day, and this was the only way she knew how.
As Charlotte straightened up, the locker room door creaked open, and Harper walked in. She spotted Charlotte and raised an eyebrow, a look of concern crossing her face.
"Hey, everything okay?" Harper asked, her keen eyes taking in Charlotte's tense posture.
Charlotte quickly shoved the bottle back into her bag, forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit of a rough morning, you know?"
YOU ARE READING
Haunted|| The Rookie x 911
Action"Come on, come on, don't leave me like this I thought I had you figured out Something's gone terribly wrong You're all I wanted Come on, come on, don't leave me like this I thought I had you figured out Can't breathe whenever you're gone Can't turn...
