Shattered #Wattys2016

Chapter 8

I woke up lying on someone's lap. I looked down and saw legs, and looked up to find Nicki leaned back on the couch, her hand on my back and her eyes closed. She was fast asleep. I didn't realize she stayed like that just for me. I noticed some drool coming down my chin and onto her pant's leg. I sat up and stretched out. She didn't stir. I looked at the clock and sighed. 5pm. I got up, letting the blanket slip down to my waist. I draped it over her, and set her down on her side. I then went through my phone and checked if I missed any calls. I saw one from captain.

"Captain, what's up?"

"We got a lead on Gavala. Though the way they did it pissed us off, we got info,"

"What,"

"He's somewhere in Arizona, but those guys are giving us the run around. We're still trying to get it out of them," He stated, which made my heart jump happily,

"That's great. It's amazing...ok, anything else?"

"Nope. not yet, but I'll keep you posted," With that we said nothing more. I decided to make dinner for the both of us. I looked through my refrigerator and grabbed some hamburger patties, a pan, and a little bit of vegetable oil. I'm guessing the seasoning salt and the smell of the meat cooking woke her up.

"Hey Nicki," I smiled as I flipped another patty onto the other, uncooked side.

"Hey...what time is it?" She asked groggily and sat up, running her fingers through her long, thick black hair.

"About 6. We both needed that,"

"Yeah...are you ok now?" She asked, walking into the kitchen with me, washing her hands. She seemed more happy now, and I do to. I feel like a huge wait had been lifted off of my shoulders. Talking to someone about it really helped me easily.

"Yeah I am. Thank you for letting me vent to you. I blocked it out and numbed myself to the grief for so long that I didn't even realize I needed to," I smiled and flipped the patty back onto the plate while she got out the buns, lettuce, tomato and mayo. She and I made our burgers, adding handfuls of Lay's Potato chips with it. After eating, we just sat and talked with nothing else to do. We left the T.V. on and talked about our childhood, and early years. She didn't have much to say, but she let me blab on about my life. Pretty soon, it was time for both of to hit the hay, so we both got ready. I took the shower in my room and let the warm water cool off my sore muscles. I hae been so tense these past few days and a good hot shower soothed my aches and pains. I was relaxed. When I heard a scream.

"Nicki?!" I shouted, I rushed out, grabbing a towel and making my way out of the room to the hallway.

"Are you ok?"

"The hot water is not working," I sighed and shook my head. I swore to myself that when I made it to detective, I'd move to someplace better than that, but I never got around to it because I felt at home with everything, except that bathroom, I forgot it's pipe was leaking, and sometimes the hot water got cold.

"Is it ok if I come in?" I asked and she answered with a yes. I entered and found her with wet hair slicked back and a towel wrapped around her.

"Sorry about that. I was hoping our forman would have gotten that damn pipe fixed. You can use mine," She said as she smiled and walked in with me to the bathroom.

I stood there and thought. Should? No...but it doesn't hurt to ask.

"You can shower with me if you want," I say as I let the towel drop down and I stepped in. I looked at her from behind the curtain to see her turning a bright red.

"Uh-uh...No I can wait,"

"Oh come on...I don't bit," She looked at me like I was crazy, but made her way in, she let the towel slip down and I could already tell it was going to be hard to contain myself. She stepped in and for an apartment, it was a big shower. You could fit at least 3 people in there. But now, she held her hands over her breast and sighed. I scrubbed all over and she turned away, trying not to look.