Complicated

Chapter Twenty Four: Fractures

Said I wouldn't call, but I lost all control and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now

Lady Antebellum – Need You Now

Grace was in the bath when she got the phone call. It had been eight weeks since she'd taken a bullet to the abdomen and had her left kidney removed. According to the doctor she was healing up nicely, she hadn't been allowed to leave the hospital until the skin had started to form over the exposed area for fear of infection. Her flesh was still fragile, she was to be careful making any sudden movements or strenuous activity for fear ripping the wound open.

It still hurt when she made the mistake of slouching or even stretching too much but the pain was bearable for now, and manageable with the painkillers the hospital had prescribed. There would forever be a ragged scar highlighting her pale skin but Grace didn't mind that. She was used to scars, on herself and on other people all that mattered to Grace was the fact that she had survived the event.

However nights were a problem. Often she would jolt awake her body still vibrating from the violation of the bullet as she lay there in the pitch black, her heart hammering in her chest as she struggled to take long deep breaths. She had dealt with nightmares before, they were nothing new to her.

After Will she had learned to embrace them, it was her unconscious minds way of processing the trauma that had assaulted her body. Knowing that didn't make her dreams any less terrifying, she only wished that Don was by her side to smooth away the hair from her forehead and kiss her mouth until she was lulled back to sleep again.

Over the past six weeks the two of them had barely exchanged more than a few words. The phone calls between them were strained and their texts short. Every time Grace suggested the two of them doing something together, he was quick to brush her off with the illusion of work. To make things worse when she had turned up at the Precinct in a bid to catch him for a coffee he was nearly always out in the field according to Jess.

If this had been any other guy she would simply have waved goodbye and given up on the relationship but this was Don and something was badly wrong in his world for him to be acting this way. The only problem was she had no idea what the hell she was supposed to do about it.

The fracturing relationship between her and Don hadn't changed anything between her and the people she worked with at the Crime Lab. Every other evening Adam was over watching movies or filling her in on the latest Crime Lab conundrums. The latest involving what the papers were officially naming as 'The Compass Killer.'

Stella was around constantly dropping treats and magazines into her lap whilst Danny turned up with a bag of chips to watch the Mets game whenever he could take the time off. Hawkes was always a phone call away asking her about her wound and recommending ways to stay active despite the disability because he knew the fact she wasn't at full capacity was driving her crazy.

Despite the flurry of activity that she was constantly engaged in, she did notice Don's absence and of course whenever she asked one of their friends about it she got the same pained expression on all of their faces. They were hiding things from her she was certain of that she just couldn't bring herself to push them. The truth was Grace wasn't sure she was ready to hear what he was doing instead of spending the time with her.

The problem was Grace had no real clue what had caused Don to spiral out of control. True, she had given him back his engagement ring but that wasn't the real root of his problems no matter how much he tried to dress it up like it was.

There had been something different lurking inside him from the moment she had woken up and found him at her bedside. The moment she looked into his eyes she had seen it and the fact was he knew it too. He was keeping her at arm's length to keep his secret hidden, so he wouldn't burden her and she couldn't get through to him. Lord knew she had tried over the past few weeks but he was stubborn and distant.

Her cellphone was ringing, Grace could hear the tone of Limp Bizkit's Behind Blue Eyes singing from it's place upon the towels she'd placed it on. It was a force of habit since before the shooting, whenever she was on call the phone was never far from her side. She sighed out loud at the sound of Don's ring tone, her dry hand already groping for the phone.

"Hello?" she greeted, unable to hide the weariness in her voice.

Whenever he rang it usually ended up with one of them hanging up on the other. She wondered why she even bothered to answer instead of letting it go to voice mail. She wasn't ready to deal with him this morning.

"Terrence Davis," a strangely familiar voice chided in her ears. "Look I got your boy here and he's in bad shape."

Terrence Davies...

It had been a long time since she'd heard that voice, even longer since she'd been face to face with the guy. Grace closed her eyes as she prayed for strength as she spoke.

"Terrence it's Grace Sullivan." she submitted with a sigh. "How bad is it?"

"I was hoping it was you when I was thumbing through your boy's phone book. He's passed out on my sofa, he took a pretty bad beat down, almost got himself killed by a couple of thugs on the subway before I dragged him to my place. He's been drinking."

Grace opened her eyes at the news, the thoughts flickering through her brain as she rubbed her temples with her free hand.

"You got an address?" she asked already pulling herself out of the tub. "I need you to text it to me as soon as you hang up."

Grace snapped her phone shut before stepping out of the bath, she couldn't help but think that maybe fate had decided to intervene in their lives yet again.