The Test

Chapter Twenty-Four

Layna

I spent the night tossing and turning unable to sleep for longer than half an hour at a time. Unfortunately, I had managed to keep Derek up with my restlessness but he never complained just laid with me, periodically reaching over to stroke my hair. He had managed to fall asleep around five in the morning as I watched the sunrise out of the window. At about eight, I gave up, slowly getting out of bed so I didn't wake Derek.

Grabbing my clothes, I made my way to the bathroom to take a quick shower, before getting dressed. I couldn't stay in the hotel room anymore, so I decided to go grab everyone some breakfast.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Derek sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Where are you going?"

I went over to him, gently running my fingers through his crazy hair, "Just to get some breakfast."

"I'll come with you," he said yawning.

Looking worriedly at his face, I could see the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. "I think you should stay and sleep; you need your rest."

"No it's fine," he yawned again, "I'll grab a coffee."

"You're going to stay and sleep; There's a takeout place just down the street. I can walk there."

He slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me until I was lying next to him and he could wrap his arms around me. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready."

I turned to face him, "I just really need to get out of here for a bit okay? And I feel bad that I kept you up all night, so it would make me feel a lot better if you stayed and slept for a little longer."

He sighed, pressing a soft kiss to my lips, "Okay, just text me if you're going to be long." I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before rolling out the bed and slipping my shoes on.

"I love you, angel."

I smiled at his nickname for me, stepping out of the hotel room, "I love you too."

***

I stood in line at the small coffee shop down the street, looking at the option on the chalkboards in front of me. I was so engrossed in the menu I didn't even notice that someone was standing beside me until they spoke.

Looking over I was surprised to see Leila, the nurse from the mental institution. She was still in her hospital scrubs and she had thrown a jacket over it. "Layna, right?"

I gave her a small smile, "Yeah."

"How are you feeling? Hopefully better from the last time I saw you," she said with a smile, tucking a strand of gray hair behind her ear.

"I'm better now, it was just a little shocking to see him like that," I said truthfully, subconsciously resting my hand on my stomach.

She tracked my movements with her eyes, "How far along are you?"

"Almost five months now," I said. "Do you have any children?"8

"Yeah, two boys but, they're all grown up now with families of their own, and I barely get to see them anymore." Her eyes turned sad.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She smiled at me, "Me too."

Derek

I woke up to knocking on the door. Groaning I got up, stretching out my stiff muscles as I stood up. Layna had probably forgotten her key card again.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Humphrey, Amelia, and Justin standing there.

"Surprise!" Humphrey said, "We managed to finish last night so we got an early flight in. We figured we should stop by here first and then we could go to the precinct together.