February Night

Chapter 36

Three weeks after Lucy's flu had started, she was finally back in her beloved bookstore. Spencer has had to go on a case before she had been fully recovered, but it had been okay for her. It wasn't like she would force him to stay with her just because she was sick. She wasn't that kind of egoistic person. And after Lucy had returned to her bookstore, she had started to look for someone who could help her with it when she should get sick again or similar scenarios could happen. Although she hadn't thought she'd find someone, Lucy had been lucky in the end: a young woman had come to her desk one afternoon, saying she had read the sign next to the front door and would be interested in it. Her name was Phoebe and she said that she loved books. She was studying at the university and was looking for a little side job anyway so she could earn a bit of money.

Lucy had told her gladly that she could start the job right away if she wanted to and Phoebe had been enthusiastic about it. So, they had immediately discussed about the payment and if Phoebe was even allowed to work and on which days she'd be able to be here. Phoebe had told Lucy that she could come in whenever she was needed. She was flexible when it came to her visiting the University and lectures. And Lucy thought that this was just amazing. So, she could ask Phoebe to help her out whenever she needed someone. "Oh, and if you want to, you can study here for the University whenever you want to", Lucy had added.

Waiting for the student to appear now to work for the fifth day in a row, Lucy was sitting behind her desk and typed a message to Tessa. She hadn't heard from her best friend in days and was wondering how she was doing in New York. "Hey, Lucy!" When Phoebe came in, Lucy sent the message and then put her phone away.

"Hey, Phoebe." She smiled at the young student and started to explain her some new things. The day went by quickly and it was past seven when Lucy finally closed the bookstore and made her way back home. While she walked through the street, she glanced at her phone. There was still no message from Tessa. Shrugging, she put the phone away in her bag again. Maybe her friend was busy with work and just hadn't found time to answer yet. Tessa was working at a kindergarten and had told a lot about how stressful this job could be at times. She would call or text Lucy whenever she had the time to.

Back home, Lucy took a hot bath, had some dinner and then snuggled on the couch with a book. Spencer had called her earlier today to tell her that he'd have to sit at work late since he had a ton of paperwork to get done. Lucy was okay with that, of course. Sometimes she liked it to just have time for herself and sit there with a cup of coffee or tea and read a good book.

It was almost midnight when she eventually crawled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately. She has had a lot to do at work those last days since she was back and she still felt the aftermaths of her flu. Sometimes, she still had to cough or felt her throat hurting a bit. But Lucy knew, it would pass. The best was, she got as much sleep as possible. Sleep was the best medicine in that case.

The next morning, Lucy was just eating her porridge with berries and cinnamon and had a cup of coffee, when her phone suddenly rang. Frowning, she grabbed it, just to see that it was her brother calling. "Luke? What's the matter?" She put another spoon of porridge into her mouth while she listened to him.

"Lucy, could you quickly come to the office?", he asked and she could hear in his voice that something was wrong. She swallowed and stood up from her chair, making her way into the bedroom to get dressed.

"Yeah. But...what's going on? Did something happen?" Sudden fear crawled up her chest but she tried to ignore it. "Is there something with Spencer?" That thought just crossed her mind and literally took her breath away. No, there couldn't be something wrong with her boyfriend...

"No, no, don't worry", Luke said the words she had longed to hear and Lucy let out a sigh of relief. "Just...come over here and I'll explain", Luke said before he hung up. For a moment, Lucy just stared at her phone. What the hell was that? Luke had sounded strange. As if he had been holding back his feelings while talking to her. Well, she would find out if she'd drive to the BAU. She didn't really have another choice. And her curiosity prevailed anyway.

Forty-five minutes after Luke's phone call, Lucy arrived at the BAU and hurriedly entered the huge glass door. She could see the whole team waiting for her at one of the desks. Lucy was wondering what was going on. Why were they all waiting for her here? And why were Spencer, Luke and Penelope looking at her with pity in their eyes? She might find it out in a few minutes, Lucy thought before she greeted the team; pressing a kiss on Luke's cheek, giving Penelope a hug and then kissing Spencer before shortly waving at the others. "Alright, I'm here. What's the matter?" Nervousness was taking over her once again when she looked in their faces. Something clearly was wrong.

Luke gently grabbed Lucy's arm and led her into the conference room, so he could talk to her alone, not being surrounded by the others. She looked at her brother inquiringly, but didn't say a word. She just waited for him to talk. Her heart was pounding nervously in her chest, as if she had a feeling. Well, something was wrong, obviously. But what? She hated it to have to wait for answers.

"Lu, we...we just got a case in about an hour ago. It's in Manhattan", Luke started.

Lucy frowned. "Okay...why...are you telling me this? You usually don't tell me much about your cases and you for sure don't ask me to come here although you should be on your way to New York."

Her heart pounded even faster against her chest while she examined Luke's face. She could see that he was concerned. And sad. He was clearly fighting to tell her the truth. "Luke, what the hell is going on?", Lucy spilled out now, standing up from her chair. She couldn't bear sitting around for any longer. "Tell me right now!"