Dreams Do Come True

Chapter Three

You lifted your head at the sound of a voice that always felt like home to you. The first words to you spoke was a heartbroken plea, "Gavin? God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Immediately Gavin was by your side. "Hey, hey. No. No, you're okay. It's okay." He sat down on the edge of the bed, taking your hand and enveloping it in his. His other hand wrapped around your back. Your other hand had a strap around the wrist and finger, attached to a machine as it monitored your pulse rate. You also had two sticky pads to your chest with thin wires popping out from the neckline of your work shirt, monitoring your heart rate.

"You got me out of paperwork so, y'know, thank you." He murmured playfully, trying to lighten your mood and bring a smile to your face. But it didn't work and he certainly didn't expect it to. You didn't say anything. You couldn't say anything. Sometimes it was like everything shut down and plunged you in a numb state, and then the next minute you felt like you could burst into tears and drown your soul beneath the floods.

Nines watched from the window as you collapsed your head against Gavin's shoulder, hiding your face in his neck. You didn't appear to be sobbing but your shoulders sagged in defeat. Gavin's torso twisted slightly to accommodate the new position as he wrapped his arms around you, murmuring softly in your ear. ("It's alright. 'M here. I've got you.") Occasionally pressing kisses against your forehead. It fascinated him the way Detective Reed worked. He was a smart-mouthed asshole at work, probably less since you've been with him. Heavy sarcasm. Matching quip for quip with Nines. Dangerously short-tempered. Definitely plays the role of 'bad cop' in the interrogation rooms. But with you... it's hard to see him as the short-tempered grumpy Detective he's known to be. There's a new gentle side that Nines knew he had but never saw it. Until now.

There was a knock to the door as the Doctor approached, the nursing staff most likely have informed him that your emergency contacts have arrived. You immediately pulled away and curled back in on yourself as Gavin stood up to shake hands with the Doctor. "Detective Reed, I presume? Doctor Kent."
This time Nines entered the room now that the Doctor was present and blue eyes immediately dropped onto your huddled figure. Your cortisol levels were high, your serotonin levels were low. There was clearly more than just stress, hints of depression perhaps? None of the medical staff seemed to have picked up on that. Mind, Nines wasn't programmed to read a human body psychologically, so he wasn't equipped to make such bold conclusions.

"I'm relieved to see you're unharmed, Y/N." Nines gently greeted you, trying to bring a softer tone to his usually sharp matter-of-fact tone. You offered a small smile but Nines could see your bottom lip quivering and the smile and gaze immediately dropped, going unnoticed by both Doctor and Detective as the two conversed, Nines noticed but remained quiet, bringing his attention back to the conversation.
"How's she been sleeping?" "Uh, decently, I guess. She studies throughout the night. Not coming to bed until near midnight."
"What time does she wake up in the mornings?" "5 or 6ish, I guess."
"The healthy amount of sleep an average person should be getting is 8 hours. 7 at the bare minimum. The lack of sleep that, I'm assuming has been ongoing, leaves her in a sleep-deprived state on top of studies for exams. As a Doctor, I know how grueling studies and exams can be. So I know that her lack of sleep isn't helping in any way whatsoever to her studies. Any other stressful factors in her life? At home?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Gavin looked over at you but you only ducked your head out of his line of sight. He didn't bother asking about any more stresses, knowing you wouldn't be up to talking. The Doctor shifted on his feet as he came to a final conclusion. "I would prefer to keep her in overnight under observation. Prescribe a mild sedation to help her get a peaceful night's rest."
"No!" Your small voice quickly interjected, shooting down the idea as your head snapped up and panicked eyes set upon the Doctor, "I want to go home." Your E/C orbs left the Doctor's and fell on your boyfriend, silently begging him. "Please?" It was like a fist hand squeezed at Gavin's heart and then proceeded to stab it against a sharp knife. Never, in the past two years of being with you, has he ever seen you look so broken before.
His gaze dropped from yours and back to the Doctor, "Can I not bring her home?" "It is with my professional opinion that we do keep her in overnight."
Gavin went quiet, and before he lost any patience or understanding he had, Nines leaned in slightly and quietly interjected in a soft murmr, "You are within your rights to go against medical advice, Detective." Nines quietly spoke from the side, having noticed your stress levels increased drastically at the thought of staying here. His cold blue eyes seemed to have softened a little as he looked over at you before, also, dropping his gaze on the Doctor.

"If I may interject, it might be beneficial to bring Y/N home. Her stress levels might decrease once she's in a familiar environment that she deems comforting and safe. I can offer to stay the night to keep an eye on her levels. If they reach critical condition, we can bring her straight back." And this is why Nines came along. He made a compelling argument against the Doctor whereas Gavin would've lost his temper. Nines could already see the panic flash in the Detective's eyes with the thought of leaving a distraught girlfriend at the hospital overnight. That panic would immediately flicker to anger within the flick of a switch.
"Very well. On the proviso that her levels are to be regularly scanned. If there are signs of no improvement, you are to bring her straight back."
"Of course."

It was settled then. The Nurse was called in by the Doctor to disconnect you from the being hooked up to the machines while Gavin walked out of the room (dropping a kiss on the top of your head with a murmured 'Be right back') so he could sign the DAMA form. (Discharged Against Medical Advice).

Nines watched as everyone left the room, leaving you and the RK900 unit alone. You were still sitting on the bed and your gaze dropped to your hands in your lap. Under the ever-watchful gaze of Nines as his blue eyes studied you for a moment before breaking the silence. "You still seem quite withdrawn." His tone was quite gentle, surprising you (though you didn't show that you acknowledged his efforts) and also surprising him.

You ducked your head further away from his gaze, your hair finally falling down around your face to obscure your features from view. "I don't deserve him." You whispered, your hands beginning to fidget, picking at your nails, rubbing your fingers together, fingernails pressing hard against your skin to the point where you were leaving little crescent moon indents. Your Mother's words echoing loudly in your head. Unfortunately, your fall to the ground didn't cause amnesia so you remembered everything about that phone-call.

Your fidgeting was a sign that another panic attack was coming on and Nines seemed to have picked up on your stress levels as he came over and sat down on the edge of the bed. His larger hand reaching over and placing it over your fidgeting ones. A gentle squeeze of reassurance was given. "Quite the contrary Y/N. Gavin is the one who doesn't deserve you. But I know he's quite lucky to have you. I must say I'm grateful you've entered into his life. He's become much less insufferable."

A very quiet whimper escaped your lips, that if the RK900 didn't have highly incredible audio sensors, he would have easily missed it. He didn't fully turn to you, remaining his usual professional self but when he felt two hands grip his tightly, he glanced down. Your fingers were white with how tightly you were holding on to him just as how tightly you were holding onto the lid of emotions that were threatening to spill forth.

Ever so slightly, Nines leant forward a little – just a little, but enough for you to know he was silently offering an embrace if you needed it. And you did. You dropped your head into his shoulder and let out a deep sigh. "He could do so much better than me. I'm just..." you struggled to find the right words to describe just how despicable you are compared to many other successful and far more beautiful women out there are.

"Perfect." Nines supplied as his free hand wrapped around your upper arm/shoulder. "You are incorrect to state that he can do better than you. You are the better. Detective Reed is quite out of his league with you." You merely scoffed at hearing this but the words were comforting to the voice that voice inside your head that was telling you otherwise. There was nothing more Nines could do or say. He wasn't equipped to be dealing with psychological matters of a sensitive nature such as the situation you're currently in, so he opted to remain silent and just hold you in this semi-embrace.