Graham and Bradley were still at headquarters when Gabriella and James got back. Bradley was typing something up at one of the computer stations, even at two in the morning, while Graham was lying on the couch. He sat up as they walked in, watching as Gabriella made her way carefully up the stairs to the living room.

“I’m alive,” she said, meaning it to be light, though it came out sounding heavy and exhausted.

“Do you want to rest here for a while?” James asked. “Before you go home, I mean?”

It was kind of him to ask, but no, she really didn’t. The idea of being at work right now was so unappealing, but she also didn’t feel like she could drive yet. So she sat down in the chair without answering.

James went over to where Bradley was working, putting a hand on his shoulder for balance as he leaned down and peered at the screen. “Take a break,” he said after a few seconds.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“I’m your boss, that’s literally my job.”

Gabriella brushed her fingers over the clean bandage on her face. They’d put her on antibiotics because of all the germs that were likely on the glass that cut her. And the fabric they’d used to stem the bleeding, not that there’d been any other options. And now she was going to have to tell her mom about this, which meant her mom was going to be scared and upset. She’d try to hide it for Gabriella’s sake, but she wouldn’t be that successful.

Her mother and James’s mother were sisters. Did they have a text chat going where they vented about their children’s terrifying career choice together? Gabriella hoped they did. She didn’t have any siblings. Out of all the cousins, Gabriella and James were the two only children in the family, everyone else had siblings. She never really thought about how things would be different if she had a sister, but it would be nice to have that kind of backup when she was scared.

Her thoughts were drifting, and she knew it. If Gabriella stayed here much longer, she’d just end up falling asleep here in the living room. Then she’d wake up at work with the painkiller having worn off and her face puffy with stitches. She’d seen the stitches before they’d bandaged her up. This was going to scar, and it was going to be the first thing people saw when they looked at her now.

She couldn’t even cry about it. She was too tired to cry.

“Want me to drive you home?” Graham asked her as James sat down on the other end of the couch.

“Do you mind?” Gabriella asked.

“No, of course not. I just need to go get my car, it’s parked about a block down by our house.”

James pulled his key fob out of his pocket and handed it to Graham. “Take my car,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “It’s right outside. Then go home.”

That answered that, then. And she was so relieved to not be staying here or driving herself. “Thank you,” she whispered, the words tugging on her stitches.

James yawned and picked up the cordless phone from its cradle, playing absently with the antenna as he laid down on the couch. “I need to watch the phones this morning,” he said. “Even though the lone guy working at the Foundation’s branch management office overnight said not to worry about the cases from other counties, I’m not sure I trust that no one is going to call to yell at me when they get into work. So maybe I’ll just watch a movie while I do paperwork or something until the end of shift.”

“When are you going home?” Gabriella asked.

James nodded toward Bradley. “We’re both off at eleven,” he said. “Amelia and Graham are coming back to take over.”

She didn’t dare ask when he’d be back. It was tempting to say she’d come in for the evening shift, but before she could get the words out, James glared at her. “Don’t you dare even say it.”

“How…”

“You’re not coming back for twenty-four hours. That’s an order.”

She had nothing to say in return to that and James seemed satisfied. “You should go take a break too,” he said to Bradley, who pointedly ignored him.

Bradley pulled a notebook closer to his work station while Graham went to find his jacket. “We were talking about fish tanks yesterday,” James continued. “I’m still toying with the idea of getting one. Maybe put it over by the presentation screen. Now that I’m thinking about it, I think I’d actually like to have a fish tank here.”

“You know who else would like it?” Bradley asked, finally spinning his chair around. “Fang. Seafood dinner every night.”

James laughed, and Gabriella stood up. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Graham. “I can wait until you’re ready though.”

“I’m ready when you are. But take your time.”

She went down to the bathroom, closing the door behind her as she stood in front of the mirror. Even beyond the big patch of gauze on her face, Gabriella looked awful. Her hair was lank and snarled, there were deep shadows under her eyes, and she looked like she was on the verge of being sick.

And they weren’t even done with the case.

Things will look better tomorrow, she tried to remind herself. Just like Gran had always said on the rough days. A good night’s sleep and some good food will do wonders, sweetheart. It’ll be alright.

She stayed there another moment, tempted to just shower everything off of herself right now. But even if she could do so without getting her stitches wet, what would stop her from crawling straight into a bed here once she managed to pull on her spare clothes? And then she’d wake up and she would still be here.

Gabriella gave herself another few seconds alone in the quiet, then walked back out to the living room. Bradley was standing at the printer while Graham was pulling on his jacket, typing something on his phone. And James had apparently passed out in the few minutes she’d been away. He was still stretched out on the couch, sound asleep with Fang purring on his stomach. One hand was on the cat’s soft back while the other rested on his chest, still holding the cordless phone.

“You’re done for the night,” Bradley said to Graham as Gabriella stopped at the top of the stairs.

“You sure you’ll be fine?”

Bradley motioned around the silent room. “I’m going to bed as soon as I file this,” he said. “If they have a problem with that, hire more fucking people.”

The idea of layoffs still hung uneasily in the air around them, but there was nothing to be done about it right now. None of them were about to wake James up so he could tell them about the meeting, even if that would do any practical good at this hour. So all Gabriella could do right now was go home and get some rest herself.

They all glanced over at James, while Fang watched them from her perch on his stomach. Bradley went over and pulled the cordless phone out of James’s hand, pet Fang, then looked at Graham and Gabriella.

“I’ll have the phone in with me,” he said. “If they call. Or if anything comes up.”

He moved toward the filing cabinet, and Gabriella followed Graham out of the house.

***

As soon as Graham dropped Gabriella off at her apartment, she missed having someone around. He’d offered to stay for a bit, but she knew he was back on in about ten hours. So as tempting as it was to take him up on it and not be alone, she reluctantly said no.

As she looked out onto her tiny balcony, she could see that her flower had a new bloom, but both were looking a little sad. It was about three in the morning now, so the whole apartment looked dim and sad, but she’d barely been home enough to make sure this little bloom was actually getting enough sunlight and water. The rain was probably enough water, but was it actually getting to the plant? It was tempting to bring it inside, spritz it down, and pop it under the grow light right now, but the plant had cycles, right? Even if she wasn’t going to follow her own body’s natural rhythms because of her ridiculous work schedule, Gabriella wasn’t going to interrupt those of her little plant. The one thing she had successfully cultivated over the past year.

No, that wasn’t true. She wasn’t even let herself go down that path of self-pity again. Maybe it was the late hour, the date changing over, or the shock of everything that had happened tonight. But Gabriella had changed over the past year. And she’d worked hard to find her place within the team. Tonight had proven that.

She thought about the way Graham had steered her out of that final time bend, staying on the line with her the whole time. Or how Amelia had made sure she was safe. Even if she hadn’t fully forgiven herself yet for what happened, knowing that the others had was enough to force her to admit that maybe they were all moving on.

She stunk of hospital, time bend, and blood. So even though she wasn’t allowed to get her stitches wet, Gabriella dragged herself into the shower and carefully washed up, leaving her hair and face alone for now. In a few hours, she’d get up and maybe take advantage of some quiet time before going back to the case.

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 15