detectivepowell :
He would be okay. The words echoed over and over in her head, something surely Gil had told her repeatedly. Today’s “incident” was just another day right? He’d bounce back and everything would be good.
Yet she couldn’t help but find herself parked in front of his apartment- fingers tapping on the steering wheel as she debated whether or not she should just leave him alone. She’d checked on him at work, he didn’t need anyone to baby him. Besides he needed to rest. Rest because sleep was highly unlikely.
But within minutes Dani had climbed up the stairs, knocking on his door. For whatever reason, the detective’s stomach dropped when he opened the door. Suddenly unsure what to say or how to justify why she was here.
“…It’s a nice TV,” Dani pointed out, giving the screen a slight nod as she stepped into the loft. “Yeah- yeah. Everything is good. I just drove by and I figured I should check on you. I don’t know many people who have fallen down an elevator shaft, so I guess I don’t know how to properly handle it.” She smirks slightly then motions towards his bed.
“Have you slept at all?” Let’s be real she already knew the answer. No. “Did they give you anything to knock you out? Cause I mean…you should probably try.”
Nice was probably an understatement – the television itself was a monstrosity, the images dancing across its pixels almost too realistic – but it was hardly Malcolm’s focus. Dani was actually there, in his place, not for the first time… but there was something different now. “Well, I appreciate it. Not sure I really know anyone who’s fallen down an elevator shaft either but, first time for everything.” Small flickers of the world built by his mind in the near comatose statement played at his subconscious as she pointed to the bed, remembering the feeling of her warm skin against his own, her gentle weight reminding the profiler that everything was okay…
… a question. He’d been asked a question. Forcing a small smile, trying desperately to wash away the vision, the desires, he shook his head as a hand motioned toward an untouched Rx bottle on the countertop. “They did, but I’m not exactly a big fan of sedatives. I’ve been taking the pain killers those, they’ve been helping.”
Before then, being knocked out by heavy drugs had been avoided in fear of nightmares about his childhood, the girl in the box, his Father’s darker moments… but this time, after the elevator shaft, Malcolm had a new fear – that he would fall back into the world where everything had been perfect, where he’d had her by his side… and never come out of it.
There was a brief pause, as he ran a slightly-shaking hand through his hair, slicking it back nicely against his skull. “You able to stick around, for a bit? I was about to put on a movie, actually, keep myself awake for another couple of hours like the doctors said.” Another pause, heart pounding. “Could use the company, if you’re not busy and uh… want to, of course.”
He was in his head. Not that it wasn’t unusual, in fact in was typical. If one day he were to be fully present she might actually even worry, but still it would be nice to get him to talk about it. She knew it was probably terrifying, and she knew there was nothing she could really do to fix that- no matter how badly she wanted to.
A small smile was returned after his own, her brows still furrowed slightly as she gives a small nod. “Good- I’m glad to see you’re listening to the doctors...sorta.” Her features softened as she studied him, her heart racing. The inevitable seemed so much more like a reality with him. He was so reckless. So stubborn. It was a miracle he wasn’t dead yet, but how many more times was he going to get lucky? How many close calls would come around before there was a final one? And how was she supposed to manage that? How was she supposed to survive that?
Dani’s brows raised once again at his invitation, her mouth falling in surprise for just a brief moment. The last time he invited her to do something here was throw axes, other than that every time she was here it was just a quick check in or dropping him off after an episode at work. “Y-yeah. Yeah I mean if you want me to...but um...we gotta figure out this movie situation because I highly doubt it would be something I’d be able to understand.”
