Chicago PD: Hank Voight's Forbidden Love

Vegetable Soup

Elena was in her bedroom lying in the bed on her side staring into the darkening room as the sun began to set. She had spent the last several days in her room, seldom venturing out.
There was a knock at her door.
"Come in," she said softly.
The door opened, and Hank walked in.
"How ya doin' Kitten?"
"I'm okay."
"Is that so? Well, that's not what I'm hearing. Can I turn on the lights?"
"Sure."
He flipped the wall switch which turned on all four lamps in her room and walked over to her bed and sat down next to her."
"Cora just left. Nice lady. She says you haven't been outta this room all day."
Elena shrugged.
"Which doesn't come as a surprise," he continued, "since you've been up here in this same spot since the funeral."
Elena said nothing.
Voight began rubbing his forehead with his thumb as he looked down at the grief stricken girl.
"Listen, Kitten, I know how hard this is for you. I've been there, exactly where you are right now. I lost my dad when I was just a little older than you. He was a Chicago cop and got killed in the line of duty right there in the 21st District where I work now."
She looked up at him.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I — I didn't know that."
"Up til then, that was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. The pain was unbearable. But I pushed myself and kept going 'cause I had no choice. And that's what you've gotta do. I know that's what my dad would've wanted, just like I know that's what Mike would want you to do. He wouldn't want you lying around in this bed day after day, turning into yourself. You just gotta get up and keep moving."
Elena said nothing.
Voight looked around at her cluttered room before turning his attention back to her.
"Elena," he said quietly, "I'm doing everything I can to help you get through this, but you gotta meet me halfway. There's only so much I can do. Staying in this bed ain't gonna get you through this thing. If anything, it's making it worse."
She simply nodded as she continued to stare off into the distance.
He could tell he wasn't connecting with her.
"Okay, here's the deal."  His voice suddenly became  stern, harsh. 
"First — and I don't mean to embarrass you, but it has to be said — you're starting to get a little ripe, Kid."
She looked up at him.  "Excuse me?" she said.
"Yeah, that's right," he went on. "I don't mean to embarrass you, Kitten, but you need to take a bath or a shower, get outta those pajamas, take them down to the laundry room and throw them into the washing machine, and put on some fresh clean clothes. And to be clear, I'm not asking."
Elena blushed with embarrassment at what he was saying.

Voight ignored her embarrassment and continued with his demands.

"Now Cora made some vegetable soup. Homemade. Fresh vegetables right outta her garden. She said she offered you some earlier, and you turned it down. But here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna get up, go into the bathroom, take a shower or bath — whatever your preference — put on some street clothes — no pajamas — come downstairs, and eat some of that soup with me. It's not that heavy, and I won't give you that much, but you're gonna put something in your stomach."
He stood up and yanked the covers off of her.
"Now, get up, and I'll see you downstairs in half an hour. And don't make me come back up here to get you."
He stood by the bed and waited for her to get up. She continued staring at him with wide eyes. He had never spoken to her that way.  He stared back at her unflinchingly waiting for her to get out of the bed, but she didn't move.

Voight sighed in exasperation.  He empathized with her because she was going through a lot, but he was losing his patience.

"Look, Elena, it would be highly inappropriate, but if you don't get outta that bed and go into that bathroom and shower right now, I'll drag you in there and bathe you myself.  I sure as hell don't wanna do that, and I'm certain you don't want that either, but so help me God I will if you don't get in there!  NOW!!"

She  flinched at his tone, and without further delay she pulled herself up into a sitting position, swung her feet over the side of the bed, got out and trotted into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He stood there listening for the bath water to turn on. When he heard it, he started for the bedroom door. When he reached it, he called out to her:

"Like I said, be down in the kitchen in 30 minutes. I'm gonna start heating up the soup now."

He waited for a response, but there was none, only the sound of the running water, so he walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen to turn the fire on under the pot of vegetable soup.
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Thirty five minutes later Elena walked into the kitchen where Voight was just turning the fire off under the pot of soup. He looked at her and grinned. She was wearing a pair of  faded blue jeans and a pink plaid shirt. She had brushed her hair back into a ponytail tied with a black velvet scrunchy. She sat down at the table and waited for him to serve the soup. He made a mental note of how impossibly gorgeous she was. What's more,  she didn't realize it.
"Perfect timing," he remarked. "The soup is hot and ready to serve." He retrieved two bowls from the cupboard and placed them on the butcher block table, one for her and one for him. He then brought the pot to the table and carefully ladled the soup into the bowls. She told him where the spoons were, but he already knew since he had been learning the layout of Mike's kitchen the last few days. Once he handed her a spoon, they began eating.
"Umm, this is good," he said.
Elena nodded in agreement.
"I gotta say, Cora is one helluva cook," he continued, trying to make conversation. But Elena wasn't in the mood for small talk. He noticed that she was more interested in eating and actually seemed to be enjoying the soup. So he said nothing else, and the two of them ate in silence.
His phone rang. He looked at it, and the caller ID said it was Detective Ruzek.
"Hey, Adam, what's up?"
"Boss, it's happened. Walker struck again."
Voight looked at Elena who was concentrating on her soup, so he got up, walked out of the kitchen, and went into the study and closed the door.
"Talk to me," he said.
"It's bad. Really bad. This guy did a number on her. Each attack gets worse than the one before. They just took her into surgery."
Voight was dumbfounded.
"Wait, you mean she's alive?"
"Just barely, but yeah, she's still alive! For now any way. Apparently , she crawled through the Preserves all night and made it out to the street this morning where some people waiting at a bus stop saw her and called it in. Patrol already canvassed the area and found her clothes. So they've cordoned off the area, and Evidence is there now."
"I can't believe she's alive," said Voight incredulously.
"Neither can the doctors. They said she tried to talk, but her throat's been cut. Definitely Walker's MO. Even down to the stick."
Voight winced when he heard that.
"Was she able to identify Walker as her attacker?"
"Get this, once Patrol saw her injuries and recognized Walker's handiwork, one of the officers whipped out his cell phone with Walker's photo on it and showed it to her as they were loading her into the ambulance. He said she nodded in the affirmative that Walker was the man who attacked her. But that's all they were able to get from her. At least for now. Let's pray she makes it through surgery. From what everyone is saying she wants to talk."
"Where'd they take her."
"Chicago Med. We're all headed over there now."
"I'll meet you there in about 45 minutes."
"Okay, Boss. We'll see you when you get there."
Voight disconnected the call and hurried back to the kitchen where he saw Elena standing over the stove, ladling herself another bowl of soup.
"Ah hah, so you're liking it, huh?" he said.
"It's actually very good," she said.
Voight hurriedly ate the rest of his soup and tossed the empty bowl into the sink.
"Listen, Kitten, I have to leave. Something's come up."
Elena turned and looked at him.
"Is it about Clarence Walker?" she asked.
"We'll talk about it when I get back. I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I gotta go. And don't answer the door. Uh, watch a movie or read a book or somethin', but please stay outta that damn bed. Promise?"
She nodded and gave him a faint smile.
Without realizing what he was doing he walked over to the girl and wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly for several seconds. He then released her, suddenly feeling self conscious by his spontaneous display of affection.
"Look," he stammered, "I'll — I'll get back here as soon as I can. And if it's not too late maybe we can watch a movie, your pick."
And with that he grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter and hurried out of the house.
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