Chapter Eighteen:
The light vanished as Malcolm's face came into view, staring down at her from beside her.
"Theo?" He called out, "Theodora!"
She wanted to get up, to blink and talk but no matter how much she tried nothing worked.
Muffled talking, and then Malcolm's voice was loud and clear— "They need a real kick! Atropine!"
"Medic kit." She heard, "The car. Back."
Malcolm continued to stare down at her, she could feel his hands on her shoulders, shaking her lightly. "Ten minutes before they're dead. Five for the girls!" He yelled.
Ten minutes. That's all she had.
"Theodora— hey, hey!" She felt pressure on her chest, up and down. Trying to get her heart started— but it hadn't stopped yet.
For once Malcolm had no idea what to do, and he was doing anything to keep himself from accepting that.
"Can you hear me? Theo, come on. You're gonna be fine." He told her, "It's all going to be fine. It's alright. Are you in pain? Oh god, please don't let you be in pain—"
His face vanished, and his hands left her, leaving her laying in the grass. She could feel the poison make its way towards her heart, what a weird feeling it was.
Something jabbed into her leg, then he was back. Hair covering his eyes as he shook his head, watching and waiting for a reaction.
"Theo." He snapped, "Come on!"
Hands cupped her cheeks, "Wake up!"
Theodora felt like crying, praying for her to be able to walk away from this. She had no idea what it felt like to be trapped. She hated it.
Arms wrapped around her, pulling her up on his lap. He held her so tightly she swore she could feel the pressure more than anything else.
"They're awake!" Dani called, causing him to shake his head.
"Why isn't this working!"
His eyes were so blue— like the sky, but brighter— no like the frozen lake she used to skate on in the winter. Like crystals. They were filled with concern and worry, and that was fear she was seeing. Blatant, outright fear.
"Theo, please." His voice cracked, "I need you here. I need you here with me, come on."
Something bubbled in her stomach, and rushed up her throat. All of a sudden she flopped to her side, contents from her stomach escaping her mouth, pooling onto the grass.
She coughed violently, shoulders shaking. Hands held her hair back as another round began, but stopped just as fast as it began.
Her body worked again, she was no longer trapped. Wiping her mouth she turned to look at Malcolm, who stared at her with the same fear he had moments ago.
"Mal?" Her voice croaked, just as he engulfed her into a hug.
"Thank god you're okay." He muttered, "Thank god."
"Never take food from strangers."
He huffed, "Don't make jokes right now. A-are you alright?"
She nodded, feeling decent for what just had happened. She wiggled away from him, the grass suddenly cool underneath her. He jumped up, helping her up after.
"You good, Fletcher?" Dani asked with a concerned tone.
"Yes."
Her legs felt a little wobbly, but she'd be fine.
Sirens echoed in the background, and within seconds paramedics filled the backyard. Dani directed them to the Littman's family then marched over to the barbecue where she yanked Littman up off the ground and clamped handcuffs around his wrists.
"I'm sorry." Littman glanced at her as Dani dragged him by, but Malcolm stepped forward and nudged her back.
"You almost killed her." Malcolm yelled angrily, "And your family!"
Littman looked guilty, his face filled with sorrow and fear. Malcolm leaped at him, and Theodora scrambled to grabbed ahold of his arm and shove him backwards. Police drew there guns, she hadn't even seen them come in.
"Hey!" She fell into him, and he froze to steady her. Dani was yelling a string of curse words at him and ran herself and Littman past the fenced backyard.
"What's wrong with you!" She gripped his arms tightly as they held her up by the waist. "Why—"
"He could've killed you."
"And it was my fault." She hissed, "Now, if we could please go grab something to eat! Preferably something that's not poisoned."
"Theo. Stop joking about this!"
She stared at him, registering his wide angry eyes and coldness that pooled off of him. "Calm down. It's ok. Everyone is fine. You solved the case. You did it."
His eyes softened, and his hands fell to his sides as he looked down at her. "Theo—"
"Bright!" Gil's voice echoed, "Fletcher!"
"Hey." She blinked, a lump formed in her throat.
"Dani told me what happened. You need to be checked out by the medics."
"I'm fine—"
"Right now!"
Theodora sighed, "Gil—"
"I need a word with Bright. Go to the medics before I get Dani to drag you there."
She nodded, and within seconds a women was leading her towards the front of the house. They sat her down at the end of the ambulance, taking her pulse and telling her to open her mouth.
She sat like that for what felt like forever, watching the sun go down on the horizon. It had been a long day, she wanted to go home and sleep. And eat. Maybe eat first.
Eventually the sun fully set, and Malcolm walked out from the backyard with the others.
"She's good?"
"Yes. The poison is out, but we've given her medication to take before bed. To make sure everything's flushed out. Precautions." The women shrugged handing her a large pill, "I suggest you take it easy, Miss."
Theodora stood up, pocketing the medication and marched right up towards Malcolm and Dani. The women pointed to her car, and she went straight there.
"Meet back at the precinct." Gil yelled, "I wanna talk to you and Bright."
She nodded, swinging open the front door and flopping down. Dani got in next, followed by Malcolm.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the precinct, or for Gil to drag Malcolm towards his office.
"Gil?" Theodora asked quietly, causing him to stop. "Does the offer still stand?"
His brows furrowed, then the corner of his lips quirked up. "Of course."
"Then I accept."
He looked to Dani, "Go print off the paper work, Powell. I trust you to get it handled while she's here."
They disappeared into his office, the door clicking shut behind them. A hand clapped her back, "My desk's over there, go take a seat. There's water there too, you should drink some."
Theodora followed her pointed finger which seemly lead to a desk by Gil's office. She walked over, ignoring the glances from other officers until she pulled up a chair and sat down. A water bottle sat there as well, and she took it and twisted off the cap, taking big gulps. She then took the pill out of her pocket and placed it in her mouth, swallowing it with another sip of water. Dani found herself on the other side a bit later, slapping down a thick pile of papers and a blue pen.
Her desk was extremely neat, with small things organized in the corner by colour and a small pile of beige sheets sat perfectly underneath her computer monitor.
"Sign your name where I've put an 'x.'"
The first page slipped in front of her and she picked up the pen, scanning the information before signing her name down on the lines.
"Should I be reading this fully? Am I gonna accidentally sign myself to be a sacrifice or something?"
Dani glared at her, "You can if you want. And no, this is normal paperwork. You're fine."
They sat at the desk for ten minutes, and when Theodora looked to see the stack of paper still pretty high, she slumped back in her seat and glanced at the clock. It was late, and she was still hungry.
"What did you mean when you warned me about Bright?" Dani looked at her.
"Warned you?"
"Maybe not warned, but you told me to give him chance. For all of us to. You knew his father was a serial killer, that's what you meant when you told me. Right?"
Theodora sighed, crossing her arms. "He's a good man. The best, actually. He's weird, and maybe crazy, I know that but he's still the best person you'll ever meet."
Her eyebrow raised, "That sounds mixed. How long have you known him?"
"University. He would always wear those pullover sweaters over a collared button down so they would peek out. He had like one friend, then they transferred and he was alone again."
"He sounds like a loser."
Theodora snorted, "He was. He didn't have that scruff or whatever the hell you called it, though back then he'd call it a beard. Which he couldn't grow, it would only form in patches and he'd never shave it off because it was his beard."
"You two seem really close."
"Yeah, well." She sighed, "There was always something off about him, but I ignored it because I loved hanging out with him. I had maybe three friends there, and eventually they all ditched me because they didn't like Malcolm but... I'm glad I worked up the nerve to go talk to him. He needed someone— he still does even if he won't admit it. I'm glad he's found you guys, something for him to focus his mind to."
Dani smiled, "And now you're apart of the team."
"You throw that word around loosely when it's not directed to Malcolm."
"He's fun to tease." She shrugged, just as a door clicked open and Malcolm stumbled out. Gil was there in a second, "Woah, Bright—"
"It must be the drugs the hospital gave me. Not mixing well with the alcohol."
"Can someone take him home?"
Theodora walked up to him and held him up when he stumbled again, "I can."
"I'll drive you both home." Dani nodded, "Don't think this mix of poisoned and drunk will end up well."
"I am not drunk!" Malcolm nodded, "I-I don't know what this is. Do you, Theo?"
"Come on." She nudged him forward, following Dani into the elevator and out into the parking garage. Her car was parked close, right where they'd left it and Theodora got in the back with Malcolm.
"Can I make a small request?" Theodora asked, looking at Dani who only nodded. "Can we grab some food before I start to cry?"
"She'll start yelling, too." Malcolm giggled.
Theodora glanced back at him, "Never mind. He needs to get some sleep. He's never giggled before. I think he's broken."
Dani chuckled, but agreed. And they were through the city to his apartment in no time. The double metal doors seemed to welcome them, and new spray paint had been added to the already growing vandalism. Theodora jumped out, holding the door open for Malcolm. He handed her the keys then stumbled to Dani who propped him up. She open the door, holding it wide so everyone could file in.
Malcolm kept tripping up the stairs, but when he made it to the main level he cheered awkwardly at Dani. Theodora rushed up after them, approaching his room as Dani flopped him onto his bed.
"Oh!" He exclaimed when the women noticed the chains, "I bet you haven't seen anything like this before."
"How do you sleep with them on?"
He laughed, "I don't."
"Don't you ever have someone else—"
"No." He adjusted himself to the centre, grabbing ahold of the long chain before his eyes widened at Dani's snort. "No— I've had... I've had sex before."
"Of course you have." Theodora laughed, "Player."
He finger gunned at her , then huffed, "Can someone—"
Dani went to help him but Theodora pulled her back, "No chains, tonight."
"But—"
"No nightmares."
Dani pursed her lips, "You two have a goodnight." And she was gone, through the living room and down the stairs. The door echoed when it closed, and Theodora left him to go down and lock them. When she returned upstairs, he was on the other side of his bed staring at her.
"Theodora."
"What."
"T-h-e-o." He was sounding her name out, "I like your name."
She snickered walking over, pushing the metal off of his bed. He wouldn't get any sleep if he was knocking into them, spooking himself awake.
"Goodnight, Malcolm." She looked at him.
"Stay."
"I'll be right over there. Where I was last time. On the chair."
He shook his head, patting the place in front of him. "Here."
Theodora huffed, climbing next to him. She went to lay on her back a good distance away when an arm wrapped around her waist and slid her against him.
"Malcolm—"
"Theodora."
She wanted to protest more, but already snores escaped his lips. Her stomach grumbled and she frowned. It took ten minutes for her to fall asleep, dreaming deeply.
For once in a long while, Malcolm slept the whole night.