Emily's Home - Ginger's Out Ch. 06

Tammy wandered in. I looked; usually I was the late one. She winked. Oh dear god, a good morning wake me up!! Yay Tammy. She shared. Apparently Jeffrey had to go out of town for the day. He'd be home late but she wanted a little something before he left. Even I blushed. Is it five o'clock yet? I have a date night tonight. Oh geez, it's Friday and the movies usually change then. I needed to check the times and locations. Hmm, 6:55 and 9:30 pm; that meant I'd have to call and ask when Reenie could be free. There was dinner and movie to consider. It was a little more than an hour and a half. So 9:30 would end just past 11 pm. Hmm. Date night right? YES Ginger, yes. Okay. I'll still check.

Tammy asked if anything was new. Uh, not really. I mentioned I'd had dinner at Hooters. She gaped. I smirked and shrugged. "No Tammy, it was just a place to have dinner." She looked at me. Okay, I laughed. "It's a trout farm but I wasn't fishing." She stared. I bet I knew what she was thinking. Did I hit on any of them or had they hit on me? I had to laugh. "It was just dinner Tammy." Ginger, the minx, winked at her. "Reenie and I are going to the movies tonight."

She smiled. "Are you coming in to work Monday?" Hmm, I need to call Kyle and make sure things were good to go.

"I think so. Court is supposed to be at one. Excuse me for a moment while I call the legal beagle." She smiled. I called Kyle; everything was on track. And yes, I was right about the time. I actually exhaled.

This is a story about life, relationships, work, love, and all of the complexities therein. It's a journey and I have no idea where it will lead. I'm certainly curious and I hope you are too. Reenie? Oh lord. I could only sigh. Lily? I hoped so, but there was this thing that kept niggling.

The smell of pizza wafted. Tammy and I smiled, stood in unison, and headed to Jodi. She had the pizzas and was headed to the large conference room. I took the first piece and gobbled it down. Pepperoni!! I wanted to kiss Jodi. My 47 year old figure didn't allow such luxuries too often. Everyone in the unit wandered in. George embarrassed me terribly by telling everyone this was my idea. I blushed as they all clapped. I felt obligated to say something. I mentioned that it was an idea from the sandwich thing I'd done and that George had agreed that it would not only be fun but a team building idea. Heads bobbed up and down, smiling. I looked at George. He mentioned that corporate was pondering a new program and that he would likely get some idea later today. Oh crap! He was looking at me when he said it. He smiled. Oh good; he was quietly letting me know my leaving was okay.

I was the greedy piggy -- four slices of pizza. Me: puffing out my cheeks. Actually, I felt guilty about lunch. Dinner would likely to be before the movie. Well, working out at the health club would help some but not that much. It was fun. People were chattering, the room was buzzing. It was Friday so there was some who's doing what when sort of stuff. We were a good group. I looked at George. He had what I assumed was a 'proud parent' look on his face. Good!! Things like this would get spread around the company. 'Wait till I tell you what our boss came up with!' Of course, that was likely to accelerate his promotion. I sighed. Eventually the gathering broke up. Everybody (for the most part) did their part to help clean up so Jodi didn't get stuck with that task.

I was heading to the conference room when the phone rang. Yay -- Reenie! "Hi babe. I was just on my way to call you."

Her voice was tight and thin. "I'll have to let you know about tonight Ginger. We're on our way to something and it may be a while before it's resolved. I have to go." Click. I'm sure I was ghost white. I tried to fight back tears. My worst fears come to life. How do I love someone and worry about them every damn day they go to work? How does anyone? The damn conference room doesn't have windows and I didn't want to stare at walls. I got my coat and purse and left.

I wanted to find a place to sit and think. The sun was warm, I had my light coat on and I was shivering. One of the things that struck me was while I considered myself out I really hadn't yet looked at resources available. This was certainly beyond the scope of anything I'd ever experienced. For as much as my sister loved me I couldn't ask for her help. Lily? Good lord no. Oh geez, I just had a rather odd thought. I could go to the L Room and ask Candy. She might know where I could turn. There certainly had to be other lesbian police officers. Was there some association? Would it be formal or informal? I didn't know if what I needed was spiritual or psychological -- maybe both?

I wanted a drink and knew that was idiotic. There was probably nothing wrong. It was really sweet of Reenie to call me. She had to know I'd feel like I do. I was still grateful. I just wanted her to be okay. I, umm, am not doing well with this fighting the tears thing. I'm sitting on a bench with my eyes leaking. Brown eyes looked at me with concern. Oh my god Julia. I had no idea when we met my life would turn out the way it has. Here I am on a park bench, crying, for something that might not even happen. I sighed. There must be a reason Julia flashed into my subconscious. I hope the two of them are enjoying life.

I walked to my car and turned the radio to 1290 AM -- the all news station. I don't know; maybe there will be something on there that can help me. As I sat and listened to the news I thought of how silly it was for me to be worrying about something with absolutely no information. So I would assume Reenie was okay and I would worry about her. The phone rang, my heart leapt -- yup. "Hi Sweetie, is everything okay with you?"

A man's voice, "Who am I speaking to please?" Oh my god ... noooo.

I choked out, "Ginger Butler. Who's this please?"

"Ms. Butler, my name is Lieutenant Banks with the Dayton Police Department." I was trembling. "Officer Maureen Henry was injured this afternoon while on duty. She's being evaluated right now at Miami Valley Hospital." I was crying. "She asked that someone call you. Her injuries are not thought to be serious."

My voice was shaky as I said, "Am I allowed to come see her, Lieutenant?"

"I'm not sure Officer Henry will be admitted. She's in the Emergency Room. She specifically asked for you Ms. Butler. Do you know where the hospital is?" I nodded. Oh crap, he can't hear a nod.

"Yes sir. I can be there in ten minutes or so. Thank you so much for calling."

"You're very welcome. Ms. Butler, please drive carefully."

Oh god, the fastest way to get there is on I-75. Please let it be okay, no accidents or backups. You can never tell with Friday afternoon traffic. My heart was pounding. She was all right. That's all I could think about. I got off the expressway. I needed to negotiate street traffic. Patience, Ginger, patience; she's okay and asked for you. I managed a smile when I thought of that. Oh good, I can see the hospital. Now look for signs for the Emergency Room.

Another random thought: Who am I? Oh lord, we had never talked about this. Reenie/Mo - was she out at work? The little I knew about it, this was a touchy subject. I would be a friend and let her lead when I was allowed to see her. I followed the signs. Praise God, there was separate parking for ER. I hurried to the lot, found a spot (that seemed to take forever) and ran down the ramps to the door. I had to find where Reenie might be. Hospitals are a maze. Do I look for police officers? Oh lord, I have no idea. I looked for and found a nurse's station.

"I'm looking for police officer Maureen Henry. She's being evaluated in your ER. Can you tell me where she is?" The nurse looked at me. Yeah, I probably look like shit with my red, puffy eyes. She punched a few keys on the keyboard.

"Down that hallway, turn left." I smiled and thanked her. I followed the hallway and took the first left turn. I had come in through the walk-in entrance. I'm sure Reenie was brought in by ambulance. That seemed to be the direction I was headed, which made some sense. There were usually a bunch of small rooms in a much larger room. I hadn't been in very many hospitals and never in this one, thankfully. What was the guy's name? I kept moving, looking, hoping. Banks. Lieutenant Banks was his name. Hmm, I think I'm in the right place. There were a bunch of uniforms standing around. I saw a pair of eyes find me. My hair makes me rather obvious. He headed my way.

"Ms. Butler?" I smiled and nodded as we shook hands. "I'm Lieutenant Banks. She's fine. There was a little dust-up earlier and Officer Henry got some bumps and bruises. I'm guessing you'd like to see her?" I nodded; he smiled. "Come on then; let's see if we can find a spot for you in the examination room." He pushed open the door and I followed. He led me to a closed drape. "Lieutenant Banks here; am I okay to come in?" The drape was opened and I saw her. Her eye was swollen and there were scrapes on her face. No Ginger, no; no crying. "Officer, someone is here to see you."

Reenie had already found me with her eyes. My god she's beautiful!! I saw the little head shake; I nodded. The lieutenant stepped aside to let me enter. "Hi Ginger."

"Hi Reenie, you doin' okay? That looks like it hurts." The tight smile was there but her eyes were warm.

A sly smile. "You know the saying. You should see the other guy." I didn't want to touch her. I wanted to hold her in my arms till the day after forever. I wanted to make love to her. I wanted her to quit and ... UGH! I was just grateful she was okay. "I guess they're going to let me outta here pretty soon. Can I hitch a ride home with you?" I blinked.

"Umm, of course; do you ..." I turned to the nurse. "Should I wait outside? Will it be long before my friend is released?" The nurse looked at me with amused eyes; she knew.

"We should be done here in ten, maybe fifteen minutes. It's mostly paperwork and the like that's left. If it's okay with the officer you can stay." She looked at Reenie, who looked at her, and then at me and nodded. For some reason it was then that I noticed Reenie was in a hospital gown with her blue pants on. Hmm, did her uniform blouse have blood on it? Could she wear it out of the hospital? Oh! My workout stuff was in the car.

"Hey, if it helps, my workout stuff is in my trunk. There's a tee shirt in the bag. Should I get it for ya?" I saw the look of gratitude in her eyes. She smiled and nodded. The nurse was taking all this in. "I'm in the ER parking lot. I'll be back as soon as I can." She smiled and nodded. I gave Reenie's hand a squeeze and left. I hurried out of the room, past the cops, through the corridors and outside. I ran to the car, grabbed the bag, and headed back. I rushed down the somewhat familiar route, smiled as I passed the lieutenant, and hurried back to Reenie's room.

The nurse was gone; I bent to give her a quick kiss. "Do you hurt?" She nodded with a grimace. I set the bag next to her, grabbed the shirt and handed it to her. I looked for her blouse; it was on a chair. I picked it up; yup, the bra was in it. I handed it to Reenie. She went to open the gown and grimaced. I walked behind her and undid the ties and slipped it off her shoulders. She put her bra on; I did the clasps. I came back around. Mo lifted her arms, her lips thin with pain. I slipped the tee over her head and arms, she did the rest. I made up my mind. She was spending the night with me. She was in some discomfort and I wouldn't let her be alone.

The nurse came back in with some prescriptions and some papers. I snuck a look at the clock. It was past five. Oh well, this was where I wanted to be anyway. I stuffed the uniform blouse in the gym bag. The nurse was giving my honey instructions. I listened. If she was coming with me I needed to know what she had to do. Does that make sense? The nurse smiled at me; I returned it. Reenie was up on her feet. We headed out. When we were outside the doors, the lieutenant was the only one left.

I made sure to shake his hand. "Thank you for calling Lieutenant."

He smiled and nodded. "Officer, you take care okay? Are you on tomorrow?"

"Yes sir, tomorrow and Sunday; I'm off on Monday." He shook his head.

"I'm approving sick leave for the weekend. Get well Maureen." He nodded at us. I smiled my thanks. We headed down the halls. Reenie followed; she hadn't come in the entrance I had.

It wasn't till we got in the car and I paid the fee that I pulled over and we kissed. I brushed my fingers lightly over her fabulously beautiful, pale skin. "Give me directions to your place Reenie. You can grab a shower if you need one, change your clothes, and then we're going out to dinner. You're spending the night with me." Her blue eyes clouded and she shook her head. "You listen to me woman. I'll take you wherever you get your prescriptions filled. I'll take care of you however you need." I looked her dead on in the eyes. "You will not spend the night with anyone but me. I'm not talking about making love with you either. I mean taking care of you." She cried. I cried.

First stop was the pharmacy. No point in waiting for the prescriptions. After she came back to my car we headed to her place. No one else was home. I took the blouse out of the gym bag. We went in together. I helped her undress. I offered to help her shower. We both smiled. That was very nice actually. There were more bruises than either the lieutenant or Reenie had let on. I washed her hair. No, we didn't do anything more. More to the point -- I didn't. Can you imagine how difficult that was? Reenie rested her head on my shoulder while the hot water beat down on her back and shoulders. I held her. I felt her shake as she cried. I let the hot water hide mine -- sort of. How often had my cop stood in this shower, alone or with her 'friends with benefits,' and let the days work wash from her?

I helped her any way she needed. She threw a few things in plastic bag (fancy huh?) and we headed back to the pharmacy. She came back with her meds and a small bottle of water. She swigged the water and the pills.

"Where do you want to go for dinner lover?" She wanted to go to Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers. Back to the first place we'd had dinner together. How funny! But I'd do whatever, especially tonight. In the restaurant, we ordered and talked.

I pulled out my notebook. She laughed; I wanted details. "Are you out at work?"

She stared for a moment, nodded and said, "It's pretty selective who I've told Ginger." We talked about that for a bit.

"Was that why it was okay having your boss call me?"

She met my gaze evenly and said, "He's not my boss; he's my boss's boss." Whatever!!

I didn't want dinner to feel like an interrogation, especially tonight, so I stopped. "Do you want to go to the L Room? Unwind a little?" I saw tears. Oh, she didn't want anyone to see her like this. Stupid me!

"Yeah, I would, at least for a little while."

"Reenie, did I see tears?" She looked at me and smiled. The food arrived so we waited.

"You want to be with me when I look like I got run over by a truck. I feel like shit but yeah, if you can stand to be seen with a mess like me, I wanna go."

"A mess like you? Do you know how beautiful you are to me?" I felt the tears start. I shook my head, my eyes averted. I couldn't have cared less about food but I ate. Reenie followed my lead. She didn't know just how scared I had been. Or maybe she did and that was why she had her people call me. The details didn't matter much. I just wanted her in my arms. I mentioned that to her and got a sweet smile in return. I ignored the glares and paid the bill. I waited till we were in the parking lot. My kisses were soft and loving. "So do you want to go to the L Room?" She nodded; I smiled. There was no rush to head to our destination.

"Where's your car?" She told me. "Do you feel okay to drive?" Not tonight. "We'll deal with it tomorrow or Sunday."

I offered my shades to hide the bruises. That drew a stare. "All right, all right, I have them if you want them."

I parked and we went in. Candy took one look at Reenie. Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropped, and her hands went to her chest. She came out from behind the bar and hugged Reenie gently. She whispered a few words I couldn't hear over the pulsing music and kissed her. She smiled, hugged and kissed me. "I'll bring your drinks in a jiffy." I smiled.

We headed ... oh geez someone was at 'our' table. Candy passed us with the drinks in her hands, went to our table, said something, and the three women got up and moved. Each of them stared as they passed us. She may be bruised ladies, but she's mine and she's gorgeous. She set the drinks down, smiled at us, and went back behind the bar. I helped Reenie with her jacket and took mine off as well. We sat and sipped.

"We don't have to stay long babe. You let me know when you're ready to go, okay." I looked; Reenie was far away. Thinking about earlier I suppose. I waited. When I took her hand and brought it to my lips it shook her out of her trance.

The words were soft enough that I had to lean in to hear them. "It was tough out there today. It went bad so quickly we were caught off guard a little. They weren't that big but they were on something. When I got hit I was spun around; I went down face first, as you can see. I was lucky the asshole didn't go for my weapon. My partner subdued him rather quickly. Tasered his ass actually. I felt like a jackass not being able to handle myself." She shook her head and sipped on her beer. I didn't know what to say; it was the first time Reenie had ever talked about work. I squeezed her hand. She stared at the bottle, picking idly at the label. When she finally made eye contact I smiled warmly.

"I love you." She nodded; I saw her eyes fill. I shrugged and said, "Reenie, you were born to be a cop. You love it. It's more than a job to you; it's who you are. I just have to learn how to deal with it. We're here, you're okay and we'll be fine." She looked at me for a few seconds, looked away, took a sip of her beer, and stared. This is the hard part for me. You've read the stories, so have I. They keep their emotions buried. They have to. It leaks out in other ways: domestic violence, sometimes on the job, too much alcohol. Sometimes it goes further. I can't make her be someone she's not, no matter how much I love her. We sat quietly, together, holding hands, sipping our drinks. I looked; Candy was watching. She smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Can we go?" She never looked up.

"Sure, if that's what you want." She nodded. I took another sip, stood, and put on my coat. Reenie stood slowly. The soreness had to be getting worse. It was probably too soon for another whatever -- medication. I helped her with her coat. I knew that had to grind her soul. I reached into my purse for my pocket book and grabbed a twenty. Candy met us. She kissed Reenie softly. She refused the bill I pressed in her hand and kissed me. I smiled and said goodnight.

We got to the car, buckled up and headed out. The drive was quiet. We got to the hotel and headed up the stairs. I opened the door and flicked on the light. Reenie looked around, looked at me. "I know it's small but the other place was too much money. For a small fee I can leave the clothes and things I'm not bringing on the trip. When I come back I'll start looking for a place of my own." For the two of us, I thought. I hoped. I closed the drapes and hung up my coat. The plastic bag with her clothes was on the shelf next to the fridge. Reenie was sitting on the bed looking at me.

"The tub is actually pretty big. Would you like me to run a bath so we can soak some of the soreness out of you?"

Her head dropped. "You're so good to me Ginger. I've never had anyone care for me like you do." I went to her, knelt in front of her, looked at that beautiful, bruised face and smiled. I took her hands, kissed them, and brought them to my face, looking at her the whole time. I stood and went to the tub. I put the plug in and started the water. I took off my clothes and lay them on the sink counter. I looked ... Reenie was on the bed crying. I hurried and turned off the water. I came back and lay behind her, spooning her. I just held her and let her get whatever it was out. Eventually she stopped. I stayed with her, cuddling. She turned; it had to be painful. I still had my arms around her. She kissed me. Her eyes were swollen and red; one was already changing colors as the bruising deepened.