To all of you who have been waiting for an update eagerly, I apologize. My grandfather passed away unexpectedly, so I had to fly up to PA for a week with my family. But I have to send a thank you my friends at DLC and to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story, especially to the new readers for getting me inspired again. I hope you all are enjoying this story, and I plan to see it through to its conclusion. It might be a rocky road, so plan on scattered updates, since I move away to college in a mere two weeks! Right now, however we are about to delve into Part Two of the chapter ‘Forget-Me-Not’. Read, review, and (hopefully) enjoy!

Disclaimer: Once again, I own none of what you recognize, and all of what you do. Please don’t take anything of mine, as I know that has become a bit of an issue lately in FF world. If you take something of mine and don’t credit me, I will hunt you down. And we all know that we don’t want that. So don’t steal, mmkay?

Chapter Eight: Forget-Me-Not (Part Two)

Heart, we will forget him!

You and I, to-night!

You may forget the warmth he gave,

I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me,

That I my thoughts may dim;

Haste! lest while you’re lagging,

I may remember him!

-- Emily Dickinson

Early morning sunlight trickled in through the blinds to Leda’s window, and the young woman stirred in bed. Yawning, she fixed her bleary eyes on the alarm clock beside her and blinked. Normally, she would have been concerned by the fact that it was already 6:45 and she wasn’t at work, but today was different. It was her day off. Leda smiled and snuggled under her covers, thankful that she was able to get at least one day of rest. And she would need it.

Robert was coming home today.

Leda attempted to fall back to sleep, but her dreams were plagued with worries and doubts. Was she doing the right thing by breaking up with Robert? What if he got so angry with her that he became dangerous and hurt her? What if she couldn’t break up with him? What if the words just…didn’t flow? Leda rolled onto her back and stared at her ceiling. She knew, in her heart of hearts, that she was making the right decision by doing what she was doing. Groaning, Leda threw off her covers and threw her legs over the side of her bed. For a moment, she stared at the blinds on her window. She yawned once more, put her glasses on, and then decided to make herself breakfast. Shuffling her feet into her slippers, she knelt down and tugged her bathrobe from beneath a small pile of clothing, and proceeded to walk into the kitchen.

Sighing, Leda picked up a piece of bread and put it in the toaster. As she hummed and meandered around the kitchen, her thoughts strayed, as they tended to do when she was bored. And as her thoughts began to drift slowly towards Flack and Michael Tyler, there was a rap at her door. Frowning, Leda popped her slices of bread out of the toaster and set them on a plate. Who in their right mind is visiting me this early?

Opening the door, Leda rolled her eyes at the Italian who was holding a casserole dish with baked ziti in it.

“Danny, for the love of God, it is seven in the morning…” Leda whined. Danny seemed to brush aside her remark, and entered her apartment.

“I figured you’d be up already. You usually are. Even on your days off, right?”

Leda crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, but said nothing. “Why are you bringing me ziti for breakfast?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Danny, who was walking towards her refrigerator, threw a look over his shoulder. “You know, for a psychologist, you aren’t very smart sometimes.”

Leda glared, and Danny continued. “I promised you lunch sometime, so…” Danny gestured to the ziti that was now quaintly resting on the top shelf in Leda’s fridge. “…dinner,” he finished, shutting the door and placing a bag with French bread on the countertop.

Leda opened her mouth to thank him and then snapped it shut. It was unusual for Danny to do something like this, even for his closest companions. Something was up. “Danny…what’s the favor?” she asked, sinking into a chair at her table.

Danny placed a hand over his heart, feigning hurt. “Ouch, Leda…what makes you think that I want something from you?”

Leda narrowed her eyes and studied the man in front of her. “Because I know people better than I know anything else. And I can tell when someone is lying to me,” she answered. “Plus,” Leda added, “you never get out of bed earlier than nine on your day off, so something has to be wrong.”

Danny grumbled “psychologist,” before throwing his hands up in the air. “Alright,” he admitted, taking a seat across from Leda, “I do need a favor from you.” The CSI took a deep breath before replying. “I need you to tell Lindsay what happened between us.”

Leda nearly spat out the orange juice in her cup. “Excuse me?” she asked incredulously. Her widened blue eyes were fixed intently on Danny’s. “You…you want me to do what?” she sputtered.

Danny winced. “Yeah, well, maybe…maybe I shouldn’t have asked…it’s just…”

Leda, however, plowed on through his sentence. “You want me to tell Lindsay what happened between us? Just, out of the blue, I’ll go up to Lindsay and say, ‘Oh, yes, I love your sweater, and by the way, I was Danny’s girlfriend’. You want me to do that?” she yelled.

Danny, for once, looked speechless and blinked. Leda huffed and then her facial expressions softened a bit. “You really care about Lindsay, don’t you? If this was any other girl, you wouldn’t be afraid of losing her. But you’re afraid of losing Lindsay, aren’t you?”

Danny nodded, not looking directly at Leda, but instead gazed at his hands. “But I will lose her, Leda,” he insisted, finally looking up. “When she finds out that you and I dated, she’ll never trust me again. And I can’t bear to lose her, Leda.”

Leda shook her head. “But having me tell her won’t make things any better, you know. In fact,” she said thoughtfully, “it will probably make things even worse, because then she’ll think that you wanted to hide this from her.”

Danny threw up his hands. “I can’t win,” he exclaimed loudly. Leda was a bit taken back, but let him continue. “If I tell her, I lose her. If I don’t tell her, I lose her. If you tell her, I lose her.” The CSI shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t win,” he repeated solemnly.

Leda shook her head, determined to encourage her companion. “You don’t know that…” she began.

Danny looked at Leda skeptically. “Oh, sure, Leda,” he remarked sarcastically, “because I’m sure Lindsay will love the fact that you and I just broke up before that jewelry robbery case. Yeah, I’m sure Lindsay will trust me now,” he spat.

Leda heaved a sigh. “If she cares about you as much as I think she does, she will be upset, yes,” she began, “but if she really, truly cares about you, then in the long run, telling her this will only strengthen your relationship. Maybe it will spark her to tell you about her past. If she sees that you’re honest and open with her, then she’ll be able to trust you. But if you hide something like this from her, then she has no reason not to trust you again.”

The pair was silent for a moment before Danny looked at his watch. “I should get goin’ and let you enjoy your day off,” he said with small smile. Leda rose with Danny, walking him to the door.

“Hey,” she said suddenly, and he turned around. Leda wrapped her arms around him and spoke into his shoulder, “you’re a good guy and Lindsay is lucky to have you. Just remember that, alright?”

Danny squeezed Leda and replied into her hair: “Yeah, I am pretty great, aren’t I?” With a smirk, Leda slapped his shoulder and Danny laughed. Before he left, however, Danny turned around and smiled genuinely.

“Thanks, Leda.”

Leda leaned her head against the doorframe and smiled. “No problem, Dan.”

“And,” Danny added, punching the button to the elevator across the hall, “good luck tonight with Robert.”

Leda groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “Thanks.”

With a final smile and short wave, Danny stepped into the elevator and bade Leda goodbye. Leda shut the door to her apartment with a sad smile. She hoped that Lindsay realized exactly how much Danny cared about her. True, Danny and Leda had dated for a few months, but their relationship had been…complicated. She had never intended for someone like Lindsay to be hurt by its aftermath, but that was what seemed to be happening. Leda paced her kitchen, biting her nails as she went. She prayed that if there was a God in heaven that he would help Lindsay to find it in her heart to forgive Danny. As odd as it sounded, Leda was sick at the thought of Danny losing Lindsay. Maybe it was because Leda herself had not found true love yet, and wanted nothing more than for Danny and Lindsay to be able to keep their special connection.

Groaning in remembrance, Leda flopped onto her couch. She had no idea how she was going to tell Robert that she didn’t want to continue their relationship. And the nagging questions beginning with ‘what if’ replayed through her mind, until finally, she decided that she needed to take a shower to clear her head. She looked at the piece of now cold toast that was sitting and tossed it into the trashcan. Sighing, she walked towards her bathroom and towards a nice, long shower.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Leda stepped out of the shower, sighing peacefully. The warm water had seemed to cleanse her nerves and calm her. She peered into her closet and selected a pair of jeans and a blouse, and as she dressed, she hummed along with her radio.

“That was Avril Lavigne with her new song ‘When You’re Gone’. Right now it is 9:30, and it looks like it will be a gorgeous day, with partly cloudy skies and a high around…”

Leda shut off her clock and stared at her reflection in the mirror. The reflection smiled sadly back at her. It looked worn, and yet there was something hidden behind the eyes…something that was full of hope and promise of a new life. Leda stared at her own eyes, lost in thought. A knock on the door was what startled her back into reality, and she hurriedly tossed her towel into the hamper before answering the door.

Jamie stood there, with a basket of muffins in her hand and a smile on her face. “Can I come in?” she asked. Leda, taken back by the presence of her visitor, merely nodded and ushered her friend into the apartment.

Jamie noticed Leda eying the basket curiously. “Oh,” the woman said with a dismissive wave of her hand, “I was just downtown and picked this up from one of the bakeries because I thought you’d enjoy them.”

Leda pulled her wet hair into a clip. “And,” the psychologist added, “because you thought I’d need them for comfort when I broke up with Robert?”

Jamie shrugged and Leda chuckled, bustling around the kitchen, tidying up. “Jamie, I’ll be alright. I mean, I want to do this…I need to do this for myself. Everything will be alright.”

Jamie looked skeptical. “You sure are handling this alright.”

Leda nodded and continued talking. “It’s mainly because Danny stopped by today…”

Leda could see Jamie begin to open her mouth, and the psychologist stopped her. “No, Jamie, it’s not like that. He came by to talk about Lindsay. It seems like he’s conflicted as to whether or not he should tell her about what happened between him and me a few months ago,” Leda explained. She waved her hand in the air, as if batting away her thoughts. “Anyway,” she continued, “Danny coming over here initially made me even more nervous about talking to Robert, but when he left, I actually realized that this is much easier than what he has to do. I think that it made me realize that what I have with Robert isn’t something lasting or worth saving. What Danny and Lindsay have, however, is. And,” Leda added softly, looking out her window, “I want something like that too.”

Jamie sat down in the same chair that Danny had sat in hours prior. “Leda, hun, I am so very proud of you. And trust me, you will find somethin’ like that. I never thought that I would, but look at me now – I’m a mother and a wife. And someday, I think you’ll find that man who will love you more than life itself. And that’s when all of this pain will be worth it.”

Leda’s lips curved into a smile. “Thanks, Jamie. You always know what to say.”

Jamie smiled and shrugged a shoulder. “I watch Oprah.”

Leda laughed and shook her head. “No, seriously Jamie,” she replied, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

The older woman smiled. “I’m happy to help.”

Leda and Jamie sat in silent thought for a moment, before the latter rose to her feet and headed towards the door. “I should get goin’, Leda. Dominick is at work, and I have to go pick up some groceries before Delia comes home from pre-school…”

Leda held up a hand. “Say no more,” she answered, rising to her feet as well. “You go and be SuperMom.”

Jamie let out a loud laugh and shook her head, black curls bouncing jovially. “Yeah, I’ll go do that. And I’ll see you tomorrow,” she added, opening the door. Leda nodded her head in affirmation.

“I’ll call you after the big break-up dinner tonight and let you know how it went,” Leda assured her. Jamie nodded once more and then walked into the hall, shutting the door behind her.

“Aw, crap!” the psychologist exclaimed a moment later. “I need to buy groceries too.” Leda threw open her apartment door and yelled to Jamie, who was standing by the elevator. The African American woman laughed as Leda ran out of the apartment, purse and coat flying behind her. Jamie shook her head and chuckled as Leda approached.

“Let me guess – you need groceries?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Leda wheeled a shopping cart down the cereal aisle and nearly collided with someone who was looking at a box of Frosted Flakes.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” But Leda’s sentence was cut off as she realized who she nearly collided with. Dr. Michael Tyler.

The man smiled genuinely at Leda. “Well, Dr. Barnes, this sure is a pleasant surprise,” Michael remarked happily. Leda felt her cheeks flush slightly and she couldn’t seem to remember why she came down the aisle in the first place. As if reading her mind, Michael pointed to the box in his hand. “I couldn’t decide between Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms,” he admitted.

Leda giggled. “Well, personally, Dr. Tyler – ”

“ – Michael – ”

Leda corrected herself with a smirk. “Sorry, Michael, but I really don’t think that any of those sugary cereals would be a good option.”

Michael chuckled and placed the box back on the shelf. “Alright then, ma’am, what would you suggest?” he asked with a smirk.

Leda arched her eyebrows. “Did you just call me ma’am?”

Michael smiled. “I was raised in the South, Leda,” he explained. Leda’s mouth formed an ‘oh’, and she pushed her cart past Michael. She stopped and pointed to a box on the third shelf.

“Special K cereal is good. Try either the chocolate one, or the one with berries,” she suggested. Michael moved over to where she was and reached above her head, grabbing a box. He smiled down at her.

“Thank you. You saved me from an undesired sugar rush.”

Leda laughed and felt her phone vibrate in her purse. Checking the caller ID, she noted that it was Jamie, who had sent her a text. Checked out already. Waiting on you. Leda hastily texted back. Just going to check out now. Be there soon. Stuffing her phone back in her pocket, Leda reached for a box of Special K and smiled apologetically at Michael.

“I’m sorry, Michael, but I have to run now. A friend is waiting on me.”

Michael nodded. “I understand.” He paused before adding, “It was good to see you again, Leda. Maybe we could make this a habit.”

Leda blushed and tossed the cereal into her shopping cart. “Sure,” she replied breathily, and with a wave of her hand at Michael, turned and pushed her shopping cart down the aisle, mentally kicking herself as she went.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Leda slipped into the front seat of Jamie’s car with a sigh. Jamie raised her eyebrows and Leda explained how she had met Michael Tyler and how she had just ran into him again. After finishing her story, Jamie just smiled.

“Well, it seems like Dr. Tyler has a crush on you,” she said in a sing-song voice. Leda rolled her eyes and rested her head against the car’s window.

“Yeah,” Leda muttered. Jamie furrowed her eyebrows as she switched lanes.

“What? You don’t like him? He seems like a hunk.”

Leda arched an eyebrow and said nothing. Jamie took that as her cue to continue. “Look, all’s I’m saying is that you should start opening up yourself to the possibility of other guys. You’re gonna be through with Robert after tonight, and I think that what you need is to find a better match for you. This Michael guy doesn’t sound too bad.”

Leda rolled her eyes again. “But Jamie, I don’t think I’m ready to go out and see other people quite yet. I mean, Robert seemed like a nice guy when I first met him – charming, smart, friendly…but he’s not, and you and I both know that.”

Jamie shook her head. “You’re stubborn, you know that?”

Leda nodded. “Only when I want to be, or have to be.”

“But do you get a good feeling from this Michael guy? Or perhaps you prefer certain blue-eyed detectives…”

Leda gaped and Jamie nodded. “Mhm, girl, I so went there. You haven’t mentioned our dear old Detective Flack in a while.”

Leda sulked in her seat and mumbled something to herself. Jamie cocked her head to the side. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. What was that?” she asked teasingly.

Leda glared at Jamie and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that I am not yet single and therefore I do not have to discuss who I may or may not have feelings for.”

Jamie nodded in understanding. “So, basically, you like both of ‘em.”

Leda glared at Jamie in response.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Leda managed to put away her groceries with just enough time to sit down and watch the news before she went to pick up Robert at the airport. Sitting comfortably on her couch, she reflected on what Jamie had said to her. Was it true? Was it possible that she liked both Michael and Flack?

And when did she start admitting to herself that she liked Flack? Michael…that one was obvious when she met him – he was attractive and flirtatious, and Leda returned the flirting. Then Flack had left and…

Oh.

Now it was all making sense. He had been jealous of Michael. He had purposefully touched Leda’s back to make sure that she knew he was there. He had toyed with her head, trying to shake her from flirting with Michael.

“Oh, he’s good,” Leda said aloud with a shake of her head.

But do you have feelings for him? nagged the voice inside of her head. Leda bit her lip in contemplation. The night that she met him at Sullivan’s, she had been able to be…herself in his presence. There was no need for a façade (save the whole ‘I have a boyfriend’ spiel she had fed him), no need to pretend she was someone else, and he had accepted her for it. They had made small talk on the way into Sullivan’s. She laughed at his jokes and smiled when he smiled…

“No, I can’t…not…no,” Leda thought, suddenly rising to her feet. She couldn’t go out with Flack. There was no possible way that she could put herself through that – put herself through the same thing that Danny was going through. And suddenly, it all went back to Danny. She couldn’t date Flack. It would kill him if he knew that she had been with Danny. Flack and Danny were best friends. It would be too awkward…too complicated…too…messy.

If anything, the voice continued, it would be better to stick with someone like Michael. You know, someone who is in your field of work…someone who understands Psychology…someone who wouldn’t be hurt by your past, like Flack would. You should choose someone like that, right?

And Leda couldn’t help but agree with the voice inside of her head. It made more sense to date someone like Michael…not someone who was so close to Danny…no, that would be too strange. No, if she had to decide, it would have to come down to Michael. It just made more sense.

And though Leda assured herself that she would be making the right decision – should it ever come down to it – by choosing Michael over Flack, she couldn’t help but note a twinge of hesitancy in the pit of her stomach, almost as if there was something stuck there. But glancing at the clock, she shook the feeling away for the moment. It was time to face reality – she had to break up with Robert before she could even consider dating anyone else. And the moment was soon.

Swiping her keys and purse off the counter, she headed out the door and to the airport to pick up her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Robert!” Leda cried, trying to maneuver her way through a throng of people. A man with chestnut hair turned his head and sought the voice.

“Leda!” he cried happily, squeezing through a group of tourists to get to his girlfriend. Leda smiled and hugged Robert. “How’ve you been, Leda? How’s the practice going?”

“Good,” the psychologist replied, taking Robert’s hand and leading him towards baggage claim. “Everyone is doing well. How was Pitt? Did the college students enjoy your lectures?”

On their way to pick up Robert’s luggage, he reenacted his seminars and the students’ reactions to his comments. Leda found her mind drifting towards their dinner later on that night, where she was prepared to tell Robert that their relationship was over…although she hoped to say it in a more tactful way than that…

“My luggage is the one with the…”

“…bright green ribbon on it,” Leda finished. Robert smiled at her.

“You remembered. Wow,” he replied, clearly awed by Leda’s ability to remember such a trivial piece of information.

Leda shrugged as the pair hoisted Robert’s bag off the carousel. The two then strode through the New York airport and out into the late afternoon air. Leda crossed the parking lot to where her car was located and got inside to turn on the A/C. Robert opened the door and slipped into the seat. He breathed a sigh. “It’s good to be home.” Leda glanced at him and smiled.

“So,” Robert began as they pulled out of the parking lot, “where do you feel like dinner tonight? I’ll have to go back to my apartment to unpack and do laundry and such, but I figured that tonight should be a night where we can just enjoy each other’s company. And we can go wherever you’d like to go,” he insisted.

Leda felt a twinge of guilt, but masked it with a shrug. “Oh, I don’t know…” she began hesitantly.

Robert shook his head. “Nonsense,” he said as his brown eyes twinkled. “We have to go out and do something fun tonight. What about Italian…ah, no, we did that earlier this month…and I’m kind of sick of Japanese food…what about Irish?”

Leda smiled. “Irish sounds good. We could try out Mercantile Grill. I heard from Jamie that it has excellent food.”

Robert smiled and nodded. “Irish it is!”

Leda tried to ignore the gnawing in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with hunger.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Leda picked at her Irish Shepard’s pie and Robert looked at her, worried.

“What’s wrong, Leda? Are you coming down with something?” he asked, reaching across the table to feel her forehead. She shook her head and sighed.

“Robert…we…we need to talk.”

Robert’s face suddenly turned from worried to solemn. “Oh. I see.”

Leda began to talk fast in order to explain herself. “Look, I think that you’re a great person, but I just…I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, but I think it’s best for both of us if we branch out and see other people…”

Robert nodded and smiled sadly. “You’re a great woman, Leda, you know that?”

Leda shook her head and refused to make eye contact with Robert as she continued. “It’s just…I don’t want to commit to anything if I don’t think that there will be a future.”

Robert nodded again. “I understand. And I think that you’re right. Even though it may sting a bit, you make sense. We don’t need to keep kidding ourselves into thinking that we can make our relationship work. It can’t.”

Leda finally looked up and her blue-green eyes met Robert’s brown ones. Robert reached across the table for her hand. “Leda, you made the right decision and I don’t hold it against you.”

Leda sighed and squeezed Robert’s hand. “Thank you,” she said honestly.

“Now,” Robert continued, pulling his hand back. “let’s finish this wonderful meal.” Leda smiled and dove into her Shepard’s pie happily.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A few days later, Leda decided to stop by Robert’s apartment on her way to her office in order to pick up some of her old things that she had left there. She stepped out of the elevator and walked towards Robert’s apartment, smiling at the Indian woman named Harpreet who lived next door.

“Hello Leda,” Harpreet said cheerfully. “Come by to visit Robert?”

“Just to pick up some of my things,” Leda replied. She noted that Harpreet was still in her scrubs. “Are you just getting home from work?”

Harpreet grimaced. “Unfortunately,” she said, pulling out her keys and unlocking her door. “And I think I am going to go take a nice nap right about now,” she said with a wave of her hand at Leda. “Nice to see you, Leda.”

Leda nodded. “Likewise, Harpreet.”

Leda rapped Robert’s door three times and stood in a moment of silence. Nothing. She tried knocking again and heard a muffled voice inside shuffling toward the door. Just as she was about to knock again, Robert answered the door looking terrible and reeking of alcohol. Leda narrowed her eyes and moved into the apartment, looking around for things that belonged to her. She found, however, four empty beer bottles littering the couch and another three on the kitchen counter.

She rounded on Robert. “How much have you had to drink over the past three days?!”

Robert covered his ears. “Notsoloud,” he mumbled.

Leda shook her head and meandered towards the bookshelf, finding her copy of A Tale of Two Cities resting on the bottom shelf. She stood up and saw Robert slumped on his favorite chair. Shaking her head, she muttered: “You’re pathetic, Robert. Look at you. This – ” she said, motioning to the vast clutter and debris littering the apartment, “ – is pathetic.”

Leda walked toward Robert’s bedroom, bypassing a coffee table that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks, and scanned his closet for anything that she owned, and found an old shirt of hers on a hanger in the back of the closet. Once she grabbed the shirt, she walked out of the bedroom in a huff. Robert was now standing with his hands in his pockets, chestnut hair untidy.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly. Leda paused by the coffee table, eyes cold. “I’m sorry for hurting you…before.”

Leda shook her head. “Whatever, Robert. You’ll never change. You’ll always be like this.” She moved to walk towards the door but he stopped her.

“No, really, I can change,” he pleaded. Leda glared at him.

“Robert, please let me leave, alright. Then you can go hook up with whoever it was you hooked up with when we were together.”

“It’s not like that anymore!” Robert yelled.

Leda shook her head. “I don’t believe you,” she said in a flat voice. “You’re not going to change.” Robert moved away from the door and Leda turned around to see him behind her, on his hands and knees, searching for something on the floor. “What are you doing?” she asked in agitation. Robert merely kept crawling until he found what he was looking for under an empty water bottle beside the coffee table. He stood up shakily and thrust his hand at Leda.

“See! See! I was going to change! I was going to ask you to marry me!”

Leda frowned, and sure enough there was a gold band with a small glistening diamond on it in Robert’s outstretched palm. She looked up at his watery brown eyes and shifted the objects in her arms. “I’m sorry, Robert, but I’m not getting back together with you. I’ve made my decision.”

Robert grabbed both Leda’s wrists, so she dropped the shirt and various books onto the already dirty floor. “But I need you, Leda!” he exclaimed loudly. Leda tried to wrench her wrists out of Robert’s grasp.

“Robert, let me go. I’m not going to be with you. I don’t love you! I never have loved you! You abused me…you cheated on me!” she yelled frantically.

Robert’s eyes flashed with hurt. “No, but Leda…I…”

“NO!” Leda snarled. “No more excuses. No more! I’m sick of it Robert!”

Robert’s eyes flashed angrily. “But, listen to me…”

“NO.”

“Leda, just listen to me!”

“NO.”

“LISTEN!” Robert yelled, pushing Leda hard. The psychologist tumbled out of Robert’s grasp and onto the coffee table. And suddenly, everything went black…

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Leda stirred and blinked rapidly, trying to allow her eyes to grow accustomed to the bright light she was staring at. After a moment, she realized where she was. The only thing she couldn’t figure out was why she was there…

“She’s awake,” a voice close to the bed said gruffly. Leda craned her head to determine who the voice was, and pain shot through her head.

“Ow,” Leda muttered, bringing a hand up to her head. There was a bandage there and she closed her eyes momentarily. What had happened?

“Leda,” another voice said. This voice was a nurse’s. She could tell by the motherly tone and friendly disposition.

“Yes?” she asked, opening her eyes slowly.

The nurse smiled. “You recognize your name then?”

Leda frowned. “Of course I do. I think I’d remember who I am.”

Leda turned her head slowly to scan the room, but there was no one besides the nurse and herself present. Before she could ask any questions, the nurse spoke. “Well, Ms. Barnes…”

“…Doctor,” Leda muttered under her breath.

“…you are quite the lucky young woman…only a minor concussion and there probably shouldn’t be any repercussions…” The nurse was bustling around the tiny room and she checked Leda’s bandage. She lowered her voice at what she said next. “Now, I’ve never seen a man so upset in my life. And my God, I have never seen two men so pissed in my entire life. They were snapping at the doctors and at each other. They finally calmed down a few hours ago and haven’t left this room out of their sights since,” she clucked.

Leda frowned in confusion. Two men? Before she could ask, the two men themselves entered the hospital room – Danny was first, followed by none other than Detective Flack.

“My God, Leda, don’t ever scare me like that again,” Danny muttered, running a hand through his hair and then moving towards Leda’s bed with relief. The nurse bowed out of the room and Danny squeezed Leda tightly. The psychologist frowned.

“Danny?” she began. “What happened? I only remember vague things…I think Robert and I were talking…”

“Fighting was more like it,” replied Flack for the first time since his arrival. Leda looked up at him. His normally calm and vibrant blue eyes were stormy with emotion, and Leda recognized that it was Flack’s voice she had heard when she first woke up. Pushing thoughts out of her mind, Leda frowned in concentration.

“Were we really fighting?”

“Yeah,” Flack continued, jaw tight. “A neighbor called it in…said she was trying to take a nap but the voices woke her up. She heard something crash and ran into the apartment to find you lying on the coffee table.”

Leda blinked. “And Robert?”

Danny replied before Flack could. “He ran from the scene, but we caught him a few blocks away. He’s in for questioning right now.”

“What….what’s going to happen to him?” Leda asked softly.

Danny looked to Flack and the latter answered. “If you press charges, he’ll probably serve his time for domestic abuse,” the detective replied coldly. Leda’s eyes widened.

“Domestic abuse?” she repeated.

Danny raised an eyebrow. “If you press charges, that is,” he said slowly.

Leda opened her mouth, but Flack spoke first. “Of course she’ll press charges, Danny. Look at what happened to her.”

Leda frowned. “I…but he didn’t really mean to do it. He just drank too much. And if I press charges, he’ll never be able to teach again…”

Danny and Flack both looked incredulously at Leda. “You’re not seriously considering letting this guy walk free, are you Leda?” Danny asked.

Leda brought a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. “I don’t know…”

“Leda,” Flack began, sharing a glance with Danny, “you have to press charges.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Leda admitted. “I don’t know if I want to do that.”

Flack’s incredulous expression suddenly turned to one of anger. “You’re going to let the bastard walk? After what just happened? Leda, you could have been killed! I don’t think you understand the severity of this…”

“I understand fully well the severity of this, Detective,” Leda shot back venomously. The pair stared at each other, eyes ablaze for a moment before Flack shook his head.

“Fine. You do whatever the hell you want to do, Leda. See if I care.” And with that, the detective stalked out of the room.

Leda huffed angrily and Danny sat in silence, unsure of what to say. After a moment, however, he quietly replied: “He has a point you know.”

Leda threw a glare at Danny, who held up his hands defensively. “You didn’t see him at the crime scene Leda…when he saw you…I’ve never seen someone so scared in my life.”

Leda’s heart seemed to be in her throat and hot tears stung her eyes. She blinked them back and stared out the window. “Look,” Danny said, taking her hand and stroking it. “all I’m sayin’ is that you should listen to what he has to say. You may have a Doctorate, but that doesn’t mean that you’re always gonna always know what’s best.”

Leda opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a short knock her open door. Lindsay peered inside and saw Danny seated beside Leda. The CSI fidgeted near the threshold. “Um, Leda, can I borrow Danny for a moment?” she asked hesitantly. Leda nodded and Danny placed a kiss on Leda’s hand, whispering “Think about it”, before walking outside with Lindsay. Once Lindsay had shut the door to Leda’s room, Danny spoke.

“What is it Montana?”

Lindsay took a deep breath and stared at a spot over Danny’s shoulder. “I, uh, Mac told me you were here and…I just wanted to see how you were doing. And how Leda was doing.”

Danny looked inside Leda’s room and lifted a shoulder. “She’ll be alright, and I’m hangin’ in there.”

Lindsay looked at Danny seriously. “You two aren’t just friends, are you?”

Danny, for once, looked uncomfortable and he cleared his throat. “Uh, can we sit down, Lindsay?” he asked, motioning to a set of chairs on one side of the hall. Lindsay nodded mutely and sat beside him. “The thing is…” Danny began, looking into Lindsay’s eyes, “…we, uh, dated…and were in a relationship for a few months.”

“Oh,” Lindsay said quietly.

Danny rushed on. “It’s not like that anymore. I mean, we’re still good friends…she was my psychologist at first and then, after she recommended me to another shrink, we dated for a little while, but we broke up. And at Sullivan’s that night…that was the first time I had seen her since our relationship ended.”

Lindsay’s eyes seemed a bit watery and Danny reached for Lindsay’s hand. “I…I’m tellin’ you the truth because I want to be with you…we have this chemistry, Lindsay…”

Lindsay slowly pulled her hand away from Danny’s and her chocolate eyes flashed briefly with hurt. “How long ago did you two break up? A few years?...”

Danny cleared his throat, which Lindsay took as her answer, and she rose to her feet. Danny rose hastily with her and grabbed her hand. “No, listen, Linds, we broke up before the end of the summer…I care about her but not in that way…”

“Danny, just forget it, alright?” Lindsay snapped. “I don’t think I can trust someone who would have never told me this important tidbit of information.”

“Lindsay,” Danny began, “I was going to tell you, but…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Lindsay replied with a shake of her curls. “I don’t know why I thought I could trust you. I don’t know why I thought you were different than any of the other guys, Danny…”

Danny’s face fell and his eyes widened in shock and hurt. “But Lindsay…”

“And I’ll even bet that you and Leda slept together too…probably after you dropped me off that night we visited Flack in the hospital…”

Danny opened his mouth and then closed it. Lindsay’s eyes narrowed and he could see the tears begin to form. “That’s what I thought,” she choked out. And turning her back on Danny, she walked down the hall.

“Lindsay!” Danny called out, but she didn’t turn around. Danny himself turned around and saw Flack standing about ten feet behind him. The detective’s stormy blue eyes gave away the fact that he had heard the last part of the exchange with Lindsay, if not more. Flack passed Danny and took off down the hall after Lindsay. Danny pounded a fist against the wall and exhaled angrily, muttering a few choice four-letter words.

And then, he knew what he had to do. Opening the hospital room door, he walked inside to talk to Leda and explain to her how he had just managed to simultaneously ruin his relationship with Flack and Lindsay.

And, he thought bitterly, I might have just ruined any chances of Flack and Leda being together. Wonderful. Just freaking fantastic.