I Wanna Be Yours

3

Jo finally pulled herself back to reality for the second time that day. Her slumber had been nightmare ridden so she didn't feel any more rested than when she went to sleep.

The knocking and shouting had somehow incorporated itself into the elder woman's dreams but now Kate was in such a close proximity, it had finally torn her out.

The silence was deafening, nobody moved and Kate began to wonder if the noise she heard was just in her head.

"Jo? Can I come in?" The DI's tone had never been softer, it could easily have been mistaken with addressing a small child.

Joanne wasn't sure whether she wanted anybody to see her in this state, especially Kate who had witnessed the beginning of her breakdown yesterday evening. However, the pain shooting through her nerves was enough to convince her that she needed some help.

She glanced over her body to see bruises start to form, it came across as if she'd been in a fight but it was only a battle with herself.

Sighing shakily, the DCI whimpered something along the lines of a "Yes."

It didn't take three seconds for Kate to swing into view, a look of horror across her face as she laid eyes on the fragile brunette who was supposed to be the boss she admired so greatly.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Jo immediately began to calm the younger woman's nerves, anxious to scare her as she pushed herself up against the shower door.

"Boss! What happened?" Panic caused her voice to crack slightly as the DI glossed over the bruises that bathed Jo's legs.

"I passed out. It was exhaustion. Not the best place for it." Jo tried to incorporate humour into her short sentences but the atmosphere was too serious for either detective to laugh.

Before she had a moment to even think about what she was doing, Kate appeared at the DCI's side, sat next to her and placed her arm across the brunette's shoulders.

"Hey, it's going to be okay." She whispered softly, trying to comfort the nerves she could feel wracking through Jo's body.

Unbeknownst to Kate, the nerves weren't a result of the nightmares but at the electrifying sensation she felt as the younger woman touched her.

"I know. It always is." Her sentences were still short, unstable breaths separating them.

"So. We need to get you into bed with a cup of tea." Kate believed this would be the best option for calming the DCI, whom nodded weakly at the proposition.

Kate pulled the both of them to stand, Jo placing almost all of her body weight onto the DI's side as they hobbled to the woman's bedroom.

It wasn't without a gasp as she laid eyes on her front door, now accompanied with a gaping hole in the middle, but she didn't have the energy to care much about it. She would later.