Possessing Morgan:
A Matter of Conviction
by Aurelia
Part 21
See Part 1 for Disclaimers
Chapter 21
Blackness gave way to a dull gray as pre-dawn emerged from the inky sky. Andrea awoke to shadowed hues as a new day was born. It took moments for her awareness to re-surface as she struggled to remember where she was. A tiny shift of muscle sent a shard of pain through her shoulder, jogging her memory forcefully to give herself the instruction not to do that again.
The blonde lay in her bed, her mind now awake and full of the conversation of last night. Beside her was the gentle snore of her friend, and she so wished to look over to that sleeping face. However any movement was uncomfortable and was not worth the pain to vainly look to the shadowed floor. Andrea knew Morgan was there beside her and she was going to have to be satisfied with that for now. She hoped that the motel they were going to only had double beds.
She was aware that Morgan was still trying to protect that heart of hers, and while she was eager to consummate their relationship what the blonde really wanted was the closeness of an embrace, to feel the detective’s heartbeat under her ear beating in time with her own. She wanted an intimacy that only time and open hearts could give her. To love and be loved.
Andrea suspected that Morgan wanted the same thing. The abuse of such trust in the past had made her wary and suspicious, but… but in spite of herself they were coming together. A tiny smile touched Andrea’s lips at the thought. Finally her life was looking up, despite this tiny little hiccup of the attempted murder and all. Hell, if it turned out the way she wanted she’d be thanking the guy and, of course, sending Henry’s kids to Disneyworld.
She lay quietly daydreaming of what might be, absently watching the sky shift from the pre-dawn gray to the first rays of the sun peeking over the horizon. A smacking of lips told her that Morgan was waking, chuckling at the moans and mutterings as the redhead’s consciousness surfaced.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
“Huh?” A rustle broke the silence as the detective shifted. “Urrggh. Damnit!”
“What?”
“I’m stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“This damned turtle is stuck on its back. I can’t get up.” A snickering came from the bed. “Hey! It’s not funny.”
“Yes it is. I only wish I could see it.”
Morgan started laughing, quickly joined by Andrea. Despite their dire situation, they laughed to the heavens at their predicament. “Oh God! Why are we laughing?”
“I have no idea!” That brought about another round of laughter.
“We should be worried, you know.”
Slowly the chuckling subsided. “Yeah, I know, but I can’t help it.”
“No. Me either.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Regret what?”
Why was Andrea even mentioning it? Was this going to open the proverbial can of worms? “Us.” She held her breath for the answer.
The word slipped past her lips. “No.” Morgan heard the whoosh of a breath being released. “I should be saying yes… but no.”
Andrea should have quit while she was ahead but she was a glutton for punishment. “Why yes?”
“Maybe we better just leave it at that.”
“No. I want to know. Why were you thinking yes?”
“You really want to know?”
“Not really, but I suppose I better find out all the bad stuff now before I get in any deeper.”
“It’s not bad, I suppose… I don’t know.” Morgan looked at the ceiling trying to marshal her thoughts. “You have swept through my life like tornado, Andrea Worthington, and you have left a path of destruction.” She moaned, “What am I going to do?”
Andrea was amused at the little girl lost sound in her friend’s voice. “What makes you think you’re alone in this?”
“Huh?”
“You’re having the same effect on me, Detective O’Callaghan. I’ve barely appeared competent in court since I met you. I’m sure the District Attorney is questioning his decision on hiring me right now.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh. I’m in exactly the same boat as you, little Morgan.”
“Little? Who are you calling little, shorty?”
“What did you call me?” Oh oh… “Did I hear you call me shorty?” Damn.
“Yeah, I did, counselor. You wanna make something of it?” Danger, Will Robinson… Morgan blithely soldiered on, unaware of the gathering storm clouds on Andrea’s brow.
“Shorty? Why, you…”
At that precise moment the door opened and in walked Nurse Willis. “Good morning, ladies. Sleep well?” There was silence. “Err, no?” She switched on the overhead light and opened the curtains fully to let in the strengthening light. The nurse looked over to the two women, the counselor with a scowl on her brow and the detective grinning madly. “Everything alright?”
“No!” The bark came out harsh, causing Andrea to soften her answer. “Sorry, no. The detective here seems to be stuck.”
“Stuck?” The older woman walked around the bed to see Morgan lying on the foldaway bed, holding her cast up in supplication. “Oh. We can fix that.” She helped the redhead up, struggling with the weight. “My, you are a big girl!”
“Big girl, ha!”
“Don’t laugh too hard, shorty!”
“Don’t start, woman!”
“Stop it, you two!” Children. These two women were acting like children. “Breakfast will be around in fifteen minutes. Now behave yourselves.” She left the room, looking over her shoulder in one final glimpse to see them glaring at one another.
“Sorry…” Morgan mumbled as she perched herself on the edge of the counselor’s bed. “I was just joking around.”
Andrea sighed. “Sorry. I don’t like being reminded how short I am.”
A long finger came up to brush the blonde’s cheek. “I think short is awfully cute.” Their eyes met and Morgan felt uncomfortable under the dark pools looking decidedly soft and invitingly at her. “Yeah, well, that was an uncharacteristically mushy thing to say.”
“Yes, not you at all.” The accompanying smile took the sting out of the comment. “Very mushy… and sweet.”
“So… shorty…” Morgan smiled gently at the reclining woman, her finger gently circling the mole on her cheek.
Andrea gave up. She would gladly answer to whatever name Morgan deemed appropriate. “Just between you and me, okay, but if I so much as hear it anywhere else you are dog meat.”
“And pretty tasty too.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t tasted you yet.” That sent an almighty rush of blood to Morgan’s cheeks, the heat of which exploded through her head. “Ah… err… I didn’t mean to say that. Aww, hell.” Andrea covered her eyes with her hands, the sudden movement sending a twinge of pain through her. “Damn!”
“What!” Morgan galvanized for action at the wrinkled brow on the young woman’s face. “What happened?”
Andrea moaned. “God, that hurt!”
“You want me to get the nurse?”
“Give me a minute. Sorry, Morgan, that didn’t come out right. I’m so embarrassed…”
“It happens. Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it hasn’t crossed our minds.” Now they were moving back into territory covered in patches of shifting quicksand. One move in the wrong direction and they would be sinking quicker than the Titanic.
“You can say that again, but talking about it now is only gonna torture us both.”
“You got that right. Truce?”
“Truce. Another time, another place.”
The silence was truly deafening as both women were lost for words, their minds stuck in an eternal loop of animated bodies and sweaty skin in the search of elusive pleasure. It was only the arrival of breakfast that broke the frustrated erotic haze they were in.
Having run out of excuses to lie around Morgan finally made a decision. “It’s about time we get you out of that bed, Counselor.”
“Do we have to? I was kind of hoping that you would join me.”
“You have a one track mind there, young lady. I’m sorry, Andrea, but we can’t stay here. Someone is still out there and they know where you are.”
“I know… I know. Alright, alright. Let’s get this over with.” Morgan disappeared to find the medical staff, and of course some clothes. She kept telling herself that the time she was going to get alone with Morgan was worth it, in the hope that she would float above the discomfort in the knowledge that there was a big present at the end of it all. A visual image flashed through her mind of Morgan in nothing at all except a bow around her neck. Yes, a very nice present indeed.
“Come on, Miss Worthington. Up you get. It’s a lovely morning to be going home.” The short, dumpy nurse was inordinately happy for such an early hour. Morgan stood behind her, watching helplessly over her shoulder. “Detective, you can help.” The redhead’s eyebrows rose and she lifted her cast. “You have one good arm, use that. Now, come on you two, let’s work together.”
The sergeant made her way around the bed to the opposite side, lending her one good arm to the cause. Slowly they shifted Andrea to the side of the bed, letting the blonde settle for a moment of two before trying to get her dressed.
“Um… I’ll leave you to it then.” Morgan found herself looking directly at the lightly muscled back clearly outlined by Andrea’s pajamas. It was way too early in the morning to be subjected to this torture, at least not without the promise of being able to do something about it.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
“Out while she changes.”
“Get back here, Detective. You’re not getting out of this so easy.”
“But nurse, I have one hand. See? One. Not two, one. I can’t help.”
“Pshaw. Sure, you can. You can support the counselor while I slip on her clothes.”
“Me?” If Morgan was a man someone had just grabbed her genitals, sending her voice into falsetto.
Andrea giggled with glee inside seeing the sergeant’s reaction. Morgan was terrified, her pale eyes nearly bugging out of her head. “Yeah, Detective, you can always lend a hand.”
“I’ll get you for this…” she mumbled.
“That’s what I’m hoping for, Detective.”
If Morgan had that second hand right now it would be reaching for her gun. She thought things couldn’t get more heated than the leotard incident. She was wrong. They’d foregone the bra so it didn’t pull on the wound, which left the tall detective floundering in a sea of soft skin and solid muscle under her fingertips. Yep, that gun would have been real handy about now. Anything to put her out of her misery.
“Now, hold her still there, Detective. Miss Worthington, gently lift that arm just a little. Good. Let’s slip the blouse up there.” Nurse Willis chatted non-stop, giving directions like a traffic cop. “Detective, please! All you have to do is hold her steady. Concentrate.”
Concentrate? She was barely able to function, so concentrating was the least of her problems. Morgan gently tightened her hold around Andrea’s waist, very aware of the hitch in breathing in the small blonde as she did so. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she turned her attention to the view out the window. Looking anywhere else was giving her an eyeful of the counselor, and as delightful as that was Morgan didn’t want to start anything with the nurse still in the room.
“Nearly there, Miss Worthington. How are you doing?”
“Fine.” The word was clipped and forceful. Morgan didn’t dare look because she knew what she would find. After all, it was mirrored in her own pale eyes.
“You can let go now, Detective… Detective.” Nurse Willis stared curiously at the sergeant staring out the window. “Detective!”
“Huh?”
“You can let go now. Miss Worthington, just rest your tush on the mattress and I’ll slip on your pants. Detective, can you finish putting on the blouse?” Awww hell. That means I gotta look.
Morgan reached around for the material, draping it over bare skin. Trying not to look at naked breasts, Morgan lined up the blouse with the arm then turned her eyes to the small blonde’s face, to be met with an open, frank perusal of her.
“There! That should do it. Detective, come on hurry up. My my, you are slow.” Pudgy hands batted away Morgan’s fingers, deftly doing up the buttons in a matter of moments. “Now just rest easy, Miss Worthington, until your driver arrives.” The nurse stared from one woman to another, curiously watching the interaction, finally turning away with a small chuckle. “And we just had an earthquake, 6.5 on the Richter Scale,” she murmured. Not that the two women would notice…
* * *
Time couldn’t go any slower than if it was going in reverse. Every thirty seconds Morgan looked at her watch, every time finding that only thirty seconds had passed. “”Velasquez should be here any minute.” How many times had she said that now?
“I know. You said that a minute ago, and a minute before that…”
“Sorry.” Morgan stood at the window, looking out to the slowly rising sun casting its rays over the concrete jungle. “It looks like it’s gonna be a nice day.”
“If you say so.” Andrea amusedly watched the redhead, who was pointedly looking out the window, desperate not to look at her. “Come and sit down. You’re making me nervous.” She wasn’t really, but she did want Morgan closer to her. The woman was as far away as she could get without actually going out the door.
Morgan had just made herself comfortable in the nearby chair, extending her long legs out in front of her. “So…”
The door opened briskly, a woman in her mid-thirties stepping into the room quickly. Instinctively reacting Morgan drew her gun, pointing it directly at the stranger’s chest.
“Wooo! Hold on there, tiger!” The brunette held her hands up in surrender.
“Who the hell are you?” Morgan was in no mood for banter, wanting answers quickly.
“Yelena sent me.”
“Yelena?” Andrea sat quietly as the scene unfolded.
“Velasquez,” Morgan murmured. “Sure. And I know Santa Claus.”
“I’m just gonna lower my hands to get my badge, okay?”
“Don’t move a muscle!” The police woman could see Morgan was touchy and raised her hands. The redhead moved over, reaching to where the woman had moved her hand. She extracted the wallet, opening to find the familiar NYPD Detective badge. She stepped back, eyeing the stranger. “Why did she send you?”
“It’s a precaution. She was worried that perhaps the Fifth may be under surveillance.”
“And?”
“I’m from the Third. Yelena and I go way back to our Academy days.”
“Yeah… right.”
“If you don’t believe me, call her.”
Morgan looked at her watch. “It’s too early for work.”
“Call her at home. 555 8825.” Morgan dialed the number on her cell. To her surprise, Velasquez answered. “Hey Yelena, its Morgan. How are ya? Aren’t you supposed to be picking us up?” She gave no hint of the visitor, waiting for the detective to give her the information. “Yeah. Uh huh. Okay then. Thanks bud.” Morgan shifted the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”
“Yelena, honey? How you doing? No, nothing’s wrong. The sergeant here was just being cautious.” Steel gray eyes slid over to the redhead, the woman chuckling at some joke over the phone. “Okay, honey. We still on for lunch next week? Great, see you then.”
“Something amusing?”
“Well, if you must know, she described exactly what you did on my arrival. Yelena knows you only too well.”
Morgan slid her sidearm back into its holster. “I’m sorry. I can’t be too careful.”
“No problem. By the way I’m Detective Cheryl Hunter, Third Precinct. Yelena was just being careful in case they were all under surveillance.” She looked from one woman to another.
“Sorry. I’m Detective Sergeant Morgan O’Callaghan, and this is…”
“Assistant District Attorney Andrea Worthington. Yeah, I know. Yelena briefed me. Come on ladies, let’s get moving.”
Ladies? Even as a teenager Morgan never thought of herself as a lady. A tomboy perhaps, but not a lady. “And our clothes?”
“Already got ‘em. Delivered to me a couple of hours ago.”
“They’ve been busy.”
“Up all night I believe.” Morgan was touched that her fellow workers were going out of their way to protect the both of them.
“Ready?” The sergeant looked over to the counselor, whose guarded eyes spoke to her. She was scared. “Come on, I’m here with you.” She extended her hand, waiting for the blonde to grab it. With trepidation, the small hand moved, warming to the comfort and support residing in the giver. Morgan’s eyes turned to their chauffeur. “Let’s go.”
The quiet hum of the elevator was all that could be heard for some seconds. “Where are we going?”
“Down to the undercover carpark.”
“No. What motel?”
“Ohhh… the Maquis. It’s down on Bowe Street, heading towards Chinatown.”
“I don’t know that one.”
“If you’re not sure, I can find another one.”
“No, no, it’s good.” They were relying on the judgment of someone they didn’t know, something Morgan had come to mistrust a long time ago. If Morgan was going to step back into the world this was something she was going to have to let go. It was time to trust again. Still… it never hurt to be a little bit… curious. Her mind steadfastly refused to say suspicious, substituting a more benign term, but suspicious was what she was. She couldn’t help it. The emotion had been her constant companion for more years than she could remember.
They reached the dark sedan. “I think we should hide you, at least until we’re well away from here.” The woman made sense. No point in advertising the fact that they were leaving.
Gently she helped Andrea to lie down on the back seat, making sure that her shoulder was protected from any jostling the drive would provide. She looked disbelievingly at the front seat. It was going to take some serious folding on her part to fit in the miniscule space on the floor. “Oh boy…”
“Need some help, Sergeant?” Morgan looked up at the detective, noting the cheeky grin on her face.
“You are just loving this, aren’t you?”
“Oh yeah. I just want to see you do it.” A quiet chuckle accompanied the statement, leaving Morgan determined to get herself into that tiny space. The seat slid back to give herself more room. It was not much but perhaps it was enough. She thought about it for a minute, mentally shifting herself in a variety of positions for maximum comfort. That wasn’t going to happen. Whichever way she configured it in her brain it was going to be a damned uncomfortable ride.
Cheryl took her place in the driver’s seat, smiling as she looked at the mass of arms and legs that was the sergeant. “Oh God, Yelena is going to love this. I just wish I had a camera. Ready ladies?”
“I ain’t no lady.” Morgan was incensed that she was the butt of this particular joke.
“Sergeant, I have no doubt of that.” The engine came to life and the vehicle moved slowly and smoothly out of the darkness into the light. “Here we go…”
This was the ultimate trust. Morgan had no idea where the detective was taking her. Yelena, I hope you’re right.
“So far, so good.” Cheryl kept up a running commentary as she negotiated the streets before heading towards the motel.
“Any sign of anyone following?” Morgan watched the woman check her mirror a few times.
“No. Looks clear. We’re a couple of minutes away. How you doing?”
“Now I know how a sardine feels.” The brunette tilted her head back, laughing merrily. “Hey! Eyes on the road please.”
“Relax. Everything is fine.”
Sarcastically, she replied, “Oh, now I feel real safe.” Her thoughts turned to Andrea. “Hey, Counselor, how are you coping?”
“Fine.” Morgan could hear that she was not fine, the tightness in the tone answering her question.
“Hang in there. We’re nearly there.”
“Yep.” Andrea had thought she was getting out of hospital to go back to normal duties. This ride was a rude awakening as to how much healing she still had to go. Despite the careful driving of the detective, she felt every shift of the car, from starting and stopping to potholes and manhole covers, from swerving around double-parked cars to a sudden stop that couldn’t be avoided.
The car slid to a gentle stop. “We’re here.” Steel gray eyes looked down at the crumpled woman on the floor. “Now you girls are on your own.”
Feedback is always appreciated. You can contact me at aurelia_fan@yahoo.com.au