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Waverly woke abruptly with a bit of a snort - something she would always and forever refuse to admit about herself – and heard a small laugh from above her. She blinked blearily up towards the ceiling and ever-so-slowly, her eyes focused on the figure above her. Slowly, a smile slipped onto her lips, and she lifted a hand to brush against her girlfriend's cheek.
“Hi, baby,” she whispered, and heard a chuckle answer her greeting, “Jus’ g’t home?”
“Yeah, just wanted to let you know I got home safe. Go back to sleep.”
There was a tightness to Nicole’s voice that immediately woke Waverly up the last 30% of the way, and she started to lever herself up in bed. Nicole didn’t budge from where she sat on the edge of Waverly's side of the bed, back stiff and shoulders slumped. Waverly only had to look at her once.
“Baby?”
Nicole sat, still and silent. Then, her hand curled in one of Waverly's extra blankets, and she swallowed hard. With that, Waverly knew something had gone wrong. She glanced over at the clock that sat on her bedside table, idly noting the time. 3:00 AM. Nicole would have usually been home at 12: 30 AM on a night like this, where she was only working a swing. She glanced at Nicole, noting the fact that she was still dressed in her uniform, a sure sign of a long, tough shift. Waverly sat up, reaching a hand out and covering the hand tangled in waverly's blankets.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on? Did you just get home?”
Nicole nodded stiffly, swallowing again. She sucked in a shuddering breath and blew it out slowly, like she had been taught in those many, many therapy sessions she’d engaged in countless times during the academy.
“There – there was an accident. On Lone Pine,” she whispered, and Waverly's blood ran ice cold.
Lone Pine was the most difficult road to travel during the winter, especially when the snowpack was so thick and well-established like it was this year. Nicole had been on traffic stops tonight and on patrol the last half, when things were likely to get hinkey due to the dropping temperatures.
Waverly waited for Nicole to be ready to continue. That was always the best way to handle the effects of a long, bad shift. Pushing Nicole to talk before she was ready was a surefire way to cause a breakdown.
There was a moment or two of silence before Nicole finally continued.
“The Masons – they. They must have been going too fast. Mr. Mason was driving, so there must not have been alcohol involved. You know how he is, always lecturing the high schoolers who come in with alcohol poisoning.”
Nico was rambling, but there was no point, no compassion in stopping her. The best thing to do was to let her ramble. Waverly listened with a bated breath, her hand on Nicole's.
Nicole swallowed hard, her voice starting to tremble.
“He had 13 years sober, y‘know? 13 years. Most people can only dream about 13 years sober from their drug of choice. I-I don’t know what ha-happened, but they hit a tr-tree,” Nicole took in a big, shuddering breath as her voice cracked.
“Jason – he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Waves – he – he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Everyone else was, but we don’t know how long they were out there. Mrs. Mason called it in at 10:37, but she said Mr. Mason, Kylie, and Jason had left to go camping yesterday morning. They didn’t check in when they got to the campsite, but that – that isn’t –” Nicole stopped dead.
Dead just like Mr. Mason, Kylie, and Jason.
No one survived a crash on Lone Pine in the summer, let alone the winter.
Waverly’s heart melted as she reached forward intending on hugging her girlfriend but Nicole continued before she could.
“I got out there at 11:30, Lonnie called in, otherwise the sheriff would have sent me home. I sent a text before I left, saying I’d be late, if not working until 6:00am, like the sheriff had asked. There was nothing l could do, though. Nothing anyone could do, not without a time machine and a miracle. I changed at the station. My clothes were soaked by the time the coroner managed to get up there and finished up. The sheriff told me to go home, he’d cover my next shift. I got home a while ago. I just - I just sat in my car until Wynonna found me. She’s drunk, by the way.”
Nicole finished with a slight laugh, as if it were funny to her, but Waverly knew. At this, and knowing that Nicole was likely done, Waverly reached up and began to pull Nicole into a hug. The cop resisted for just a moment before allowing herself to be pulled into it.
“Baby, you’re freezing!”
Nicole just shrugged, and Waverly tucked Nicole in closer to her body. Nicole’s freezing nose pressed into Waverly’s neck, but she didn’t mind. They sat like that for a moment, Nicole's body slowly, slowly, slowly, ever-so-slowly relaxing, minute by minute on top of Waverly. Once Nicole was warmed a little more, and more relaxed, Waverly spoke, breaking the silence.
“Okay, first order of business – a bath to warm you up, some food, and then some sleep.”
With that, Waverly unwrapped Nicole from her arms and wrapped her in blankets before standing and beginning to putter around the bedroom, first collecting boxers, a pair of Nicole’s favorite warm sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt while Nicole let herself sink into the comfortable bed. Waverly pressed a kiss to Nicole’s forehead on her way to throw the clothes in the dyer for a 30- minute cycle, knowing that keeping Nicole warm after the bath would be paramount.
On her way to the laundry room, she spied Wynonna on the couch, and her heart melted just a little more. Wynonna lay, sprawled on the couch with a blanket tucked around her and the fire roaring in the fireplace nearby, Nicole’s calling card. As much as her sister liked to put on a brave face, she hated the cold just as much as Waverly did.
It was a secret that Nicole had stumbled upon after a night of drinking with Wynonna, and one she held close to the chest, protecting wynonna's "weakness" with all her being. That didn’t mean she didn’t pull a blanket over Wynonna whenever she crashed on the couch, blackout drunk. Waverly paused to ponder the two most important people in her life – her sister, and her girlfriend.
She must have stood there for quite a while, lost in her own thoughts.
“Take a picture, I’ll last longer, baby girl,” Wynonna groaned, bringing a hand to her head and moaning softly. Waverly startled slightly, taking a deep breath.
“Sorry, Sorry. Just gotta throw some stuff in the dryer,” she said, taking one last glance at Wynonna. She was about to start making her way to her destination when Wynonna spoke again.
“Haught-stuff okay?’ Wynonna asked, a little quiet. “Nedley found me at shorty's, told me she’d need us and drove me here. I found her in the driveway, just staring into space. Didn’t even realize Nedley was here. I played drunk, got her in here.”
Waverly smiled and walked over to her sister, squeezing her arm in thanks. All she could think about was Nicole, in their bedroom, likely already asleep, and how her two favorite people looked out for each other.
“She will be.”
“She better. Gotta take care of my baby girl.”