Talking Things Through   

The third installment in the Getting It Together series. Talking Things
Through By Sharron Ibbitson 

None of these characters belong to me, they are the property of Alliance. 

Frannie and Ray remained in each other's arms for some time before Ray
gently pulled away. For a moment Frannie thought that he was going to get
mad again, but the look in his eyes showed her that she needn't worry. Ray
limped across the room and flopped down on the sofa. Frannie followed
slowly and gently sat next to him, minding his leg. 

"I'm so sorry Ray," she began, but his hand silenced her. 

"Frannie it's okay. I've been here doing nothing, just thinking. What you
did was really really dumb, and you put yourself as well as us in danger.
I was so mad at you, not because I got shot but because you endangered
your life. You told Welsh what was going on, which endangers your brother
and me, and you interfered in my work. 

"At first I thought that I could never forgive you, but I've been
thinking, and I know that I love you. You know that I love you. I think
that we could be together." Frannie was about to speak, but he cut her
off. "Let me finish. If this is going to work, you have to let me do my
job. You know I'm a cop, and you know that my job gets dangerous. So
please, I'm begging you, just chill. 

"If something's gonna happen it's gonna happen whether you're there or
not, and to be quite honest if something is gonna happen I'd rather you
didn't see. I have Fraser to back me up. That's what partners do for each
other. I love you so much, but you have to let me be me. I've been doing
this job ever since you knew me, and I'll probably do it for many years to
come, so just relax and let me do it okay?" He was aware that he had been
rambling, but hoped that he got his point across. His question was
answered when Frannie leant forward and kissed him tenderly. 

"I love you too," she told him. "What are we going to do?" He looked at
her blankly. "I mean about the wedding." He nodded. 

"Well, do you still wanna marry me?" He asked with a hopeful tone in his
voice. 

"Of course I do," she replied enthusiastically. 

"Well then we should get married, but not yet," he explained. She looked
hurt for a moment, so he explained why. "I'm gonna be on these for the
next couple of months." He indicated the crutches and she gasped. 

She hadn't realised that his injury had been so bad. "How is it?" She
asked softly, with tears forming in her eyes. 

"Not so bad now. I have to have an operation. They're gonna put little
metal pins in it, to hold the bones together." He explained calmly, but
she looked shocked. "Hey it's not that bad! I'll only be off my feet for a
little while. The doctor is pretty certain that I'll have full mobility
back within six months." Hee tried to make her feel better but only
succeeding in making her feel worse. 

"Oh Ray I'm so sorry. It's all my fault!" The tears began to flow and he
gently wiped them away. 

"Hey come on, it's all right. I'll be fine. Look, come on, I'll buy you
dinner." He struggled to climb to his feet. 

"No, I've got a better idea. Let's go to the precinct!" Ray looked at her,
confused. "Well I'll bet you haven't seen anyone from work for a few
days," she told him. He shook his head. 

"No. I haven't seen anyone since I was released from hospital. I told them
I needed my time." He spoke without making eye contact. 

"Well, I think you've had your time, don't you?" She said it with
determination evident in her voice. Ray nodded and grabbed his coat. He
walked slowly and painfully with the aid of the crutches. He had great
difficulty traveling down the steps and each step caused him to elicit a
groan and wince. Frannie just looked on in concern. Ray limped into the
back seat of the car, spreading his leg across the seat, while Frannie
climbed behind the wheel. She drove carefully, bearing in mind Ray's
injury. 

She pulled up outside the precinct, and helped Ray out of the car. He
leaned against the car, getting his bearings. He took a deep breath before
he walked into the squad room. Most detectives looked up when they saw Ray
hobbling into Welsh's office. 

"Detective, I'm surprised to see you here," Welsh said when he saw Ray
standing in front of him. He was even more surprised when he saw Frannie
standing beside Ray. "What can I do for you, Ray?" Frannie answered for
him. 

"We're getting married, sir," Frannie told Welsh, both men in the room
looked at her in shock. 

"Frannie, what are you doing?" Ray was surprised. Welsh just stared at the
two of them. 

"Ray, they have to know." 

"Yeah, but we won't even be doing anything for months," Ray said. 

"I wanted people to know before you had surgery," Frannie told him, and
Ray just looked at her. This was all new to Welsh. 

"You're having surgery?" He asked with elevating concern. 

"Yeah, he's having pins put in to hold his leg together," Frannie replied
on Ray's behalf, never taking her eyes off of Ray, who examined the floor.


"Why didn't you tell me about this, Detective?" 

"Well I was gonna, but never really got the chance," Ray replied feebly. 

"And when is this surgery?" 

"Day after tomorrow," Ray replied without looking at either of them.
Frannie looked shocked. 

"That soon? You didn't tell me it was that soon!" Her eyes showed her fear
and concern. 

"Well, I wanted to get it out of the way so I could get back to work as
soon as possible." 

"How long are you off for?" Welsh asked worriedly, knowing that it was
important to come back as soon as possible. It was like falling off a
horse and getting back up to continue the ride. 

"I don't know. Maybe a couple of weeks till I can come back for light
duties, but it'll be a while before I'll be running anywhere," Ray
informed his boss, surprised by the concern evident in Welsh's voice. 

"What hospital are you going to? I'd like to keep an eye on you," Welsh
told Ray, taking the younger man by surprise. 

"Central, but you don't have to worry. Fraser's driving me in, and driving
me home when I'm allowed to go, so none of you really need to worry. It'll
be fine," Ray stuttered. Welsh wasn't convinced. 

"I would still like to see you are okay. So I'll go with you and Fraser to
the hospital the day after tomorrow, and I'll wait to make sure you come
out of surgery all right." Welsh spoke emphatically. Ray simply nodded
before hobbling out of the office. 

Frannie turned to follow, but Welsh's hand on her arm stopped her. 

"Keep an eye on him, Ms. Vecchio. No matter how much he pretends he's
okay, getting shot is very traumatic and very hard to get over." Welsh
dispensed his advice and she smiled weakly at him, then nodded to show
that she understood. She then turned and followed after Ray. 

She easily caught up with him. He stood with a cup of coffee in his hand,
talking to Fraser, who in Frannie's opinion seemed to be the only person
Ray did talk to lately. Frannie walked straight up to Ray and possessively
wrapped her arms around his waist. 

"Ray, are you ready to go?" She asked gently, Welsh's words had elevated
her concern. He nodded. 

"See ya, Fraser." 

"Bye Ray. I'll be by at 10 am, if that is acceptable?" Ray simply nodded
and grinned at his friend, showing his thanks. He thought that Fraser was
probably more traumatised by the shooting than he himself. 

Ray and Frannie went straight home to Ray's apartment. Frannie asked the
question she'd wanted to ask all those days that they had been apart. "Can
I stay tonight?" Fearing rejection, she asked without making eye contact. 

"Frannie, I'm in no condition to, well you know, do anything," he told
her, and he too avoided eye contact. 

"Well that's okay, we don't have to do anything, just be together." This
time she actually met his eyes. He nodded and smiled, giving her his
assent. 

They went to an expensive restaurant in town. When they emerged it was
quite late, so they headed back to Ray's apartment. Ray was exhausted by
the day's events and went straight to bed. Frannie felt good being in
Ray's embrace once more, and drifted off almost immediately. She was
brought out of her slumber by agitated movements besides her. She
carefully pried her eyes open, being careful not to wake Ray. She rolled
over and found him frantically moving in the bed. He was glazed in sweat
and was deathly pale. 

She gently shook him awake, and was terrified when he shot bolt upright in
the bed with a shocked look on his face. She gently pulled him round to
face her. Her heart leapt into her mouth when he began to release great,
heaving, heart-wrenching sobs. She suddenly realised that Welsh had been
right; the gunshot was more traumatic than Ray had been letting on. After
awhile Ray quieted down and drifted off back to sleep. Frannie just held
him and vowed to talk to him about the incident in the morning. 

Frannie slept in quite late the next morning and was alarmed to find Ray
had gone. She hurried out of bed and into the main room of his apartment.
She found a note laying on the table. 

"Hi Frannie, I've just gone for a walk. I needed time to think and clear
my head. I hope you're not mad, but things haven't been too good lately.
It's nothing to do with us, just me. Don't worry, I'll be back soon.
 Love
 Ray
 Xxxxxx
 

Frannie sighed and went to get showered and changed. She was worried about
Ray, but there was nothing she could do until he returned home. She went
the only place she could think to go. The precinct. She walked in and was
amazed to discover Ray sitting at his desk. His injured leg was propped up
on a spare chair and Fraser sat beside him. Frannie walked straight over
and cleared her throat. Fraser took the hint and made his excuses. 

Frannie sat down in the vacant seat and just stared at Ray. Eventually he
could take no more. 

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" 

"What are you sorry for, Ray?" 

"Well, for last night," he stammered. 

"You don't have to apologise for that. I just wish that you would talk to
me." She spoke to him gently. 

"I know, and I'm sorry. I have um, difficulty, in talking about how I
feel," he told her quietly. She brought him into a hug. 

"It's okay, Ray. Let's get out of here and do something we don't usually
do." 

"What's that?" 

"Talk things through," Frannie replied with a grin. He nodded. "Besides we
have wedding plans to make." He smiled as she had hoped he would. 

The End- Continued in Making Plans 

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