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When
By TexasWatermelon

 

When Lindsay comes in the day after the murdered father/missing baby case looking worn, distracted, disappointed, upset, Jill and Claire ask all the questions. The "what's wrong" and "is everything okay" and "do you want to talk about it" questions. Cindy doesn't ask, because she knows that Lindsay won't answer. She'll just shrug it off and say she's fine.

Later that day, when she's sitting at her desk rubbing her temples wearily and looking like she might collapse from exhaustion, Cindy doesn't tell her to go home. She knows that Lindsay will stay right where she is. Instead, she sits next to her in silence, offering the kind of comfort that doesn't require words. When Lindsay finally asks for a ride home, Cindy merely extends her hand and helps the tired inspector out of her chair.

After she pulls up to the house, when Lindsay offers her a drink, Cindy doesn't make excuses about how she has to be up early the next morning. She doesn't try to fill the silence with pointless small talk. She knows that Lindsay doesn't need to hear any of it. They sit on the couch and drink to their thoughts.

When Lindsay finally, finally admits that she slept with Tom the night before, Cindy doesn't act surprised. She doesn't scold her or try to make her feel better. She simply nods and gives Lindsay a look that lets her know that she's there for her.

And when Lindsay looks up with sad, pleading eyes and whispers in a voice so soft that anyone else in the room wouldn't have heard a word of it, "Make me forget," Cindy doesn't say a word. She merely takes Lindsay in her arms and covers up the memory of Tom, with his rough lips and calloused hands and harsh persistence, and makes her forget all the reasons that she felt so ashamed that day.

The End

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