38. What Happened?

       “You look like shit.”

       Nicole looked up at Dolls with her eyes narrowed as she poured a cup of coffee. “Thank you. I didn’t realize.”

       He raised his eyebrows, taking a bite of an apple. “Rough night?”

       She blinked at him. “Do I really look up for an interrogation right now to you?” He put his hands up, walking back to his office. She fumed deeply, watching his back as he left. 

       “Haught, tuck your shirt in,” Nedley ordered, walking into the room.

       She looked towards him slowly, glaring at him as she did so. “Yes, Sir,” she muttered.

       He took a long sip of his coffee, eyeing her. She gulped, straightening her posture. “At ease . . . We all have our days.” She forced a small smile, relaxing a little bit. “Well, I was coming in here to tell you that the high school has requested security at the big game today, but I think Lonnie and Schmitt can handle it on their own.”

       She leaned back onto the counter, looking down into her cup. “Thank you, Sheriff.”

       He nodded. “Keep yourself on stand by, though. You never know with them.” He gave her a wink, walking out. She downed the coffee, poured herself a new cup, and trudged back to her office to do some more brain-aching paperwork. 

.  .  .

       An hour or two later, Nicole was walking back from her 6th coffee refill when she saw the Earp girls walk into the station. “Hey, Bab-” A black cloth being thrown at her face cut her off. 

       “Here’s your stupid hat,” Waverly snapped, walking past her with a glare.

       The Officer looked down at the beanie, confused about what had just happened. “Wave,” she called after her, walking quickly to catch up with the tiny bundle of fury heading for the BBD office. “Hey.” She shoved her hand against the door, stopping her from closing it in her face like she was trying to. “Waverly, come here.” The shorter girl huffed, walking back out of the room and standing in front of her. “What is your problem?” 

       “Don’t you have work to do?” She asked, crossing her arms. 

       “I’d rather figure out why my girlfriend is all pissy.”

       Waverly laughed. “Wow, I’m surprised. You are putting something before your job for once.”

       The redhead cocked an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

       “There is no reason why you should be here right now! You are so freaking sick and don’t tell me you’re not because your face is literally green.”

       It took every ounce of control in the redhead’s body to not roll her eyes at her. “I’m hungover, whoop-dee-do! You think I’ve never gone to work feeling like shit before?”

       Waverly shook her head, dropping her shoulders. “That’s not the point! You are putting work over your own health, Nicole!”

       “Waverly, I am fine!”

       The brunette stuck her tongue up against her teeth. “Yea? How many times have you thrown up?”

       Nicole pursed her lips.“That doesn’t matter,” she mumbled. 

       “It does too matter! Why don’t you just go home?!”

       The Officer threw her arms out in front of her, anger getting the best of her. “Because it's my fucking job, Waverly! Don’t you get that?! I have to protect and serve no matter how shitty I feel!” 

       “Oh, please. You’re not the only deputy here right now.”

       “I actually am at the moment,” she corrected. “And even if there were others here, it wouldn’t matter. This isn’t the same as being a bartender, I can’t just not show up and hope someone can cover me! I’m assuming that’s what you did.” The brunette rolled her eyes. “I’m sure that new girl was more than happy to cover your shift, wasn’t she?” She asked with a sneer. 

       “So what if she was? Do you have a problem with that? Are other females not allowed to be nice to me now?”

       Nicole’s lip twitched as she sucked in a deep breath. “Don’t come in here and tell me how to do my job! I’m a grown ass woman and I can make my decisions myself! Quit treating me like I’m 5 years old!”

       She could see the hurt behind her eyes, but she was too stubborn to do anything about it. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Nicole,” she said, voice softer than earlier. 

       “Just lay off, ok?! God damn!” She turned away right as she saw the tears gather in her eyes. She stomped off to her office, grabbing her jacket, and stormed out the front door. She didn’t dare look towards Waverly. She slammed the door of her cruiser closer hard enough, she was sure she could have shattered her window. Yanking the radio off her shirt, she pressed the button on the side. “Sheriff?” 

       “Haught.” She could tell by the tone of his voice that he had heard all of that from his office. 

       “I’m going on patrol,” she mumbled.

       There was silence for a few seconds. “Are you ok, Nicole?” He asked softly.

        Her lip wobbled. 

       “Randy,” she warned, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible, though she was unsuccessful. 

       “Alright, just be safe, kid.”

       “Yep,” she choked out, closing her eyes and shoving the keys in the ignition. 

___

       Waverly watched Nicole leave, hugging her arms around herself, covering her mouth as tears started rolling down her cheeks. She heard her car door slam from inside, making her flinch. There was a radio box up at the front desk, so she heard the call-over of their whole conversation. She sunk down against the wall, pulling the hem of her hoodie over her nose and mouth, realizing from the smell that it was the one she had stolen from her before her surgery. A wave of anger rushed over her, causing her to immediately tug the garment off of her body, slamming it to the floor next to her. She stood up, balling it up in her hands as she walked over to her office, opening the door and chucking it into it, hearing it knock some things off her desk.

       After letting out a long, aggravated sigh, she wiped her eyes and clumped into the BBD office. Dolls and Wynonna looked up at her with questioning eyes. “What?!” She snapped, shaking her head and shoving her shoulders up. 

       “You ok, Babygirl?” Wynonna asked gently. 

       “Never better,” she nipped. Her eyes instantly filled with tears, face changing from angry to sad in less than a second. She covered her face as the tears stormed out. Her sister rushed over, wrapping her in a hug. She let the sobs file out, clutching the back of her sister’s leather jacket. “It’s all my fault,” she blubbered. 

       “It’s not. I know she didn’t mean any of that.”

       “Yea she did.”

       She rubbed her hand up and down her back, trying to soothe the crying girl. “She loves the shit out of you, Waves. She’s just upset right now.” Wynonna pulled back, placing her hands on her cheeks.

       “None of this would have happened if I wouldn’t have been such an asshole.” 

       “Ok, you both were equally assholes- well, more her, just cause you are my baby sister- but still.”

       Waverly threaded her eyebrows tightly together. “Sh-She’s gonna break up with me an-and it’s all going to b-be my fault!” 

       “Oh, jeez. She’s not gonna break up with you. She’ll get over herself eventually, you know that.”

       The corners of her mouth turned down, tears getting caught in the dents of her cheeks. “I don’t know, Wy! I don’t know anything anymore!” She pulled away from her, pushing her hand through her hair. “I think I am just gonna go home . . .”

       “I’ll come with you,” she offered with a smile.

       Waverly swallowed, trying to calm herself down a little. “No, it's ok, you’ve got work to do . . . I kinda wanna be alone anyway.”

       The older Earp bit the side of her cheek. “I . . . don’t want you to be alone,” she mumbled. 

       The younger girl cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”

       She looked down to her feet, scuffing her toe on the tiles. “Remember what happened last time I left you alone when you were upset?” She asked quietly, looking up at her through her lashes.

       Waverly’s eyes widened, her head pulling back a bit. “Oh, thanks. Just shove it right in my face, Wynonna.”

       “I’m sorry, Waves, I just don’t-”

       “I told you I’d never do it again,” she growled lowly.

       Wynonna gulped. “But-” 

       “Save it, I don’t care.” she snapped, turning out the door, slamming it behind her. She grit her teeth as she left the station, it only then hitting her that she rode with her sister there, meaning she had no car. After a few curses, she began walking in the direction of the Homestead. She knew it would probably take her at least 2 hours to get back, but she couldn’t care less. She needed time to think about everything. 

       After about an hour, she reached the Purgatory sign. She was going the slightly quicker way to reach the Homestead. There was one thought rolling around in the back of her head: that she would have kept Nicole’s hoodie on, the only reason being that the temperature was dropping pretty fast and she still had some way to go in just a t-shirt and leggings. She hugged her arms closer to her body, kicking a rock along as she walked. She looked up at the sound of a car nearing her, seeing the white body and lights mounted on top, no doubt a Purgatory Sheriff’s car. She looked down with a huff, hoping it wasn’t the one person she didn’t want to see right now. 

       Sure enough, as she glanced up when it passed, she saw a head of fiery hair . . . with a bottle of whiskey pressed to her lips. “Wooooooow,” She breathed aloud to herself, shaking her head with a huff. She booted the rock she had been kicking, sending it skidding across the road. 

___

       When Nicole said she was going on patrol, she wasn’t lying. She did drive around for a good 20 minutes, but she figured sobbing her eyes out in a cop car probably wasn’t the best look for Purgatory’s Finest. She drove up to The Hill (The official name they decided on for the place they watched the sunset after their first date when they visited again a few days before Waverly’s trial) and sat against the side of the car, sipping on the bottle of whiskey she kept in her trunk. 

       She didn’t think she had ever been more mad at herself. The things she had said had flown out of her mouth before she could even comprehend them. She only really cared about two things in the world: her job and Waverly Earp. And she could lose both of them. She made her girlfriend cry for literally no reason except for the fact that she was in a bad mood and then left her. And now she was drunk on the job. And pretty drink at that, about 1/3 of a bottle of Jack Daniel’s worth. She sniffed, wiping her eyes as she pushed herself off the ground and into the driver’s seat. Her shift was until 11 and it was barely 6, so she knew she had to go fess up to Nedley. She couldn’t hide out here forever. 

       As she drove along, blasting depressing country music like the true Texan she was, she spotted a person walking up the side of the road in the distance. This wasn’t too unusual for Purgatory. They had their fair share of prostitutes in the area. It was not until she passed her that she had to do a double-take, looking back through her rear-view mirror at the woman, nearly spitting out the sip she had just taken when she confirmed it was Waverly. “What in the hell?” She slurred, digging her phone out of her pocket. 

Haught N Bothered: Y is ur sister waling alonfg the side of the rod by hersef?

Earp: Where?

Haught N Bothered: Past Purgatry sign. Just drov by her. 

Earp: And u didn’t pick her up? Wtf

Haught N Bothered: Plz justmake sure she dsn’t get kiddnsped or somethig, ok?

Earp: 1, Ur an ass. 2, R u drunk? 

       Nicole rolled her eyes, tossing the phone onto the seat. Pulling up to the station a few minutes later, she climbed out and shoved the bottle back into the trunk before taking a breath and heading as soberly as she could into the building. Wynonna bumped into her as she turned a corner. “Haught.” She greeted, a snark in her voice. 

       “Earp.” She looked past her, not once making eye contact.

       Wynonna took in the scent of her breath. “You are drunk!” She gasped, poking a finger into her chest.

       She snapped her eyes toward her. “Would you shut up!?” She darted her eyes across the room. “Don’t you have something you should be doing?”

       The brunette narrowed her eyes at her, grabbing the front of her uniform, turning them and shoving her against the wall. The redhead had expected more if she was honest, so she let out a small sigh, looking past her again. “Don’t you have something you should be doing?” She probed.

       “What’s that?” She slurred. Wynonna brought her forward, switching one of her hands to her neck, and shoved her back again, hearing the back of her head wack against the wall. 

       “Uhh, apologizing to my baby sister for being a complete bag of dicks! Ring any bells?!”

       Nicole swallowed, trying to suck in some air from the increased squeezing of her fingers. “I- Can you tell ‘er I’m sorry? Cause I really am, Wynonna. I didn’t mean to.” Wynonna groaned, pushing more pressure with her wrist against her front. 

       “How about you grow a pair and do it yourself?!” Her mouth fell open in an attempt to say something, but nothing came out. Wynonna shook her head at her, dropping her voice low. “I really thought you were better than that, Haught. I really did . . . Don’t go near her. I don't want to see your face unless you’ve got something nice to say.” She brought her face closer to her’s, hearing her breathing pick up. “ And if I ever hear you yell at her like that again . . .” She pulled Peacemaker out, shoving the end of the barrel against the bottom of her chin. “ You better hope and pray you die from the amount of lead I’m gonna shove up your ass .” The only reason the redhead didn’t fall to the ground out of fear was that Wynonna was so close to her that her body was holding her up. She was shaking like a leaf, eyes as wide as saucers. 

       “Wynonna! Get that damn gun off of my Deputy!” Nedley ordered, walking towards them with his hand hovering above his holster. Both girls looked toward him. The brunette clenched her jaw, shoving Peacemaker back into its holster. “Let her go, Earp!” 

       “I was gonna have some fun with you. I guess I’ll have to make it last.” She let go of her neck, drawing her fist back. 

       “Wynonna!” Nedley didn’t catch her in time. Her fist connected with Nicole’s face, knocking her out, sending her limp body sideways down to the tile, head bouncing off the floor. Nedley grabbed her arm as she tried to leave out the door. “What the hell is wrong with you?! That’s my best deputy your knocking around!” 

       “I don’t care who she is. She hurt my baby sister.” Wynonna shook her arm loose, storming out the door. The Sheriff dropped to his knees, flipping the Officer to her back, pressing his fingers against her neck, quickly finding a pulse. When he dropped his ear to her chest to see if she was breathing, he smelled the whiskey on her. He pursed his lips, sitting back up, turning his attention to the gash on her cheekbone from one of the rings on Wynonna’s fingers. 

       “C’mon, Haught, wake up.” He tapped lightly on her opposite cheek. “Nicole.” He saw Lonnie and Schmitt walk back in, the game having turned out nice and quiet. They looked wide-eyed at their colleague on the ground. “Will one of you pull your thumb outta your ass and grab me some tissues!?” They quickly rushed off to complete his orders, Schmitt returning first, handing him the box. He pulled some out, pushing it against her cheek to stop the flow of blood gushing out. He checked her pulse again, still pumping strong. “Wake up, kid,” he begged, shaking her shoulder. “You’re gonna hate it if I have to carry you out of here.” That seemed to work. Her eyes slowly blinked open, drowsily looking over his face. “There you are,” he smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. 

       “What happened?” She slurred, reaching up to touch her face.

       He stopped her hand. “Wynonna happened,” he grumbled. He grabbed her by the upper arms. “Let’s sit up.” He pulled her to a sitting position slowly, turning her so her back was against the wall. 

       “Wynonna? Why . . .” She looked past him. “Oh.”

       Nedley smiled apologetically. “I’m taking you to the hospital. You’ve got a hefty gash on your left cheek that needs to be stitched up. And you probably have a concussion from hitting your head against the floor.” She went to complain against it, but he gave her a stern look, so she nodded. He grabbed both of her arms, pulling her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her steady. He walked them out, getting her in the passenger's seat of his car.

       Nicole became confused when he pulled up to her house. “I thought we were going to the hospital?”

       “We are. But you’re gonna go change first.”

       She cocked her head. “Why?”

       He pursed his lips, removing his hat. “I don’t think it’d be best for your reputation to show up at a hospital drunk and in uniform,” he informed with a knowing look.

       Her mouth dropped open, eyes widening. “Sir, I-I’m so sorry-”

       “Nicole,” he cut her off. “You got in a bar fight, remember?” She blinked at him for a second before understanding. She smiled slightly, nodding her head as a thank you before climbing out of her car to go put on civilian clothes.

___

       Waverly’s heart sped up as she heard a car pull up beside her. She calmed down, seeing it was just Wynonna. A very pissed off looking Wynonna. She rolled down her window. “Get in the car,” she ordered. 

       “No.” She kept walking, her sister slowly rolling along beside her. 

       “Waverly,” she warned. 

       “I’m fine, Wynonna,” she huffed. The dark brunette stopped the car, climbing out and grabbing her arm, dragging her around to the other side. “Ow! Let me go!” 

       “Get in.” She opened the door, pushing her towards it. She threw her an annoyed look, reluctantly climbing into the truck. Wynonna hopped in, pulling away. “What the hell were you thinking, Waverly?! It’s getting dark, it’s cold, you’re alone!” 

       “I was fine, Wynonna! How’d you even know I out here?”

       Wynonna looked at her briefly before turning her attention back to the road. “I thought you took my truck when you left, but I saw it was still at the station,” she lied.

       Waverly crossed her arms, leaning her head against the window. She heard the distant sound of sirens approaching from behind them. She looked out the mirror, watching the Sheriff’s car quickly catch up with them, driving around them and speeding off ahead. “Why’s Nedley rushing out of town?” She asked.

       Wynonna looked toward her again, shrugging. “Beats me.” She gripped the wheel harder. She knew damn well where he was headed off to.

       Waverly casted her glance to her right knuckles, seeing the slight swelling forming along them. She grabbed her hand off the wheel, looking closer. Wynonna tugged her hand away, crossing it across her lap so she couldn’t see it. “Wynonna,” she said shakily. “What did you do?”

       She shook her head. “I didn’t do anything, what’re you talking about?”

       The younger girl turned her body towards her. “Wynonna! What did you do?!” She cried. She heard her phone start ringing in the cup holder, so she grabbed it before she could. The name at the top read “Sheriff Shit Head”. She swallowed hard. 

       “Waverly, don’t-”

       She grabbed for the phone, but Waverly already had it pressed against her ear. “Earp, if you knock out one of my Deputies again, I’m putting you away!” Nedley yelled into the phone.

       Waverly clapped her hand over her mouth, snapping her head to her wide-eyed sister. “Nedley?” She asked shakily. 

___

       “Haught, keep that damn rag pressed against that, would ya?” She pursed her lips, doing so, wincing slightly. Her left eye was almost completely swollen shut at this point. He drove around Wynonna’s pickup with a huff, pulling his phone out of his pocket, putting it on speaker as he called her. He heard it answer and he didn’t want to hear her snarky remarks start up, so he began to speak immediately. “Earp, if you knock out one of my Deputies again, I’m putting you away!” He hadn’t expected Waverly’s voice to fill the car. Nicole looked towards him, mouth falling open slightly. He cleared his throat, pushing the phone to his ear. “Waverly.”

       “Is she ok?” 

       “I’m . . . not sure. We’re going to go find out.” Nicole was trying to hear what she was saying, but it was too quiet.

       “Wynonna stop! . . . What happened?”

       Nedley hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “Basically what’d you’d expect with your sister . . .” He sighed. He could hear them fighting in the background. 

       “Just . . . make sure she’s ok.”

       He nodded, not that she could see that. “That’s my number one priority right now, Dear.” He paused for a second. “Do you want to ta-” 

       “Nope,” she choked, cutting him off and hanging up. He brought the phone away from his face, looking down at the screen before turning it off and putting it back into his pocket. He looked over to his Deputy, who had her head laying against the window, eyes closed and arms wrapped around herself. He knew she had figured out her answer to his question. With a sigh, he reached over, patting her knee. The redhead opened her eyes, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. 

___

       The older Earp pulled the truck into the driveway, pushing her body as close as she could to the door, Waverly’s screams coming at her like wildfire. “TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO HER!!” She demanded for the hundredth time. 

       “OK!” She climbed out of the car, staying on her side as Waverly jumped out and approached her with tears streaming down her face. Wynonna backed up from the angered girl. “I-I only threatened her a little . . . and put Peacemaker against her neck- but I only punched her once! I promise!” 

       She shoved her sister. “Nedley said she was knocked out! Why would she pass out from one punch?!”

       Wynonna groaned. “She was drunk off her ass, Waverly! She could barely walk into the station!” Waverly tried to swallow the hurricane of emotions, but she couldn’t, so she turned away, running inside and up to her room. 

       The pillow she buried her face into was only lessening the sounds of her sobs a little, so Wynonna had to put some earbuds in downstairs. She was her baby sister. Of course she wanted to comfort her, but she knew she was only making it worse. 

       Gus walked in, eyeing Wynonna as the sound filled her ears. “What did you do?” She demanded. 

       “She got into a fight with Nicole,” she mumbled, picking at the seam of a throw pillow. 

       “And you are letting her bawl her eyes out because?!” 

       “She’s mad at me.” 

       “Why?”

       “Cause I put Nicole in the hospital . . .” She looked up at her with a face that screamed nervousness. 

       “WYNONNA!”