章節 16: Research

Westminster, London| Pub

Her vision was slightly hazy, and her head cloudy as she gazed upon her 8th shot of Whiskey at 2 in the morning that Sunday.

"Piss off." She told the third, or was it the fourth man who tried to start a conversation with her in the pub? Sam can't recall. Ariel, the raven-haired barkeep and also an acquaintance couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. This was one of those crazy moments that Sam Gray was intoxicated, for the sake of Science.

Davies was driving his way home when his phone rang, he glanced at the screen reading Jones.

"What is it?" He asked, and the man on the other line explained, exasperated.

"WHAT?!" Davies uttered, shaking his head in disbelief. He took the closest U-turn and drove to the address given to him.

Two police cars with blinking lights and an ambulance were situated outside a pub. Jones stood scowling, in pain, an ice pack pressed against his swollen cheek. "Where is she?" Davies asked, approaching him. Jones ushered him towards the ambulance, inside was an unconscious Sam Gray.

"What happened?" Davies asked both baffled and concerned at the state of the woman.

...........................

7 Eastbourne Rd

Levi couldn't sleep that night, he couldn't sleep for only god knows why. And he settled on reading to pass the time while watching crap telly. When he noticed the flashing red and blue lights by his window, in front of 7 Eastbourne Rd was a police car. Behind it was Davies' car. Levi watched as he stepped out of his car, his face looked shaken.

Mrs. Whitehall woke up from the sound, banging on the front door her husband William followed behind. The couple begrudgingly got up, put on a robe, and opened the door. There stood Davies, "James, look at the time--" she complained. "Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Whitehall, but Levi --" he paused after seeing Levi walk out of his flat.

"There you are!" Davies said, relieved. "What's the craic??" Levi asked Davies was about to explain when he thought to show him would explain the situation better. He gestured for the psychologist to follow him outside, behind him Mrs. Whitehall followed in her sleepwear.

There, in the passenger seat of the Police car was Sam Gray, unconscious. Levi frowned, he assumed she was drinking from the smell of her, and the bandage around her knuckles and bruise on her forehead, he could tell she got herself in a drunken fistfight. Confirming his profile of her having a violent streak.

"How many?" Levi asked, earning a confused look from Davies followed by a sense of understanding. "Three." He answered and Levi scoffed.

"Oh dear, what happened? Is she alright?!" Mrs. Whitehall gasped. "The EMT said she's fine, just passed out of intoxication," Davies said, Levi looked at him as if to ask why he brought the woman there to him.

"Isn't she your girlfriend?" Davies muttered, suddenly unsure after seeing the expression on Levi's face.

"No. She's not."

"Levi!" Mrs. Whitehall chided, slapping his arm, his denial she took as a joke.

"Oh, we all thought you were since you were spending so much time with her," Davies explained, confused somewhat. "And from where did you get that information?" Levi asked while Davies gave him a look, as though saying 'you know who.'

"That lanky poxy, of course." Levi scoffed after realizing it was Marco.

"Well, we tried finding her next of kin, but there wasn't anything in the records. We can't just leave her in her house either, because she might choke on her vomit and die---and because, we honestly don't know the address, which is also odd." He admitted, feeling slightly useless.

Hacked into Criminal Investigation Department records, but why? Levi thought.

"We will look at that ASAP. We were able to reach Ms. Hart but---"

"She's out of the country." Levi finished for him; he noticed that she hadn't brought them tea during breaks. "Yes." Davies agreed.

"Well, will you take her?" Davies asked, he didn't mind taking the woman to his house but he was looking forward to spending the rest of his night with his wife. If you know what that means.

"Of course!" Mrs. Whitehall answered for Levi.

Levi bent over and picked her up, noting her regular breathing. He took her up the stairs while Davies and Mrs. Whitehall followed, "Give Marco a call, Mrs. Whitehall." He said, and the older woman nodded, separating to her flat and dialing the doctor's number.

Davies followed, watching Levi lay the unconscious pathologist on his bed. He removed her boots, and jacket, and positioned her to her side, as a precaution. He checked her pulse, finding nothing amiss he walked out of the room with Davies behind.

"I can't believe she beat up three grown men," Davies said, whispering after giving Sam's face one last look.

"Fluthered as well, I presume," Levi commented, knowing full well Davies was very familiar with his Irish slang. He sat on his chair, then placed his feet on the center table comfortably.

"They were, but still impressive she was intoxicated herself. One man had to be taken to the E.R for stitching and another lost a tooth."

"Yes, explaining the bandages around her knuckles." Levi mused, earning a look from Davies.

"She runs 10miles 5x a week, has a black belt in Aikido and Taekwondo." Levi elaborated, he had Alex (one of his employees) do surveillance on her two weeks before. But other than her daily routine, and trivial things like her eating habits, he hadn't learned much about her past. He's still working on it.

"She's an achiever, a prodigy." Levi simply explained.

Mrs. Whitehall walked into Levi's bedroom with a basin filled with water and a towel and started to change her clothing after closing the door.

Before leaving, Davies shared what Jones told him when he arrived at the pub. "He said, 'she beat up three drunk men, then punched me in the process when I tried to stop her. She's fine! She just passed out', while nursing his jaw." Earning an amused snort from Levi, he reckons she just punched him just for the hell of it.

20 minutes later Marco Evans walked in with his medical kit, clearly dressed in a hurry. Levi ushered him to his room, Marco raised his brows at him a second later. Sam was on her side, wearing one of Levi's pajamas. He could tell by the signature embroidery of Levi's initial. "Mrs. Whitehall dressed her," Levi explained as if it was obvious.

Marco shrugged and started examining the woman, who was perfectly well except for the broken skin on her knuckles, and a small cut on her forehead.

"Did they hit her?" Marco asked about the cut in her forehead. "I doubt it, she got that from falling and hitting a sharp corner," Levi observed, earning a nod from Marco.

"Well, she's fine. But you know that already. So, why'd you have to call me?" Marco asked as he made his way out of the room. "Just wanted to have a second opinion...You are the Medical Expert." Levi answered, still looking at Sam's form on his bed. Oblivious of the knowing stare Marco was giving him.

"Well, keep her on her side. And make sure she takes this pain meds when she wakes up every 4 hours. Hydrate, and take the day off, Doctors orders." Marco said, earning a nod from Levi.

........................

10 AM-Next day

Sam woke up with her head throbbing, but what's worse than that was she could feel her right-hand palpitating. A groan escaped her lips, realizing she was not in her room but Levi's. The door swung open seconds later, Levi hearing her from the Living room he took a peek to check on her.

She gazed up at him frowning. "How many did I kill?" She joked refusing to move on her spot. "None, unfortunately. You would make an interesting case if you did." He replied.

"I wouldn't want to disappoint." She said. "I didn't vomit, did I?" She asked suddenly, looking at her attire. "No. Mrs. Whitehall wanted to make you comfortable." He said walking towards the kitchen and getting a glass of water for her.

He handed her the pain medication and water which she took willingly.

"You had a whale of a good time last night, why?" Levi finally asked Sam who sat eating at his kitchen table with brunch cooked by Mrs. Whitehall.

"Research." She replied simply, and Levi understood immediately.