CHAPTER SEVEN

          IT WAS DARK WHEN SHE GOT AWOKEN BY THE SOUND OF HER PHONE BUZZING. Lucy was half on her back against the couch with the tv still on when she groggily opened her eyes. For a moment there she had no idea what day it was or what time but her heart rhythm spiked at the thought of Rio calling her with a job. Rubbing her eyes, she picked up her phone.

"Auntie Lucy?"

"Sadie?" The panic in the childs voice was clear and immediately sobered her up as she sat upright. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"I don't know where my mom is." confessed Sadie, sniffling on the other end of the line. "The case worker could be here any minute and I cut my finger really bad and it won't stop bleeding. I think I can see the bone."

The brunette was already on her feet as she slid into her trainers before grabbing her emergency kit from the bathroom cabinet. "I'm already on my way, Sade. Keep it wrapped tightly to stop the bleeding. I'll be there in ten minutes. Want to stay on?"

"Yes, please."

It took her a total of seven minutes to speed towards Annie's home and she was on the phone with Sadie the entire time. It was almost seven and Lucy had no idea where Annie was. Had something happened in Canada? Worry settled deep within her bones and she almost ignored a red light as she drove up to the apartment building.

"I'm here, sweetie."

Sadie opened the door of the apartment when Lucy knocked on the door. The eleven year old looked a little pale and Lucy grabbed her hand straight away, seeing the kitchen towel covered in blood. The girl winched as Lucy kicked the door closed with her foot.

"What happened?" demanded the brunette as she led Sadie to the bathroom and sat her on the edge of the tub. 

"I wanted to impress the case worker." said Sadie, following the woman with her eyes as she opened her emergency kit and slid on a pair of blue gloves. "Nancy had all these appetisers and I wanted the same for mom. Cut myself while making shrimp."

"Oh, Sadie." murmured Lucy as she frowned at the teen. "You're going to be okay, yeah? Now i'm going to take this towel off and see the damage. Tell me when it gets too much, okay?"

Sadie nodded in response and Lucy carefully peeled the cloth away from her hand and almost flinched at the sight before her. It looked horrible and still dripped with blood and onto the tiled floor. Sadie looked at it too and didn't seem that bothered by it.

"You're going to need stitches, kid." sighed Lucy.

"Can you do that here?" Her eyes had widened in slight panic. "What about the case worker? She could be here any minute."

"I got it." Lucy offered a reassuring smile. "But I don't have anything for the pain and you might want something. I could wrap it up as best as I can and then we can go the the hospital after."

"No, no hospital." said the teen with a shake of her head and Lucy knew she meant it. "I can take it. I promise."

Lucy gave her a long stare and then nodded with pursed lips. "I have to clean it first, though. That might sting like hell."

Sadie hadn't been wrong that she could take it and only hissed when the needle first went through. The teen closed her eyes and chewed on her bottom lip as Lucy worked as quickly and neat as possible. She was lucky that it wasn't a long cut, just deep and it was done within ten minutes. Sadie breathed a sigh of relief when she was done and wrapped it up neatly with some bandages.

"Thank you, Lucy." she smiled, as she washed the blood from her other hand. "I can't believe my mom isn't here. She promised me she would be home on time."

"She's on her way, honey." 

Lucy discarded of her gloves and the kitchen towel and wiped off the droplets of blood from the floor. Sadie didn't believe her and went back towards the living room, glancing around the area for anything that might be amiss.

"She always says that."

There was a knock on the door and Sadie peered up at her in panic. "It's okay. I'll cover."

The brunette went to the door and opened it with a bright smile. The blonde woman on the other side returned the smile and offered her hand which Lucy took happily. "Hi, i'm Lillian. The case worker on this case. You must be Sadie's mother?"

"Hi, Lillian." she said, stepping aside to let the woman in. "I'm not actually, i'm her aunt. Her mother is currently held up in traffic but should be here very soon. There was an accident, otherwise she would have been here already."

"Oh, that is too bad." said Lillian, peering around the home. "I'm glad you're here, then."

"Hi," beamed Sadie as she came from the kitchen with a plate of food. "i'm Sadie. I hope you like shrimp?"

"I love shrimp." grinned Lillian as the teen led her to the couch. 

Lucy offered her apology as she excused herself, slipping through Annie's bedroom door to make a call. Her mouth fell open as she peered around the room. Sadie had cleaned the entire apartment and dumped every single thing in her mothers room. With the phone to her ear as she called Annie, she began stuffing bags and things inside the closets.

No answer and she really started to worry right now.

"Answer the phone, An." she muttered, kicking boxes underneath the bed as quickly as she could as she tried to make it look lived in but not like a total wreck. "Jesus Christ."

It took her a few minutes before she closed the door behind her, joining them in the living room once more and offering them a smile. "Lucy? Do you remember these pictures?"

The brunette sat down on Sadie's other side as she peered over her shoulder and the picture book. "Of course, I do. That was your fifth birthday and your mom had baked you the biggest cake with your other aunt Beth."

The caseworker seemed to be at ease and comfortable in the home and Sadie fed her more stories about her childhood as she went to another page with party pictures. "And this is of my mom. She looks kind of weird because she just barfed."

The front door opened and Annie appeared, nervous smile on her face as she said, "Yeah. I, uh ... I always do after big blue, yeah?"

Sadie laughed and said to the caseworker, "She still goes on it with me, anyway. She loves me that much."

"Hi," greeted Annie after she shot Lucy a grateful look. "i'm Annie. I am so, so, so sorry. I am so late. My day just got crazy."

"I can't believe traffic was that bad." added Lucy, offering her an alibi. 

"And she does a lot of charity work." said Sadie, to which Annie widened her eyes. "She's very passionate about it."

"With kids," nodded Annie. "Yeah, I love kids. You know, sick kids. And healthy kids. I mean, who doesn't love healthy kids? Wow, I can't stop saying kids." 

Lillian seemed pleased. "What kind of children do you work with?"

"Cancer."

"Mentally disabled."

"Actually," began Lucy, shooting both of them a glare as she smiled at the woman. "I work as a paediatrics nurse down at the hospital and Annie helps us out with all kinds of things. We have a lot of sick kids, plenty of illnesses. It varies a lot."

"Yeah, what she said." nodded Annie quickly.

"Wow," shared Lillian, impressed. "you must be exhausted. I'll make this quick. I just have a few standard questions, okay?"

As Annie and Sadie led the case worker through the home for an inspection, Lucy cleaned up the now empty plate of food and put it in the sink. Annie's bedroom was still messy, but she was sure that it would give much of a problem. 

And she had been right, Lillian still seemed quite pleased with what she had seen and heard and offered them all a goodnight before she left the apartment.

"Where were you?" accused Sadie the moment the door closed. "I called you so many times and Lucy had to come in your place instead!"

"Sadie ..." muttered Annie, ashamed. "it's complicated."

"It's always complicated!" she nearly yelled, showing her her bandaged finger. "I almost cut off my finger, thank god Lucy got here in time because I needed stitches. I'm going to bed. Goodnight Lucy, thank you for helping me."

"Anytime, honey." smiled Lucy, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Sadie stomped off and locked herself into her bedroom while Annie dropped on the couch with a huff. Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "What happened, An?"

"I forgot the time." she muttered, rubbing her eyes tiredly. 

"I know." she nodded with a sad smile. "I meant Canada. How did it go?"

"Great," she looked up. "I mean it. We were in and then out. Do you know what gang friend had us smuggle? Fake cash. I think millions, it was so much! It was hidden by all this wrapping paper, you should have seen it, it was insane."

"I can't believe you didn't get caught." confessed Lucy as she sat down beside her with her knees pulled to her chest.

Annie began to ramble about their adventure and two hours later Lucy finally decided to head home. It was almost ten and even if she had slept most of the day, she could definitely use a few more hours before her day shift the day after.

The woman closed the door of her car as she strapped herself in and started the vehicle, music filling the space immediately. 

She clenched her eyes shut and opened them again, in the hopes of waking herself up. The soft thrum of her car kept her awake as she began to drive back toward her apartment complex.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it in the passenger seat. It was a number she did not recognise and this sobered her up completely. She didn't know anyone that could call her at this hour of which she didn't have the number saved. 

Wether if was fear or excitement, she did not know. And she clicked the answer button straight away.

His voice echoed through her car, sending shivers down her spine.

"Ready for a job, ma?"

This isn't proof read.

thank you for almost 1k reads so far! i am writing this story for my own enjoyment but really appreciate it that you would read it too <3