Who: Nina and Gabe (Groot) When: Early September Where: Nina’s place What: Memories Rating/Warnings: Low/Brief mention of child abuse Status: Complete
Nina wasn’t having a very good day. She’d been tired thanks to her dreams deciding to repeat things for her, which was never enjoyable especially the later ones before she died. And then she’d almost been out the door of the hospital when she’d been paged for one more patient. A young girl who had fallen down the stairs and broken her arm only when Nina got there she could tell it hadn’t been an accident. That had triggered memories, recently so close to the surface after her and Gabe’s fight.
So she’d called her boyfriend and asked him to brave non-New York pizza for her and if they could have a evening of snuggles. She wanted comfort food and cuddles.
Gabe could tell when he'd spoken to Nina that something was bothering her. Maybe work had been super crazy and stressful, he wasn't sure, but her tone had sounded weary with a touch of something else. So he'd gone and picked up the pizza and then his girlfriend so she wouldn't have to suffer dealing with public transportation on top of everything else. The smell of the fresh pizza filled the car and in a bag in the back Gabe had picked up some wine and beer in case they felt like something more than soda.
He wanted to ask how her day was but the look on her face had him feeling like maybe he should hold off on that for the moment. "Hey," he cooed and reached over with one hand to stroke her head, his fingers lingering in her soft hair before returning to the wheel.
Nina really did have the best boyfriend in the world, she’d known that before but when he did sweet things like picking her up and buying wine which went above and beyond what she had asked for she really did feel blessed. He was a bright star in her life and she was very very glad they’d found each other.
“Hey, I’m glad to see you” she told him leaning into his touch with a smile leaning in quickly to press a kiss to his cheek before sitting back to let him drive them home.
"Glad to see you too," he smiled, particularly after she kissed him. He was the luckiest man alive to have Nina as a girlfriend. She was loving and full of compassion for others like no one he had ever seen. And the fact she'd been willing to forgive his behaviour after the latest bout of crazy to hit the OC meant more to him than he could express.
They drove home chit chatting about his day, Gabe going on mostly about the fruit trees that were struggling with the water restrictions, and his concern for what forecasters were saying about El Nino and the potential rains it would bring in winter. When they got home and dished out the pizza and alcohol, it was time for sprawling out and chowing down. “They actually did a pretty decent job this time.” Gabe remarked, taking another huge bite out of his slice. “I’m impressed.” he said around the food.
Nina liked hearing about his job, it was nice and somewhat less stressful than hers. It was nice not to think about life and death all the time which she often did when stationed on the ER team or the end of life wards.
“Mmm this is good” Nina said, “Thank you for indulging me” she smiled at him gratefully. There was nothing like hot tasty pizza after a horrible day and wine too which was a bonus she hadn’t expected. She was leaning against him though not getting in the way of him eating but just taking comfort in his closeness, something he always willingly provided.
For his part, Gabe was inhaling his two slices. He’d been starving, having had a minimal lunch with the work he’d had today: trying to save a number of plants by transplanting them to the greenhouses, hauling in new gravel, it’d been a lot of heavy lifting today. It was nice having a cold beer in one hand, a hot slice in the other, and the warm feel of his girlfriend’s body leaning against him. “So,” he started, swallowing his food before continuing. “How was work today? You look exhausted.” He figured with a little wine in her, Nina might be more willing to be okay to talk about it now.
Nina was taking longer to eat but taking comfort in the food, since it was comfort food after all. When Gabe spoke she sighed a little sadly, “Work was crappy. Had a little girl in and it brought up some shitty memories” she snuggled into him a little more after taking another sip of wine.
Gabe paused from chowing down on the crust from slice number one, turning to look at her. Nina had never really divulged much of her past to him, outside of the general info that she had lived in foster homes and eventually was adopted. And the fact that a little girl had brought up crappy memories definitely had him wondering. He set down the food and wrapped an arm around her, letting her cuddle closer. “You wanna talk about it?” his deep voice full of concern.
“Not really but I probably should” Nina told him, looking up to press a kiss to his chin. She took a deep breath before speaking, “I got the call that a little girl had been brought in with a broken arm from an accident but when I got there it was obvious it wasn’t an accident. It had been her mother so I had to call the protection services and they took the girl into their care”
“Geeze.” He sighed. “I’m so sorry, babe.” He squeezed her shoulder in sympathy and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll never get that. How anyone can hit a kid, especially a parent.” Gabe’s mother had simply abandoned them to the care of her own mother after she and his dad had split when he was very young. He rarely saw either of his parents again growing up, and his father altogether vanished by the time he was eight. He had never been struck, outside of discipline consisting of a smack to the hand or rear, and nothing that broke bones.
Gabe could see how this could affect Nina. She had gone into foster care young as well, though now that he thought about it, he didn’t actually know why she’d ended up in the system. He’d assumed she’d been dropped off on the doorstep very much like he and his brothers had been. But...was there more to it than that? He looked down at his girlfriend to gauge her reaction to what they were talking about, concern written all over his features, the question on his lips.
“It happens more than you’d like to think” Nina told him, leaning on him she closed her eyes, “Happened to me. That’s how I ended up in foster care. My mum used to hit me, I don’t remember a lot of it because I was too young but apparently I had a lot of fractures and bruises when they checked me out. I remember when they took me away though. She’d broken my arm, because I’d fed the neighbours cat with a tin of tuna from the cupboard. She screamed at me, grabbed my arm and the next thing I remember was this incredible pain in my arm and chest. Last memory of my biological mum, not such a nice story is it?” she sighed.
Gabe was stunned, mute with horror. His brain struggled to accept the fact Nina had been beaten as a child. Beaten badly by her own mother, and at such a young age! It was a twisted mercy that Nina had been so young she couldn’t remember much.
For a long moment they were silent, until finally Gabe set down his beer and sat up, twisting to face Nina more. Holding her in his arms he looked down at her in infinite compassion. Reaching up he held her face in one large hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. No one should. I’m glad you ended up with a good family, though.” He kissed her forehead and sighed.
Nina smiled, “It’s okay. I’ve come to terms with it now” she told him, lifting her own hand to lay against his cheek. “My foster family were wonderful and I was very lucky. And now I have you and I feel like the luckiest person in the world. I can’t change where I started in life but I’ve certainly changed where I could have gone” she pressed a kiss to his lips and hugged him.
Gabe kissed and hugged back, enveloping her in his muscular arms and burying his face in her soft hair. “I love you,” he murmured into Nina’s blonde locks, and smiled. “You are the bravest, strongest, most amazing woman I know.” And he meant every word. To become a nurse, where she dealt with hurting people all the time, and ran the risk of being exposed to things that could dig up old hurts and still walk away from it at the end of the day? He didn’t even know how she was able to do it.
“I love you too” she told him feeling more at home in his arms than anywhere else. He gave her such an incredible sense of security and happiness. It was thanks to him that she was able to do what she did and not break down from it all. She got to come home to a wonderful man who loved her and for that Nina would do anything. “Thank you, I wouldn’t be able to do it without you you know. Knowing I have you here for me”
Gabe pulled back to look into her eyes. “I’ll always be here for you. Always.” He kissed her lips again and smiled lovingly at her.