Dr. Jason Bull had been battling a war inside his own body. As stubborn as he was, he had learned his lesson when he had his heart attack…don't take anything at face value. Go get checked out before it turns into a bigger problem. Sadly, though this had already turned into a bigger problem...one he couldn't escape.
He thought getting healthy and exercising would have prevented this but nothing prepared him for what was to come. It was only a matter of time before the dam broke and his team would know his health was again in jeopardy. None of them, Bull especially, knew what he was about to face.
They were working a case where a young actress was sexually assaulted by a film director. Jason had sat down with the actress that was clearly upset over what had happened and needed the therapy that Jason could offer. She was willing to take the stand against the film director. Throughout the session, Jason rubbed his temples, his head pounding like a bass drum despite the Advil he had taken shortly before this meeting.
'Why won't this headache go away?' Jason wondered.
After their client left it was time for the team to gather and go over the case and build a witness list, to try to rally each other before heading into court the next morning. The team gathered in the war room without their leader.
"Jason will you be joining us?" Marissa asked as she popped her head into his office.
Jason looked up from his desk after a few moments, at first failing to register that Marissa was speaking to him.
"Hmm…oh just tell the team to come in here." Jason replied before going back to rubbing his forehead and temples as the pain in his head just increased in intensity.
Marissa walked back out into the war room to gather up the rest of the team.
"The guy with the glasses would like us all to go into his office for this one." Marissa stated, garnishing a strange look from Benny. That was not Bull's usual style while trying to build a case.
"He never wants to prep a case like that. He hates having to create a witness list in his office. Always claims there's not enough room to work efficiently." Benny spoke.
"Well he does tonight." Marissa said turning on her heels.
Benny was the first one to realize something was wrong when he walked into Bull's office and saw Jason's face. He decided he needed to speak up. Look at what had happened the last time he ignored Bull looking like hell... Bull had a heart attack on the courthouse steps alone.
"You ok boss?" Benny asked after taking a second look at Jason, who's face was contorted in obvious pain.
"I'm fine Benny. Just dealing with a horrible headache today. Nothing seems to be helping really." Jason admitted.
Before Benny could question him, Jason tried to jump right into the case.
"Ok so our client, 26-year-old Samantha Nolan is a young actress. Born and raised in Oklahoma, she does a film while she is there. Meets a film director that gives her a supporting role. However, when she gets on set, there is nothing but guys there and he has no pants on. He tries to make some sexual advances towards her but she turns him down. Fast forward a few months and she is working here in New York. The film she did a few months back is now doing festivals. The director tells her the only way she will be able to see it is if she sleeps with him. She had blocked him on all social media but he still found out she was here in New York and followed her, stalked her until he was standing outside her apartment door. Which leads us to our case." Jason said standing up and walking around to the front of his desk. He didn't realize how weak he was. It took every bit of his strength to walk around his desk. Once at the front, he leaned against his desk, exhausted and in excruciating pain, which was spreading from his temples down the back of his neck. He started to flex his arm as his left side went numb.
'Oh gosh not now. Not while we are building a case.' Jason thought.
"I did a little digging and found there was more than just Samantha that had put in complaints on this film director. Turns out there was about 20. All from Oklahoma, all had similar experiences." Taylor stated.
"With the me-too movement so strong right now, how do we know that these girls aren't just trying to jump on some kind of bandwagon?" Chunk asked.
Jason was trying to keep the conversations straight and follow along. He was so confused as to what was going on, not to mention his headache was increasing exponentially. It felt like the worst headache of his life. But he would never let his team know what was going on. They needed to get this case prep done tonight before they left. They needed to be prepared for court in the morning.
"Bull? I asked what your opinion was? Do I need to start going and talking to these girls?" Danny asked Jason who was clearly not all there.
"Um…yeah…that…that…goo I…idea…" Jason slurred.
"Bull are you ok?" Benny asked worried about his friend.
"I…no…feel…goo..." Jason managed to slur before collapsing.
"JASON!" Marissa exclaimed. "Oh my God! Taylor call 911!"
"On it!" Taylor said quickly pulling her cellphone from her pocket and stepping outside the office.
Benny and Marissa were right next to Jason's side, trying to comfort him and figure out what the heck was going on.
"What can we do to help?" Danny asked.
"I…I don't know." Benny stated, at a loss at how to help their friend.
"EMS should be here in about 5-10 minutes." Taylor said as she came back into the office.
The sight that met her eyes was one she wished she could forget. Jason was laid out on the floor with the team surrounding him. He was white as a ghost and his eyes seemed to be focused on something other than life happening before him.
"Hurt" Jason slurred out.
"I know Jason. Just hang on, help is on the way." Benny said as he patted Jason's arm, trying to provide comfort to his best friend and boss.
Marissa looked at Benny at a loss for what was going on before their eyes. A man bigger than life, brought down out of the blue.
"What do you think is going on?" Danny whispered to Chunk.
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't look good." Chunk sighed.
"Tired." Jason slurred.
"Ok well just stay awake just a little bit longer." Benny said but this time as he watched Jason, he noticed Jason's face was drooping.
"Taylor, get back on the phone with 911! Tell them we need EMS NOW! He's having a stroke!" Benny yelled.
Taylor rushed out of the room to do as she was told.
"Benny are you sure?" Marissa panicked.
Benny just nodded as he kept an eye on Jason.
Jason's eyes filled with delight and he smiled a lopsided smile, one that Benny noted was an adorable half grin.
"Pre…tty" Jason slurred.
"Bull what did you say?" Benny asked.
"Cable!" Jason gasped.
Standing beside him was the one-person Jason never thought he would see again.
"Hey Dr. Bull" Cable smiled before squatting down beside Benny.
Jason stood up and embraced the young girl. Taylor might have taken her place in the office but she would never fill the void in his heart that Cable had left when she was killed. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"I missed you so much!" Jason said.
"It's time to go home now." Cable smiled as she placed her hand in his and led him to his office door.
"Benny, he's not breathing!" Marissa exclaimed.
Benny's fingers flew to Jason's neck, but there was no pulse.
"Ok EMS is on their way up!" Taylor exclaimed, walking back into the office.
Marissa looked up to her with tears in her eyes.
"It's too late Taylor." Marissa cried.
Benny took his hand and closed Jason's eyes. "He's gone."
"What?! You can't be serious?!" Taylor couldn't wrap her head around it.
"He whispered 'Cable' and then just slipped away." Danny said wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Cable…wasn't that?" Taylor asked receiving a nodded from Chunk.
EMS came into the office and confirmed what the team had already known, their boss slipped away surround by the team that loved him.
In the months that followed, TAC was trying it's best to keep its head above water. Benny had lost more cases then he had during Jason's recovery period from his heart attack. The strain was felt by all the team members but Benny was the one feeling it the worst. He felt yet again that he let Jason down. The first time, Benny let him walk out of the courtroom only to have a heart attack, now this time, Bull having a stroke that claimed his life. If only he would have saw the signs sooner. The only comfort he took was winning the case they had been working on at the time of Jason's death.
The funeral had been hard on Benny. Though the funeral home did an amazing job on Jason, the fact of knowing what the medical examiner did to Jason to determine his cause of death remained in the back of his head. He felt like he had lost so much in such a short amount of time. First Cable, now Jason. He remembered back to all the great times he had with Jason. Marissa was the one to bring him back to reality when she dropped a big paper envelope on his desk.
"What is this?" Benny asked.
"It's from the state medical examiner's office. They just sent it over." Marissa said grabbing a chair to sit next to him.
With that knowledge Benny slowly opened the envelope. He knew the documents that awaited him would tell him how his friend was able to die right beside him with no warning that something was wrong other than a headache. As he carefully took the paperwork out, he was shocked to find what Jason's cause of death truly I .
"Benny, what is it?" Marissa asked.
"He...he…he had a brain aneurysm. It had burst causing him to have a massive stroke. None of us could have known that." Benny said.
"I wonder if Jason himself knew." Marissa wondered.
"I guess that is something we will never know." Benny said placing the report back in the brown envelope.
That evening he felt like he owed it to himself and to Jason to run by the cemetery after work. He hadn't come out here nearly as much as he needed or wanted to. Instead he tried to bury his feelings in his work. He reached the tombstone with the name BULL in big letters. He never thought he would lose his best friend like this. He knelt and touched the black stone that glimmered in the late afternoon sun.
"What I wouldn't give to be able to talk to you one more time." Benny said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
He hung his head knowing that would never happen.
"Take care of him Cable. He can be a handful sometimes." Benny smiled.
He patted the tombstone and started on his way, back to his life that felt so empty. Leaning up against a tree was Cable and Jason watching over him.
"I sure will Benny." Cable whispered.
"We will always be there for you Benny and watch over you." Jason smiled before turning and walking in the opposite direction with Cable, holding her hand as they disappeared into the sunset.