To say that Patrick Jane was annoyed was much of an understatement. He should have been in the field with Lisbon and the guys, following a very promising lead into the Red John investigation.
There he was instead, trying to pull himself together before entering the hospital room of some random stranger that happened to be a close friend of Bertram's.
The man had been seriously injured in a car accident, and according to the doctors he wasn't going to make it through the night. However, he'd apparently managed to coax one of the nurses into calling the CBI director and asking him one last favor for his dying friend.
Why this guy was so desperate to talk to him was nothing short of a mystery to Jane. They'd met only once at one of those fundraising events that were mandatory for him to attend, and he'd barely exchanged four or five words with him on that occasion.
The sooner he got this over with, the better. He squared his shoulders and walked into the room, fake concern carefully written all over his face.
He could see the hint of a smile flashing across the bruised features of the man lying on the bed.
"You came."
Jane did his best not to shrug. "Director Bertram said you wanted to have a word with me."
"I did. Very much."
"Well – here I am, Mr. Reed. Anything in particular that you'd like to discuss?"
The other beckoned him to his bedside. "I know you'd rather be elsewhere, and yet you're exactly where you want to be. Ironic, isn't it?"
He raised an eyebrow, not bothering to conceal his annoyance this time. "I actually have a case to solve, so if you don't mind…"
Mr. Reed chuckled softly, despite clearly being in pain. "Patrick, Patrick. Always so single-minded that you can't see what's right before your very eyes."
Jane took in a sharp breath. All of a sudden he had a strange sense of foreboding that he couldn't quite shake off. What if this guy was going to tell him exactly what he craved for?
"Do you happen to have any information on the Red John investigation?"
"Even better than that."
He was quite aware of the manic glint that was showing in his eyes right now, but he just didn't care. "You know who he is?"
His hands were shaking uncontrollably as he eagerly waited for an answer. This man wouldn't be afraid of Red John coming after him, for he was going to die anyway.
The small nod Mr. Reed gave him was enough to make him dizzy with excitement. When the other gestured for him to get closer he complied immediately.
"His name. Tell me his name."
Mr. Reed grimaced with pain and closed his eyes briefly. "Everything I've done, I've done for you, Patrick. Just remember this."
It took a moment for those words to finally sink in. Surely he didn't mean – it couldn't be.
With one last effort the man spoke again. "I needed a worthy opponent, and so did you. Living up to your expectations of me wasn't that easy, but I enjoyed every moment of it. A pity that the game is over before either of us was expecting…"
The monitors behind the bed started beeping more and more loudly as Mr. Reed closed his eyes one last time.
Jane leaned heavily against the wall while a doctor quickly entered the room and tried in vain to resuscitate the patient. Then he let himself sink to the ground, burying his head against his knees.
Anyone would have probably mistaken him for a grieving relative or friend, though the truth was quite different as a matter of fact.
Author's note: This scene was originally meant to be a part of "Save Me", but I turned it into a separate fic since it didn't fit the other storyline. That's why the two stories share quite a similar premise, though each of them focuses on a slighly different angle.