"Hey there, son.....feeling any better today?" Claudette asked, smiling upon seeing her partner now sitting up in his bed. "You look alot better......how's the pain?"
"A little more bearable today...I'm really hungry...they brought me some food, but I haven't been able to keep anything down, 'cause my stomach is so upset."
"Sorry to hear that...actually, the food here doesn't look half bad," Claudette commented, motioning towards the tray of partially-eaten food that rested on a movable stand beside the bed.
"Yeah.....it tasted good for about a minute and a half before it came back up, anyhow," he lamented.
"Listen, Dutch......I don't know if you remember any of what happened to you....." she began; her sentence, however, was abruptly upended by her partner's sudden interjection.
"Actually, I do, but.....I really would rather talk to Vic about what happened....look, don't get the wrong idea.....you're my partner, and I know you really wanna help me out here, but....I wanna talk to Vic." With that said, he could see the immediate look of protest on her face. "Claudette, please......I'm too tired, and I'm in too much pain right now to argue with you about this......it's nothing against you-- you know better than that......let me talk to Vic."
"Alright, son.......have it your way- I'll tell him you wanna talk to him......but I'm still gonna be working this case one way or the other.....just remember that," Claudette replied calmly, her voice holding a slight bit of sternness as she spoke.
As Claudette entered the station, she noticed the Strike Team, sans Vic, heading towards her, apparently on their way out.
"Have any of you seen Vic?" she asked as they approached.
"Yeah- he's in the clubhouse.....why?" came the reply from Shane.
"Nothing- I just needed to give him a message, that's all.....thanks."
"Yeah- no problem."
Approaching the door to the Strike Team clubhouse, Claudette could hear the muffled sounds of Vic talking to someone, apparently over the phone.
"What?......No, no--four o'clock is fine..........look, don't worry--I said I'll take care of it.......okay, I'll see you guys later on for dinner.......bye." Hearing an end to the conversation, Claudette knocked on the door, wondering for a second if Vic would even want to talk to her given their most-of-the-time animosity they had had towards each other lately.
"Enter," came the usual call from inside; once she stepped inside the door, she immediately closed it behind her.
"Vic--we need to talk........now."
"Yeah? What about?" he asked, his gaze intentionally focused on the paperwork in front of him. "'Cause you know, I got a ton of paperwork to do......."
"Vic......it's about Dutch." At that moment, Vic's gaze shifted from the papers to Claudette.
"What about Dutchboy? Is he okay? I noticed he hasn't been in the past couple of days.....hope he didn't get a hold of some bad Ding-Dongs," he continued with a chuckle.
"Dammit, Vic, this is serious......Dutch is in the hospital right now." In an instant, Vic's expression went from kidding to puzzled.
"Dutchboy's in the hospital? What happened?"
"I don't know for sure.....all I know is that he was attacked by someone--maybe more than one person.....whatever it is, he's refusing to talk to me about it. He says he wants to talk to you."
"Me? Why me?"
"Look, I don't know why....I started to ask him if he remembered any of what happened to him, and right away, he said he did, but he wants to talk to you about it, not me."
"Well.....yeah.....sure, that's no problem- I'll go over there, and talk to him....."
"Look, Vic.......I know that you and I have our differences, but for the time being, I'm putting them aside....I've already told Dutch that I'd tell you he wanted to see you, but I also made sure he knew that I'm gonna be working this case no matter what happens, or who he talks to."
"Fair enough......anything else I need to know?" Vic asked, rising from the table, and putting on his black leather jacket; immediately, he noticed that, with his last question, Claudette seemed to suddenly become uncomfortable. "Claudette?"
"Vic, I saw the notes in Dutch's chart that were made when they brought him in, and examined him....." she began, suddenly falling silent.
"And?" Vic prodded, noticing that, whatever Claudette was about to tell him, it was truly bothering her; sighing, she then brought her gaze up from the floor, and locked eyes with him.
"Vic.........they said he was raped. By several individuals- they weren't exactly sure how many.....God, if he knew I'd gone, and found all this out......" she continued, now wiping tears from her eyes. A look of genuine concern on his face, Vic stood silent for a moment as what he'd just been told sunk in.
"Dutchboy was raped? Aw, Christ.......Claudette, I'm sorry..." he began, as he approached her; he knew how close she and Dutch had become in the years they had been working as partners.
"Vic, listen to me........no one in this building is to hear a word about any of this--your boys included."
"No, of course-- I won't breathe a word to anyone, I promise...especially the boys. They're not in on this at all.......just me. You have my word," he told her calmly, placing his hands on her shoulders, and trying to meet her gaze, as it had trailed off once again. "Hey......you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah......I'll manage....." she replied. "I just wanna find these bastards, and put 'em where they belong." "Hey," Vic began, gently lifting her chin so that their gazes met once again, "we're gonna get these assholes, alright? Trust me.....it's gonna be okay........alright--I'm gonna go talk to him...."
"Whatever you do, please don't let him know that you know anything about what happened to him..."
"Yeah- no problem."
"Vic?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," Claudette replied with a small smile; smiling in return, Vic nodded.
"You're welcome." With that, he turned, and left the clubhouse, leaving Claudette to look after him in momentary silence, wondering if this was the right thing to do, even though it had been her partner's request.