Cagney's Crisis Part 4
***Chris and David's Apartment***
***Week 2 of chemo, round 1***
Christine and David were lying in bed when her alarm went off. 6 a.m. always came too early. She turned it off and grabbed her glass of water and chugged it. She was always so thirsty when she woke up, thanks to the chemo pills. She stretched and rolled over and kissed David.
"Good morning. I am gonna grab a shower…."
They had settled into a good routine. She would grab a shower first, and then he would grab one right after her. She put on her makeup while he was in the shower so that they weren't bumping into each other. Sometimes he would make breakfast for her while she showered, and sometimes she would make it for him after she was ready. On the weekends, they were a little more lazy with each other.
She grabbed two towels, one for her body and one for her hair, and set them on the counter. She turned on the water and when it got hot, jumped in. She always woke up best when she let the water wash over her for a minute.
She washed her face, and then shampooed her hair. She felt it as soon as it happened, and as she brought her hand around in front of her face, the tears came faster than she expected.
In her hand, was a clump of hair….
She had hoped it wasn't going to happen to her. She had prayed, she had begged and pleaded with god. And there in her hand, was the proof that none of that had worked.
She was devastated. How was anyone going to be able to stand to look at her, much less love her and want to be with her in any capacity if she didn't have hair? There was no bright side to this, no silver lining.
She rinsed her hair very carefully, cried harder when more came out. She turned the water off, and dried off quickly. She towel dried her hair and immediately grabbed the hair dryer, flipped her head upside down and began drying her hair.
More fell, not a large amount, but a good amount, on to the floor below. She finished drying her hair, which didn't take long at all, and she stood up. She tried to style it as much as she could. So far, no bald spots were present, yet.
Then she quickly gathered up all the hair that had fallen. She was going to pretend that everything was still normal while David was around… at least for this morning.
She put her makeup on. It took her several times, because she had to keep dealing with tears. She finally said no mascara, and just focused on eyeliner.
She went to wake up David then, and after she woke him up, she quick turned away so he wouldn't see her face.
She made it to the kitchen as he was getting up, and started making her coffee. She was loving the new Keurig that Bridgit had brought her, but even that wasn't enough to make her smile today.
She scrambled some eggs and microwaved some bacon, and at the last second, tossed 2 bagels into the toaster. She made both of them bacon egg and cheese bagels, and started his coffee.
David was getting out of the shower, and grabbed his towel off the counter. He was drying off when he saw it…. A lock of hair on the edge of the sink. His hair was dark black, and hers was the prettiest shade of blonde with a hint of caramel. There was no doubt this was her hair…..
After he got dressed for the day, he went to the kitchen. He stopped in the office to grab his briefcase, and noticed hers too. So he brought both, and set them by the door.
He came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.
"Morning babe, thanks for making breakfast". He could tell she was jumpy, and decided it was best to not bring attention to it. She turned around and kissed him, and he could tell she had tears in her eyes.
"You ok, Chris?"
"I'm fine. Just emotional today, I guess."
She ate her bagel sandwich, and started getting her meds out. All that was left was for her to fill her Camelbak and head to work, after she took her meds.
The nausea came and went, but she didn't get sick as long as she kept food in her stomach and took a Phenergan with her morning medicines and her dinner ones. Taking a Phenergan at dinner had really helped with Chris being able to sleep through the night.
She finished taking her meds, and filled her Camelbak. Feldberg had readily agreed to have a water cooler and an ice machine installed on their floor. He put it as close to her office as possible, and sent a memo around to everyone that they were encouraged to bring water bottles to fill up as opposed to buying plastic water bottles. Everyone seemed to be really excited about it so far.
Cagney put on her coat and picked up her briefcase. She grabbed her lunch out of the fridge.
"See you tonight babe, I love you!" She kissed David bye. He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her a few more times.
"Have a good day babe, love you". She headed out the door.
She got all the way to the car before she started crying…..
***Chris and Mary Beth's office***
Mary Beth could tell something wasn't right with Chris, but didn't' want to push. She knew her partner, when she was ready to talk about it she would. Maybe with Mary Beth, and maybe not. Who she talked to about it wasn't the point; talking about it and not keeping it all bottled up was.
They worked separately, on the same case. Mary Beth was typing up witness statements, and Chris was making a timeline of the case. They were investigating a string of robberies that involved going to a hotel room with a pretty blonde woman, and being robbed by her and a friend who showed up later. The men were always tied up and left naked in the hotel. Christine was trying to link these cases to a string of assaults on women- the women were beaten, raped, and left unconscious in a hotel room, also having been robbed of clothes and money, phones, etc. Chris just knew in her gut that the friend in the robberies of the men was responsible for the robberies and assaults of the women.
She finished her 5th bottle of water that morning. The nurse had told her to aim for drinking ½ her body weight in ounces in water each day. Christine was blowing past that number by lunch time most days.
She took a bathroom break, filled her water bottle and came back to her desk.
She checked her phone, sent David an "I love you text" and as she was putting her purse back in the desk drawer, she saw it. More hair had fallen out on the floor. Suddenly she became paranoid…. What if some had dropped when she went to the bathroom? Had she left a trail on her way to the bathroom? How long could she keep this from David, and those that loved her?
Mary Beth looked over and saw that Chris was really struggling. She walked over and sat beside her. She began to pat her shoulder in a reassuring way.
"You know, I remember being so emotional and over the top about things when I took radiation. There were some days I thought I was going to explode like a volcano if one more thing went wrong. It's all perfectly normal, but it doesn't feel perfectly normal and that was the part that got to me…."
Chris looked up. "It's happening Mary Beth. The one part that I had begged and pleaded with God not to take…. ".
Mary Beth handed her a tissue.
"Remember when I got that horrible perm and burnt the ends, and had to get my hair cut really, really short? What did you say to me then, Partner? Oh yes, I remember now. You said 'It's only hair, it will grow back. You may never have hair this short again, so embrace it and have fun with it'."
"That's different Mary Beth. You weren't bald.".
"No, and you don't have to be either. We are going to handle this just perfectly. We are going to keep working here, have a nice lunch, take your meds. Normal day. Then we are going to leave and go to a hair salon. My beautician, Trish- she will fix you all up. She is going to shave your head, so you don't have to worry about anymore falling out. She has a wonderful selection of scarves that you can choose from, and then we are going to go to a wig shop. Trust me Chris, the wigs they have there, people won't know any difference at all".
Christine nodded.
"Thank you Mary Beth.". They held hands for a minute, and Mary Beth gave Chris a hug.
"Partners. In everything."
"Partners. Now let's go to lunch so we can get back to work".
***Chris and Mary Beth's office, later that afternoon***
Chris' mood improved greatly after lunch. It helped her that she had a plan in place.
She sent David a text, telling him that they needed to talk that night. He did her one better though, he came to her office and took her outside to talk.
"Chris, you don't have to say anything. I know what's going on…. I found some of your hair in the sink this morning, and after that, it all made sense, why you were jumpy, why you let me sleep later than normal…." He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead.
"It just happened so fast…"
"It's ok, Chris, honest. It doesn't change anything. You aren't the first one to have their hair fall out from Cancer, and you won't be the last. You also aren't the first to beat Cancer's ass with a bald head. A beautiful bald head at that".
She filled him in on the plan then, and told her it was a great one.
"I will have dinner waiting for you, whatever you like. You will be just as beautiful when you come tonight as you were this morning when you left, if not more so."
"You are too sweet, David. I want to ask you something, and I want your honest opinion. Is it going to bother you if I wear scarves around the apartment? I have heard that wigs are itchy".
"Not a bit, babe. I love you, and that includes you in anything-or nothing- that you choose to wear".
She hugged him then, and kissed him tight.
"I need to get back to work, but thanks for coming to talk to me, David. I love you".
He kissed her, and walked her back to his office. She kissed him goodbye and then as he was leaving, he found Mary Beth in the hallway.
"Chris told me about what you are doing with her tonight, I can't thank you enough" He pulled out his wallet and got his credit card out. "Let me pay for it? And tip your beautician very well- I mean it!".
Mary Beth nodded and took his credit card. "No thanks are necessary, she's my Partner. Happy to do it!". He kissed her on the cheek and told her he would see her tonight.
Mary Beth went back into their office, and went to her desk.
"Pay dirt Mary Beth!" Christine had just figured it out.
"The women who were assaulted and robbed in the hotel rooms, all stated they met the man they left with at Lucky's on 8th and West End. The hotel was just a block or two down the street from there. The men who were robbed and left in the hotel rooms stated that they met the woman they left with at Pete's Tavern. Pete's Tavern is 2 doors down from Lucky's. I looked up the deeds to both places, and they are owned by the same person, Steve Jackson. I put the name Steve Jackson into the mugshot database, and entered in the appropriate parameters, bingo! Up comes a mugshot, and his description matches the description the men gave of the friend in the hotel rooms".
"So you are saying that he owns the clubs, and has some girls working for him and is robbing folks that come to his establishments as a side business?"
"Looks that way to me! I am going to talk to Feldberg and see if we can get some undercover detectives to go in both places and scope it out."
"Good work, Partner1". Christine ran to talk to Feldberg, and Lacey called her beautician.
"Tonight at 5:30. Sounds great! Thank you so much!".
Christine walked back in to the office.
"Feldberg said yes, and is assigning the teams right now".
"Trish said yes and will see us at 5:30".
Chris was trying to feel better, and she did feel better about having a plan in place. But, she was still nervous.
***The Beauty Salon***
Chris sat in the chair.
"Ok darling, what are we doing today? Mary Beth said you want to shave your head. How short do you want to go?"
"Well, it's falling out, so as short as possible, I guess". Chris blinked back the tears.
"Ok. I got this. Just relax, and don't worry about a thing"
Christine reached up and touched her hair one last time…..
It didn't take long. Trish saved some in a baggy, and gave it to Chris.
"I also saved a good portion of it, in case you want to come back after it grows back and have me to do your highlights again".
Christine picked out a couple scarves, and Trish threw one in for free. Mary Beth paid her, with David's credit card, unbeknownst to Chris, and they headed to the Wig shop, after Chris got her scarf on her head.
***The Wig shop***
Christine felt very overwhelmed at the number of options in the wig shop. Short, long, straight, curly, and all kinds of color options.
Christine looked around aimlessly for several minutes, and then finally found the ones that looked like her.
She was finally able to picture herself in one of these and looking normal. She selected 2 that looked exactly like her hair had been. That way nobody would notice. And she selected another one, that was a little bit longer, for days when she wanted to style it more. The saleslady explained that these wigs were made from regular, human hair, and could be styled the same way as everyone else-flat iron, curling wand, you name it. The only thing you had to remember was not to sleep in them, and to rinse them out at night in warm water.
Christine put the 3 wigs in her basket, along with a bottle of conditioner and a salve the lady recommended for her skin for irritation. She also grabbed a mini flat iron, and some hairspray.
"Christine, David asked me to let him pay for this. He gave me his credit card". Christine was touched. He was always surprising her, that's for sure.
Christine placed her basket on the counter and let Mary Beth handle the rest. As soon as it was paid for, she asked the saleslady to help her put one of the wigs on.
The saleslady showed her to the vanity. She walked her through all the steps, and helped her get the wig just right.
She handed Christine her business card. "If you have any questions, I want you to call me, day or night. You can trust me- I started this business when I lost my hair to cancer too. I got through it and you will as well, and you will look just as pretty as you always have in the meantime". Christine hugged her and thanked her for her help.
She dropped Mary Beth at the subway, and headed home to David.
***Christine and David's apartment***
David was busy making dinner for Chris. He had pulled out one of her old favorites: Mussells marinara, veal parmesan, and Caesar salad. The only thing missing from this dinner was the wine that she no longer drank. He poured her a glass of San Pellegrino, which she loved. She was especially fond of the Blood Orange flavor. He had bought a mini fridge for their bedroom to hold her water bottles. It was stocked with San Pellegrino also.
Everything was simmering when she walked in the door. He went over and kissed her, and she hugged him for several minutes. She went to her purse, and got his credit card.
"Thank you", she said as she handed it to him.
"Anything for you, Chris". He kissed her again and just held her.
"it was very extravagant, David. Let me pick up the slack for a while". She was trying to make this living with him thing fair.
"Chris, there's no need for you to pick up the slack. I sold my apartment remember?"
"Yes, but you also remodeled our kitchen, and you have paid every doctors bill of mine since I got sick. I don't want to drain you, David".
"You aren't. If we were married, we would be paying these things together. We aren't and that's ok. I would pay for it if we were, and I can pay for it this way too. It's fine, Chris, really".
She nodded, but she had decided that she was going to pay him back, somehow. She just had to figure out how to do so.
"I am starved! What's cooking?" Food was most definitely the easiest and fastest way to her heart.
"Your favorites. Mussels marinara, veal parmesan, and Caesar salad. I picked up some more San Pellegrino in your favorite flavor, and… there might be a small but functional surprise in our bedroom, for you."
She wrapped her arms around him. "You are most definitely my favorite, Mr. Keeler. I can't wait to dig in. I am going to change clothes and find the surprise". She kissed him and headed to the bedroom with her packages.
She immediately spotted the surprise mini-fridge. He was so thoughtful.
She put the wigs in the bathroom and got them set up. The plastic heads they sat on creeped her out a little, but she would get used to it. She made space in her drawers for the scarves, and then changed into her comfy clothes.
She and David enjoyed their dinner. He was an amazing cook, and this really was one of her favorite meals. She ate every bite, and even had seconds. She took her meds after they cleaned the kitchen together, and as they sat on the couch, she began to tell him about the case she was pretty sure she had cracked that day.
"Sounds like you blew it open, babe. How did it feel to be back at it?" this was her first big case since she had gotten sick
"It felt amazing! I hope the detectives who are undercover can dig up some really good dirt that will help us nail the creep and his dirtbag blondes that work for him".
"What about you? Did you have court today?" He nuzzled her neck and said "nope". She kissed his lips ever so gently.
"That's good". He kept kissing her face, and she was loving it. He was a very attentive lover.
"My boss asked me to take a work trip to represent someone in Louisiana. I told him no way". He kissed her again.
"Was he ok with that? I can be ok here, if you have to go. Honest".
"He was fine, he got someone else. It's ok". He continued to kiss her neck and chest.
"Well, I hate to think I am keeping you from something important, but I would miss this nice little sexual routine we have started….."
"Me too. That's why I said no". He kissed her again, and held her close.
" I did some research this morning on the medicines I am taking. And I think it's possible that the anxiety meds that Dr. Davidson put me on have amped up my sex drive. So I made a decision, and I hope that it's ok with you.."
"What's that babe?" He was busy kissing the side of her face and nibbling on her ear lobe…..
"I decided that… I am going to keep taking it"….
"I second that". David and Chris had always had a healthy sex life. When they first met years ago, they saw each other about 3-4 times a week, and he regularly spent the night at her place. Then they broke up, and he tried everything to get her back. It wasn't until Charlie died that she even agreed to speak with him. She went on a total bender after Charlie's funeral, and just about had a breakdown over losing her dad. David was the one who really helped her through that, in the first days. He called in Mary Beth to relieve him, when he couldn't do it anymore. They did the friendship thing, and slowly started dating again, while she was in AA. He had let her pick the pace. They found each other again, but then he proposed and selfishly walked away when she turned him down. Now that he got her back, he couldn't get enough of her. She felt the same way. She always wanted to be where he was, as close as possible.
David and Christine weren't just good together physically, they were electric. Christine always let down her guard when she was with David. She had never really been able to do that with anyone else, not even her ex-husband.
They laid on the couch and kissed for a couple more hours. Christine could have laid there forever, and David could have too. She loved him with inch of her, every part of her soul.
He picked her up, and carried her to the bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed, before climbing in next to her. He kissed her hungrily, and sat her up.
"Take it off, babe".
She hesitated, then she took her wig off, and carefully laid it on her nightstand.
He leaned forward, kissed her head where her hair had been, and then he gently and ever so romantically made love to her.
They made love several times that night, and even soaked in the tub together. After their bath, she prepared her wig for tomorrow, like the lady had shown her. She put the scarf on her head, and they went to bed. He held her all night long, never wanting to let her go.
***Chris and Mary Beth's office***
Chris was sitting in her car in the parking garage. She was nervous to go in. It was her first day to wear a wig to work, and she was very nervous. David had reassured her that she looked exactly the same, and she agreed with him, but she was still nervous. She texted Mary Beth that she was going to give it a shot. Mary Beth texted her that it was going to be fine, and that she would see her when she got in.
As usual, Mary Beth was right. Her wig was so close to what her hair had looked like, that nobody noticed. Christine was relieved.
The undercover detectives came to give a report of what they uncovered at the bars. It was exactly as Chris had suspected. The "friend" was the owner of the club, and he was paying the girls to tie men up, sleep with them, and rob them. It was a prostitution with benefits ring. They had a few hours of tape showing him appearing to be pointing out to the girls who to approach. Christine knew that wouldn't hold up in court though, so they agreed to get a detective to be one of the men they approached. They also placed a few hidden cameras in a couple of hotel rooms, and placed another detective as the desk clerk. He was going to make sure that when the women came in with their men, and when the men came in with the girls, that they were given the room with the cameras. He would remotely turn the cameras on, and then detectives would be in an adjoining room waiting to bust them.
It was all going to go down tonight. Cagney gave the lead her cell phone number and told her to call her when it was over.
Cagney went back to her office and began to explore the other illegal aspects of this ring. She asked Feldberg to give her a subpoena to get the bank records of both bars. She also wanted to subpoena his phone records, and internet transactions to see if they were selling the phones and jewelry that they took from their victims.
She put out a description to the suspects to all the pawn shops around there, told them to contact her if they came in to sell anything at all, or if they had done business with them before. It was busy day with her and Mary Beth trying to cover all the angles, but it passed pretty quickly, and before she knew it, she was headed home. Nobody had been any the wiser about her wearing a wig. If they had, at least they had been kind and decent enough to not say anything.
She got home before David, and after changing her clothes and taking her wig off, she started some laundry.
She changed the sheets on their bed, and sprayed the new sheets with the linen spray that David loved. Then she started to cook dinner.
David came home with fresh flowers for her, and found her making his favorite- chicken stir fry with mushrooms and zucchini.
"Have a good day babe?" He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her.
"yes, actually, it was great". She kissed him several times and just let him hold her.
"I am making your favorite stir fry for dinner, and I thought maybe after we ate, we could make a fire in the fireplace and watch a movie".
"Sounds wonderful, babe. Happy Friday". He kissed her a few times, and then helped her make dinner. He unloaded the dishwasher, and bagged up the trash and took it to the trash chute at the end of the hall.
After they ate, he made them a fire and Chris did the dishes. She took her meds, and made herself some hot tea.
They settled on the couch with some blankets, and Chris started going through the mail. Alice Christine had mailed her another get well card as a surprise, which Chris just loved. She texted Mary Beth to tell her thank you.
David's law office had sent her a get well card, and had included a couple gift cards to restaurants for them. Bert Samuels had sent a card also. "To my favorite second whip- whip it like we all know you will. Love Bert".
She nestled against him, while they watched the movie. He rubbed her shoulders for her some, and she fell asleep with him, under the blanket. It was a perfect Friday night for them. They didn't need to go anywhere or do anything, they just needed each other.
To be continued….