The Next Day…

Alex Eames walked into Major Case the next morning feeling awfully anxious. Bobby had been back from his leave for the past week, but something just didn't feel right. She had to be extra careful around him; it was like walking on egg shells, making sure that she didn't push him over the edge.

She felt as if it was her fault, that she should have seen this coming. All the other detectives thought he was crazy, but it was her fault for ignoring it. She thought it was just Bobby being Bobby Goren.

But no. She should have seen his breakdown coming. She knew him best.

"Eames, where the hell is your partner?" Ross asked as he walked to her desk. Alex looked at the empty desk across from her. Bobby was three hours late.

"I don't know." Eames said, obviously sounding worried. Ross sighed.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go find him. Tell him he's got a mountain of paperwork to finish." Ross said curtly as he walked away.

Bobby, where the hell are you?

She reached for her cell and punched in his number. C'mon Bobby, pick up your goddamn phone.

Five rings and he still wasn't picking up. Bobby, PICK UP! Eames grabbed her coat and rushed out of MCS; she ran straight to the elevator and pushed 'Down'. Please be okay, Bobby, just please be okay. As soon as she reached the garage level, she rushed to her SUV, unlocked the door, and jammed the key into the ignition. She drove as fast as she could to his apartment, and surprisingly she didn't hit anyone. She took every possible shortcut she could think of, and along the way she was hoping and praying that he wouldn't do anything stupid. He's Bobby Goren; he's eccentric, not crazy, right?

As soon as she parked the SUV in front of his building, she ran up the stairs to his apartment, two steps at a time.

Bobby, don't do anything you'll regret.

She finally arrives at Bobby's apartment and knocks on the door a few times. No one answers. "Bobby, open the door!" she yells. Nothing. "Bobby, if you don't open up the goddamn door right now, I'll just unlock it with your key!" Silence. She reaches for his key in her back pocket, and jams it into the door as she turns the handle, not knowing what to anticipate. She pushes the door open.

"Bobby?"

She looks around to find him until her eyes immediately stop on the man lying on the floor. She gasps.

"Oh my god, Bobby! Bobby, answer me!" She runs over to him and notices the opened vodka bottle and spilled pills all over the floor and counter. Bobby's lying lifelessly on the floor. She cradles Bobby in her arms, whispering words she knows he won't hear. Alex checks for a pulse, it's faint, but still there. She strokes his curly hair a few times, begging him to somehow just wake up, but she knows he won't.

She takes out her cell phone and calls for an ambulance. And then she waits.

The next five minutes were the longest five minutes in her life. Those were the minutes that determined whether her partner, her best friend, her confidante would live or die. When the ambulance arrives, she doesn't leave Bobby's side. The paramedics are pushing her aside, but she refuses to leave him. She left him once, and he almost died. She wasn't making that mistake again. Tears start streaming down her porcelain face and burn into her skin. Alex feels her throat contracting and unexpectedly she can't breathe. One of the paramedics rushes over to her and tells her to calm down.

"How the hell can I calm down when my partner might be dead?! Tell me, how the hell do you expect me to be calm?!"

Alex starts kicking and screaming. She smashes her hands into the wall of Bobby's apartment. The EMS doesn't look too alarmed, he's probably seen this a million times. "Miss, I going to need you to breathe and remain calm, your partner needs you to remain calm. You overreacting is not going to do him any good." the EMS tries to explain. Alex sobs and falls into his arms. He pats her back a few times until she appeared calmed down to some extent. Then he leads her out of Bobby's apartment.

He helps her climb into the ambulance, with Bobby on a stretcher. As soon as they closed the door, they were speeding off to the nearest hospital. Alex holds onto Bobby's hand and refuses to let go, even as one of the paramedics insists that she needs to move aside so that they can get his blood pressure. She stares back at the paramedic with her most determined looks, and she finally lets go of his hand so that they can put the BP cuff on him.

"112 over 68. His blood pressures steadying." the paramedic says with a slight smile, hoping that it'll give Alex some solace. She sighs and looks at his face, he looked like an angel.

As they're driving towards the hospital, Alex's tears finally stop. She had to be the stronger one out of the two for once. Bobby saved her once, and now it was her turn to return the favor.

"Don't worry Bobby, everything will be alright." She says as she strokes his hair.

To Be Continued… (How will Bobby react to being "saved"? Did Alex just save his life? Or did she ruin his death?)