Chapter 2
Some hours later found Mike Stone heading for his younger partner's apartment. He had called several times in the course of the afternoon but there was no answer. He had assumed that - as usual - the phone was hidden in the empty fridge.
On speculation, he had stopped on the way to buy some orange juice, bread and a few tins of chicken soup- the failsafe remedy to cure all from a common cold to a broken heart. But when he pulled in at the side of Steve's apartment, he was getting a bit concerned. Steve's car was extremely badly parked - so unlike Steve, who was a natural driver and took exceptional care with his beloved car.
He must have been really unwell to leave his car part blocking the road. Mike went closer and his heart almost stopped. The driver's door was slightly open, and the key was still in the ignition. Something wasn't right! He ran up the steps to the apartment and tried the door- unlocked as well! He barged in, calling for Steve. No reply, but he immediately saw the stretched out body of his partner on the sofa.
"Steve, you almost gave me a heart attack!"
Steve didn't move. Mike crossed the floor in a few strides.
"Steve, wake up!" He shook the young man's shoulder but got no response.
Mike was getting really worried now. Many times he had roused his partner when he needed him to come on duty at odd hours, and Steve was always alert at the first ring of the doorbell. Something was decidedly wrong there.
"Buddy boy!" he patted Steve's cheeks in a frantic effort to wake him up and then in a state of near panic felt for the carotid pulse. Irregular, weak, but palpable. What happened in the last few hours to cause such a dramatic deterioration in his condition? A common cold in the morning- near comatose in the afternoon? Mike's gaze fell on an array of pill boxes on the coffee table.
"Oh my God, Steve, what have you done?"
He grabbed the phone and started dialling for an ambulance when Ed Brown entered through the open door. Like Mike, Ed had tried to reach Steve several times and he was getting a bit concerned, too. When he saw Stone's face he knew things were bad. The Lieutenant handed him the phone.
"We need an ambulance, possible overdose or cross reaction between different types of medication."
Ed didn't hesitate. Mike went back to the sofa, trying to get some reaction from Steve.
"Come on now, wake up. It's Mike. Don't do this to me, open your eyes!" He kept slapping his friend's cheeks until he heard the siren of the approaching ambulance.
In the meantime Ed had gathered the bottles and boxes on the coffee table in plastic bags he had found in one of Steve's kitchen drawers. He handed them to Mike who was going to accompany his partner in the ambulance.
"The doctors will need to know what he might have taken, but the packaging has to be dusted for prints." Ed gently reminded the distraught older detective.
"Ed, could you see to Steve's car? It is not safe the way he left it and it would just about kill him if something happened to his wheels." Mike swallowed hard.
Ed checked the flat and bagged a glass that was standing on the coffee table. Something didn't feel right and he was sure that Mike Stone would have noticed it too, had he not been so beside himself with worry.
Steve's .38 was on the kitchen table. Ed lifted it carefully with a pencil and smelled it. It had been recently fired. The gun was also bagged as evidence. Then he went out to Steve's car. Like Mike he was surprised to find it unlocked and badly parked. The tall young man slid easily behind the wheel and started the engine to park the car properly. Again, something struck him as odd, very odd, but he just couldn't put his finger on it yet. So far there was no evidence of any foul play, but he felt the need to secure both the apartment and the car.
After a phone call to Ironside, he made his way over to the hospital to see how the patient was doing. He found Mike Stone in the waiting area, staring silently at the pill containers in the plastic bag he was holding.
"Any news?" Ed asked as he lowered his lanky frame into a chair next to Stone.
"No, they are still working on him. They reckon it is a cross reaction between all the tablets he took. I really don't get this. I've never seen all this stuff in his place before!"
"And how would you know what medication he keeps in his cupboards, Mike?" Stone looked up, surprised to hear Chief Ironside's voice.
"Mark insisted on coming here with a sample of his grandmother's tea. He fears that he is guilty of poisoning the young man." Ironside explained.
Mike waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, surely not, but maybe give it to someone to be analysed." He pointed towards the reception desk.
"Well, Mike how would you know what drugs stashes he has?" Ironside asked again.
Mike looked up. "I only went through his bathroom cabinets a few days ago because I was looking for a plaster and some iodine. There was nothing there except some headache tablets and a burn cream. "
"He could have stocked up in the meantime," the Chief insisted.
Stone looked at the contents of the bag again. "No, he never takes that brand of painkillers. I offered him one of them before and he told me they contain codeine and it gives him a headache. And sleeping tablets? The boy doesn't need sleeping tablets!"
"I'm sure we'll find out when he comes to, Mike." Ironside didn't want to say the obvious; he felt that his friend needed to come to the conclusion himself. "Well, Mike, I don't think there is anything else we can do here, we'll better get going."
"Sure. Thanks, Ed. You were very thoughtful and efficient," Mike said as he looked at Brown.
"I would expect no less from a man I have trained myself." Ironside stated and started wheeling himself towards the door.
Ed smirked when he heard the back handed compliment. Well - better than no acknowledgement at all... He addressed Stone. "Please let me know if there are any changes or if there is anything I can do!"