Mike and Jack rode together in the same taxi, not saying a word to each other. When they arrived at the hospital, they sat in the waiting room. Jack and Mike decided not to amuse themselves in the old magazines that were sitting out in front of them. Instead, they simply looked straight ahead looking for the nurse attending to Connie.
"Is there a Jack and Mike out here?" asked a nurse at random. Jack and Mike stood up. So did twenty other people. "They came to see a Mexican woman named Connie Rubirosa." Both Jack and Mike glared at the nurse with offense. That woman deliberately made fun of her race.
"I'm DA Jack McCoy," said Jack. The nurse looked at him in surprise. "This is one of my Executive ADAs, Micheal Cutter. Connie Rubirosa is his assistant." The nurse showed them in. Connie was stable. She was awake, but looked like she might fall asleep any minute.
"She was poisoned with something- I think it was Oxycontin. They pumped her stomach and she won't be able to do anything for days. She'll spend the next three or four days in and out of sleep. We'll keep a close eye on her."
"Thank you," he said walking over to Connie's side. Mike was already there. The nurse left the room, shutting the door behind her. Jack bent down and kissed Connie's forehead. She closed her eyes for a minute, and then opened them again. She looked at Jack and smiled. "Connie," he began, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
"Save it," she said weakly. "Thanks for the concern." She felt a tight squeeze on her hand. She looked up at Mike. Her eyes changed. They became softer. She wanted to say things that she didn't get the chance to. She was more in love with Mike than she would let on. She pulled her hand out of Mike's grasp and placed it tenderly on his cheek. She felt her arm burn with pain. She'd never felt so sick before. Mike placed her hand back on the bed.
"You need your strength," whispered Mike. Connie looked at him and a tear fell down her cheek. He brushed it away, leaving his hand on her cheek. He brushed his thumb over her cheek for a little while. He pulled her over to his face and kissed her. To his surprise, she returned the favor. After a few seconds (and realizing that Jack was still in the room), they broke apart. Her head fell back on the pillow, and her eyes closed, showing that she fell asleep. When she became limp with sleep, Mike and Jack exited the room. Jack looked at Mike.
"You really like her, don't you?" Jack observed.
Mike answered him with, "I don't like her a lot. I love her." Jack looked at him.
"I had an ADA that I was in love with while I was an executive," admitted Jack. Mike looked at him with mild surprise. Jack was sharing personal information with him. It was a true rarity. "Her name was Claire Kincaid. She was my assistant."
"The deceased Claire Kincaid?" asked Mike.
"The very same," admitted Jack. Mike looked ahead of him. His thoughts trailed back to his beloved Connie. He wanted to be a big man for her. To do that, however, he was going to have to get along with Jack.
Mike and Jack entered the 27th precinct. They were greeted by Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard. "So the DA shows his face in the precinct," said Lupo with a grimace. "We heard about Connie. How is she."
"Her stomach's been pumped and she's resting," said Mike. "She needs a couple of days to sleep and a few more in the hospital to gain back her strength, but she'll be alright." Mike began to stare into space.
"What did she drink today?" asked Bernard.
"Coffee from her favorite coffee place," said Mike. "I got her some to make up for lying to her." A light bulb seemed to go off in his head. "It might have been in that coffee." He turned heal and walked out of the precinct.
Once he got back to his office, he grabbed the half finished cup of coffee and took it to the police lab.
A tech came back with the rushed results. "We found a dangerous, almost lethal combination of Rohypnol and Oxycontin in the coffee," said the tech. "Someone must have slipped her a lethal rufe. I think that whoever did this wanted Ms. Rubirosa dead."
"Alright," said Mike, "thank you." He walked out of the office and handed the results to Jack. Jack looked at the results with a stunned expression. Mike nodded.
"We need to find who wanted Connie dead," said Mike.
"Maybe it was meant for you," said Jack. Mike looked stunned. "You purchased the coffee for her. Whoever made it wanted you to die, not Connie. They probably had no clue that she would drink it." Mike was stunned and wished for Connie to wake up or something so he could talk to her.