CHAPTER THREE
Alex wasn't sure how long she stood mutely in the hall. She started when she felt a soft touch on her shoulder.
"Eames."
She turned to find Mike Logan standing behind her. Just behind him, almost as if he used the bigger man as a shield, was Captain Danny Ross. Both men waited for Alex to explode, but at that moment she was too exhausted and confused to strike out.
"How is he?" Logan asked in as gentle a voice as Alex could ever remember him using.
"I don't know," Alex answered. "They took him in there. He…He didn't say anything all the way in…He…He looked so hurt…"
Logan and Ross gently guided her to the waiting area. Still hugging Bobby's binder, Alex sat heavily on a worn chair. Logan and Ross sat on equally worn chairs on either side of her.
"Look," Logan said. "He's a big, strong guy. He'll be ok." He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself as much as Alex.
"He'll be ok, Eames," Ross said. "If only so he can keep annoying me."
"I…I'm sorry, Captain…If what I did got you in trouble…but…I had to find him," Alex said, although her tone was far from apologetic. "And I can't stand it any more…That cops think Copa was the victim…Even though Bobby agreed to staying quiet…I couldn't…"
"It's all right, Eames," Ross said. "We should've told the truth from the beginning. All that we did to protect Copa's family…He certainly didn't care about them, in spite of everything he said."
A young nurse emerged from the ER and approached them. The three cops tried to ignore the blood stains on her scrubs. "Are you here for Officer Goren?"
"Yes," Alex said.
The nurse sat across from the trio. "He's going to be ok…He took a bad beating, but nothing was broken. He has some deep tissue bruising, and we want to keep him at least overnight to make sure we didn't miss anything. He's going to be in some pain for a few days, and he'll look terrible in the morning when all the bruising comes up on his face. Quite honestly, he doesn't look that good right now, but he should be all right. We're just about to move him to a room. If all goes well, he should be discharged late tomorrow or early the next day." She stood. "We are worried about his emotional state. He's said very little…almost nothing…"
"Can I see him?" Alex asked anxiously as she stood.
"You can come with us while we move him and then stay in his room," the nurse replied. "It'll be good for him to have someone he knows with him."
Alex started after the nurse. There was a sudden rush of activity at the ER entrance.
"My God," Logan said with a mixture of anger and shock. "What's he doing here?"
Ross stared as the Chief of Detectives barreled past the information desk. "Logan…Don't let Eames near him…"
For several moments, Logan's jaw worked as he stacked the loss of his pension and/or exile back to Staten Island against telling the Chief what he thought of him. "All right, Captain," he growled. "But only because I like and owe you and Goren and Eames."
Ross planted himself directly in the Chief's path.
"Ross!" the Chief bellowed. "What the hell happened? I got a call that four of my detectives were arrested for attacking another…"
"Three," Ross said coldly. "Three detectives…and one ex-detective…"
Ross' words and attitude slowed the Chief. "Yes…Copa…Word of his…"
"Crime," Ross said, anger slipping into his voice. "Copa was the ringleader of an attack on Detective First Class Robert Goren…Copa isn't worthy of licking Goren's boots."
"Goren…" The Chief stared at Ross.
"Yes…Robert Goren…The detective you've had a vendetta against since he showed Copa to be the lousy cop and man he is."
"Danny," the Chief spluttered. "Don't presume…"
"I don't presume anything," Ross said. His long suppressed anger and the sight of what Copa had done to Goren fueled his words. "I don't know how you can support a rat like Copa and not give a break to Goren."
"Goren…" The Chief recovered. "Has showed more of the Department's dirty laundry…"
"And made it look better than many detectives." Ross wasn't about to back down. "Goren is the victim here, Chief…Copa did this to him…"
"One of the agreements the Department made with Copa…to get his resignation…was that the details of…of…"
"His failures as a cop?" Ross asked.
"That's more consideration than this Department has ever given my partner." Ross and the Chief turned to see Alex standing in front of Logan. "Look, Chief…Look right there…" She pointed to a battered and bruised Bobby Goren, who was being wheeled out of the ER. "Look at him, Chief…" Her voice was soft and tight. "That's what Copa…the man you're so worried about…did."
The Chief, Ross, and Logan stared at Bobby, who lay mutely on the hospital bed. His right hand was enveloped in a white bandage. Darkening bruises covered his bare shoulders and arms. Another white bandage covered his forehead. The right side of his face was one frightening bruise, and his right eye was swollen shut. Several stitches closed the cuts on his lip. Bobby's head was turned away from the three men, who all felt grateful that they couldn't see his eyes.
Alex started to follow Bobby, but she hesitated and turned back to face the Chief. "Are you sorry?" she asked. "Sorry that Copa embarrassed you? Or sorry that he didn't finish the job?"
Before the Chief could respond, she was in the elevator with Bobby.
END CHAPTER THREE
You've probably guessed that I'm using this fic to get characters to say and do things I wished they do on the show.
