Chapter 4

They left him in the restraints the rest of the night. She understood the need for them, if Bobby ripped the tube out, it could damage his throat. But she wished that the doctor would have just told him that. Instead, she had given him the pain killers, gave a brief explanation to Eames and left for the evening.

Goren slept soundly through the rest of the night and woke by instinct at six the next morning. Eames was still asleep in the chair. She looked uncomfortable the way she was curled up in it.

He longed to touch her, but the annoying Velcro cuffs were still attached to his wrists. He could feel the plastic tube in his throat. He wanted it out. Now. He also knew he was facing a bunch of tests before its removal. More than wanting it out for comfort, he wanted it gone so he could talk to Eames. He needed to tell her.

He didn't remember much from when he had woken up before. He remembered the pain and the choking. He remembered Eames voice breaking through his haze of pain. He remembered her touch. Her stroking his hair, his face. He loved it and hadn't wanted her to stop.

He wished she was awake to talk to him. But he was not selfish enough to wake her. He closed his eyes to wait.

Eames woke late in the morning, the clock showed that it was after eight. She smiled when she saw Goren awake and looking at her.

"Hey Bobby." she rubbed his arm. "I told Ross that I would come in today and do the paper work on this mess. When they come to get you, I'm going to head over to 1PP.

Goren was unhappy with the announcement. But he couldn't stop her. He held her hand tightly until the nurse orderlies came in.

"Good morning Mr. Goren. Time to get started on some tests and x-rays." the nurse said.

Eames gave him a smile and squeezed his hand. "I'll see you later."

Eames was so tired that she almost fell asleep in the elevator. She exited on the 11th floor and went to her desk. Before she had fully sat down, Mike Logan came over to her.

"How is he doing?" He asked.

"He woke up last night." she told him. "I think he is better. I left when they took him for tests."

Logan nodded. Knowing how tired she was, he turned back towards his desk. "Keep me updated."

Eames wasn't surprised to find the forms she needed already sitting on the desk top. She sighed and started working on them.

An hour later she gathered everything up and walked it into Ross' office. "All finished Capitan."

Ross looked over it quickly. "Thanks for coming in. IA was starting to breathe down my neck."

"Anything else sir?" she asked. She didn't care what IA wanted. He partner had been shot.

"Yes." Ross looked up. "How's your partner?"

Your partner. Never Goren, or Bobby. Always your partner. "Better, I think. They are running tests on him now. He is still weak, so he can't have a lot of visitors."

"Note, I'll pass that along. Keep me posted." Ross gave her a once over as she turned to leave. "And Eames,"

She turned back. "Yes, Capitan?"

"Go home and get some sleep. You're no good to yourself or him right now."

Eames nodded and decided to obey this time. She would only rest an hour then go back to the hospital. She made the long drive home and reacquainted herself with her bed.

Some time later she woke up when her stomach rumbled loudly from hunger. She rolled over and looked at her clock. Four hours had passed since she had laid down. Great, Bobby is probably going crazy.

She pulled herself out of bed and made herself something to eat. Then she quickly showered and dressed. When this is all over I am taking a long bath... She pulled into the hospital nearly six hours after she had left that morning.

When she entered the room, she found her partner asleep. The ET tube was gone, a nasal canula was in its place, and the restraints were gone as well. She was glad of that. His color was a lot better than before.

Goren sensed her presence and opened his eyes. He smiled when he saw her. "You're late." he rasped.

"The captain ordered me home to sleep. I didn't mean to stay that long." Eames explained.

"Thats OK, you deserved it." Goren pressed the button to raise his bed into a sitting position. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the dizziness to pass.

"You OK?" Eames asked, touching his arm.

He smiled. She noticed everything. "I'm OK, just a little dizzy."

"Then put the bed back down." she reached for the button to lower is back down.

Goren knocked her hand away and held it tightly. "No, leave it. I'm tired of laying down."

"You're a stubborn ox." she said fondly. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible." He answered frankly.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked, concerned creeping into her voice.

He shook his head. "No."

She could see that he was still really weak. It was not lost on her that movements or talking to long caused him to grimace in pain. But there was something else in his eyes too, something she couldn't read. She took a step out on a limb. "Bobby, Wizneski shooting himself was not your fault."

"Eames.."

"I'm serious. He would have done it even if we hadn't gone down to talk to him." She continued.

"Alex." His voice was quiet when he spoke. "I don't want to talk about it."

She nodded, already feeling his walls going up. "OK Bobby, I'm not going to force you to say anything. But I'm here when you're ready."

He nodded. He was so tired. His chest hurt a lot, but he didn't want to ask for more drugs. He didn't like the way they made him feel.

"What did the doctor say after the tests?" She changed the subject. Hoping to keep from being shut out completely.

"Dr. Carter said that I was breathing well enough to remove the breathing tube. They wanted to leave the chest tube in for another day or so."

"Anything else?" she prodded.

"Not to move around too much, or try to get up." Goren was starting to fade. "That I wasn't out of the woods yet."

"OK Bobby, why don't you rest?" Eames suggested.

"Stay with me?"

Eames couldn't decipher the tone in his voice nor the look in his eye. He was keeping something from her, if she could only figure out what. She cupped his cheek with her hand, her thumb rubbing over his skin. "Oh course I'll stay."

Goren gave her a weak smile before drifting off. He fell into a dream filled slumber.

Eames went home and slept in her own bed that night. She slept soundly knowing that he was out of the worst of it.

Ross managed to convince Eames to take the rest of her time off that she should have used from the Gage case. She had wanted to go back to the hospital but got stuck running errands that had been previously forgotten.

It was nearly one when she parked once again at the hospital. On the way there she had stopped at Goren's apartment and picked up somethings that he might want.

His keen eyes honed in on the bag as she walked in. "What did you bring me?"

Eames moved the bag to the bed. "I brought your comb, tooth-brush, pajamas, and most importantly." she reached into the bottom of the bag and whipped out a thick book.

He snatched it from her hand. "Thank goodness. There is nothing to do here but sleep."

Eames bit her lip as his movements caused him wince. "That is what you are supposed to do in the hospital."

Goren was already flipping the pages. "If that were so they wouldn't wake you every 10 minutes to poke you."

She didn't have an answer for that. "Did you have any visitors today?"

He nodded, rubbing at his chest absent mindedly. "A few from MCS came by."

Eames didn't have to worry about it for too long. After ten minutes of reading the book, he fell asleep. She relieved him of the book and placed in back on the floor. He still thinks he's a superman. She adjusted his cannulae and the sheets. He was able to sleep for a few hours before visitors began to stream in and out. Capitan Ross came by as well, glad to see his officer awake and alert.

He was just finishing up taking his statement when there was a knock at the door. Deakins stuck his head in. "Is this a bad time?"

Goren smiled at the sight of his old friend and colleague. "Capitan, come in."

Deakins came in, standing behind Eames. "I think you can call me Jim now." he looked over to Ross and nodded. "You must be Capitan Ross."

Ross shook hands with his predecessor. "Nice to finally meet you."

Ross stood to leave. "Glad you're doing better Detective, I'll check in with you later."

Deakins watched him leave. "Is he always so formal."

"He's still getting used to everyone." Goren stated tiredly. Eames wondered if the day had been too much for him.

"How you feeling?" Deakins ventured.

"Good as long as the pain killers hold out." Goren said with a chuckle. He winced suddenly.

"Bobby?" Eames was on her feet.

"I'm OK." he said. "My rib hurts."

"you want me to get the nurse?"

"No."

"I heard what happened." Deakins said. "I can't believe that he killed his daughter and tried to blame her boss."

"He was trying to protect his wife." Goren defended.

"It's not your fault." Deakins continued.

Goren's eyes flashed. Could everyone read him that easy, or did she tell him? His eyes locked on the ceiling. "I don't want to talk about it."

An awkward silence fell on the room. Deakins broke it first by telling them about his kid's shenanigans. He stayed for an hour before going home.