"What're your plans for the weekend?" Bobby asked when Alex called him Friday.

Alex hesitated; the question was so un-Bobby-like, even though she'd wanted to hear it from him for many years. "I was planning to visit you."

"OK, that's a start. See, I have good news and bad news."

"Go on." She said bracing herself for the worst, a leg amputation or something.

"They are ready to discharge me."

"That's great!"

"Well, problem is I'll need a home-health care provider coming a couple times a day to drain and redress the bullet wounds…"

"Oh, yuck." She expressed at the thought of such a task.

"Yeah, well there's no one available till next week, and I'd REALLY like to go home now, and I believe if you asked them, the nurses staff would really like that too."

"That sounds like something you'd be good at yourself, Bobby, right up your alley in fact." Alex was reminded of his fascination with various kill wounds on homicide victims.

"Normally I'd agree, but in addition with the drain tube, and the dressing it's a two handed procedure, which I might be able to do on my chest, but I can't get my right hand over to the outside of my left thigh without causing near level 10 pain so…."

"Oh I think I know where you're going with this now. I'm not going to like it am I?"

"When you come by to pick me up tomorrow, the nurses will show you just how easy it is to drain the wounds…" Bobby said hopefully.

"Bobby…."

"PLEASE?" He pleaded. "I promise, it wont be that bad, and it'll save you a trip to the hospital…"

"St. Vincent's is closer to my house than your apartment."

"Yeah, well, you can stay over, I have a sofa bed, we can play Parcheesi, and order a pizza…."

She laughed at the slumber party like scene he was describing. He must really be desperate to offer her a place on his couch. She was sure he lived alone for a reason. His apartment was almost obsessively clean and well organized.

"Oh I don't know Bobby…." Alex hesitated. Not that she wouldn't love to spend a weekend alone with him, but this wasn't how that particular fantasy had played out in her head. AND, if draining puss from healing wounds did happen to bring them closer, there was always that threat from Hannah about separating them.

"Alex, you're my closest friend, I have no one else to ask." He sounded discouraged now.

How could she say 'no' to that voice? "OK." She decided. After all, isn't this what friends were for? And he had begun to look so peaked and drawn in that hospital room, barely eating and sleeping. A place like that was tantamount to a prison sentence for him. "But you owe me Bobby, I don't know when or where I'll collect, but this is definitely going to cost you."

"ANYTHING!" he said quickly. "Thank you, thank you! So I'll see you in the morning, about 8?"

"Yes, but could we make it closer to 9? Logan and Falacci invited me out for drinks after they get off work. They want to brief me on their findings so far, but don't want to drag me into work to do it. I don't expect to be out late, but just in case, you know."

"Yeah sure, it'll give the hospital staff time to get the discharge paper work together." He said, "Even 10 if you decide to make a night of it, just so long as you get here."

"So, you should go for it tonight!" Nola Falacci said.

Mike Logan looked at his partner, "And you should mind your own business."

"C'mon Logan, I know you're crushin' on her."

"What're you, in High School?"

Ignoring his remark, Falacci continued, "she's meeting us for drinks… Goren's not gonna be there…"

"Just shut up and get your stuff, before Hannah finds a reason to keep us here one more second."

The Major Case partners headed for 'Jimmy's Pub,' a popular cop hang out. Alex was there already, at the bar talking to Jimmy, who as usual had yet another old story about her father's antics in his uniform days. "Right up there on the bar, can you believe it?" He was saying as she noticed Logan and Falacci enter.

She handed Jimmy a 10 for the drink she had been nursing. "C'mon, you know your money's no good here Alex" he said, as Logan and Falacci walked up to stand behind her.

"Good, drinks are on Eames tonight!" Logan said grinning at Jimmy.

"On the other hand, if you're drinking with this guy they'll cost you double!" Jimmy said.

"Hey Jimmy, what's double of nothing, or don't they teach that in bar tending school?" Falacci said.

"You know I WAS saving you a nice table in back…."

"Alright, alright," Alex said. "Here, take my money tonight Jimmy, ok?" He took the 10 and gave her back 7 in change, which she knew was under price, so she pushed 2 dollars back at him for tip.

He took it with a grateful smile, "You're table awaits." Jimmy said motioning to the back of the bar.

At a corner booth in the back of bar the three Detectives ordered an appetizer platter and went three rounds of drinks as they as they discussed the Catskills case.

"Wow, so it looks like Councilman Riggs is our man." Alex said. Logan and Falacci nodded. "Excuse me." Alex said then got up from the table and headed for the ladies room.

Nola looked at Mike. "Ok, when she comes back, I am going to the lady's room, and you can make your move!"

Mike shook his head, "You ARE crazy! I'm not about to set myself up like that, I can be rejected by anybody, I don't have to get it from someone I actually care about."

"Hah! See I knew you were into her! Meanwhile, see that guy at the bar?" He looked over; there were at least twelve. "I'm going to go introduce myself."

Alex came back while Nola was still flirting with a particularly roguish looking uniform cop. She sat down, and reached for another tortilla chip, dunked it into the salsa, and glanced at her watch as she ate. It was just after ten O'clock. "I guess that's it then, I should call it a night." She started to get up.

Mike got up with her. "Hey, wait, uh, the night's still young, stick around, have another drink." He hoped he didn't sound desperate.

Alex looked at him, glanced over at Nola, then back at Mike. Maybe he didn't want to be left alone, since it seemed Nola would be occupied for the rest of the night. "Well, alright, but really midnight is it for me, then I HAVE to be home."

"Why you turn into a pumpkin, Cinderella?" He said turning on the charm.

"Yeah, something like that." She said smiling, thinking it was kind of nice to socialize on a Friday night.

They had a nice time together, after some small talk he had asked about what happened when she and Bobby had gotten stranded in the woods and it was actually cathartic to talk about it, to know someone was listening because he cared, and not because he needed the details for his report. And respecting her desire to be home by midnight he waited with her at the bar for the cab Jimmy called.

As they walked out to the curb together Mike opened the cab the door for Alex.

She glanced at him and said, "Thanks Mike, tonight was fun."

As she started to get into the cab Mike grabbed her arm suddenly saying, "Alex, wait." She hesitated and looked at him. "Have dinner with me tomorrow."

She stared at him, speechless. This was something she couldn't see coming in a million years. She liked Mike Logan, but she loved Bobby. Simple as that. "Gee Mike, I don't think so." She started to say.

"Look," Mike said knowing he had only one chance with Alex, so he'd better get to the point quickly, "I know I don't have the best reputation, I'm not the greatest catch in the world, but well, I think you'd have a good time, and I think you need to get out, you seem really stressed these days, like you could use some fun…." He didn't know what else to say. He didn't have much else to offer, he was an underpaid detective living in a dingy apartment.

"Well, maybe next weekend Mike, I'm kind of busy this weekend." She said, not wanting to hurt his feelings, and not really sure where she stood with Bobby. After all, he'd had ten years to ask her out and now as she thought about it, he never so much as flirted with her. Maybe her feelings were all a fantasy; maybe they'd never be anything more than friends. How much longer was she supposed to wait around for the man of her dreams?

Mike smiled, "Ok then. Lets see how it goes this week."

She smiled, "Goodnight Mike." And got into the cab.

"Goodnight." Mike replied as he closed the door. He watched the cab drive off and felt like he had done the right thing. At the very least, it wasn't a 'no,' and he got it out of his system.

Alex's heart went out to Bobby as she settled him into his own bed at his apartment. His hair was matted with sweat from the pain of getting up to his apartment using a cane and Alex's help. "Let me get you some water so you can take the pain killers they gave you." Alex told him.

"I've got to admit," Bobby said breathlessly" It was a lot more comfortable getting a continuous flow of pain meds through that I/V at the hospital." Seeing her expression he continued, "NO! It would NOT have been better to stay there."

Alex went to the kitchen, and brought back the water. "Take this, I'll go find something for you to eat, then you can take the antibiotics and whatever else this stuff is."

Within the hour Bobby was asleep. Alex wasn't really surprised. He had hardly slept since they came back from the Catskills, and his meds were pretty heavy given his injuries. She went to his couch and laid down, after all, she hadn't slept much lately either, and especially last night, when she lay awake thinking about her conversation with Mike. 'How random was that?' She asked herself. Then tried to imagine what a date with Mike would be like. They'd start at Jimmy's then get so trashed they'd miss their dinner date and end up at his place having drunk sex… The thought had made her laugh. She knew she was probably misjudging him, but that was the reputation to which he had alluded the night before.

She got up then and went to one of the book cases and grabbed a random book. She glanced at the title as she lay back down on the couch, 'The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.' "Oh this ought to be good." She told herself. She was not half way through the first chapter before she was out like a light.