Jeffrey gasped when he read the note. "There's a surprise waiting for you on the docks…" was all that it said, but it was the small smudges of blood that worried him. He stuck the note in his pocket, grabbed his gun, and headed for the docks. When he arrived, the sight made his heart sink. He bent down to the ground, cupping the younger man's face. "Sandy…" He fought to hold back his tears. "Sandy… baby…" Sandy wasn't moving, but Jeffrey could feel his faint pulse. He moved into an awkward position to pick Sandy up off of the ground and drove him to the hospital. By the time they arrived, he was covered in Sandy's blood. A look of desperation seemed to cross his face as he carried Sandy into the ER. "I need help here…" he said to no one in particular. "Please I need help." Before he knew it, Sandy was on a hospital bed with a respirator and all sorts of tubes coming out of him. It was an awful thing to see. And Jeffrey knew that it was all his fault. This entire thing. He'd sworn that he'd never let this happen again. He'd sworn to keep Sandy safe through everything, but he had failed miserably. His heart almost stopped when he heard the code blue. He turned to realize that they had already wheeled Sandy away. The code blue was for somebody else.
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Ed walked out into the waiting room to see Jeffrey still sitting there. He was surprised that Jeffrey had stuck around. "Jeffrey…" he said. "What're you still doing here?"
Jeffrey turned to look at him. "How is he?" he asked, trying to hide the desperation in his voice. "How is Sandy?"
Ed didn't like that look on Jeffrey's face. There was something unnerving about it. It was almost as if… he actually cared… "Look Jeffrey…" he said. "I know you're the one who found him and brought him in here but… you're not family or anything so I can't really give you all the details. He's alive but…"
"I'm the DA." Jeffrey said. "When a crime is committed I get to know all of the details. That's how it works…"
Ed sighed. He knew that Jeffrey was hiding his real reasons for wanting to know, but he was completely oblivious to what they were. Well… he was the one who brought Sandy in…
"Tell me!"
"All right, you want to know all the details Jeffrey?" Ed pulled him aside to a corner and lowered his voice, his eyes shifting to survey the room as he spoke. "If you would've found him not half an hour later he probably would've bled to death. He was in surgery up 'til about ten minutes ago. Then the police came in and did a rape kit…"
"He was…" Jeffrey couldn't get the last word out, but the look on his face spoke volumes.
"DR. BAUER TO THE OR. DR. BAUER TO THE OR." The voice on the intercom interrupted their conversation.
"I gotta go…" Ed said, turning to leave, before looking back and adding. "I called Reva. She's on her way so… You can leave… Sandy will still have someone here with him…"
Jeffrey grabbed his arm. For the moment, at least, his guard was down completely. "When can I see him?" he asked, the desperation in his voice even more obvious.
Ed pulled away. "Jeffrey I… I gotta go…"
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