Robbie woke up about two hours after Laura left. His insomnia had finally trumped the pain medicine and he knew more sleep was impossible. Robbie picked up "Master and Commander" and figured he would read over the chapters skipped when he was just turning pages earlier, in case Hathaway would spring a test. In the first couple of chapters Robbie found that there were more politics on a ship than at the police department. And then he learned this was no ordinary sea story when in Chapter 3 a sailor is condemned to hang for sexual misconduct with …he decided he could skip some pages after all. Robbie thumbed ahead until he found the chapter where against all odds the H.M.S. Sophie battles and captures the mighty Spanish frigate Cacafuego. That victory fueled his hope about fighting his own battle and winning.
After a night of little sleep, a lot of thinking, and some reading, Robbie's back was much better. He was able to get himself out of bed, to the bathroom, and on into the kitchen where he made coffee. Laura arrived and asked how he was feeling. Robbie said his back was much better and would she like some coffee. Laura said she had tea when she first got up; she preferred her coffee later in the morning although she usually got so busy at work it would get forgotten.
Regretfully Robbie felt he could get dressed on his own so he retreated to the bedroom alone. A few minutes later he called Laura and said he needed help after all. When she entered the bedroom Laura saw Robbie holding three ties. He couldn't decide which one to wear and asked her to choose. She picked the three color blue stripe one and then tied it for him. Robbie said thanks, he always hated selecting a tie, never knew what matched his suit and shirt.
Laura had Robbie take only a half dose of his pain medicine since he was going to work. She told him not to sit in a chair too long and to lie down on the floor for twenty minutes if he got tired of standing. Laura dropped him off at work. James would bring him home around 1 while she went shopping.
Robbie caught up on some paperwork and after updating him on the current cases James asked if he had started reading any of the books. Robbie said he had started "Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian. He braced himself for a quiz and instead Hathaway started pontificating "a brig is a sailing vessel with two square rigged masts…"
While letting the clever clogs sergeant expound his knowledge of British navel maneuvers during the Napoleonic wars, Robbie carefully lowered himself to the floor. Lying flat on his back did relieve the pressures caused by standing and sitting. Even when she wasn't around, Laura made him feel better. James looked at him on the floor and told him he should see another doctor about his back as he wondered who had driven his boss to work that morning. Just as Hathaway was telling him that he was sure Dr. Hobson would take a look at his back, Inspector Archie Cather appeared in the doorway. Robbie wondered if Cather would spill the fact that he saw Laura at his flat yesterday. Instead Cather made a comment about Robbie being old, but not dead. Inspector Alan Peterson edged past Cather and entered the office to tell them that he was heading up a task force on domestic terrorism and that the Chief Superintendent requested that they liaise with one another at a meeting that afternoon at 1:30.
No one responded to Peterson's announcement; they already knew about it. Because he found Peterson's boasting irritating and he knew this would irk him, Robbie thanked Cather for stepping in and escorting the Chief Super to the concert last night. Cather said, because he also knew it would irk Peterson, that they had a lovely evening and he enjoyed getting to know her on a personal level. Then Peterson said, because he knew it would irk Lewis, that he had to go discuss some forensic results with Dr. Hobson. After listening to that exchange between the three inspectors Hathaway felt like the only grownup in the room.
James dropped Robbie off home around 1. James didn't stay because he had to return to the station for the 1:30 meeting. Robbie thanked his bad back for getting himself out of that. Robbie figured he had at least an hour until Laura got there, enough time to start his plan of action. He took out his phone book (Robbie was one of the few people who still used an actual phone book) to look up the number of the counselor that he found on the card in Laura's book, Sage Corbett. He figured Laura would have chosen a good one for herself however it would be "seriously weird" as Lyn would say to use the same counselor. Robbie didn't know how to pick a counselor for himself so he thought that he would call Sage Corbett's office and ask if they could recommend someone, a man perhaps. Robbie wondered if it was acceptable to ask for a man, if he wouldn't be accused of discrimination.
He found Sage Corbett in the phone book and saw that she was a "relationship and couples" counselor. "Laura's in a relationship", he gasped! Panic flooded through him like ice water in his veins; he had waited too long. Someone else had "snapped her up" as Hathaway warned him. Who could it be? Not Franco, she had told him that was over and he believed her. Cather? Robbie had heard rumors about Cather and if they were true Laura wasn't Cather's type. Did she still think that Hathaway was dishy? Peterson? Anybody but Peterson…
The thought of someone else being with Laura made him even more determined to get out of the past and finally be able to tell her how he felt about her. He thought it can't be too serious a relationship if she is spending this much time helping me. He clung to that fact as proof that he might still have a chance. He made his call and explained he was looking for a grief counselor, preferably a man. The receptionist said there was a colleague in the same office who would be suitable. There was an opening tomorrow afternoon due to a cancellation. Robbie said he would take it and wrote down the counselor's name and the time of the appointment.
John Watson 2 PM
Robbie was now in better spirits, he had started to move forward. He joked to himself that if Sherlock Holmes could confide in John Watson, so could he.
Laura arrived with the shopping, milk, Robbie's brand of cereal, and a bag of frozen blueberries. Yesterday when she asked him what kind of fruit he would like, Robbie said he didn't buy it because he always forgot to eat it. Laura suggested he take a handful of blueberries out of the freezer to put on his cereal, that they only needed 30 seconds in the microwave to thaw. Robbie thanked her and Laura asked whether he minded chicken soup for lunch again or did he want something else. He said the chicken soup seemed to make him feel better. Laura said it was known to act as an anti inflammatory by stopping the immune system from overreacting and suppressed the migration of white blood cells to speed healing, although she thought the benefits were most likely psychosomatic. She took a container out of the freezer and started heating it up.
Over lunch Laura told Robbie she got a call today asking her to come up to London to consult on a case. She would leave early tomorrow morning and be gone two nights and could arrange for a nurse to come in and help him with his bath the two evenings she was away. She only agreed to go because he seemed so much better this morning but if he wanted her to stay…
Well of course Robbie did want her to stay…but told her he was sure they must really need her (he knew that feeling) and that he could manage. He would take the phone number of a nursing service to call if he needed help. They looked at each other and both said with their eyes, "I will miss you".
Robbie took a nap after lunch while Laura studied some lab results. Neither was very hungry in the evening so they ate cereal with blueberries. After, Robbie went into the bathroom, said he would start the taps running for his bath. He called Laura and said there was something she needed to come see. Not knowing what to expect Laura went into the bathroom and saw Robbie pointing at the bathtub. The cat was stretched out in the tub on his back, sleeping.
Monty thought this chapter was rather dull so he figured he would go take a nap in the tub, without water of course.
