Oh sorry Mandy…bit of a typo… I actually meant bad tums, not bad smut ;-)

Chapter 10

Lean On Me

If Makepeace had been riled by the length of time she had been kept hanging on the telephone, the wait to actually get to see Shai Ben-Zahav in person saw her pacing the floor.

Dempsey, conversely, was sat quietly propped up on the corner sofa, his hands wrapped around the front edge of the seat cushion and staring into space.

"This is ridiculous!" Makepeace clipped airily. "Do they want this investigating or don't they?"

She crossed to the water cooler and took a plastic cup from the dispenser. "Are they being deliberately uncooperative?"

Dempsey looked up at her blankly. "Huh?"

What the hell was wrong with him today?

So she'd added fuel to the fire over the American Gigolo jibe. Maybe she should have treated it as a joke, laughed it off as he had seemed to be doing. But initially it had felt as though he was mocking her, highlighting the fact that Harry was upset by his secret marriage, that the idea was enough to send her off at the deep end and get herself rat-arsed over.

Makepeace frowned as she realised that was probably the furthest thing from his mind right now.

"What's wrong with you exactly?" she asked, not unkindly.

"Dunno." He shook his head slightly. "Feel rough as hell."

"Man flu?" she queried, testily.

Dempsey shrugged. "It ain't no cold. Feels like I been caught between two juggernauts gettin' it on."

She frowned at this analogy but then saw he hadn't even mustered a smile. Relenting a little, she told him, "Maybe you should be seen by a doctor. Could be an infection of some sort."

"Yeah, sure… comes with the territory," he muttered.

Makepeace tossed her empty water cup into the bin at the side of the cooler and turned to him angrily.

"Alright, Dempsey, let's get this out into the open then shall we? Yes, I was annoyed with you on Friday…" she raised a finger to correct herself, "…actually I was livid. Obviously when your friend told me she was your wife, I took that to mean you were genuinely married to her, meaning that in the three years you've known me, you hadn't even had the decency to inform me of that fact. And speaking from a woman's point of view, knowing that you've been…" she took a breath before the next torrent of words gushed forth, "…unleashing your loins on half the female population of London since you arrived, then maybe, Dempsey, just maybe the term 'Gigolo' would have applied quite nicely to you!"

She misread his expression as one of indignation but a few moments later she was shown rather graphically how wrong she was when Dempsey leapt up to stagger across the room, sliding to his knees and vomiting noisily into the water cooler bin.

It was at that precise moment that the Israeli Embassy official they had come to interview chose to make his entrance. He stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the scene before him.

"Ahh, Mister Ben-Zahav?" Makepeace asked with over-the-top brightness.

She had been about to place a comforting hand on Dempsey's shoulder but now quickly stood back, acutely embarrassed by the situation.

"Detective Sergeant Makepeace, Sir," she said stiffly. "And this…" she gestured towards the now trembling figure of Dempsey squatting on the floor, "this is my partner, Detective Lieutenant Dempsey. He's feeling a little under the weather at the moment I'm afraid."

"This is Charlie Five to Control… Charlie Five to Control, do you read?"

"Got you loud and clear, Charlie Five, over," came the crackle-edged voice of Chas Jarvis.

Makepeace glanced across at Dempsey as she spoke into the R.T. "Would you do me a favour, Chas and let the Chief know I'm taking Dempsey home? Over."

"Taking him home?" Chas queried. "Is there a problem? Over."

"Oh, most definitely. He's been 'tossing his cookies' I believe is the American expression. He certainly isn't fit for duty anyway."

Although Shai Ben-Zahav's initial reaction had been one of mild disgust, he had soon gathered up enough congeniality to be able to enquire as to whether or not a doctor would be required and he had phoned down for a cleaner and also had Dempsey escorted to the public toilets in order for him to tidy himself up.

Makepeace saw Ben-Zahav alone whilst Dempsey (at her suggestion) waited for them outside when he was in a suitably fit state.

Dempsey declined her offer to drive him to his doctor's surgery, convinced as he was that whatever was wrong with him, he would manage to shake off all by himself.

"Sorry to hear that, Charlie Five. Dodgy burger or something, was it? Over."

"Unlikely," Harry smiled, "with his cast iron constitution…."

"Gimme that," said Dempsey quietly, reaching over to take the R.T from her hand. "I just picked up a stomach bug. I'll be back in work tomorrow, Chas."

"I don't think you will," Harry said sagely as she carefully negotiated the car around an icy traffic roundabout. As she slowly turned the wheel, steering into their exit, the tyres lost traction for a couple of seconds and the Escort slid for a few feet before she regained control.

Dempsey sucked in a breath. "So long as Makepeace gets me home alive."

She cast him a deprecatory look. "Have you decided when you're booking the Mercedes in for repair yet by the way?"

"I'll let Spikings know, guys," Chas confirmed before the altercation had a chance to escalate. "Ring in in the morning okay Jim and we'll take it from there. Over."

Dempsey gave a lazy sort of salute. "Roger, wilko, over and out good buddy," he slurred and passed the handset back to Makepeace.

Silently, she took it off him.

After a couple of minutes, she glanced at him. He was leaning against the headrest, eyes shut.

"Alright?" she asked lightly although she was starting to feel rather concerned now.

"Dandy."

"Cheer up, Dempsey, at least you've got someone at home to look after you."

"Oh yeah," he chuckled softly, "chicken soup on tap and all the slushy movies you can sleep through. Greg's a sweet guy though."

He raised his head and opened his eyes. "A sweet guy! Did I really just say that?"

"I'm sure he is. He certainly gets my approval anyway; if it wasn't for him, the job of nursemaid might every well have fallen to me!"

"Yeah, he's okay I guess."

Harry stared straight ahead, her eyes on the icy road and a bemused smile on her lips. She had just handed him a blank page on which to write an entire essay of smut and innuendo and his response had been, 'Yeah, he's okay I guess'. He definitely wasn't himself.

Makepeace was struggling to find a parking spot outside Dempsey's apartment building.

"Just drop me here, it's fine," said Dempsey, releasing his seatbelt as he spoke.

She didn't object; it was starting to snow again and she was going to struggle to get home as it was.

"Take care, Dempsey," she offered, watching him slowly lever himself from the car.

"Thanks for the ride, babe. I'll see ya tomorrow."

He braced himself with one hand against the roof of the car for a moment before standing up straight and pushing off. A couple of steps on and he suddenly seemed to teeter on the spot where he stood.

Makepeace pulled up a few yards further on and cut the engine on double yellows. Jumping from the car and hurrying to Dempsey's side, she took hold of his right arm to steady him.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he objected.

"Quite clearly you're not," she said crisply. "I'll see you to your door, alright?"

"You don't have to do that, Makepeace…"

"I want to."

Did she? With Toni and Greg in the flat? Whatever the situation was with he and Toni, Harry felt she would be better off not knowing about it.

"You should really see a doctor you know."

He didn't respond, just thrust his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and hunkered down into the brown and grey chequered scarf that he wore wound about his neck.

Progress was slow on the hard, compacted snow and it seemed to Makepeace that her partner was having to use all his powers of concentration just to stay on his feet.

Seeing a pathway had been salted leading up to the entrance door, Makepeace aimed for that but when her boot encountered an unexpected ridge of ice, she slipped and her arms came up to re-balance herself. Dempsey made a grab for her, his right arm fastening tightly around her waist in an instinctive movement.

He didn't speak, just continued to hang onto her and Harry suspected it was as much for his benefit as hers – he needed her to keep him upright.

She made sure she had her hand on the entrance door before him, knowing to pull open the heavy glass and chrome outer door would be a strain for Dempsey. She could feel how weak he was – there was no strength in the body that leaned into her so heavily.

Once they had negotiated their way inside, a manoeuvre which required them to lose that contact, Dempsey once more shoved his hands into his pockets and there was an awkward silence while they waited for the lift.

Big, bad, wise-cracking Dempsey had gone and Harry knew he was acutely aware of his own vulnerability.

As the lift rose up, she wondered how Toni would greet him. It was a random thought but she realised it was something that bothered her. Would he put his arm around Toni too? Would he hug her? Would she kiss him in welcome and how would she feel if he kissed her? And most importantly, what exactly was the nature of their relationship now?

They got out on Dempsey's floor and walked the tiled landing for the fifty yards or so to his door. Makepeace noticed the way he fumbled to get his key in the lock and the weight of his hand on her shoulder as he pushed her in ahead of him.

"Hey!" he called out in a low voice, "anybody home?"