Cortez drove Grace to the HQ, and they settled down in her office.
After a few minutes on the sofa, the girl started to walk around the room.
"You are gonna be safe in here," Cortez said, seeing her visibly uncomfortable and scared.
"Thanks," she said hesitant.
"It's all my fault... isn't it?"
Cortez didn't exactly know how to answer. "No, it's not," she finally said.
"Gretcher it's the only responsible for this. You were just trying to stay alive."
"But Jimmy... Oh, he was only trying to save me..." she set back down with her hands on her face.
"He was one of the few people in my entire life who tried to help me, maybe even the only one who never asked for anything back... How could I..." she couldn't finish the sentence.
"Look, Grace, he knew what he was doing when he went to meet you," she was trying to reassure her, even if in the end she herself believed that the girl should did better.
"The truth is, I don't know Street that much, but I'm sure he would do anything to help the people he cares about. He would feel awful if something happened to you, and he could do nothing to prevent that."
After half an hour of deep silence Grace drew Cortez attention.
"I don't really know if it is important, but I was thinking about Maggie..."
The cop looked at her confused.
"Margaret, Carl's wife."
"We already talked to her, she said she hasn't seen his ex husband in years."
"What if she lied... I should not be the one to talk after what I did, but even if she was pretty nice to us kids, she used to cover for her husband every time. I have never thought she had the strength to dump him."
"She must found the courage when he was arrested, and then she kept the strength when he was released."
"Maybe she really doesn't know, but... He kept on mentioning her, he was talking nonsense, keep telling how Jimmy took her away from him. I think he is planning to win her back."
"That could be a good assumption, I'll tell the team. Don't worry, I'll be right back."
Cortez call the team in the briefing room.
"Hey, listen up, Grace remembered something. She told me Gretcher was not only obsessed with taking revenge on Street, but also with taking his wife, back. She is convinced that as soon as the man he blame for their divorce is out of the business, she will forgive him."
"Yeah, but Street is not definitely out yet," Tan pointed out.
"It's worth a try. Let's go talk to Ms. Gretcher," Hondo said.
.
Hondo and Chris headed to Ms. Gretcher home, while Tan drove Deacon to the hospital to relive Luca, before reaching them there.
Chris and Hondo knocked at Margaret's door, and when she opened she wasn't pleased to see the two cops.
"I already told you all I know. I had nothing more to say." She seemed eager to close the door on their faces.
"Can we come in, please?" Hondo asked, and she couldn't do otherwise.
"We found them, if you are interested, but we couldn't catch Carl," Chris said, noticing something strange in Margaret's look. "Grace is safe," she went on, "but Jim is seriously injured."
"Oh my... that poor thing."
Hondo's phone waved, and he looked at the text: -Luca and I are here, we'll patrol the outside of the house-
"We suspect your ex husband will show up here, to try to get you back." He said putting his phone away.
"What? Here?" She was avoiding eye contact.
"Are you sure there isn't something you would share with us?"
"Nothing. I'm just scared..."
"Then we will stay here for a while, in case he shows up."
"Ok... settle in..." She was forced to say.
.
At the hospital, Deacon was watching at his asleep colleague, the sight of him in that condition reminded him of when Annie got sick, and he couldn't help but text her, to make sure she was ok.
'He seems so quite now,' he thought, remembering in how much panic he was when they found him in that basement. He could still figure in his mind his bare skin, covered in scratch and blood.
His thoughts were interrupted when a monitor started to send an alarm.
'What the...' he immediately thought. "Hey, I need some help in here," he called out, as a couple nurses quickly jumped in.
"He is having trouble berating," one of them said. "The tube must be clogged. Go call doctor Abbott."
When the doctor arrived, one of the nurses accompanied Deacon out of the room. "You have to step out now, they are taking good care of him, there's no need to worry," she tried to reassure him.
Street woke up with the caretaker checking on him. He raised his hand to draw their attention on the fact he was awake, and that he wanted some explanation on what was going on.
"It's all good honey," the nurse said. "You just had a little obstruction in the tube, but we removed it. You are ok now."
'That damn tube,' he thought, then he started looking around, searching for familiar faces.
"Oh, don't worry, we had to get your friend out to take care of you. You will see him in a couple of minutes," the nurse reassured him.
The doctor was listening to his heart, and checking his blood pressure. "The bad news is that the tube caused a little edema in your throat, that's way there was an obstruction."
Street looked him confused.
"But the good one is that your vitals are good enough to take the tube off," the doctor said.
'Oh, thank God!' he thought, while the nurse lifted him up a little and put a pillow under his back.
For a brief moment the pain took over as his broken ribs and his beaten body make them feel their voice.
"Try to relax, It will only take a minute," the nurse said. "After this, you will feel sore, and swallowing will be hard for a while." She looked straight at him to make sure he understood. "And don't try to talk for a few minutes, ok?"
Street blinked.
"Alright, when I tell you, take a deep breath and exhale as I take the tube off, ok?" the doctor said.
He blinked again, and a moment later he was coughing as the tube was removed. The movement made his chest hurt, and he had to close his eyes, trying to relieve the pain.
The doctor quickly checked his patient throat. "It's a little reddened, but should be ok."
Street tried to say 'thank you' but he was suddenly interrupted. "Remember what I just said? Don't force you voice out," the nursed stepped in.
He nodded as the doctor was going out the room.
"You still need to rest," she said, adjusting his position in bed, "but I can let your friend in, if you want."
He nodded again, then took her hand, and forced a smile to thank her. She smiled back and got out, leaving him alone for a few minutes before letting his colleague in.
"Hey, glad to see you breathing again," Deacon said, entering the room.
"H-hey," he managed to say, slightly raising his hand to greet his friend.
Deacon set on the armchair next to him. "They say you are improving fast, but I have to tell you, don't try to force your recovery, ok?" He looked seriously at him. "I've already saw Annie having a relapse, and I'm not letting you mess with my team like that."
"By the way, we are close to catch him," he said, anticipating the younger cop's question.
"Thanks," he whispered.
"Well, it's our job. Right?" Deacon tried to minimize.
"I mean... For taking me out of there..."
"Don't worry about that."
"I'm... I'm really sorry to give you all this trouble."
"It's ok. That's what family is for."
Street closed his eyes, feeling overwhelmed.
"You should go back to sleep, and recover. We can't babysit you forever."
.
At Margaret Gretcher's home, Chris was carefully looking around.
"He was here, wasn't he?" she said, spotting something in the next room.
"No, I told you, I haven't see him in years."
"Why are you lying?" Chris brought a male jacket, and showed it to Hondo.
"There's blood on it," he said approaching the maiden. "Stop cover for him! That man is dangerous!"
"He never touched me... He..."
"Stop it! Where is he now?"
"I don't know. I rejected him. I told him I couldn't understand..."
"What did he said?"
"He said he still loves me, and he would do whatever it takes to have me back." She started crying.
"What does that means? What does he have to do?" Chris asked.
"I don't know... I told him I couldn't stand what he did, and he... He got angry, and said he would take care of the problem once for all."
"He is going to finish what he started, he is going to kill Street!" Hondo said, picking the phone to warn Deacon.