Author's Notes: *GASP* She's updated another story! OMG! LOL As always, I have to thank all of you who read and/or review my stories. I greatly appreciate it. And thank you for your patience as I get back into writer mode. LO:CI and its characters belong to Dick Wolf and company; I'm just borrowing them for a while. Any and all mistakes made are my own. Read and enjoy. :o)
Gage: "It's tough staying engaged when you're two steps ahead of everyone else in the room."
The 5 minute drive to the hospital seemed to take forever in Angel's mind. She stared ahead out of the front window to watch the ambulance that was carrying her husband. "Please, Lord. Let Bobby live. Spare his life," she thought to herself. She glanced down briefly to rub her belly. The baby inside of her was moving restlessly. "Ssshhh, Chico. Be calm, Baby Boy. Everything's alright," she said softly under her breath. She turned her attention back to the ambulance. Ever since Bobby and Angel had become a couple, Bobby had always tried to prepare her for the possibility that he wouldn't make it back from his job; that he could get killed in the line of duty. "I've always been prepared for Bobby to die by somebody else's hand. But not for him to die by his own."
Captain Ross looked at Alex out of the corner of his eye. He noticed that her nose was red and a couple of tears had made their way down her cheek. "You okay, Detective?" he asked quietly. She looked at him briefly before focusing her eyes on the road again. "I'm fine. For now," she replied. She looked in the rearview mirror, catching a quick glimpse of Angel moving her lips as she looked down at her stomach. "How could Bobby hurt his family like this? How could he hurt me? Damn jackass!" Alex thought. She felt herself getting mad at Bobby, so she took a deep breath, trying to clear her head of the mean thoughts that were starting to form in her head. "Declan Gage, you've really messed up my partner this time. You bastard!"
By the time Alex had turned off the SUV's engine, Angel was already unbuckled out of her seatbelt and opening the back door. She quickly slid out of the vehicle before Officer Gibbs had a chance to grab and stop her. When she reached the ambulance, the EMTs had unloaded Bobby out of the back of it and into the hands of the waiting ER medical team. As one EMT was rattling off the check list of Bobby's symptoms to the doctor, a nurse looked at Angel and asked, "Ma'am, do you know this man?" She nodded, replying, "He's my husband." "What's his name?" the doctor asked. "Robert Goren. He answers to Bobby though." The doctor nodded his head, then started barking orders to the team.
When the medical team reached Trauma Room 2, the nurse barred Angel from going into the room any further. "Please, I have to be with him," she begged softly through her tears. The nurse shook her head firmly. "You stay out here. We'll let you know something about your husband's condition as soon as we can." With that, the nurse turned around and walked into the room. Angel stood at the door, watching through the glass window the medical team work quickly and furiously on Bobby's unconscious form. She was unaware that Alex, Captain Ross and Officer Gibbs had walked up behind her.
Angel clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach as she watched another seizure rack through Bobby's body. "Oh my God!" she said as she slapped her hand against the window. "Bobby!"
Eames (reading the card): "'Oh, this is the poison of deep grief.'" Goren: "It's 'Hamlet.' The nephew."
["you stop that!"] Hope said to The Voice as Bobby started to shiver uncontrollably. He opened his eyes and looked up at her, despite the fact he still couldn't see her face. "I'm cold. Why am I so cold?" he asked quietly through his chattering teeth. "Am I dying? Should I get ready to leave here?" ["ssshhh. rest,"] Hope said. She placed another blanket around Bobby, then vigorously rubbed her hands up and down his arms. "I can't rest!" Bobby said. He raised his head a little bit to look at the smiling dark shadow standing in the corner. He whimpered in pain as he asked, "Am I going with him?"
["no. you are not going with him!"] Hope said firmly. She gave The Voice a hard look. ["you stop this! you stop it now. you have no right to take his life. he has a choice."] The Voice pushed himself off of the wall and crossed his arms. "A CHOICE?! Bobby Brady has made his choice. He has chosen to remove his worthless, unloved self from this world. I have every right to take his life! I AM the closest thing to a real friend he's ever had! No one gives a rat's ass about him!" The Voice said.
Hope ignored him, focusing her attention on Bobby instead. She lifted his head to place a pillow underneath. Bobby was still shivering, just not quite as hard as before. She stroked his forehead with her fingers, moving them back and forth. ["please, bobby. you have to trust me. you have so much to live for. you have to fight."] Bobby looked up at Hope, then looked at The Voice. "I don't think I can," he said in defeat. A victorious sneer crossed The Voice's dark lips. ["it's okay. i'll help you fight. you don't have to fight him alone."]
Hope rubbed Bobby's forehead a few more times before she stood up and walked over to where The Voice was standing. She said, ["you stop this! stop hurting bobby.] He leaned down, nose to nose with her. "Give up, Hope," he said. Bobby Brady belongs to me! Why do you care? Who gives a damn about this worthless piece of shit?!" ["stop saying that! bobby has friends and family who love him, who care for him. you are mistaken to think that he can't overcome the wrongs of his past to live for a bright future."]
The Voice laughed in Hope's face. "What version of La-La Land are you living in?" he asked. "Bobby will NEVER have a good future because he'll ALWAYS fuck up trying to do anything good!" She scoffed. ["i'm not saying bobby won't mess up. he's human; i expect that. what i am saying is that he has the right to live and make decisions about his future. you cannot and should not take that away from him no matter what!"]
Bobby raised his head to look at Hope and The Voice. He still couldn't make out their facial features. He just saw 2 human shapes: one bright, one dark. He didn't understand why Hope was arguing for him. "Let me go," he thought to himself. "No one wants or needs me. Let me go." Bobby was still shivering when he laid his head back down and closed his eyes, willing for whatever was happening to him would happen quickly and take him out of his misery.
"You are such an idiot, Hope," The Voice said. "This fool doesn't deserve anything. You're a fool for believing Bobby Brady can have a normal life like all of those other suckers out there." ["'the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best; to believe, desire, or trust; to feel that something desired may happen.'" that is the definition of my name. i am not a fool for wanting bobby to be happy."] "What a wonderfully naïve idiot you are, Hope. It almost saddens me to prove you wrong about anyone caring for Bobby." ["really? how so?"] The Voice cocked his head to the side. "That's simple, my dear friend," he said. "I can guarantee to you that wherever we are now, no one, not even the beloved Angel, is around to mourn or care about the loss of this worthless human being known as Bobby Brady."
Hope put her hands on her hips. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the faint sound of Angel's voice saying "Bobby!" That sound echoed throughout the whole room for a few seconds. Both The Voice and Hope looked around, wondering where Angel's voice was coming from. When their eyes met, a puzzled look came over The Voice's face. Hope had a wide smile of victory on her lips. She covered her mouth as she felt a laugh trying to escape.
Hope could hold out no longer. She went from a snort to a giggle to a full blown hardy laugh within a matter of seconds. She inhaled and held her breath. She slowly exhaled and said, ["your guarantee is bullshit."] Then she laughed again.
