Chapter 11 - Surprise Endings
"May I see him?" Liev Tamarov nearly pleaded with the nurse at the front desk. It was important for him to see the young man; he had to know Robert Goren was all right.
Marie smiled sympathetically. "I'll check. He's been restless, you know. Maybe you can calm him down, okay?"
Liev did not like the sound of that. It was true that Goren didn't sleep well, if he slept at all. Many afternoons, the young man would come into his deli looking concerned and distracted. Until recently, he would come alone and pick at his food. Now, he brought that girl with him although all they ever talked about was their police work.
Today, it was Liev's turn to be concerned and distracted over the boy. He watched the nurse walk through the swinging doors, and tried to look inside. The only thing he saw were nurses rushing around a bed with ice packs and blankets. Suddenly, there was a crash. A woman's voice telling someone to lie back down. Liev marched through the doors before anyone could stop him. "Please excuse me. Can I help?"
Bobby immediately stopped struggling, and blinked myopically at the shorter man. "Mr. Tam...arov? Can you... umm... I need to go now. Tell them to let me go, okay?"
Liev stepped around the desk nurse, Marie. Reaching out, he held Bobby's hands. "No, no, Goren. You must stay and rest." He smoothed away sweat-matted hair, wincing at the unbearably hot skin under his fingertips. "Come, now. Lay back down. I will be here." The butcher looked at each nurse, confirming his statement. When they nodded, he continued. "You have fever that is very bad. These nice nurses are trying to help, and you are being difficult."
Recognition dawned, and relief flooded his face. "Hospital, right? Not back... there." He suddenly relaxed and calmed. The nurses lay him down on the bed, and he took a deep breath. "Sorry 'bout that."
"Is all right, Bobby. I will be here."
"Can't. He's still there," Bobby said, eyes dark and haunted. Curling up on his side, he kept a hold of the Russian's hand. Something had to ground him, keep his mind from floating away.
"Who is– who are you speaking of? There is no one here."
Bobby closed his eyes against the brightening lights. "Don't let me fall asleep."
"You must! Do you want to stay in these cold blankets forever? I think not."
The nurses fussed more over the patient. They were talking about an incoming car accident and the need for more bodies to handle the triage. "Sorry. Gotta turn up the lights. Jennifer?"
"I know, I know. Get Dr. Kirkus. She's not going to like it that we still don't have him in a room yet."
Jen snorted. "Good luck with finding something though, don't forget that tour bus accident this morning."
"Aww, crud. I'll find something."
"Aww, crud? Jen, you've been hanging out in Pediatrics too long." Marie tucked another ice pack behind him, making him shiver more. "Do what you can, Jennifer. Sorry, Mr. Goren, but we have to get you cooled down."
"Thirsty…" Bobby said sleepily.
Liev looked around for something to get Goren a drink with. The nurse nodded quickly. "Sorry, he can only have a few ice chips. We need the IV to rehydrate him. It will be much more effective than liquids doing the job."
"I will wash hands. Be right back." Liev felt the intense stare at his back; Bobby needed him to come back. He grabbed an empty cup, and headed for the corridor. When he returned, he found Bobby clutching his blanket tightly.
"He'll be right back, sir. Please calm down." The nurse tried to soothe her patient, however it seemed to make him more anxious.
Bobby said with a fraction of an impish grin. "I can remember things."
"Well, that's good. But I still need you to lie back, rest and…"
"Yeah. Fever. Got it." Bobby knew in his heart that if he went to sleep, Larkin would haunt his dreams. He barely heard Nurse Marie tell him not to worry so much, or Liev tell him to go to sleep. Closing his eyes, Bobby tried to ignore the chaos of his formerly highly organized memories. The doors he had carefully constructed were nearly destroyed, imaginary glass from broken picture frames scattered across the floor of his hall.
Bobby knew to make sense of what had happened to him, he would have to reorganize his memories. Starting at the far end of the hall, he began the task of restructuring each room. In his mind, he saw a new door wedged in between the damaged doors.
"Yes, sir… No, sir… This isn't a joke…" Kevin paced his office waiting for his– what? Friend? Girlfriend? – to emerge from the bathroom. Audrey had some workout clothes in her car, and ran to get them for the her. The phone was hot against his ear as he tried to convince Paige's father, a U.S. senator, that his only daughter had been found. Well, escaped actually.
"Why would she come to you? You're the one–"
"No. Sir… I had nothing to do with this… That was a lie. I can't explain why someone said it was me, thought it was me."
"Where is she? Why didn't she call herself? I swear, Kevin…"
"Please, Senator. Just come down to my office. Try to avoid the press, okay? She's pretty mixed up right now."
There was a sigh on the other end. "What do you mean mixed up?"
Oh my God! Are you serious? "Look, Martin. She's been drugged, I'm sure she hasn't had a meal in days, and she's been running around in this weather. She is a little out of it." Kevin rubbed his temple with his free hand. "The sooner you get here the better. She should feel better in her own clothes, and be around people she knows."
"You're right. I'll be there as soon as I can. But I have to tell the FBI."
I'm sure they know already. "We'll be waiting, Mr. Bennett." As he cradled the phone, Paige stepped out, looking more her old self. She went directly into his open arms with a smile. "So glad you're okay," he said, voice faltering a little.
Paige had never known him to really get very emotional about anything. She took it as a good sign. Maybe they both were going to be okay now.
Danny was able to subdue Larkin without much trouble. The man did seem to be in excruciating pain. "I'll never tell you." Larkin steadied himself against the wall. He was quickly losing this battle, and he could feel it.
"What is it Larkin? A tumor? Or cancer? Has this whole scenario been to exact your revenge before it's too late?"
Larkin smiled. "So very smart, Danny! I bet Goren can't wait to see you." He slid down to the floor, looking worse than before. Indeed, he was dying.
"I... I just wish I had a little more time to… to get you too. But… good luck finding Goren and the girl…" Larkin felt a growing numbness creep up his body as he felt a warm trickle slide down his neck. He reached up and as he pulled his hand away, he stared at the blood on his hand. I have more blood on my hands than this…
"It's Frank. Your detective showed up at Hudson Memorial about three hours ago."
"Hudson Memorial?"
"Yeah. Almost right under your nose. You want to talk to either a Dr. Levinson or Dr. Kirkus."
Ross leaned forward in his chair. "So if Goren is there… what about…?"
"No sign of the girl. Goren found his way to a deli. The owner knows him, and called an ambulance."
"My people have been searching the area," he said quietly. The Captain pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, we have a team there, too." As if on cue, a phone began ringing in the background. "Talk to you soon, Danny. I think we have a lot of notes to compare."
"Thanks, Frank. Again." As soon as he ended the call, another came through. "Ross."
"Captain, it's Wheeler. We found the place, but there's no sign of Goren or the girl."
"Goren's not the problem anymore. He's turned up at Hudson. I don't know his condition yet, I'm on my way down there... as soon as I can." Ross watched as a coroner's team walked into the interview room that he'd had Larkin's body placed in. "The girl is still missing. Maybe Goren can help us with that. Is Eames still down there with you?"
"Yes, she is."
"Tell her to get over to Hudson and find out what she can from Goren." Ross hung up and picked up his coat and headed for the elevator again. Sighing, he realized he was going to catch hell from his ex-wife for not picking up the boys on time.