Chapter 12 - Immortal
The drive from Stag Hill, New Jersey back to Manhattan was likely to take about an hour. Connie Rubirosa settled back in the passenger seat, her eyes fixed on the scenery passing by outside the window. Sunlight shone through the trees, stretching their leafless branches toward the sky on both sides of the two-lane highway that Mike was driving them on through the foothills of the Ramapo Mountains as they navigated back toward the city. She closed her eyes, imagining the view in a few month's time. The trees by then would be covered with green leaves, completely changing the look of the entire landscape.
"I noticed you didn't try your squirrel stew," Mike's voice broke into her thoughts. She opened her eyes and turned to him, seeing concern in his eyes as he glanced her way before once again focusing on the road. "Feeling alright?" he asked.
Connie smiled at him affectionately. "I could smell the paprika," she told him. "Didn't want to chance it." She had discovered after a visit to one of her favorite Italian places last week that her latest pregnancy symptom was a sensitive stomach brought on, she believed, by certain spices. She was hoping it would not last too much longer.
"That's too bad. It was actually very good," Mike said.
"Says the man who'll eat anything," Connie chuckled. She was quiet for a moment, then a frown crossed her face. "I hope I didn't offend them," Connie said, referring to Cordell and Ben Robinson. "They seem like nice people."
Mike looked her way again quickly. "Well, they seemed pretty taken with you, especially Cordell."
Connie smiled, looking once again out her window at the swiftly passing trees. "I hope we can figure out a way to help them," she said quietly before her voice turned hard. "The way Hema Labs treated Nathan Robinson, and continues to treat his family is just...it's reprehensible."
Mike shared her frustration with the situation, and could not disagree. They discussed their next steps - talking to Michael Reed, talking to Joseph Hernandez.
It was going to be a busy day.
As the trial began, as much as Mike knew it was his job to prosecute Michael Reed for stabbing his cousin Jerome Turner, he also found himself wanting to put Hema Labs on trial. He hammered away at Glen Dolan when he had him on the stand, questioning why Hema Labs never compensated Nathan Robinson or his family, comparing what the company did to the Tuskegee Experiments in the 1930s. He questioned the private investigator, Hernandez, and then Lieutenant Van Buren was next on the stand. Mike had just finished questioning her about the facts of the case, but as he was making his way back to the prosecution's table, an idea jumped into his mind. He turned back to where the police lieutenant was still on the stand.
"Excuse me for asking, Lieutenant but," Mike began, "aren't you undergoing medical treatment for cervical cancer?"
Van Buren's face showed her surprise at the very personal question being asked in open court. Behind Mike, Connie's face showed surprise of her own.
Anita looked over at the judge for help. "This is a private matter, your honor."
Mike gestured between the judge and his witness. "Well, it goes to the witness's state of mind."
Judge Walton looked sympathetic but her hands were tied. "Sorry Lieutenant. Answer the best you can."
Anita turned her attention once again to Mike. "Yes, I'm undergoing treatment."
Mike knew she was angry, but he also knew there was nothing else he could do now but continue on. "And have you taken any medications made by Hema Labs, such as, uh, carboplatin used in chemotherapy? Or, uh, pegfilgrastim to bolster your white blood count?"
"Both of those," Anita answered.
"And does it disturb you that these drugs were developed from the cells of Nathan Robinson, which were obtained without consent or remuneration?" Mike asked his question as he walked toward the jury, making sure he had their attention.
Anita looked appalled. "How could you ask me that?"
"Please, just answer my question," Mike said. He could feel her anger directed straight at him and was suddenly hoping to wrap things up as quickly as possible.
"Well, what do you think, Mr. Cutter?" Anita asked rhetorically. "These drugs might save my life. I'm grateful to Nathan Robinson and his family, but that doesn't' mean they were treated with justice Mr. Cutter," she stared Mike down with a cold gaze, "or dignity."
Mike nodded, then made his way back to his seat as Anita was excused from the stand. The look on Connie's face told Mike that she was also less than impressed with his line of questioning. He knew that Connie had great respect and admiration for the police lieutenant that they often worked with. Mike felt the same way. And the way she had faced this battle with cancer with so much quiet strength was inspiring. Mike was trying to show exactly what Anita, herself, had said on the stand, Those drugs, created thanks to Nathan Robinson, had saved countless lives. He was trying to explain that to Connie as they left the courthouse.
"But, Mike," Connie protested, her voice hard, "it was not your place to bring her personal medical history to light, to put it on the record in court, without even discussing it with her first!"
"I wanted to bring it up before the defense did," Mike protested, "that way I could control it."
Connie sighed in frustration. "I know you were trying to help the Robinson family by showing a human example of just one of the thousands of people Nathan's life helped, but this was not the right way to do it," she told him, shaking her head. "Anita has every right to be angry with you."
They rounded the corner outside the courthouse, and Mike was about to reply when he saw Anita Van Buren waiting for them.
"Lieutenant," Mike began, hoping to explain, but Anita cut him off.
"I can't believe what you just did to me in there, Mr. Cutter," she told him angrily, "without the decency to ask my permission or to let me know what was coming!"
"I'm sorry, I just," Mike tried to clarify. "It occurred to me in the moment that we could,"
"It occurred to you?" Anita interrupted incredulously. "Well, did it occur to you that I might have a problem with it?"
"I was trying to keep the defense from using the same argument." Mike offered. But Anita wasn't buying it.
"No, no. Please. I know what you were doing," Anita said, pointing at him. "You were using me, Mr. Cutter. You violated my privacy so that you could win your case. You are no better than Hema Labs!"
Anita turned and walked away. Mike watched her go, his face a stoney mask. Connie stood by silently, before she finally placed her hand on his arm. "Let's head back to the office. We've got some work to do." Mike turned wordlessly as they made their way down the courthouse steps. "Just give it some time, Mike," Connie told him, before adding, "then make sure you fix it."
Testimony continued the next day before the case finally went to the jury. After three days, with the jury still deliberating, Mike, Connie, and Jack met with Michael Reed and his attorney along with the reps from Hema Labs to try to work out a deal. Glen Dolan was reticent to offer any money to the Robinson family, until Jack pointed out that Hema Lab's doctor taking Eddie Robinson's blood without his consent was considered assault, for which Jack would be more than happy to prosecute. Mike detailed the conditions he and Connie had witnessed on their visit to the Robinson homestead in Stag Hill, strongly suggesting to Dolan that he make the settlement amount ten million dollars. "Payable now," Mike finished. He then made a plea deal with Michael Reed to close the case.
Back in their office, Connie was organizing and filing the paperwork from the case when she came across Joseph Hernandez's personnel file from his time with the NYPD. She knew the file needed to be returned to the 27th Precinct, and she knew just the man for the job, She gathered the file folders, taking them into Mike's office. He looked up as she entered, watched her cross to the filing cabinet to put all but one away. "Ready to head out?" he asked.
Connie handed him the file. "I'm heading home. You need to take this back to the 2-7," she told him, leaving no room for argument, "and while you're there you should apologize to Lieutenant Van Buren," she told him with an arched eyebrow.
Mike took the personnel file from her hand with a sigh, just looking at it. He knew she was right. Once again he had stormed ahead in the courtroom without thinking. His intentions may have been good, but he probably could not have gone about it in a worse way if he had tried. "Okay," he nodded to Connie.
She smiled at him reassuringly. "Tell her what you were thinking, but that you just didn't think it through." Mike nodded again as Connie came to his side and kissed him on the cheek. "Come by my place when you're done," she said. "I'll cook tonight, you get tomorrow night."
Mike smiled his thanks to her as he pulled on his coat. He grabbed his briefcase and the file, and headed out.
Mike made his way warily through the squad room of the 27th Precinct. He saw Lupo and Bernard at their desks and decided that would be a good place to start. "Hey," he said, holding up the folder in his hand. "Joseph Hernandez's personnel file. Thanks."
Lupo accepted the file. "You don't need it anymore?"
"No," Mike told them, glancing around the squad room to see if he could spot the Lieutenant. "Uh, case pled out."
"How'd we do?" Bernard asked.
"All things considered, not so badly," he told them, as he saw Anita approaching from across the room, heading toward her office. Their eyes met only briefly before Anita shifter her gaze.
"Lieutenant," Mike said.
Anita continued right past him without missing a step. "Counselor."
Mike watched her as she continued on into her office.
"Whoa," Bernard observed. "What'd you do, man?"
"Something dumb," Mike muttered, "and now I have to fix it, or Connie won't be speaking to me next." He took a deep breath and began the walk toward Van Buren's office.
"Good luck," Lupo called, having himself been on the receiving end of the squad commander's ire, he silently added you're gonna need it!
Mike knocked on the door frame, waiting for Anita to look up from her computer. "Sorry to interrupt, but could I have a few minutes of your time?" he asked.
Anita sighed, removing her glasses. "What can I do for you, Mr. Cutter?"
Mike came fully into the office, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Lieutenant, I owe you an apology," he said. Anita stayed silent, her face unreadable as Mike continued. "While my motives were not what you think - I wasn't just trying to win a case - I should never have asked you questions of such a personal nature, not without talking to you about it first."
Anita's face was still expressionless as she asked, "What were your motives then?"
Mike shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I was just," he stopped short, trying to articulate his thoughts. "I was trying to get the jury to see that Hema Labs was the real 'bad guy' for what they did to Nathan Robinson and his family for all those years."
Anita studied him for a moment. She was honestly a bit surprised. She had witnessed Michael Cutter in the courtroom for years. She knew he was masterful at his job, that he fought hard to win his cases, but she had to admit, at times the way he went about it was just distasteful.
This was a different side of him.
Mike, however, took her silence for skepticism, so he continued. "Connie reminded me, once again, of my need to stop and think when I have one of these 'brilliant ideas' while I'm questioning a witness."
Anita finally let a ghost of a smile cross her face as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. She saw the way his eyes lit up when he mentioned his co-worker's name. Co-worker, uh huh, Anita thought.
"You should listen to her more often," she observed.
Mike chuckled, "Trust me, I know." He looked at Anita and continued sincerely, "She has a lot of respect for you. And I can guess what you think of me, but I wanted to let you know that I have a lot of respect for you , too. And I am sorry that I did not respect your privacy."
Truth be told, if Anita Van Buren had learned anything during her fight against cervical cancer, it was to give her attention to things that really mattered, to not hold grudges, and to be a little more quick to forgive. Life was just too short to live it any other way. "Apology accepted Mike," she told him.
Mike gave her a nod of the head. "Thank you," he said quietly, standing and reaching across her desk for a handshake. "I should get going." He turned and had one hand on the doorknob when he heard Anita's voice behind him.
"Connie is a smart woman," she said. "You be sure to hold on to her, treat her right."
Mike smiled. He didn't know if she was really fishing for confirmation that he and Connie were together, but he was certainly proud and willing to give it to her whether she was searching for it or not. "Oh, I plan to Lieutenant," he told her as he opened the door to head home to his love. "I plan to."
Later that evening, Connie heard the key turning in the door of her apartment. She smiled over her shoulder as she watched Mike come in. He dropped his briefcase on the floor under the table just inside the door and hung his coat in the closet. Miracle of miracles, Connie thought, he's finally in the habit of hanging up his coat instead of just throwing it over a chair.
Connie met him just as he was about to join her in the kitchen. He returned her smile, sliding his arms around her waist to pull her close as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down slightly to meet his lips with her own. Connie let the kiss go on for a bit before pulling away to look him in the eyes.
"Everything okay now?" she asked him.
"Yeah," he answered, running a hand up and down her back. "Everything's great."
"Good," Connie said, leaning in to kiss him once again. "You really are a good man, Michael Cutter," she whispered in his ear. She smiled at him as she took his hand to lead him into her kitchen. "Come on," she said, "Let's eat."
I always feel like Mike and Van Buren had to have had some kind of discussion and resolution to their disagreement, otherwise the hug they share at the end of the series finale just wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Hopefully this seems feasible for that resolution. Please let me know what you think. Only 2 more chapters until we head into virtual season 21 land!
