Chapter Twelve

Bobby's Apartment

He tosses his jacket on the couch and soon after his tie follows. He unbuttons the top two buttons of his shirt and pulls out his shirttail as he makes a beeline for the kitchen; there had better be beer in here. "Yes," he says as he pumps his fist. Thankful for the six pack of Coors that sits on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. He opens a bottle of beer and tosses the cap across the room, he watches it as it misses the can, shrugging his shoulders as he takes a long sip, I'll get it later.

He grabs the remote, clicking on the TV. Sitting in the large leather recliner, he flicks quickly through the channels. What he's looking to find? He doesn't care, he just needs the sound of the TV to distract him from his thoughts. He reclines the chair back and kicks off his shoes, each one landing in a different part of the room.

The first beer went down quickly and he removes another one, twisting the cap he once again tosses it across the room. This one lands in the can. He smirks as he leaves the kitchen. He resumes his seat in front of the tube. Halfway through his second beer the doorbell buzzes.

"Who the hell is that?" he exclaims as he removes his body from the chair. He opens the door quickly and the breeze it makes causes the curtains to move. "Hey," the teenager says excitedly, anticipating the evening that lies ahead. Bobby remains in the doorway. "Hey," he replies as he steps back allowing him access into the house. Tony passes him not noticing at first the disarray in his appearance or the bottle of beer in his hand. Bobby rubs his temple, "What are you doing here?"

Tony's smile fades, as he takes in the look of his friend. "Do I have the wrong night; I thought we were going to the Knicks game." Tony stuffs his hands deep in his pockets, "What's the matter with you? You seem," he pauses. "Ah….I don't know, a little out of it."

Bobby pushes the door closed then brushes past the teenager, "I'm fine, just had a bad day." He returns to the large leather chair, pressing the reclining button. He picks up the remote, resuming the channel surfing.

"You've had bad days before and you've never acted like this."

"How the fuck would you know." He increases the volume on the set. "You're not here everyday." Bobby lifts the bottle to his lips and takes a long sip.

Tony walks across the room gazing quickly at the TV. "Do I have to keep asking?" No response, Tony raises his voice, "Because I will, what's the matter with you?"

"I told you already, just a bad day" he takes another sip of beer.

"Bull shit," the teenager exclaims.

Bobby positions the chair upright, "What did you say to me?"

At first Tony slinks back but then takes a defiant step forward, "I said bull shit, something's wrong." He gestures with his hand, "Look at you." Bobby turns his attention back to the tube, "It's nothing I said now drop it."

"You're a hypocrite; you get up in my face for getting high, look at you."

Bobby sets the beer on the side table, "See, no more beer now….I'm fine, don't worry." Bobby replies, intent on watching and listening to the inane commercial on television.

"You wouldn't let me get away…."

"You're right." Bobby picks up the remote clicking off the set. "You're right, we," he clears his throat. "We, Alex and I were interrogating a suspect and I….we laughed at him, insulted him, degraded him and he….he freaked out. He flew across the table and attacked her. He had her on the ground and his hands around her throat…."

Tony interjects, "Jesus Christ. Is she alright?"

He unconsciously reaches for the bottle of beer, but leaves it where it sits. "He gave her a slight concussion but she….it was my fault and I can't blame her for….I went to see her in the hospital and she, well she kicked me out of the room. It's over, it was a good partnership, but I guess all good things come to an end."

"And you're just going to sit here and do nothing to change that?"

"I tried to apologize and she, well she wasn't interested."

"Try harder," Tony watches the smirk that appears on Bobby's face. He smiles in return, feeling a little more comfortable. "You've changed in the last year since you've know her." The older man frowns, "No really you have," Tony says lightly. "You seem….I don't know, not as intense. Don't get me wrong when you have an idea about how things should be you don't back down but…."

"Are you trying to say that I've gone soft?"

"Soft? No," Tony turns his head away, whispering to himself, "Not with me, anyway." He lifts his head and catches Bobby's eye, "No, not exactly just a little more restrained. But that might be do to old age." A pillow meets the teenagers face. The tension-filled room suddenly feels a great deal lighter. Tony gestures to toss it back but stuffs it behind his back. "Remember you told me to go back to Mr. Dobbs and apologize and ask for my job back. He listened to me and this is somewhat the same, she'll listen to you." He crosses his legs, "Besides you and Alex seem to compliment each other."

Bobby stands abruptly and it startles Tony, "Where," Tony swallows hard. "Where are you going?"

"To dump the rest of this beer in the sink, change my shirt so we can get some dinner then go to the Knicks game." A smug look appears on the teenagers face. "Hey," Bobby calls to him, Tony looks up without answering. "Thanks." The teenager sits back filled with pride for what he was able to do for his friend. It's about time that I helped you.

The Next Morning

St. John's Hospital

Room 314

Her back is to the door as he enters the room. He is thankful that there are only butterflies in his stomach and not nausea from an overabundance of alcohol, which was his plan last night. Drink the six-pack of beer in the refrigerator and maybe a few shots of whiskey to erase the memory of yesterday's events. He smiles with gratefulness that a kid, well he's not a kid anymore was there for him. If anyone needed someone to lean on yesterday, it was him.

She is stuffing a few items into a small bag, she stands erect aware of the fact that someone has entered the room. From the footsteps and the silence, she knows who it is. She turns slowly to face him, at this particular moment he'd switch staring at a perp with a gun pointed at him than her, "I....I...." don't stutter. "We need to talk." He purposely avoids the wanting of sticking his hands into his pockets. She nods, then sits on the edge of the bed. "Agreed," she answers quickly.

He puffs put his chest, "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday." He begins to pace around the room, purposely avoiding her stare. "It was my fault and…."

"Stop it," she exclaims, he stops dead in his tracks. "Stop putting everything in this world on your shoulders, Bobby." She stands, "I should have seen it coming."

He turns to face her, "I should have also, but I wasn't watching him close enough. I was on a roll and…."

"I was watching him and all I kept thinking was, he's getting to him, he's gonna break. But his eyes were burning with anger. I should have stopped you." She watches the frown appear on his face, "Yes I could have stopped you. What, you don't think I can?"

He steps closer to her, smiling, "Oh I not only think you can, I know you can."

"We're partners remember." She holds out her hand, "Come here." He shuffles closer to her, taking her hand in his. "It wasn't your fault and it wasn't my fault, it was both our faults. Sorry for yesterday, I was hoping that I could come up with a reason to blame you…."

"Easier to put the blame on me, people would believe it and you were afraid to admit that you…."

"I just have to face the fact that you've influenced me and at first I was upset about it but now, hey whatever it takes to put these animals behind bars. But," she chuckles softly. "I never want to go through something like that again."

"I'll make sure that you don't."

"I have no doubt about that." She resumes her task of stuffing some items into a small bag.

"When are you being discharged?"

She picks up the bag, "Now, come on let's go."

He frowns, "Your, your family isn't coming to pick you up?"

"No," she answers quickly holding out the bag for him. He winks at her as he removes the bag from her hand and gestures for her to lead the way.

Alex returns to work the next morning. The stares she expected are there, she smirks. These people are suppose to be detectives you would think that they would be more discreet. She covers her mouth to silence her laughter.

Later

The Mominator