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To Those Who Wait
Chapter 21
Part 1
"Well Cowboy, I don't think you're going to be making that hot date tonight." Vin tried to give Chris an encouraging smile, but failed miserably, as the team leader groaned in pain as he lay strapped to a backboard in the emergency room. "Have to say that chase was pretty impressive, though your landing left a little to be desired.
Chris tried to look at Vin, but the neck brace prevented any kind of movement. "Vin, your comments are not appreciated right now. How's Ezra?"
Vin looked down at Chris, grimacing at the thought of their undercover agent, "Doc Simmons is in with him. I got to see Ez for a couple of minutes. His face looks torn up from the air bag, bruised ribs, and bad case of whip lash; he's not happy, but at least he doesn't have any broken bones. Oh, and he said to tell you that you need to tip your guardian angel; you've been making it work overtime too much over the last year." The sharpshooter watched as Chris continued to shiver in pain, involuntary tears leaking from his clenched eyelids. "Hang in there, Cowboy. They'll give you the good stuff, so don't put up a stink and say you don't need it." As Vin stood there trying to offer his friend any comfort he could, a nurse came in to check on Chris.
"I know you're in a lot of pain right now, I promise we'll take care of that in just a moment." She leaned over to look Chris in the face in an effort for him to better understand what she was saying, "Mr. Larabee, you're going up for x-rays next once they finish; if the 'go ahead' is given we can get rid of the back board and neck brace." The nurse looked over as an orderly arrived and prepared to move the gurney holding the team leader out of the cubicle, looking at Vin, "We have to go now, why don't you take a break for a bit."
"Yeah okay, you'll let us know when he gets back?" Vin asked uncertainly and when the nurse nodded, he turned his attention back to Chris noting the pale and drawn features, "All right, well they're chasing me outta here, I'll go let the others know what's going on. See you in a bit."
Chris grabbed at Vin's arm, "Do me a favor, call Molly for me, let her know everything is okay and that I'll make it up to her somehow." He shuddered when pain shot from his wrist to his shoulder; and his head felt as if someone had hit him with a sledge hammer.
"We'll take care of everything, don't worry. Try and relax." Vin patted Chris's cold hand and left the room so the nurse and orderly could take him up for x-rays.
~o~
As Vin entered the waiting room he saw J.D. and Josiah sitting against the far wall, apparently Buck and Nathan were still tied up at the scene.
"Vin!" J.D. exclaimed as he jumped up from where he'd been sitting, "How are Chris and Ezra doing?" J.D. whispered when the desk nurse looked up with a dark frown, "They haven't told us anything."
Vin took an available seat next to Josiah, "Well Ez's going to be okay. He'll be sore for quite a while and he won't be winning any Beauty Contests. Have we heard anything from Buck or Nathan?"
Josiah rested a hand on Vin's forearm, "Not to worry, Nathan called in just a few moments ago, Denver PD is there and is assisting with processing the scene.
J.D. dropped his head into his hands, "All that work, Man! Talk about timing, if Ezra hadn't been on it, they would have gotten away with selling the guns and us being none the wiser."
"So how is Chris doing?" Josiah asked, changing the topic of conversation as he watched Vin rub at the tense muscles in his neck; the sharpshooter sighed tiredly, "Don't know. He's in a lot of pain, still strapped to the backboard and wearing the neck brace. Something is up with his left arm; oh and he's got a few deep gashes in his forearm too. Mainly, I'm just hoping it's nothing too serious.
J.D. jerked his head out of his hands, "Don't even start thinking that Vin. Chris will be just fine, you just wait, Ezra too for that matter. We didn't go through two weeks of hellish stakeouts and undercover assignments to get beaten in the end. It's just not about getting the bad guys; it's about getting the bad guys and coming home in one piece." J.D. ended his passionate dialogue by looking toward Josiah for some additional piece of wisdom.
"Well, J.D. that is the outcome that we hope and plan for in a perfect world, but this world is far from perfect, so we take what the good Lord provides us with and not ask questions." Josiah reflected and settled his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
Vin scowled and rubbed his forehead now, "You two are making my headache worse. Let's just relax and try to center ourselves. I have the feeling this is going to be a hell of a long night." Vin sat there enjoying the silence until he remembered he was supposed to let Molly know that Chris had gotten hurt, "Damn it!"
J.D. looked up from reading an old X-Men he'd found lying on a nearby chair, "What's wrong?"
"I was supposed to call Molly and I totally forgot; I'll be right back." Dragging himself from the chair he walked toward the entrance with the intention of making the call outside. As he walked through the sliding doors he heard someone calling his name, looking up he saw Buck running toward him from the parking lot.
As Buck drew closer he called out, "Vin! How are Chris and Ezra? I got free as soon as I could, are they going to be okay?"
"Relax, Buck. They're cleaning Ezra up and Chris has been taken for x-rays. Said they'd let us in to see them when they've got 'em settled." Vin scrolled through his cell phone and cursed. "Buck you got the phone number of that diner Molly work's at?"
"Yeah, Chris is going to be alright isn't he?" Buck questioned as he dug his cell phone out of his pocket.
"No, he's going to be okay, but he had a date tonight and doesn't want her to worry. I'm sure he'd call her himself if he could, but with x-rays and stuff, he'll be lucky if they let him breathe. You know how it is." Vin explained as he waited for the phone number.
Buck scrolled down through his contacts list and suddenly closed his phone. "Don't worry about it, Vin. I'll go and I'll bring her to the hospital, maybe it'll make Chris feel a little better. Nothing better than feminine comfort when you're feeling low," grinning Buck clapped Vin on the back, "Besides how better to show the mending of the fences than helping out, and bringing those two together in Chris's time of need?"
Vin gave Buck a puzzled look, "You sure this is a good idea? I mean it's only been; what, two weeks since you busted him in the face?" Buck's smile slipped and his brow furrowed; Vin quickly explained, "All I'm saying is, I'm glad you and Chris are getting back to even ground, but how is 'she' going to react to you showing up and telling her that Chris is in the ER?"
Buck chuckled and waved Vin off, "Don't worry there Junior, Molly's good people, she take it okay. I've got to get back into her good graces sometime, maybe this can be the 'olive branch' so to speak." Pulling his car keys from his pocket, Buck waved to Vin and hurried off.
Part 2
Buck pulled into the diner's parking lot and shut down the GMC's engine; looking into the restaurant he could see Molly flitting about, customer to customer. He watched as she would give her customers brilliant smiles at something they would say; Buck knew those smiles were genuine and that Chris was one lucky man. Buck had to admit to himself that the Chris Larabee that he'd been seeing over the last couple of weeks was the old Chris Larabee and he was glad. Buck now regretted that he was going to be the one to wipe that smile from Molly's face.
Opening the driver's door, Buck slowly slid from the cab and trudged to the entrance of the diner. He really didn't want to do this; he'd give anything to switch places with Chris this evening. As he pulled the door open, he noticed Dottie standing at the Hostess's Stand. "Evening, Ma'am. Can I talk to Molly a moment?"
She gave Buck a kind smile and waved him in, "Wait right here, I'll bring her over. She's been waiting on Chris; he's more than an hour late. Doesn't seem like him, at least judging by what I've seen so far."
"No ma'am, there's been a spot of trouble I'm afraid." Buck moved over to the waiting area out of the way of customers leaving for the evening.
"Goodness; well let me get her for you." Dottie hurried to the back to retrieve the waitress that she just watched walk through the swing doors.
~o~
Molly turned as the kitchen doors burst open, "Slow down Dot, where's the fire?" Molly was loading up a tray with her next orders when she noticed the anxious expression on Dottie's face. "What in the world is wrong, are you okay?"
"Molly, Chris's friend's here, I think his name is Buck." Dottie stood there wringing her hands, "I'm afraid there's been some type of trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Molly whispered as her uncle rushed over and took the food tray from her arm; setting it gently on the counter.
Biting her lip Dottie wrapped her arms around herself, "I don't know, but if it wasn't serious why didn't Chris call you, why did Buck come to tell you in person? On tv they only come if the person is-."
"Don't finish that thought!" Molly snapped as she raced for the front of the diner. Oh, God! What if it was as bad as Dottie implied? No! She wouldn't think that way, everything would be okay. Buck was just coming to tell her in person, just because that's how he is. A thousand thoughts were running through her head, had Chris gotten shot, stabbed, attacked, while trying to arrest someone? Was he now lying on some gurney, bleeding out across a once pristine hospital floor? Mentally shaking herself free of the morbid thoughts, she wound her way through the tables occupied by late evening diners. Locking her gaze on the front of the diner she could see Buck standing there, looking like his best friend in the world has just died. Damn it! She needed to stop letting these thoughts materialize. As she drew abreast of the ladies man she gasped, "What's happened? Is he okay, is he still alive?"
"Whoa there, Molly girl," Buck clasped her shoulders and lowered onto a bench in the waiting area, "First, Chris is going to be okay, he's banged up, but he's one tough hombre. He would have called you himself but the doctor wanted to get x-rays."
"X-rays? What happened?" Molly asked feeling slightly better knowing that if he could have, Chris would have called her.
Buck huffed out a little breath and settled against the bench, "It has to do with a case so I can't tell you everything, but there was a car accident. He and Ezra were in the car; they both got pretty banged up, but Chris was happier than a pig in slop because we closed the case. Only took two weeks, that's one for the record books."
"Nothing serious, just a car accident, that's all? He's going to be okay, no bullet holes?" Molly inquired with a shaky voice, the adrenaline rush was fading and she suddenly felt like bawling her eyes out in relief. What she actually did, took her by complete surprise; she punched Buck in the arm, hard and sputtered at him, "That's for scaring the shit out of me, Buck Wilmington. I thought he could be dead or worse."
"There's something worse than dead?" Buck sighed and let out a small chuckle. "I thought you might want to see him for yourself."
"Of course I want to see how he is, let's go." Molly stood and moved toward the door.
Dottie came hurrying from the back with Molly's coat and purse and thrust them at him.
"Don't you want your coat first, it's mighty cold out there this evening?" Buck suggested holding the article of clothing out to her.
With a sheepish look, Molly took the offered coat and slipped it on, "Sorry, guess I wasn't thinking straight. Can we go now?"
Buck handed her the purse, "Sure, Molly. Don't you worry, Chris has been in worse scrapes than this one and he pulled through like a trooper."
As they were walking to the parking lot she suddenly stopped and turned to Buck, "The guys aren't going to mind if I'm there are they? I mean I've only really been around Chris and I'm not sure how the others would take to me, especially at a time like this."
Buck placed an arm along her back to move her more quickly to the truck, "They shouldn't have any issues, these boys are pretty adaptable. If Chris is treating you like family, they'll follow right along, and if for some strange reason they don't; I'll set them straight."
"If you're sure," Molly climbed up into Buck's truck and waited for him to get in. Buck pulled his door shut and started the truck, "Buck, Chris told me that you two were trying to work your differences out. Though I'm still disappointed that you struck him, I'm glad that you're making an effort to mend the friendship. In the time I've known Chris, I've come to realize what your friendship means to him. He really depends on you, heck you've seen him through some pretty rough times in the past."
Buck pulled the truck into traffic before he commented on what Molly had said, "I have to admit, I was a little surprised when you chose Chris over me. I thought we had something between us, I thought that maybe you were the one."
Molly sat silently in the seat beside Buck watching him stare out the windshield as they sat at a red light trying to think of the right words. Rubbing at her forehead she frowned, "Buck, you need to understand something about me. I'm done with the fooling around and playing the games. I wasn't looking for a 'good' time; I wanted a relationship. I've seen that you have a generous heart, but you still have 'ladies man' written all over you. We wouldn't have been a good fit, I'm the settling kind; I would have held you back, and you would have eventually resented what I'd done to you. I couldn't live with that."
Pulling away from the intersection as the light turned green, Buck wondered if Molly truly meant what she had just said, that'd he'd resent her. "So where do we go from here? How do you want to handle this?" he asked almost afraid of her answer, what if she wanted him gone, would Chris choose her over him? He'd done it once before, when he'd chosen Sarah. Buck had become just a friend, not his best friend.
Giving Buck a soft smile, "Well, I believe you owe me a football game. Let's start there and move on."
"Fine, as soon as Chris is fit enough the three of us will go to a game; I wouldn't want him to feel left out." Buck's grin faded as he turned the truck into the hospital's parking lot, "Well, we're here. Hopefully, some progress has been made since I left here sometime ago."
"Let's hope." Molly hopped out of the truck even before Buck had shut it off.
"Hey! Wait up, we'll find the boys and see if they've got any updates." Buck trotted to catch up with Molly, who was halfway across the lot.
"Well come on then, I'm anxious for news." She called as she waited for Buck to catch up.