Cujo III – Reloaded – This Time It's Personal
Chapter 25
Yes, I know it's been too long a time since the last update. All I can do is apologize and offer this extra-long chapter. Hopefully you guys haven't forgotten what the damned thing is even about by now. Thank you so very much for commenting on the previous chapter. Will be double checking to make sure I answered you all.
Disclaimer: Ninja cats have graciously agreed to use husband as temporary cat bed for the moment. If money was made from this scribbling, I'd buy the damned coffee shop where I've been hiding to work on this story. Though cats are apparently comfortable enough, husband is not amused.
*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0* Hawaii 5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*
Patients
The little cat lay listlessly watching the activity around him.
He didn't feel right. Nothing hurt right now but when he moved his eyes, it took a while to focus. He was locked into a metal box of some sort. It had spaces to see through but he couldn't get out of it.
Last time someone had come to bother him; he'd gotten in a good nip before they'd stuffed him back into the box. They made his side hurt and why does it feel so cold there? He couldn't get to it because now, on top of everything else, he had a thing around his neck and head that prevented him from licking where it hurt. He'd make them sorry they put that thing on him!
He closed his eyes, too tired to worry about it right now. He could be patient when he had to be.
…
Why was his head so cold? Oh yeah. He put his hand up to feel the now bristly patch of scalp where the giant bandage had been. His fingers gingerly ran over the row of stitches that still decorated the side of his head.
He yawned and tried to shake off the latest round of nighttime sedation. He always wondered why they'd wake you up from a sound sleep just to give you something to make you sleep. It never made the least bit of sense to him. At least things were progressing toward his ultimate escape from the hospital. The Foley had finally been removed and he'd be allowed to get out of bed as soon as Bambi came back for her nine A.M. rounds.
He tested his pain level by moving his leg off the pillow. The bandage on it had been downgraded and was now just a long strip of gauze and tape covering the long, almost cross-shaped incision on the inside of his right thigh. The cut that ran crosswise to the leg was where the broken pane of glass from the cabinet had cleanly sliced through muscle and ultimately his femoral artery. The incision that bisected it was what they had to do to access both severed ends of the blood vessel to bring it together to be stitched.
He hissed as his inner thigh began to cramp with the movement of temporarily unused muscle. "Shit! That hurts!" he said aloud as he scrunched his eyes against the pain.
"Told you not to start without me!" barked Bambi as she set down the small metal tray she carried and began preparing two injections. Luckily, she'd arrived a bit ahead of schedule.
"Okay, the first one can go in your arm." She stated brusquely as she swabbed what seemed to be her favorite target in the middle of one of the tattoos decorating his left upper arm and efficiently slipped in the needle before pushing slowly on the plunger.
"Give that a minute to work. I'm guessing your thigh is cramping, right?"
"Uhh, yeah, really badly." answered her patient in a near hiss at the more than uncomfortable feeling in his thigh.
They waited a minute as Bambi busied herself straightening the bedding and managing somehow, without saying a word, to make him feel guilty for disarranging it.
She smirked to herself, McGarrett was so predictable. He reminded her so very much of her late son.
"Dammit" he muttered as the muscle contracted in a last tight spasm. He blew out a shaky but relived breath as the cramp finally began to release its painful grip.
Seeing his face begin to relax Bambi said, "Okay, bottoms-up so we can give you the other one."
With a reluctant groan, he rolled onto his side and felt the cold swab on his left cheek and then the bite of the needle. "I know it doesn't really matter at this point but what are you giving me?" he said through still clenched teeth as he felt her press a Band-Aid on his latest injection site.
"The first one, of course, was a muscle relaxant to release that cramping that's causing all the swearing."
"What's the second one?"
"That's the one that will allow you to stand for a few minutes later this morning. And by later . . . " she added in a warning tone, "I mean when there are two of us here to keep you from falling on that skinny ass. Got that?"
"Yeah, I got it." He said contritely then suddenly, "Whoa! That's some good stuff!" he exclaimed blinking as the drugs rushed to his head. The pain became only a memory and a wonderful feeling of floating overcame him.
"Thought you might enjoy that one." Bambi actually smiled, "Now, go back to sleep for a while until we come to get you out of bed. Capiche?"
"You sound just like Danny," he muttered sleepily as he surrendered to the drugs.
…
Sighing, she drained the last of her coffee and set the cup back onto her tray along with her now empty plate. Her conscience was bothering her.
She wasn't so sure of Steve's little plan to get back at his partner for his rough teasing about the Governor's aide having a 'thing' for him. She'd just hung up with Danny. The poor guy sounded really concerned for her. He'd tried to cover for his friend and not say anything that would confirm Steve had 'found someone else'. She wasn't surprised Danny would try to keep Steve out of trouble but was more than touched at his concern for her feelings despite the deception. It was actually kind of sweet. Yeah, she really felt like a rat now.
It would still be a long three weeks before she could see him. At least it was good to know Steve was at least well enough to start giving Danny crap – normal and mutual stuff for her not-my-boyfriend and his beleaguered partner.
She'd gotten the call from Kono only three days ago to tell her that Steve was in the hospital . . . again and though she'd been reassured he was going to be okay, she was still worried. Who had attacked Steve in his own home? Is the assailant coming back? How could Steve even manage to get into such trouble when all he'd done was go home to bed? At least Cujo had been there to back him up. Kono had told her the little cat had chased Steve's assailant and that said suspected assailant had been hit and killed by a car but the cat had been hit as well.
Catherine knew Steve would be horribly upset if something happened to the fierce little feline. Cujo was actually the first not-my-pet that her not-my-boyfriend had ever had and he was touchingly bonded to the little animal. Months ago when Cujo had first come on the scene, one of her girlfriends had told her that any man who liked cats was a good man. She'd already known Steve is a good man but it was nice to have it confirmed and nicer still to watch the two interact. Even on the most dismal of days, the tempestuous little cat could bring a smile to her sometimes equally as intense paramour. They were good for each other.
This morning when Steve had called, she'd listened to him complain about not being able to visit Cujo at the vet hospital and having to remain in bed and deal with the inconveniences of patienthood. From previous times, she knew the effects of painkillers had something to do with him being so uncharacteristically loquacious. Even close as they'd become; sometimes getting him to admit anything was bothering him, either mentally or physically, was like pulling teeth.
This time he admitted his leg still hurt quite a bit when he moved around and he was still shaky, cold, and a bit dizzy. He told her the doctors would let him out of bed once he got rid of the Foley. Cath had to chuckle. She knew that would make him a whole lot happier.
She did have to press him for information about his latest kidney function tests. He assured her they were much better but yesterday he'd had to undergo a dialysis session 'just in case'. Steve had always downplayed any illness or injury no matter the severity so she assumed the just in case was really more 'dire necessity' but, for the time being, only the one session had been required and they would closely monitor its results.
She actually smiled to herself because the thing that seemed to bother him most at this point was that he'd had a strip of scalp shaved only two days earlier so they could stitch the laceration from the accident with Cujo and the dutch oven.
Steve wasn't usually vain about such things; actually, he was sometime totally clueless about how attractive he is, yet at other times, seemed to know very well how to use it to his advantage. He probably thought of it as just another weapon in his arsenal, she mused to herself; one of the more attractive ones but nearly as effective. He'd always veered between total oblivion of his physical appeal and the sometimes tactical use of it. Most women, (and apparently a few men), were very taken with her not-my-boyfriend.
She'd laughed when Steve mentioned Danny's maxi-pad remark. The SEAL had actually sounded peeved when she'd done so but she made up for it by professing amazement and appreciation for Cujo's daring in his pursuit of the assailant.
They'd been on the phone for a good twenty minutes before Steve finally got around to explaining what he needed from her. He'd already told her about Dave's coming to visit and that he was a really nice guy with a Navy background; Matsui's specialty had been disarming explosives, very often while under fire. It took rock solid nerves to do something like that and had very much impressed Steve. They'd got on quite well despite Danny's making the man out to be a love-struck dolt. Dave had been a most willing participant in Steve's scheme to put Danny in his place.
She just hoped the plan wouldn't turn around to bite Steve on the butt. There's always that saying about 'best laid plans . . . '.
By the time the call had ended, she kind of had the feeling Steve was having second thoughts about the prank as well; especially after Danny had reaffirmed their friendship by stating such steadfast loyalty - not that that was any surprise. After their somewhat rocky start, Danny had more than proven himself a loyal and caring friend – Steve's best friend.
She smiled to herself as she placed her lunch tray on the conveyer that took it to be cleaned in another part of the facility; thinking of Danny having quite the grand time last year after he and Steve had returned from a visit to New Jersey at Christmas . . . something about Steve 'converting' Danny's sister Angie – a card carrying lesbian and the second cop in the Williams family.
When she'd asked for clarification, Steve had actually stumbled his way through an explanation as to how he'd been found in bed with Angie but she'd started to laugh uncontrollably by the time he got halfway through it. She'd never seen the normally unshakeable commander so flustered. Unbeknownst to Steve, Danny had already explained to her earlier what had happened. She had no idea her tough as nails beloved could blush so brightly.
She was just glad her role in this little scheme would only have to be conducted over the phone. She didn't know if she could hold it together successfully in person. Poor Danny.
Lunch over, she left the ward room to stride down the long passageway back to her post, sighing resignedly to herself, Men will be boys.
…
The team was reluctant to leave him to his own devices once he was feeling better. Since most of their time had been taken up with the Macchiato Murders, there'd been only a few minutes here and there to visit the recuperating man. They were very well aware renewed health was just the precursor to their bored and fearless leader spending this recovered vigor on an op to escape his sterile prison.
Of course, now that they had Bambi on their side . . .
The tough, no nonsense, nurse had certainly come in handy last year when Steve had been hospitalized with a serious head injury. They were confident she'd keep him in check even if she had to cuff him to his bed. Secretly, the thought was that Steve is maybe even a little bit afraid of her; they certainly are!
It was almost noon and Kono strode down the hallway toward 622 carrying a paper sack with one of her boss' favorite sandwiches and a fruit smoothly. Approaching her destination, the Hawaiian detective could hear the rather loud conversation going on behind the half-opened door even before she entered the room.
"I'm fine to walk by myself Bambi!"
"You might be if we hadn't just given you another dose of pain meds less than an hour ago. I'm sure right now you feel just dandy to wander about by yourself. I'm sure you'd just love to go for a damned jog around the block but with the medication you've got onboard right now, your chances of wandering off and getting hit by a bus are much more likely. Of course without the meds you wouldn't really feel like going anywhere because you'd be in far too much pain to do so. NOW, GET BACK INTO THAT BED!"
"But Bambi . . . ", came the uncharacteristic whine from the tall man in the hospital gown whose arms were firmly gripped by the stout woman in brightly patterned scrubs who impeded his progress.
"Don't 'but Bambi' me!" she warned as she held onto a tattooed bicep even more tightly as her charge had begun to sway on his feet.
Kono was actually surprised to see him standing. When she'd seen him yesterday morning he was still flat on his back with his leg elevated and his body tethered to his bed by various leads and lines. At that point in time, there was no way he could have gotten out of it to go wandering off.
Bambi, red-faced with frustration as Steve only smiled dopily back at her, redoubled her efforts to talk him into lying down. Maybe she could use some back-up this time? thought Kono.
"Hey Kalakaua, howzit?" he greeted, with an even bigger and more loopy grin as she set down the paper bag on the rolling table and came to stand in front of the two warring parties.
"Good boss. You're sure looking a little more . . . upright?" She couldn't yet say better because Steve still didn't look all that great but it was good to see him in a more vertical position and at least the gigantic bandage on the side of his head was gone.
"Kono, would you please tell Bambi that I'm perfectly capable of getting out of bed and taking a short walk into the hallway?"
Bambi just looked at her in warning, mouthing a word that may have been 'drugs' as she rolled her eyes.
"Maybe it's best to listen to her boss. You still look a bit pale . . . and sorta wobbly."
"I'm perfectly fine!" asserted the patient as he began to list toward one side and the stern nurse quickly adjusted her grip on his arm to keep him from falling over.
"How about if I help you too? With a strong woman on each side; your chances of winding up face first on the floor are a bit less."
"I like strong women." he grinned at her then turned toward Bambi with what was probably intended to be a suggestive wink but only came off as a sort of spastic twitch. "Hey! Did Bambi ever tell you that she used to be a dancer? I bet she was a really good one!" said Steve enthusiastically.
What the hell did they give him? thought Kono
She came forward to put an arm around Steve's waist and lifted the man's arm around her own slender shoulder to support him as she and Nurse Bambi steered him back toward his bed. "Come on boss; let's get you back into bed okay?"
Muttered Bambi as she struggled to keep her patient from toppling over, "He thinks that just because we've removed the catheter that he's free to wander the hallways. I swear it's like keeping track of a five-year-old."
"It's good to see that you're feeling better boss." smiled Kono, trying not to laugh as Steve inadvertently flashed his bare bottom at her as he turned toward the bed. He'd be sooo embarrassed if he wasn't so totally stoned. If he could see and hear himself right now he'd be mortified.
"This is the second time this morning I've had to wrestle him back into bed." said Bambi in annoyance as she finally released Steve's arm so he could plop back onto the bed. Despite the drugs he hissed in pain as she lifted his legs, carefully placing a pillow under his right thigh as she settled him in once again.
"Kono you have no idea how nice it is to not have to pee in a tube." announced Steve as he blinked sleepily up at her.
"Uhh, yeah boss, I bet." she smiled, amused at his candor. Should I be recording this visit? Might come in handy when asking for a raise. "Brought you a cowabunga-bunny and a mango smoothie. Figured you'd be pretty tired of hospital food right now."
"Kalakaua, you are a goddess!" he pronounced as he eagerly took the paper bag and the plastic cup she handed to him. Maybe they could drug him on a regular basis? she thought. It certainly seemed to loosen the armor he usually wore thought the smiling detective.
"No offense but the food around here sucks." said Steve as he eagerly unwrapped his lunch. "Hey, you want some sandwich Bambi? It's really good." He smiled as he took a big bite of the veggie and cheese on whole wheat.
Declining the offer of food, the nurse grumbled, "I told him we were going to adjust his meds to make him comfortable so that he could stand for a bit. Of course, he took that as meaning 'Let's see how far I can get down the hallway'."
Kono just nodded knowingly.
"Bambi," said Steve stifling a yawn mid-bite as the pain medication began to have more effect, "Would I do that? You take such good care of your patients. I think you're underappreciated and probably underpaid."
"You got that right but you're still not going anywhere so save the charm crap for someone foolish enough to be conned into doing your bidding. If you'll remember what happened last year, your last escape attempt didn't really work out all that well for you did it?"
She was reminding him of his last sojourn under her care when she'd busted him trying to make his way barefoot across the hospital lobby where she'd camped out to wait for her restless charge.
Steve just grinned at her as his eyes began to blink in tiredness. Kono could see his body begin to relax into the bed and she gently took the half-eaten sandwich out of his hand and put it back into the sack. Despite his valiant struggle against the effects of the drugs, soon, he was breathing softly in sleep.
"Didn't really expect to find him out of bed." said Kono turning to Bambi who'd re-inserted a line into the heplock on the back of Steve's right hand.
"Neither did I. At least not that first time." she said in an exasperated tone as she adjusted the drip on the bag of medication she'd placed onto the hook above the bed. "Though we removed the Foley this morning we're still watching his kidneys. He just barely missed being put through a second round of dialysis. Their function is improving but probably not quite as fast as he thinks it is."
"Sounds like Steve." smiled Kono. The tough as rawhide nurse had grown on her. The entire team appreciated her stern care. Steve would have just tried to steamroll his way over anyone else but he knew when he was licked. Danny had told her once that he wished he could hire the nurse full-time to keep 'our hyperactive animal' under control. Kono knew he wasn't talking about Cujo and it sounded like a good idea to both the cousins.
…..
The surgery had been successful and, when their patient had proven once again to be difficult, he'd been rewarded with the lampshade-like plastic collar that would prevent him from bothering his incision. It also made it that much harder for the little buzz-saw to latch his teeth onto his caregivers.
She took a deep breath and approached the cage. It would be best to make this as quick as possible. Clicking open the latch, she swiftly reached for the heplock taped to the shaved part of the feline's foreleg and injected a mild sedative. Though they didn't like to drug their patients unnecessarily, it was the only way to handle the little asshole without being bitten or scratched.
"Cujo, time to look at your stitches. You gonna let me do that sweetie?" she crooned as she reached to pick him up knowing it wouldn't make one bit of difference if the cat didn't want to cooperate.
…..
He growled in warning as the female opened the door and tried to make a break for it but for some reason he wasn't as fast as he usually is. He felt himself being snatched up before he could jump onto the floor.
"Ouch you little shithead!" he heard from the female as he managed to hook his hind claws into the flesh of her arm.
There was that word again. Lots of humans seemed to call him that for some reason. It wasn't his name. He knew his name. He just refused to answer to it. It would be too much like dogs do when humans called them. He isn't a dog!
After a contest of wills, (which he didn't win), he was once again back in the box and was even sleepier than before. As he lay fighting the feeling of helplessness he remembered chasing the man who hurt his human but did he catch him? It was so confusing. He'd think about it later.
Right now, he comforted himself with thoughts of his secret place and all the things he'd gathered there. When he gets back to where his human usually stays - the place with lots and lots of sand - his things would be waiting for him. He closed his eyes to dream again of fat mice and things that sparkle like sunlight on water.
…
Chin and Danny stood at the smart table, going over the latest information about Steve's suspected assailant while waiting for Mickey and his partner Phil to arrive so they could review the latest info on the Macchiato case. Kono should be back by then too.
Both men were certain the guy Cujo had chased into traffic was the one who'd broken into the McGarrett home. Their rodent control officer apparently has a nose like a bloodhound and everyone knows how determined the little wolverine is. They'd called to check on him earlier this morning to be sure he was still recovering smoothly. He was doing much better. So much better that Danny had earlier made a visit to deliver a box of chocolates.
The Jersey detective wondered if the cost of the candy could be included in an expense report as 'medical supplies'. He had the feeling that Steve's Amex card was going to be taking a pretty good hit from their local chocolatier before their rodent control officer was ready to return to duty.
Of course, HPD was still extremely skeptical about the whole thing, someone even mentioning they were lucky the dead man had no relatives to sue because the Five-0 cat had been the cause of the guy running out into traffic to escape from being mauled.
Certainly, Cujo wasn't Lassie but he had no doubt that if Timmy, (Steve), fell down a well the little cat would find a way to help. They just had to convince the skeptics that cats, at least this one, are as good at tracking as any K-9 unit the Honolulu Police Department had on its rolls.
As far as the law was concerned, Andrew Timmons's life was pretty much squeaky clean. The little bit in his fifty-four years that wasn't squeaky was that he'd been briefly detained last year for assaulting a surgeon at Queen's Hospital.
Timmons' wife Myra had died only two days before when she hadn't survived complex brain surgery. It had apparently sent her husband over the edge and into a rage against the doctors who'd performed the procedure. They'd even found a hammer in the bag the distraught man had carried into the hospital.
When confronted about the potentially lethal object, Timmons insisted he was 'only' going to assault the computer that had aided in the surgery on his late spouse and had no intention of using it on any of the medical personnel involved. His record showed the doctor refused to press any charges if the distraught man agreed to undergo grief counseling and enrolled in an anger management program.
Chin shook his head sadly. He knew if anything happened to Malia, especially if the harm was intentional, he'd have more than a hammer with him.
Danny considered it just another sad case of someone not getting the right help or being beyond the scope of the assistance available to him.
Before she'd left for the hospital, Kono had said if the guy hadn't already been dead, she'd have run over him herself. He had hurt Steve really badly. She was sure Cujo had tracked the right guy. He was just a cat but was true as an arrow when locked on target. Her boss and his not-my-pet were very much alike in that respect, (though Steve was somewhat more even tempered - on most days anyway). It wasn't a good idea to be in either's bad graces.
….
Both women's hands and arms bore new reminders of the little animal's expression of evil temper. At least the thought of another box of chocolates was a bit of consolation for the two battered vet techs.
Joanie pressed the soaked cotton ball against the newest Cujo inflicted injury. As her eyes watered from the sting of the antiseptic, her mind wandered to thoughts of chocolate truffles or maybe the ones with almonds.
It's too bad the commander himself didn't deliver it last time though Danny was pretty damned attractive as well. Joanie wondered if he was married. She didn't see a ring on his finger but he'd had a little girl with him last time he'd visited. She assumed it was his daughter; cute kid. Maybe Janet knew more about him, she'd have to ask.
….
Kiki needed to wrap this thing up. Mickey told her that the alarm system and surveillance cameras at one of the potential sites for another murder had been disabled. She knew the most probable locations for mayhem had been determined and were currently being staked-out.
When she'd asked what the criteria had been to establish the suspected sites Kilkenny said it was just one of McGarrett's crazy hunches. He reminded her for the umpteenth time that the guy wasn't a cop and had no business in law enforcement. She enthusiastically concurred. She felt if she could keep Mickey and that jerk McGarrett at each other's throats maybe it would lessen the chance of connecting the dots leading to the now extinct whacko. The court-ordered anger management class in which they'd met would never be discovered.
Thinking back to what led to her brief sojourn in the land of wall-punchers and wife beaters she smirked to herself. That stupid bitch in the parking lot deserved to have her car rammed into. That would be the last time she'd cut someone off in pursuit of a parking space. The repulsive cow had the temerity to rat her out to the mall cops who'd called the 'real' police out. She guessed it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She could have been jailed for assault instead of just getting the summons to appear in court.
That the dickhead judge ordered her to attend anger management classes had actually worked in her favor. She'd have never met the deceptively nerdy little man otherwise. It had been like shooting fish in a barrel. The guy was so easily taken in and manipulated into doing her bidding and she didn't even have to put-out! It had been so easy to manipulate the little fool into beginning the murders. All she had to do was listen to his ranting about computers and coffee shops and just give him a little nudge in the right direction. It worked perfectly.
Now she was on her way to that anchor job. Murmuring something vaguely obscene into the phone and promising to Mickey he'd get his 'reward', she set up another rendezvous. She needed to know more about the stake-outs and what it was that prompted them – even if it was McGarrett's idea.
Tapping the icon that ended the call she sighed. The things I have to do to further my career
She wouldn't even have to do these things if people would just realize how talented she is. Someday she'd be in the position to laugh at all the losers, like Mickey, who'd let themselves be used in her climb to the top. So far, the only one she hadn't been able to manipulate was McGarrett.
Too bad her late accomplice hadn't been successful in their plan to off the annoyingly smug leader of Five-0. Well, can't win 'em all.
Onward and upward as the saying goes.
*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0* Hawaii 5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*5-0*
Thank you to whoever provided me the quote about 'a man who likes cats . . . '. For the life of me I couldn't remember who it was and couldn't find it in the reviews of the previous stories where I thought I'd seen it. Would love to credit you for it if you want to identify yourself.
Contents of one of Cujo's stashes will be in the next update. Let me know what you'd like to be included in it. So far, I have McMommy's jewelry, one of Danny's ties and Steve's watch.