Will watched Endora stroll on up the sidewalk drawing looks from all around. Men, women and even children. Some stared at her in awe, others looked at her outfit and made mental notes for later, others looked in attraction while a few jealous peeks escaped.
Will had never been so uncomfortable or secretly proud of himself in his life.
When Endora came to a stop in front of him with a old vintage umbrella protecting her from the sun. He simply could not help himself, "You are a horrible horrible creature."
Endora smiled at him with perfect matte blood red lips.
She twirled the umbrella between her fingers. "Do you concede victory?"
The summer sun was already unbearably hot. Even in his khaki boat shorts and polo shirt, Will was hotter than hell and sweating like a farm animal.
He could not remember the last time Chicago was so hot.
"Never," he declared.
Then with a wave of his hands before they went in his pockets, he gestured for her to lead the way.
Tightly encased in a black pencil skirt and matching silk blouse with red belt, Endora walked up the marble steps knowing that he'd watch every step. So she made sure to put a little extra sway in her hips. With every step her pumps clicked loudly on the hard surface.
When she came to the top step a man in a power suit, most likely a lawyer, broke away from his comrades to open the courthouse door for her. Endora rewarded him with a smile that made the man blush a shade of red from his neck to his bald head.
Will rolled his eyes and followed her inside the old massive courthouse.
He watched her pull in the umbrella and draw eyes from all around.
Upon looking for the correct way to go, he spotted it and pointed to a metal detector leading to the left wing of the courthouse. After taking a step closer and telling her where they needed to go, he pressed his mouth to her ear, nose brushing against her perfectly coiffed hair. "I'm going to treat you so much at lunch, you'll require bed rest for the rest of the afternoon."
Unbothered by his statement, she hung her umbrella on her wrist. "Don't be a tease. Ladies don't appreciate that sort of thing."
"And I'll make you watch," he threw in for good measure.
She gave him an appreciative sideways smile.
The two of them then headed towards the signs for jury selection that were put out for that day, going through metal detectors along the way.
For the first time in a while, Will wasn't absolutely irate about getting a jury summons. It was also one of the few times he hadn't brought a pillow to nap with, that usually worked at getting his tossed first. If not, he'd remark that he was a doctor and the defendant looked familiar to him. That one never failed him.
As they meandered down the hall to where the printer paper signs indicted, Will inquired, "So what did you do with the boys today? Dare I ask?"
A remark about pinning a hundred dollar bill to each of their shirts and wishing them the best of luck was on the tip of her tongue. However, as Endora got a good look at the plastic chairs in the waiting area and the people filling them, she decided to go with the truth. "It was either street hockey day camp or a laser tag contest. Laser tag seemed to be the safer option. Plus they talked your dad into going."
Will's eyes widened at mention of his father.
"So I dropped them, your father and three of his VFW buddies off with a cooler full of drinks and a cooler full of food." Endora told him, finally picking a bright orange chair to sit in.
Will did not look reassured, "The VFW buddies...did one have a eyepatch and another walk with a limp?"
Unconcerned she nodded and adjusted her handbag and umbrella.
Will decided to not mention that his father's VFW buddies were members of his SEAL team from Vietnam. It was best not to worry Endora with those little details. He plopped down beside her as she added, "One of them even told me how to get the most out of my liquid eye liner. I can't believe you've never introduced me to those men."
Will couldn't believe it either.
On the tip of his tongue was a fiery remark along those lines.
But something else got his attention. Someone actually. Trouble to be specific.
"William Patrick Halstead!" Shouted an angry voice from incredibly nearby.
Fortunately for Will he had seen the man, another frequent flyer in the ED and older brother of Ryan Donovan, an equal terror to his childhood memories and the neighborhood in general. Last Will knew Mike Donovan was suspected in a series of bank robberies, although nothing had ever been proven.
Will was standing up on his feet with the burly, fortyish, bald tattooed man stormed over.
Heads turned and people didn't even pretend to be discreet about looking.
Mike shoved Will hard enough in the chest to nearly knock him down into the chair. "You got my brother arrested! I never took you for a snitch!"
Endora stood up but Will had already recovered and was chest to chest, toe to toe, nose to nose with the man. "Your idiot brother got hisself thrown in jail!"
"Are you calling my brother a liar?"
Endora looked desperately around the hallway outside the big courtroom for a cop or security. She didn't want to leave Will alone with the mountain of a man. And no one else seemed interested in going for help.
"I'm calling your brother a idiot. Who goes to the hospital with injuries the entire city police force is looking for, and injuries that are tied to a reward that is on the news every night?" Will snapped right back, "It could have been any of his buddies looking for a reward who called that tip in! It could have been you...that neck tattoo looks new and more expensive than your other ones."
Mike swung at Will. Endora screamed. Will blocked the beefy fist with his wrist. While the men were both around six feet Will was slimmer, Mike was bigger but none of his bulk was in shape.
Again Mike swung at Will, someone shouted for sercurity and Will managed to just avoid the fist coming at his face. In return, he delivered a hard punch of his own to Mike's cheek, making the mans head snap back.
Endora screamed some more for help, people quickly moved out of their seats as Mike grabbed Will by the shirt and the two scuffled their way into chairs, knocking them askew. After which Endora began to smack Mike with her umbrella. Seeing the men fight filled her with a terror she hadn't felt in a long time. It seized her gut and twisted. No matter how much or how loud she screamed she could barely hear herself.
Finally, as sounds of security drew near, she got a clear shot of Mikes face. As he'd just thrown Will into a row of chairs, sending him onto the cold hard ground.
Swinging her umbrella like a bat, it connected with Mikes face once, twice and then a third time.
By the third time he ripped it away, as the broken pieces had begun to cut up his face.
In that time Endora had swung her handbag hard enough to gouge a chunk from Mikes chubby cheek.
When two police officers made it over, Endora still battered at Mike with her handbag as the man made a sincere effort to do her harm. He had a handful of her dress in one hand and a fist of his other. Had Will not joined into the fray, Ryan would have managed to land a sound blow to the well dressed woman. It was the very definition of a melee. Usually the courthouse saw one or two a week. It was a very high tension building. But never had there been one with a woman wearing Chanel.
A noble attempt was made on part of the young officers to separate the two men.
Hands grabbed, arms jerked, legs entwined, bodies shoved until the mess of people moved as one towards the hard polished floor.
Endora managed to get in one final solid whack with her handbag before placing her arm out to break her fall. With the men above her and the floor beneath her, Endora's arm absorbed the impact of her body plus more. Although at that last pivotal second, her elbow didn't twist, her arm straightened and then something broke unable to stand up to the forces of physics.