Chapter 28
"He did what? How the hell did that happen? He was in your care, for heaven's sake! I expected you to take better care of him," Mike shouted down the phone and Rick held the receiver a few inches away from his ear and pulled a face at Tom who was listening in to the conversation. "I'm on my way over right now. I only live a few minutes away. Where is he? Is he still in the ER? I'll speak to you again when I get there. This is bound to set him back and just when he was about to come home too." Mike was still muttering loudly to himself as they heard him replace the receiver.
"Well, I'm glad that went well. I'd hate to meet him when he was really mad." Tom tried to inject some humour but he was not looking forward to this meeting any more than Rick was. Rick had previously told him the Lieutenant was a very pleasant and malleable man but, in view of the job he did, Tom guessed it probably masked a rod of steel running straight through him. They sat down in the ER waiting room never taking their eyes off the door.
Less than ten minutes later the swing door opened and a man in a pair of khaki pants, check shirt, beige cardigan and wearing a fedora hat came hurrying through. His face was like thunder.
"Is this him?" asked Tom worryingly.
"Yep, that's him! The hat gives him away." They both stood up quickly and the first thing that met them was the 'Stone glare'.
"I can hardly believe this has happened! I was only here in the ER less than two weeks ago and now I'm back in here again! Where is he? What's happening now?"
"He's in one of the bays waiting for treatment. The nurse at the desk said she'd take you in as soon as you arrived." Rick pointed towards the nurse he was referring to and Mike hurried over to her.
"Do you get the feeling he's madder than a hornet's nest right now?" Tom asked.
"Huh! Too right! I just hope Steve can calm him down," Rick answered as he watched Mike disappear from their sight into the treatment bay where a heated discussion was soon in progress.
"Mike, calm down will you. It was an accident. My hand just slipped off the crutch. It was nobody's fault. It just happened!" Steve was struggling to placate Mike. His lower lip had a dressing taped over it and his mouth was throbbing like the devil, and Mike firing off on all cylinders wasn't helping his rapidly growing headache either. "I was lucky Rick and Tom acted so quickly to catch me and save me from further injury."
"Oh, so this is lucky is it! They shouldn't have had to catch you if they'd been doing their jobs properly in the first place," Mike blasted back at him. "Were they pushing you too hard? Was that it? Or was it you? I know what you're like and I bet you were pushing yourself beyond the limits of your own endurance."
"Mike... please! Stop with the outraged anger will you! Watch my lips... oh you can't can you?" He tried to smile at his own joke but it hurt too much. "I slipped. I... just... slipped. If it was anyone's fault it was mine. I just lost my grip on the crutch. Maybe my hand was sweaty, I don't know. I just pitched forwards that's all. End of story." No way was Steve going to admit he'd been pushing himself too hard, because Mike would immediately twist it to mean Rick and Tom were pushing him too hard. It was better to stick to the story that his hand slipped. Rick was beating himself up enough, and if Steve admitted that he fell because he was so tired, Rick would assume responsibility for not being alert to his fatigue and where would that lead?
Just then the curtains opened and Dr Carr walked in accompanied by a nurse. "Well, young man, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon. Nurse here tells me my intricate needlework is required once more. Let's have a look shall we?" He nodded to the nurse who peeled the dressing off carefully. Mike's stomach flipped as he took in Steve's very swollen and blood-stained lip and the blood still trickling down his chin from the puncture wounds in his lower lip.
"Oh, Steve, you broke a tooth too!" Mike sighed. "What am I going to do with you? You're so accident prone it's untrue." He turned to Dr Carr. "The only way we can keep him safe is to hog-tie him to a chair twenty four hours a day, and even then he'd still find some way to hurt himself. This is the second time in less than two weeks he's been here, and yet he thinks he's fit enough to go home. Go home? Oh no! The safest place for him is a padded cell!"
Steve just lay back with a weary and resigned expression on his face. "Take no notice of him. I'm really not that bad," he said wearily.
"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks. A dentist has been summoned to see you and once I've sutured it, you'll hardly have a scar. You'll need a few sutures inside as well as out though, but mouths heal very quickly. It'll be painful for a few days till the swelling goes down." Dr Carr spoke reassuringly. "Lieutenant, could I ask you to leave us please. The nurse and I have work to do."
Mike returned to the waiting room to sit with Rick and Tom. "Dr Carr is stitching him up. I'm still angry, but Steve assures me it was an accident and neither of you were to blame. I'm still sceptical but I suppose I'll have to believe him. He also says your very quick reactions prevented further damage to his leg, so I guess I should thank you for that. I expect this will probably delay his discharge and he was so looking forward to getting home."
"Possibly, but there was no injury to his leg and he wasn't due to be discharged till Monday anyway, so he still has thirty-six hours to rest up." Rick tried to sound reassuring but wasn't sure who he was really trying to convince... Mike or himself. "We have an accident report to write up for Dr Truman so, if it's okay with you, we'll leave you now and go and get on with it." And at Mike's nod they left.
Another hour passed. Mike had tried reaching Jeannie at home but had no success. He had no idea where she was other than that she said she had some shopping to do for Steve. She was due to visit with him in the evening, so he thought that would be soon enough to tell her of what had happened. Suddenly, a wheelchair was pushed out of the ER room by an orderly. Steve was sitting in it resting his forehead on one hand. He had a large dressing over his lip and chin and they were heading for the elevator.
Mike hurried to catch up with them. "Are you okay, Steve?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm fine. I just want to get back to my room and rest for a while. I have a thumping headache but at least my mouth is numb for the moment," he spoke wearily. He'd had five sutures put in his lip, four inside and one continuous suture again on the outside. It had been done under a local anaesthetic which, in itself, wasn't pleasant and Dr Carr had told him that, aesthetically, it should prove to be an excellent repair in time.
Mike accompanied Steve and the orderly back up to his room. His crutches had been returned to rest by his bed and, with the aid of the orderly, Steve manoeuvred himself back onto his bed and lay back on his pillows. As Mike pulled the covers up over him, the orderly left and they were quickly joined by Liz.
"Oh dear, Steve. You poor thing. Rick told me what happened when he brought your crutches up. How do you feel?"
"Tired... sore... thirsty... and I have a thumping headache. I just want a drink please. I can still taste the blood in my mouth, then I just want to sleep if you don't mind. It's just been one thing after another today. Can I have a lukewarm tea please?"
"Sure, no problem. Do you need any pain killers?"
Steve shook his head. "No thanks, I'm topped up with morphine and local anaesthetic!"
"Okay, I won't be long." By this time evening was setting in and she closed the blinds and turned off all the lights in the room except the small over-bed light. Mike stayed a few minutes longer till she returned with the tea in a mug with a straw. First, she gave Steve a glass of warm salt water and a bowl and asked him to rinse and spit to cleanse his mouth. He wrinkled his nose up at her instruction but did as he was told. When that was done he drank the tea thirstily but very carefully as the numbness made him feel as if he was dribbling. He held a tissue under his chin as he drank and swilled the warm tea around his mouth. He drank most of it then passed the mug back to Liz.
"Thanks. I needed that."
"Well, you're all drugged up and I can see that you're very sleepy, so we'll leave you now to get some rest. I'm going off duty, but I'll tell June no more visitors this evening." Liz and Mike left the room together and Mike walked with her back to the desk.
"I haven't been able to reach my daughter and she's unaware of what's happened so, if she turns up, you may have a fight on your hands to keep her out of Steve's room. Hopefully, she'll have gone home first and I'll catch her before she leaves to come back here. Goodnight, Liz, take good care of him for me." He placed the fedora on his head and walked wearily towards the elevator.
When he arrived home in a cab it was to see his own car parked out front on the road so he knew Jeannie was home. As he entered the house she called to him from the kitchen as he moved over to his armchair and sat down.
"Hi, Mike, I've not long got back from shopping, but I got everything on the list that Steve wanted and I've stocked up his fridge and larder cupboard too. I thought we'd have a bite to eat before we head over to the hospital to visit him. Those rails you put up in Steve's shower look great. Have you been out? I thought you were going to put your feet up this afternoon." She walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a cloth and could tell just by looking at her father that something was very wrong. "Mike, what's wrong? Has something happened? Are you okay?" When she still got no reply, she spoke again this time more worriedly. "Is it Steve? Has something happened to him? It has, hasn't it?"
"Yes, but don't panic, he's okay. Try not to worry yourself too much but he's had a bad fall. I've been at the hospital for the last two hours."
"Oh, Mike, not again! Is he hurt badly? Is it his leg?"
"No, his leg's fine, thank goodness. Come here and sit down a minute and I'll explain what happened." They sat together whilst Mike explained all that had happened that afternoon and why they couldn't visit that evening. Like Mike she was initially indignant that he should've been watched more carefully, but she eventually accepted that Steve had assured Mike it was an accident.
"Well, he clearly needs to rest but I'm going in first thing in the morning, Mike."
"You and me both, Jeannie. Now what's for supper? I don't seem to have much of an appetite but, whatever you're cooking, I'm sure will tempt what's left of it." He followed Jeannie into the kitchen, pulled the chair out from under the table and sat down with a weary sigh.
The rest of the evening was spent companionably as they sat side by side on the couch and chatted. Mie took her small hand in his larger one. "It's not been much of a homecoming for you has it?"
"That's okay, Mike. I understand. It's not your fault... nor Steve's either. We still have a couple of days before I go back. Let's just enjoy what time we have together and we'll both go and see him in the morning."
Steve was up and sitting in a chair next morning when they arrived. He looked much brighter than when Mike had left him the evening before, but his eyes still looked heavy and he seemed uncomfortable. There was also visible bruising below the dressing on his chin and beginning to extend down his neck. Jeannie went straight to him to give him a hug whilst Mike sat on the foot of Steve's bed.
"Well, you look better than last night. How did you sleep?" Mike asked and his relief was plain to see.
"Not too bad. I was dosed up with painkillers and local anaesthetic and that helped until they wore off, then I had to ask for more meds. Look, I'm sorry I gave you both such a fright. It was just one of those things. One second I was up... and the next I was down. Thank goodness Rick and Tom were quick enough to catch me, so all I have to show for it is a stitched lip and broken tooth."
"What's happening about your tooth? I was told the nerve is exposed," asked Mike.
"I'm being taken up to the dental department at half past ten for an emergency appointment probably for a temporary crown, then I guess I'll have to come back again another day to get it permanently fixed."
"Does it hurt bad?" asked Jeannie.
"Yeah, like toothache!" Steve quipped but visibly winced. "Other than that I'm fine... really. Stop worrying will you. I still intend to get out of here tomorrow. A busted lip and tooth isn't going to keep me here. Rick came in earlier to check on me. He's off duty today but Tom's on so he's still taking me to the PT room for a session on the steps later. I think they're worried that my nerve might go if I leave it too long, you know, like when you fall off a horse... etc... etc."
"God forbid they ever put you on a horse, Steve! Knowing your luck it'd probably be a bucking bronco! My nerves just wouldn't stand it! You're making me old before my time, you know." Mike smiled at his partner. It never ceased to amaze him at the speed with which he could bounce back again.
"Did you get the stuff I asked for, Jeannie?"
"Yes, it's all here and gift wrapped, too, like you asked and I also picked up the other stuff you arranged," she said as she tapped the bag she'd placed on the foot of the bed.
"So, what's the big secret then? Jeannie wouldn't tell me. She said I had to wait for you to tell me yourself."
"Oh, well, everyone has been so good to me in here I just asked Jeannie to get me a few gifts. I have really nice perfumes for June, Liz and Moira and a big box of chocolates for the other nurses and staff to share here and another for up in the ICU. I asked her to choose nice conservative tie-pins for Dr Cranmer and Dr Truman and then I got tickets for the 49ers and Raiders game at Candlestick Park on Sunday for Rick and Tom and also for Walt and two of his friends. Just to say thank you, you know. Jeannie went over and collected them for me."
"Hey, how did you get those? I heard they're like gold-dust."
"Oh, I just called in a couple of favours I was owed from a guy I know who works in the ticket office there. They can find seats if they try hard enough. I remembered he once told me that they usually hold a few back. I even got tickets for you, me and Bill too. How about that, Mike?" He smiled a little lopsidedly at Mike.
"For us too, Buddy Boy? Wow! That must have been some big favour you called in. I'm sure they'll all love their gifts. What made you think of tie-pins?"
"Oh, Jeannie bought me one last Christmas and it seemed like a neat idea... you know... for an older man to wear." He laughed at the indignant look on Jeannie's face.
"I've never seen you in a tie-pin, Steve," said Mike looking puzzled.
"That's because he probably never wears it," laughed Jeannie. "For an older man indeed. How dare you, Steve Keller! I'll have you know they're very fashionable at the moment."
"I do wear it, but only on special occasions. I can hardly chase after villains wearing a tie-pin, now can I? That wouldn't do much for my street cred, would it?" And they all laughed together at the picture this conjured up. "Oh, by the way, if it's not putting you to too much trouble, Jeannie, could you get me another tie-pin for Dr Carr please. I wasn't going to get one, but it seems, at this rate, I may be seeing more of him in the future too," he smiled quite sheepishly. "And put some champagne on ice too. I'm coming home tomorrow."
"Now, you don't know that for certain, Steve, so don't get your hopes up too high," Mike counselled. "Anyway, on your meds champagne is the last thing you need. You can't stay upright as it is, without drinking alcohol."
"Oh, I'm definitely coming home tomorrow, so put some orange juice on ice then! Now for your surprise. I have a table booked for us three at Ernie's Restaurant for 7.30 tomorrow evening. It's my treat to say sorry for all I've put you through and also to thank you for all you've done for me, and will be doing for me, over the coming weeks... and there are no arguments. It's all booked. I may only be able to eat soft food instead of the juicy fillet steak I'd envisioned, but we're going and that's final. So, Mike, get that best suit pressed and Jeannie, pick out your prettiest dress. We're going on the town."
Mike was rubbing his hands together and grinning from ear to ear. "Steve, you shouldn't have but that's great. Thank you. Ernie's, eh? And it's better still because you're paying. We'll be looking forward to that... yes, sir! Right we'd better be off. Jeannie wants to catch up with a couple of her friends and I have some gardening I want to do. We'll call by later this afternoon. And, Steve... try and stay upright, will you? Dr Carr said he's running out of sewing thread!" And Mike and Jeannie quickly left him.
As Steve rested he thought at least they all had smiles on their faces. After the rotten afternoon and evening they'd all had yesterday, today was definitely a bonus.
