Not sure whether to believe she was awake or dreaming, Elizabeth's voice crept out before she was even aware of the words rolling off her tongue. "You're in the hospital, sweetheart," Elizabeth whispered, brushing a limp lock of hair off of Coop's forehead with her free hand. "And the doctors and nurses are doing all they can to help you get better."
"Good job," Dr. Tomlinson whispered into Elizabeth's ear quickly. "There will be time enough when Sean is more awake to give him more details."
As his mother's words parted some of the fog that had him in its grip, Coop's eyes narrowed into slits as he tried to remember what had happened. His last memory at all was preparing to throw a huge handful of rice at the back of Allan's head as groom and bride had rushed for the taxi waiting to take them to Philadelphia International Airport.
Guess Allan really wasn't in much of a hurry to get to Los Angeles, after all, Coop thought hazily, recalling his quick dart into the cheering crowd at the wedding. Coop struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Your mother is correct, Sean. You're in Pennsylvania General Hospital," Dr. Tomlinson began, her eyes not straying from Coop's face. "You got hurt last night when you were working. Do you remember what happened?"
Coop blinked twice slowly. Opening his eyes back up even a quarter of the way almost knocked him out. What this broad was telling him didn't make any God damned sense. He didn't work on Saturdays; that was the real reason he had taken the whole vacuum cleaner selling gig in the first place. Saturdays were meant for sleeping until noon.
"Well, it is nothing to worry about, Sean. When you feel better, we will tell you what happened," said Dr. Tomlinson in a soothing voice.
"That's right, Sean," Elizabeth said in a shuddery whisper as she took a piece of Coop's hair and began curling it with her forefinger. "Everything's going to be alright, sweetheart."
The room fell into a tense silence. Jimmy licked his lips anxiously and winced as his tongue came into contact with his wounded flesh. Biting the inside of his lip, Jimmy leaned forward and gripped the wooden foot of Coop's bed for support. He barely felt Father Mack silently place a hand on his shoulder.
Clenching his mother's hand Coop felt a slow blush creep across his face as he tried to direct his watery eyes on Elizabeth's face. Shy and reserved, Elizabeth Cooper was the polar opposite of her husband and son; she was calm and collected when things around her fell apart. His mother also hadn't gushed at him this much since he had been six and had loudly protested he was too old for lullabies and babyish nicknames. Coop was feeling more and more confused with each passing second. In the brief snatches his mind was his own, that was.
His eyes at last cooperating, the sight of Elizabeth's face hit Coop like a sledgehammer and the haze let go of him for a moment as bits and pieces began hitting. Eyes bloodshot, swollen and smudged with black circles. Wispy strands of greasy blonde hair creeping out of its braid. Traces of mascara all over her cheeks. Coop couldn't stand to look any more and he let his eyes drift back to his mother's shirtfront. Just what the hell had happened to him last night? A rogue vacuum cleaner finally getting its revenge somehow?
"Sean, I can tell you feel pretty sleepy. And I am going to let you get back to sleep right away," said Dr. Tomlinson, rubbing her sweaty palms together. "But I am going to ask you to do one thing for me before that, alright?"
Coop blinked as the clouds began to roll back in and blur his vision.
"Okay, Sean. I want you to move one of your hands for me. Not your right hand, because your shoulder on that side got injured and you need to keep it still. I will need you to let go of Sean's hand for a moment, Mrs. Cooper."
Elizabeth hesitated and looked at Dr. Tomlinson wearily.
"Please, Mrs. Cooper. This is very important."
Uncertainly, Elizabeth eased her hand out of Coop's grasp.
"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. Can you move your left hand up and down for me, Sean?" asked Dr. Tomlinson, studying Coop's fingers intently.
His eyelids feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds apiece, Coop stole a glance at his hand, almost drowning in a sea of scratchy blue cotton. Coop clenched his teeth together as he lifted his hand. Flesh and bone had been replaced by solid iron.
Dizzy with relief, Elizabeth let her remaining tears slide down her cheeks. Thank you, God.
"Good job, Sean," said Dr. Tomlinson, straightening her nametag.
"Yeah, good boy, Coop! I'll go grab your cookie!" Jimmy blurted out as he straightened up. Then Jimmy grimaced as he realized just how much fatigue had loosened his inhibitions. What the hell had he just said?
For once, Jimmy's corny joke hit its mark and he almost grinned as he heard Father Mack let out a loud chuckle.
"What the hell is so funny?" Coop thought as he flew into a clearing and vowed to give Jimmy a solid punch to the head when he saw him.
"Alright, Sean. That is enough for now. I will be back to check on you later. I want you to get back to sleep; you need your rest," Dr. Tomlinson ordered quietly as she slipped past Jimmy's chair and dragged a still stunned Nurse Taylor out of the room with her. They sure as heck were going to have a story to tell at the triage desk.
Though he continued the battle, the barbells on his eyelids were winning as Coop's eyes began to close and refuse to lift anymore.
"That's it, sweetheart. Just go back to sleep and get your rest. I promise one of us will be here when you wake up. Me, Jimmy, or Father Mack," Elizabeth murmured as she smoothed Coop's hair into place and touched the bandage above Coop's left eyebrow gingerly.
"Why's Father Mack here?" Coop tried to ask. But his dry, cracked lips refused to part.
Easing up beside Elizabeth, Jimmy grabbed Coop's left hand in the traditional way the guys at the precinct did to congratulate each other on a job well done.
"Good going, Coop. I knew you could do this, buddy," said Jimmy, tucking in his pinky finger and trailing it slow and soft across Coop's palm.
As black descended and Coop felt himself fade away, the prickle from Jimmy's touch was all that captivated him. It happened every time he got frustrated with Jimmy of late; before his fury could even form, Jimmy would scheme up some way to reduce him to hopeless bondage.
Staring at his hand as light once more surrounded him, Coop didn't notice Robin leap up onto the empty couch cushion beside him.
Stifling a yawn, Dr. Buchanan slurped back the last bit of his double cream, double sugar coffee. For the first time in over a week, it had been quiet in the ICU when he had been on and Dr. Buchanan had been able to escape to the floor below for a cigar. With all the oxygen tanks on the ICU floor, smoking had always been forbidden.
As the elevator doors rolled open, the rapid babbling of clicking tongues rushed into Dr. Buchanan's ears like a raging river.
"Amazing, simply amazing!"
"I never would have thought it possible…"
"Wait till Herb hears…"
"Wait till I hear what, ladies?" Dr. Buchanan asked, coming up to the triage desk and resting his mug and one elbow along the top.
The four chattering nurses fell silent.
Rubbing his left eye with a free hand, Dr. Buchanan surveyed the group. "Ladies, I know it's been a quiet night, but you need to keep it down; we have patients trying to sleep. I know it's time for the vitals check soon, but until then…"
"Sorry, Herb," interrupted Donna with a sheepish grin. "But you've got to admit it's pretty amazing. And congratulations."
Dr. Buchanan removed his elbow from the desk and looked at Donna in confusion.
"Didn't Jill tell you? Sean Cooper woke up and was following commands! You did it, Herb! You saved that boy's life!"
Donna and the other three nurses broke into a silent round of applause.
Shaking his head, Dr. Buchanan left his mug on the desk and began searching the hallway for Dr. Tomlinson.
"Dance to your daddy,
My bonnie laddie,
Dance to your daddy,
My bonnie lamb.
You shall get a fishy,
In a little dishy,
You shall get a fishy,
When the boat comes in."
Satisfied Coop had drifted back to sleep, Elizabeth gently rested his hand back on the blanket and got to her feet. She was greeted by Jimmy and Father Mack shooting her wondering looks.
Elizabeth flushed with embarrassed. "I...I...used to sing that to Sean at night when he was little to help him go to sleep."
"You have no need to explain yourself, Elizabeth," said Father Mack softly as he gathered Elizabeth's limp hand into his own stiff one.
Jimmy looked down. Fuck. He'd been so wrapped up in his own misery, he had taken little time to think how his one careless act of fear had almost taken away the man that was Elizabeth's whole world.
"Father, you're lookin' pretty tired. Want me to drive you home?" Jimmy asked, jamming his hands into the rigid, narrow pockets of his jeans.
Father Mack let out a sigh as he unfolded his stiff, aching fingers. "I must admit I'm tired, James, and would be very grateful if you would do that. But I don't feel comfortable leaving Elizabeth here by herself."
"Don't worry about me, Father. I'll be alright," said Elizabeth, tucking a stray piece of blouse back into her skirt. "It goes without saying we got a wonderful gift tonight. I know Dr. Tomlinson pulled me aside for a bit to tell me Sean still isn't out of the woods, but I just know in my heart everything is going to be okay now."
Father Mack nodded. "God has most certainly made it clear he is watching over Sean. But I still don't think you should be left alone, Elizabeth."
"I'll come right back here after I take you home, Father," said Jimmy quickly.
"I can't let you do that, Jimmy," replied Elizabeth. "You've already gone above and beyond and have your own family to get home to."
Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. "There ain't any other place I wanna be right now, Elizabeth. Eileen'll understand." Jimmy bit his tongue slightly as he looked down. He wasn't betraying Coop twice.
A nagging memory of quickly putting Coop's mattress back into place after spotting pin-ups of Tony Curtis and Ricky Nelson instead of the expected Playboy magazines tugged at Elizabeth's mind as she saw a tortured look flash through Jimmy's eyes.
"Sit down, Herb. You look like you are about to pass out," said Dr. Tomlinson as she tried to finish filling out Mr. Bradbury's transfer forms to a rehabilitative hospital closer to his home in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Dr. Buchanan leaned against Dr. Tomlinson's desk. "It's just Ihave to admit I never thought we'd see this outcome, Jill. Not in a million years."
"Well, you have been doing this job for over twenty years, Herb. You know medicine has changed a lot; patients that were impossible to save then are almost routine these days. Besides, you must have had dozens, if not hundreds, of patients that have beaten the odds."
"Not like this."
Dr. Tomlinson stopped writing and let the pen rest over the forms. "Alright. This case is more extreme than most, Herb, and that means it is all the more amazing that you probably saved Sean's life. I know is rather early to be saying that, but we have good reason to have hope right now."
Dr. Buchanan took a seat, folded his hands, and rested them on Dr. Tomlinson's desk. "Well, I don't think that's an honour that belongs to me, Jill. Saving that young man's life, I mean."
"What do you mean, then?"
Dr. Buchanan shook his head. "Jill, there's just no logical reason that officer was alive when he got here; I have never seen a patient lose that much blood and still have a pulse. And now you're telling me he's not only woken up a day after coming in like that, but was able to understand you and follow commands before he went back to sleep?"
"Well, Herb, you know the ambulance service is getting more equipped all the time. I am sure the saline infusions and artificial respiration played an important role in…"
"That's no adequate explanation, either," said Dr. Buchanan, wiping his sweaty palms on his lab coat. "I think, for the first time in my entire career, I don't have an explanation beyond it being a miracle."
Dr. Tomlinson leaned back. She knew Dr. Buchanan was a regular churchgoer, but divine intervention in his patients was something her colleague was always dismissing.
"Well, Herb, is admitting you are not always the one that is one hundred percent in control of a patient's destiny such a bad thing?"
Dr. Buchanan gave Dr. Tomlinson a tired smile. "Maybe not."
"Let me guess," said Danny, entering the den with two brimming glasses of Coke. "I bet you a rookie Mickey Mantle card that you're never going to wash that hand again?"
Coop looked up and his eyes widened in confusion when he spotted Danny and became aware he was back in the den.
"What the hell?" Coop whispered, letting out a sigh of relief when he heard his own voice.
Danny grinned as he grabbed TV Guide and placed the two glasses atop it. "I told you to trust me that you would be getting a pass on the nightmares. How was the trip back down to Earth?"
Coop didn't answer, shaking his head from side to side as he tried to rattle his thoughts out of the solid taffy.
"I take that it was a smoother ride than last time?" asked Danny, putting Robin on the coffee table so he could take a seat beside Coop. "The Boss said to tell you he's sorry about that last side trip you had; his poodle got into the control room while he was chatting with a new agent and messed up a bunch of dials and settings. I didn't get to talk with him long, though. He had about a thousand other phone calls on hold from agents trying to deal with upset clients."
"It was…okay," said Coop at last, relieved he was able to speak once more. "I sort of just…faded in and out. But it was…weird and totally bizarre. Nothing made any sense."
Danny tapped his chin. "What was strange about it, Coop?"
"I couldn't talk and I could hardly think. I felt like I did the first time I got drunk; everything was hazy and nothing was registering. I couldn't remember anything about what happened to land me in that hellhole; everything was all fragmented and jumbled," Coop explained, sticking his tongue out to make sure it was still intact and in working order. "I couldn't even remember where I worked, for Christ's sake! And I've been on the force over a year! And Ma looked awful and was acting all out of it. I almost passed back out right there, but some chick I didn't get a look at kept yapping at me."
"Hmmm," muttered Danny thoughtfully.
Coop sighed. "I've really done it to Ma this time, haven't I? I told her over and over when my first day on the force came that I'd be fine and that nothing would happen to me. Now look what I've gone and done!"
Danny made a fist with his right hand. "For Pete's sake, Coop, none of what happened to you the other night was your fault! Yes, you made a bad judgment call; that argument I concede to you. But you got to realize that you would have been in harm's way whether or not Jimmy had been with you! I know it hurt a lot to see your mother looking so upset, but she's entitled to that, Coop. You're her kid and she was scared she was going to lose you!"
Coop looked down and muttered, "Yeah, that's another thing I'm guilty of, ain't it? Reopening old wounds."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Coop mumbled, wishing he hadn't said anything at all.
"Alright," replied Danny uneasily, rubbing his face and groaning as he realized he needed a shave. "Well, as to why things were so strange down there, I'm sure if we approach this logically, I think I can help you realize an explanation that makes sense."
"Sure," Coop mumbled, wondering how Danny would rationalize this one.
"You remember meeting my parents once or twice, right, Coop?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so. Please don't make things too complicated, Danny. I still ain't feeling right."
"I won't," Danny reassured Coop as he took a quick swig of Coke.
"Well, to get back to what I was saying, my dad fought in North Africa during World War II. He was a pilot and he got shot down. Suffered a really bad injury to his spine."
"Poor guy," Coop muttered, shuddering as flashes of his injured platoon mates crept up on him.
"Yeah, well, he had to have a major operation in '56 on it because the damage got so bad he couldn't do anything except lie in bed or watch TV all day," Danny explained. "Well, after he got out of the operating room, he was on so many medications after it was over that it was was about four days before he recognized me and my brothers. Took him about two days with Mom, but that was understandable; he'd known her way longer."
"What the hell would do that to a person?" Coop wondered aloud.
Danny shrugged. "I think it was the morphine, mainly. Morphine's a really powerful pain medicine. My dad said it was evil stuff and made us promise to never let the doctors put him on it again, no matter how much pain he was in. I know things have changed a lot in the last twelve years since my dad's operation and I'm definitely no doctor, but I'm willing to bet that's what they have you on. I think it's the strongest stuff available."
Coop snorted and threw his head back. "Right, they have me on some potent painkiller when I've been asleep and dead to the world with a tube down my throat?"
Danny picked up his glass and gave Coop a hard stare. "Can't explain the tube bit; I have no idea or clue about what that would be for. But think about the other part logically, Coop. You were shot twice and they did who knows what to fix you up. Of course they have you on painkillers."
Coop angled his head, his fiery eyes burning through Danny. He realized Danny was right; there had to be some reason he hadn't felt the pain that had previously made him pass out.
"So, tell me something then, Danny. If I'm going to live again why the hell am I back in this life and death place with you?"
"Oh, that's quite easy to explain, Coop," said Danny, resting his empty glass between his legs. "You're no longer Somewhere Between Life and Death. You're now Halfway Between What and Where. You'll be coming here for a while when you're sleeping. Promised you'd find out when the time was right."
"I'm WHERE?"
"Halfway Between What and Where," Danny repeated. "Sort of an outer world you'll journey to until the time's right for us to part ways until it's really your time to head back up to Eternity."
"But…why?" Coop asked, his mind swirling with confusion as Robin hopped up onto his lap.
"You're a rather complicated case, Coop; you got a ton of things going on and the Boss figured you could benefit from some further guidance; there's only so much we could talk about and process in thirty hours," said Danny.
"Then what the hell is Robin doing here?"
"Well, I'm the one who brought him with us to Somewhere Between Life and Death. I didn't feel right sending him back to Earth unless you okayed it," explained Danny, giving the bony cat a quick pet.
Coop's eyebrows knitted together. "Your boss or whoever needs to study the art of title making, Danny. There's a skill in that as in anything else."
"Coop, the Boss is a busy guy! He has the whole Earth to keep an eye on; cut him some slack!"
"Okay, whatever, Danny," mumbled Coop, half-scared God or whoever was about to give him an electric shock. "Uh, anyway, this is gonna sound nuts, but I want you to keep Robin here. I don't know what the hell this is, but he's probably safe here. At least I know he'll be taken care of with you, Danny. I sure as hell can't trust anyone else in my life to do it!"
"Oh, not true," said Danny, studying the grain on Coop's coffee table. "Jimmy left him a huge helping of food earlier and would've spent some time with him if Robin had been down there."
"Yeah, right!" Coop snorted. Jimmy's bitched at me so much the past six months that I lock my house up now when I go out or to work. And I'm not one of those morons who leaves a spare key under a doormat. How the hell would Jimmy have gotten into my house, short of breaking in?"
"Oh, it's called knowing your locker combination, grabbing your house keys, and feeding that old cat of yours because he's so anxious to do anything and everything to make things up to you," said Danny.
Coop began rubbing the "M" on Robin's forehead. "And, if I know Jimmy as well as I think I do, he's beating himself up because he thinks he can never make it up to me, right?"
"Bingo."
"Jimmy did fuck up pretty good," Coop acknowledged, groaning as that stubborn lock of hair drifted into his eyes. "But so did I. But there's nothing we can do to change that. He might not be able to really make things up, but he better damn well try. I just know in the future things are gonna be different between Jimmy and me."
Danny quit his staring contest with Robin. "And how would you know that, Coop?"
