10 minutes later Dempsey was back. Carrying a tray with coffee and two plates with warm toast.

"You did some shopping?" Harry asked amazed while he put the tray on the bed and climbed back in.

"No not really. All the credit for it go to Angela"

Harry took a bite of the toast and a sip of the coffee. They tasted delicious. Within no time she had eaten two slices of toast, but then she realised that Dempsey hardly touched his.

"Are you not hungry?"

"I am"

"Well, why don't you eat then?"

She saw him picking up one of the toast slices, but putting it down almost immediately.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked putting her own toast back on her plate as well.

"Harry, I can't get it out of my mind"

"What do you mean?"

"The death of Little James" he answered taking a sip of the coffee trying to clear the lump in his throat with it: "I thought during most of the night on him"

"Is there something you like to know about him?"

"Did you take photos of the little guy?" he asked a little hesitated if he was afraid to ask.

"I did. I'll show them to you later. Do you have more questions?"

"Did....did he suffer much?"

"We'll never know that for sure, but I don't think so. He fought for his life to stay with me....us, but I comfort myself with the thoughts that this was the best for him"

"I wished I was that far already"

Harry could imagine that. But it had cost her more then a year to overcome Little James' death, she couldn't expect that he would accept it in less than 9 hours!

"Harry?" he turned to her now placing the tray a little further away on the bed. He was nervous, Harry saw it in his eyes when his met hers.

She put her hand over his and wriggled her fingers and intertwined them. Looking down on their two hands, she saw him taking a deep breath. If he needed some courage for what he wanted to ask or to tell her next.

"There's something that I need to tell you" he started squeezing her hand but not looking at her: "You have been so honest with me after you have hidden this all for me for such a long time. It's.....It's time that I'll be honest with you too"

"What do you mean?" Harry's fear returned almost immediately. What had he been hidden for her? Was there indeed something to be worried about after all? Right now when she thought they had had the worst behind them?

"Harry?" Dempsey said again biting his lip and taking a deep breath for a second time: "Do you remember that day when they transported you to the rehabilitation centre and you said to me that I looked awful?"

"Yeah, I remember that. It seemed to me then that you didn't sleep at all that night"

"You were right. I didn't"

Oh no, Harry thought, I was right. I knew it. He had been out to party the whole night but was to afraid to tell me back then. But why would he telling me that now? After all these weeks? She had it almost forgotten, why was he so desperate to bring it up again?

"You found out already that I'm back at SI10. It was my first case that evening since my return. Dave and I had to observe some dealers. Spikings had warned me that he wanted answers and not dead bodies, but......"

When he stopped talking, Harry filled in what he obvious was afraid to tell her: "But you shot someone? Is that what you wanted to tell me? But why is that such a big deal? You shot so many criminals in the past. I guess this one deserved it as much as the others"

"Not exactly"

"What's that suppose to mean? James?" Harry begged him starting to get even more worried.

"You are right, I shot someone, but not a criminal. It was a 6 year old kid"

"You did what?" She exasperated, believing she didn't hear it right: "For a short moment I thought you said that you shot a child" she laughed.

"I did" he answered softly.

"But why? How?" She could feel Dempsey's hand squeezing her hand even faster.

Slowly he started to tell her the whole story and with every more word he said, the more she got amazed. But immediately another feeling came over her. Knowing that he had had no other option back then than to try to deal with it on his own, made her desperately want to comfort him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she said with a voice filled with emotion: "Then we would have had a possibility to go through it together"

"Maybe we have more in common than we thought. Talking about feelings is not one of my favourite things to do. You know that"

"I learned to ask for help during these last weeks"

"I know"

"I can teach you how to do that as well"

"Maybe"

"But what about the kid? What was it anyway? A boy, a girl?"

"A boy. His name is Michael Jonathan, M.J. "

"Is? So he's still alive?"

Dempsey freed his hand out of Harry's. Now the even hardest part of the story would follow. To be honest, he had no idea how Harry would react on that.

"I told you yesterday, that I was so exhausted from time to time from running between you and the SI10. That was not exactly the whole truth. There was something else I did in between. M.J. lay in the hospital for 3 weeks. Ironical in the same hospital as you have been. Only three floors lower. They operated him immediately that first night"

"James?" Harry refused to use the kids nickname: "What happened to Michael later? Tell me!"

"I spent as much as time as I could with him. He's a terrific little guy. We went to the park, to the swimming pool together and it was me who brought him to school on his first day. He had never seen the inside of a school before in his entire life Harry. When he came out of the hospital, they decided to put him in an orphanage, because they had no idea who his parents are. Of course I visit him there as well but every time I'm there, M.J. is crying and saying to me how he hates it there and that he wants to go home with me. My heart breaks when I have to observe over and over again how much that little kid suffers. It's not fair. He deserves a better life!"

"What do you have in mind?" Harry asked softly knowing, that he had something in mind already.

"Harry sweetheart. I want to ask you something" He was facing her now and carefully choose the next words he wanted to say to her: "I understand that it would be very hard for you especially now, but I'm involved with that kid's life. If you like it or not, I can't turn my head in another direction and pretend he doesn't exist. I want you to consider something. You don't have to say yes or no immediately, just think about it. What I wanted to suggest is: we both agreed that we wanted to go to Winfield Hall together next weekend. What if we take both Sophia and M.J. with us there? Winfield Hall seems to me a perfect place where M.J. can take in some fresh air and where he can play and be what he is, just a kid. That he doesn't have to think at the orphanage for at least two days and a place where you can get to know him a bit and I, hopefully, get an opportunity to know my own daughter a little better"

Harry was speechless, she really had no idea how to react on the words Dempsey had just said to her. She was astounded. She could imagine that he couldn't stay away from Michael's life but taking him with them to Winfield Hall? Who did he expect her to explain that to her father? And what did he expect from her that the next step would be? She didn't even want to think about that.

Seeing the expression on Harry's face, Dempsey realised that it had been too unexpected and probably too soon for Harry to deal what he had just said to her, that the whole story about M.J. had to sink in first.

"It was a stupid idea" he admitted: "Forget it"

"James, please. I have to think about it. Give me some time. I thought: wouldn't it be better for you to meet Sophia first before we start something else?"

"Maybe you are right. Speaking about our daughter: where did you hide her for the last 9 weeks?"

"She stayed with Angela and Mike. Are you angry at me now? I mean about Michael?" Harry asked a little hesitated when she saw the look on his face.

"No of course not" he said: "I get us some more toast and warm coffee" and he jumped out of bed and disappeared with the tray through the bedroom door. But to Harry it was more or he was running away from her.

Harry lay down on the bed started to think things over. Why didn't she react spontaneously to Dempsey's suggestion? Was it such a big issue to give that little kid a little happiness in his life? But at the same moment another thought crossed her mind. She had to confront and ask him first what his real intentions were for almost begging her to take the little guy with them. Only then she would be able to at least consider his suggestion and make a decision. She climbed out the bed, took her stick in her left hand and walked up to Dempsey who was still in the kitchen taking care of another breakfast for the two of them that day.