Chapter 53

Alex was rushing. She had to get Jeremy home to Amarie so she could head back out and meet with the jeweler about Bobby's Anniversary/Christmas gift.

She was convinced that he would love it. She'd ordered a gold watch for him. Not a Rolex, she could never afford that, but not a knock-off, either. A gold watch with real swiss gears inside. The jeweler had pieced it together, an old case with new gears. He'd called her this afternoon and told her he'd just finished the inscription, a quote from Ecclesiastes. He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Bobby wasn't necessarily religious, but she knew this would touch him. She felt it, too, that somehow everything in her life had led her to this, this life with Bobby and with Jeremy, and that whatever the future had to bring, they would face it together. She knew he would love it. And she was excited to finally take it home.

The snow had been falling all day, and the roads were a combination of slush and ice. Jeremy was experimenting with his voice in the back, speaking nonsense words, singing, and occasionally yelling out. He wasn't upset, and so Alex didn't ask him to stop. He was just a kid, doing what kids do.

But the sun was starting to set, and Alex was in a hurry. She felt the tension in her shoulders as she hunched down in the driver's seat, trying to move through the traffic as quickly as she could.

As she took a steady right turn, the wheels slipped on a slick of black ice. Alex's side of the car was flung into oncoming traffic. In a split second, it was over.


Greg had to push Bobby away from the driver's seat. He'd never seen him so upset, and there was no way in hell he was going to let the man behind the wheel on an icy night like this.

Bobby didn't fight him, but he did climb in the car and call urgently, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Greg! "C'mon!"

Washington sat down behind the wheel and started the motor. Bobby was completely unable to contain his energy. He bounced and shook and shifted constantly during the drive to the hospital. He never once spoke a word. Greg didn't even have the engine off when Bobby sprinted across the lot and into the hospital.

"Alex Eames, and Jeremy Goren? I got a-I got a call, they were brought here after a car accident?"

Greg walked up in time to see the back of Bobby's head duck behind a curtain.

Jeremy was very still, lying on his side with his little knees bent. His arm was wrapped in a thick bandage, and there was an IV in him, too. Bobby thought the child was asleep. He stepped forward and reached out his hand to stroke the boy's hair.

Jeremy turned his head far enough to see. "Daddy?" He said, and started to cry. Jeremy pushed himself to a sitting position, and Bobby managed to scoop him into his arms without pulling the IV line loose.

"It's okay, Jeremy, I'm here."

"Momma? The car…" Jeremy made a crashing noise, and Bobby's heart almost ripped in two.

"She's here at the hospital, Jeremy. They're helping her right now." Bobby lowered his head and brushed his cheek against his son's. "You're okay. Momma will be okay. It's all over now. All the bad stuff, it's over, little man."

Jeremy sobbed against his father. Greg came in, and Bobby glanced over with worried eyes.

"Jeremy, here's Detective Greg. He's gonna stay here with you, and I'm gonna go find Momma."

"No!" Jeremy hugged Bobby tighter in an all too familiar way.

"I know, I know, Jeremy. I know how you feel. But I have to see Momma. She might be scared like you. I have to hold her, too."

"Go with!"

"Not yet, Jeremy. I need to see her first. Then I'll come back to you, okay?"

Jeremy held on tight, crying, but he said nothing more. Bobby gently handed over his son to his partner, who nodded gravely and watched Goren dash out of the room.

Alex wasn't breathing on her own. He watched them work on her, raising his hand to his mouth and gulping back sobs of his own. Bobby could feel his wedding band against his lips. He said a prayer for her.

After ten long minutes, she was stable again, breathing with the help of a respirator. The heart monitor blipped evenly, and one of the staff remained in the room, monitoring the flow of medicine and blood into her body.

"C-can I…?" he asked nervously.

The woman turned to him. "You're the husband? Of course. The doctor will be in again soon."

Bobby moved forward and sat on Alex's right side. It looked like the bulk of her injuries were on the left. He carefully slipped his fingers around her immobile hand.

"Alex, honey?" He began, and immediately was choked with tears. Bobby tried to swallow them back. He waited until he could breathe again. "Jeremy's okay, honey, I just saw him. He's all right, you know, just a little scared by the whole thing. And you, you're gonna be all right, Alex. These doctors, they… know what they're doing." There was absolutely no response from her. The respirator hissed steadily, and the heart monitor blipped, and her hand was as still as a corpse.

Bobby bit tears back once again. "I need you, Alex," he whispered. "Please don't give up." He wiped his eyes on the back of his left hand and sat nervously fiddling with her motionless fingers. He thought about what he should do. He should call her family, Liz and Johnny. Maybe just Liz, and she could spread the word to everyone else. He should call Amarie to help with Jeremy. He should go back to Jeremy, but he couldn't leave Alex. Bobby rubbed his eyes again. This was a nightmare.

"Mr, uhm, Goren?"

He raised his head, then got to his feet. He should have shaken the man's hand, but his hand wouldn't release its grip on Alex.

"She's bleeding internally," the Doctor said. "We're going to go into surgery, and repair the damage."

"Is she… will she… survive that?" Bobby asked as a cold chill shot through his body.

The Doctor's face was grim. "It's her only chance," he said quietly. "Like this, even with the transfusion, she'll bleed out."

Bobby's face contorted with pain, but he nodded. He understood. "W-when?"

"I'm sending someone in to prep her now. I would have liked to have waited, but she's losing a lot of blood."

He nodded again, and a tear slipped down his cheek. The doctor jabbered something about which waiting room Bobby should stay in. "My s-son," Bobby said abruptly. "He's here, too. He was in the car with her when…"

"You can stay with him, by all means," the Doctor said. "We'll find you."

"Thank you," Bobby mouthed, but he was pretty sure no sound came out. He looked down on Alex once again. "I love you, Alex," he said. "You keep fighting. Jeremy and I… we'll be waiting for you." Bending over, Bobby kissed her on the hand.