Pete couldn't have said what Jim thought he said, or had he? Either way, Jim had no intention of leaving the hospital until he could pin Pete down. Brady, however, was busy trying to pull Jim down the hallway; insisting that seven was over and that Mac would have their hides for going over the allotted forty-five minutes.
"Hold your horses; I need to ask Pete something." Jim knew that unless he asked Pete, he would spend the rest of his shift wondering if Pete had actually said that he was engaged to Sally. How dare he drop something like that into the middle of a list? Deep down, Jim knew that Pete was teasing him; his truthfulness or lack thereof was yet to be determined.
"You heard Mac at roll call. He asked us to keep seven to thirty minutes or less because we're short-handed today." Brady clearly didn't want to test MacDonald's threatened "double" to anyone who didn't get with the program. "What is so urgent that it can't wait till we're off duty?"
"Nothing, let's go." While this was the first shift Brady had ever ridden with Jim, he knew the man well enough to read into his clipped reply; whatever it was, it was something.
O~O~O
Meanwhile, Pete was using a fork to poke at his lunch; unsure if what he was served could reasonably be called food. He was no longer getting three meals a day courtesy of the officers' wives now that his dietary restrictions allowed the kitchen to send him more than a liquid diet. However, "bland food" definitely lived up to its name.
"Officer Malloy, are you planning on eating any of that?" One of today's nurses, a recently minted RN named Eileen, had come into Pete's room as he pushed the tray of food away from his bed. "You didn't eat breakfast either."
"It's Pete, not Officer Malloy, please." He's already asked her twice to call him by his first name; hopefully, she would respect his request before her shift was over. "And no, I am not going to eat whatever that is. I'll wait for dinner, thanks."
"Dr. Franks will not be happy with you for skipping meals." Her tone of voice made it obvious that she agreed with his decision to skip his mystery meat, soggy broccoli and unbuttered mashed potatoes. "You have one excuse that might work with him. Dr. Torrens called a few minutes ago. He's had to cancel an operation set for this afternoon because the patient has a fever. Do you want to move up your surgery to today?"
"I knew there had to be a good reason that today's food was so disgusting, now I know why. Yes, tell him the sooner the better." Pete tried to roll his left shoulder; after so many weeks it had become a reflex to any mention of his injury. It didn't go well. The bullet that severed the artery in his shoulder also damaged the rotator cuff. Torrens had hoped that the damage would heal on its' own, but that wasn't happening. If this operation didn't fix the problem, Pete wouldn't have a prayer of returning to full duty.
"He thought that might be your answer." Eileen reached into her pocket and pulled out two syringes; which she started to inject into his IV port. "Before you complain, this first one is an antibiotic the doctor ordered as a precaution. This one…" Dr. Torrens warned her that Pete might argue vehemently against the second shot so she waited to tell him until it was going into his vein. "…is a pre-op sedative – to keep you relaxed until the orderlies come to take you upstairs."
"I would protest, but you've already injected me with it. Do they teach you that trick in nursing school?" Pete was starting to feel the effects of the sedative and while it was nice to have a lot less pain, he still wasn't pleased with having it snuck into his body. Whether he did it out of habit or meant it, Pete pinned her with a glare designed to intimidate the most know-it-all rookies. "I do have a right to refuse sedation, you know."
"Um...well…" Apparently, the glare not only worked on rookies, but on young nurses, Eileen took two steps back and stammered. "It…well, Dr. Torrens' order was to do it that way. Sorry." In the time it took for her to grab the uneaten lunch and leave, Pete had settled into a drug induced fog; which is how Mac found him ten minutes later.
"Pete?" Mac stopped halfway through the door, unsure if he should wake his friend up, but this really couldn't wait. For once, Pete actually looked peaceful.
"Mac?" Pete slowly opened one eye, saw a blurry figure and instantly closed it. This side effect was one of the reasons that he hated taking any medications; aspirins were usually his limit.
"Pete, are you alright?" Mac slowly entered the room; a manila envelope held under one arm. Something was definitely strange. If he didn't know better, he'd think that Pete was stoned.
"Terrific." Pete's deadpanned response broke Mac up; he was definitely high on something. Any doubt he might have had was gone once Pete made the following request: "Would you please stop moving? It makes you blurrier."
"What are you on…and why are you on it?" Mac stopped laughing and began to worry. It wasn't like his friend to allow himself to get over-medicated.
"Stupid nurse tricked me…." Pete was rubbing his eyes with his right hand in an attempt to clear up his vision. "…gonna report her."
"Is your pain getting worse?" Jim had expressed some concern that Pete was pushing himself too hard in physical therapy. Had he hurt himself again?
"Nope, gone…all gone." After a series of yawns, Pete shut his eyes and started to fall asleep.
"Pete, wake up. I need to talk to you." MacDonald grabbed Pete's good shoulder and shook his drowsy friend. The truth was that seeing Pete in this condition worried the sergeant. "I'm going to go get you some coffee and then we'll talk."
"No…no coffee...not allowed." Pete jerked he shoulder out from beneath the sergeant's grip, opened his eyes and actually made an attempt to glare at Mac Donald. "Might throw up."
"Coffee doesn't make you throw up. You know that." Exasperated, Mac let out a large sigh, while Pete pulled the blanket up to his chin and once more closed his eyes. The sergeant had already discarded his first impulse, which was to go find a nurse for an explanation. He was afraid that if he left Pete now, his friend would be even more uncooperative when Mac got back to the room. "Pete, I need you to pay attention. Can you do that?"
"Whatever you want from him Mac, you better get it soon." Sally, who had been leaning against the doorframe, was clearly enjoying the show. She shook her head and chuckled, "He's only going to get worse the longer you wait."
"Sally, what's wrong with him? It's not like Pete to let himself get this doped up." Mac crossed over to the door, noticing as he did that Pete had begun to softly snore. "I need him to sign this letter, today." He held up the Manilla envelope for Sally to see.
"I can try and get him to sign it later. They sedated him because the orderlies will be coming down to take him to the O.R. soon. Dr. Torrens is going to try to repair the rotator cuff in his shoulder." Sally had moved to Pete's bedside; running her hand along his good arm. "I was hoping to get here to see him before he was this out of it."
"I thought they were going to wait to see if it heals on its own." Weeks ago, Dr. Torrens had spoken to Mac explaining the problem with Pete's shoulder. In its current condition, it was impossible for Pete to lift his arm above his head.
"Shush." Apparently, Pete wasn't asleep anymore. "…still not working." Sally leaned down to whisper in Pete's ear.
"Pete…Honey, Mac needs you to pay attention. Can you do that?"
"Do I have to?" Pete grumbled, waving his right hand to shoo Mac away. Despite his reluctance to cooperate, Pete did make the attempt; opening his eyes to look up at Sally.
"Yes. Here." Mac quickly moved in, he wasn't about to miss his chance to get Pete to sign the document. He placed a pen in his friend's hand and held it over a piece of paper on the tray. "Sign your name." In a few seconds, Mac had the requested signature. It wasn't very legible and it didn't stay on the line, but it was passable; the capital letters P, J and M were identifiable, sort of.
"What did he just sign? He's going to want to know when he wakes up." Sally was starting to have second thoughts. Should she have read the paper before letting Pete sign it?
"It's a letter to the courts requesting a postponement of a trial until Pete is well enough to testify. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but the DA wants to keep the defendant in the city jail until the trial – for Pete's safety." Mac slid the document back into the envelope. "I have to take this to the DA, but I'll come back and stay the night with him."
"You don't have to Mac. I'll be here in case he wakes up." Sally had taken a protective stand, taking Pete's hand in hers, not that he noticed. "Unless you think he is in danger." Mac was already halfway to the door, but he turned back towards Sally.
"He's not, but watching over him after surgery has become a habit." After so many nights spent watching over Pete, it was also a superstition.
O~O~O
After Mac left and they took Pete to surgery, Sally found that she couldn't sit still. The empty rooms, both Pete's room and the surgery waiting room, gave her the feeling that the walls were closing in on her. Knowing exactly what was being done to her fiancé was worse than being kept in the dark. She did smile once, having wondered if that word would ever apply to anyone she dated. There were times there, that she thought she would be single forever; an opinion her mother and aunts frequently expressed, while arguing that Sally was too picky.
In order to keep herself busy, Sally went down to the ER to work; it would keep her mind off some of her darker thoughts. Although Pete had assured her that he would gladly trade his career for Jimmy's life, Sally knew that sometimes intentions faltered when faced with reality. She wondered if anyone, even Pete, was ready to accept a forced reset of their lives.
When the call came from the Recovery room, Sally finished bandaging up a little boy as he sniffled back his tears. He had been running with his dog and tripped over the leash; tearing his arm on a chain link fence. So far, Sally had been biting the inside of her mouth to avoid saying something to the boy's mother. When the mother told her son that she was going to give away the dog if he couldn't walk him properly, Sally couldn't keep quiet; pointing out that a five year old boy shouldn't be expected to safely walk a large German Shepard on his own. The mother left in a huff, but Sally felt better.
They didn't bring Pete back to his room for almost two hours after Sally was told that he was in the recovery room. She had spoken to Dr. Torrens, who was optimistic that, given time, Pete would regain full motion in his shoulder. The doctor's assertion had one very positive result on Sally; easing the fear she had that Pete would change his mind about marriage if he considered himself damaged goods.
Sally was standing by the window watching the sun set, when Jim came into the room. He was about to say something when he got a good look at Pete. That morning, Pete was wearing his usual sling, but now his entire left shoulder was covered in bandages; his arm strapped across his chest so tight that Jim checked to see if the blood to his hand was restricted. Had Pete somehow made the injury worse?
"Sally, what happened to Pete? Did he hurt himself again? He was okay this morning." As he got closer to the bed, Jim saw that there was a partial cast under the bandages, restricting the shoulder's movements.
"No", Sally chuckled. "He's stuck in bed, how is he supposed to hurt himself when he can't get out of it without help?" Jim wasn't sure that laughter should accompany a comment like that, but he let it slide. This last month had been very hard on her too. "They operated on his rotator cuff today instead of waiting a few more days." Jim didn't have to say it; the look on his face showed the worry that moving up the surgery caused. "Relax, the doctor had an opening."
"How did it go?" Jim unconsciously rested his left hand on Pete's shin; wanting a connection with his best friend, in case the news was bad.
"Torrens said that if he works hard at PT that he should get back full use of his arm. I'm depending on you to push him." Sally was definitely spending too much time around Pete; she gave Jim a very Pete-like glare that dared him to refuse to help.
"That's great! I'll give him a hard time if he doesn't, if only to get back at him for sticking me with a rookie." Then Jim got very quiet; looking from Sally to Pete and back to Sally. Should he ask her? "When do you think he'll be awake? I need to talk to him about something."
"He might sleep till morning. Is something wrong? Besides your rookie, that is." Sally couldn't keep from laughing. Pete had told her everything Jim and the other officers told him.
"Not you too." Jim shook his head; apparently he would never stop hearing about Larry's first two days under Jim's supervision. "It's not about that…um…Pete said something this morning."
"I'm sure he did. Can you be a little more specific?" Sally knew exactly what Pete had said to Jim and how he did it. Pete thoroughly enjoyed sneaking the engagement announcement past Jim and there was no way that she would ruin Pete's fun. Besides, she could have some fun with Jim too.
"Is there anything that you want to tell me?" Jim tilted his head to the side as he studied Sally. Would she volunteer the information? Would she answer him if he asked her a direct question? She smiled so sweetly but there was a definite air of mischief about her.
"I can't think of anything."
