Jim was madder than the horde of wasps were when he whacked their nest out of their tree with a baseball bat. Larry Kasak almost got himself killed! Reed wasn't sure who he was madder at; the rookie or Pete. That wasn't true, if he was being honest, he was mostly angry at himself. He made the mistake of letting his guard down and it almost cost Larry his life. Until that moment in the pharmacy stockroom, Jim had never fully understood why Pete was so mad that first night they rode together. He had run off on his own and left Pete wondering where he was and what he was doing. Tonight, he felt the panic of being totally responsible for another person's life. Whether he was riding with Pete or another officer, he was always dealing with someone who bore most of the responsibility for their own lives. Jim suddenly understood that he was, among other things, Larry's only protection.
As he helped Larry write the arrest reports, Jim struggled to keep him mind on the job. He was preoccupied with the full weight of Larry's life on his shoulders. Naturally, his thoughts kept going to Pete and some of the early calls they handled together. One call in particular stood out; the arrest of James Talbert. Like Larry, Jim had missed a switchblade and almost paid for it with his life. Pete saw what Jim didn't, which is why Jim saw it when Larry didn't. He'd have to ask Pete how he learned about suspects finding excuses for reaching for the ground; had Captain Moore saved Pete from a hidden switch blade?
Reed and Kasak transported the suspect, a repeat offender named William Huglemeyer, to the central jail. It was the first time Larry had been inside the facility. He could see why Mr. Huglemeyer had resisted arrest as strongly as he had. Larry sure didn't want to spend time in that place. Jim didn't speak on the way from the jail to their unit; he was gathering his thoughts before lecturing Larry on safety, once more.
"Don't clear us yet." Jim slammed the driver's door before turning to face his rookie. "We need to get some things straight between us."
Larry Kasak opened his mouth to say something but the glare he was getting from Reed stopped the rookie mid-thought.
"What was the first thing I told you once we got into that pharmacy?"
"Uh…well sir, I, just..."
"I didn't ask you what you "just", did I? What was the first thing I ordered you to do? Come on."
"To be quiet and stay behind you." Larry didn't turn to face his training officer; instead, he was staring at his hands.
"And did you do that?" Reed was barely managing to keep his temper in check. It was the simplest of orders, yet things could have gone horribly wrong.
"No sir." The rookie spoke so softly that Jim didn't hear him, nor could he see Larry's face to know if he had answered.
"Did you stay behind me?" This time, he did raise his voice. "Look at me when I'm yelling at you!"
"No Sir", Larry gulped out the answer.
"Why not? Bear in mind, there is no right answer to that question other than I screwed up." Even as he said it, Jim knew that he had never yelled at anyone like he was yelling at the young officer before him, but he knew he had no choice. The words he was saying weren't truly his; they were the echo of Pete's.
"Sorry Jim...um, Reed, I screwed up." If it hadn't been so dark in the unit, Jim might have seen Larry blushing. Reed reached a hand out to touch Larry's shoulder, in an attempt to get the rookie's attention. Kasak was trembling, but Jim wasn't through; he wanted to shake that rookie so much that he would never do that again.
"You do realize that Huglemeyer would have shoved that knife into your gut without giving it a second thought?" Reed extended his index finger in order to shake it at the trembling young officer. "I won't have you dying on me!"
"I know it was stupid, but I wanted to show you how good a cop I am."
"That worked out so well, didn't it?" Sarcasm wasn't really Jim's style, but sometimes it came out anyway. "Look, Larry. I understand why you did it, but you are nowhere near ready to go off on your own. That's a heck of a way to waste fifteen thousand dollars."
"Sir?" Larry was naturally confused by Reed's non-sequitur; it had made an impression on Gus Corbin when Pete brought it up. "What's fifteen thousand dollars have to do with me trying to prove myself to you?"
"It costs the department that much to train you. Did you know that?"
"No sir."
"So, if you get yourself killed, the department is out a lot of money. The brass will want to take it out of my hide." It was stretching the truth a little, but not by much. From what Jim heard, they had put Pete through the wringer when Baxter died and Pete wasn't remotely responsible for his partner's death. "Next time you decide to risk getting killed, do it when I'm not riding with you. Got it?"
O~O~O
"They're going to be really mad." Gary, the boy Pete found in the stairwell, was dragging his feet as they neared the Pediatric ward. "Do I have to go back now? Can't we wait a little more?"
"Sorry, we both need to be getting back to our rooms." It wasn't that Pete wanted to return to his room on the fourth floor, but once the staff in Pediatrics saw him, they would demand to know where he belonged. That's assuming they hadn't already been alerted to be on the lookout for him.
"You'll be okay." Malloy kept a hand on Gary's shoulder; pushing the door open with his other one. Amazingly, he didn't close it the second he saw what was happening in the hallway. Two nurses, a security guard and an orderly were arguing over who was responsible for letting Gary escape. A rather distinguished looking older gentleman stood stone still, arms crossed, glaring at the quartet.
"Quiet! What did his mother say when you called her?" Judging by the sudden silence in the Pediatric wing, this gentleman must be Gary's doctor. "Nobody called Mrs. Meyers to tell her that her son was missing? What are you waiting for?"
"For us, perhaps?" Pete tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder as the two of them approached the squabbling group. "We met in the stairwell."
"Who, may I ask are you?" As the older man spoke to Pete, the four staff members slunk away; hoping that they were off the hook for the boy's disappearance.
"He's my friend, Pete." Gary leaned against Pete's side, drawing strength from the kind police officer. "That's doctor Green". Gary whispered to Pete, "he's gonna take my tonsils out."
"Pete Malloy. Nice to meet you doctor". Normally Pete would have offered to shake hands, but he didn't want to let go of Gary.
"Malloy, the cop?" Dr. Green gave Pete the once over, taking in the sling, robe and the IV port in his arm. "I've heard about you."
"Is that good or bad?" Pete chucked, he couldn't help but ask, even when he knew the answer would most likely be both.
"That depends on who is doing the talking. You are infamous. According to some, you are a terrible patient and more trouble than you are worth. You also have a lot of people who consider you a hero and a bit of a miracle; both because of what you did and the fact that you survived it.' Doctor Green shook his head and smiled. "Either way, I thank you for bringing my patient back."
"You're Welcome." Pete turned to face Gary. "I've got to go back to my room. You'll be okay now."
"NO!" Gary wrapped his arms around Pete's waist, holding him tighter than was comfortable considering Pete's still tender stomach. "Don't go Pete." The boy turned to the doctor. "Can't he stay with me till my mom gets here?"
"I'm sure they want your friend back in his room too." Doctor Green arched a brow and nodded slightly; a signal for Pete to agree with his statement.
"When will his mother be back?" Pete's protective nature was going into overdrive; he saw no real reason to leave Gary to the care of the nurses who lost him in the first place. "He's afraid to be alone."
"She's working. The nurses will look in on Gary until she gets here." Both men knew that the doctor was evading the question.
"Please Pete, stay with me." Pete glanced down at the boy. He could hear the tremble in Gary's voice and now saw the tears slipping down his cheeks. "Don't go."
"If it's all the same to you Doctor, I'll stay with Gary. There's no reason for me to go back to my room since all I'm supposed to be doing is sleeping." There was dogged determination in those green eyes; Pete would not be leaving Gary. "The nurse can call the fourth floor and tell them where I am."
Without waiting for permission from the doctor, Pete began leading Gary to his room. The duo paused long enough for the boy to pick a book from the hallway shelf. Doctor Green tried hard to hide the smile that watched the friends go. He knew enough about Pete, from Doctor Franks, to know that Gary was in good hands. When a nurse checked on them, Gary was in his bed with Pete sitting near the headboard, book in hand.
"Well, it must have been two – no three days ago," Chester Cricket began. I was…"
O~O~O
"Eeeeee", the mosquito buzzing around the squad car was the only sound Jim heard, besides the constant drone of the radio. Larry Kasak stared out the passenger's window at the sun as it rose above the horizon. Jim concentrated on the road but he spared a glance at the sunrise; it was a small connection to riding with Pete. Always riding shotgun, Jim had grown accustomed to measuring time by how slowly or quickly the sun seemed to rise. This morning, it seemed an eternity for that ball of light to rise even a few degrees above the skyline.
Part of Jim felt sorry for Larry; he understood. It wasn't easy to face your own mortality. The rookie was young, eager and certain in his future, but he almost threw it away because of a stupid mistake. At the Academy, the instructors had made them search each other in order to learn the proper way to take an armed suspect. The problem with that was, it wasn't real; empty guns and blunted knives hidden on the bodies of classmates. Larry had made the common mistake of growing complacent. After all, make a mistake at the Academy and you get a "do over". When Jim decided that Larry had stewed enough, he pulled their unit to the curb.
"This was the first time you saw the void, isn't it?"
The young cop continued to stare out the passenger side window but he shook his head.
"Nah, I've seen it a lot of times….in the army."
"You spent your time in the army in Germany and the rest at Ord. Just when did you see the void?" Jim was certain that Larry had never faced death; those who had actually been through it before, reacted differently.
"It's daunting isn't it; knowing that you were seconds away from dying. Staring at whatever comes next, wondering if there is something beyond this life and the guy with the knife.
"Yeah." Larry spoke softly, trying to keep the quiver out of his voice. "I know it sounds stupid, but I always thought that, if I were to die on the job, I'd go out saving someone. That I'd die a hero, like Malloy almost did."
"Don't let him hear you say that." There was a hint of a chuckle in Jim's voice, knowing how Pete would respond to that comment.
"Why not, I thought what he did was heroic. All the guys say so." Larry finally turned to look at his training officer; his face showed how much he was in awe of Pete. Reed didn't know who the "guys" were who did the talking, but it wasn't anyone who knew Pete well. He learned early on that Pete shunned the limelight; preferring to be left alone to do his job. Being called a hero never did set right with Pete.
"Whether it was or not, you are looking at it the wrong way. Wanting to die a hero is a sure way to get yourself killed doing something stupid." Reed paused a moment, desperately wanting to find the right words.
"When I was a rookie, there was a guy on my shift who held to the hero idea of police work. Run in and take the gun away from the nut, never mind being careful or planning something. For a while, I thought his way was exciting; much better than Pete's methodical approach of checking out the situation before acting." Jim shook his head, remembering how he disrespected Pete; how stupid he was to admire Wells.
"What happened? I mean, even you say that Malloy is the best….now." Larry's hesitation was long enough for Jim to notice.
"We were back-up on a man with a gun call. That officer came in with his reds blazing, jumped out of the car and ran towards the front steps of the house. He took a load of buckshot in his shoulder and lay sprawled out on the front lawn."
"Did he live?" The last bit of excitement had disappeared from the rookie's voice.
"Yeah, Malloy figured out a less dangerous way to rescue him than my initial idea of running onto the lawn after guy. It would have been a stupid way to die; for that guy or me."
"Still, you told me how Malloy got the Medal of Valor for saving your life when those guys held you hostage in the bank. So, isn't he a hero?"
"That's not the point. To Pete, what he did at the bank and in my backyard wasn't anything special; it's his job."
"But, what he did…" Whatever Larry meant to say was cut off when Jim grabbed his attention.
"What he did is our job. You may never have to put your life on the line, but you might. The thing is to seek out all other options to accomplish your mission before deciding on a course of action. Most times, you won't be gambling with your life. However, if you do risk your life, don't do it recklessly. Don't die from a mistake.
A/N: I apologize for the long delay in posting this chapter. Writing in the time of Covid and quarantine isn't easy. I'll try to finish this off soon.
~J~
