"Jim?" Pete, who spent the last half-hour pacing the length of his hospital room, paused mid-step when he heard the knocking on the door frame. It didn't take a genius to know who was there; only Jim knocked on hospital doors. "What are you doing here?"
"That's gratitude for you. Here I get out of my bed, interrupt my sleep, to retrieve you from this place and you question my presence? I can leave you here if you wish." Jim flashed a cheesy grin, turned on his heel and pretended to start leaving.
"Take one step towards the elevator and I'll make sure you and your rookie spend the next month working the B-wagon." He was laughing when he said it, but one look into Pete's eyes and the younger man gave up. Jim had no doubt that he and Larry Kasak would be arresting prostitutes and Johns for at least a month. Still, he had to try.
"You wouldn't dare do that to us…."
"Try me." Jim recognized that glare. He first saw it in a warehouse when his then training officer bluffed two men into giving up while holding a gun he knew was empty. It was still a look that shouldn't be challenged.
"Okay, okay. I give in. You win." Jim held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. "Besides, I wouldn't miss the coming show for all the tea in China."
"Reed, what are you babbling about?" Pete picked up the bag filled with the stuff he had accumulated during his hospital stay. He had spent entirely too much time in the hospital even to let Jim's comment keep him from leaving.
"You'll see when we get home. Don't say I didn't warn you…"
O~O~O
Jim waited, semi-patiently, behind the steering wheel of his corvette while Pete struggled to buckle the seatbelt. As much as he wanted to help his friend, Reed knew that Pete wouldn't appreciate being treated like an invalid. He even bit back a comment when his longtime friend and partner slipped his arm out of the sling to finally buckle himself in.
"I saw that rookie of yours today…" Pete let the sentence dangle, to gauge Jim's reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"Oh?" There was the slightest hint of a crack in the younger man's voice. Pete couldn't help chuckling a little. He hadn't heard that crack in years, not since Jim was a nervous rookie.
"He had a question or two." Pete paused, turned to give Jim the once-over. Reed's hands had tightened on the steering wheel and his ears were turning bright red. The fact that Pete chuckled a little didn't help Jim's mood. "What the heck happened last night, besides him getting away from you?"
"Um, didn't he tell you about it?"
"No, I figured that out from the way he was shaking. He came to ask my why I wasn't a hero."
"Well…" While Jim hemmed and hawed, Pete went in for the kill.
"How dare you tell him that I'm not a hero!" It took all his self-control to manage to sound indignant, instead of laughing.
"But you've told me more than once that you aren't one. Usually after you've saved my life."
"Of course, I'm not a hero, but you're ruining my image." Pete used both hands, one higher than the other, to emphasize his point. "Work with me here!"
Jim's expression was priceless; his mouth hung open below a wide-eyed stare. That's when Pete lost it and burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh, especially when his best friend joined in.
"You rat!"
"Sue me. Now, what happened to Kasak? He's afraid to go back to work." It was time to get serious because if they didn't, both Jim and Larry's life could be in more danger than they were in on every shift. The last thing you want a rookie to do is freeze at a critical moment.
"Do you remember James Talbot?"
"The guy with the switchblade in his boots that you missed when frisking him? Yeah, I remember him." Pete also remembered how shaken Jim had been by that incident. "I'm assuming it's Kasak that missed the knife and not you."
"Of course, it was Larry", Jim replied defensively. "I think part of it was that Huglemeyer, the burglar, was an older man. Kasak is usually more careful than that."
"I know you chewed him out over it, but you still have some training to do on account of this incident. He's afraid to go back to work." Pete paused, giving Jim a moment to consider the implications. "I think I reached him, but he might freeze or overcompensate the next time he has to take a guy who might be armed."
"How do I handle that? This kind of thing is why I didn't want to become a training officer." Pete shook his head, smiling slightly; sometimes Jim didn't know his own self.
"You're a damn good cop. If there is any other qualification to be a training officer, I don't know it." Pete's voice shifted into gentle training officer mode; wasn't he done with that? "Do what I did. Tell him to be careful, to go slow and to remember his training. Let him know that you trust him, but at the same time, watch him like a hawk."
O~O~O
Hello everyone,
First, I want to thank you both for your concern for my welfare and for your patience. It's been a heck of a year.
I know this is short, but I wanted to find a way to let you know that I am writing again. There is more coming and yes, I purposely left dangling what is going on at Pete's apartment. I'm working on what should be the last chapter.
I hope you enjoy this small section.
~J~
