Going Home
Martin got up from the table where he had been doing the crossword puzzle and moved over towards the window. "How long do we have to stay cooped up in here? Only I have a home to run, I must have mail up to the windows by now."
"I have to go and see the man today, after that I'll know what we're doing next." Griffith looked up from his book as he spoke.
"Good, I'll come with you then. I need a change of scene. Much as I love the beach, if I ever see this bit of sand again it will be too soon."
"Well, I'm going in an hour…" He thought for a minute. "I suppose you could come. Then we could swing past your place on the way back, you could pick up your mail and feed the cat or whatever, and then we can make plans."
"Thankfully I don't have a cat, because I think it would be dead by now, but I would like to make sure I haven't been burgled." Martin looked at him, but he was back in his book and not taking any notice of him. The young detective sighed and wandered into the bedroom. He looked around for anything that he could use to leave a message at his place, just in case he learnt something of interest later. In the end he carefully tore the front page out of his own book and folding it up slipped it in his pocket.
By the time Rae woke again it was dark. True to his word Jesse was sitting back with her, and he had been watching her as she slowly came too. Her eyes fluttered open and then she smiled at him.
"Hey, beautiful, how are you feeling?" Jesse had his hand over hers, and he felt her fingers take a hold of him.
"Ok. Jesse, I want to go home. I want to be with you at home. Please." She looked at the face of the man beside her. She loved and needed him so much, but more than that she needed to talk to him, about her, them, and the future, and she just didn't think she could do that here.
"I'm not your doctor, Honey. I was replaced by a younger man remember!" He smiled as he said it. He was delighted that she had asked Alex to be her physician, and he knew it had given him a lot of confidence.
"But he will listen to you, and I just want to go home, please. Jesse, I can't stay here, I just can't."
Jesse could see that she was getting agitated again, so he stood up. "Ok, listen, I will go find him, but, and it is a big but, I will not influence him in any way. If he thinks you need to stay longer then that is what will happen." He left the room as he finished speaking. He knew she could persuade him to do anything, and he wasn't about to let that happen this time.
He didn't have far to go; Alex was with Mark in Cheryl's room. Jesse could see that they were busy, so he sat across the hallway and waited.
"Two doctors, why am I getting this preferential treatment? I hope it isn't because I am getting worse." Cheryl looked and felt wonderful so she was confident with what she was saying.
The two men smiled at her and Mark shook his head. "No, you're doing just fine. There has been a settlement in the pay dispute and we aren't needed in six places at a time any more. Ok, your shoulder is much better. It was only a winged shot and you shouldn't even need any physiotherapy on it. Just keep it mobile and follow your normal exercise routine and I would imagine another week, two at the most and you will be back at work. The infection has all but gone, and finishing the course of antibiotics will sort that out for you, so first thing in the morning, Detective Banks, you are free to go."
"Thank you, Mark. I will make sure I get to see Rae before then. I have gone to her room a couple of times since you let me out of bed, but she seems to be asleep all the time. From what I understand she saved my life, and I need her to know that I am grateful."
"Honey, she won't need you to say anything, she isn't that type of person. She would do it again without hesitation, but I can understand you needing to tell her." Mark walked to the end of the bed and began writing on the chart. "I'm not in first thing in the morning, I plan to relieve my son's willing helper over breakfast, and give her a chance to have a lie in if that's what she wants."
"Poor Steve, I can't imagine what it must be like, but I know what a bad patient he is. She must really love him." Cheryl wondered about this woman, she had never met her, but she couldn't imagine Steve letting anybody get as close to him as Jo I think that's her name, would have to be right now.
"She does, and it is returned. They make a wonderful couple." Mark stopped talking. He had always hoped that his son and Cheryl would get together, now he knew that wouldn't happen, but he couldn't be disappointed at the reason why. "Ok, Alex will come see you in the morning, just to make sure everything is still fine, then you can go home with your mom for some pampering and quality time."
"Thank you, Mark, Alex, I appreciate it." Cheryl looked round and saw Jesse sitting in the hallway. "Ah, I think that Doctor Travis is waiting for one or both of you."
Alex looked round and saw Jesse indicate to him. "I think it's me. I'll call in tomorrow, Cheryl. Look after yourself until then." With that he moved out into the hallway where Jesse stood waiting for him.
"Rae wants to go home, Alex. I said that I'd tell you, but that it's your decision. I'm not going to influence you; in fact I'm not even going to come back into the room with you. I don't know why it's such a big deal for her to all of a sudden need to leave here, maybe you can find out. Anyway, for my sins, I will be in the canteen getting some dinner should you need me." Jesse smiled at the young doctor and then he turned and walked away. He knew that it may seem a bit unfair to Alex, but he also knew that Rae would have tried to use him as a lever and he wasn't having that.
"Rae?" Alex's voice was soft as he said her name. She seemed to be sleeping again, but she turned, her eyes open, at the sound of her name.
"Hi, Alex." She pushed herself up into the sitting position as he entered the room and smiled at him. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"That's ok, can you tell me what about?"
Rae shook her head. "You know some of it, but I have to talk to Jesse first you know that. Where is he, Alex?"
"He went to get some dinner. He'll be back later, I guess. Now, what is this I hear about you wanting to leave us?"
"I want to go home. No, it's more than that, I need to go home."
Alex looked at her. Sometimes the way she spoke was still childlike. Her sentences would be simple and to the point. But she wasn't getting to the point now, and he needed to know why.
"Ok, I'm not sure that I want to let you leave just yet. No Rae, hear me out, please." Alex saw her begin to talk, but he wasn't going to let her. What he had to say was going to sound harsh, and he wanted to say it before he lost his nerve with her. "The way I see it, you need rest, or you seem to think you do. You spend most of the time either asleep or half asleep. It's understandable, you had a life-threatening situation thrust upon you, and you dealt with it, but I think it's more than that. Why do you need to go home? " Alex paused. Rae was watching him intently. He took a breath and continued. "I think that when you are here you shut your eyes and go to sleep so that you can escape your problems. I don't want you to go home and get so busy with life that you are still doing just that. You know that your life is full and is gonna get even fuller…"
Rae put her hand over his. "The reason I want to go home isn't to run away from my problems and fears, but to face them. I can't do that here. I need to be in my own little nest, with Jesse so that I can sort my life out. Please, Alex, let me do that."
"And if you can't cope, if you find that, like the other day the panic takes over, what will you do then?"
"I will come back and see Brian, I promise." Rae lay back on the pillow. She was tired, but now she was more than that she was scared, scared that what she had said wouldn't be enough for him. She had laid as many cards as she could on the table for Alex, she couldn't tell him any more not yet. As her doctor he had a right to know, she knew that, but the most important part of her problem was something he already knew about, and before she could tell him the rest she had to talk to Jesse.
"Ok, I will let you leave in the morning, in Jesse's care… If he can get some time off to be with you, if not, you will have to stay. Once you have sorted things out, if you don't have confidence in me to be your doctor, will you tell me so I can arrange for Doctor Collins to take back over?"
"Alex, no!" Rae sat back up and took his hand in hers. "I don't want Wil, or Mark or even Jesse as my doctor. I asked you because I saw you working with that pathogen, I saw how you handled a crisis, and as my life seems to lurch from one crisis to another, I knew you could handle me too. You are a good doctor, you are my doctor, and unless you change your mind I would like things to stay that way."
Alex felt himself grow inside as he listened to her words. "Thank you, Rae. That is fine by me; I don't want to lose you." He was very moved by what she had said, and it took him a moment to return to the present. "Ok, Cheryl is being discharged in the morning, now it would appear you are too. I will see you then, ok?"
Rae nodded and then leaning back on the pillow again she shut her eyes for a minute as the relief washed over her. "Alex, can I go see Cheryl?"
"Of course, she wants to see you too." He helped Rae get out of bed, and then watched as she, a little shakily at first, walked into the room next to her own to speak to her friend. Then he headed down to the canteen to let Jesse know what he had decided, with a little help from his patient, it had to be said.
"Hey, I was going to come and see you in a while." Cheryl smiled as Rae came into the room. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, what about you? Have you heard from Martin?"
"No, not a word, but I know that the Captain has and so has Mark. But I don't think anybody knows where he is, or what is happening with him."
"He shot you, Cheryl, you know that don't you?" Rae's voice was quiet, as if she was betraying a confidence, which in a way she supposed she was. "I saw him shoot you, and then you just disappeared. If I hadn't heard a splash I don't think I would have known what had happened to you. Why did it all go wrong?"
"It went wrong because the guy in the ship, the one who came down the gangplank?" she watched as Rae nodded her head, "I busted him, twice. He recognised me. I don't remember much else exactly, but yes, I did know that Martin shot me. He is going to get hell from IA, we have to try and rescue his career for him."
"I know. I hope we can do it." Rae struggled with her inner voices as she spoke, but she knew she couldn't confide in Cheryl, Texas maybe, but not Cheryl.
The two friends talked for about half an hour before Rae stood up. As she did so Cheryl took her hand. "You saved my life, Rae. Thank you."
"Hey, don't mention it. I would do the same for anybody, but I'm glad I was able to help you." Rae leant over and kissed her on the cheek. She was embarrassed by Cheryl's words, and she left then without saying anything else.
It was dark and silent when Martin and Larry arrived at a warehouse on the opposite side of the docks to where Martin had been used to working. When the small door at the front was opened they both entered, and as Martin's eyes grew accustomed to the light once again, he saw that he was in the headquarters of a business empire, not a building for the temporary storage of goods.
"Wow. You could run a small nation from here."
"We do, Mr. Anderson, we do."
Martin spun round and came face to face with a round, balding man with a moustache and large cigar. "Hi, I guess I don't need to introduce myself then."
"No, indeed. I understand that you saved our shipment the other night on the docks. I am very grateful. Although maybe we need to skim over the fact that you were dating a cop."
"Yeah, well, I hope you will. When you are working nights on the docks, you grab what you can. She was always real nice to me when I got my coffee. But it was a shame I hadn't realised earlier who she was, maybe I could have gotten some information from her."
"Mmm, well, never mind. She is living with the fishes now, with so I understand, her friend who heroically leapt in after her. I don't know, the import, export business never used to be so dangerous." He began to laugh and Martin eyed him coldly.
"So, what do you want me to do now? Only I have rent to pay, and I get the feeling that having disappeared from the docks, the agency won't be all that keen to have me back on their books."
"No, no indeed. Well, I am thinking that the docks is a might hazardous at the moment, however, I do have shipments coming into LAX regularly. Maybe I could get you a position there. Or you could deliver for me, I think for someone who blew the brains of a cop all over the bay a choice could be offered."
Martin mentally clenched and unclenched his fists. His mind began to work, which would be the best job to take to get some information on this guy. "I would like the deliveries, if they were during the day."
"They are. My distributors don't seem to like to work nights. Very well young man, deliveries it is. Larry will go with you the first week, just to help you learn the ropes, and then you will be on your own. Oh, this is for saving the shipment." The unnamed man handed over a thick looking envelope.
"Thank you, Mr… I'm sorry, Sir, I don't have your name."
"Neither will you, I do not impart that piece of information to anyone but my accountant and my maker. Good day, Mr. Anderson."
"Come on, Mandy, it's time to go."
Larry came up to him. He had a clipboard in his hand, and a package under his arm. Martin looked once again in the direction of the man with the cigar and then he turned and followed Griffith out into the night.
"Well, this sure beats sitting in the perishing cold, night after night doing crosswords. Let's see where I have to go, and when." Martin leant across and tried to grab the clipboard.
"This isn't your list. That is dropped off to you with the van each Monday. Not together obviously. You will get a letter in the mail, inside will be a location. You go to the location and there will be your van. Simple. And it works."
"So, can I go home now then? I would really like to sleep in my own bed."
"Sure, as long as I can sleep on your own sofa!" Larry grinned at him. "I'm not leaving you unattended until you have safely delivered your first weeks worth."
"Ok, look, I stopped needing a keeper when I was seven and could walk to school by myself. You can sleep on my sofa tonight if you don't want to go home, but that is it, tomorrow you are out of my house. Then Monday morning, I will pick you up wherever you want me to and we can go get the van together. Ok?"
Larry looked at him. He was beginning to see a strong side to this young man. Maybe he would make the grade after all. He could do with someone working under him who wasn't afraid to make decisions on his own. "Ok, tonight I will crash at your place, and then tomorrow I will disappear. We will have five days holiday, and then work starts Monday four in the morning. But don't get any funny ideas, I know I am still watched from time to time, so you can be as sure as it's hot in hell you will be."
Martin smiled then and as they were stopped at traffic lights, held out his hand, and when Larry offered his, shook on the deal they had just worked out.
By the time Mark got home from work Jo was just feeding Steve the last of his dinner. She had made a pasta dish, which was covered with cheese, and Steve had really enjoyed it. There was just fresh fruit for dessert and then the worst part of every meal, coffee, either through a straw if he wanted to drink it himself, or in a cup held up to him like an old man with no teeth, if he didn't.
"Dad, how was your day?" Steve was relieved to see him. He had been working long hours, and not only that it would be nice to have someone sympathetic to talk to.
"Busy, but I discharged Cheryl, she will be going to stay with her mom for a week starting tomorrow, and from what I heard Alex discharged Rae into Jesse's tender care too."
"Are they both alright?" Steve suddenly felt guilty that he hadn't been back in to see them, but until his Dad had mentioned them, he had been so wrapped up in his own problems that he hadn't given it a thought.
"Yeah, I think so. Cheryl is ok. She could go back to desk duty straight away if she wanted to, but it is very traumatic to almost drown like that, and I think that the extra time will do her good. Rae, physically she is fine. But mentally, something is going on, but she won't give anybody a clue so I guess we just have to wait."
"Mark, I made enough dinner for you too, would you like me to get you some while you an' Steve have a chat?" Jo stood from the table, and picked up Steve's plate.
"Thank you, sweetie, I have to admit I don't think I have the energy to cook for myself tonight." He sat back in the chair and watched his son as his eyes followed Jo out of the room and into the kitchen. "So, Son, how's it been?"
"Hell. I have never felt so dependent on anybody in my life, and I hate it. I love her one-minute and despise her the next. Ughhh." He lifted his hands and let them crash back to the table. The resultant noise had Jo rushing back into the room.
"Steve, Honey, are you all right?"
"Fine, I was just trying to make a point. Don't worry about it!" His tone was curt and Mark was angered and ashamed at the same time.
"Ok, I won't. But when you land yourself back in the hospital, because you couldn't make your point some other way, don't expect me to be holdin' your bags." Jo turned and left the room once again, and Mark had great trouble stifling a chuckle.
"Go on, Dad, laugh, I know you want to. She treats me like that all the time."
"Good. I don't think you would listen to her otherwise." The laugh won out in the end and he put his head back and had a good chortle. He stood as he saw Jo coming towards him with a plate full of steaming pasta with a golden cheese topping. "Honey that looks wonderful, what is it?"
"It's just pasta with a white sauce, bacon an' mushrooms in the base with grated cheese over the top. Quick, easy, an' not too messy. I hope you enjoy." Jo turned back to the kitchen and for five or ten minutes the house was quiet as Mark ate and Steve just enjoyed being with him. Jo came back with a plate covered over with a cloth. She placed it in front of Steve and then removed the covering. Mark nearly choked.
"What the hell is this supposed to be?" Steve's voice was incredulous.
"Dessert." Jo looked at him, waiting for him to bite. He did.
"Ok, I ask again. What the hell is this supposed to be?" This time his voice had anger in it.
"It is a grapefruit, cut in half. Stuck into the grapefruit are lots of kebab skewers. On the skewers are bits of fruit. That way, I don't have to feed you you can feed yourself. Enjoy your meal gentlemen, I am gonna have a bath."
Steve looked at his dessert once again; he could see strawberries, cherries, banana chunks, pieces of orange and kiwi fruit then he looked back at his father, who was still having trouble keeping a straight face.
"Boy, your life sure is interesting. Can I have a bit?" Mark seemed to have lost interest in the last of his pasta.
"There is one for you in the kitchen, just in case you want to join in." A voice floated out from the spare bedroom, and this time both men just put their heads back and laughed together.
When Jo got out of the bath an hour later she was surprised to find Steve waiting in her room. As she moved over to him she let her towel fall then he stood up and placed one of his hands on the side of her face. "Thank you, sweetheart." He didn't say anything else, but Jo knew what he meant.
"That's all right. I love you, Steve, I don't want to have to be shoutin' an' hollerin' at you all the time. Once this is over, an' you have full mobility back in your hands, we can forget this ever happened, ok?" She moved closer to him and began to kiss him, her tongue moving into his mouth, hoping desperately that he wouldn't push her away. He didn't, and she felt his large clumsy casts as they rested against her back, and he returned the kiss.
Gently Jo pushed him back onto the bed and began to kiss him again, she traced her lips over his eyelids, and ran her fingers through his hair. "Honey, will you let me do this, for you? Just lie there and let it happen?"
Steve nodded, not sure if he could rely on his voice to communicate his aching need for her.
"Relax then, an' you can return the favour another time." She stopped talking and began once again to kiss him. He felt the buttons being undone on his shirt, and then his belt being removed. He opened his eyes and watched her face as she began once again to kiss him this time across his chest. He felt her breasts as they rubbed against his skin, and then he closed his eyes again, and just as she had told him to he let things happen.
Philip Levington opened the blind on his motel room and looked out at another sunny day. He had decided that he would go to Community General and try and get a peek at his love. The costume hire company had been very helpful with a set of scrubs and he had been imagining the scene in his head all night. He would walk into the ER, check the register and then go up and walk along the hallway. She would be lying there; fast asleep and he would check her chart, smile at her and leave. Nobody would know that he had been there it would be his secret.
He got up and headed for the shower. He needed to be clean, bright and sharp as a tack this morning, there were four doctors he needed to avoid at all costs, and a couple more that he would rather not run into, but what was life without challenge? Laughing with excitement he turned the water on and began his transformation.
Rae and Cheryl had chatted for a long time the previous evening, and Rae had almost on a couple of occasions begun to try and explain how she was feeling, but each time she had shied away from it. Now as she sat in the chair waiting for Jesse she knew that even without his help the decisions she had to make would be far reaching, and life changing.
"Hey, beautiful, wanna lift?"
She was brought back to reality by the voice of Jesse as he pushed a chair into her room. Alex was standing behind him, her discharge papers in his hand. She stood and smiled at both of them, and then, once she had signed the requisite forms she kissed Alex on the cheek and hugged him.
"Thanks doc, I will see you soon, I promise."
"Any time, Rae, you know that. You take good care of yourself now, ok?"
Rae just nodded and climbed into the wheelchair. Then with a smile and a sigh she leant back and let Jesse wheel her away.
Phil Levington walked into the hospital and just as he had planned it was able to walk over to the reception desk in the ER and pick up the room list. His eyes searched down it, watching for the date changes until he found what he wanted. As he took a note of the room number the elevator pinged and he moved around the desk and crouched down to fiddle with his shoe and keep out of sight. As he did so he heard the voice that made his heart sing.
"Jess, why do we have to come this way?" Rae looked up into his face as they got out of the elevator way to early for her liking.
"Because, I forgot to put a note in the diary to say that I wouldn't be in for five days." Jesse smiled. He hadn't forgotten at all, he wanted to see her reaction.
"Five days! Really, you have five days? That's wonderful."
"Yep. It's the long weekend remember? Well, I wasn't shifted to work Friday or Saturday so I just added three days to it like we planned and hey presto, five days together. No work for me until Tuesday."
Rae put her hand up and pulled down on his tie. Jesse leant over her and she kissed him on the lips. Then so as not to embarrass him too much she let him straighten up again. "Come on then, sign out before somebody sees you and wants to keep you here."
Jesse did what he was told, and within two minutes of entering the floor they were gone again, and their unseen audience of one stood up, slammed the book back on the reception desk and headed for the stairs.
By the time Rae and Jesse got home it was just after ten in the morning. Jesse fed Kira and Rae checked the mail. Most of it was bills, but there was one letter that she didn't recognise. The postmark was smudged and so she just opened it. "Oh, my God. I don't believe this, the nerve of the man!"
Jesse turned round at the anger in her voice and was just in time to stop her from tearing the letter in two. "Rae. What is it?"
"You read it. Words fail me." Rae sat back down. She picked up the top piece of paper and read it through once again.
Dear Detective Yeager,
My name is Mrs Arabella Hewitt, and I am one of the victim support assistants working in our city's jails trying to help both the victims and perpetrators of crime understand the effects their activities have on the other party to their actions.
I have been working, very successfully I feel, with Mr. Phillip Levington over the past month and now feel that he is ready to move onto the next stage, which is to meet up with a person who has been a victim of the same type of crime that he was guilty of.
However, before they are able to do this we ask all our students to write a letter to the person involved in their own case, to try and explain some of their feelings to them. I hope you will realise from the enclosed letter just how much Mr. Levington has improved and understood since beginning this programme, and that you will write back to him giving him your encouragement as he continues with this scheme.
There is no need for you to acknowledge receipt of this letter, other than by replying to it when you feel able.
Yours truly,
Arabella Hewitt.
Rae looked up at Jesse who had finished reading the other letter, and then they swapped. Once he had read that one too Jesse sat down and took Rae's hand. "Are you ok?"
"Yes, thank you. She sounds a real drip. I bet he wound her round and round his little finger so tight she had to get his permission to breathe. Urghhhhh" Rae picked up both letters and then ripped them up into little pieces and threw them up into the air.
"And do you feel better for doing that?" Jesse looked at her.
"No, not really." Rae looked sheepish. "I have to pick it all up now."
"I'll help you, and with each piece we put into the trash we remove him from our lives, ok?"
Rae nodded, and between the two of them in five minutes Levington was gone."