It Only Hurts When I Laugh

Chapter 6 – On The Mend

When Steve awoke again, he turned his head slightly and saw a rumpled figure sleeping in the chair next to his bed.  He smiled affectionately and began silent inventory of his aches and pains.  He had a dull ache in his lower back that he suspected would erupt into full fledged pain with any incautious movement.  His left side felt numb, and there was a steady pounding coming from his right shoulder.  His face felt better though.  His eyes and lips didn't seem to be quite as swollen as before.  Not that bad, you got lucky again, Sloan.  His thoughts were interrupted by the crack of light that signaled the door being opened.  The open door was filled by a familiar friendly face.

"Jess," Steve greeted in a croaky whispered voice.

"Hey, big guy," Jesse said quietly as he moved closer to the bed.

"Couldn't you get him to go home?" Steve asked nodding towards his father.

"We tried; I even had Amanda use emotional blackmail.  She told him she didn't feel well enough to drive home.  He had Cheryl get an officer to take her," Jesse responded.

Steve smiled.  "Why?  I don't feel that bad.  I'm in a regular room, so obviously nothing life threatening.

"I needed to be here," was the answer from the figure in the chair.

"Dad," Steve greeted.  "Are you alright?"

Mark rotated his neck and stretched his arms above his head.  "I'm fine, Son, how are you?"

"I think, I'm about to find out," Steve said nodding towards Jesse.

Jesse grinned.  "Mark, go get cleaned up, and have some breakfast, and I'll have our boy ready for company when you get back."

Mark had to admit he was feeling a little scruffy, and he was definitely hungry.  He rose from the chair and moved closer to Steve's bed.  He rested his hand on his arm.  "I'll be back shortly; you boys stay out of trouble."

He received matching grins that caused him to chuckle slightly.  They looked like two mischievous youngsters who were just waiting for the adult to leave.

~~****~~

"So, what's up with you and Cheryl," Jesse asked.

"What?" was Steve's grunted response.  Though he was being as gentle as possible, Jesse's poking and prodding was reawakening all the pains at the same time.  Steve was finding it difficult to breathe much less carry on a conversation.  But, the ever chatty Jesse seemed oblivious to that fact.

"I mean, she was really upset when we brought you in," Jesse responded.

"Jesse," Steve gasped.  He slowly counted to ten to try and quell the pain before he continued.  "We are partners, we work together every day, she reacted the same way I would if our situations were reversed.  We worry about each other."

"Is that all it is?" Jesse questioned.  "Lean back for me, so I can check out your stomach and shoulder."

"Jesse, I'm not up for twenty questions, just tell me what you want to know," Steve said through gritted teeth.

"Ok, ok," Jesse said as he raised his hands.  "Do you, and she, have personal feelings for each other?"

Steve jerked as if hit by a punch.  Jesse had actually verbalized 'the question'.  How should he respond?  He knew he had feelings about Cheryl that went beyond being partners, he felt like she shared those feelings, but they had never talked about them other than the occasional odd comment.

"Well?" came the impatient request.

"Jesse, I don't know, we have never talked about it," Steve replied.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Jesse asked.  "You don't know your own feelings?"

"That's not what I meant," said an exasperated Steve.  "Can we talk about this some other time when you aren't torturing me?"

Jesse took note of the white lines around the mouth and the rapid breathing.  "Jeez, Steve, I'm sorry, let's take a little break."

"That would be appreciated," Steve replied.

~~****~~

Steve had been dozing when Mark came back in the room and didn't immediately acknowledge his presence.  When he became aware that he was no longer alone, he smiled sweetly and opened his eyes.  Mark had been watching him intently, and when the smile spread across his face and filled the blue eyes with sparkles Mark felt a moment of sadness.  When Steve smiled like that he mimicked one of Katherine's best features.  Steve had his eyes, but the shape of his mouth was purely his mothers, and when he allowed a smile to soften his features in a certain way it was like looking at Katherine.

Steve noticed his fathers reserved response.  "What's wrong, Dad?"

Mark smiled.  "Nothing, Son, I was just marveling at how much you look like your mother sometimes."

The response had embarrassed Steve, and he lowered his eyes before responding somewhat awkwardly.  "Oh, ok, did you enjoy your breakfast?"

"Why, yes I did.  How was yours?  Did Jesse help you?" Mark inquired.

"No, actually Amanda did.  Should she be here?" Steve questioned.

"She says she feels fine," Mark answered.

"Dad, I wish she would talk with someone.  She went through a pretty traumatic experience," Steve explained.

"We all did, Steve.  Do you think it was easy for us to watch them hurt you?"

"No, Dad, I know it wasn't easy.  Maybe you all need to see someone," Steve responded.

"You don't think you were traumatized?" Mark asked somewhat incredulously.

"Dad, it's different.  I'm a cop, those kinds of situations are what I deal with," Steve answered.

"Oh really, so you're telling me that on a regular basis you are held captive with your family and friends while said captors try to destroy you a piece at a time.  When, was the last time that happened?" Mark asked with a touch of anger tinting his voice.

Steve paused a moment before he answered.  "Dad, that's not exactly what I meant.  I deal with life and death situations is more what I meant.  It was a horrible experience and will have lingering affects for us all."

Mark nodded his understanding, and they settled back to enjoy each other's company.

~~****~~

Steve had finished his dinner and  persuaded his father to go home for the evening.  He was contemplating turning the TV on to see if there was anything good on when the door to his room was opened and a face sporting a tentative smile appeared.

"Come on in," Steve offered.

"Sloan," Cheryl greeted.  "You certainly look better, how are you feeling?"

"Not too bad, Jesse must have me on some great stuff," Steve replied with a grin.

Cheryl still stood awkwardly by the door with her head and eyes slightly downcast.

"Cheryl, you can come in, I'm not contagious you know," Steve informed her with a devilish grin.

Cheryl offered a shy smile as she moved further into the room and towards the bed.

"So, apparently we have been the topic of conversations," Steve informed her.

'Yes, it seems we have.  It's funny isn't it?" Cheryl stated.

"Yes, it is," Steve agreed.

"I mean, to think that we, you and I, could be anything other than partners is so bizarre," Cheryl said.

"Oh, it is?" Steve responded in a disappointed tone.

"Well, don't you agree?"  Cheryl asked.

"Cheryl, I like you…," Steve started.

"And, I like you," Cheryl added.

"Yes, but do you like me as more than a partner?" Steve asked hopefully.

Cheryl dropped her head as her mind screamed.  He actually asked the question!  "Yes," was her soft response.  When Steve didn't answer she looked up to find him watching her intently.  His look held an expression that she had never seen before, and they had been in enough situations that she thought she had seen them all.  It took her a moment to pinpoint what was reflected there.  Fear, oh my gosh he's afraid, she thought.

"So what do we do about it?" Steve finally asked.

Cheryl giggled.  If someone where to have walked in on them they would thought by the seriousness of their tone and the expressions on their faces that they were talking about some heinous murder case, not the possibility of going out together.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that it sounds like we are talking about a case rather than going out on a date," Cheryl informed him with a smile.

"Are we talking about a date?" Steve asked.

"I don't know are we?" Cheryl replied.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," came the excited comment from the door.

Steve and Cheryl both jumped and turned towards the door which they noticed was cracked open.

"Well, you might as well come in too," Steve invited.

The sheepish visage of Jesse appeared in the door.  "I'm sorry, I was kinda listening, and I couldn't help myself.  If you two went about solving crimes like you do about possibly going on a date you would never close a case."

"Well thank you, I didn't realize your field of expertise included counseling, what would you suggest?" Steve asked.

"Cheryl, do you like Steve as something other than a partner?" Jesse asked.

"Yes," she responded.

"Steve, do you like Cheryl as something other than a partner?"

"Probably," was Steve's response.

"Probably," was the chorused response from both Cheryl and Jesse.

"Come on Steve, it's a real easy word, it only has one syllable and it starts with a y, give it a try, I know you can do it," Jesse encouraged.

Steve dropped his head to cover his smile.  "Yes," he responded.

"I want to make sure that we are all clear on what we have decided.  Number one we like each other as more than partners, and number two we want to go out on a date.  Do we all know where we stand?" Jesse completed.

He received two meek nods in response to his inquiry.  "Then my work here is done, I will have to hope that the two of you can handle things now."  He then turned and left the room shutting the door firmly behind him.

'Well, I guess he told us," Cheryl smilingly said.

"He certainly did," said Steve doing an absolutely horrid Stan Laurel impersonation.

Cheryl rolled her eyes and moved the chair closer to the bed as she started to lower herself into the chair, she glanced at his face.  He wore an almost expectant look.    She stopped her descent and leaned over the bed.  Her eyes never breaking contact with his she brushed her lips gently against his.  The brief touch was electric.  She broke the contact briefly before once again settling her lips against his.  It was a caressing and passionate kiss that held the promise of much more to come.  When they broke apart she found herself lost in the deep pools of blue that regarded her with a passion that took her breath away.

~~****~~

Steve sat on the deck enjoying the sun's healing rays.  He had been home from the hospital for almost a week now and was starting to feel more like himself.  He and Cheryl had planned their first date for two weeks from today.  That would be hopefully his last visit with Jesse, and he would be released.  He heard a noise behind him and turned slightly.  "Hey, Dad, did you talk with her?"

"Yes I did, a very nice lady," Mark responded.

During Steve's stay in the hospital he and Mark had talked about Mike's son.  Steve felt it was important for the child to know that his father had fond thoughts of him even in the worst of situations and that he had loved him.  Mark had agreed and had set about finding them.  It had taken a little time because she had changed her name and it had required all of Mark's considerable charm to convince people to give him the information he needed to track her down.

"So, she was receptive to meeting with you?" Steve asked.

"Yes, she said that when she first met Mike that she really felt she could make a difference and keep him on the right path.  He had been in some minor trouble but nothing serious.  They eventually got married and had a baby.  His name is Sean by the way.  A real cute kid.  Things had gone pretty well, then he lost his job and his frustration of not bringing home a paycheck drove him into the more serious stuff.  She said she stuck with him through the first armed robbery conviction and was there waiting when he got paroled, but when he got arrested the second time she filed for divorce and sole custody of Sean," Mark said.

"What was she going to tell Sean?" Steve asked.

"She really wasn't sure.  She said when he got older she would tell him the truth, but she thought for now she would just tell him that daddy was away, but that he loved him very much," Mark responded.

Steve stared thoughtfully at his father.  He could not imagine his life without him in it.  He had been his best playmate as a child, and though they had butted heads on occasion in his teenage years, he had still respected and confided in him.  When his mother had died, he had missed her quiet dignity and calming presence, but once again his father had helped him cope and work through his grief.  As they had both grown older, their lives had become so intricately entwined that they almost thought as one sometimes.  Mark's sharp analytical mind worked out the less obvious clues and details on cases and Steve's handled the more obvious aspects.  They both played to their strengths and made an almost unstoppable team.  He thought back to the ordeal at Bob's.  As had been the case his entire life his father had been his rock, he had always looked to him for guidance.  "Thanks, Dad," Steve said suddenly.

Mark gave him a questioning look.  "For what?"

For a moment Steve looked slightly embarrassed, then he looked his father directly in the eyes.  "For always being there to pick me up when I fall, no matter how old I get."

The End