Safest Place to Hide

Chapter 8

Struggle

Alex walked through the halls as silently as possible, her gun drawn. The last thing she wanted was to run into an unfriendly face now that she knew she was the newest target in a twisted journey of death and retribution. She had a semi-stalker, those feelings she'd experienced weren't just her imagination acting up. It gave her a twisted sense of closure, but one that left her completely on edge. Right now, they didn't know where Patrick Sparks was and until they found him she was in danger.

She met up with Bobby half way down the hall where the kitchen opened slightly into the hall. Her eyes held fear turning his concerned and curious. Alex didn't give him time to figure it out, but stepped in front of him, ready to turn the corner. What she hadn't expected was the bullet that came from one of the rooms just off the corner. It caught her left shoulder and she fell with a cry. Officers were around them in an instant and Bobby's gun was already trained on the other one. As soon as Bobby was sure Patrick Sparks was cuffed and immobile, he dropped beside his partner, pulling out his cell phone and making the necessary call to emergency services.

"Alex? Talk to me." She hissed as she raised her head, having crumpled to the floor. Her left shoulder hurt! Reaching up to her shoulder she felt a wet substance and scolded herself internally as her hand came away red and bloody. Getting shot was not going to go over well with her family. However, she was grateful to believe the bullet hadn't been fatal. Somebody produced a cloth that her partner pressed over the wound.

"It's just a shoulder wound, I'll pull through fine," she scolded. He almost laughed in relief. Leave it to Alex to be strong in the moment she's lying on the ground with a bullet in her.

"Been shot before?" Bobby asked, determined to keep her talking.

"I'm a New York cop, what are the chances of it not happening?" she retorted her eyes fluttering closed.

"Stay with me Alex," he pleaded.

"I'm trying. What's the ETA of the ambulance?" She could feel the shock settling in and struggled against her heavy eyelids.

"Five minutes."

"Good. I can make it that long I think." Then there was a pause, her brow furrowing slightly.

"We need milk," she said, a seemingly random thought. He allowed the subject change to keep her mind off of the pain in her shoulder.

"I'll get some on the way home," he assured her, even as his mind panicked.

I can't lose her…

"And chocolate. I'm still offended – after how many years of working together? – that you don't keep a stash somewhere."

"I'll make sure to pick up an extra bag of chips for you," he replied taking her bloody hand in his.

"Detective?" Neither of them had been so happy to hear the voice of the ambulance personnel in their lives. Squeezing her hand, bobby stepped away and allowed them to settle Alex on a stretcher. She promptly passed out.

Don't leave me, Alex, he prayed, I can't live without you.

Then he made a split second decision.

"I'm going with her."

"Sir, we can't do that."

"I have to go with her, please." He hoped he was too terrifying of a picture with his voice so child-like and panic in his eyes probably making him look maniacal. The man sighed as he observed them loading Alex into the ambulance. Suddenly she coughed and opened her eyes meeting his. Her mouth moved but he couldn't hear the words. Then she started thrashing about and Bobby was beside her in an instant, taking her hand and telling her it was alright. He wasn't paying attention and was jolted when the ambulance started moving.

"If it's the only way to keep her shoulder still while they see how much they can fix it, then I'll let you come along," the man Bobby had pleaded with explained, settling at the bottom of the bed. Bobby nodded gratefully, his throat in no position to make any comprehensible sound.

The ride was shorter than Bobby had expected. Reluctantly, he let go of her hand as they pulled the bed out of the vehicle. He ran with them through the bay doors vaguely hearing something about a gun shot victim and needing blood. Once they turned her towards the emergency rooms, Bobby knew all he could do was wait.

He caught a passing nurse heading down the hall and asked to use the phone. She pointed to the main desk and he thanked her, taking long strides towards the young men and women crowded around it. They passed over the phone all too willingly when he explained his reasoning for using it. After all, someone had to tell Alex's family she was in the ER.

The phone calls were quick and Bobby was left to wait on news of his partner. He hadn't been sitting five minutes when Deakins strolled in, a subtler fear reflected in his eyes as he took Bobby's vacated seat. The other man began pacing restlessly, worried beyond measure since they hadn't heard news of Alex. They'd watched her being rolled in an elevator to go and extract the bullet but hadn't heard news since.

"Goren, sit down you're making me dizzy," Deakins ordered. Bobby, however, could not sit down. Not only were there no empty chairs but his nervous energy was through the roof, not because he actually had energy but his worry was making his stomach do uncomfortable somersaults.

The next to arrive were Alex's parents and family included her nephew, the boy she'd carried for nine months. The worry on their faces matched Bobby's and he tried to explain what happened as best he could without completely reliving it himself. Now, his only concern was making sure Alex was going to be patched up okay.

Some time later, when Bobby had exhausted himself enough to fall asleep in a hospital chair – a testament to the doubles he and Alex had been pulling on a different case – someone came down to ask for the family of Alexandra Eames. Deakins elbowed Bobby awake and they all made their way up to room 283 where Alex was awake and asking for her partner. Originally, Bobby had waved the family in first, but they insisted he go first, since Alex was asking for him, not them. Slowly, Bobby opened the door to his partner's hospital room, slightly afraid of what he was going to find.

Regardless of her small stature, Alex had never failed to fill up a room until that moment. She looked so much smaller with the IV tube in her arm and shoulder bandaged. Gently, he took her good hand in his, running his thumb over the back of it. Alex stirred slightly, opening her eyes to meet his. She smiled, squeezing his large fingers with her more delicate ones.

"I told you I'd be just fine," she murmured, speech only slightly slurred due to the drugs. He smiled reassuringly, all too aware of how breakable this made her look.

"Go back to sleep," he told her noticing her eyes fluttering. She allowed her eyes to close softly, the smile not leaving her face.

"Stay?" she asked softly, feeling herself drift off to sleep.

"You're family's outside and they want to see you," he protested. Alex shrugged her good shoulder without opening her eyes.

"I want you here. Please?" He couldn't deny her, not after everything he'd been through in the last four hours, not to mention the pain she would endure. Instead, he continued to stroke the back of her hand until she drifted off.

Bobby watched her for a little while longer before he couldn't stand the sight any more. His head was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that while she was very much alive, especially after the scenarios that had bombarded his brain in the hours he'd been waiting where Alex hadn't made it. He'd never thought of his life without her and suddenly, it was all he could picture. His mind flashed back to her maternity leave and the hell it had been without her to ground him, remind him that he was still completely sane. The thoughts that were bombarding his already tired mind were making his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. He smiled politely at Alex's family when he left, telling them everything they wanted to know as fast as he could so he could get out of the hospital faster. He apologized to Deakins for having to leave so abruptly, turning down his offer for a ride if Bobby could wait just a few more minutes.

He wanted along, vaguely going towards streets that would lead him to his apartment but even that was a place he didn't actually want to visit. Instead, his feet began to take him on another course as he focused on his partner. He'd gotten rather used to having a domestic relationship with her. She'd managed to change him so completely with her presence he was sure he would be spending much more time at her apartment once she moved back in just to have some semblance of those moments. At first, it had been weird having someone else share his personal space but the feeling was quickly dispensed with when his brain connected that this was Alex, the one woman who knew him almost better than his mother. He'd become used to her over-happy morning attitude after her first cup of coffee and eating home cooked meals… It dawned on him that he'd come within inches of losing her, literally.

He looked up and shook his head. Without his knowledge his feet carried him to her apartment building. Slowly, he climbed the stairs and took out the key she'd given him for emergencies. The place was covered in fingerprint powder, though most of the glass had been swept up and away. Bobby picked up a stray magazine page off the floor as he made his way through her apartment to her bedroom. The bed still had the knife cut in the one side but Bobby didn't care as he flopped onto the other one. Then he did something he hadn't done in a long, long time.

Bobby Goren cried.