30 Make the World go Away
The decision to keep Steve overnight in the hospital had, amazingly, been made by him. Looking up at his dad through haunted eyes he had spoken quietly.
"Could … could I just stay here?"
Although surprised, his father managed to keep that out of his voice and replied calmly. "Sure, Son, if that's what you want, I'll get you admitted right away." Mark gazed first at his only surviving child and then at his daughter-in-law and saw his own concern reflected in her dark eyes.
"A suite, Mark, just book him into a suite, I'll call home, I can stay with him then."
Steve heard the words, understood their meaning, but to reply to any of them was beyond him. He just needed the world to go away for a while, needed to be somewhere neutral, where he could sleep, all he wanted to do was sleep.
Lauren had excused herself while they were talking and Mark heard her cancelling an appointment somewhere else in the hospital. Once she had finished on the phone he replaced her at the desk and ten minutes later they were making their way up to the third floor private wing and one of the luxury suites it contained.
The rooms they were usually assigned were unavailable and Steve was pushed, uncomplaining and silent, without his usual moans about using a chair, further down the hallway and into an even larger suite than he was used to. The sleeping area was an actual bedroom meaning that the patient could rest undisturbed by any activity in the rest of the suite. There was a beautifully decorated living area and a bathroom with a shower. Jo looked around approvingly; she paid handsomely for this privilege, but would happily pay double if it meant that the facilities on offer helped her husband.
Mark had ordered a plain omelette and some bread and butter for his son to eat, which arrived a few minutes after Steve had gotten himself undressed, into a pair of blue pyjamas, and was comfortable in bed.
He wasn't hungry, at least he didn't think he was, but when the food was placed in front of him it was all he could do not to wolf it down. Breakfast had been a hurried affair, lunch too, eaten at his desk at Wilshire. Everything seemed to be hurried or running out of control these days, but now, just for a while, the only thing making him eat quickly was the prospect of the delicious food getting cold.
"Thanks, Dad, that was good." There was no smile, no expression in his eyes or on his face, the words were as much of an effort as he could make and as soon as the tray had been removed he lay back into the deep, comfortable pillows and closed his eyes.
Jo had watched the scene unfold before her feeling totally unable to help, but also not sure what she would have done had she been asked. Now though, as her husband sank back into the bed, almost asleep before he had completed the movement, she came a little closer to kiss him gently on the temple and let him know that she would be leaving the room. As she did so his hand reached up and his eyes opened, there still was no spark, no expression, and she was scared to hear what he had to say until the words reached her ears.
"Stay, please … stay." His eyes were suddenly fearful, and his grasp became tight on her wrist as if he was afraid that she would leave and he would be alone.
"Of course, Honey, I'm not plannin' on goin' anywhere but the other room. Now you close those beautiful blue eyes for me, sleep a while, I'll come back an' check on you in an hour or two, ok?" She smiled, hoping that, although she didn't feel positive, it wouldn't show in her own eyes.
"Thank you … I'm sorry, so sorry." He couldn't say anything else, the effort was too much and, as he released his hold on her, his face finally began to relax, his breathing evened out and almost immediately he was asleep.
ooo
The comfortable atmosphere of the movie house had been shattered by the cry of a man sitting on his own not really watching the film. Some people nearer the front didn't even realise that something equally exciting was happening right there behind them, but those close to the action either stared in fascination or hid behind their seats.
"Daniel! Get down!" He didn't even know if he would be heard above the noise of the film, but his cry seemed to do the trick, the young boy he was paid to protect disappearing from sight as a gun, obviously with a silencer, went off, and it was only then that he realised he could have actually been shot.
The man, whose name was Christian Minardi, aimed his weapon at the man he knew had fired, calling out again as he did so.
"Drop your weapon and put your hands on your head." An ex-cop, he was authoritative and self-assured, moving forward as he spoke, knowing he would kill the man if necessary.
Two security guards rushed in from the direction of the main foyer and he called out for a third time. "Call 911; get the police here, now!" His own ID was in one hand, the other still holding his weapon as straight and still as if both hands were on it.
He'd known it was a risk, that the crowded movie theatre wasn't the ideal place, but it was the first time he'd had a clear shot at the boy all day without giving away his own position, and in the dark, with the noise from the film, he'd hoped he would be able to slip away unnoticed. Wayne realised now though he had nowhere to run. There were too many people around him to try and shoot his way out, that type of action never got you anywhere but death row anyhow. He couldn't see the boy; maybe he had hit his target after all. It would be worth being arrested if the kid was dead. She would never get over that, her or her cop husband, and with the thought warming his heart he did as he was told, raising one hand before using the other to place his weapon on the blue patterned carpet beneath his feet and then kicking it away from him.
The film had been stopped, all the patrons being asked to leave through front exits once they had spoken to a member of the Beverly Hills Police Department. Those who had seen anything were being kept to one side to have a detailed statement taken, while the others left quietly though the doors where members of staff were waiting to give them a free pass to return another day. The police had arrived a little over ten minutes after they had been called, two extremely young looking members of the BHPD and a woman detective who had been on her way home from swimming when she heard the call on her radio.
The only other people in the rear part of the cinema now were Christian, a handcuffed Wayne, Maddie, Daniel and an off duty nurse who had been in the audience. An ambulance had been called, but had still not arrived.
Maddie, her face shocked and her white top covered in blood, sat in the aisle with Daniel's head in her lap gently stroking his hair and speaking quietly to him. His face was almost deathly pale and his shirt too was soaked with blood. There was vomit on the carpet where he had thrown up the meal they had eaten just an hour or so earlier, and mixed in with it was popcorn and chilli dogs which had fallen off the chair as he crashed to the floor. The nurse was holding down what looked like a folded jacket over the wound, taking his pulse with her other hand as she did so.
Christian had explained to Detective Mary Lockier just who he was and why he was armed in a public place. Once she had accepted his explanation of what had happened he'd put a call through to his supervisor, asking them to get in touch with the boy's parents, and also telling them he'd been advised that Community General Hospital was where they would want their son taken for treatment. Then, as he heard one of the uniformed officers reading Wayne McCauley his rights, Christian moved down the walkway to where his client was lying, praying the boy would survive his ordeal.
ooo
Alex and Jesse were both on duty when the call came through of a shooting victim being brought in. Alex had just handed over the final part of treating a young man, injured in a bar brawl, to a nurse when he heard his name being called over the Tannoy and left the trauma suite to find Jesse already waiting at the nurses' station. He was dialling a number on the phone in front of him and so Alex moved away a little, not wanting to eavesdrop. Two minutes later Jesse pressed the buttons where the receiver usually sat and then dialled again, speaking quietly and urgently before replacing the handset and moving over to where Alex sat.
"Alex, it's Daniel coming in."
"Oh, God, Jesse, what happened?" All he had heard had been his name; he hadn't looked for any paperwork or nurse's note, not wanting to be too close to Jesse and his phone call.
"He was shot. I don't know how serious it is, or even if the bullet is still in him, we'll have to wait and see. Jo and Steve are already in the hospital, Steve …" He paused for a moment, patient confidentiality was always a concern, but finally Jesse knew he needed to keep his friend fully informed of a situation he had only just found out about himself.
"Steve's been admitted, he's having a few problems right now. Jo's coming down and Mark is gonna stay with him. He said that unless Daniel is seriously injured, for the moment, no one tells Steve. Once we know how bad it is, then we'll speak with him."
"Sure, that's fine." It wasn't fine, none of it was fine, not the fact that Steve was in the hospital, not the fact that they had to relay bad news to Jo, and definitely not the fact that a sixteen year old boy had just been shot, but Alex had no idea what else to say. At that moment the sound of a gurney was heard and both men turned, fortifying themselves for the sight which would await them.
ooo
The elevator had been full of people, but Jo saw none of them. She stood, just inside the doors, punched in the correct floor number and waited. As the doors closed on the world her husband now inhabited she tried to put his problems to the back of her mind so she could concentrate on this new situation that had been presented to her.
How could her son have been shot? He had been going out for the day with Maddie, a little shopping, they had tickets to a movie and there was the chance that they might meet with some mutual friends if they were free. None of that was dangerous, and Christian had been with him, just as her guard was still with her. She glanced to her left, the man was standing rod straight, looking at the wall, watching the numbers change on the display, his hands relaxed by his sides, but ready, she knew, to protect her in any way he deemed necessary.
Jo had to admit she had got so used to his presence that she didn't even think about him very much any longer. He had stood outside the door to Steve's suite, not intruding on his privacy or hers, but still protecting both of them. His name was Bryan and he was the senior member of her security team. Bryan had responsibility for her safety when she was alone and for both her and Steve when they were together. The guard who had accompanied Steve to the hospital for his appointment had left once she arrived, returning to the house when he knew that Steve wouldn't be going home that night.
The doors opened, but for a second she didn't move. The other people in the car however, had no problems with mobility and surged round her until, unable to stay still any longer, she too walked out into the ER and looked around her fearfully, wishing that Steve was with her, or Mark, Rae, anyone that she could turn and cling to, other than Bryan, as she prayed for her eldest child.
ooo
Jesse had taken charge of Daniel as soon as he arrived, the off duty nurse going into the trauma suite with him to explain what she had done and how he had reacted to his injury. Alex, seeing the vacant stare and the blood covered clothes, had gathered up Maddie and carefully walked her into the room next to Daniel's, talking softly the entire time so as not to scare her any more than she obviously already was.
Maddie sat on the side of the bed in the exam room, and looked up at Alex. "I … I know you."
He smiled at her nodding his head as he did so, "Yes, you do, I'm Daniel's friend, my name's Alex, Alex Martin, I'm a doctor here."
At the mention of her friend's name Maddie's eyes filled with tears. "He … there was … look …" She indicated her top with her hands, pointing to the blood, and was relieved when the young man in front of her nodded again.
"I know, and he's getting the best treatment available, Jesse's with him, and there was a nurse at the movies wasn't there?"
"Yes, they … they even asked if there was a doctor in the house!" She wanted to laugh, could feel it bubbling up inside of her and knew it was another reaction to seeing her friend, her best friend in the whole world, suddenly explode blood and chair stuffing all over her as he fell to the floor. The memory was almost real enough to touch and, although she didn't realise it, Maddie began to shake as Alex moved quickly across, lifting the blanket from the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders.
The nurse who had accompanied the two of them into the room moved a little closer while Alex began to take Maddie's vitals and smiled at the patient herself, they weren't that much apart in age, maybe four or five years, and Maddie seemed to relax a little in her presence.
"Ok, well, you won't be surprised to know that your readings are higher than they should be, but you have been in a stressful situation."
"I … I just want to know how …" Maddie's words were cut off as the room next door began to give off the alarming noise which they all knew meant that the patient was crashing.
ooo
Cheryl had been shown into the small room at Beverly Hills police station where she made herself comfortable and then looked through the two way mirror at Wayne McCaulay and the detective who had come to see her and Martin at Oak Place. It had been a very short interview, and less than fifteen minutes later she watched as the prisoner got to his feet and was escorted from the room by a uniformed officer. She hadn't seen the man before, but was certain, from Martin's description, that this was the guy who had been terrorising the Sloans.
Bert McKinley was soon sitting across the table from her, having spent the last ten minutes with a sullen looking man who had a public defender next to him his present company was far nicer. He had called North Hollywood hoping to speak with Lieutenant Sloan, only to find that he had been promoted to another station. It had been Detective Banks who had told him that and asked if she could come over and listen in to the interrogation for her friend.
Once he had been informed of her arrival he'd planned to start the interview straight away. The prisoner had been charged, photographed and had prints taken. He would be heading for the county jail before the late afternoon was out, and arraigned in the morning. Before the interrogation had even begun however, McCaulay was practically straining at the leash to let out everything he could about what he had done and why.
"I'll make a full statement; I ain't goin' down for this by myself." Wayne had begun speaking before Bert had even gotten into the room and he'd ignored the comment until he was sitting down.
"Mr McCaulay, I really would implore you to remain silent."
"Counsellor, let the man speak if that's what he wants to do, we have him cold anyhow. Attempted murder, at least it's attempted at the moment." Bert knew that the kid was in a serious condition, or had been the last he'd heard.
"There is so much more to this it'll make your hair curl. I want immunity from the death penalty an' I'll tell you about a woman who's milkin' one of the major private companies in this country every day, who reckons she can get half the stock for herself, an' who ordered me to kill … if the kid goes. If that isn't enough I can prove that she ain't above pullin' the trigger herself if it suits her purpose."
"Counsellor, I think this is in your hands." Bert McKinley looked over to the young man who was already pulling out his cell phone.
"I'll have the prisoner returned to our first class accommodations, and we'll reconvene tomorrow." With that Bert ended the recording of the session, stood up, shook his pants until they were comfortable and left the room.
Now he looked at the pretty woman sitting opposite him and spoke, "So, Ma'am, what did you make of that?"
She wasn't quite sure what to make of the greeting, let alone the interview she had just witnessed. "It's Cheryl and I'm not certain, but I think we should wait and hear what he has to say tomorrow. And although I'm not involved I would like to be here, so that I can report back to Steve."
"Sure, I don't have a problem with that. I'll call your station; let you know when it's scheduled." Bert stood up and then watched as the woman left the room, enjoying the view until the door closed behind her.
ooo
The activity in the trauma suite had gradually returned to a quite determination and urgency from the regulated but anxious few minutes as they had tried to bring their patient back to them and then stabilize him. It had taken 300 joules to shock Daniel's heart back into rhythm and it had been traumatic for everyone in the room.
"Ok, let's get him to the OR, get me an ICU bed arranged, and I need someone to get a message up to my wife, this is gonna be a long one." Jesse spoke with a calm authority which left no one in any doubt that the bed would be needed. With nods and words of quiet assent the staff finished off what they were doing and Daniel was wheeled out into the main hallway of the ER.
"Oh my God, Daniel!" the words bought the gurney to a standstill just for a moment and Jo moved over to take her son's hand into her own.
"Be strong, my darlin', your daddy an' me will be waitin' for you, we'll see you in a little while." She lifted the hand, thankfully warm in her own, to her lips and kissed it tenderly, before looking up to speak with Jesse.
"Tell me, Jesse, what happened?"
"He took a bullet to the shoulder, from the look of the wound it went through the seat first, there is all sorts of stuff in it. The muscles look pretty mangled too. But it's fixable. The main worry is him going into shock; he's lost a lot of blood."
Jo nodded mutely, trying to take it all in so she could speak with Mark, and then, seeing that the orderly was getting ready to move off, she spoke again. "Take good care of him, Jesse, please." A tear ran down her cheek as she saw her friend nod his head.
"You know I will. Ok, take him to the OR, get him prepped, I'm on my way." The gurney moved off and Jesse, aware of the strain that the woman before him was under, gently put his arm around her.
"I won't lie to you, Jo, it's nasty, but he's stabilized now and I'm confident that we can get him through this in one piece. It'll take a while though, go back to Steve, I'll have someone page Mark when he's in recovery, and he will be in recovery, ok?"
She just nodded, grateful for the confidence he was trying to instil in her, and then she caught sight of Maddie through the glass of her exam room and gasped out loud.
"Alex's with her, she wasn't injured, just shocked. Jo, I have to go. I'll see you later."
"An' Rae, I could go see Rae?" She saw him nod as he headed for the same elevator that her son had disappeared into just a moment or two before, and then, as the doors opened and closed around him, she sank back down into the seat behind her, not quite knowing what to do next.
ooo
The phone call had come just as his knife made the first incision into a home made steak and kidney pudding. Looking at it longingly for a second or two as the gravy spilt out over the suet crust, and the steam rose in a beautiful spiral towards the ceiling, Michael picked up the receiver and then listened aghast as he heard his sister's words. Ten minutes later his meal was in the refrigerator and he was climbing into his E-type Jaguar to make the short journey to Community General Hospital to sit with her and join her prayers for her son and his nephew.
ooo
The IV that was pumping a saline solution into his son was only there because he hadn't had anything much to drink and was in danger of becoming dehydrated. Mark had been seriously tempted to add a sedative to it though so that he wouldn't wake before the morning and find that his wife had gone and his eldest son was in surgery.
In the end he had, instead, retired to the living room part of the suite and tried not to think about what would be happening to his grandson.
Jesse was operating; he would trust no one else with such a precious part of his life and he wasn't worried about that, just the consideration that, no matter who was in charge, Daniel could lose his fight.
For a while he began to think about the book he was preparing for his grandson. The information on Daniel's past was beginning to arrive from Cheryl and other friends who had offered to help. He still didn't have a huge amount, but what he did have was going to make a wonderful present. Already he had decided that on the tag he would write 'To Daniel, I hope this present makes a gift of your past,' and he would sign it 'with love always, from Grandpa.' The possibility that the present and future could be snatched away from the boy made Mark's breath catch in his throat and he had to swallow hard before continuing.
Initially, before he began to collect the information together, Mark had felt saddened that Daniel had nothing to look back over and he had wondered how Steve would have felt in the same situation. For the both of them, him as a father and Steve as his son, family was the most important thing they had, that and close friends who were honorary family members, he could see the faces of Amanda and Jesse in his mind's eye, they were as important to the smooth running of their lives as they were to their own wives and husbands. The loss of both Katherine and Carol had left deep open wounds in his life, Steve had never tried to fill those wounds, but had instead woven his own life into that of his dad's, sharing his leisure as well as work time with him, not because he felt he had to, but because he wanted to, and Mark felt a rush of pride as he acknowledged the strong relationship they shared.
Steve was working towards that type of relationship with his own young son as well. The boy, troubled and on a downward spiral when he had first arrived to live with Jo and Steve, loved him unconditionally, and had spent many, many hours with his dad as they gradually got to know each other and then began to love each other in a way that many natural sons and fathers didn't. Again the thought that it could all be snatched away flooded his mind, causing him to stop thinking, he had to be optimistic, had to remain focussed on the positive, because in the end it would be fine, it had to be fine.
Gradually, as he sat there the afternoon moved into the evening, Mark could see the summer sun moving across the sky and he went to get himself yet another drink of water. Realising as he did so that he had never felt so helpless and alone.
ooo
Rae had woken up just after nine in the evening and been surprised to find herself in the company of an old friend.
She smiled and watched him for a moment, as he sat, unaware of the fact that she was awake.
"Hi." The one word brought him out of his daydream and he turned to her.
"Hi. Leonid do for hubsand." The smile was welcoming but then it disappeared as anxiety replaced it. "Rae Yeager not mind? He very busy."
"No …" she thought for a moment, getting Leonid to write the letters might not be a good idea, she didn't even know if he could read English. "Where Jesse?" Rae hoped that would be enough of a question to get the answer she needed.
In reply Leonid put his hand into his pants pocket and took out a crumpled piece of paper. It had been neatly folded into four, but then, as he sat at her bedside, had been creased and bent out of shape. "For you."
Smiling in reply Rae took the paper but was unable to unfold it herself and the limitations of her injuries once again made themselves abundantly clear. She held it out and, as it slipped through her fingers, the Russian man took it back.
"Leonid do for you, da?"
For a moment Rae was confused, she didn't know what 'da' meant. Why didn't she know what it meant? She tried to remember, he wasn't English, she knew that, so it wasn't English either. That made her feel better and so she nodded.
"You read?"
Again she nodded, and then, concentrating said "Ess," knowing that there should be another sound but unable to make it.
The paper was unfolded, and suddenly an image of a squirrel and a little girl came up in her mind, mixed with a snowy day in New York, but she didn't understand either picture and so pushed them away, hoping she would remember to come back to them again later.
"Here." The paper was held in front of her now and, recognizing the writing as Alex's, she began to read.
Rae,
Jesse is in the OR and I have rounds, Leonid was just finishing his shift and offered to sit with you. You did very well today and we were all proud of you.
Sleep well
Alex
She looked away to indicate that she was finished and then began to listen as Leonid spoke again.
"Leonid very sorry Rae Yeager hurt again. Dangerous job for lady. Leonid see man who push you."
Rae looked startled for a moment, the knowledge of how she had been injured was still new to her and it wasn't something that she could dwell on for too long. Her mind was already throwing up flashback pictures, not only of what had happened but other things from her past as they tried to regain their proper places in her memory but as Leonid spoke the fire escape was there in front of her and she clenched her fists tightly around the covers.
"Leonid sorry, make detective lady cry."
She hadn't realised that there were tears on her face, and she tried to brush them away, as she spoke.
"No, no, iss … iss fine." Her words sounded strange to her, the pronunciation, she knew, wasn't correct, but her companion seemed ok with what she had said. Rae knew she needed to say more and so she pointed to the pad and pencil and hoped between them they could write the message which would tell Leonid that he needed to call Cheryl.
ooo
The young nurse who had been with Alex as he treated Maddie had gone to the nurses' locker room and found a set of scrubs which fitted her. Once changed out of her blood-stained clothing she had spent the rest of the evening in the doctors' lounge with Jo, the man who used to be the butler but was now Daniel's uncle and two guards, one of whom had saved their lives.
She, haltingly, told Jo what had happened, how they had been sitting watching the movie when suddenly they heard Christian call out, but at the same time the seat shuddered and then Daniel had fallen to the floor, crying out in pain and she had immediately dropped down to be beside him. He had shaken and shuddered, the food they had eaten returning as shock and agonizing pain flooded his system. She had held him, spoken to him, not knowing what else to do, and hoping against hope that it wouldn't be the last time she would be able to do either thing.
The news that the gunman had been arrested sent waves of relief through both Jo and Michael, although he had shown nothing of his feelings to those around him. His sister had found his hand and squeezed it tightly as they listened. Once she finished talking Maddie leant against Jo and, as the older woman had placed an arm around her, had fallen asleep, her ordeal finally getting the better of her.
"Thank goodness. At least that worry is over, even if we do have more to concern us now." She told her brother about Steve, and he offered to sit with him as well if it were needed. He had been in a few times to visit with Rae, helping with her speech therapy and telling her all about his butlering school which was now almost ready to open its doors for the first time.
"How many things do we have to deal with at one time? I don't think I can handle all of this."
"Oh, I think you can." Michael had paused, "If you don't mind me saying, you have come a long way since you met the Captain." He waited as he saw Jo smile at the mention of her husband's new rank. "From what you tell me Steve will be home soon. A few weeks away from the station will help him enormously. You know that Doctor Travis will do all that is necessary to treat Daniel. It is difficult but I would suggest you follow Miss Maddie's lead and close your eyes for a short while."
"You mean take me a little nap?"
"I believe, Madam, that was what I said." There was a gleam in his eyes, and Jo knew he was teasing her just a little. The suggestion was a welcome one though, and so, with a small sigh, she did as she was told and shut the world out for a while knowing she would be awoken when she was needed, trusting implicitly in Jesse's promise that Daniel would survive, and Michael assertion that Steve would be fine as well after a few weeks at home.
Michael shifted his position slightly so that his sister could rest against him as Maddie rested against her, and then, revelling in the responsibility, he held her close as she slept.