Two Days Later
"Well, I see you're feeling much better." Alex says, as she pushes open the door to Bobby's hospital room.
Bobby is sitting up in bed and is taking notes on a notepad. He puts his finger to his lips and points at the tv.
Alex looks up to the tv hanging from the ceiling to see a show on the History Channel about Nazi's in Germany during World War II. She rolls her eyes as she pulls up a chair. Only he would be taking notes on a documentary about how the Nazi party affected Germany and its people.
Ten minutes later the show ended. Bobby flips his notebook shut and tosses it on the bedside table. "Hey there, Eames." He gives her a lazy smile.
"I didn't think you bothered to watch those shows, Bobby. You always say that you know more than they do. That's the same material that is used time and time again purely to gain ratings for their struggling networks." Alex gives him a small smile. Then again, this was a man who had tired to get inside Hitler's head once during a very boring lecture about proper work conduct. And only because the lecturer looked like Hitler and even sounded like she had a vague German accent.
"I don't usually watch them. I was just making a list of inconsistencies in their data." Bobby points out while pointing the remote at the tv and turning it off.
"And for what purpose?" Alex couldn't help but raise an amused eyebrow.
"Well, so I can write them a letter and tell them they are wrong. They don't know what they're talking about." Bobby rambles on.
"Bobby." Alex says, wearily.
"Well it is true, Eames." Bobby states while looking at her.
"Speaking of nuts..." Alex pulls a bag out of her jacket pocket while giving him a teasing look. "I snuck these in. Don't get them in the sheets or your nurse will run me through." She tosses him a bag of peanuts. She knew that he wasn't thrilled with hospital food.
"Eames, you're the best!" Bobby says, ripping open the bag with his teeth. "And speaking of my nurse, Helen, I believe, from hell, when am I getting out of here? I keep putting off her sponge bath requests and she is getting suspicious."
"I just spoke with your doctor and you can leave...today." Alex says with a big grin.
Bobby stops chewing the nut he is working on and gives her an intense look."Today? How soon today?" He gives her an intense look.
"Well, as soon as you can get dressed and...Bobby..." Says Alex as Bobby jumps out of bed and runs over to his closet grabbing his tuxedo pants. He starts to untie his hospital gown and Alex reflexively turns her back. "Bobby, I brought your clothes with me. You don't have to go out wearing that wrinkled tuxedo."
Just then the door opens up and Charlie walks in. He sees Bobby standing in his hospital gown and he starts to shut the door. "Oh, sorry Bobby, I'll come back later."
"No, no come in." Says Bobby. "Alex, was going just going down to get my clothes out of the car." He nods for Alex to leave.
Alex reaches for the handle of the door.
"Listen, Alex, you don't have to leave. What I have to say will only take a minute." Charlie says, scratching his head and avoiding Bobby's gaze.
Bobby walks back over to his bed and sits down.
Alex takes her seat again.
Charlie exhales and finally looks at Bobby. "Bobby, I owe you a huge apology. I was sure that you were still single. I mean the last time you were here with that nutcase, Marcy, and well I could see even back then that you two weren't going to make it. So, even though I wasn't technically married I still would have a leg up on you. Then I would have another five years to hopefully find Mrs. Right. I guess my plan didn't go so well and I'm just ashamed of myself. Two of my classmates are dead because of that psycho. I caused all of this and you, my best friend in high school, almost died because of a lousy thirty-thousand dollars. "
"Listen Charlie, its okay because I need to..." Bobby starts.
"No, listen I want to make this right." Charlie says while opening his jacket pocket and pulling out a check. He hands it to Alex who looks at it. It's a thirty-thousand dollars check made out to Bobby and Alex Goren. "You won fair and square. Its been twenty years and you've married a wonderful and caring woman. I only wish I could be as happy as you two are."
Alex looks over at Bobby and raises her eyebrow as she waits for him to rectify the situation.
Bobby glances at Alex before returning his attention to Charlie. "Charlie, I need to tell you something too. Um...I knew I had to attend this reunion and I saw your update in the newsletter. I knew that you had gotten engaged. You know my job and lets just say it doesn't give me the opportunity to meet women, or the right kind of women very often. The invitation came at work, I practically live there anyway. I actually tossed it in the garbage with the intent of thinking up some lame excuse why I couldn't go, but someone stopped me." Charlie frowns at Bobby as he continues. "My partner, my NYPD partner, dug it out of the trash and convinced me to go."
"Smart guy." Says Charlie "You would have been out the eighty-thousand dollars for not showing up."
"Yeah, well he or rather she is rather brilliant." Bobby replies, looking down and picking at the sheet.
"She?" Charlie questions.
"I'm his partner." Alex speaks up.
Charlie glances over at her to confirm her answer. "You're his partner? I thought you worked at the...2-6? Even I know that married couples can't be partnered together, or are you keeping this a secret?"
"We're not married, Charlie. I deceived you as much as you deceived me. Lucky for you that Eames isn't a serial killer." Bobby says.
Charlie's mouth drops open. "The whole weekend you've been pretending to be married and you're not. I can't believe that you'd do this to me, Bobby. After everything we've been through together. I...did the same thing. Can we forgive each other?"
"Lets just forget it, alright?" Bobby asks with a small smile.
"Alright. Well I guess the bet is null and void then." Says Charlie reaching his hand out and taking the check from Alex. He tears it into little pieces and tosses it up in the air. "However, I must warn you that I am still determined to get hitched before you. I'll see you in five years buddy, with the new Mrs. Limpkin." He leans over and shakes Bobby's hand and after winking at Alex, he leaves the room.
"I guess we lost." Alex says as she watches Charlie leave.
"No, Eames, we won." Bobby gives her a shy smile.