Disclaimer: I don't own Law and Order: CI, and I'm not making money off this story.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. I had great difficulty with this chapter. This is the fourth revision. I also had a friend of the family pass away suddenly so I just didn't feel like writing. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Enjoy!

Sins of the Father

Chapter Thirteen: Recovery

Bobby turned another page in the book he was reading and caught a quick glance at his watch. It was almost ten p.m. and Grace had been in and out of sleep for the past two hours. He was hoping she would stay asleep for the entire night but that was highly doubtful. She had been moved out of ICU two days ago and had already started her physical therapy. The doctors all thought she was making extraordinary progress, but every time he looked her he could see that her emotional wounds were still very raw.

She hadn't told him everything that Nicole had said, he knew that from the guarded look in those green eyes. It touched him that she was careful about what she repeated of the conversations with Nicole but he desperately wanted to know everything that was said. Maybe what she needed to heal those wounds was found in the conversations that she hadn't revealed to him yet.

"Bobby?"

He shut his book leaned towards the hospital bed. Grace's eyes were still closed so he wasn't sure if she was really awake or just talking in her sleep. "Yeah?"

She turned her head with more ease than she had in previous weeks and opened her eyes. "You're still here?"

"It's only ten."

She gave him a slight smile and closed her eyes again. "You should be out dancing."

"I can't. My dancing partner is in the hospital."

Grace opened her eyes again. "What room? I'll stop by and visit her."

"Very funny."

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not as entertaining as when they had me on the morphine drip. You're back to my regular wit now."

Bobby laughed. "Yeah, I miss hearing your rendition of the score to Les Miserables."

She gave him a half-hearted glare. "You would think they would keep me on the morphine drip when I started therapy."

His good humor dropped. "Is your knee hurting?"

Grace shrugged and shifted in the bed. "I'm alright."

"Here," he stood up and grabbed a pillow from the vacant bed in the room. Grace figured out what he was going to do and lifted the blanket and her knee as best she could. He slid the pillow under her braced knee and was pleased to see she had a more relaxed look on her face.

"Thanks. It feels much better."

"You're a terrible liar."

Grace sighed and leaned back against her pillows. "You look tired."

"I've gone on less sleep."

"For this long? You've been here every night for the past three weeks."

It was true what she said. He was used to pulling all nighters but only for a couple days at a time. Three weeks of napping in a hospital and catching a couple hours of sleep at home didn't really amount to much sleep. He must look worse than he thought but he gave her his best smile. "I'm fine."

She looked at him with complete disbelief but didn't say anymore on the matter. Instead, she wrapped a finger around one of her loose curls and tugged on it a couple times. He had watched her do this a couple times before and the action only meant she was about to broach the subject of Nicole Wallace again. He sat back in the chair and waited her to start the conversation. What she said, however, almost knocked him out of his chair.

"Who was Valerie Wagner?"

He felt the color temporarily drain from his face. He was shifting in his chair like a fidgety four year old. "Uh, did, uh, did Nicole tell...tell you about her?"

Grace took one look at him and he saw that this was the source of her pain. She was afraid of the hurt it would cause him, not the hurt it caused her. He wondered how many other secrets she held onto, too afraid to tell anyone for the hurt it would cause. How many stripes were on her heart for the sake of other's well-being?

Perhaps that was why she appeared so anti-social. The less people you know, the fewer secrets they reveal. In that moment, that silent acknowledgement that Nicole had told her about Valerie Wagner, he knew. The care, concern he had given her, had been returned tenfold in that one look. He got up from the chair and carefully sat on the edge of the bed. Grace continued to tug on her hair and watch the blanket. He reached out and took her good hand in his, gently pulling the strand of hair out of her grasp.

"What did she tell you about Valerie?"

He felt her fingers close tightly around his before she started speaking. "She said that Valerie was your college girlfriend."

"And?"

Grace's jaw tensed under the faded bruises and freckles. "She said, uh, that she had an abortion without your knowledge."

He was surprised at the sting those words still brought with them. It had happened over twenty years ago but it still hurt to think about. Valerie had been a very nice girl, one he could have actually seen himself marrying. Apparently she had different thoughts. She had been worried about how his father's abandonment had affected his view of relationships. He figured that was just what he got for dating a psychology major. Then, she had found out about his mother. She had given him three strikes before she left him. Strike one: his feelings for his father. Strike two: the unplanned pregnancy. Strike three: his mother's illness. He had forgiven her for the hurt she caused but he couldn't forget. He would never forget.

Something wet hit the back of his hand and he looked up at Grace. She wasn't crying, at least not yet. He didn't notice that she had removed her hand from his until he felt her cool fingers against his cheek. He felt her thumb slide across the skin and could only assume she had wiped away another tear. He swallowed convulsively, trying desperately to regain his composure.

"I'm so sorry, Bobby. I didn't want to tell you. I didn't think-"

He grabbed her hand and held it against his face. "I know. It's okay." He forced himself to swallow again. "I'm okay." Before his mind could process what he was doing, he turned his head and placed his lips in the palm of her hand. Her hand twitched somewhat under the pressure and he pulled back. He was surprised to see Grace grinning sheepishly.

"It tickled."

It was his turn to smile sheepishly. "Sorry."

Grace laughed. "Don't be. Are you sure you're alright?"

He looked down at their hands, fingers entwined and Grace's hand was practically swallowed up by the size of his own hand. But it seemed to fit just right. They seemed to fit just right. He wiped away the remaining tears from his eyes and gave her a content smile.

"I'm sure."

Grace leaned back against the cushion of the booth and used the extra space to prop her leg up. When she had told her Uncle that the hospital was going to release her on New Years Eve, he had set aside the corner booth for her. It was just out of the way enough for her to be comfortable with a braced leg and crutches but near enough to the festivities to make her feel like she was taking part.

Larry's was always full of partiers on New Years Eve and this year was no different. Her sister, Sarah, was here with her husband Jon and their two kids, Andy and Emily. Both children had thought it fun to use Grace's crutches as horses and gallop around the bar. In fact, Grace tried to search for the two little ones, she had no idea where her crutches ended up. Oh well, judging from the look of things she wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon.

Bobby and Alex had picked her up outside Bellevue earlier on that day and brought her straight to her Uncle's bar. Both had left her to the mercies of her Aunt Carol and Uncle Larry, who fawned over her for an entire hour. Carol had even brought down three pillows from their apartment over the bar and stuffed them behind Grace. Larry kept bringing her glasses of water and monitored her pain killer intake.

Grace propped her head up on her unbroken arm. She was starting to get tired and it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. She was thankful that her bruises and cuts on her face had healed completely. Granted her entire chest and back were now a lovely shade of green, black and purple, as was seventy-five percent of her left leg. Her leg was in a support brace that started at her thigh and went down her ankle. At least it could be removed at the end of the day, not like the cast that still on her left wrist.

"You look like the Queen of Sheba sitting over here."

Grace looked up to see Alex and Bobby had returned, with an unfamiliar face in tow. Alex was the one that spoke. Alex and Bobby both had changed out of their normal dress clothes that they wore on the job into a more relaxed dress.

Grace tried to sit up a little straighter. "You guys look great."

"Thanks," Alex motioned to the tall man behind her, "this is Terry, Grace."

Grace gave him a wave. "Nice to meet you, Terry. I would get up and shake your hand, but..."

"No, no," he waved his hand and smiled, "Alex told me what happened. It's nice to meet you too."

"Before you guys go forth and party, wait just a minute." Grace straightened up and raised her voice slightly. "Uncle Larry?"

"You sure he can hear you?" Bobby asked.

Before Grace could say "yes," Larry appeared by the side of the table. "What do you need, Grace?"

She motioned to the trio standing before her. "Uncle Larry, I'm sure you remember Bobby and Alex."

"Of course," he shook both their hands. "I'm glad you guys decided to come tonight."

"And this is Terry, Uncle Larry."

Terry got his hand shook.

"Now," Grace gave her Uncle a knowing look, "Memorize these faces."

Larry gave her a brief nod before moving back behind the bar. Alex gave her a very guarded look. "What was that all about?"

"Whatever you guys want tonight is on the house. We discussed it after you dropped me off earlier today. He wanted to do that for you guys and your, uh, guest for the evening."

Before anyone could react, Grace's Aunt Carol had returned to the table with a tray of drinks. She placed a fresh glass of ice water in front of Grace and took away the barely touched hour old glass. She then handed a margarita to Alex, giving her a one armed hug.

"Good to see you both again," she beamed. She handed a glass of scotch to Bobby. "Now, Terry, is it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I don't know what you like to drink."

"Gin tonic, sounds good."

Grace watched Alex and Terry follow her Aunt towards the bar. She felt the seat of the booth give somewhat and turned to see that Bobby had squeezed his massive frame into the area next to her.

"That's very generous of your Uncle."

Grace nodded. "He appreciates everything you and Alex did for me. It's his way of thanking you. So, what's the deal with Terry?"

Bobby shrugged and halfway-grinned. "I don't really know. She has gone out him before."

"Good for them." Grace took a sip of her water. "So, where's your date for the evening?"

He stared down at his hands. "Hopefully she's sitting right next to me."

Grace laughed. "Bobby, go out there and find yourself a girl who can dance and drink and party till the ball drops tonight. In about hour I'll be sound asleep in this corner with my niece and nephew."

"Hey, Grace," Sarah stopped in front of their table, her face flushed and Grace's crutches in her hand. She took notice of Bobby and extended her hand. "Hi, Bobby, it's good to see you again."

"You two know each other," Grace asked.

"Of course we do," Sarah spoke up, "there was a whole week when you were surrounded by people who cared and loved you that you were unconscious. Bobby even met Angela briefly."

Bobby grinned into his scotch glass. "Ah, yes, Angela."

"Anyway, Grace, I came to return your crutches and say my good nights. Jon and I are going to take the kids home." Sarah leaned across the table and gave Grace a gentle hug before waving to Bobby. "Enjoy yourselves."

"I like your sisters."

Grace threw a piece of ice in Bobby's direction. "Liar."

"Ok," he watched the piece of frozen water skitter off the table, "I like Sarah."

"That's better. Sarah's been my favorite, even though you're not supposed to have favorites." Grace waited for him to continue the conversation but he remained strangely quiet. She glanced down at her jeans and sweatshirt and compared her wardrobe to the glitter and glitz that was moving out on the dancing area her uncle had cleared out earlier that day. "I'm serious Bobby, there are a lot of women that show up here at night looking to dance and party. Uncle Larry's bar attracts a fairly mellow crowd but fun, none the less."

"Grace, what's so hard to believe about my wanting to spend New Years Eve with you?"

"I'm not exactly...fun and exciting right now."

"Well, I hate to break it to you but you weren't exactly fun and exciting for the past month. And yet," he looked dramatically towards the ceiling, "where was I every evening for the past month?"

"Ok, I see your point, but tonight is different."

"How so?"

She didn't know why she was pushing him away. Instinct, maybe. A desire not to be hurt anymore. If he wasn't directly involved in the situation, she was sure Bobby would be able to explain it to her full detail. "Tonight is made for enjoying yourself. Dance and drink until midnight, watch the ball drop, make out like teenagers and then spend the beginning of the new year nursing a hangover."

Bobby seemed to think over what she said and Grace prepared herself for his departure into the night. But after a couple seconds thought, he shrugged and rested an arm on the back of booth, precariously close to her shoulders.

"You know, I think I'm getting too old for the drinking all night long and dealing with the hangover the next morning."

"What about the dancing and making out part?"

He gave her a wide grin. "Never too old for that. Besides, your niece and nephew went home, which means this booth isn't going to be that crowded for the rest of the night."

"So you're just going to sit here, all night, while I fall asleep and drool?"

"I'm getting kind of used to it now."

Grace emitted a cross between a groan and a laugh. Bobby wasn't going to follow her advice and she was happy about that. He really did want to be around her. She discovered from his constant visiting in the hospital that he was a fairly shy person, who was big on keeping to himself. But with what Nicole Wallace had put them both through, keeping secrets from each other was impossible.

Surprisingly though, it didn't seem to matter. She felt sorry for him over his college experience and his mother but lessen him as a person in her eyes. He was not bothered in the least at her two month stay in Carmel Ridge and was actually almost pleased about her befriending his mother. He had even asked her to come with him to visit her when Grace was feeling better. There was something comforting about him, about being around him. She felt protected without him being protective. They just seemed to...fit. With a tired sigh, she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.