Chapter 36
"I want to go find out about Bobby," Sue insisted, trying to sit up on the hospital bed. As the wave of dizziness had her sinking back against the pillow, Jack grabbed her legs for the fifth time and tucked them back under the blankets.
Jack cupped her cheeks tenderly in his hands, waiting for her to open her eyes again, knowing she was going to continuing fighting him to get out. He searched her pale face as her eyes remained shut, the stark white bandage on her forehand a bleak reminder of the almost tragedy from just a few hours before.
"Let me go, Jack," Sue groaned, her blue eyes slowly opening to meet his. "I've got to find out about Bobby."
"The nurses said he made it through surgery," Jack persisted, running his thumb across her soft cheek. "Myles said he'd be back as soon as he found out anything." Sue turned her head as Jack smiled at the door.
"Since we can't seem to keep the patient from wanting to be out with everyone else," the nurse smiled as she pushed a wheelchair with Mike into the room, followed by Dale pushing Carrie's wheelchair. She ushered D, Donna, Tara, Myles, Lucy, Howie, and Levi into the room before turning and continuing, "We decided to bring everyone else in to the patient."
"Savannah!" Sue cried, recognizing the nurse. "What are you doing here?"
"I transferred to GW about 2 months ago," Sav told her, and then leaned down for a hug. "I was waiting to get settled in before surprising you."
"Well, it's a wonderful surprise," Sue agreed holding onto her friend's hand. "Are you my nurse?"
"Just try and let them keep me away," Sav declared with a smile. "After taking care of you in Chantilly, I knew I was the best qualified," she grinned. "They're bringing Agent Manning up here too as soon as he gets out of recovery."
"How is he?" Jack asked as the others around the room listened intently for news.
"He came through the surgery fine," Sav explained, keeping her eyes on Sue so she could make sure the blonde understood. "His internal injuries weren't as bad as we thought, but we have to wait until we wakes up to see about the head injury."
Sue's eyes darted over to Jack and he grasped her hand in his. She knew how serious head injuries could be and prayed that it wouldn't be long before Bobby woke up so everything would be back to normal again.
"I'm going to go check and see what is taking them so long," Sav smiled. She could feel the tension in the room as the group thought about their missing friend.
Sav had come to know Bobby Manning while Sue was in the hospital in Chantilly. Though he presented himself as a funny-loving, carefree guy, he was the type of man everyone wanted on their side when times got tough.
"I'll be back soon," Sav told Sue, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Keep this gang in line for me. Okay," she grinned.
"I didn't think we could have this many people in a hospital room," Jack questioned, putting his hand on Sue's other arm to let her know he was talking. Sue turned her head back in time to see the twinkle in Sav's eye before she replied.
"I know someone in the F.B.I.," she said, giving Sue a wink. "Let's me get away with a lot of things around here," she beamed as she squeezed Sue's shoulder gently and swept out the door.
Chapter 37
When Sav left closing the door behind her, Sue closed her eyes, letting Jack brush her hair back from her face. The others around the room watched the touching scene, wondering if they should leave.
"Hey, is everyone just going to stand there like statues, or is someone going to update me on the van blowing up?" Sue joked, opening her eyes to smile at her friends. Jack stood up as they moved closer to the bed, but he didn't move far, keeping her hand in his.
Everyone started talking at once, but quickly stopped, looking around sheepishly at each other, and then back at Sue with apologetic grins. They waited to see who was going to start first, not wanting to make the same mistake twice.
"Why don't we start first with you two? How are you doing?" Sue asked concerned, looking at Carrie and Mike who sat in wheelchairs to her left.
The farthest away of the group, besides Howie, Carrie had been thrown down, but other than some bruises, she was doing pretty well. Since she never lost consciousness and didn't seem to be having any problems, the doctors didn't see any reason to keep her overnight. However, she would be out of work for a couple of days.
"Other than having to be wheeled around in this thing," Carrie complained, rolling her eyes back at Dale standing behind her. "I'm doing fine."
"They said you had to sit in this as long as you stayed," Dale insisted, leaning over her shoulder but keeping his mouth in Sue's line of sight. "If you want out, I take you home," he teased, laughing as Carrie swatted at his head, telling him to leave her alone.
"What about you, Mike?" Sue smiled, transferring her attention to the big man sitting beside her. His left arm was encased in a plaster cast, and Sue could see a few light scratches on his cheek.
"Got thrown into the wall, but I'm okay," Mike grumbled. "I wanted to check on you and Manning before I went home, so I'm stuck with wheels too." Mike was a gruff man, but underneath it all, he was a big softy. "How are you?"
"I'll live," Sue grinned gently. "Thanks to Howie," she stated, looking around the room for the man in question. Seeing his face, her smile broadened, and Howie pushed his way forward taking her hand.
"Thank you, Howie," her eyes misted. "I owe you my life."
"We all do," Carrie and Mike agreed as Howie stood there, accepting slaps on the back again from the team as they'd done already out in the waiting room. D comforted Donna and Lucy as they fought their emotions.
"Anything for our Sue," Howie beamed down at her. Uncomfortably stiff, Myles put his arm around Tara as tears formed in her eyes too.
"How did you know they were there?" Jack asked getting Sue's attention. "How did you know to get them out of the van, Howie?"
"Well, I was helping Sue here with the information on the missing documents. I connected her with Dunne, you know," Howie started. "Then when I found out someone killed Dunne and was after our Sue and my man, Jack, I started doing my own investigating," he looked at Carrie and Mike. "That's what I do sometimes, do my own investigating, and then let Sue know what I found. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't, but it gets the information out on the street. If you need information that's what I can do for you…"
"Howie!" Sue exclaimed, glancing up at the ceiling. Looking back down, she grinned slightly as she realized she had everyone's attention. SORRY, she signed.
"My head hurts, Howie," she explained softly. "You'll have to slow down, or you're going to lose me," she implored him. "We can talk about the other stuff later."
"Okay," Howie said simply, patting her hand reassuringly.
"You mean that's how you get him to quit," Myles scoffed. "Just ask!"
"Anyway," Howie glared at Myles, before turning back to Sue. "A friend told me he'd seen you, and Jack in the park so I was coming to see you, but when I got there something didn't look right."
"In the park? Did you see something?" Sue asked.
"Well, I saw you, but it wasn't you," Howie paused, scratching his head. Sue glanced up at Jack briefly, before encouraging him to continuing. "I was about to call out to you, when I realized the couple just looked like you and Jack. The dog they had even looked like Levi, but was acting weird," he told them.
"See, I told you Jessie wasn't a good substitute for Levi," Sue smirked. "He's a good dog, but just didn't act like a service dog." Wrinkling her nose up, she thought, then admitted, "Then again, Levi doesn't act like a normal service dog half the time, so maybe that wasn't the problem," she joked.
Hearing his name, Levi barked and jumped up, placing his paws on the side of the bed. Everyone smiled as Sue reach down to scratch his head.
"No, he acts like a wonderdog!" Myles proclaimed, receiving a bark from Levi in agreement.
"So was it Levi, or the lack of Levi, that tipped you off that the couple wasn't Sue and Jack," D asked ,waving his hand to get Sue's attention.
"That was the first thing," Howie declared, nodding his head. "But then as I watched more and more ,things just didn't look normal," he shifted, forgetting momentarily that he had to look at Sue.
"Sorry," Howie said, turning back toward her with a grin. "While I was walking around watching, I happened to notice Bobby in the window of the van, so I figured it was some kind of stakeout." He nodded his head, figuring he got that right.
"Yeah, Howie," Sue agreed. "But what made you get us out of the van."
"Well, I decided to stick around and watch, help with the surveillance. I might see something you didn't," Howie stated. "While I was standing there, I saw a man put something under the side of the van, and I went over to see what it was. That's when I saw the bomb and started pounding on the door for you to get out."
"Did you get a look at the man?" Jack asked, and then signed it for Sue, since he said it before getting her attention.
"Not a good look, but he was a George Clooney type," Howie figured.
"Who?" Sue asked, her eyes getting tired.
G-E-O-R-G-E-C-L-O-O-N-E-Y, Jack fingerspelled for her. "Why George Clooney?"
"You know… rugged good looks. Salt and pepper hair, cut close." As he described the man, Howie was aware of the others meaningful glances at each other. "What did I say?" he wondered.
"You may have just given us our first break, Howie," Tara exclaimed excitingly, grasping Myles' arm.
"Really?" Howie questioned as the team started gathering up their things.
"Yeah, we need you to come back to the office with us to look at some pictures," D instructed as they started filing towards the door. "Donna, can you take Lucy back to the hotel?" Receiving her agreement, D kissed her goodbye, briefly stopped by Sue to say he'd be back later and was out the door pushing Mike's wheelchair. Myles and Tara ushered Howie out right behind him, waving as they followed Dale and Carrie out.
"Boy, do we know how to clear a room?" Jack joked. "Did you get all that?" he asked.
"I think so," Sue asserted biting her bottom lip. "Howie saw a man put the bomb on the van, and they're going to see if he can identify one of the suspects."
"Wow," Donna declared, placing her hand on Sue's shoulder. "You did pretty good to sum it all up in two sentences. I wasn't sure if I got all of it myself, it went by so fast," she laughed.
"You sort of get used to it," Sue smiled. "Howie, and the speed things go around here."
"After all the time I've been around you all, you'd think I'd learn," Donna stated wearily. "But it just makes me tired," she grinned.
"Speaking of tired, you need to get your rest," Lucy insisted, grasping her friend's hand. "All this lip reading isn't helping any."
"Yes, mom," Sue teased, not wanting to admit that her eyelids were getting very heavy, and her head was hurting quite a bit from watching the conversation.
"I'm glad you're okay," Lucy told her, leaning down to hug her. "Get better and behave," she asserted, clasping her friends' shoulders before straightening. "Take care of her, Jack!" she commanded, taking Levi's leash and turning, she followed Donna out of the room.
Alone again at last, Jack looked back down at the tired blonde in the hospital bed beside him. A small smile still played on her lips, but she was still very pale. Worriedly, he caressed her cheek to get her attention.
"Get some sleep, please," Jack pleaded. "You know I hate hospitals," he joked, grinning at her smile.
"Bobby?" Sue whispered weakly fighting to keep her eyes open.
"I'll wake you up as soon as I find out anything," he promised, watching her eyes trustingly drift shut. Pulling the chair up beside the bed, Jack sank into it cradling her hand in his.
Holding her hand up to his cheek, he closed his eyes taking a shaky breath. Stroking her hand, he looked up at her face, thinking of all the things he might have missed had the day turned out differently. How did I get so lucky to have someone like you in my life?