-1"All I'm saying is that I really don't trust this guy…." Doug whined as he sat on the edge of Ioki's desk twirling a pencil in his fingers looking back at the closed door to Fuller's office and gritting his teeth. He had met this guy…. This Mac the night before, they all had over at Bookers apartment, and from the moment the guy opened his mouth Doug knew he didn't like him.
Coming in with his I'm here to save the day attitude and his smug grin… something about him with just…. Wrong…. If he couldn't help Tommy Doug thought, then there was no way this yuppie from New Jersey was going to be able to either…
"Maybe you are just over reacting man." Harry sighed and shook his head trying to concentrate on the paper work in front of him, but knowing that with Doug babbling in his ear the task was useless. "Give him some time…Feel him out, but don't hate him right out of the box…. Don't you remember how you felt about Tom at first?"
"That was different…."
"Why?"
"Because…. Well because he's Tom…."
"And you don't think that this guy might turn out to be 'Tony'?"
"No…No I don't."
"Your hopeless…." Ioki drew his lip into his mouth and smirked as Judy approached the two of them a smile on her cheerful face just like always….
"Who's hopeless?" She asked raising her brow at the two men…
"Doug here seems to have a problem with the new guy…" Harry offered up before sliding from his chair folder in hand and going to the file cabinet.
"As if that's anything new… I however find him kinda cute…." Hoffs grinned twisting a piece of hair with her forefinger.
"Oh come on you have GOT to be kidding me… This guy he looks like an even dorkier version of Hanson… If there could ever be such a thing… He's all scrawny and pale…" Doug was now chewing the edge of the pencil in a more then irritated manner as his eyes tore disapprovingly into Judy.
"Oh come on Doug, I think maybe you're just a little jealous." Judy concluded patting his arm before turning to head back to her desk a smug smirk on her face… "Now if you will excuse me I have to get back to work."
"JEALOUS?" Penhall growled getting up from his spot at the corner of Ioki's desk and following her, toward her own, "I am not Jealous… Douglas Penhall does not know the meaning of the word Jealous…"
"Hey Iokage." Hanson called coming into the chapel followed closely behind by Booker…. "Hey Hanson. How did it go today?"
"Same as every other day…. I told him nothing was wrong, he told me I needed to learn to open up… I replied with I felt nice and open… Aside from these confining bars of course… we went back and forth for a while then he finally gave up and let me come back to work."
"You do know he's only trying t o help you don't you Hanson?"
"So he keeps telling me, but what can I say… I don't like the idea of telling my whole life story… my aches and my pains to a man I don't know who is getting paid to sit and listen and pretend he understands…."
"Maybe if you stopped having that sort of attitude about the whole thing you might actually be able to get a little help from the guy…." Booker interjected sliding his sunglasses off of his face and putting them in the pocket of his leather jacket.
"Oh come on Dennis you of all people have no right to talk to me about opening up with my feelings you are the most closed off guy that I know…."
"That might be true, but I'm not the guy in your situation… you are and you need to talk about it."
"I thought that was why you brought the oh so wonderful Dr. McCann all the way here from New Jersey…"
"I brought him here to help you,… Yes"
"Hanson!" Penhall interrupted just at the right time finally taking time out of his busy arguing schedule with Judy to notice his friends entry … "How goes it man?"
"It goes and it goes and it goes…" Hanson smirked. "Did you finish that case up?"
"Yeah… Sorry I couldn't take you myself, but Fuller said that if I didn't get the thing in by noon it was going to be not only his ass on the line, but mine too…"
"It's alright, you didn't miss much…"
"Didn't think I would." Doug looked toward Booker, "Thanks for taken him this morning…"
"Well you know anything is better than doing paperwork even hanging out with this dink."
"Gee thank you Dennis I feel so loved."
"As you should now get back to work before Fuller comes out here."
"I don't know about that… McCann and him have been in there talking for well over an hour now." Harry noted.
"It's like he's already trying for suck up of the year or something…" Doug mumbled under his breath… Noticing the amounts of cockeyed stared and odd looks he was now getting he shook his head and sighed making his way back to his desk… "Never mind I guess I am the only one who is not on the Mac is great train."
1111111
I had definitely been a long day as Mac climbed back into his car only stopping back at Bookers place to shower and change before heading to Hanson's apartment… He had only been at the chapel one day and he already was on his first case working along side the only person in the whole place who he believed would not be cutting him a break anytime soon…. Officer Doug Penhall… A tall husky man who was more than just a little intimidating.
Especially when it came to the subject of his obviously best friend and case partner Hanson…. McCann knew that that right there was the reason why Doug was having a hard time accepting him, he knew that it must be hard to replace your partner… To see someone else come in like he had and change everything. So because of that he decided for the time being to cut him some slack… let him adjust.
Stopping off at the corner of Hanson's street he grabbed two cups of coffee before heading further on studying the numbers carefully as he drove by them looking for the right door to Tom's apartment… When he finally found it the first thing he noticed was the beautiful powder blue Mustang out front… What a gorgeous machine….
Climbing out of the car he took a moment to go over to it… study it, and then headed up to Hanson's door knocking twice before he finally answered. "Hey- Coffee?"
"Thanks… Come in." Hanson was still dressed in the same clothes he had worn to work that day which meant that whoever would come to assist him… Penhall McCann guessed… Had not yet come back to help him get ready for the night.
"That's a beautiful machine out front there."
"Thanks, she's my baby,… She was my dad's."
"He kept her in great shape…" Mac nodded, "You uh mind if I sit down?"
"Oh no of course not, make yourself at home…"
"Thanks." He made his way over to the sofa and had a seat liking the way he sunk down into the soft fabric he leaned forward and took a sip of his coffee… "So-"
"So," Hanson repeated looking at him, "How do we start this?"
"Well… You can tell me what you need to work on and we can start there…."
"I need to work on getting back on my feet!"
"Okay, but… that's not what I meant just yet, why don't you tell me what you can and can't do for yourself?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… Can you get yourself in and outta that thing alright?"
"No."
"Can you change yourself… Reach the cupboards and take your own showers?"
"No… No… and well…. No."
"So you don't do anything for yourself then, is that what you are telling me?"
"I do things…." Hanson cleared his throat and frowned…. "I--I tie my own shoes,"
"That's wonderful… What are we in kindergarten again?"
"Hey!"
"I'm serious man, the first thing we need to do is get you some damn independence so that you don't have to wait for people to come to your beck and call to service you."
"Alright-- And how do we do that…?"
"Well we start with something easy….." He got up from the couch and came over to him.
"Why do I have the feeling that your definition of easy and my definition of easy are going to be two completely different things?"
"Because they are?…" He smirked taking the handles of the wheelchair and heading back toward the bedroom. "I suppose you don't even have a trapeze yet do you?"
"Do I look like a circus performer to you?"
"Not that kind of trapeze… The one that hangs over your bed to help you in and out…"
"Uh no, don't have one of those…"
"I'll take care of getting one of those through the department."
"They handle stuff like that?"
"Yeah, they should it was a work related injury so they have to pay for whatever you need,"
"Are they paying you?"
"No." He pulled him up next to the bed, "I owed Booker a favor…"
"So your not getting anything out of this then?"
"Well… I wouldn't say that, I mean I'm helping you, and I'm getting the hell out of Jersey so it's not like I'm losing out on anything you know?"
"If you didn't like it there why didn't you get out sooner?"
"No reason to, now stop changing the subject, you ready to do this?"
"I dunno…" Hanson couldn't help but feel a little nauseated and nervous he hardly knew this guy, and what if something embarrassing happened? What if his catheter came out… what if he fell flat on his face, or got tangled in this damn metal chair… What if he couldn't do this? "What are we doing exactly…."
"Getting you from the chair to the bed…"
"Can't we wait for that trapeze thing you were talking about?"
"No, that just makes it easier you still have to learn to do it this way anyhow."
"I want easier first…" Tom pouted with a grunt,
"To bad, then you should of taken care of this before don't you think? You've been in that damn thing for what 6 months now give or take some time?"
"I guess." Tom shrugged.
"That's what I thought now unbuckle yourself… and put one hand on the bed."
Tom drew his lip into his mouth and swallowed taking a deep breath he didn't want to do this… why did he have to do this? If he ever caught that son of a bitch who did this he would kill him no doubt about it…
"Hanson!"
"WHAT? I'm doing it…."
"You might want to put the brake on first or your going to end up flat on your ass"
"I might just end up there anyway." He grunted and leaned down putting the brake on,
"I know you will but it will be a lot less painful of your chair doesn't roll over you on your way down you know?"
"I guess your right…" Hanson shook his head he had no idea what he was doing…. Or how he was going to do it… he didn't want to do this … He felt tiny drops of sweat forming on his forehead and he hadn't even done anything yet….
"Focus, don't think about anything else or you're going to mess up." McCann ordered stepping a little closer behind the chair. "Now using your free hand lift each leg up and off of the pedals make sure they are out in front of you or your going to trip yourself…"
"So much to remember…"
"Yes now shut up and concentrate"
"Gee thanks."
"I mean it Hanson." He stepped around in front of him now. "Using your upper body I want you to lift yourself up and over on to the bed…"
For something that sounded so easy it also seemed impossible Hanson thought to himself swallowing harder this time trying to rid his throat of the lump residing there. He could feel his arm burn all the way down as he threw all his weight on it lifting himself only 2 centimeters or so off the seat before falling back down again….
"I-I can't do this…."
"Yes you can, that was a great first try now do it again, only this time bring yourself higher, you can't be afraid of what's going to happen or your never going to do anything again…"
"Thank you Mr. Yoda."
"I'm serious now try again."
Whipping his face with his forearm Hanson glared at the man standing above him hovering over him like a mother hen, "You're real pain in my ass do you know that?"
"It's about time someone took that title now do it again."
Hanson's brows furrowed his dark brown eyes almost black now with anger and shadowed with fear as he grunted and put his hand back on the bed the other pushing on the arm rest of his chair.
Mac Watched the determination in his face and smiled to himself until he saw the chair begin to tilt under the weight pressure and reached forward Grabbing Hanson's wrist firmly "Keep going come on you can do this Hanson you can do this…"
Hanson only grunted in response a small amount of relief coming over him when he felt some of the weight being lifted off his shoulders and saw Mac at his aid…. "I thought-"
"Shut up and concentrate…"
His arms throbbed as he held himself up and then pushed himself over on to the soft welcoming mattress of his bed sweat dripping down his face and into his eyes…He had done it… Everything hurt now… well everything he could feel anyway… But he had done it…
Both men looked up when they heard a single set of applause coming from the bedroom door jam and there stood Penhall a smile on his lips, "Well would you look at that… I told you it won't be long until your kickin' my ass…"
"Not long at all.." Mac nodded, "I guess that's my clue to leave, I'll get on that other thing for you first thing tomorrow Hanson… You did good work alright?"
"Thanks."
"I'll show myself out…" He looked at Penhall, "See you tomorrow…"
"Yup." Penhall was already making his way around the room putting the chair in the corner so on and so forth getting Hanson ready for the night….
"You know Doug…" Tom cleared his throat hearing the front door close. "You could at least try to like the guy…"
"No I can't… He's arrogant."
"He's trying to help me."
"Whatever…"
"Yeah sure- Whatever…"
There you have it Chapter 19, thank you all for your wonderful feedback and I look forward to seeing what you have to say about this one, it didn't feel quite right while I was writing it but I think ti came together pretty well in the end
Rosebud