Secret Betting: Chapter 6

By: The Confused One

A/N: Well, this chapter will lighten things back up at the end. We're almost done, so enjoy. Please read and review. Thanks.

Mike met Carolyn's eyes. He could see the worry and anger. He knew though that they weren't going to be getting out of this. With a sigh, he resigned himself to the inevitable. He explained, "The squad has a bet on how long before you and Goren get together."

Before Alex could react, Deakins stood and yelled, "What?"

Carolyn looked from the irate Deakins to the shocked Alex. She decided to finish explaining, "It was my idea to try to give you two a push. I sent the flowers. Genius there was trying to make Bobby jealous, and I ended up telling Bobby about your plans with Mike."

Alex was on her feet now too and channeled all of her pain and worry into anger at what they had done, "The squad has a bet on Goren and I? You two were playing games with our relationship? How dare you! What do you think gives you the right?"

Carolyn watched as Alex started pacing. She tried to explain, "I'm so sorry Alex. We're sorry. It got out of control. It went way too far. We know that. We were really just trying to help. We never imagined someone would get hurt."

Mike had been pleasantly surprised that Carolyn had basically covered for him. Standing now, he tried to back Carolyn up, "She's right. No one dreamed anyone would get hurt. We are sorry."

Sitting back down, Deakins rubbed his temples. He was getting a migraine. He jumped in, "When I get back to the office, I'm going to have a chat with everyone."

Mike desperately tried to protect everyone else, "Don't do that, please, Captain. This wasn't there fault. It was Barek and I who started pushing them. No one else was involved. They were just betting on when it would happen. It was just blowing off some steam."

Alex blew up at Mike again, "Blowing off steam? You blow off steam by manipulating people?"

Carver, seeing things were getting tense, tried to calm everyone down, "Look, what's done is done. No one meant for anyone to get hurt. And might I had, no one here shot Detective Goren."

Still reeling and sustaining her anger, Alex yelled, "Well, someone did get hurt. He's fighting for his life, at least partly because some people can't mind their own business. Why the hell couldn't you leave it alone? You two had no right!"

Before Alex could express her indignation further, a doctor seemed to appear in front of them. He hesitantly asked, "Detective Eames?"

Turning to face the doctor, Alex immediately calmed down. Fear gripped her as she replied, "I'm Detective Eames. How is Detective Goren?"

The doctor seemed to relax a little. He carefully replied, "He made it through surgery. He had a lot of damage. I was told you kept pressure applied to the wound. It saved his life. He's still in critical condition, but barring complications, he should be fine. The next forty-eight hours will tell the tale. I was told you were making decisions for him?"

Alex nodded her head. Relief flooded her. Just about all she could process was that he was going to be OK. She had to keep believing. He had made it through the worse. She finally answered, "Uh. Yeah. It's complicated, but yeah, I'm the one."

Catching Deakins nod, the doctor nodded at Alex, accepting her words. He finally explained, "We have a few things for you to look over then."

Following him, Alex asked, "Then I can see him?"

The doctor assured her, "Yes, then you can see him. Though I must warn you he won't be awake for some time."

Alex assured him, "That's OK. I just. I need to see him. I need to sit with him." Turning her attention back to the others, she turned to face them and warned, "This conversation isn't over."

Carolyn watched them disappear. Ignoring Alex's words completely, she closed eyes and mumbled, "Thank God."

With the crisis for Bobby over, Deakins felt free to focus on Carolyn and Mike. He threatened, "Neither of you are out of the woods with me either."

Carolyn tried to make him understand, again, "We really wouldn't have done anything if we had had any idea that something like this was going to be the result."

Mike picked up where Carolyn left off, "It was a sort of fun joke that spun out of control."

With a sigh, Deakins eyed his two detectives carefully. He knew they had a point. They couldn't have predicted this, and what they had done wasn't something he usually would have been that worried about. He finally relented, "Something between Goren and Eames?"

Carver smiled. Getting up, he admitted, "You have to want to see it."

Carolyn smiled now. Looking at Mike, she laughed and replied, "Even Carver sees it."

Deakins groaned. Standing, he lamented, "Then this will probably do it."

Mike shrugged. With a sigh, he commented, "With her knowing about the bet and all, we'll just have to see."

A nurse wandered over, and hesitantly commented, "There's a phone call for a Ron Carver?"

Carver nodded. He followed the nurse, saying, "That's me."

Deakins sighed, again. He was still trying to process everything. He excused himself, "I. I should call and make sure everything is OK."

Mike watched Deakins leave. Turning his attention to Carolyn, he lowered his voice some, "Thank you for what you said."

Carolyn smiled. She teased, "Well, I couldn't let her flay you alive for completely playing her now could I?"

Mike laughed. He was relieved to see her calmed down too. Knowing that he was going to be OK seemed to calm her down a lot. He played with her a little, "Yeah. I guess that would have been painful." Getting serious, he admitted, "I should have stayed out of it."

Carolyn got serious again. With a nod, she corrected him, "We both should have stayed out of it. What we almost caused…"

Mike shook his head. He tried to get her mind off of it, "We didn't cause it. Tell you what. Let's go eat, then go see how he's doing."

Carolyn smiled again. With a nod, she began following him out. As he opened the door for her, he teased more, "You know, you're beautiful when you're angry."

Laughing, Carolyn playfully slapped at him as they headed for the car. She wouldn't let him goad her into saying something embarrassing.