The Long and Winding Road: pt. 4
By: The Confused One
Rating:
This chapter. I would call it PG or even
PG-13. Nothing too
terrible here.
Pairings: Bobby and Alex from Criminal Intent.
Warnings: Let's see, there is a little bit of
cussing
and a few snippets of discussion about injuries.
Nothing
too graphic though.
Feedback: YES! Please send all the
feedback to the
feedback whore at Charmed1500y...
Archive:
Yes to Amorous. Anyone else? Just let me
know where it's
going.
Summary: If you haven't noticed, I've just about
given
up giving story summaries in this thing, their pretty
much
chapter summaries now. LOL Well, here is the long
awaited chapter
where you get to find out what has
become of Bobby. I'm pretty
sure there isn't anything
in here that is too
shocking.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Only wish I did.
No
money is being made. Please don't sue. Thanks.
Bobby
Goren woke up extremely disoriented and with
bright lights in his
face. It took a couple of
minutes before he even knew that there
were people in
the room with him. A couple of nurses stood
around
him checking monitors. He suddenly realized that he
was
the one hooked to the monitors. A man walked in
within moments as
the nurses left. He quickly
realized that the man standing over
him was a doctor
of some sort. Bobby's eyes were slowly
beginning to
focus on their own. The doctor smiled and asked,
"I'm
glad to see your awake Mr. Richards."
Bobby was
completely confused now. He suddenly
realized that he didn't
recognize the name. He was
hurting most everywhere. He weakly
asked, "Is that my
name?"
The doctor frowned. He
answered, "Yes, your friends
say your name is Victor Richards.
Is there anything
you do remember?"
Bobby thought hard
for a moment before replying, "I
remember lots of things, just
not about my life."
The doctor nodded. He soothingly
replied, "That's
understandable. Mr. Richards along with your
broken
and bruised ribs, your broken right arm, broken left
wrist,
a few broken fingers, bruised knee you have
retrograde
amnesia."
The diagnosis registered in Bobby's brain. He
knew.
He had other questions. He wanted to know what he
could
about himself. Bobby interrupted, "Just great.
Did I have any id
or a cell phone or anything when
they brought me in?"
The
doctor looked a little surprised. He didn't
generally have
patients this assertive, especially
after just waking up. He
fumbled, "You didn't have
any of those things on you when you
arrived."
Bobby nodded. For some reason he wasn't sure
he
trusted anything that was going on. He didn't like
the
feel of the place, this doctor, and without even
meeting them he
didn't trust these supposed friends.
Forcing himself to a
sitting position, Bobby began
looking around. He immediately
realized he wasn't in
a real hospital. He asked, "Where am
I?"
The doctor continued fumbling through his answers,
"St.
Mary's Mission in New York City. You've suffered
an extremely
dangerous and damaging blow to the head.
We were closest."
Bobby
nodded not quite letting the last part sink in.
He distractedly
asked, "Can I see my friends?"
The doctor nodded. He
replied, "Sure. I'll send them
in. Maybe they'll be able to
trigger your memory and
answer some questions for you."
Bobby
nodded not quite sure he believed him. Within a
couple of minutes
two Spanish men walked in. One
began, "I'm Luis Lopez. He's
Martin Domingus."
Bobby nodded before asking, "Alright.
What happened?
Why am I here?"
The other one, Martin,
replied, "An associate of ours
went up to meet you. Look, Mr.
Thompson…"
Bobby immediately interrupted, "Mr. Thompson?"
Luis quickly answered, "We gave them an alias
at the
front counter. This place will take anyone and won't
ask
questions. Your name is Robert Thompson. This
associate of ours,
Santos, and you fell off the roof
of a building."
Bobby's
eyes widen. He couldn't believe what he was
hearing. He asked,
"We fell off a building? How is
he fairing?"
Martin
jumped back in, "Yes, the two of you fell off a
building. We're
not sure what happened, but he's
dead. Look, Thompson, we don't
want a war. We've got
enough fucking trouble. It would be nice
if you kept
your boys off of us."
Bobby's face was a
mixture of total confusion,
revoltion, anger, fear, and panic.
Someone dead, no
matter what the circumstances didn't sit well
with
him, and it was even worse when he didn't know
said
circumstances. Collecting himself in an instant, he
replied,
"That would be doable if I knew for sure I
wasn't being lied
to, and knew who or where these
people who supposedly work for me
are."
Luis nodded. He replied, "This whole damn thing
is
our fault. We want to offer you protection with our
boys
until you get your memory back."
Bobby arched his eyebrows.
He replied, "I don't think
I'll be leaving here anytime
soon. I think I'm
alright."
Martin and Luis exchange a
look. Luis informs Bobby,
"The fucking cops know about it by
now. The bastards
are probably going to be everywhere within a
couple of
hours. They're going to find Santos'
body.
Especially since you can't remember what happened
and
you're a drug lord, they're going to pin it on you
man.
We all need to get out now, unless you want to
go to jail."
Bobby
wasn't sure if he should trust these guys, but
he wasn't any
surer that he wanted to take the chance
on going to jail. He
didn't have a clue about who he
was or what happened, and he
wasn't sure he wanted to
take any chances. He figured for the
moment he could
follow these guys, at least for as long as he
still
couldn't remember anything. Bobby nodded in
resignation
to having to break out of the clinic. He
just hoped that his head
was healing right, and that
his memory would return soon. He was
taking an awful
lot on faith. He replied, "We're on the first
floor
right?"
Martin replied, "Yeah, the only floor."
Bobby smiled his devilish grin, "Let's go out
the
window. No one will even notice we're gone for
a
while."
Martin and Luis both nodded. Bobby painfully
unhooked
himself from the machinery. Hobbling over to the
window,
Bobby gritted through the pain. The three men
took off out the
window. Bobby dryly saying as they
left, "First thing, I can't
stay in this gown. I need
some clothes."
Martin replied
behind him, "We'll get you some clothes
once we're at the
house."
Bobby was still had questions. As they reached
the
car, he relented and asked more questions, "Where's
my
stuff? I know I wasn't on that roof without a single
thing
on me."
Martin quickly answered the question, "In the
back
there. We were able to salvage your piece. It was in
a
shoulder holster. You also had a few bucks in a
pocket. Your cell
phone is in pieces. Sorry. It
would have made it easy to get
figure all of this out.
That was all you had on you."
Bobby
nodded. Getting into Martin's parked car Bobby
noticed a woman
entering the clinic. A memory of them
together immediately flashed
into his head. The woman
was running just behind him. He was
chasing someone,
and she was gaining on him. She yelled,
"Stop!
Police!"
The quick memory confused him. A name
kept sticking
out in his head, Eames. He wanted to place
the
mystery female cop, that he somehow seemed to
remember, to
the name, but he couldn't be sure. He
couldn't even begin to
understand what he was seeing.
To be on the safe side, he called
up to the front
seat, "You were right. There's heat
here."
Luis asked in confusion, "Damn it! You
saw
something?"
Bobby hesitated. He didn't feel like
explaining his
memory to the two men in front of him. He
replied,
"Yeah. I saw a badge."
Martin instantly
replied, "They'll never catch us now
anyway."
The car
immediately sped out of the parking lot just
in
case.
Alex
and Nikolas walked up towards the front counter.
Nikolas was
trying to keep Alex from getting her hopes
up. He pessimistically
warned, "This is the last one
Detective."
Alex nodded.
She understood and appreciated the
sentiment. She was desperately
hoping that this would
be it. Alex flashed her badge to the
secretary as she
walked up. Pulling out Bobby's picture she cut
the
chitchat, "Detective Eames. This is officer Smith.
Have
you seen this man?"
The secretary began to get extremely
fidgety and
nervous. She stammered, "Y-yeah, he-he was brought
in
hours ago. There's not any-anything wrong is there?"
Alex
began absorbing the news. She was almost in
shock at learning that
Bobby was indeed there.
Holding back her pure joy she kept her
voice low, "No,
no he's not in trouble. He's my partner.
We've been
looking for him. You-you just said that he was
here.
Someone brought him in? Are they still here? Is this
man
still here? Is he alive?"
Nikolas sensing that Alex was
overwhelming the poor
secretary interrupted by saying, "We'd
just like to
know everything you know."
The secretary
nodded. She replied, "He's being
treated by Dr. Harris. He's
a neurologist. He's very
good. Your partner has suffered major
head trauma,
but it looks like he's going to be just fine.
They
took his friends back to see him a while ago. Beyond
that,
even his room number, you'd have to ask Dr.
Harris."
Alex
nodded. She instantly asked, "And where can we
find this Dr.
Harris?"
The secretary stopped and began thinking a second
when
a doctor entered the waiting room. The secretary
arched
her eyebrows and answered, "You're in luck.
That's him,
right there."
Alex nodded again. Mumbling a thank you she
was at
Dr. Harris' heels before Nikolas had even spotted
the
man. Alex asked, "Dr. Harris?"
The doctor who had
been talking to Bobby earlier
smiled and replied, "Yes, that's
me."
Alex flashed her badge again as Nikolas joined the
two.
Alex quickly got down to business, "I'm
detective Eames, and
this is officer Smith. We're
looking for this man."
Harris
studied the picture for a moment before
nodding. He answered,
"Yes, he's one of my patients.
Is this about how he got here?
Are you here to
interview the two men that brought him in? Cause
they
claim it was all an accident, and that they left
someone
there to talk to you guys."
Alex wasn't sure how to answer
his questions. She
decided to be diplomatic, "Sort of. He's my
partner,
Robert Goren. I've been looking for him. What can
you
tell me about his condition?"
The doctor seemed to relax
slightly. He answered, "I
didn't trust those men that brought
him in. The said
his name was Richards. He's suffered extreme
head
trauma, but he's awake now. The majority of his
injuries
are stunningly minor. He broke his right
arm, left wrist, and a
few fingers. He bruised his
knew rather badly, almost dislocated
it. His shoulder
was dislocated when he was brought in. He had
a
couple of bruised ribs, and a couple of broken ribs
too. He
was lucky they didn't puncture a major organ.
The worst of his
injuries is the swelling of the
brain at the moment that is
causing quite a severe
case of retrograde amnesia. He doesn't
remember
anything about his life. Did he happen to do some
study
of psychology and the brain?"
Alex wasn't sure if she
wanted to laugh or cry. A
sort of panic welded up inside her.
Things were going
to get really, really bad if he started to get
pieces
of his memory back alone. Mentioning Ryan or Hayley
might
destroy everything they had worked so hard to
build. Worse yet,
mentioning Ryan in front of the bad
guys might get him killed. She
replied, "Yeah, he
took some classes. Is he giving you that
much
trouble?"
The doctor shook his head no. He replied,
"Oh no. He
just seemed to be calm and understand his
condition
better than anyone else I've ever treated."
Alex
nodded again. She replied, "He's like that, but
you mentioned
amnesia…"
Nikolas, who had been listening, bit his
tongue
letting Alex get some information before he butted in,
but
they were now getting into a serious conversation.
He interrupted,
"Weren't we told he was with the men
who brought him in? We
should probably go ahead and
go see him."
Alex nodded
realizing that he was right. She looked
at the doctor waiting for
him to take the lead. She
replied, "You can explain his
condition a little to me
while we walk."
The doctor
nodded and began to lead the way to the
room. He replied,
"Retrograde amnesia is caused by
severe psychological trauma or
by swelling of the
head, due to extreme head trauma. Mr. Goren's
amnesia
was definitely caused by head trauma. As the
swelling
decreases over the next few days, even weeks, he
will
regain his memory. His childhood will probably be the
first
things to come back, but it is generally fairly
quickly followed
by the present. So be warned, and
don't be discouraged when he
doesn't recognize you."
Alex realized they were at Bobby's
room. She nodded
preparing herself for the worst. She was
intrigued by
what was to come. She knew that she didn't know
even
half of the horrors that Bobby experienced as a child.
She
wasn't sure she was looking forward to watching
him have to
relive it, but she was definitely prepared
to help him through it,
like everything else in his
life. Even worse, she knew he didn't
remember them.
He was going to make himself crazy because of it
too.
She knew that for sure. She also knew she was going
to
have to plan things just right if she wanted to
keep the truth
about them and the kids under wraps.
She softly replied, "Thank
you. I think you should
know, his childhood, it's going to
rough. He's
probably not going to be the easiest patient."
The
doctor looked at Alex a little concerned. He
asked, "Things are
going to becoming pretty fast. If
it's that bad, it's probably
going to take longer, his
subconscious will probably stall it not
wanting to
overload his mind."
Alex nodded again. She bit
her lip before replying,
"For his sake, I kind of hope it
does."
Alex was getting more and more interested in
talking
to Bobby again. This would be Bobby without the
emotional
baggage. She wasn't sure what she was going
to find. She hoped
that it would at least be someone
she recognized. Alex opened the
door expecting to see
three people in the room. She stood in the
doorway in
shock. The room was obviously empty. All she
could
think was how close she was to finding him, yet so
far.
Nikolas moved past her looking around the room
checking it out as
Alex just stared. The doctor was
in shock too. He stammered out,
"He-he was here. I
swear he was here just a little while
ago."
Nikolas took a deep breath. "They went out
the
window," looking at Alex now he asked, "Why would
he
leave?"
Alex and Nikolas stared at each other for a
minute
before Alex began focusing again. She weakly
replied,
"They've lied to him. They probably told him
that
he's one of them, and that they all need to get out
before
we get here."
Nikolas looked confused. He asked, "He'd
believe
something like that?"
Alex was angry now that he
would be asking such
questions. Raising her voice Alex defended
her
partner, "He doesn't know who he is. All he knows is
that
these guys supposedly know him. He trusts them.
He has to trust
someone, and right now he has no one
else that he feels he can
trust. He's confused."
Nikolas was a little surprised at
the anger in her
voice. He realized that she was right. He
quietly
back peddled, "I'm sorry. I had to ask. I'm
trying
to understand."
Alex regretted yelling at him. She
knew he was just
trying to help. Once again, she had to fight back
the
tears. She had been so close. She couldn't take
anymore.
She couldn't lose them both. She wouldn't.
Ryan had been hard
enough. She couldn't lose Bobby
too. It would just be too much.
And she had been so
close. She had almost found him. She damned
the gods
for being so spiteful.
Suddenly Alex realized that
Nikolas was staring at
her. She had been so lost in thought. She
hadn't
realized Nikolas had been talking. Giving Nikolas
a
confused look, she asked, "Sorry. What was that?"
Nikolas asked again, "What do you want to do now?"
Alex thought
about it momentarily. Swallowing the
lump in her throat she
replied, "We go looking for
Goren. They might be holed up in
Santos' estate. It
gives us an excuse to go in now."
Nikolas
watched confused as Alex walked out of the
room. He followed,
leaving the confused doctor
to
stew.
Catching
up to Alex at the car. Nikolas stood back
long enough for Alex to
wipe away the tears. After a
moment, he dared to walk forward a
little. He asked,
"Eames?"
Alex, who had noticed his
presence the whole time,
still refused to turn around to face him.
Now that he
had caught her crying, even if she had been able
to
stop most of it before he got there, it still left her
feeling
a vulnerability that she didn't want. She
didn't feel like she
could afford to have. Yet,
despite that, and against her better
judgment, Alex
rambled, "If I hadn't. If I hadn't gone home.
We
would have gotten here before they left. I'm sure of
it.
I'd know where he is. I'm so worried that
something else is
going to happen to him before I can
get to him. I had to go home.
I had to check… I had
to get some sleep."
Nikolas
looked away. He quietly tried to reason with
her, "You had been
up for over twenty-four hours. We
were both exhausted. You weren't
any good to him like
that. Hell, in my opinion, you're still not
any good
to him. You're tired Eames. You can see it.
The
exhaustion is written all over your face, in your
body
language. You can't punish yourself for having to get
a
little sleep. We'll find him. Believe that. He's
alive. So
we'll find him. It's just going to be a
few hours later than
it could have been, but we'll do
it. This. This was not your
fault. I'm the one who
pushed you to go home like that. You seem
to have an
idea of where to look now. So we'll do that. We'll
go
look there. There's no need for doom and gloom
panic yet. They
won't hurt him. They went to this
much trouble saving him, and
helping him get out.
They think he's one of them."
Alex
nodded, knowing that despite everything, Nikolas
had a point. She
turned around to face him now. She
ordered, "Come on. Get in the
car. We've got to go
talk to Deakins."
