Chapter 13

Inside and on the roof of a Ford Taurus
Palm Beach, Florida

"Cassy, please wake up." Tom ran his hands up and down her arms. In the fragmented light coming through the windows of the car she looked so pale. "Come on Cass, wake up for me. I'll let you pick out everything in the nursery," he promised, his lips pressed by her ear.

"Sir, we need to move her." The paramedics were kneeling in the ditch next to the car.

Tom acknowledged that he had to move, but first he pressed his lips to her ear again. "I love you, hang on," he whispered.

"She's pregnant," he informed the paramedics.

His insides feeling like they were tearing apart as he moved further away from her. His eyes never left her still body as he was assisted out of the car and up the ditch. Another paramedic met him and led him towards an ambulance, his eyes never left the area of the car as he waited for them to bring Cassy out. It was all he could do not to push the woman out of the way when she began to shine a light in his eyes to check for a concussion.

"I don't have a concussion, trust me," he sighed and kept trying to look around her.

"Sergeant Ryan, let me make that determination. If I agree, then I'll let you go," the exasperated paramedic informed him.

"Listen to her," Harry Lipshitz came up behind her and told his detective.

Tom obediently let the paramedic continue her examination and a couple of minutes later was told he didn't have a concussion. He waved off her offer for a pain killer and denied having any other injuries.

After the paramedic moved away Harry placed his hand on Tom's shoulder.

"They haven't brought her out yet Harry. She wasn't moving. The baby," Tom said brokenly.

"Frannie told me about the baby," Harry told him. "They're just being careful."

"She needs to get to the hospital." Tom moved towards the car. Harry held him back.

"Let them do their work. She's in good hands. They don't need to rush and they don't need you to rush them," Harry told him.

"Sir, they got him," another officer yelled over to them.

"I want him in shackles brought downtown!" Harry yelled out. "They got the guy that ran you off the road. Your car had a tail. They tried to stop him but it happened too fast."

"I want to see that son of a bitch!" Tom's was enraged.

"Yeah, in this mood that would accomplish a lot. Cassy needs you by her side right now. If... you need to be at Cassy's side," Harry told him.

"You said yourself that she's in good hands. Let me talk to the guy. I'll find out what this is about," Tom argued.

"This is why..." Harry broke off and looked at his officer as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"Why what Harry?" Tom suddenly focused on Harry.

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, obviously not eager to finish what he had begun to say.

"Why what Harry? Is there something going on here that I should know about?" Tom advanced on him.

"Cassy told me why she left the marriage and why she was leaving Palm Beach. I don't know whether she's right Thomas, but it's what she believes and only you can change that," Harry said slowly.

"What does she believe, Harry?" Tom demanded.

"She believes that you don't really love her. That you never did," Harry informed him.

"What?" Tom's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Tremaine," Harry said.

"What?" Tom was exasperated.

"She never knew about Tremaine. She used it as an example of why she believes you don't really love her. Cassy needs you there when she wakes up and we don't need you to ruin an interrogation by violating the prisoner's rights," Harry said through stiff lips. He hated betraying Cassy's confidence, but it was for her own good. For both of their own goods.

Tom closed his eyes and fought an inner struggle. He wasn't sure what it all meant, but Harry was right. Cassy needed him when she woke up. He nodded and opened his eyes to find the paramedics bringing Cassy out of the ditch on a stretcher. He was going to go with his partner.

"I'll call you from the hospital," Tom told Harry as he moved towards her. He stopped a few seconds later and looked back at Harry. "Get them for her. For us."

Harry nodded and silently promised that he would.

>>>>>>>>>
Interrogation Room A
Palm Beach PD

"Tell me why you ran them off the road," Harry slammed his hand on the table.

The man sat with his mouth in a stiff line, refusing to answer. He hadn't even asked for an attorney. Since being apprehended a few hours earlier he hadn't spoken a word.

"Take him to a cell," Harry growled at the uniformed officers standing against the walls. "Call him a lawyer. We're going to be careful on this one."

Harry pulled off his glasses and began to clean them with a handkerchief. He still hadn't heard from Tom. He was going to go to the hospital himself.

>>>>>>
Palm Beach Memorial Hospital

"I'm really sorry to see you and your partner again so soon," Doctor Sam Dupuis addressed Tom.

"How is she?" Tom asked rudely, not bothering to greet the man.

Used to the ways of worried family and friends Sam didn't mind.

"She has a severe concussion. Severe bruising along her left side. A bruise on her right shoulder..." he listed her injuries.

"The baby?" Tom interrupted. "Did we lose the baby?"

>>>>>>

"Cassy?" Tom sat down carefully on the side of her hospital bed not wanting to jostle her unnecessarily, even though she was still asleep. "I know your head hurts and you don't want to wake up, but I need for you to wake up. We have a lot of things we need to talk about. A lot of things to clear up between us. Harry told me something, something that I've spent the last few hours thinking about. About you, me and us."

Cassy didn't stir.

Gently, Tom brushed back the hair from her face.

"I know you don't believe this. But I love you. I have a lot of things I need to do to make you believe that. I wasn't the best husband and maybe I haven't been the greatest friend. And everyone thinks I'm the easy one in this relationship. If you want to hear all of my humiliating stories you're going to have to wake up." Tom smiled at her, continuing his one-sided conversation.

"See, it's not just our partnership that needs you to wake up, we have a case to solve and you're the key here. We got the guy who ruined our visit to the doctor. He won't talk to Harry, but I know that once he looks at those baby blues and takes in that body he'll be a babbling mess like all our other collars. I love how you let everyone think I break the perps in questioning. So, if you're going to do that you have to wake up soon before you get all pregnant looking." Tom traced patterns on her palm.

"Baby?" Cassy's eyelids fluttered.

"The baby is fine. She has her mama's constitution apparently." Tom smiled down at the waking patient.

"Really?" Cassy's blue eyes filled with tears.

"Really." Tom smiled down at her. His hand cupped her cheek and he pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I hurt," she sighed and closed her eyes again.

"I know, no painkillers unless you really need them." Tom's velvety eyes looked at her tenderly.

"No, you should have let me sleep though," she teased.

"I love you Cassy," Tom repeated now that she was awake and he knew she could hear him.

Cassy's eyes opened and she looked at him intently for a few moments. "Thank you for being here," she said quietly.

"I don't belong anywhere else right now." he kissed her hand and stood up, silently thanking Harry for talking him to his senses. There had been a time or two during their marriage when Cassy had needed him and he hadn't been there because he was busy pursuing a case. Or because he had thought she hadn't needed him.His father had been right. It was time for him to grow up.

End Chapter 13