Chapter Nine

When John woke up the next morning it took him a few minutes to remember the events of the previous day. As he slowly got out of bed and into the shower, it all came rushing back. Natalie's meeting with Allison, coming back here for pizza and beer, and how they had almost ended up having sex. Though a lot of the details of what had occurred later that night were fuzzy, John did remember that Natalie had planned to stay, having been too drunk to get home. But, when he didn't find a note, or any evidence of her having been there, he got concerned.

Hoping that their almost sexual encounter hadn't pushed her away, John headed into the station early. They had been making such good progress, both in terms of his father's case and their friendship – John just hoped he hadn't screwed it up again. But when he got to the station, Natalie was no where to be found. In fact, after waiting for nearly an hour, John was just about to call her when the new receptionist poked her head into the office.

"Lieutenant?" she asked softly having heard rumors of John's irritation at being disturbed.

"Yeah?"

Slowly she walked over to the desk and handed him a stack of files. "The commissioner asked me to pass these along; he needs to know if they can be closed. Also, Ms. Buchanan called, she wanted me to tell you that she has classes all day, but will stop by when they are finished."

Wondering why Natalie hadn't just called him herself, John dismissed the secretary and picked up the stress ball Natalie had given him years back. Leaning back in his chair he began to squeeze it, somewhat wishing that by doing so it could magically cure him.

Because it seemed like when it came to Natalie, no matter what John did, he just made things worse.

After a long day of classes, most of which was spent trying to push all thoughts of John from her mind, Natalie made her way through the station and toward his office. After yet another sleepless night, Natalie had made the decision that she would just forget about what she had heard, and pretend last night had never happened. She had been through this routine enough with John to know that holding on to any hope, or expectations would only lead to her getting hurt. After all for months John had made it clear he no longer wanted anything but friendship from her. He had never fought for her, never tried to explain himself and pretty much went back to pushing her away.

Last night he had been drunk, and it didn't mean anything.

Taking a deep breath, Natalie confidently let herself into his office and forced a fake smile. "Hey," she said as brightly as she could manage.

Glancing up from the papers he was looking over, John's shoulders visibly tensed as if he wasn't sure what to expect.

"Hey… what happened to you last night? I thought you were going to stay and sleep it off."

Natalie shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "I didn't want to intrude anymore then I already had."

Suddenly feeling as he had managed to screw things up, John tried to apologize. "Natalie about last night, I am sorry… I don't know what came over me."

Having hoped that this subject could have been avoided, Natalie sighed. "Don't apologize John, it was me that initiated it and I assure you it won't happen again." Somehow Natalie managed to keep her tone even, making it clear that she was serious.

Though disappointed that she seemed to regret it as much as she did, John dropped the issue and changed the subject. "I followed up on some of those leads. I found out that the building the alley backed onto used to be a convince store. I managed to track down the owner and spoke to him over the phone. When the shooting occurred, he was closed but that next night his store was robbed. Nothing major was taken, just some cigarettes and beer but the security tapes from outside and inside were taken. I spoke to my dad's old partner again, he told me that they never found the guys who robbed the store, but didn't think it was related to the shooting because it seemed like it was pulled off by a couple of kids. As for the surveillance cameras in the alley, he seemed shocked that they were never noticed."

Having worked at the police station long enough, Natalie could tell bad police work when she saw it. "What a bunch of idiots."

Agreeing with her observation, John nodded. "Considering it was a fellow officer that was shot, so many leads went unfollowed. I mean they never interviewed my mom, never even thought about the surveillance cameras, and then investigated that robbery as a completely unrelated. In my eyes, their just as at fault as the hospital for letting that drunk doctor operate on him."

"That's it!" Natalie suddenly exclaimed leaning forward in her chair. "Allison said that Walter was working with two other doctors at Trenton General in this blackmarket thing right? Well what if after Walter - or whoever it was that shot him - realized that he was still alive and made sure the other doctor finished the job?"

"You're suggesting that the Doctor willingly killed my father? A patient of the hospital?"

Natalie shook her head. "It didn't have to be on purpose. If this other guy knew this Doctor had been drinking, they could have made sure he got the case, knowing that he would screw up. I mean you've been to the hospital, how likely is it that a Doctor or nurse in the ER could be drunk and that Michael wouldn't pick up on it? It's not. Walter or another Doctor had to know this guy was drinking, and if they were one of the ones involved with the blackmarket sales, they could have easily arranged for him to take the fall."

Though not totally convinced, John had to admit it made sense. "We have to find out who that doctor was."

Natalie eagerly nodded. "Would you're mom know? I know she sued the hospital."

"No. My mom never met with the doctor that performed the operation, the only reason we found out was because during the autopsy the M.E noticed the incisions and cuts were jagged and that death could have been prevented. He reported his to the head surgeon and by law was required to include his findings in the autopsy. My mother sued, but settled out of court with the hospital and received a settlement on the condition she sign a confidentiality agreement. That doctor's name was never included in the lawsuit, mom was just assured they had been fired. We're going to have to go talk to them."

Natalie anxiously played with a strand of hair, knowing it wasn't going to be that easy. "It's not that simple John. If your mom signed a confidentiality agreement, you'd be violating it by going in there and asking questions. Plus, even if I went in its unlikely any hospital admin would be willing to talk about it."

Seeing that she had a point, John swore under his breath. "So what do we do?"

"I have an idea, but you're not going to like it… Rex." Before John could protest Natalie rushed on. "He's been doing a lot o PI work on the side and knows how to handle himself, plus this is Rex we are talking about. I guarantee you he can go in there, find a nurse that worked there at the time and sweet talk her into giving him a name."

Knowing first hand how fast talking her brother could be, John considered it. As much as he hated it, and as much as he didn't want to get anyone else involved, there wasn't any other option here. He needed to know the truth.

"Fine," he relented. "Call your brother and have him meet us here."