Two days later, Perry took Della to her doctor's appointment. The doctor said she could go back to work, but needed to take it easy. She couldn't be running around or even walking a lot around the office. Perry said that wouldn't be a problem. Knowing the man, Della's doctor had no doubt he'd make sure she didn't overdo it. She was told to keep using the walker until her physical therapist told her she could use a cane. Della wasn't thrilled, but at least she wasn't confined to that chair anymore. Perry remained at Della's for the time being. She still needed a lot of help. Monday morning, Perry got up a little earlier to get ready so that they wouldn't be late since he needed to help Della. The woman had to admit that the walk from the car to the office was exhausting. Everyone was thrilled to see her again and welcomed her back. Once everyone got back to work, Perry took Della to his office. "Why don't you sit and rest for a little while?"
"I'll just go to my desk."
"Della, it's okay to rest. I know that walk was more exhausting for you than you thought it would be."
Della sighed, "I really want to start working again, but I'm so tired."
Perry held Della, "I know," he said as he rubbed her back. "It will take time for you to build up your stamina again. Maybe we should use your chair to get from the car to the office and back?"
Della groaned, "I don't want people to see me in that thing."
"Della, everyone knows what happened. It was in the papers. Besides, you need it. Maybe not as much as before, but you still need it for long distances."
"I'll think about it. Will you help me lie down?"
Perry took her to the couch and got her all tucked in, "you need anything?"
"No," she whispered, "thank you."
"Anytime," he gave her a kiss, "let me know if you need anything."
"Okay," she sighed, "I'm sorry about this."
"Don't be," he said, "you can't help it."
Within seconds, Della was out. Perry had told the office staff to keep it down. He told Gertie that if anyone came to see him, to make sure and tell them to be quiet. He called Paul to tell him to knock more quietly if he dropped by. Perry was pretty sure that Della would at least sleep until lunch. He was honestly okay with that. She needed the rest.
Della woke up a little after noon. She slowly sat up and noticed that Perry wasn't there. It didn't take long for him to walk in with a bag of food, "how was your nap?" he smiled.
"Long," she said.
"I'll set the table and help you once I'm done."
Tragg and Burger walked in, "sorry to interrupt," Burger said.
"Are you really sorry?" Perry questioned.
"We need to talk to the two of you."
"Would you mind if Della ate while we talked?"
"Not at all."
Perry walked over and helped Della to her feet. Her pelvis shook back and forth from the exhaustion her body was feeling. Perry helped steady Della as best as he could. He held onto her, so she could leave her walker behind until she was situated at the table. The men joined her. "What's going on?" Perry asked.
"We need to corroborate an alibi," Tragg said.
"A suspect said that she could not have committed the murder she's accused of because, at the time of the murder, she was at work," Burger said.
"What does that have to do with Della?"
"She's a nurse at Cedar's and said that Della was one of her patients that day."
The three looked at the woman. "It will depend on the day and how long after the accident it was. There was a period of time where I was pretty out of it."
"It was a week and a half after."
"Do you have a picture?"
Burger placed a photograph in front of Della, "she was my nurse a good portion of the time I was there. She was primarily there at night."
"The murder was committed at eleven at night."
"I had nightmares every night for the first month after the accident. What day was the murder?"
"Two Wednesdays after your accident."
Della sat there and thought for a moment. She went through each night in her head. "I think she was there that night. When I had a nightmare, they documented it for the psychiatrist. I can request my file and we can take a look. If I knew which nightmare it was, I'd probably have a better idea if she had been there."
Perry took the phone over to Della and the woman called to make the request. Perry was going to pick up the file on their way home that night. Perry ended up having to carry Della to the car. She wasn't steady enough to walk. At home, Della looked at the file and was still unsure if the woman had been there that night. Burger decided to not use her as a result. However, the defense found out and subpoenaed Della.
The next day, she had to testify. Della chose to use her wheelchair. She figured it would be easier. Plus, she was still too unsteady to walk with any help. When Della was called to the stand, Perry wheeled her to the swinging doors. The defense lawyer was staring at his notes. Burger and a court worker held the door open for Perry to wheel Della through. After being sworn in, the defense attorney approached Della. "Miss Street, do you recognize the defendant?"
"Yes, I do."
"Where have you seen her?"
"At Cedar's Sini hospital."
"Could you explain?"
"I was at the hospital for a month following a car accident. She was often my nurse during the night."
"Is it true that you told the district attorney that and he decided to ignore her alibi?"
"Not exactly," she said.
"What?"
"I told him what I told you."
"And he ignored it," the man interrupted. "No more questions," the man went back to the table.
Burger stood and walked over to Della, "Miss Street, could you please explain in detail about the day Lieutenant Tragg and I came to visit you and Mr. Mason at his office?"
"Well, Mr. Mason and I were just sitting down to lunch. It was my first day back at work. You and the lieutenant walked in and told us you had something to talk to us about. Mr. Mason asked you what was going on after we all sat at the table. We were told by the lieutenant that you were checking an alibi. Then you told me the accused was a nurse who said she was working on the floor I was on at the time of the murder. I identified her as one of my nurses from the photograph you showed me, but I couldn't remember if she was there that night. Mr. Mason picked up a copy of my file for me. You see, I was having nightmares that first month after the accident and the nurses were documenting them for the psychiatrist. I was pretty sure that if I knew which nightmare I had that night, I'd know who the nurse on duty was."
"What happened when you saw the file?"
"I remembered the nightmare, but I was still unsure if she had been my nurse that night."
"No further questions."
Burger sat back down, but the defense decided to ask more questions. "Was my client's name written in the notes for that night?"
"Yes," Della said.
"Then why are you still unsure?"
"I never saw the clock when I woke up. I fell asleep before ten that night. When I woke up from the nightmare, I never saw the time."
"But you saw the nurse?"
"Not really," she said, "it was dark. Plus, I was dazed and panicking."
"Nothing further," the man said.
"The witness is excused," the judge said.
Once again, the defense attorney ignored Della. Burger quickly walked over to wheel Della back to Perry. Another person in the gallery and Perry held the gate open for her. The man took over for Burger and gave him a grateful smile before wheeling Della out. "I wish I knew the time," Della said, "she was so good to me."
"I wish she had a different lawyer. He has no clue what he's doing."
"Well, you would be conflicted out."
"Yes, but I could advise. Lawyers like him don't listen to advice."
"Perry, if I stay home tomorrow, would you worry?"
"No, because I'll be there too."
"What about work?"
"I'll do it at your apartment. We're closing the office for the day."
"Thank you, sweetheart," Della said. "I'm so exhausted from the past two days."
