The Prodigal Pathologist

Author Note: For disclaimer and introduction, please see chapter one. This story is not a continuation of the previous chapters. Robbie and Laura reboot!

It was just before dawn that Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway were called to the scene of a fatal stabbing in Oxford. After discussing the scene with SOCO, they consulted the pathologist. "What do you think, Laura?" Lewis asked.

"I think I'd rather be in bed." Dr Laura Hobson caught the look exchanged by Lewis and Hathaway and added, "that is not a double entendre, boys. I think I'm coming down with something."

Lewis tendered his hand to her. "Maybe you should go home. Take a day."

"Can't. I've got to train up the new pathologist who's replacing old Aberdeen Angus. She comes in at 8."

"No rest for the weary, eh?"

"None. So, about your murder victim…"

***before noon***

"Sergeant James Hathaway, I'd like you to meet Dr Grayling Russell." Dr Hobson's tone was professional more than warm as she made the introductions. Hathaway had expected to meet a young doctor, so he was surprised to find a woman probably in her early fifties standing alongside Dr Hobson. Russell was an attractive woman with red hair accented by wisps of grey.

"I'm not all that new," Dr Russell said, a bit defensively. "I used to work here ages ago before I moved to India. Return of the prodigal pathologist, I suppose. Who's your governor?"

"Inspector Lewis. He'll be along in a moment." Hathaway was amazed to see how Russell's eyes lit up as he mentioned Lewis' name.

"Robbie Lewis still works here? And he finally made inspector! You must be the brains of the team because Lewis was working on that exam for years." Russell laughed good-naturedly.

Dr. Hobson rose to Lewis' defence. "It should be noted that he was raising young kids at the time too. It's hard to maintain that balance. Work, family…"

"I was just teasing. I didn't mean any offense to your governor, Sergeant. You're quite lucky to be working with Lewis. I'll bet that you learn a lot and have a good time doing it. Robbie's so much fun. Bit of a flirt too, am I right?" Russell looked to Hobson for confirmation. Hobson nodded, hoping that she wouldn't blush; and Hathaway merely blinked in disbelief. The Lewis he knew was compassionate and conscientious, but fun and flirtatious?

Inspector Lewis entered the mortuary and immediately recognized his former colleague. "Grayling Russell? When did you come back to Oxford?"

"I've been back about a month, getting settled. I suppose I never did thank you for writing to me when Morse died. That was very kind of you. I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch."

"There was no response necessary. It's good to see you." Lewis gave her a charming smile.

"We should do dinner some night to catch up. Invite your wife, of course." Dr. Russell was instantly filled with regret as she saw Lewis' face fall.

He put on his brave little smile and said, "Val passed on several years back."

She offered her condolences and added, "it'll be dinner for two, then." From the corner of the room, Laura Hobson started to cough. Loudly.

Lewis and Russell turned to look at Hobson and the corpse. "I suppose we should get back to our victim," Lewis conceded. Hathaway intuitively wondered if that was Hobson or the corpse.

Hobson was feeling feverish despite the chill of the mortuary. "If you look at the stab wound on the right…"

"Which is actually the victim's left." Russell corrected Hobson. It came out more harshly than she had intended. Dr Russell didn't mean to step on Hobson's toes, but she did feel the need to prove herself.

"Of course. You know what I mean." Hobson blew off Russell's comment but was clearly embarrassed at this point. It wasn't like Hobson to make an error of any sort, but her head was pounding. Hobson soldiered on and the post-mortem continued apace until all parties were satisfied with the conclusions.

As the detectives took their leave of the pathologists, Dr. Russell pulled Lewis aside to firm up plans for the aforementioned dinner. Hathaway hung back to give Lewis space, but also to whisper in Hobson's ear. "Do you want me to let the air out of her tyres?" He gave Hobson his most mischievous look, which did elicit a little smirk from Hobson.

"So that our hero Robbie could offer to drive her home? Thanks, but no."

Once outside the mortuary doors, Hathaway found fit to tease his boss. "Well done, sir. I do believe you made Dr Hobson jealous."

"What, about Grayling Russell?" Lewis was surprised at the idea at first, but then his face broke out into a smile. "Nah. Hobson can do better and she knows it." Though he dismissed Hathaway's notion out loud, inside Lewis was quite flattered by the idea of a jealous Hobson. The doctor's got a taste of her own medicine, he thought as he silently stomped on the memory of a certain Franco.

***Later that evening***

Robbie Lewis and Grayling Russell were having a splendid time reminiscing over dinner. She asked him about how he and Morse became close. "I think it was when we flew half-way around the world together to Australia. That was when we got to know each other a bit better. I talked his ear off the whole way there, and he had no choice but to listen to me go on. Blimey, that trip was amazing. The case itself was dreadful—far too much bloodshed that could have been prevented—but what a beautiful country! Val left the kids with her parents and flew stand-by to join me after the case wrapped up. We spent two weeks driving around Australia in a van. Did I mention we had no kids in tow? One of the best times of me life. Our son lives there now, in fact. Haven't been back meself, though."

Dr Russell left Lewis to his reverie and went to the powder room. As he saw her returning, he stood to pull out her chair, ever the gentleman. "Thank you, Robbie."

"My pleasure."

"A pleasure indeed," she said seductively, as she ran her fingers down his chest and tried to kiss him.

Lewis instinctively jumped backwards. I'm married! was his first panicked thought. He composed himself and apologized. "I have to go. I'll take care of the cheque up front. I'm sorry."

Once outside, Lewis walked briskly along the river and wrestled with his ghosts. Passers-by must have thought he was going somewhere in a hurry, but in truth, he had no idea where he was going. His heart was pounding as he thought of his precious Val. Then in the darkness, he saw the face of his former partner, Ally McLennan; they had worked well together, and it wasn't until many years later that she had also tried to kiss him. He didn't panic then, but he still wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He never got to pursue that impulse- nor was he even sure that he would have wanted to- as the corrupt McLennan was herself murdered. The next image that came to him was Dr Hobson in a white scene suit, attending McLennan's corpse. He was apologizing to Laura, and staring into her eyes. Laura too? Had Laura became one of his ghosts? He couldn't answer and shook off the unknown. He returned to Val and sought refuge in the warmth of her memory.

***The next day***

Lewis hadn't slept much the previous night and was dreading the moment when he would encounter Dr. Russell. She eventually turned up in his office, as he knew she would. "Hi, Robbie."

"Grayling. I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what else to say."

"No harm done." She looked at him tenderly. "Lighten up, Robbie. You don't need to be so weighed down by everything. I know that the carefree sergeant I knew all those years ago is in there somewhere."

"My life has changed so much, and I'm just not looking for anything like that now."

"I'm not looking for anything serious either. We can just have some fun together, you know." Neither Lewis nor Russell realized that Dr Hobson had her hand on the door knob. The door was slightly ajar, so they didn't hear the door start to swing. It abruptly stopped when Hobson realized that Lewis was not alone. She wouldn't intentionally eavesdrop, but she found herself immobilized by her own psyche.

"It's been a long time since you've been with a woman, hasn't it?" Lewis nodded. "It's all right, Robbie. It's not a betrayal. You and Val were faithful for so many years, sacrificing so much of yourselves to raise your kids. But you're not tied down anymore. It's your turn to live for yourself." Hobson saw Grayling Russell take Lewis' hand; Hobson released her grip of the doorknob at the same moment. She turned and walked away.

Lewis took a moment before responding. "Thank you for considering where I'm coming from. I do appreciate your company, but I'm still figuring out what it means for me to be unattached. I hope that we are still friends." Lewis was polite but firm as he gave her hand a little squeeze- then dropped it.

"Of course. You needn't worry about that." Grayling Russell took the hint, but nevertheless flashed him a sultry smile as she left his office.

***20 minutes later***

Sergeant Hathaway was returning from some field research and pulled into the parking lot in front of the station. He noticed Dr Hobson sitting in her car. As she made no motion to alight or drive away, he thought it best to investigate. He noticed that she was sitting with her head back against the head-rest, red faced. As he came closer, he saw that she had been crying. "Dr Hobson? Laura?" He called through the glass.

She was startled and tried to shield her face. "Leave me alone, please."

Hathaway came around to the passenger side and pulled the door handle, but he found that it was locked. He knocked at the window. "I can't leave until I know that you're OK, now can I? Lewis would never forgive me." Hobson realized that if she didn't take Hathaway into her confidence that he would go straight to Lewis out of concern. The automatic lock clicked open and Hathaway entered the vehicle. He gave her a handkerchief.

"It's nothing really. I'm just feeling wretched. I've told Innocent that I need to take a few sick days."

"Missing a few days of work is no reason to cry... unless you're worried about who might dissect the corpses in your stead?"

The look on Hobson's face confirmed all Hathaway's suspicions. "James Hathaway, if you tell Lewis I cried, I will never forgive you," she said between nose-blows.

"You have my word, Doctor." Now that Hobson had taken him into her confidence, he prodded her for more. "So. Lewis back in the day. Go on, I'm curious."

"It's like Dr Russell said. He was light-hearted and quite the chatterbox. He could be quite cheeky, actually. In truth, though, I don't miss the old Robbie. There's this raw edginess to him now. Listen to me go on; I always was attracted to the tortured souls. We've had our fair share of near-misses over the years, Robbie and I. The feelings are there- I think- but he's never been ready. I accepted that he'd never be over Val. But if he ever did take up with someone new, I always thought it would be me. Of all the women in Oxford, it had to be another pathologist?"

"Whoa, there. Let's not jump to conclusions. It's a bit premature to think that Lewis is in a relationship with Russell."

"No. I went to drop off the post-mortem report. I saw them in his office." She started to cough, like she was choking on her words.

"I see," he said, actually wondering what indeed she saw.

"Robbie's not meant to be alone in this world. I want him to be happy, and if that means he's with Dr Russell, then so be it. Give him a little push in the right direction, James. Right, that's it. I'm going to stop blubbering and go home now. Not a word of this to the Inspector, right?"

"I promise." Hathaway bent in to give her a friendly peck on the cheek good-bye. He could tell she was running a fever. "You're burning up. Do you want me to drive you home?"

"No! I'm fine!" Dr Hobson asserted. Hathaway knew that she really hated to be patronized, but he wished he could do more to help his ailing friend.

"All right. Rest up, and give us a call if you need anything."

Meanwhile back inside the station, Lewis heard the boss' high heels clicking into his office.

"Lewis." Her expression was stern. Innocent threw a folder on Lewis' desk. "I bring you the post-mortem from Dr Hobson. Apparently she did not want to interrupt whatever you had going on with Dr Russell."

Lewis blinked. "Ma'am?"

"I took her report and told her to take a few days off to take care of herself before she infects the entire station with her flu. Hobson looked like death itself." She paused. "Strictly off the record though, Lewis, I think she has more than the flu. She's lovesick. Personally, I don't care what you do with which pathologist- and I won't bring this up ever again- but Hobson's been your loyal friend for many years. You need to fix this." And with that she walked out; Lewis was able to gauge her distance by the sound of her heels clicking down the hallway.

***That evening***

Hathaway asked Lewis to join him for a pint after work. Lewis was sullen, and Hathaway made no attempt to draw it out of him. He was unsure as to how he could approach the situation without reneging on his promise to Hobson. Lewis' mobile phone rang, and he saw Dr Russell on the caller ID. Lewis tossed his phone to Hathaway. "Deal with her. I'm away on important business. If it's about work, take a message."

Hathaway complied. "This is Sergeant Hathaway… No, Inspector Lewis is handling a special assignment right now. I can take anything that requires his attention… Good night." Hathaway closed the phone. "No message, sir." Hathaway looked inquisitively at Lewis.

"What's that look for?" There's nothing going on." Lewis got defensive, and Hathaway continued to stare at him. "Nothing at all, James. To tell the truth, Morse was keen on her back in the day. She strung him along for a bit, but nothing much came of it as far as I know."

"Does any sergeant really know about his inspector's personal liaisons? You are an enigmatic breed, sir."

"Are we? The fact that we're having this conversation means that I am far too transparent. Innocent noticed too. She took me to task this afternoon."

"Innocent? The plot thickens…"

"She seems to think I've offended Dr Hobson. With Grayling Russell!"

Hathaway saw his opening and said a silent prayer. Bless you, Jean Innocent. "If Innocent thinks that you should clear up any misunderstanding with Hobson, I'd heed her advice."

"But Laura can't possibly think that Grayling and I… And would she care if we were?"

"Is that so impossible, sir?" Hathaway raised his eyebrows, trying to non-verbally cue the inspector to the heart of the problem.

"What does that mean? You know something, don't you?"

"Know something about what, sir?" Hathaway was giving Lewis his facetious look.

"Cheeky sod! What are you hiding?"

Hathaway sighed. "All I'm saying is that if I were you, I wouldn't summarily dismiss Innocent's concerns."

Lewis was getting agitated. "Bloody hell, you've talked to Hobson, haven't you?"

"There's a reason they call you Detective Inspector!"

"As your senior officer, I command you to tell me what the hell she thinks I've done!"

"I won't betray her confidence, sir."

"Not even to me?"

"Especially not to you, sir. That's the whole point, really."

"Bollocks!"

Well, Laura did tell me to push him in the right direction. Hathaway thought. "Sir, don't answer me out loud, but think about this. Do you care about Dr. Hobson? Like more-than-just-friends? Because if that's the case, you need to do something."

"I need some air." And with that, Lewis left the pub. Hathaway watched him disappear into the night.

***two hours later***

Hobson had been dozing intermittently all afternoon and evening when her mobile rang. In her cold-medicine-haze, she neglected to look at the caller ID. "Hobson," she answered.

"Laura, it's Robbie. How are you?"

"I've been better."

"I'm sorry it's getting late, but I'd like to see you."

"I have the flu, Robbie. Can it wait a few days?"

"No, afraid not. I know this is awfully presumptuous of me, but I'm outside your house." Hobson got out of bed and peaked through the curtains. Sure enough, Robbie's car was in the driveway.

"I'm a mess, Robbie. I don't want you to see me like this."

"I brought you some soup." Lewis could be persistent like puppy. "If you refuse to see me, I'll have to leave it on the cold door step." She sighed out of confusion, exhaustion, or intrigue- possibly all three. A minute had gone by and she still hadn't answered him. "Laura?"

"Hang on, Robbie. I'll be down in a few minutes." She mustered up the strength to pull on some clothes over her pyjamas. When she opened the door, he was standing there holding a take-away pint of soup and looking somewhat nervous. She invited him into the kitchen.

"I owe you an apology."

"No, you don't." She was matter of fact.

"But I do. I've been carrying on like I've been living in a time warp. Everyone's noticed. Innocent called me out on it, and Hathaway won't say anything, but he keeps judging me with his eyes, smug little git that he is."

"I take it that this time warp concerns Dr Russell?" She gulped, but it hurt to swallow.

"Aye." He articulated the following thoughts haltingly, and his hesitations were further punctuated by her sporadic coughing. ""I regret it very deeply if I made you think that something was going on between Grayling and me. I really enjoyed seeing her again, but it was because I got into the mind-set of who I was twenty-some-odd years ago. We went out together and had a wonderful time. But in the back of my mind I had the sensation that at the end of the night, I'd be going home to Val and the kids. And then I did go home and felt the horrid void swallowing me up again. Val's gone, and I know it. Even so, I had to call our Lyn to calm meself down. I hate calling her when I'm like that."

Hobson was headachy and rubbed her temples. "Please don't go to pieces on me, Robbie. I really can't help you with this tonight."

"Sorry. I'm trying to apologize to you, only I'm making a giant cock-up of that too. And you do help me with it, Laura, every day. You knew me back then too, but you've always kept me in the here and now. You don't hesitate to give me a swift kick in the arse when I'm too busy brooding to notice anything else. Snaps me back to reality. You've been my rock, Laura. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that you shouldn't think of Grayling as a rival, as a pathologist or… friend… or… you know..." He lifted his head to see if she understood.

Hobson met his gaze. "'you know?' Don't leave me in the dark, Robbie."

Lewis sighed. "Are you going to make me say it?" She looked at him expectantly. "Honestly, Laura, I thought my heart closed up shop a long time ago. But I know deep down that if I ever were to start over again, it'd be with you. No one else. There now, I've said my piece. I should go and let you get some rest." He stood up and swiftly walked away. He didn't wait for her reaction and somewhat hoped she would be too febrile to remember what he'd just admitted.

She wanted to rush into his arms, but she felt like lead. She stirred the soup and took a sip. It helped more than she could have imagined. She mustered up what voice she had to call him back. "Wait!" He returned into the kitchen doorway. "Thank you for the soup. I'm not up for entertaining, but you don't have to go- if you want to stay a while."

He looked at her from the threshold. "Watch some telly when you're done with the soup?" He suggested.

"All right. And for the record, I hope that I'm still available if- or when- you do decide to start over again." He nodded but didn't say anything as he returned to the table.

They found a film and settled in, she on the couch and he in an armchair. She was asleep when the end credits rolled. He took the afghan that was thrown over the back of the chair and covered her up. Her eyes started to flutter.

"Robbie?"

"I'm here. Do you want me to help you upstairs?" He was kneeling beside her attentively.

"No, I'm fine like this." Her eyes grew more lucid and she said, "And if you take me to bed, I promise it'll be under an entirely different set of circumstances."

He laughed. "Fair enough, love."

"Good night, and thanks." She took one last fond look at him and then rolled over to bury her face in the couch. She whispered, "I love you, Robbie" into the cushions so softly she was sure he wouldn't hear.

He thought he must have imagined it, that muffled little voice. Imaginary or real, the thought alone reassured him that he'd done the right thing in coming here tonight. He had a new vision and sense of purpose. He cleared up the tea cups and bowl of soup back in the kitchen. Before he locked up and left, he stood over her for a moment and whispered, "Good night, love. I'll call you tomorrow." He silently added, and every day after that if you'll have me…