ACT VIII

Scene One

Johnny nearly crashed into Deyvis. "Whoa, slow down there, slugger," the therapist grinned.

"I hate this thing," Johnny smiled as he relinquished the walker and let himself fall back into the wheelchair Mona had kept close behind him. "Makes me look like an old man." He paused. "Ain't it beautiful?"

Mona patted his shoulder. "Good work today, John." She turned her attention to Deyvis. "I'm putting Mrs. Dunn on her feet this afternoon," she reminded him.

"I'll be there." Another small pat to John's shoulder, and she was off. "I must say, I'm impressed," Deyvis turned his attention to Johnny. "I really didn't think you'd be walking this soon. Still, for a little while, anyway, it's just in here, with me and Mona or other PT staff. No independent strolls around campus yet."

"How about just from the bed to the bathroom," Johnny prodded. "Man, I can't wait to do that alone again."

Deyvis' laughter filled the air. "I'll bet. Just don't rush it. You try too much too soon you could be risking reinjury and permanent damage, so take your time."

"I know, I know." Johnny sighed softly. "Still, I was beginning to think the only walking I was ever going to do without help would be between the parallel bars. It feels incredible to just walk across a room by myself."

"It looks good, too, Boychik."

"Sarah, when did you get here, I didn't see you?"

"But I saw you. And I like what I see. You'll be taking me dancing in no time."

"Not so fast," Deyvis cautioned.

Johnny turned pleading eyes to him. "I will be able to dance, won't I?"

"Eventually, of course," Deyvis assured them, "just, like I said, not so fast."

Johnny blew out a relieved breath. "That's incredible," he giggled, "'cause I couldn't dance before."

Deyvis groaned good-naturedly. The laughter continued as the three strolled to the front door. "Are you sure I can't take the walker, just for this, please? It's still better looking than this chair."

"Sorry, buddy, not this time. Check in with me when you get back, though, let me know how it went. If it's early enough I'll try to move a few things around and get your afternoon session back on for today."

"I will. And thanks."

A moment later Deyvis was heading back to work while Sarah wheeled Johnny to the patient pick-up/drop-off area located about halfway between the front door and the visitor parking lot.

They'd been taking every lunch the weather would allow outside. As they would move to a table on the patio, Johnny would lean as far back in his chair as he could, soaking up the warmth of the sun, the picnic basket in his lap. There would be no picnic today, but the absent basket was hardly the only difference in this outing. Johnny sat slightly slumped, his hands clutched in his lap. Their light chatter had given way to silence, easy between them, still fraught with tension.

"There." Johnny pointed.

She steered him toward the old camper parked near the back of the line. It seemed the driver had spotted them as well; he climbed from the vehicle and circled around it to greet them.

"Wow! Johnny, you … "

"What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing. You look great!" Johnny unconsciously sat up a little straighter as Roy looked him over. He was still a bit on the thin side, but far less than had been expected. Rather than the pallor Roy had feared, Johnny sported his usual tan, not quite full strength, but a definite healthy glow. It had been so difficult to stay away. When Johnny had asked Roy to delay any visits or even calls for the first month following Johnny's discharge from Rampart, Roy had had to muster all his self-control to agree to it. During this month he'd remained in close contact with Johnny's parents, of whom Johnny had made the same request, and his doctors. Fortunately, the authorization to talk to Roy still stood. There had been no major setbacks, no issues save one fall in a misguided effort to reach the bathroom one night before fully waking and getting his bearings. The appointment they were about to keep wasn't a part of the original plan, but, despite his friend's obvious tension, Roy was thrilled it had come up when it did. "I know you wanted to wait a little longer, but I got to tell you, I'm really glad to see you."

Johnny relaxed a little. "Now that you're here, I … uh … I have to admit, I don't see the big deal." Roy's eyes widened until he caught Johnny's smirk.

"Not nice, Boychik," the woman with him whispered loudly in his ear. "Mr. DeSoto?" She offered her hand.

"Roy, please. Are you Sarah?" She nodded. "It's a pleasure. I've heard a lot about you." He threw Johnny a look that said, From everyone but you.

"None of it good, I'm sure," she teased.

"All of it," he assured her, "very good. I heard that you took a special interest in Johnny's case, and that you've been sticking kind of close. I don't know how you did that, but I'm sure glad you did. Fact is, we - Johnny's family and friends and I - we've all been pretty worried. We knew he was ok medically, but with him not willing to see any of us for so long, well … we didn't know what to think."

"Geez, Roy, don't be so dramatic. I just wanted to be out this chair before I saw anyone is all. No one thought I'd be there yet and I'm so close, so- "

"I know, I get it. This time I really do."

The emotion welling, Johnny swung around to face Sarah. "Why don't you come with us."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Boychik, I wish I could. Since you are not in for lunch today, I already agreed to work the dining room. Then I am going home to kiss my husband and prepare a special meal for you both." She locked the wheelchair breaks. "I expect we will have a celebration." Though fleeting, she saw the worry cross Johnny's face. "If I am wrong, and I am not often wrong, then we will wallow a bit and then back to work." She turned to Roy. "Take care of this one, he is special." She kissed the top of Johnny's head, then retreated to the building.

Roy stood for a moment, grinning at his partner, then moved to the back of the camper and opened the door. "What are you doing," Johnny demanded.

"What do you mean? Isn't that why you wanted me to bring your camper?"

"Geez, Roy, I don't need an ambulance." He unlocked the wheelchair and turned it toward the camper's passenger door. "It's just easier than your car, that's all. Give me a hand."

A moment later Roy was bracing the wheelchair firmly between the camper and its open passenger door. With just enough space to maneuver, Johnny hoisted himself to his feet and turned himself around. The height of the camper allowed him to line his backside up to the seat, and he situated himself with just a little effort. "Simple." Johnny grinned.

Roy swung the wheelchair out of the way with one hand and closed Johnny's door with the other. The convalescent sighed inwardly. He'd walked all the way across the therapy gym just a little while ago, then gotten himself into the camper without any assistance. As he watched Roy move so easily his sense of accomplishment faded. "I must say, I'm impressed. I really didn't think you'd be walking this soon," Deyvis had said.

"You'll be taking me dancing in no time," Sarah's smiling face appeared before him.

"Just don't rush," he reminded himself.

"What's that?"

"Huh?" Roy had slipped behind the wheel unnoticed. "Nothing, just … nothing.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

Scene Two

The door to George Belosi's office flew open just as Roy was about to knock. The ADA had to grab the arms of Johnny's wheelchair to make sure he didn't land in the young man's lap. "Whoa, sorry about that," he laughed. "Go on in, make yourselves comfortable. I'll be right back." He swung around them quickly, shouting as he went. "Linda, where is that file?"

Each without realizing it was both, the paramedics took deep breaths as Roy guided them into the office. One of the two chairs usually in front of the desk had been removed, and Roy parked the wheelchair in the empty space. Despite the ringing phones, clacking typewriters, file drawers opening and closing, and the incessant hum of conversation all pouring through the open door, the silence grew oppressive.

"So what do you think," Johnny finally asked.

"About what?"

"About why he wants to see us, what else," Johnny replied a bit more churlishly than he had intended. "I mean," he softened his tone, "what could he possibly want that he couldn't discuss on the phone?"

"He likes to meet here if he can," Roy noted. "He's had me come in instead of calling or coming by the station, and I think he had Dixie and the docs come in, too. I guess it's just the way he works." It was then that Roy realized what, besides the missing chair, had changed since his last visit. The map was up; the wall bare. "I have a good feeling, though. I think this might be good news."

Johnny was looking at him hopefully. "You really think so? I could use some good news right about now."

"Then I hope this does it." Belosi swept back into the room with a file in one hand and slammed the door behind him with the other. Even as he took his seat he was already talking. "So it's a good news, bad news kind of thing, but I really think the good is a lot more good than the bad is bad." He opened the file. "It looks like we can close this case without going to trial."

Both Roy and Johnny sat up straighter and leaned in. "That's great," Roy exclaimed.

"But how," Johnny asked.

"When the Zeciak boy quit the fraternity it had quite an effect on the other pledges. A whole group of them left. That started the campus gossip mill. Turns out the frats are worse than the sororities. Anyway, there was enough talk about why they were all defecting that a bunch of the other frats opened their doors. Once that happened, the rest of them went, the whole pledge class.

"Mr. DeSoto, remember I told you I'd gotten a call from Towne's lawyer after you treated Webber?" Roy nodded, and glanced sheepishly over at Johnny. When Belosi had called Johnny to set up this meeting, Johnny had called Roy. It was then that Roy had told his partner that there'd been a call to the campus, but he hadn't mentioned that Webber had been the victim. "I don't know how far he was planning to go, but all of this went down between that call and my meeting with them.

"So, not only did the pledge class walk out on the fraternity, one of the pledges came forward to testify." He flipped a page in the file. "A Justin Cooper." He glanced up at Roy. "You met him, actually. Big blonde kid that first greeted you at the field that day."

Roy nodded, remembering the boy in the cheerleader uniform and makeup. "That's great! I thought all those guys were afraid of Webber and Towne's influence. What changed his mind?"

"Would it help if I told you his mother's name is Lorraine Morgan Cooper?"

"Morgan?"

"What's Morgan," Johnny interrupted. "I don't get it."

"We've discussed how the biggest problem we've had getting any of the other guys in the fraternity to testify is that Webber and Towne come from powerful families, power they use to intimidate others. Their grandfathers are two of the three founding partners of one of the biggest financial firms in this city, hell, the country."

"But what does that have to do with- "

"The firm is named for the families: Webber, Morgan, and Towne. Grandpas Webber and Towne had sons who run things over there now. It turns out that Morgan had a kid, too, a real smart one. Lorraine Cooper is probably one of the most influential woman anywhere. She went to work for her father just like the others, true, but she was married before she did, and she worked her way up under her married name, earned her way. Turns out her husband's at the company, too, a VP of something, so there's two of them. When they found out what was going on they didn't side with their partners. Seems in addition to being smarter than Webber and Towne, the Coopers are just better people. I don't know if they pushed their son to come forward, and frankly, I don't care. All that matters is that this kid coming forward did what we hoped; it started the rest of them coming in. The Coopers have even offered all those boys protection from Webber and Towne's tactics as long as they tell the truth."

Johnny and Roy sat in stunned silence for a moment, until Johnny asked, "So what's the bad news?'

"Towne saw the writing on the wall. He wants to cut a deal and the DA wants me to take it."

Johnny nodded thoughtfully. "Why is that bad news, though?" he pressed.

The ADA looked over the man-child now seated before him. He'd gotten to know young Mr. Gage very well, in the objective way one does when digging into someone's life. He saw the professional man Gage's colleagues had described, smart, strong, determined. He could also see shades of the boy his friends had described, sweet, gentle, silly, endlessly curious. He wanted justice for both of them. "Someday I hope these kinds of meetings are commonplace," Belosi began. "Talking to the victims, taking their needs into account when we make these decisions." He sighed. "No jail time." Johnny was shaking his head. "They're offering to testify against Webber in exchange for a misdemeanor guilty plea, so he'd at least have a record, and a load of community service, and a transfer to a military school."

"Take it."

"Johnny?"

Johnny leaned in to Belosi as if he hadn't heard Roy at all. "He's already a senior, right?" Belosi nodded. "And the academic year is almost over, so even with all the community service time he'd have what, maybe one more full semester?" Again, Belosi nodded.

"Johnny, one semester of Military Academy?" Roy was almost whispering. "That's hardly- "

Again, Johnny continued as if he hadn't heard Roy at all. "Just one more thing, please. Make sure it's one of those programs that require service after graduation." Belosi smiled, while Roy looked at his partner in awe. "It's not like I want to set him up to go get killed or anything like that," Johnny said softly. "I figure they offered military 'cause they think you'll hear 'discipline'." And again, Belosi nodded. "Well, maybe they're right about that. Maybe he will learn something. At least in the service, his money and his family can't help him. If he does get into trouble again, that's that, right?"

"Probably," Belosi agreed.

"And if you do accept this, then at least one of them goes to jail?"

"With everything else we've got and are still getting, yeah."

"And if one of them testifies against the other, no matter what happens, they'll never team up to hurt anyone else ever again."

"I'd take that to the bank."

Johnny sighed. "Ok, then. If it's up to me, take the deal."

Scene Three

"You were great back there." They had stopped for a late lunch at one of their favorite taco stands, not too far from the station. "Are you ok? Have you changed your mind?"

"Huh?" Johnny looked at Roy as if just noticing he was there. "I'm sorry, you say something?"

"I was just saying how great you were in there," Roy repeated. "Johnny, what's wrong? I mean, this is big, I get that, but … what are thinking?"

It was a long time before Johnny finally spoke. "I believe what I said, about why to take the deal. I do, it's the right thing for the right reasons, but …" He looked down, and all around, then finally made himself meet Roy's eyes. "What I said about not setting him up to get killed? I'm not so sure I meant that." This time it was Roy who looked down. "Pretty lousy, huh?"

"No," Roy mumbled. "I'm not so sure, either. I was there, Johnny, and I remember thinking I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, but now, well, I'm just not so sure about that."

Johnny chuckled darkly. "What does that say about us, Roy? We make our living saving people, but now we're actually planning -"

"We're not planning anything. And we're not the ones who're lousy.

"This guy did a terrible thing. He did a lot of terrible things to a lot of people, especially you. It's natural that we should think about something terrible happening to him. It doesn't mean we want it to happen."

Johnny scrubbed his face with his hands. "That's the problem. That's what I'm not sure about. Maybe … maybe I do want it to happen.

"It wasn't just the dryer that …

"I mean, those guys, they … " Roy stayed silent as Johnny struggled to find the words. How much did Johnny remember, and how much would he be willing to share? "They wanted to hurt me, Roy. I don't know why, I don't understand why anybody would want to do that to someone, but I'm starting to think someone must've hurt them pretty bad, 'cause, when I think about it, it makes me mad enough to maybe want to hurt someone." Roy waited, knowing he didn't need to ask. He didn't have to wait long. "Except not really. That's not what makes me mad. It's not even that they wanted to. I think I get that. If you're angry enough or scared enough, I can understand wanting to hurt somebody, I guess. They liked it. I'll never understand that. How someone can like hurting another person. And I don't ever want to understand it. I don't ever want to be the kind of person that can want to do that."

"You won't."

"I don't know."

"I do."

"How? How can you be so sure of me when I'm not even sure of myself?"

Roy racked his brain, hoping for something profound to offer his friend. Finally, he smiled. "'Cause I'm your partner." With that, the tension that had been hanging with them all afternoon broke, and they both burst out laughing.

It was the final piece. He knew he still had a lot of work to do, but, finally, Johnny knew he'd be all right.