Chapter 5- mounting evidence
Danny tried not to drift off to sleep as he sat beside Bobby. He could hear the sounds of staff coming and going from other nearby rooms. An attractive nurse smiled at him as she entered the curtains, "I'm just going to change the IV bag", she told Danny.
Danny stopped himself asking if there was any point as Doc had told him it was possible Bobby could hear what was being said around him.
The nurse had just departed when Danny heard Chin Ho's familiar voice talking to Doc.
Doc Bergman was rather surprised when Chin Ho Kelly turned up with Crocker's family rather than Steve. He delayed asking about it though as he wanted to get the family into see the patient. Doc looked over the group. He was prepared to allow Clara Williams and Liz Morton into see Bobby even though he believed they were technically not family. However the other addition to the group puzzled him. "I'm Bobby's boss, Lt. Theo Kojak", the tall bald man introduced himself. Doc nodded, he guessed Crocker was just as close to his boss as Danny was to Steve. "Alright", he conceded, "you can see him Lt. but only for 10 minutes".
The Lt. looked relieved. Doc eyeballed them all. "Ladies and Gentlemen , a word of advice, I will not stand for anyone making a scene in front of the patient. If you have problems with each other I suggest you take them somewhere else."
He went on to warn them all about what they were going to see.
Then they all moved soberly forward.
Danny braced himself as the curtains opened. However the unfamiliar woman didn't acknowledge him in any way. She just made her way to the bed touched her son rather nervously then started to sob. Doc and a pale faced Clara Williams helped her out.
Danny looked at the faces of the remaining two people. Liz looked totally lost tears running down her cheeks, Theo Kojak looked angry his face set and fists clenched.
He cast a glanced over at Danny. "Has anyone told you how the investigation is going", he asked. Danny shook his head. Theo nodded numbly, "I swear I'm going to find out who did this", he stated angrily. Danny thought he was going to leave but was rather surprised when the lt. approached Bobby and touched one hand, "kid, I'm going to miss you", the lt. stated his voice gone strangely gravelly. Then he left quickly and Danny guessed it was because he didn't want them to see the tough New York lieutenants tears.
"Hi honey', Liz clasped Bobby's hand hard and squeezed. Danny watched her feeling like he was intruding. "I can go outside for a minute, if you want some time alone with him", he offered. Liz turned and looked at him, "no it's alright Danny", she said quietly. "I don't even know what brought him here", Danny softly remarked.
"I do", Liz's reply was filled with tears and Danny got up and hugged her. "He was coming to ask you to be his best man", Liz told Danny. Danny paled looking at Liz with new sympathy. "Oh Liz", was all he could say.
"Yeah", Liz bent down and kissed her fiancé firmly on his lips. "I didn't expect to be a widow before I even got married", she told Danny tearfully.
Liz finally sat opposite to Danny holding one hand while Danny held the other.
They both jumped with fright when the previously still Bobby began to thrash about making the heart monitor squeal in alarm. A nurse poked her head inside and after one look announced, "I'll go get the doctor". Danny and Liz stood fearfully looking at each other both desperately trying to calm the thrashing Bobby.
Theo Kojak barely knew where he was going, he just walking slowly down the corridor.
He saw some nurses running and heard one comment, "looks like that stab victim just died". Theo stopped still suddenly wanting to yell at them for forgetting his colleagues name. He was used to death, perhaps too much so, yet this was different because Bobby was in addition to being a valued colleague also a friend.
Theo closed his eyes for a second visualizing himself telling Manhattan South. Then with a grim feeling he moved on, now with a purpose. He was going to find Mc Garrett and get himself into this investigation and he didn't care if he got told no, nothing was going to stop him. With that thought in mind Theo found himself outside the hospital hailing a cab. But he had a distinctly cold feeling as he was driven to the Palace.
"I want to get out on bail as soon as possible", Steve was telling his lawyer. "to do what", Addison asked bluntly,"because if you're even thinking of involving yourself in this case, you'd better forget it Steve."
Steve folded his arms across his chest, "I believe it's innocent until proved guilty Addison", he stated forcefully. "Yes Steve, it is but you must remember who you are, not just another citizen but head of 5-0. If you clear yourself people will say it was arranged. Put faith in your colleagues to deal with this", Addison replied firmly.
Steve's eyes blazed as he faced the lawyer but Addison stood firm and finally Steve nodded in acceptance. "Alright what's next", he asked. "HPD are conducting searches of your apartment and office for evidence. Of course they are still trying to locate the taxi driver", Addison told him.
"What about a press release", Steve asked anxiously. "The press hasn't got hold of it yet, but I guess it's only a matter of time before they do. We'll do what we can to keep this under wraps for as long as possible. But don't forget it's big news." Addison remarked soberly.
"Yeah 5-0 boss accused of killing second in commands brother", muttered Steve.
Addison nodded, "about that Steve, it there anything in Crocker's background that we could use in your defense."
Steve's eyes widened, he'd been referring to Danny and Bobby as brothers not the half brothers everyone suspected them to be. But if he revealed the truth Danny would never speak to him again.
"No", he replied firmly to Addison. The lawyer looked at his face and seemed to sense there was something. However he just nodded guessing by Steve's look that he wasn't going to get an answer.
Doc Bergman ran to ICU guessing that Bobby was probably in the last moments of his life
He hurried through the curtains seeing a wide eyed Danny and Liz looking afraid.
"He just started thrashing about", Danny explained. Doc looked over at his now still patient, then he looked toward the heart monitor and felt his mouth drop open.
"Will you two wait out there for a few minutes", he requested.
Danny and Liz exited leaving him alone to check over Bobby.
After about 15 minutes he invited Liz and Bobby back in, "what's happening Doc', Danny demanded. Doc scratched his head, "well Danny, Liz, It's seems our boy has done something rather unexpected, his condition has stabilized .He's still critical but his heart is now beating in a normal fashion and his other vital signs have improved."
Danny and Liz looked at each other and couldn't help their small smiles, "is he going to be all right", they asked together. Doc bit his lip, "let's just leave it a little longer before we make that determination, but I can tell you things are looking more positive". "That's good I'll go tell Clara and Harriet', Liz stated hurrying out.
Danny looked at the expression on Doc's face, "what is it Doc", he asked .
"Danny I was 99 percent certain your brother was going to die. He'd lost a lot of blood and had gone into severe shock. Then of course there was the trauma caused by the knife." Doc looked over at Bobby and shook his head. "Doc maybe I am going to get my miracle", Danny replied. Doc nodded soberly, "maybe", he replied guardedly.
He ordered a few tests to be done on Bobby, then departed.
Theo Kojak walked confidently into 5-0 HQ, the blonde woman looked at him, "yes sir can I help you', Jenny asked. "Yes, I'm here to see Steve Mc Garrett", Theo explained not bothering to point out he had no appointment. The blonde stared at him, "is he expecting you sir", she asked in a small squeak of a voice. "No, but I need to see him, now", Theo demanded.. Jenny tried to think of something else to say. This man was probably a reporter or something equally unpleasant and should not find out about Steve's arrest. Theo frowned at the woman in disbelief she seemed distracted and not even focused on her job. Surely 5-0 could afford better staff. Still if she was not effective then she wouldn't mind him strolling into Mc Garrett's office.
So Theo strolled past her ignoring her protests and shoved open Steve Mc Garrett's door.
He was surprised to find two men inside who regarded him coolly. "I was looking for Steve Mc Garrett", Theo remarked watching the men and noticing that while one kept talking to him the other seemed to be trying to find something in Mc Garrett's office. "Well he's not here", one of the men replied. Theo decided he'd had enough, he wanted answers. "I'm LT. Theo Kojak from New York and I want to know what is happening with regard to the investigation into the stabbing of my detective", he told the men firmly.
"The investigation is in hand", the same man answered in a cryptic manner. "Don't give me that load of…." Theo was about to keep yelling when he saw the other man bend down and pull something out of a cupboard.
As the man straightened up Theo went cold as he recognized the black briefcase he'd let Bobby borrow. At first it looked the same as when he'd lent it to his detective, then it was turned around and Theo saw what looked like blood.
"What's that case doing here", Theo asked as he moved up to stand over the other man.
"Looks like we've found more evidence against Mc Garrett", the man who found the case remarked. "Against Mc Garrett", Theo repeated. Then he turned, "well lead the way to your cells and I'll ask him about the case myself", there was a definite tone of malice present. The men both shook their heads at him and intercepted his passage.
"Sorry Lieutenant but you are not having any involvement in this case", they confirmed. Theo stood his ground, "Robert Crocker is…," Theo found his voice shaking.."was.. my detective, I deserve to know exactly what is happening".
The taller man turned to him, "I'm Patrick Regan from internal affairs', he stated, "what did you mean when you said Robert Crocker was your detective".
"Well he's dead", Theo remarked feeling awful for just saying the word.
He got a frown, "I don't know where you got that information from Lt. but your detective is definitely still alive, in fact his condition just got upgraded to critical but stable", Patrick told him. Theo sunk himself into a chair feeling a sense of relief.
"Lt. we appreciate how you must feel and will definitely be able to provide you with some information about this case", the other man told him.
"I don't want some information I want in all the way", Theo requested.
The two men looked at each other, "we'll take your request to the Governor he will have the ultimate decision", Patrick replied.
Theo nodded, thankful he wasn't being told no straight off.
Doc Bergman looked at the test results, "have these been retested", he asked the nurse.
"Yes, the results remain the same", she told him. Doc looked again. He'd done blood tests on Bobby in theatre then again just after his heart beat stabilized. The second results show the presence of something in his blood that was definitely not there before. "Has the lab identified what substance is present", Doc asked. The nurse shook her head, "no Doctor they say it isn't anything they are familiar with. They've sent the sample away for further analysis".
Doc thanked the nurse and she went out. He remained in his office deep in thought.
He'd had years experience as a doctor and had been right when he'd told Danny Bobby was not going to survive. But now nothing was clear anymore, Crocker's vitals were getting stronger by the hour and it looked like he may be able to declare his condition as serious but stable. He looked again at the blood samples, something weird was going on. Danny and his family had a lot of stress and he hated to add to it, but it was his duty to inform someone about these blood test results as he knew he hadn't placed the substance into Bobby's blood.
So the question remained who had and exactly what was that substance doing to the young detective.