CHAPTER TWO

In less time than it takes a heart to beat, Reyes dropped the gun, Dewey spun to run, and Phillips and Bobby stared at each other. In less time than it takes a heart to beat twice, Phillips had his gun out and pointed at Reyes, Fin had the terrified kids on the ground or in doorways, and other detectives and cops were swarming over the street. Bobby stared at his right hand, which throbbed from the force and heat of Reyes's gun. In less time than it takes a heart to beat three times, Reyes and Dewey were on the ground and pleading with the cops.

"Good," Bobby thought as he resumed breathing. "No one hurt…"

Pain—bright, red, hot pain—flared in his left leg as the adrenaline rush through his body eased. His left leg collapsed, and Bobby crumpled to the concrete.

"Officer down!" Phillips screamed. "Officer down!" The young cop jammed his gun against Reyes' head. "You…"

"Phillips," Bobby said calmly but through clenched teeth. "Secure the prisoner…Make sure the civilians are safe…Call for an ambulance…Do your job…"

Phillips didn't move.

"Tommy," Bobby said softly. "C'mon…I'm going to need some help, man…"

Phillips shook. "You're not worth it," he hissed at Reyes. "But he is…" His head jerked towards Bobby. Phillips pulled out his cuffs and snapped them on Reyes.

Bobby let out a ragged breath and looked around him. Eva Linder moved quickly towards him. Matt Cleary and several other cops had Dewey well in hand. Fin was getting the kids out of the area.

"Ok," Bobby thought. "Ok…" He stared down at his left leg. His pants were already soaked in blood. Seeing the bright, scarlet liquid triggered something in his brain, and the pain hit with greater force, sending hard, stabbing, throbs through his body with every heartbeat. Bobby felt dizzy and sick, and struggled not to slump down on the cold sidewalk.

"Hang on, Big Guy," Eva Linder said as she knelt beside him. "Ambulance is on its way." She pulled her scarf from around her neck and started to wrap it around Bobby's leg. "Looks like the bullet went through."

Bobby grunted in pain. "Every…everything ok?" In spite of the cold, he began to sweat.

"Yea," Linder said as she tied off the scarf. "I don't know if that was the bravest or stupidest thing I've ever seen."

"You…you're going to ruin that scarf," Bobby said.

The distant wail of sirens broke through the night.

"You can buy me another one," Linder answered. "But no cheap knockoffs."

"You got it." Bobby tried to smile and moved his body. The resulting pain forced him to the ground, with Linder's hand beneath his head keeping it from banging into the concrete.

"Hang on, Kid," Bobby heard Matt Cleary's voice coming down a long tunnel. In spite of his pain, Bobby smiled. Cleary was barely five years older than him, but insisted on calling him "Kid" when he offered him advice or worried about him. Cleary was a good man and a good cop and one of the reasons why Bobby stayed with the NYPD when it frustrated him. "The ambulance is here," Cleary said. "I'm riding with you…"

EMTs surrounded Bobby. "Who…who's in charge?" he gasped.

Cleary's face loomed over the shoulder of one of the EMTs. "Linder's got it. Phillips is ok. The civilians are ok. The perps are under control. Dewey was carrying a big, nasty piece. Reyes is singing like an opera star. We got a noisy little fish and a nice big fish tonight, Kid."

"And it won't mean a thing," Bobby thought bitterly. "Another Dewey'll be out…"

"Hang on, Kid," Cleary said. "You did good. This coulda been a disaster."

Bobby thought of Phillips and the photo of the beautiful young woman he showed around the station house; he thought of the pictures of the children that lined Cleary's desk; he thought of Linder's quiet, gentle husband who'd asked Bobby to watch out for his wife. "A disaster," Bobby thought. "And what would it have done to so many…"

He was losing his sense of time and space. His leg hurt, with every heartbeat sending a sharp pulse through it, but his loss of perception scared him more than the pain. The EMT taking his blood pressure sensed his growing anxiety.

"Take it easy, officer," the young man said. "We're going to take good care of you."

"What…what's happening…I…I'm…" Bobby had been hurt before in his work, but he couldn't remember feeling this weak and lost.

"You're in shock," the EMT explained calmly. "The cold's a factor…and you seem to be pretty worn out. Just take it easy."

"Hang in there, Kid." Matt Cleary's voice again came down that long tunnel. Everything seemed to be coming down that tunnel, including the sirens of the ambulance and cop cars, and the noises of the hospital emergency room. Bobby had spent more time than he wanted to think about in emergency rooms, and even as a patient he realized that the one he was wheeled into was in a state of heightened alert. As the doctors and nurses descended on him, Bobby caught snatches of words.

"No arterial bleeding…Need X-rays…Get that IV started…Single gunshot…They say he saved other cops…kids…Is he the one with the stomach wound? No…the other one…Watch his blood pressure…Easy, Detective…"

"Other one?" Bobby thought. "But…everyone…Is there another cop?"

"Detective Goren." A doctor's face blurred in and out of Bobby's vision. "You're doing fine…We've got some painkillers started and some blood…It looks like the bullet might have caught your kneecap…We're taking you to surgery…We want to make sure things are ok…"

Matt Cleary appeared. "Don't worry, Kid. Everything's good. I'll be waiting for you when you get out."

Bobby was exhausted and felt the painkillers going to work. As he was wheeled out into the corridor, a blue wave surged towards him. "They can't be here for me," Bobby thought. As shadows closed in around him, Bobby saw a small, pale, young blonde woman push through the blue flock with remarkable strength. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, and Bobby saw terrible disappointment in hers. One of the cops—apparently a member of the Brass if all the shiny bits on his uniform told the story—took the woman's arm and led her away.

"It's not him, Alex," Bobby heard the cop say just before the shadows filled his mind. "It's not him."

END CHAPTER TWO