Chapter 21
Nicole was laying in her hospital bed and Munch was sitting beside her. "Hey, do you think I can get out of here tonight?" she asked.
"I don't know. The doc said he wants to keep an eye on you." Munch replied. "Maybe you should stay here overnight. Just to be on the safe side."
"Will you stay here with me?"
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here beside you all night."
Nicole gave a small smile, curled up beside him and rested her head on his chest. Munch wrapped his arms securely around her and kissed the top of her head.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Nicole looked at the door than at Munch. There was a male voice on the other side. "Detective Green? Can you please open the door?"
Munch stood up from the bed and walked over to the door. He unlocked it and then opened it. "Sorry about that." he said.
It was Nicole's doctor. He looked at Nicole and looked at Munch. He did not want to know just what was going on. "I just came to check on her."
"I'm alive and well." Nicole commented. "I still have all ten fingers and toes."
"That's good. But I thought we talked about you not coming back here?" her doctor asked.
"We did. But what can I say? It's hazards of the job." Nicole replied shrugging.
"Don't worry, doc, she won't be back after this." Munch stated.
"Isn't that what you said last time, Detective Munch?" The doctor frowned.
"Wait a minute, what?" Nicole asked slightly confused.
The doctor laughed, "Let's just say, I never want to be in interrogation with him if that is how he questions people. Now I want you to get some rest, I'll be back in about three hours, than we'll talk about letting you go home."
"Thanks, doc." Nicole said.
"Sure thing." the doctor said and left the room.
"There you go, in a few hours we'll be out of here." Munch said.
Nicole looked at Munch. "John, what did he mean about 'how he questions people.'?"
Munch raised his eyebrows. "What? All I did was ask how you were. That's all."
"Now I know that's a lie. Why would he make a comment like that, if all you did was ask that?" She asked raising her own eyebrows, but not before pushing her hair out of her face.
"Okay, maybe it was how I asked it. I kinda got in his face." Munch replied, sitting back down on the bed. "But in my defense, I was really worried about you."
Nicole smiled. "Now that I can see."
Munch smiled back and then pulled her to him. "I guess I forgot how well you actually know me."
She rested her head against his chest. She felt content and safe. She really didn't have that much to say back. Other than the moment felt a little perfect.
Munch looked down at her. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.
Nicole looked at up at him. "I was just thinking, that everything could blow up in our faces at any moment." she said, her face becoming worried.
"You don't have to worry, nothing's going to happen. I won't let it." Munch promised her.
She looked up at him. "What's going to happen? I mean between us."
Munch pulled her to him tighter. "We've always had something special between us but I should have told you I was in love with you a lot sooner. Maybe if I had none of this would have happened. But the important thing is we're together and I'm never letting you go." he said and then leaned down and kissed her.
She returned the kiss. Some how those words made her feel more at ease. Yet she still couldn't help but wonder.
/Chung Chung/
Fin, Jamie, and Olivia were back at the bar and sitting around the table. The waitress walked up to the table, took the empty pitcher away and came back with a full one. Fin picked it up and refilled everyone's glasses. Olivia looked around the table at her friends and then raised her glass. "Here's to one hell of a day." she toasted.
"Here, here!" Jamie said as she downed her class of beer. Than coughed.
Fin looked at her. "Hey, take it easy. You keep drinking like that and you're gonna drown yourself."
Jamie poured herself another glass of beer and then picked up a peanut and threw it at Fin. It hit him in the forehead and fell to the floor. Olivia started laughing when Fin threw a peanut at her, which ended up down her shirt. She picked up a handful and when she threw them at Fin he ducked and they hit Jamie.
Just then Jamie threw another peanut and pinged it off the top of Olivia's head. Now everyone was laughing.
The waitress walked back over to the table and Olivia looked at her. "Can we get some more peanuts, we ran out." Olivia laughed.
The waitress just shook her head and walked away, leaving the three detectives in hysterics.
/Chung Chung/
Munch was looking out the window, at the nightlife of New York. It now was almost five o'clock in the morning. And the day was about to begin. Sighing he looked down and saw that Nicole was still asleep. He still couldn't believe that she was in his life.
He looked back out the window and wondered what atrocities were being committed at that very moment and who's house he would be called to next. The ugliness never ended and it seemed that it was getting uglier everyday. But being with Nicole, somehow made the ugliness a little easier to bare.
Nicole however was having different thoughts. She was actually having a nightmare. She was dreaming that instead of her kidnapper getting killed, he actually survived the bullet to his head. Munch had ran to her, but only to get shot in the back. In her dream he landed to his knees. He was looking at her, and before she knew it he was on his stomach dead.
She started to stir fitfully in his arms. Munch looked back at her and saw the anguish etched on her face. Just as he was about to nudge her awake, she started to scream his name. Now he was sitting up and shaking her. "Nic? Nicole, wake up!" he said worried. Nicole's eyes flew open and she bolted up in bed, breathing heavily. Munch put his arms around and held her tight. "It's okay, baby. It was just a nightmare."
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Oh my God. John." She said as she tried to loosen up and not be so tense.
"I'm right here, Nic, it's okay now." Munch said trying to comfort her.
"I thought I lost you." she said hanging onto him tighter.
"Never. I'm not going anywhere."
/Chung Chung/
Fin, Jamie and Olivia were just leaving the bar. Jamie was completely wasted. The rest of them only had a slight buzz. As they all stopped outside on the sidewalk, Jamie swayed and almost ended up on her face. But lucky for her, Fin caught her. "I think you need some sleep." Fin said.
"No, no, no, no, I'm fine." Jamie replied slurring her words.
"Jamie, you can't even keep your eyes open." Olivia said and then looked at Fin. "I'll see you guys in the morning, okay?"
"Yeah, see ya later." Fin said.
Olivia waved and then walked off down the street.
Fin looked at Jamie, who was hanging onto him, and shook his head. "Come on let's go home."
Jamie looked up at Fin and touched his face. "I love you, Fin, you know that?" she slurred.
"Yeah, baby, I know." he said hailing a cab. A cab pulled over to the curb and Fin pushed Jamie into the backseat and then climbed in beside her. Fin gave the cabbie his address and the cab started to move again.
During the cab ride to Fin's apartment building, Jamie laid her head on Fin's shoulder and fell asleep. When they pulled up in front of the building, Fin paid the cabbie and then woke Jamie up. "Come on, we're home."
Jamie opened her eyes as Fin was pulling her out of the car. "Hey, where's John? Is he okay?" she asked groggily.
"He's fine. He stayed at the hospital with Nic." Fin stated and started walking toward the building. Jamie wasn't making it easy on him, so he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
"Hey, what's going on?" Jamie asked, getting a nice view of Fin's ass. "Never mind, I like what I'm seeing back here."
Fin chuckled as he walked onto the elevator. Once he made it into his apartment, he carried Jamie down to his bedroom and laid her on the bed. Jamie looked up at him with a lazy smile on her face. "I'll be right back." Fin said and walked out of the bedroom. He went back to the living room and locked the apartment door.
When he got back to the bedroom, Jamie was already snoring. He looked down at her and smiled. Then he proceeded to undress her. He started with her combat boots and didn't stop until she was wearing nothing but her sports bra and underwear. Then he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the bed next to her. As he pulled the covers over them he felt her snuggle against him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. Then he whispered into her ear. "I love you, Jamie." Before he fell asleep.
/Chung Chung/
It was just past ten in the morning and Nicole was awake and ready to go home. Her doctor walked into the room and approached the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Much better. Can I go home?"
"I can't see why not. But maybe you should take a few days off from work." her doctor suggested.
"No, really, I'm okay to work." Nicole replied.
"All right, but if you feel even slightly dizzy, I want you to go home and get some rest."
"Don't worry, doc, I'll make sure she's okay." Munch piped up.
"Okay, the nurse has your discharge papers ready whenever you are." the doctor said and then left.
Munch looked at Nicole. "You're still staying with me, right?" he asked.
She nodded her head. "Unless there's something I don't know."
Munch smiled. "No. I was just making sure."
"John, there's no one I want to be with more." she said and then wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Now can we get out of here?"
"Good idea. Let's go."
/Chung Chung/
Jamie and Fin were still asleep when Fin's cell phone started to ring. Jamie stirred and reached out blindly to try and stop the sound that was making her head pound. When she realized it was the phone she picked it up and flipped it open. "Somebody better be dead." Jamie grumbled.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Olivia said on the other end. "But where the hell are you and Fin?"
Jamie slowly opened her eyes and looked at the clock on the nightstand beside Fin. It said 10:35 am. "Oh shit, we're late for work." she said and sat up. Bad idea. It felt as if her head was going to explode and her stomach started to turn. She dropped the phone on the bed and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Fin opened his eyes when he thought he heard Olivia yelling for Jamie. He sat up and looked around the room. Then he noticed his cell phone laying on the bed. He picked it up and put it to his ear. "Hey, Liv, what's going on?" Fin asked.
"You're late for work." Olivia replied. "You two better get down here."
"Shit. Thanks for calling, Liv. We'll be there as soon as we can." Fin hung up the phone and went in search of Jamie. He stopped outside the bathroom door when he heard her throwing up. "You okay?"
"What do you think?" Jamie called through the door.
Fin opened the door and saw her hunched over the toilet. "Hey, that's what you get for drinking as much as you did."
"I think I'm dying." she groaned.
"You're not dying. But come on, we gotta get to work."
/Chung Chung/
An hour later Munch and Nicole walked into the bullpen. Nicole walked over to her desk and sat down as Cragen came out of his office. "Nicole, what are doing here?" he asked.
"Captain, I'm okay to work." Nicole replied.
"Okay, where's your partner?"
"I don't know, I just got here." As Nicole said that Fin and Jamie walked into the bullpen. Nicole looked at her partner. "You look like shit."
"Thanks, I appreciate your sentiment." Jamie said, sat down at her desk and laid her head down.
"What the hell happened to you?" Munch asked.
"She drank the bar into bankruptcy last night." Fin replied.
"I did not!" Jamie said and groaned as a sharp pain shot through head. "I'm gonna go to the crib and lay down for awhile."
Nicole watched Jamie walk out and then turned her attention to Elliot. "Elliot, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Elliot looked up at her and then followed her to an empty conference room. "How are you feeling?" he asked once they were inside the room.
"I'm okay. I wanted to make sure you were."
Elliot sighed. "I'm fine."
Nicole looked at him. He may have said that but he was anything but fine. She could see it in his eyes. Elliot was one of her closest friends and she hated that she hurt him this way but she couldn't help that she was in love with Munch. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"Yeah. I'm happy for you and John." he said and headed back to the bullpen.
Nicole sighed and followed him out.
/Chung Chung/
Two hours later Jamie, with her arm draped over her eyes, was still laying on a cot in the crib when she heard the door open. She moved her arm from her eyes and looked toward the door. It was Fin. He walked over to her cot and sat down beside her. "Here I brought you some coffee. Just the way you like: High octane black."
Jamie sat up and took the cup from him. "You're a God." she said and took a drink.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked.
"Much better. But I need to know something. How big of an idiot did I make of myself last night?" Jamie asked.
"You weren't that bad. But you did start the peanut war and I did have to carry you home at the end of the night. But other then that you were good."
"Thank God. I thought I might have embarrassed myself."
"Not a chance. Besides, I'd never let you do anything remotely stupid." Fin smiled and winked at her.
Jamie returned the smile, grabbed Fin by his shirt and pulled him closer for a kiss. Fin wrapped his arms around her and deepened it. As he began to push her back on the bed the door opened and Nicole stuck her head inside. "Uh, if you can manage to pull yourselves away from each other, how about dragging your asses back out to the bullpen."
Fin and Jamie broke apart and looked at Nicole. "What the hell for?" Jamie asked.
"Uh, because we're on the clock." Nicole replied.
"We're coming." Fin said.
/Chung Chung/
Over on Canal Street a man and a woman, Butch McGee and Annie Tassler, were coming out of Ronnie's Diner after working their shifts. "Oh come on, Annie, just one little drink?" Butch asked.
"I can't, I smell like french fries." Annie replied putting her gloves on.
"I love french fries."
"I appreciate the offer, Butch, but my feet are killing me. I just want to take a hot bath and curl up with my People. Maybe next time." she said, touched his arm and walked off down the street.
"All right, I hold you to it."
Annie laughed. "Monyana."
"Yeah, monyana." Butch repeated and pulled a pack of smokes from his pocket. He took one out of the pack and put it in his mouth. "I love french fries. Uh stupid." Butch said to himself. Just then he heard a woman struggling. He turned around and looked in the direction of the noise. "Annie? Annie!" he yelled and ran to an SUV where a man was trying to push Annie into the backseat.
As Butch approached, the man pointed a gun at him. "Back off!" he warned.
"Okay, okay, okay." Butch said and started to back off.
As the man turned back around, Butch jumped him from behind. The kidnapper pushed Butch off and punched him in the jaw. "Get off me!"
Another man, Marty Potter, ran up and tried to intervene. "Let him go!"
The kidnapper pushed Marty away, jumped in the SUV and sped off down the street. Marty and Butch chased the vehicle. Marty fell and hurt his leg. Now it was too late, they were gone.
/Chung Chung/
As Jamie and Fin were walking back into the bullpen, Cragen was coming out of his office. "All right, I just got a call. A woman was abducted outside the diner she works at." Cragen said. "Fin, I want you and John on this one."
Fin nodded. "We're on it." he said and looked at Munch.
Munch put his tea down and looked back at Fin. "Okay, let's go."
Fin and Munch left and Cragen went back to his office. Jamie was sitting at her desk and looked across at Nicole. "Hey, I want to apologize for blowing up at you at the hospital yesterday."
Nicole looked up from her paperwork. "It's okay. You were only looking out for John. I appreciate that."
Jamie smiled. "I'm gonna get some coffee, you want some?"
Nicole nodded. "Yeah, thanks."
/Chung Chung/
Fin and Munch arrived at the crime scene and walked under the yellow tape. They were met by an officer. "The victim's name is Annie Tassler. A waitress at the diner over there."
"Why'd you bring us in on a snatch job?" Fin asked looking around.
The officer held up an evidence bag. "Found this on the scene."
Munch looked at the bag and sniffed. "Chloroform?"
"He dropped it in the struggle. Took off in a green 4x4."
"Witnesses?" Munch asked.
The officer looked down at his notebook. "Butch McGee, the hash slinger at the diner, and a good samaritan by the name of Marty Potter. They took their lumps trying to stop it."
"Thanks." Munch said and he and Fin walked toward the ambulance.
"Something I'm missing?" Fin asked.
"Last summer, a guy abducted four women. Using the same M.O., raped and tortured them. Left their bodies stacked in a warehouse in Alphabet City."
"I never worked that case with you but it was The Bowery Stalker, right?." Fin asked.
"The one and the same."
"I haven't heard about that guy in a long time."
"Not long enough." Munch stated as they made their way around the back of the bus. "Butch? Marty?"
"Yeah, I'm Butch." he replied holding an ice pack to his face.
"What do you got for us?"
"Uh, uh, he pulled her right off the street."
"Did you get a good look at him?"
"He was a big guy, with a beard and a baseball cap."
"You ever seen him before?" Fin asked.
"Yeah, he might have been in the diner a few times but I never really got a good look at his face."
"How do you fit into all this?" Munch asked Marty.
"Saw a commotion, tried to help." Marty replied.
"You got something to add?" Fin asked.
"Yeah, he had a tattoo. A cat or some sort on his right forearm. I saw it coming at me when shoved the gun in my face." Butch replied.
"If I put you with a sketch artist could you give us a picture?" Munch asked.
"I can try." Butch replied.
"Sure." Marty added.
The paramedic knelt down behind Marty. "We gotta get 'em in the bus." he said.
"Go!" Munch said.
Fin and Munch turned and walked away from the bus. "How long do you think the stalker will keep her alive?" Fin asked.
Munch sighed and looked at Fin. "Until he's finished with her."
TBC...