This chapter starts in the SUV on the way to Tates and ends at the hospital.

Chapter 11

On the way to Tates:

"Eames," Ross said quietly, breaking the 30 minute silence between them. "Is there something I should know… something maybe I shouldn't know… happening between you and Goren?" He glanced her way to try and survey her reaction.

Alex remained cool. "He's my partner. I'm worried about him."

"Is that all?"

"Aren't you concerned?" she snapped. She knew she wasn't being fair.

"I wouldn't be driving upstate in the middle of a rainstorm at 2Am on a Saturday morning if I were anything else, now would I?"

"I appreciate you being here, Captain." With that, Alex effectively ended the conversation.

At Tates, Alex and Captain Ross were at long last escorted to a small, rectangular shaped room, not much wider than a broom closet. There was one bed pushed up against the back wall. On her tippy toes, over Ross's shoulder, Alex saw a large figure sprawled on the bed as if he had been tossed up and onto it from the door. Half of Bobby lay face down on the dungy sheet while the other half draped the side of the bed and settled on the floor. There was very little if any movement. Alex pushed past Ross and fell to her knees by Bobby's head. She hesitated as she reached to touch him, afraid of what she might discover. She spoke his name as she stroked his cheek. His eyelids began to flutter. He tried to speak her name. That's when she focused on his dry, chapped lips. She sucked in a breath and called out for an ambulance. Stunned, no one moved. This time she screamed, "Get an ambulance!!" Ross jumped and turned to face the warden. "Call 911 now." His eyes narrowed "Tell them an officer is down... Move!" The warden stared back as if to challenge his order, but quickly gestured to one of her guards. With a tight smile, while continuing to glare at Ross, she spoke to her guard in a cold sarcastic tone . "You heard the captain. We need an ambulance. A Major Case detective is in trouble."

"Hang in there Bobby. I'm taking you home," Alex whispered as she stroked Bobby's hair. Against her will, tears slipped down her cheek. Bobby tried desperatley to open his eyes. He felt as if he were lying under an elephant. He could hear Alex calling and he could see her face behind his eyes. She was smiling and biddding him to come closer. He tried to move toward her but found himslef sinking into an ivisible sink hole. She was moving further and further away. He could hear her calling, but he could no longer see her. He panicked. Alex saw his body start to twitch. "He's seizing!" she screamed. "Where's the ambulance? Get medical! Get someone from medical!" She tuned back to Bobby, still on her knees, and covered him with her body as best as she could. "It's ok, Bobby," she whispered. He jerked so violently that she had to hold on to him to maintain her balance. "Shhhhh, Bobby, ease down. The ambulance is coming and we're gonna' get you out of here. Easy Bobby. You're gonna' be ok. It's all over. We're going home."

"Home," Bobby thought. "Home. Alex." His body began to relax. Alex could feel the release. "Bobby..." His eyelids did not flutter. "Bobby?" She sank back down on her heels. "Bobby!... Captain he's not responding!"

"The paramedics are here!," Ross shouted over his shoulder as he scurried down the hall to meet them. Alex could here him them coming. "He's dehydrated and unconcious. He's one of my detectives... just here in this room."

The paramedics rounded the corner and Aex reluctantly moved away from Bobby to allow them as much space as possible in the tiny room. "Let's get him back on the bed and roll him onto the gurney," an impossibly young looking paramedic suggested to his partner. The two men struggled to lift Bobby back onto the bed. Ross tried to help, but there was simply not enough room for three men to maneuver. "One, two, three..." Bobby's lifeless form was unceremoniously rolled and flung onto the much too small rolling bed. Alex felt the bile creep into her throat. It was suddenly difficult to breath. She trotted behind the men as they wheeled Bobby to the service truck entrance and into the ambulance.

"Which hospital?" Captain Ross asked as the younger man locked the gurney wheels into palce. He pointed West, "Go straight, 6 miles, on your left." With that, the ambulance doors shut. Alex could see the two men through the windows as they bent to work on Bobby.

"Eames.... Eames!" She jumped unconciously and stared blankly at her captain. "Eames, let's go. We'll wait for them at the hospital." She opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it again. She nodded and started for the SUV. Ross was in front of her, headed for the driver's side. She passed him as he approached the door. Grabbing the handle she said without turning around, "I always drive," and slammed the door closed before he could protest.

At the hospital

Alex parked outside the main entrance. The hospital was small and easy to navigate. By the time she reached the attendant in emergency, Ross was just entering the building.

"Detective Robert Goren. They just brought him in in an ambulance from Tates Corrections."

"Let me see where they took him. I'll be right back," Ross heard the attendant say as he approached the desk. Alex was chewing on her thumbnail, eyes wide.

The attendant returned without delay. "They put him in curtain three. Dr. Martin is with him now."

"Curtain three, this way?" Alex was already heading down the hall.

"Yes mam. The third one from this end."

Alex shot down the hall. She met Dr. Martin coming out of the small room marked #3.

"Dr. Martin?"

"Yes?"

"Hi. I'm Detective Alex Eames. Is Detective Goren OK?"

"He will be. Is there an emergency contact that you know of?"

"I'm his emergency contact. I have medical power of attorney should he not be able to speak for himself."

"Oh, I see. Well, Detective Goren is severely dehydrated and suffers from exhaustion. They started a line in the ambulance. We'll rehydrate over the next 24 hours. If all goes well, I expect he'll be released in a couple of days. He has some fairly significant but superficial wounds. He's sleeping right now, and we are monitoring him closely."

"Can I see him?"

"Sure," he said with a nod.

Alex returned the nod and headed into the room. Ross thanked the doctor and followed after her.

Just on the other side of the curtain, Alex stopped short at the sight of Bobby lying on the bed, IV line flowing, monitors chirping. Ross had to dance sideways to keep from running over her. To her credit, Alex said nothing. She gathered herself quickly and moved to the side of the bed.

"Bobby?" she said tentatively as she placed her hand on his. "Bobby it's me." Aware of Ross's presence, she stopped herself from any further display. A nurse entered the room. Alex released Bobby's hand and stepped back.

"Just checking his vitals, dear. You're fine where you are. We'll be moving Mr. Goren upstairs here in a minute, to his room for the night."

Alex and Ross stood quietly while the plump little nurse fussed over Bobby.

"Everything OK," Alex asked when the nurse had finished.

"He's doing fine, dear." She sent Alex a very reassuring smile.

"Do you know his room number," Ross asked.

"I'll let you know as soon as I find out."

"Thank you,"Alex offered.

"Eames, I'm going to go and find out about food and lodging. See if they have a place in the hospital to sleep for a while."

"OK," she answered, but never took her eyes off Bobby.

Once Ross had left, Alex stepped closer to Bobby. This time, she lifted his hand to her face and kissed his knuckles. She kept his hand next to her cheek and allowed a stray tear to escape. Reaching forward, she gently ran her hand through his badly tangled curls. "What did they do to you in there," she whispered.

Bobby's mouth twitched, the way it always did when he was agitated. Alex sat on the bed next to him and cupped his face. "I'm here Bobby," she whispered into his mouth as she brushed her lips against his. The twitching stopped.

Alex sat comfortably next to him on the bed, keeping one hand on his chest, watching for any signs of distress or discomfort. She was so engrossed in Bobby, she didn't hear the nurse and the rather large orderly enter the room.

"We're gonna' take him up now, dear." Alex felt a caring squeeze on her arm. She pulled her focus from Bobby and met a kind smile on the nurse's face. "OK?"

"Yes," Alex nodded as she surveyed the nurse. She had kind eyes and a reassuring smile. "What's your name?"

"Hilda, dear, thank you for asking"

"Thank you for taking care of Bobby."

"Oh, my pleasure, I can see you love him a great deal. Try not to worry, dear. He's gonna' be just fine."

Alex stepped back as the orderly began to roll Bobby's bed toward the curtain door.

"He'll be in room 428. Joseph here will see to it that he's comfortable in his new room."

"Thank you again." Alex said as she followed Bobby and Joseph, the orderly, to the elevators.

Room 428 was much darker than curtain 3. Bobby's new nurse had checked his vitals with very little fuss and turned out all the lights but one before leaving. Alex felt a hardy yawn working its way up from her diaphragm. Bobby had been away from that horrible place for three hours now. Alex just wanted to get him home. Ross appeared next to her out of nowhere. She jumped when he spoke. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I ate some lunch in the cafeteria. It's not too bad. Why don't you get something to eat; I'll stay here until you get back."

"I'm really not hungry right now, but thanks."

"Eames, you should eat."

"I will"

"There are two rooms on every floor for family members to use. Under the circumstances, the hospital administrator has been kind enough to extend those privileges to us. I'm going to get some sleep. I suggest you do the same. The rooms are on this end of the hall." He handed her a key. "I'll be in F401, you have the key to F402. We'll head back as soon as Goren is able"

"Thank you, sir"

Alone again with Bobby. Maybe it was the quiet, lonely darkness. Maybe it was the gentle rise and fall of his chest, or the soft hum of the fluid pump. Whatever it was, she was suddenly overcome. The tears started to leak out of her eyes, slowly at first with little or no sound. Before she could calm herself, the tears were flowing one on top of the other and she was sobbing, standing three feet from Bobby's bed holding herself with her arms wrapped around her front. She wanted to run to him, to wake him up and scream at him; first to let him know that he was safe and that she loved him and then, secondly, she wanted punch him, square in the mouth for being so… so Bobby. Her hands fell to her sides as she moved forward, deliberately, one foot in front of the other, to stand by his bed. She laid her head on his chest and let herself cry it out. She was surprised to feel the sudden weight on the top of her head. It moved gently to land on the back of her neck. She turned to rest her chin on Bobby's chest. He was awake. She blew out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. She pulled herself up and sat next to him on the bed holding the lead weight that had fallen from her neck. Bobby tried to speak but could only manage a strained squeak.

"Here, let me get you some water. It'll make your throat feel better."

Bobby nodded and Alex filled a cup with ice cold water from the pitcher the nurse had left. She added the straw she found lying next to the pitcher and helped Bobby take a drink. She could tell it hurt to swallow. He took another drink and seemed to ease.

"Am I still at Tates" he asked through a heavily wounded voice.

"No, honey, you're in the hospital. The doctor says that with some fluids and some rest, you'll be fine." She smiled as she watched Bobby absorb his surroundings. "Just don't get too comfortable. We're out of here tomorrow or so."

"How long have…."

"Just a few hours," she interrupted, not wanting him to waste his words. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

"You look……"

"Terrible, I know. We drove all night to get to you."

Bobby's face scrunched into a question.

"Ross. Captain Ross is with me. When you didn't call, I went to him for help. I didn't know what else to do. I threatened to come up here and get you myself."

Bobby squeezed her hand and gently pulled her toward him. She lay across his chest and nuzzled his neck with her face.

Alex finally broke the silence. "You scared the hell out of me Bobby."

Not yet ready to talk about it, Bobby pulled her in tighter and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Try to rest."

"Will you stay with me?'

She shifted so that she was curled up next to him on her side. "I'll stay right here."

Holding on to each other they drifted off to sleep.

7:30 PM

Ross opened the door to Bobby's room. He had already tried Eames' family room with no luck. What he saw didn't exactly shock him, it more confirmed his suspicions. Alex and Bobby were perfectly entwined sleeping like two puppies curled up together.

Ross took in a deep breath. "Right," he said and headed back out toward the cafeteria.