"The two suspects are in the interrogation room, Rena." Phillip's voice was calm, compared to Rena's demeanor as she drove from Three Rivers to the police headquarters from her cell phone. She knew that Andy's friends and colleagues were upset by her abrupt leave from the hospital. In their opinion, Rena should be at her husband's side. They don't know about us, Rena thought as she pulled into a parking space. They don't know about the affair, or about Andy's past. In her defense, she had told David that she was going to find out who did this to her husband. In the waiting room, Phillip had called to inform her that the knife found on the crime scene had a print that belonged to a man named Casper McLeay. Casper and his friend, Michael Zelasko, were found drinking in a bar not far from where Andy was stabbed. Phillip and another detective had arrested the parolees on the spot. Now they both were in the interrogation room. Phillip said that Rena could come down when she was ready. Rena knew that her partner meant when Andy's condition was determined, and she was grateful to him. She did want to see Andy when David had offered her, but something held her back. "Casper and Michael won't move a budge." Phillip made Rena's thoughts return to the present. "I think they're not intimidated by me at all." He chuckled.
"We'll see about that," Rena promised as she walked into the headquarters. Then she hung up as she walked to the interrogation room.
"Hello, sweetheart," Michael called to her over the chair that he was sitting in. His hands were cuffed behind him, and he strained his body back and forth to try to free himself. Casper McLeay was motionless. His hands were also cuffed, but he didn't try to move from his prison. His cold eyes followed Rena's every move, composed, unlike Michael's pathetic pleading eyes.
"So," Casper grinned, "this is the second Yablonski."
"What were talking about with Dr. Yablonski this morning at one p.m., Mr. Zelasko? You both were at a bar." Rena ignored Casper. "There was a witness saying that he saw you and Dr. Yablonski there."
Michael would not meet her eyes. He swallowed and then cleared his throat to buy more time, and to convince Rena he was innocent in this matter. Rena was certain that this was what the older man was thinking.
"I'm going to ask you again," Rena said coldly. "What were you talking about with your nephew, Mr. Zelasko?"
"Nothing," Michael answered to his shoes. "I wanted to ask Andrew how he was."
"You're lying, and badly," Phillip growled. This time Michael flinched.
"I wanted him to help me," Michael whispered. "I wanted him in my life again."
"You mean you wanted to use him as you did before," Rena said. She remembered the time when Andy had told her that he was going to be a burglar for Michael. They were sixteen years old, and he had suffered many years of abuse from Michael. "I'm helping Uncle Mike with his business." He hadn't added that he was only entering the world of crime because Michael had said that the abuse would stop. She clenched her fists to tame her emotions.
"I wanted him to stop playing doctor." Michael sighed. "He didn't listen. He left, and then I talked to Casper…" his voice trailed.
"And so you got your friend to do your dirty work for you," Phillip concluded. His partner could see disgust and pain in his eyes, although like her he had witnessed countless crimes like this. Only this crime was personal.
"Are we going to be arrested for murder now?" Casper laughed at the two cops' faces burning with rage. "Yablonski wanted to die."
"What do you mean?" Rena questioned. She was suspicious.
"Zelasko noticed how his nephew was distressed. At times he seemed to be in his own world. He was in pain when Zelasko mentioned you," he added to Rena. So even a shit bag like Casper McLeay knew something was wrong, Rena thought as she crossed over to him. Phillip was watching them silently. "Yablonski knew he was going to die, and he wanted it," Casper spat to her. "He said to me, "'Go ahead, Casper. My heart is gone anyway.'" Knowing him, something must have shaken him so bad that he welcomed death. And I know that the only thing that would have caused him to be like that is you."
Casper seemed to be reading her mind. "I don't love you anymore."
"I never cared about him," Michael added. "He was only a burden to me until he helped me out. Then he turned into someone that I didn't recognize. Andrew became someone that I didn't need anymore."
"So you told Casper to kill him because your hands have all ready been stained," Rena stated with cool certainty.
This time Andy's uncle looked at her. "Yes," he said.
"Rena," Phillip had his hand on her shoulder, and he gestured toward outside. She only nodded, and didn't look back when she closed the door to the interrogation room.
"I think it's time you tell me what's going on," Phillip advised. "You and Andy have been separated for seven months now, and this is too much to be a coincidence." When Rena remained silent, he added, "You can tell me, Rena."
"He had an affair." Her voice came out as hard and as cold as the winter wind. "He slept with one of his colleagues a month ago."
"With Miranda Foster?" His eyes were wide with shock. Phillip was aware of the close relationship Andy had with his student.
"No," Rena said. "Andy had an affair with one of the residents. She works in the ER. Her name is Lisa Reed. I saw him walking with her a couple of weeks ago. He was smiling at her…the smile that he used to have with me."
"Did he confess?" Phillip asked.
"No, he didn't." Rena looked at her partner. She was surprisingly calm. "I could see the guilt and remorse in eyes when he took my hand though. Andy's easy to read, Phillip. I grew up with him."
"Do you still love him?" The question came out from her partner's mouth so unexpectedly that she stared at him. The innocence, the naiveté of the question caught her off guard.
"I don't know." Rena answered truthfully. "I see the way you look at him." Rebecca's voice whispered in her ears again. Phillip's fiancée did have a point, however. Rena still looked at Andy with the same love that she had years ago. "He wants things I can't give him, Phillip. I don't know what he expects from me."
"Does he still love you?"
Rena remembered the times when Andy desperately tried to save their marriage, and of how heartbroken he had been when she told him that she didn't love him. "Yes."
"You need to talk with him, Rena." Phillip ignored her as she shook her head. "You can only know if you still love him by being with him. You said that you haven't been spending enough time together. The love is still there, Rena." Phillip smiled at her, and entered the interrogation room again, leaving Rena to her decision.
Rhonda Becker stood outside Three Rivers hospital. Grief from her son's death, Scott, echoed on her face. Her husband stood beside her, and he squeezed her hand. More than two months ago Scott had died from a failed heart transplant. His body had rejected the heart that Dr. Yablonski had put in him, and Scott's second heart had failed him immediately. She recalled Dr. Yablonski's raw anguish on his face. The young surgeon had comforted Rhonda and her husband the best he could. "Scott was ready to accept death, he wasn't afraid. Because of the anesthesia, I don't think he felt anything when he died. I'm sorry." Although Rhonda had been enveloped in her own grief, she could see Dr. Yablonski struggling to keep his own emotions in line. He had a special bond with Scott. Scott continuously told them stories about Dr. Yablonski after his heart transplant. Scott had been supported by him all the way, and she knew that many people did not believe in Scott. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of her lost son. Her husband squeezed her hand again, and she nodded to confirm that she was ready to go inside.
"I'm here to see Dr. Yablonski," Rhonda said to the nurse at the information desk.
"Are you here for an appointment? He's not available right now." The nurse avoided her gaze.
"No, I…I'm here to visit him." Now the nurse looked at her. She slightly nodded with a knowing expression. "My husband and I want to visit Dr. Yablonski. I heard he's in the ICU."
"A handful of his former patient' have asked to see him, and we said we couldn't. It's hospital policy. Only the next of kin can see Andy."
"Please," Rhonda's husband interrupted. "He's done so much for us, and for our son."
The nurse didn't know what to do. She looked at Rhonda and the husband beside her and sighed. She knew the story between the Beckers and Dr. Yablonski. "All right," she relented. "Dr. Yablonski's room number is 304. Do you know where the ICU is?" she asked.
"Yes," Rhonda nodded. "Thank you," she added.
The nurse only nodded.
Dr. Andy Yablonski was still as two parents of his former heart transplant patient entered his room. A heart monitor beeped rhythmically, and a tube produced from his chest. Multiple cuts and bruises were covered by gauze, and Rhonda eyed his broken arm. The young doctor's eyes were closed.
"Dr. Yablonski," Rhonda began. "I wanted to thank you again for what you've done for us and for Scott. When he talked about you again and again, it seemed too good to be true. You were so kind to us when Scott passed. You paid for his funeral arrangements, and you loved him as we did. I know that now. You didn't have to keep checking on us, you know." Gently she bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you so much," Rhonda whispered. "I don't understand why someone would want to do this you." She faced her husband. "I hope they're caught, George."
"They have been, Mrs. Becker."
Rhonda and George turned. A woman was standing before them. Her long brown hair flowed to her back, and expression on her face was hard to place. "I'm Rena Yablonski, Andy's wife. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Becker."
"Your husband was very good to us, Rena." Rhonda gave her a faint smile. "He treated our son, Scott, and when he died, he paid for his funeral arrangements when he didn't have to. He even came to Scott's funeral. Your husband is a very good man." She touched Rena's shoulder reassuringly. "He'll wake up, Rena."
Before she and her husband left the room, she looked back toward Rena. The woman was sitting by his beside in a chair.
"She said that you are a good man, Andy." Rena didn't expect to find Rhonda and George Becker beside her husband. "Pam said that many of your former patients wanted to visit you. I don't know what to think, Andy. They say that you're a good man, but I don't know what to think of you. Do you still love me?" She sighed. "When you asked me if I remembered what you were wearing when we first met, my answer was no. I lied. I do remember what you wore, including your stained and broken sneakers. Does that mean we still love each other?" Without thinking, she clutched his hand. An IV protruded from it, and Rena was startled from the emotions raging from her mind: fear, pain, anger, and hurt. "I especially remember your eyes. They were full of anguish and pain and loss. You were a lost boy, Andy. And when you looked at me when I told you that I didn't love you, those same eyes stared back at me. It was as if you were five years old again. Does that mean we still have a chance? Andy…?"