CHAPTER 17

Over the next few hours, Carlton weaved in and out of consciousness as the hospital every so often checked his memory. It wasn't until almost midnight that Carlton felt coherent enough to ring for the nurse.

The nurse came in a little bit too chipper for his taste. "I see someone is doing better already! What can I do for you, Mr. Lassiter?"

Taking a deep breath, Carlton asked, "Can I see the doctor?"

"Why would you want him? I'm perfectly capable of handling things for you."

"Because I would like to check up on my friend and find out who's been notified."

The nurse sighed as she turned for the door. "Very well. I'll go page him."

"Thanks." Carlton mumbled as he closed his eyes. He listened to her leave and, not even 5 minutes later, the door opened and a new person stepped in.

"Good Evening, Mr. Lassiter," The doctor greeted as Carlton opened his eyes.

"Detective Lassiter," Carlton replied as he tried to sit up.

"Very well, detective. Here, why don't I help you out." Carlton waited patiently as the doctor raised the bed. Once done, the doctor grabbed the chart and said, "My name is Doctor James Kirkpatrick and I'll be taking over your case for the evening. Has anyone explained to you what your injuries are?"

Carlton tried to think back through the haze that was the last couple of hours. "A, um a mild concussion and a dislocated shoulder."

"Very good. Your injuries aren't too severe so we should be able to release you tomorrow afternoon. You need to keep your shoulder as still as possible for the next week. You also shouldn't be alone for a couple of days, so we've notified your emergency contact who said that someone should be here in the morning."

Carlton frowned at that. "But my emergency contact is in California, that's way too far for them to come for a simple accident. What about Beth's family? Have you contacted one of them?"

"I'm not sure," James said as he tapped he chart in his hands. "But I think that she listed you as her emergency contact, so I don't believe that anyone has been called."

"Crap," Carlton whispered as he closed his eyes. "Her sister is going to kill me. Can you hand me my phone?"

"Sir, I don't think that you should be making any phone calls."

"I need to call Beth's family, to let them know and the number is in my phone." Carlton tried not to growl at how slow the doctor was being.

"Very well." James walked over and opened the cabinet. Carlton saw his clothes hanging up and his wallet, keys and phone sitting on a shelf. The doctor came back and handled Carlton the phone. "Please use speakerphone so that I can answer any questions."

Carlton nodded as he turned on his phone. Once the main screen came on, he went into his address book but realized that he couldn't read the screen. Sighing, he handed it to the doctor. "Here. Her name is Amy, Amy something."

James took a minute as he scrolled through the names. "Amy Gilbert? 216 area code?"

"Yeah, that sounds right." Carlton reached for the phone but James just pressed send and held it between them. Glaring, Carlton waited as the phone rang. The ringing was making his head hurt, but he knew he had to do it.

After the forth ring, a sleepy voice answered, "Who the hell dares to call a pregnant woman at midnight?"

Carlton couldn't help the smirk as he said, "Hey Amy, it's Carlton."

"Carlton? I'll ask again, why the hell are you calling me so late? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, something happened. There was an accident."

"Oh my god! Are you guys alright?" Amy asked quickly, suddenly sounding more alert.

"Yes, we're fine. At least, I think that we're both fine." Carlton sent a questioning look at the doctor who nodded.

"What do you mean, you think? Where's Beth?"

"I haven't been to see her yet since I'm in a different room, but the doctor has reassured me that she's fine."

"Is the doctor there with you?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm right here," James replied. "Besides a few bumps and bruises, your sister's only main concern is her sprained ankle. I've also recommended a psych consult for the morning."

"Good luck getting her to agree with that." Amy said. "Okay, what hospital are you at?"

James coughed before replying, "Hilcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights. Do you need directions?"

Amy scoffed, "Trust me, I've been to Hilcrest enough times to know where it is. I'll be there in 20 minutes. Do my parents know yet?"

"No," Carlton replied as he leaned back. "I don't have their number and apparently I'm Beth's emergency contact."

"Ouch, that hurts that she doesn't trust me anymore."

"No Amy, I doubt that's the reason…." Carlton started only for Amy to laugh and interrupt him.

"No, it's cool. I get it. She's going to be living in Santa Barbara so she'd rather have someone local. Besides, I think Susie was listed as her emergency contact for the past few years. Anyways, I'll let my parents know in the morning. There's no use in bothering them if it's not serious. I'll take the rap for it since it's my decision, so don't worry. Okay, see ya soon. Bye."

"Bye Amy," Carlton replied as he sat up and reached for the phone.

James crossed his arms as he watched Carlton try and find another number. "And who are you calling now?"

"My emergency contact to try and convince them not to come out here." Carlton found the number he was looking for and dialed, turning the speakerphone off.

The phone was picked up this time on the second ring by a frantic voice, "Oh my god, Carlton! Are you guys alright? Should you even be calling me right now?"

"O'Hara calm down. I'm fine, we're both fine. I should be released tomorrow."

"Okay, good. That's good. That's, that's great!"

"Exactly. And there is no reason for you to come all the way out here. I'm sure that someone in Beth's family could check in on us every once in a while."

"Oh, well, you see. I wasn't planning on coming out since I have so much work to do since you're not here. So, I kind of asked someone else."

Carlton groaned as he felt his headache getting worse. "Please don't tell me that Spencer is coming."

"No, not exactly."

"Not exactly? O'Hara, what is that suppose to mean?"

Juliet sighed, "Shawn can't go because he's in the middle of a case, so I asked Henry if he would and he agreed."

"Oh no, I can't spend a week or so with Henry. Granted, he's better than his son, but we will still butt heads."

"I'm sorry Carlton, but you don't have much choice!" Juliet snapped "The hospital didn't have Beth's family contact information and I don't have any of their numbers! So I did what I could with what I had!"

There was silence on the line for a few seconds before Carlton said, "Thank you Juliet. I'm sorry for being hard on you. I've already called Beth's sister Amy and she's coming over. I guess I'll see Henry in the morning. What time does his flight get in?"

Juliet took a deep breath and replied, "A-around 10. He asked me to reserve him a car, preferably a truck."

The doctor coughed slightly and said, "Detective, I think that you've spent more than enough time on the phone. You need to get some rest."

Glaring at the doctor, Carlton said, "Listen, O'Hara, I've got to go. I'll try to call back tomorrow after they release me."

"Okay, good. Good night Carlton."

"Night." Carlton hung up and regretfully handed his phone to the doctor. "Can I see Beth now?"

James looked over Carlton's stats as he said, "I'd prefer if you get some sleep now. The sedative they gave Beth should have worn off by now, but she probably won't be awake for a few hours anyways."

"I'll sleep easier after seeing for myself that she's okay."

"Alright, but only for a few minutes. I'll let the nurse know and have someone bring you over."

"And doctor? Make sure that Amy is allowed to know what's happening with her sister."

"Alright." James wrote on the chart and left.

Carlton leaned back and sighed. His headache was getting worse and his shoulder hurt, which probably meant that the meds were wearing off. But he figured he could live through the pain until after he saw Beth. He didn't like the state that she was in emotionally before they sedated her, and he wanted to make sure that she was alright.

The same nurse from earlier came in with a wheelchair. "Alright Mr. Lassiter. The doctor said that you can go visit Miss March for about 10 minutes and then you have to come back and wait until after breakfast. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Carlton mumbled as he started to get up.

"Excuse me? But where do you think you're going?" She asked as she put her hands on her hips. "You currently have a concussion which means no walking until the doctor clears you. Now, we have a perfectly good wheelchair for you to use, unless you'd rather stay here?"

Carlton growled but relented as the nurse helped him into the chair.

Beth's room was on the same floor, about 10 rooms over. He didn't understand why they couldn't be in the same room and the nurse replied, "It's against policy to put two people of different genders in the same room, unless they are married."

Rolling his eyes, Carlton decided to just be quiet as they neared the room. The nurse looked in the window before opening the door and wheeling Carlton over to the side of the bed. "Remember, only 10 minutes. If you need me, press the nurses call button." She pulled the button from the bed closer to Carlton before leaving.

But Carlton barely noticed since all of his attention was on Beth. At first glance, he wouldn't even think that anything was wrong, except that her skin was a little paler than usual and there were a few bruises on her arm. He saw that her right leg was elevated and Carlton sent a pray of thanks that things didn't turn out worse.

Taking her hand gently, Carlton gave it a squeeze as he said, "Hey Beth. I'm sorry about what happened. I bet you would love to yell at me for wrecking your car." Carlton smirked before shaking his head, "Just, hurry up and get better, because as much as you hate hospitals, I hate them 10 times worse."

Getting no response, Carlton leaned back in the wheelchair and closed his eyes. His shoulder really was bothering him and he debated whether or not he should call the nurse. They would probably convince him to go back to his room and then give him something that would knock him out.

Before he could decide, a hand touched his uninjured arm, causing him to flinch and bump his hurt shoulder into the wheelchair. "Crap," he whispered as he squeezed his eyes tight and tried to block out the pain.

"I'm sorry, Carlton. I didn't mean to cause you any harm, but you weren't responding to me."

Carlton looked up to see the apologetic face of Amy. "No, it's, it's fine. I'll be fine."

"You look like you could use some pain meds. Why don't I get the nurse for you?"

She was halfway to the door when Carlton called out, "I told you that I would be fine. They are going to get me in a few minutes anyways."

Nodding, Amy came back over and sat in one of the chairs. "I haven't sat at someone's bedside in over a decade, if you don't count Adam, of course. It's just so weird and a bit creepy, staring at someone while they sleep, waiting for them to wake up."

"Yeah, it's never easy."

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Amy said, "I forgot to ask, but how are you fairing?"

"I'm alright. A dislocated shoulder and a slight concussion. No big deal."

"A concussion is no big deal? I had a friend in college who got a concussion during a soccer game once and she had trouble for several months afterwards. Failed a few classes because she got so far behind."

"I just have a minor concussion and should be fine in a few days." He looked at her steadily until she nodded.

"Okay. But that probably means that you shouldn't be alone for the next couple of days either." Amy opened her phone and started looking through her contacts. "I'm trying to think if there's anyone who would have the time besides my parents. I mean, I have to work in the mornings but I can be there afternoons and evenings, if you don't mind Adam being around."

"It's okay. Juliet, my partner, she already called someone and they're flying in."

"Oh, okay. But you won't mind if I still stop by, right?"

"No, it'll be good. You can spend some more time with your sister before we leave." Carlton groaned as he realized something. "Crap, I wonder how this is going to affect our plans."

Amy laughed as she patted his knee. "I'm guessing you've had enough of Ohio?"

"Sort of. I just want to get back to work."

The nurse came in at this point and said, "I'm sorry detective, but it's going to be a while before you can go back to work full time. You'll be on desk duty for at least a few weeks. Now, it's time to go back to your room and I'm sure that you would appreciate some pain medicine, am I right?"

Carlton groaned as Amy laughed, "I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah. Night."