A Very Bad Day – Chapter 27

Mike glanced up once more at his breakfast companion, a frown furrowing his brow not for the first time that morning. "You look worse today than you did yesterday. Didn't you sleep last night?"

Not looking up from his Danish, Steve shook his head. "I got a phone call from Rudy about 10. Seems he heard about our 'dinner party' last night and tore some strips off me. He'd told me to stay away from the guys for a little while." He shrugged. "I told him the guys needed to see you as much as you needed to see them, so…"

Mike chuckled. "Don't worry about it – I'll deal with Rudy. He sometimes forgets that we're not machines. And I'll swear to him on a stack that we didn't discuss anything to do with work, if he's that paranoid." He took a sip of his coffee. "Why didn't you tell him I asked to see the guys?"

Steve stopped moving for a second, then his eyebrows shot up. "Hmmm, I never thought of that."

Mike chuckled again. "Well, next time he gets into a hissy-fit, blame whatever it is on me. In 'my condition', he wouldn't dare say anything to me, so everyone will be blameless."

Steve shrugged in the affirmative. "Good point."

"The Danish is great. Say, I'd advise you to stay away from the office today, but do me a favor, make some calls, will ya, and try to find out what Dan's up to? Be discreet. But if it means compromising what he's doing, then back off. I trust his instincts."

Sipping his coffee, Steve nodded. "I'm gonna do a grocery run for my place today, stock up before the weekend and get ready for my incarceration next week. I'll make some calls after that and then grab us some dinner. Any word yet when you're getting out?"

Mike nodded with his mouth full then swallowed before answering. "Monday morning. They never let anybody out over the weekend, or so I was told, so they're releasing me first thing Monday morning if I get through the next two days with flying colors."

"Monday's my surgery –"

"Don't worry," Mike held up a hand, cutting him off, "Marie is going to come pick me up so you're off the hook, I called her this morning."

"You've been busy."

"Well, unlike someone else at this table, I had a good night's," he smirked as he popped the last of his Danish into his mouth. "I was up with the roosters."

"The nurses must have loved that."

"Finish your Danish, smart guy, we've gotta go for a walk before you leave."

# # # # #

"Homicide, Sergeant Haseejian."

"Norm, it's me. Listen, ah, I got a lot of stuff I gotta go through and I could use another pair of eyes and someone to bounce ideas off of. And I don't want to bring it into the office."

Haseejian glanced at his watch. "I can't get away now, and I have a meeting with Rudy this afternoon. Look, why don't we make it a weekend – I'll pick up some beer and steaks and head over to your place tomorrow and we can go at it all day. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Ah, sure, I'll tell Bonnie I'm gonna fire up the bar-b-que, she'll love it."

"Look, Dan, you should get your ass in here for a couple of hours this afternoon, at least make it look like you're still doing your job. IA has been in and out of here a couple of times in the last two days and they keep glaring at your empty desk."

"Yeah, yeah, I will. I gotta go. See ya later."

Haseejian hung up the phone with a frown. Even the good auspices of Mike Stone might not be enough to save Dan Healey's career if the sergeant was hell bent on going it alone.

# # # # #

Healey leaned forward and ran his hands over his face, then massaged the back of his neck. Haseejian sat back in the armchair and closed his eyes.

Slowly Healey staggered to his feet. "I'm getting us a beer – we deserve it."

Haseejian chuckled wearily. "God, you can say that again." He leaned forward and flipped once more through the stack of pages on the table before him. "Damn it, Dan, you did a hell of a job here!"

As Healey came back from the kitchen with two beer bottles in hand, he whispered loudly, "Shssss, Bonnie went to bed about an hour ago, I don't wanna wake her. She's done yeoman's service for us this weekend."

"You can say that again," Haseejian chuckled as he took one of the bottles. He held it up and Healey clinked it with his own before dropping back down in an armchair.

"So, my friend, bottom line – do we or do we not have enough to take this to Rudy and Gerry yet?"

Haseejian sighed then sat back, considering. "I still think we have a couple of i's to dot and t's to cross first, don't you? I mean, this has got to be beyond airtight, Dan, or they're gonna throw it right back at us, don't you think?"

It was Healey's turn to sigh, but his was laced with a frustrated acceptance. "Yeah."

"A couple more days," Haseejian said with assurance. "A couple more days. Then we'll start nailing some asses to the wall."

# # # # #

He became aware that he was breathing through his mouth, and his head felt heavy and congested. There was a faint taste of blood on the back of his throat and he couldn't open his eyes at first. Swallowing and breathing at the same time was impossible and frustrating, as was the overwhelming urge to sniff.

As he opened his eyes slowly, he felt his upper body being elevated. A strong female voice said gently, "There you go, Mister Keller. You're doing just fine. Now you just lie here for awhile and let the anesthetic work itself out."

His eyes slowly focused on the brunette middle-aged nurse as she adjusted the sheet and pulled the overbed table closer so he could reach the cup of water and straw. He nodded as best he could and she stepped away. "I'll be right back with your painkillers," she said with a smile.

He almost nodded to her but stopped himself. A small groan escaped his open lips as he closed his eyes again. It felt as if his entire head was encased in gauze, inside and out.

"Here you go," he heard the nurse again and his eyes opened, struggling to focus. He could see her hand in front of his face, a couple of white capsules in her palm. Lethargically, he reached for the pills and put them in his mouth then took the cup from her hand and took a quick sip, trying to down the pills in one go, opening his mouth quickly so he could breath again.

He sensed her moving away and all became quiet as the door closed. He wasn't sure how long he lay there without moving, breathing through his mouth, letting the painkillers kick in. Starting to feel human again, he opened his eyes slightly, staring at the ceiling.

"Hi," a familiar voice came from his left and his eyes shot wide open but he thankfully resisted the urge to snap his head in the direction of the greeting. As he started to turn, the smiling visage of his partner came into view over the bed. "How do you feel?"

Trying not to smile, Steve's brow furrowed. His words came out a little mumbled. "What are you doin' here?"

Mike snorted with a grin. "Hey, I understood that!" he chuckled, raising his own eyebrows. "Where else would I be?"

"I thought you were released this morning?"

"I was." When Steve started to ask the next question, Mike put an index finger to his own lips. "Ssh, ssh, ssh, I know what you're going to ask. Give me a second and I'll tell you."

Mike carefully moved a stool closer to the bed then gingerly climbed on it so he was in Steve's field of vision. He reached out and took the younger man's hand in his own. "There, now you can see me without moving your head."

Mike was in his street clothes: khakis, a checked shirt and a Giants baseball cap. Steve recognized these as the clothes he had picked up at the De Haro house a few days ago.

"So, yes, they did release me at 9 this morning, but I'd called Marie and told her not to pick me up till 3." When Steve's eyebrows rose, he continued quickly. "I told her they weren't letting me out till then, I dutifully rode the wheelchair out the front door – you'd've been proud of me – and then I just walked back into the building and came up here."

"You've been here since 9?"

"Well, I wandered down to the cafeteria at one point, when you were in surgery. But, yeah, I've been here."

"What time is it?"

Mike glanced at his watch. "A little after 2."

Steve's exhale was filled with affectionate frustration. "Aren't you tired?"

Mike shrugged a little guiltily. "A bit," he admitted reluctantly, then waved a hand. "I can sleep at Rudy's." He grinned again. "So, I talked to your doctor –"

Steve shook his head cautiously and rolled his eyes in an 'of course you did' way, trying not to smile.

"- and he said everything went perfectly. You're gonna be sore for awhile, they'll take the packing out in a few days, you're probably gonna have two black eyes for a couple of weeks, but when this is all over, you'll have your beautiful face back again," he finished with a laugh. "Oh, just so you know, they're going to keep you in overnight, just in case –"

Steve's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"- and that was my request," Mike continued quickly, trying to ignore the stare coming from the bed. "Buddy boy," he said quietly, his tone turning serious, "I want to make sure you're gonna be okay. We've had too many surprises lately, the pair of us. I don't want anymore." He was staring at the younger man, and Steve could see the anxiety in the familiar blue eyes.

Steve relaxed and closed his eyes, giving Mike's hand an understanding squeeze.

Mike swallowed then smiled. "That's my boy," he said softly, squeezing back. "Oh, ah, you're not going home alone tomorrow, by the way. Lee is going to be moving in with you for the next couple of days – I already made sure he had permission from Karen. She's gonna send over some soft food for you too. So don't act surprised tomorrow morning when Lee shows up here to drive you home."

Steve had slowly opened his eyes while Mike talked and looked at his partner with baffled amusement. He knew better than to argue at this point, physically challenged or not. He shook Mike's hand gently, staring at him with a warm smile. Sighing quietly, he murmured, "I love you, you know."

Mike's closed-mouth grin lit up his face and his eyes shone. "Yeah, I do."