Chapter 31

Bobby awoke before her, and in recalling the events of the night before, he was embarrassed. He slid out from under her arm and stood by the side of the bed.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she turned over, and he watched, simultaneously filled with longing and pain. He couldn't do this. If they stayed this close, she was going to find out about his mother… about Frank… and it wouldn't take long before she would see the faults in him. It would destroy everything they had.

With a sigh, Bobby got dressed and left for Carmel Ridge.

"I missed you this morning," she said cheerfully into the phone.

"Yeah, you were… were sleeping, so I… I didn't want to disturb you." He paced the hospital halls as he spoke to her in hushed tones, leaning his head toward the phone.

"Can we get together later?" Alex asked.

Bobby shook his head. "N-no. I'm with my mother."

"Oh. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, you know, the same. I just… I feel like I gotta spend time with her, you know…"

"Okay, Bobby." Alex paused, remembering his emotional state the night before. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He ended the call rather abruptly, and Alex frowned before she gathered her things and went home.

He was back at work Monday morning, and he was maintaining a distance between them. Alex didn't like it, but she wasn't sure exactly what to do about it. As always, it was business as usual when they were working. They caught up on some paperwork and then Bobby had to spend some time running through refresher trainings on the computer. She didn't see much of him all week. He was starting to visit his mother almost every evening.

By Friday, she needed to talk to him, to find out exactly where they stood. "Dinner, my place," she said. "And I'm not taking no for an answer. You've got all weekend to spend with your Mom."

Bobby swallowed hard, but he nodded. "I can… pick up some wine. Red?" He asked.

Alex gave him a grin, and he pined for her. "That'd be great," she said.

They shared a kind of awkward hug when he came in. It had been a long time since they'd had that kind of contact. They both laughed nervously, and Alex thought it had been a long time since she'd seen his smile.

"I haven't seen much of you lately," she said as she took the wine from his hands and carried it to the kitchen.

"You know, Mom…" he shrugged. He took the opener from her hands and popped the bottle open.

Alex held out the glasses for him to pour. She nodded. "I know." Alex shrugged, and decided to go for the direct approach. "I can't help but feel like you're pulling away from me."

Bobby set the bottle down on the table and took his glass of wine from her hand. He turned away from her as he spoke. "I told you there would be times… when it would be too much," he said quietly.

"Okay," she said, wondering when she could talk to him without walking on eggshells. "Forget about it. Let's just enjoy dinner." She served up their plates, a real home-cooked meal, something Alexandra Eames rarely had time for. She saw Bobby's eyes light up. He hadn't had the time to eat right lately, either.

The conversation was safe, but it was still easy. Bobby had just cleaned his plate when his phone rang. He excused himself and went to the living room to answer. She started clearing the dishes away, and couldn't help but overhear.

"Jesus, Frank, what happened to you? I've been worried." He listened. "No, no, forget it. It's g-good you called me. D-did you need something? Are you okay?" A pause while he listened again. "Y-yeah, okay. Look, you'll have to meet up with me so I can give you the money. I mean, I w-want you to… m-m-meet up with me."

Alex took a deep breath. He was doing it again.

"Yeah. Sure, bro. She's, you know, okay. You really should go see her, Frank. She'd love to see you. She talks about you all the time." He paced the living room as he listened. "O-okay. I'll see you later, then." Bobby ended the call and returned to the kitchen. He saw the cleared table and pouted a little. "What, no seconds?"

Alex knew he was trying to kid with her, but she was angry with him. "Frank?" She asked, trying not to sound angry.

Bobby read her signals, though. He tensed. "Yeah. I guess he's still around town, after all."

"You haven't heard from him… since?"

Bobby shook his head. The last time he'd seen Frank was the day Alex was with him.

"But you're going to go out…" she looked at the black of the night sky through the window, "… tonight, and what? Give him money?"

Now Bobby's temper flared. How dare she tell him what he could do with his own brother?! "I don't think it's any of your business, Eames!"

Her eyes were full of fire, but she bit her tongue. She didn't want to argue, but she wanted him to see the truth of what he was doing. "It's not. You're right. But Bobby, you're my friend. My best friend. And I can't stand by silently and watch him… take advantage of you."

Bobby scoffed. "Take advantage! You don't know what you're talking about."

"He's using you for money, Bobby. And for what? Drugs?"

"He's trying to get back on his feet! You can't do that with empty pockets, Eames!"

"Or maybe he's buying drugs."

"So that's it, huh?" Bobby said with a sigh. "He's not good enough for-for-for-for you, because he had a problem. Is that it?"

"Goren, you know that's not true." She glared at him.

"Look, I think I'll just… be going, now. Just, you know, stay out of my business, Eames. My family, it's-it's not your business." Angrily, he grabbed his coat. He left before he'd even put it on.

The bar was the sleeziest dive he'd been in in a long time. Even in his investigative work, he hadn't hit a place like this in a while. Bobby observed the others in the bar as he sat with his back to the wall, facing the door. He sipped his whiskey and wondered how clean the glass was. It was too dark to tell from looking. He chuckled to himself as he thought the alcohol would probably kill any residual germs.

Bobby saw Frank walk in. He was different this time, kind of… twitchy. Frank paused near the doorway, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark and smoky room. He saw his brother and made a beeline for him.

"Hey Bobby," Frank said, in his mellow baritone.

"Good to see you, Frank," Bobby said, giving him an encouraging smile, trying not to spook him.

Frank's eyes flitted around the room and he was fidgety in the seat. "Did you- I mean, I really appreciate what you're doing for me, Bobby."

Bobby's neck burned as he felt the heat rising. Alex was right. Frank was using him. He swallowed hard and fingered the wad of cash in his pocket. He wondered again about how he could do right by his family. At last, he pulled out the money and tossed it in front of his brother. He'd already promised it to him, after all. "You missed Mom's birthday," Bobby said. Simultaneously, he was angry with his brother and terrified he might scare him away again.

"Yeah, that… I feel really bad about that, Bobby. That was a-a bad day." Frank put the cash into his pocket. "She's okay, though, right?" he asked.

Bobby was incredulous. "She's dying, Frank. She's got f-" he stopped himself before letting the curse fly. "She's got cancer. She's going to die. The doctors are doing everything they can, but… her time… it's almost up." On the last words, he looked his brother in the eye, and he saw a tiny bit of pain there, even under the influence of whatever drug he was on tonight.

Bobby stood and leaned over his brother. "You should go see her. Before she dies."

Frank nodded silently as Bobby left.