Chapter 14- Sleepwalkers Dream
While Toby got Leah to the helicopter and off to the hospital, Cabe stayed with the two men he had shot while they waited for ambulances. He made sure to call Cooper and let her know how it had ended up.
Walter stayed as well. He loved the kid, but he could be awfully judgmental for someone who claimed to not feel emotions like other people.
"What happens next, Cabe?" the young man asked.
"These guys go to prison. We move on."
"And you'll go to Michigan?" he pressed.
"No, I won't. I'll pass the information on to the FBI. They've got gang task forces that have been following the Irish. They'll finish the job."
"And Leah? Will she testify?"
"I doubt it. She doesn't strike me as the kind of woman that will testify against anyone. Depending on what she has in that unit of hers, she shouldn't have to. But first, she has to live." Cabe turned to Walter, watching him carefully.
"What do you plan to do next?" Walter asked.
"I'll get these guys off to the hospital, check in with Cooper, and then head over to the hospital to check on Leah. Toby's with her, so if something happens he'll let me know. Why?"
"I'm just trying to understand why you care so much. She came here to kill you."
"Sure. And she warned me instead, which put her life in danger. And no, Walter, I don't think you're trying to understand. You don't understand why I would care. You've always struggled with it and you get angry when you don't understand something." Cabe frowned at the younger man. "Some things you can't understand. Hell kid, even I don't completely understand it. I don't know what it is you think I should feel, or not feel, but there's no point in arguing about it. If she lives, she's probably still going to prison. I assume she's murdered people before."
"So why worry?"
"Because that's what good people do."
By the time that Cabe arrived at the hospital, Leah was out of surgery and recovering in the ICU. Standing outside of her room, looking through the window on the door, Cabe watched Leah rest. She looked terrible. Her throat was wrapped in gauze, her face was swollen and her eyes had begun to turn black. Her left leg was in a cast and resting on a sling.
Cabe felt horrible. If he had just listened to her in the beginning, this might have never happened. She could have left the country as she planned. Instead, she was lying unconscious in a hospital bed having almost bled to death.
Because of him.
Okay, maybe not entirely because of him, but Cabe certainly hadn't helped in the way he wished he could have.
"Can I help you?" a nurse asked, walking up to Cabe.
He smiled at her. "I'm Special Agent Cabe Gallo of Homeland Security," he said, pulling out his ID. "How is she?"
"Miss Hudson has a lot of injuries, but she should be ok. She'll need physical therapy when this is over, so I hope she has a good support system. Speaking of, does Homeland have information for her family?"
Cabe shook his head. "Not yet, but we're looking. She didn't make it seem like she had family or friends, so I'm not sure. But I'll let you know when we know." He looked back through the window. "Has she woken up yet?"
"No. Try again tomorrow, Agent Gallo."
So he did. He stopped by briefly in the morning before heading off to the Scorpion garage. And then he came back after the long day at work and sat next to Leah's bed for a half hour before going home. During the day, Walter looked up all the information on Leah he could and there was nothing about parents, siblings, or children.
Cabe took it upon himself to be her support.
He came back the next morning and sat with her for a few minutes before going to work. Paige asked about Leah and he told her there was no change. And once again, after work, Cabe headed to the hospital and sat at her side for an hour. Still no change.
Another morning came and went. Another day of work came and went. And for the third day in a row, Cabe visited Leah after work and sat in the chair next to her bed. Her doctor, Doctor Whistler, came in to give him a quick update before he headed home. Leah was finally off the breathing tube and was breathing on her own. She hadn't had a punctured lung, but Dr. Whistler told him one of her broken ribs came pretty close to puncturing her lung.
Cabe was glad she could breathe on her own. He remembered that Walter's sister Megan hadn't liked her tube, so he figured Leah might not like it either. Cabe stayed for a while, watching TV, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
But he didn't miss it when a small, hoarse voice called out to him, "Cabe."
