In The Wrong Place

Chapter 3

Within minutes an ambulance arrived and immediately attended to Steve...By this time he was unconscious but his breathing had stabilised...The paramedics dressed the wounds and set up an IV and within mere minutes had Steve on a gurney heading into the back of an ambulance...

Before Mike joined him he gave orders for someone to drive Landers home and made it clear that on no account was he to be allowed drive home himself... Haseejian had arrived on the scene around the same time as the ambulance and Mike asked him to call the Captain and fill him in as to what had happened and assigned him to team up with Tanner to watch Landers and not to let him out of his sight no matter what...Then content that everything had been attended to he climbed into the ambulance and rode to San Francisco General with Steve.

When they arrived in Emergency, Steve was whisked off to be examined and Mike headed to the waiting area to wait for news...Captain Olsen arrived a short time later looking mad as hell and totally frazzled...

"Mike, What in God's name happened? Norm said that Landers shot Keller! How is he?"

"He's in with the doctors now...He took a bullet through his side...and yes Landers did it ! And that's not all Rudy...He was drunk!...He entered that building stinking drunk and shot Steve thinking he was our suspect Frank Graves...He's out of control Rudy and you need to do something about it! Do you hear me? Because so help me God if you don't Rudy...I WILL!"

Mike was filled with anger at Landers for his carelessness and consumed with concern for Steve. When his rant ended he sat down and removed his hat and sitting with his elbows resting on his knees he fingered the fedora absent-mindedly, Steve his main priority right now.

Olsen felt for his good friend as he watched him now...Everyone in the Department knew what a good team him and Steve made and he could tell how worried he was about his young partner. Olsen felt a little guilty too...Rumours about Officer Joe Landers' increasing fondness for the booze had been rife in the Department over the last few years yet no officer had ever made an official complaint and although the signs were there for all to see there was never any evidence to support the rumours until now...

Damn it! thought Olsen...Not until now when one fine officer was dead and another one badly hurt... Sitting down beside Mike, Rudy placed his hand on Mike's shoulder as a show of support and spoke softly...

"Don't worry Mike...this has gone far enough...Landers won't endanger any more officers on my watch...You have my word on that! The man needs help and he's going to have to get it before he wears his badge again!"

"In that case, you better hold onto this .." Mike said reaching into the pocket of his trench coat and taking out a gun and handing it to Rudy Olsen...Seeing Rudy's confused look he added..." I confiscated it off Landers today when he shot Steve with it!"

"Oh, sure. Good thinking Mike...He oughtn't to be in charge of one of these in his current condition..I'll take care of it."

With that Rudy pocketed the gun and the two men sat in companionable silence for the next hour while they waited for news of Steve...Mike was a nervous wreck by the time Dr. Armstrong appeared through the double doors and headed in their direction...Having treated Steve more times before than he cared to ,he knew the depth of loyalty and affection between the older man and Steve and was therefore quick to assuage Mike's fears...

"It's alright Mike...Steve's going to be ok! He was very lucky...The bullet went straight through the edge of his side...back to front...but it didn't hit any internal organs or major arteries...It's all muscle and tissue damage which will take between two and three weeks to heal up. The bullet went straight through Steve's gun holster before it entered the skin and believe it or not that took some of the speed out of the bullet and lessened the damage too. The main problem when he came in here was bloodloss...As there were two wounds, the entrance and the exit wound...he bled out a good bit and his blood pressure dropped dangerously low...As there is no bullet to retrieve Steve doesn't need surgery. We gave him a local anesthetic and sewed up the two wounds. We 're currently transfusing some blood back into him and we've put him on an IV too...His blood pressure is improving...I'd like to keep him overnight for observation but if he's doing okay tomorrow I'll let him go home...Like I said he was very lucky...another inch to the left and it would have missed him altogether, another inch to the right and we might have had a more grim conversation Mike."

Mike allowed everything the doctor had said to sink in and breathed a sigh of relief...No matter how many times he had to stand in this same waiting room and wait for news of his partner's health it never got any damn easier...Looking at the doctor with his eyes full of gratitude he shook the doctor's hand...

"Thanks for looking after him Doc...but isn't it very soon releasing him tomorrow?"

"No...like I said once we stabilise his bloods his wounds just need to heal...Don't get me wrong ,his side is going to be very sore and tender especially for the next three or four days...I'd recommend you keep him on very light duties for at least the next week and a half until the wounds start to close in and heal...He needs to take things slow and easy...Also it's important to keep the wounds clean and change the dressings regularly to avoid infection...We need to keep an eye out for redness around the wounds and fever just in case..."

"Can I see him?" Mike asked hopefully...

"Sure, but just for a few minutes though...I need him to rest for now...and please don't be too alarmed by his appearance...He's still very pale and he's hooked up to a lot of drips and monitors but it's only until I'm satisfied that his bloods are back to the level they should be...Follow me Mike...I'm sure he'll be glad to see you..."