In The Wrong Place
Chapter 11
Luckily the traffic was light and Mike made it to the Bureau of Inspectors by eleven thirty. Pulling into the car park Mike looked around at Steve again... Steve hadn't woken once despite the speed that Mike had driven at to reach the Bureau quickly and the many bumps and hills they had driven over along the route. Studying Steve, Mike noted that he was looking decidedly pale.. Mike hated having to wake him but this meeting was important.. After it Mike vowed that he would get Steve home and then Steve could sleep as much as he needed to. Mike got out and going to Steve's door, he opened it and reaching in he gently shook Steve's shoulder, being careful not to alarm the sleeping young man...
"Steve...Steve wake up! We're here buddy boy..." Mike said softly...
Steve's eyes opened and seeing Mike he carefully looked around trying to work out where "here" was... Seeing the Bureau car park he remembered why they were there and shifted carefully upwards in the seat and rubbed at his eyes to try to clear the sleep from them...Stifling a yawn he spoke...
"Sorry, Mike...Guess I dozed off...What time is it?... Are we on time?...Where's Jeannie?"
"Easy, buddy boy...I dropped Jeannie off at home...It's eleven thirty so we have thirty minutes to get up to Rudy's office.. What do you say we get you out of there the same way we got you in ok? You ready to give it a try?"
"Yeah...ok Mike...I'm ready..."
Reaching in as before Mike put an arm around Steve's lower back and under his left knee and eased him out of the seat...Steve then got his right leg out himself and Mike steadied him...
"That a boy...Nice and easy...Ok? You gonna be ok at this meeting?"
"Yeah... I'm ok Mike...Let's go...I'm a little slower on my feet than normal at the minute so it might take me thirty minutes to get to Rudy's office..." Steve said smiling...
With that Steve started walking slowly towards the building with Mike following closely behind.. Steve was still holding his injured side firmly as he walked and Mike noted that Steve was a little bit unsteady on his feet...At one point Steve stumbled and Mike quickly grabbed Steve's elbow and righted him again... The boy looked exhausted and Mike began to wonder if he should have listened to Jeannie and let him get some much-needed sleep instead of dragging him to the Office instead...
By the time they got to the front doors, the fresh air seemed to have revived Steve a little and on entering the Bureau's lobby, Mike steered Steve towards the elevator. They went up to the third floor and exited out onto the corridor leading to Captain Olsen's office...Mike glanced at his watch. It was just eleven forty..They had made it with time to spare..
As they passed a glass door, Steve caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass. Oh man! Steve thought...he looked a mess and he felt worse... Deciding that he needed to freshen up before the meeting he stopped walking and turned to Mike...
" Hey Mike, I'm just going to freshen up a little in the restroom before we go in...I'll just be a few minutes..Ok?"...and with that Steve turned and opened the restroom door..
" Whoa now...Wait a minute...You're only out of the hospital less than two hours...I'm not letting you out of my sight...I'll come with you..."
"MIKE!..." Steve protested..."I'll be ok..."
"Oh...Sure you will !...Come on...No arguments..." and leaving Steve with no choice in the matter he ushered Steve inside following close behind...
Steve went straight to the handbasins and studied his reflection in the mirror..
Mike saw him grimace and frown...
"Oh Man...I look like hell" ...Steve said as he observed his pallor and the dark circles under his eyes..."And I've got "bed hair"...Well that's just great isn't it?" he grumbled as he took his comb out of his jacket pocket and wetting it under the tap proceeded to try to tame his wavy hair back into some semblance of order...
Mike stood, leaning against the wall observing his partner and couldn't help but chuckle at the young man's vain attempt to make himself look respectable..
"With his hair tidied as best he could Steve rubbed his chin and scowled again...
"Oh man! Maybe I should have shaved? What do you think?" he asked Mike seeing the very first signs of stubble appear on his face...
Mike laughed again and walking over to Steve he placed his two hands on Steve's shoulders and addressed Steve's reflection in the mirror...
"You want to know what I think?..."
"Yeah..."
"Well, buddy boy...I think you look like someone who was shot yesterday, had a blood transfusion last night and just got out of the hospital two hours ago...I don't think anyone at this meeting is going to expect you to look any different than you do now...Ok?"
Steve smiled and figured that Mike was right... With that the door to the restroom opened and Lenny Murchison, the department psychologist walked in...Seeing his two friends Lenny smiled...
"Mike! Steve!...Fancy meeting you two here...How are you feeling Steve?...I heard what happened...You both here for the meeting too?
"I'm alright Lenny...thanks..." Steve answered feeling anything but alright and then he proceeded to splash cold water on his face in a bid to perk himself up a little in preparation for the meeting..
Lenny saw how pale Steve looked and glanced questioningly at Mike knowing Steve so well by now that he needed a second opinion whenever Steve said he was alright... Mike's face and a slight shake of his head soon told Lenny what he'd already concluded himself...Steve was most definitely not alright...Breaking the silence Mike spoke next...
"You attending the meeting too...huh Lenny?"
"Yeah, Olsen asked me along...He wants me to try to assess Landers during the meeting but from what I've heard he doesn't need my report to know that Joe needs professional help with his drinking problem...Mind you that's between you and me..."
Mike and Lenny continued to discuss the curse that was alcoholism and as was usual when Mike and Lenny got together they enjoyed debating with each other...Steve listened to the two men as he freshened up and dried his face with a paper towel...when all of a sudden he felt extremely nauseous ...His side was still quite sore from the incident earlier but now he could feel beads of sweat on his brow and as bile began to rise in his throat he swallowed hard hoping to bring his stomach contents back under control...He had been feeling a bit light-headed since he got out of the car out in the car park but hadn't wanted to alarm Mike ...And as if that wasn't bad enough his left arm was starting to itch like crazy again...He tried to breathe through the nausea and wetting another piece of paper towel he placed it at the back of his neck...He was sure he had read somewhere once that helped...Glancing in the mirror he saw that the two men behind him were still in full conversation and hadn't noticed Steve's discomfort thankfully...But try as he did he couldn't settle his heaving stomach and eventually and with great annoyance he knew that he would have to give in to the inevitable and turning quickly he stumbled into a cubicle just in time as he threw up violently...
Noticing Steve's sudden movement behind Mike, Lenny stopped Mike mid sentence and alerted him to Steve's distress...Both men rushed forward and Mike looked at Lenny as he heard Steve getting sick...Steve hadn't had time to close the cubicle door in his haste so he stood holding the sides of the cubicle as his body purged itself tortuously ...
Mike stood behind Steve but the cubicles were very small so there was no room for Mike to be of any use to his young partner...Remembering Steve's injured side, Lenny shouted to Mike...
"Mike, Quick! Hold his injured side firmly or he could burst stitches!..."
Mike had forgotten about the stitches in his concern for Steve's current situation so reaching into the cubicle he placed his hand firmly on Steve's bandaged side and rubbed Steve's back with the other as the heaving continued...
"Alright, buddy boy, take it easy...You'll feel better soon..." Mike encouraged as he could feel Steve shaking as the heaving took its toll...
As Steve had begun to be sick, with every heave ,a sharp jolt of pain had stabbed through his side but since Mike had firmly held his side the pain had lessened thankfully..Several minutes later Steve's torture ended and he placed his head against the cold wall of the cubicle as he struggled to regain control of his breathing before he felt able to turn and face Mike...
Lenny had rushed off to get a glass of water for Steve and had gone to Olsen's office to tell the Captain that Steve was out in the restroom not very well so he would be a few minutes late for the meeting...Luckily Landers seemed to be running late too so that wasn't a problem but Rudy was very concerned at hearing about Steve and despite Lenny's protests insisted on going with Lenny back to the restroom to check on the young inspector..
When they got to the restroom Steve had recovered somewhat...Mike had him out of the cubicle and leaning back against the handbasins...He had already rinsed out his mouth and although looking even more pale...a feat Mike hadn't thought possible...he was starting to come back to himself...Seeing the Captain appear with Lenny however made Steve groan...That was all he needed! He thought to himself...Lenny looked apologetically at the two men, knowing he was responsible for the Captain's presence..
Seeing how bad Steve looked gave Olsen quite a shock...
"Dear God Steve! Are you alright?"
Hearing Steve groan and realizing that Steve was really not feeling up to Rudy's ministrations...Mike intervened...Taking Rudy by the shoulders he walked him back out of the restroom...
"He'll be ok Captain...now don't worry...I'll have him into the meeting in just a few minutes but you really need to go back to your office and stall for us and make sure they keep Steve's testimony short ok? He's not up to a long drawn out meeting.."
"Ok Mike...Sure I can do that but are you sure he's ok? He looks like hell !"
"Now, now, Captain you just leave Steve to me...I'll make sure he's ok..." and with that he watched Rudy return to his office and then rejoined Steve in the restroom..
Lenny was checking on Steve when Mike returned and had given him the glass of water to take sips from...Steve grinned at Mike knowing full well that he had just rescued him from Olsen's fussing...
"Thanks Mike..."
"Sure, buddy boy..." Mike smiled back at Steve before shooting a steely glare in Lenny's direction.
Lenny looked suitably apologetic ...
"Sorry Mike, he insisted on coming with me...!"
Turning his attention back to Steve and studying him closely Mike tried to figure out whether or not Steve was indeed up to attending this meeting at all.
"What do you reckon, Lenny? Is the boy here going to be ok for the duration of this meeting or what?"
"Well his pulse is normal and his nausea seems to have passed... Once he's sitting down and isn't kept at it too long I don't see why not..."
"I am here you know guys...I can answer for myself..." Steve said exasperated that the two men were discussing his condition openly as though he wasn't there...
"Ok, ok settle down buddy boy...Do you feel up to this meeting?" Mike asked not wanting to cause any more annoyance to the young man...
"Yes...I told you..." and before he could finish his sentence both men in the room repeated in unison with him..." I'M FINE!"...
"Very funny ..." Steve said as the three men laughed and exiting the restroom, headed for Olsen's office with Lenny and Mike walking each side of Steve...just in case...