"Do me a favor, will you? Don't tell Jeannie or Maggie about what we talked about tonight. I know they know, and I know how they want to be there for me, but right now, you're the only one I want to talk to about this, okay?"
With a soft chuckle, Steve nodded. "Not a problem." He looked at Mike fondly and cocked his head. "They just care about you, you know that, right?"
Mike was looking down, his gaze unfocused, his thoughts far away. He nodded absentmindedly and smiled wistfully. "Steve," he said hoarsely, suddenly, then stopped and cleared his throat. "I'm scared," he said breathlessly, squeezing his eyes shut, his face crumpling as he tried to stop the tears. He brought his left hand up to cover his eyes.
Steve got up quickly, moved closer to the bed and, gently and carefully, pulled Mike's upper body towards him, cradling Mike's head against his stomach. "I know, I know," he said soothingly, feeling the older man shudder, his chest heaving.
Groaning in pain, Mike quickly got himself under control and, as Steve let him go, he collapsed back onto the pillows, face contorted in distress. Steve kept his hands on Mike's shoulder and the top of his head as the older man willed himself to slow his breathing and allow the pain to subside. It seemed to take forever until Steve felt Mike's taut muscles relax under his touch and the lines of discomfort began to fade from his face.
Mike laid there, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, breathing shallowly. Steve sat with him, his gentle physical contact providing all the comfort Mike needed at the moment. Eventually the older man opened his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, and Steve shook his head gently.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." He smiled warmly. "You've had one hell of a week, Michael. And you're doing great, better than great." He paused, then decided to press on. "Things have changed for you, there's no denying that, and you're gonna have to made some big decisions in the coming weeks, but you know what? You're still here. You're weren't killed and you weren't paralyzed, and you're gonna be okay. You also have a lot of people on your side, a lot of people who love you and want the best for you, and whatever decision you make, it'll be the right one for you. Do you believe me?"
Mike, who had been watching him with unabashed affection, smiled slightly and nodded. "How it is possible to be so lucky and unlucky at the same time?" he said with a quiet chuckle and Steve grinned, laughing lightly in relief.
He sat back down in the armchair and they stared at each other for several long seconds. Then Steve said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like some dessert. Care to try some of Emilio's tiramisu?"
Grinning, Mike nodded with as much enthusiasm as he could muster at the moment. "I think it's just what the doctor ordered."
# # # # #
Dan crossed the waiting room with two cups in hand, holding the coffee out to Haseejian. The sergeant took it with a curt nod as Dan dropped into the chair beside him, taking the lid off his cup of green tea and taking a sip.
Haseejian had done the same with his coffee, but his stare had remained rooted to the floor and he never said a word.
"You know," Dan ventured cautiously, "this Johnson guy is gonna be out of it all night and probably most of tomorrow. Maybe you should go home and get some sleep -?"
"I'm not going anywhere," the senior detective cut him off. "This is the closest I've gotten to the little scum-bag that shot Mike and I'm not going anywhere until I get to interrogate this little junkie bastard."
Dan had never heard Haseejian talking like this before; this was not the genial, easy-to-get-along-with sergeant he had come to know over the past two years. This was a man possessed and frighteningly focused. Dan thought back to Healey's words, of caution and expectation, and he knew he was going to be in for a long night.
# # # # #
Jeannie turned off the kitchen light and took the stairs to the second floor. The door to Mike's room was closed, but she stopped before it anyway. "Have a good night, Maggie," she called out before heading to her own room and closing the door.
"You too, sweetie," Maggie's voice followed her to her room.
Maggie had been sitting on the bed in Mike's room, lost in thought. It had been a day of many revelations, she mused, not all of them easy to accept. She wondered what was going on in Mike's hospital room right now, how their conversation was going, if Mike was keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself or opening up to the one person in his life, it seemed, from whom he held no secrets. Well, she smiled to herself, no secrets now that her own presence in Mike's life had been disclosed.
But perhaps most disturbing of all was what was revealed when he had helped Mike into his new pajamas and robe. She had seen him earlier when he was still unconscious, his chest heavily bandaged after his surgeries. But since then, most of the bandages had been removed, save for the three small ones over the actual wounds themselves. The large incisions, from his sternum around to his mid-back, between the third and fourth ribs on both sides of his chest, were disturbing to look at, and she could only imagine the pain he had been in and was continuing to endure.
She had tried not to stare while she was helping him dress, and he tried to brush off her concerned looks with a wry and comforting smile. But the way he had held his breath while he stood to put on the pajama bottoms, or that he couldn't raise his arms and she had to slide the top up his arms and over his shoulders; those images had stayed with her all day and continued to haunt her now.
Almost in a daze, she got up from the bed and crossed to the closet. She opened the door and took Mike's old blue dressing gown off the hook on the back. Gathering it into her arms, she crossed back to the bed, laid down and, pressing the gown to her breast, wept silently.
# # # # #
The floor seemed deserted when he got off the elevator and start down the corridor. He knew it was well past visiting hours but he had a feeling that was an arbitrary criteria and not altogether intransigent. He found the room he was looking for and paused, suddenly apprehensive, before pushing the door open as silently as possible.
He froze with the door half-open, knowing it would be unconscionable to disturb what lay before him. Mike was obviously asleep, peacefully and painlessly. And lying almost spread-eagled in the armchair, his head back, mouth slightly open and his right hand holding tightly to his former partner's, Steve was equally dead to the world.
With a warm, affectionate smile, Dan backed slowly out of the room and let the door close silently after him. With a resigned sigh, he headed back to the elevators.
# # # # #
A man walking his dog on De Haro took no notice as the dome light in the dark blue sedan, parked near the bottom of the steep hill, snapped on. Its occupant picked up a notebook from the seat beside him, flipped it open and made a notation. Then the engine started up and the car slipped quietly away from the curb, rolling slowly up the street and around the corner.
# # # # #
A dull but persistent ache in his chest brought Mike to an uncomfortable consciousness. He tried to breathe shallowly to help ease the pain but it didn't seem to help. He knew he was due for another dose of Demerol; they had hoped to start reducing his medication today, but something told him that decision would have to be tabled for now.
He started to shift slightly, hoping to find a more pain free position, when he suddenly realized that not only was Steve still in the room with him, but he was sound asleep and holding his hand. Mike stopped moving, trying not to disturb his hirsute friend, but it was too late. Steve snapped awake with a start, sitting up quickly, pulling his hand out of Mike's.
They looked at each other, both slightly surprised then they both chuckled, though Mike's was cut short by a slight gasp. "You okay?" Steve asked quickly, brow furrowed.
Mike nodded. "Yeah, just a little sore this morning," he said carefully, and saw Steve reach for the call button on the edge of the bed. "No, Steve…" he tried to stop him.
"You need a shot, no arguments." Steve knew that if Mike was admitting it, then he was more than 'a little sore'. One of the residents had come in last night just after they had finished their dessert, took Mike's vitals and, with Steve's help, removed Mike's bathrobe so he wouldn't overheat during the night. Everything had been fine then, and Steve was now worried that Mike was showing so much discomfort this morning. He didn't need another setback.
Mike continued to glare his annoyance as a nurse pushed open the wooden door and hurried into the room. "Everything all right, Lieutenant?" she asked pleasantly as she approached the bed.
Mike opened his mouth but Steve spoke first. "He's having a lot of pain this morning," he said quickly with a brief, 'don't interrupt' glare in Mike's direction.
The nurse smiled at Mike then spoke to Steve. "Dr. Carter is on call this morning. I'll page him. It won't be long." And with a curt nod, she turned and left the room.
As the door closed, Mike awarded his young companion a withering stare. "Happy?" he growled.
Steve smiled. "Yes," he chuckled, dropping a hand onto Mike's forearm and squeezing.
# # # # #
A loud scream. A chair falling over. A low comforting voice.
Dan snapped awake, disoriented, then quickly realized he was sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs in Franklin's Emergency waiting room. He looked across the room, where two uniformed police officers were helping console a middle-aged woman who had obviously just received some very bad news.
He glanced around, noticing that it was morning. Stiff, he started to stretch, then realized he was alone. He got up quickly and crossed to the nurse's station. "Hi," he said pleasantly, taking out his star and flashing it, "Inspector Robbins –"
"Oh yes, Inspector," said the older nurse with a wide smile, "what can I do for you?"
"Ah, my colleague, Sergeant Haseejian... do you know where he is?"
"Oh yes, the sergeant. That young man you are here with, Benjamin Johnson? He started to wake up about an hour ago and the sergeant has been in with him ever since."
"Thank you," Dan said cordially, but his mind was racing. He glanced towards the corridor leading to the Emergency Department. 'Damn him,' he thought, and started off down the hall.