The first thing John was aware of when he came to, was his hand on Jessie's head. He opened his eyes and despite the pain, he still felt, though it had eased considerably, he couldn't help but smile at her. He rolled on to his side, to face her and ran his fingers through her hair, being careful not to wake her. She was doing well...hell they both were, considering what they've been through and their current situation. He knew a reality check was inevitable, but he hoped it would wait until they got out of the bunker. Until Krieger called Bailey and the team came to the rescue. He sat up holding his side. It hurt a lot but not as bad as before. He lifted up his tee-shirt and looked at the bandage Jessie had put on it. 'Nice job.' He thought. Blood had seeped through but it was dry, which he took as a good sign. It meant that it had stopped bleeding, for now. He awkwardly, unsteadily stood up, trying to keep his movements and pain at a minimum. It worked for his side but he had to take his weight off his injured thigh for several moments, as he waited for shooting pains to stop running down his leg and the stiffness to loosen up. When he was able to put his weight on it and take a steady step, he began exploring the bunker. He knew it wouldn't do any good. There was nothing useful lying around and no way out, but it made him feel like he was doing something. As he looked, he wondered what Bailey and the others were doing to find them. Had Krieger called? Did they find Patrick's body? Patrick. Dad. He shook his head, to clear it. Thinking about what had happened to his Father would not do any good. It would have to wait. He stopped under the bunker's trap door, stood on his tip-toes, and stretched his arm up, as far as he could, to see how close he could come to touching it. Had he been another four feet taller, he might have had some hope. He laughed at himself. Not only because he even tried to reach it, but because he remembered Krieger struggling, as he pushed the office desk off the bunker's trap door. He had no doubt that Krieger pushed it back in to place, so even if he could reach the trap door and push on it, he wouldn't have the leverage or strength to lift the weight of the desk. 'Oh well, can't say I didn't try.' He laughed again. He was about to walk the bunker again when he heard Jessie crying, so he went to her. She was crying in her sleep. Her cheeks were wet with tears and she was whimpering softly. He sat down next to her and shook her shoulder.
"Hey..."
She stirred and stopped whimpering but did not wake up.
"Jessie, wake up..." He pushed the hair from her face and rubbed the side of her head.
She turned her head towards his touch and opened her eyes. "John…" She said sleepily.
"You okay?"
She nodded, yawned, and sat up.
He put his hand to her cheek and wiped the wetness away with his thumb. "You were crying in your sleep...what were you dreaming about?"
"I don't remember." She lied. It was her usual dream about Travis, but now it involved her Father and Roy Langston. She wiped both eyes and cheeks with her shirt sleeve.
"You can tell me, you know that don't you?"
"I don't remember, John."
"Okay, but if you change your mind...hey, nice job on the bandage by the way."
"Thanks. Does it still hurt?"
"Yeah, but just a little. You hungry? The backpack Krieger gave us is filled with snack food."
"Cool. What's in there?"
John picked up the backpack and opened it. "Okay...we have Doritos, sour cream and onion chips, Hershey bars, Twinkies-"
"I'll have a Twinkie."
"I didn't finish yet...uh...crackers...mmm...little Vienna sausages.."
"Yuck. I still want a Twinkie."
"The little sausages are good...especially on the crack-"
"John...Twinkie." She said holding out her hand.
He tossed one to her and gave her a bottle of water. "We've only had four of those...to last two days...so try not to drink unless you really need to." He said as he opened a can of the Vienna sausages and a pack of crackers for himself.
"Okay. How long do you think we've been here?"
"I don't know a few hours, I guess. They took us after the movie...sometime after five...so maybe it's about eight or nine right now. With no way to judge day or night, time's gonna go by pretty slow...a couple days is gonna feel like a week."
Jessie was halfway through another Twinkie, when a thought hit her, like an oncoming train. "Do...do you think Robert is okay?"
"I'm sure he's fine. He was with Bailey and-"
"So was Dad. What if they got to him before they got to Dad? Then everyone will be gone and-"
John could see the start of panic in her eyes so he shifted closer and put his arm around her."Hey, hey...listen to me, we can't think about 'what if', okay? Do you want to know what I think? I think Robert is fine. I think they separated Patrick from Bailey and Nathan somehow. I think Langston told him that he had us and Patrick didn't fight them...or maybe he came on his own...either way, I don't think anything happened to Robert."
Jessie nodded solemnly, calmed for the moment by John's reasoning. She wrapped up the other half of her Twinkie and put it aside. "I'll finish that later."
"Jess, I know it's not much, but we need to eat what we can to keep our strength up."
"I know, I'll finish it later. I'm just tired, okay? I'm gonna lay down for a while."
She did look tired. Her face was pale and the dark circles under her eyes made her look like she had two black eyes. Maybe sleep would make her feel better, he could always get her to eat more later. "Okay. Want to take a few more aspirins? Do you have a headache? How's your wrist?"
"I'm okay." She crawled over to the duffel bag they had been using as a pillow and lay down, resting her head on it. She sat up a minute later. "John, will you...will you...can you lay with me for a while?"
John smiled. "Sure."
Jessie couldn't help but smile too. "Thanks, John."
She laid back down and he crawled up next to her. He knew what she wanted. What she needed. He put his hand on her head and moved his fingers through her hair. He moved his fingers in small circles up and down the side of her head and he smiled when she finally closed her eyes. He continued until her breathing became steady and slow with sleep. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight, Jess. We're gonna be okay." He closed his eyes and let her calmness, calm him. He was asleep in minutes.
Bailey, Sam, and Robert stood patiently outside the room while Grace cleaned up after her examination of Patrick. She put her instruments in a stainless steel basin and put them in the sink, threw out anything that had blood on it and washed any remnants of blood from Patrick's body. She pulled a sheet up to the top of his shoulders hiding the closed up Y incision that was standard with performing an autopsy. When she was satisfied with the clean up she opened the door and let Bailey, Sam and Robert in. She put her arm around Robert's waist and led him to the autopsy table. "I am so sorry."
Robert put a hand on his fallen friend's shoulder and was sickened by how cold it felt. "He's really gone." His voice broke with grief.
Sam moved around to the other side of Robert and put her arm around him, between her and Grace they were practically holding him up. "We're all here for you, Robert." She was struggling with her own composure as she comforted him. She had liked Patrick and was happy to see the effect he was having on John. How having his Father back in his life, though it hurt at first, was allowing him to start to let go of the hatred and anger, he had been harboring all his life towards Patrick, and get to know the new man...the new Father, that he had become. Their time together had ended too quickly and she wondered what effect that may have on John.
Bailey stood quietly behind them, watching as Grace and Sam comforted Robert. He felt guilty. Responsible for Patrick's disappearing and then his death. Had he gotten to close? He told Jessie, as they left for the wake hours before, that he would take care of Patrick and Robert, but look where he was now. Standing in the Medical Examiner's office watching as Robert cried over his friend's body. He shook his head, disgusted with himself for letting this happen. What was he going to tell Jessie...and John. He walked around the table to face Robert.
"Robert, I-"
Robert looked up at him wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath. "It's not your fault, Bailey. Besides, hand-cuffing Patrick to your wrist...there really wasn't anything more you could have done." He smiled, looking down at Patrick. "He was one of the most stubborn people I knew...and when it came to the people he loved, it was a hundred times worse. There is nothing he wouldn't do...including risking his own life. I never expected him to live as long as he did...twenty years ago he was a dangerous man...had no regard for his life or anyone else...he was a drunk...reckless...fearless...then he met Carolyn." He looked back up at Bailey. "When she gave him Jessie, and he held his baby girl, for the first time...the dangerous man died, and as cheesy as it may sound, a new Patrick O'Doyle was born that same day. He never looked back after that...the only regret he ever had, from his old life, was losing his son. It haunted him...John was never far from his mind. The last few days, though, at least he had that. He had his son, not just the memory of him."He leaned down and kissed Patrick's forehead. "You were not only my closest friend...you were my brother...I'll miss you." He straightened up. "I'll take care of Jessie, I promise."
"And, we'll help," Bailey added.
Robert smiled. "Thank you." He leaned towards Grace and kissed her cheek. "Thank you for taking such good care of him." He said looking at Patrick.
Grace hugged him. "If there's anything else I could do..."
"Thank you. I'm gonna go get some air...I know you guys need to talk about evidence and all, so I'll wait outside." He gave Patrick one last look and left.
"Bailey, you okay?" Sam asked as Bailey stared into space.
"I'm fine."
"He was right, you know, it's not your fault. We did everything we could."
"Maybe. What did you find, Grace?" He asked changing the subject.
Grace picked up her clipboard off the table and gave Bailey her notes. "He took five rounds from a .45...two were fatal...without medical attention, he would have died in minutes. There were two other blood types on his clothes besides his...one was Steven Lewis'. His was found underneath Patrick's. It was on Patrick's hand and there was a little spatter on his shirt sleeve. Since Steven Lewis' nose was broken, it's safe to say, Patrick was the one who broke it. The second blood type was John's. His was found over Patrick's. It was found on the left side of Patrick's shirt and at an entry wound on Patrick's chest."
"He tried to help him...to stop his bleeding," Sam said quietly.
Grace nodded. "From the amount of his blood on Patrick's shirt...I'd say he's hurt pretty bad too. It must be his stomach or maybe his side...and he bled on Patrick as he leaned over."
"No sign of Jessie?"
"No. There's hair that doesn't belong to John or Patrick...or Lewis, for that matter and some fibers that most likely came from the car he was transported in...we're still looking into that. Also, and this is a bit strange, we found coffee ground particles all over the back of Patrick's jacket."
"Coffee grounds? You're sure?"
"Checked it twice."
"Well they may help...coffee grounds and he was dumped at the docks...the docks...shipyards..." Bailey was quiet for a moment while he brought his thoughts together. "He could've been killed at a shipping warehouse...where coffee was stored or more likely drugs were offloaded and kept for distribution. Probably one belonging to the mob...maybe even one of Patrick's...that would be fitting, wouldn't it? John and Jessie dying in one of his own warehouses...that's got to be it...they have to be somewhere, trapped, in the area of the shipyards and warehouses. Let's go." He said ushering Sam and Grace out the door. "We need to get George on this and Boston P.D. to start searching every warehouse within twenty miles of the dock where Patrick was found."
With any luck, they had a lead and was headed in the right direction.
Tbc...
