That dreaded walk was back that evening, faster than ever before.
Roy Devitt could feel the cold, unforgiving floors of the hospital below the leather soles of his dress shoes, his rapid steps echoing in the barren hallways.
Huffing a frustrated breath, he marched forward impatiently, eyes scanning left to right, instinctively knowing the way but looking for personnel that could be of use to get him behind the scenes asap; doctors, nurses, anybody who would understand why a man of his position would have to be there for his people.
With his flaps of his black overcoat swooshing in the breeze created by his hasty walk, Roy crossed half the floor, took several left and right turns and finally ended up in the general reception area of the ER.
At close to midnight, very few souls decorated the uncomfortable plastic chairs lined against the east wall, many of said creatures in varying stages of shock or worry, some even sprawled out sleeping.
His arrival caught the attention of those still awake, sensing the authority in his body language as he approached the receptionist desk.
Fully prepared to recite the spiel he'd so carefully prepared; Roy opened his mouth to introduce himself when the lady smiled warmly, then pointed to a nearby chair.
"The doctor will be right with you, Lieutenant Devitt. He said it will only be a few more minutes."
Aghast that the lady knew his name, he nodded sheepishly, then pursed his lips, still overwhelmed with the worry the 11pm phone call had left him with.
Words like cuts and broken bones and bodies and three ambulances had clouded his mind, twisted his battered stomach into knots. The unis seemed to have forgotten their duty to relay details as best as possible, unable to give him the desired information when it came to which one of his detectives had been awake and talking and which one was unresponsive.
There seemed to be confusion about the nature of the attack and the reason for the nearby burglary alarm.
With that sort of mess going on in their backyard, he'd called Haseejian and Haley to the carpet immediately to head out to the alley on Geary, hoping take a look to make sense out of what truly happened.
Sure, Mike and Steve had been working on a few open cases, some more prominent than others, but when he talked to the Lieutenant of Inspectors a couple of days ago, nothing out of the ordinary had stuck out.
Perhaps, and this was gut feeling at best at the moment, the two of them had come across the gang of kids that had been wreaking havoc across the northwest side of town for weeks.
Their last 10-20 had put them near the vicinity of the most recent assault that ended up turning to murder when the victim died at the hospital. It had put the grim total up to 5 people, all beaten to a pulp, left to die or killed with a powerful blow to the head. Damn near half a dozen bodies along with a plethora of property damage and stolen goods…yeah, this did seem to be a likely candidate.
Their initial theory of a bunch of school kids running amok changed shortly after the first few attacks; specifically once their behavior escalated to murder. As far as the stealing was-
Roy looked back up when he heard footsteps approaching from the west corridor.
Completely unaware that he had sat down to begin with, he jumped back to his feet, running a nervous hand across his silver coif, eyes locking with that of a somber man in green surgical scrubs.
"Lieutenant Devitt?"
"Yes, Sir,", Roy replied, his raspy voice strained from the dire situation.
"I am Doctor Williams. I'd like you to come with me please.", the surgeon explained, his trained eyes neutral, not revealing the least amount of information Roy craved so desperately.
Trying to ignore the curious eyes that studied their interaction intently, he nodded, then followed the 50- some surgeon through the double doors that led to the inner-workings of the ER.
They crossed a few nurses along the way, their cordial smiles a bit more strained late that evening, some avoiding his gaze altogether as they gathered supplies and wheeled their carts along.
Near the end of the long hallway, the doctor made a sharp right turn into a dimly lit room, stopping near a half-opened curtain that gave sight of bandaged up Keller sprawled out on the hospital bed.
"From what I've been able to discern considering the circumstances of your case, I thought this would be a safer place to talk.", Dr. Williams explained, his stoic expression softening somewhat as he positioned himself next to the bed, allowing Roy a moment to take in the sight of his injured inspector.
Keller seemed to be out of it for the most part, his eyes partially opened, his expression mirroring the same confusion he currently experienced.
A thick bandage covered his left temple, several bloody scrapes distorted that youthful face. Roy couldn't tell much of what was going on below the sheets, but the absence of any life preserving equipment nearby led him to believe that the young inspector wasn't in as bad a shape as his active mind had envisioned.
As if to read his thoughts, the doctor cleared his throat, then retrieved the metal clipboard hanging by the end of the bed.
"As far as Inspector Keller is concerned, we are done with our initial evaluation and are just running a few extra tests to rule out any internal bleeding. He has a bad concussion, some deep contusions throughout his body, a few bruised ribs and I am worried about his right leg. We took x-rays and I didn't see any fractures but there's a lot of hemorrhaging and what looks to be some tendon damage. I have a call into a specialist to evaluate the injury once the Inspector is fully coherent. He's been slowly coming around but I think that fight took a lot out of him. We took several x-rays to see if there were any fractures or signs of hemorrhaging in his skull but they came back clear."
Sorting through the plethora of information to find the bits and pieces that mattered the most; Roy nodded slowly, then cocked his chin at Keller.
"How long do you think before I will be able to ask him a few questions about what happened?"
With a shrug, the doctor smiled warmly.
"It could be a few hours yet. The body is a very intricate machine and when it's being attack from so many different angles, well, sometimes it takes a bit to get everything into working order again. What he needs the most right now is rest while we closely monitor him for any signs of discomfort. He's been through a lot so it might be morning before you get your answers."
Biting his lip in obvious displeasure, Roy shifted from one foot to the next, before clearing his throat again.
"What about my lieutenant?"
He wasn't prepared for the speed with which the doctor's warm expression returned to the neutral, downright painfully guarded stare he'd received earlier in the waiting room.
It made the blood freeze in his veins as Roy cursed himself for letting his guard down to begin with.
"Well…what about him?", he asked, his voice more urgent this time when the doctor didn't reply right away.
A few more agonizing seconds passed by before the other man cocked his chin toward the hallway again, going as far as reaching for his elbow to drag him along.
"That's going to be a longer conversation…unfortunately."