The next few months were no walk in the park for Barry. He had to come to grips with the fact that he was, indeed, paralyzed, and could no longer walk. There were some days that were emotional Hell on Earth for him, but he pushed through and never gave up. With the help of a therapist, he was able to walk through the emotional minefield.
Though he decided braces and crutches were not for him as they were extremely painful as the surgeon had warned, he still went to physical therapy to get his upper-body in as much shape as he possibly could. He took up weight lifting and other body-building exercises. He earned the pet-name, Muscles, from Eddie as his tone improved. Indeed, he gained a new confidence and vitality that Eddie found immensely attractive, while still retaining the genuine humility and kindness that Eddie fell in love with. In a city where cynicism was the new black, Barry was a true believer in all that was good and righteous without being naïve.
This came in handy when he was at Johnson's Jewelers to look for an engagement ring for Eddie. Benjamin Johnson, the store's owner and namesake, knew him. But Benjamin was not in today, rather the skittish man behind the counter named Travis was. Barry saw Travis eyeball him constantly.
Because he was in a wheelchair, Barry knew he'd gain suspicion because sometimes robbers pretended to be immobile so they look unsuspecting until they did a smash-and-grab. Barry knew he might get some looks, but he was being eyeballed hard by Travis.
Eventually, Travis came out from behind the counter up to Barry. "Can I help you, sir?" he asked Barry with an edge to his voice.
Before Barry could respond, Travis said, "You know what? I've seen enough of your kind, here. I'm calling the cops."
Barry wheeled himself towards the guy. "Hey, man," he said, "I think there's been a huge misunderstanding. I'm just here to get an engagement ring for my girlf – "
Travis flipped Barry's wheelchair over.
"Aaaahhhh!" Barry cried out in pain as he fell out of his wheelchair onto the hardwood floor.
"Oh, what a fantastic actor you are!" Travis snapped. "You lay there and keep acting crippled while I call the cops! Freakin' dumbass trying to rob me. Think you're going to rob me?" He laughed darkly. "You all think you're soooo smart."
In pain, Barry just laid there. There was nothing he could do but just lay still…
Down the block, Kara and her partner, Carlos Martinez, were on foot patrol.
"So, you and Reagan are real serious, huh?" Martinez asked Kara. Martinez and Kara had become close and – aside from Eddie, the Reagans, and Seargeant Renzulli – he was the only one who knew about Kara's relationship with Jamie.
"Yep!" she said, her facing lighting up like a Christmas tree.
"Wow!" Martinez observed. "You got it, bad… Kara's in luuuuuvvvv."
Kara's pinkish cheeks darkened to red. "C'mon, quit it!" she said, holding back a smile.
"Just invite me to the wedding, okay?" Martinez asked.
Kara pinched the bridge of her nose. "For crying out loud," she said, shaking her head.
"Oh! Does Reagan have a brother?"
"Yeah, a straight brother."
"What a shame," Martinez said playfully.
Kara rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"All units, be advised, we have a possible robbery in progress at Johnson's Jewelers," the dispatcher said over the radio.
Kara and Martinez looked at each other. They both nodded and quickened their pace. "This is Martinez and Walsh," Martinez said, "show us responding…"
Kara and Martinez arrived outside the store with a smug Travis grinning like a cat that ate the canary. "Glad you could make it, officers! The S.O.B. that tried to rob me is in there."
Kara and Martinez walked in and saw a man on his side next to a flipped wheelchair.
"Don't buy his act for a minute, officers, he was getting ready to rob me! A good ol' smash-and-grab!" Travis said as if he was God Himself.
Barry raised his hands in the air, wincing from the pain of falling hard on his side. "Officers, I swear, I was just here to get an engagement ring for my girlfriend!"
Kara stopped at the sound of the voice. "Barry?"
Barry turned to look up. "Kara?"
Kara's face went white. "Oh, God!" She looked to Martinez. "Call a bus, now!" she said. She kneeled, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Stay absolutely still, okay? We're going to get you some help."
Barry nodded. "Kara, I swear to God, I was just getting Eddie a ring. I was going to propo – " He winced in pain yet again.
"I believe you," Kara said, a sad smile on her face.
"I need a bus at 232 East 34th Street forthwith!" Martinez radioed in.
Kara stood up, stone faced, her eyes aflame with righteous indignation.
"You know this man?" Travis asked.
"Yes, I do! So, I'd like to know… What exactly made you think he was going to rob you?" Kara asked, the fiery wrath of God in her eyes.
"Many jewelry stores have been victims of smash-and-grabs by guys posing as cripples!" Travis said, arms and hands raised like a shrug. "It's all over the news!"
"Did he do anything that looked like he was going to do a smash-and-grab?" Kara asked indignantly, already knowing the answer.
"He was in a wheelchair and looking around…" Travis said, now realizing how deep in it he was.
"You do know every customer in a jewelry store looks around, right?" Martinez asked rhetorically.
"He was…" Travis began, "In a… Wheelchair?"
"Cuff him," Kara said.
"Turn around, put your hands behind your back," Martinez ordered.
"But…" Travis began to object.
"Now!" Martinez barked. "Or I'll add resisting arrest!"
"Oh, come on!"
"Assault and resisting arrest it is, then!" Martinez said. "Turn around. NOW!"
Travis turned around.
Martinez cuffed him as he read him his rights. "You have the right to remain silent…"
As Martinez read him his rights, Kara turned her attention back to Barry, walking towards him.
"Dispatch, in addition to a bus, we need an RMP transport to the precinct," Kara said into her radio. "Suspect in custody," she said, glaring at Travis.
"The robbery suspect?" Dispatch said.
"Negative, Dispatch," Kara said. "No robbery was in progress, but we're bringing in a perp on assault and resisting arrest."
"Copy that," Dispatch said.
She kneeled down to Barry. "How you holding up?" she asked with a concerned smile.
"Okay, all things considered," Barry answered. "I'm just glad it was you that came."
"Me, too," Kara agreed. She paused. "Did you tell them who Eddie was?"
"No," Barry said. "My girlfriend is a cop, not a get-out-of-jail free card. I wanted to try and explain myself, but before I could…" He nodded towards Travis. "He flipped me over."
Kara glared at Travis, who was standing outside with Martinez.
"Sooo," Barry asked, "is there any way we can keep this between us and… Not tell Eddie?"
Kara huffed out a laugh. "You're kidding, right?"
Barry sighed in defeat. "I guess not."
"Hey, if it were me," Kara said, "I'd want to know."
"But how I can tell her, 'Hey, I was getting you an engagement ring, but I got beat up instead'?" he protested. "Kinda ruins the element of surprise."
As Kara was about to answer, she heard an RMP pull up alongside an ambulance.
"Hey, Martinez! What do we got?"
Kara looked over, eyes wide.
"Oh crap," was all she could muster.
"Oh crap what?" Barry asked, unable to turn.
"Ummm…"
The door opened.
"Hey, Walsh," Eddie greeted, "Martinez won't tell me what's go – " Her mouth dropped at the sight of Kara kneeling by a clearly injured Barry and his flipped wheelchair.
"Oh God! Barry!"
