He'd long lost tracking of time, drifting from one part of the hospital to another, his busy hands fidgeting with the second pack of cigarettes for the day. And even that one was beginning to fray from overuse.
Stopping by the black phone along the wall, Roy drew in a deep breath, hanging on to a sense of control that seemed so painfully out of reach.
That's what everyone expected of him right now- stay in control in a situation that had inevitably snowballed.
He'd filed Keller away in a different folder in his brain, at least when it came to the worrying part. The kid would be alright; he was young and strong and would walk away from this just fine.
But Stone. Damn he worried about his old friend.
The assurances, the technical jargon, none of it seemed to help settle that rush of adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins at a hasty pace since the moment he'd received that phone call.
He knew Mike well enough to know that there would have been a conversation ahead of the attack, some sort of reasoning. Maybe he even offered reduced jail time for those kids not directly tied to the actual murders. But they'd been attacked regardless and judging by Keller's spotty memory, at a level of viciousness unheard of before.
What was it that Mike had said that made them lust for blood so much? Was it what he stood for? Was it his age and some generational bias Dewitt couldn't figure out? Or worse, had this been a targeted attack aimed to kill the Lieutenant of Inspectors?
In that case Roy certainly was grateful that these punks had failed.
Sighing quietly, he used his thumb to run the perimeter of one of the wall tiles, the cool ceramic against his skin helping his brain slow down somewhat.
And yet it seemed that no matter how many rounds he walked through the hospital, it wouldn't answer the two burning questions in his mind; What could he do to help his old partner now, and what could he do to prevent a similar outcome in the future?
Sure, this wasn't his first rodeo of dealing with injuries in the line of duty, but it was the first one that was stinging harder than usual.
Mike was a good man, inside and out. And he didn't deserve this, none of it.
And while Roy fondly remembered the oath he had sworn to protect the public and use a sound, judgment- free mind, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how to put his feelings aside this time around.
For the safety of everyone involved, Dewitt was hoping he'd be back in his office and off the streets when it came time to apprehend these animals.