Alex arrived at Michelle's room and was greeted by a doctor standing outside her door. Alex flashed her badge and the doctor ushered her over.

"She's awake but heavily sedated. She had a wound in her shoulder and lost a lot of blood. She's lucky to be alive. Go carefully, detective." Alex nodded. Nerves overtook her at the thought of seeing her childhood friend whom she had lost touch with so many years ago. It was no one's fault, but still she knew she played a part in them drifting away from one another.

She knocked tentatively on the open door. "Michelle?"

"Come in," came a soft voice. Alex approached the hospital bed where her friend was hooked up to IVs and machines. As she made her way to the head of the bed, Michelle's face flashed with recognition.

"Lexi, is that you?" Alex nodded at her childhood nickname.

"Hey there. How are you feeling?" It was dumb question, but a natural one.

"Like someone shot me." Alex smiled. Micky was always one for sarcasm, just like Alex. It was one of the reasons they got along so well.

"What are you doing here, Lexi? You're with Major Case now. Does that mean my dad…", Michelle trailed off.

Alex nodded. "I'm so sorry Michelle. He…he was dead at the scene."

Tears welled in Michelle's eyes. "I knew it. As soon as the shots went off, I knew."

"Michelle…"

"Micky, Lexi. You never called me Michelle," she said through a watery smile. Alex smiled back.

"Micky, do you have any idea who might have done this?"

Micky closed her eyes, tears leaking out. She shook her head.

"I wasn't even supposed to be there. I came out to surprise my dad by taking care of mom so he could have a night out. It's been a rough year."

"Your mom…she has dementia?"Alex asked. Micky nodded. "Two years. She's been declining rapidly. We're trying to keep her at home but…but it's getting difficult. With dad getting older and me and David working so much. I hate to even think about it but we might have to…put her someplace. And now with dad gone…I don't know." Alex watched the heart rate monitor increase and knew she had to calm her friend before the doctors came back in and made her leave. And the stress wasn't good for Micky.

"Don't think about that now. We gotta get through this first, ok? One apple at a time, right?" It was an old joke. There was a small apple tree growing in the McShane's backyard and every year it would yield the most delicious apples. And Micky would try to eat as many as possible and make herself sick, while Alex would pick one and munch slowly and happily with no tummy troubles. She constantly tried to tell her friend to pick one at a time, but Micky was stubborn and never learned her lesson from year to year.

Micky smiled at the memory and her heart rate went back down. "I remember when you tried to tell me that about boys too", Micky teased. Micky had turned into somewhat of a wild child in her highschool years, dating multiple boys and having sex with multiple partners. While Alex had one steady boyfriend and never even had sex with him.

"I have the best memories of you and I til highschool, Lexi. You were like a sister I never had. I thought we'd be friends forever. But we took different paths. I'm so sorry for that. I was just a stupid kid who wanted to be cool and hanging out with Miss Prom Queen wasn't going to get me there."

"I'm sorry too, Micky. I was so wrapped up in being the perfect…everything, that I forgot who my real friends were. The truth is, I could have used a massive reality check. But hanging out with the Grungers wasn't going to gain me any popularity so I just…let you go."

They both had tears in their eyes and Alex gripped Micky's hand tightly. "Lexi, I definitely want to know everything about your life for the last…let's not say how many years…but I think you're here to solve something." Alex switched into detective mode in a flash and let go of Micky's hand.

"Micky, do you have any idea who would want to hurt your family?"

"No. Dad's been retired for years, so I don't think it would be an old case. But I guess you could check."

"What about you? Any parolees giving you a hard time lately?"

"They're always a hard time. But you mean more than usual? Yeah there was this one guy. Dowel. Ian Dowel. Young kid. Well, they're all young now. But yeah, I went to a diner the other night. Out of the way place, so I don't run into anyone. And he was right there. Staring at me. I don't get rattled easily, Lexi, but this kid creeped me out. I ordered a coffee to go and got the hell out of there. I doubled back a few times to see if he was following me but he wasn't so I chalked it up to one of those freak things that just happens."

"Did he ever threaten you?"

"No. No way. He'd go right back in, he knows that. And he's terrified of prison. He was convicted of raping an 11 year old girl. You know what they do to those guys in prison. He said he'd do whatever it took to stay out. And I believed him. What do you think? Think he followed me once so he'd do it again? To my parents' house?"

"I don't know Micky. We'll look into him. Hard. Pulling all the stops on this. NYPD has been targeted. You know we don't take that lightly."

"I'm glad you're on the case Lexi. And your partner too. I heard he's crazy but I don't give a shit if it catches my dad's killer."

Alex bristled at the name calling of her partner and felt the need to defend him. "He's not crazy, Micky. He's…unconventional. But he is fiercely loyal to this department and everything it stands for and he will not stop til this is over. And neither will I."

Micky nodded. Alex could see her eyes growing heavy. This was enough for now. She knew she had to talk to Micky more but she did give up a good lead that Alex and Bobby could run down. And Alex could always come back. She vowed that she would come back regardless. She felt peaceful in Micky's presence. It was like sliding back in time and moving forward all at once. She wasn't going to let Micky's friendship go this time.

She patted Micky's arm and told her to get some rest, but Micky was already out. Alex placed a kiss on her forehead and left the room. She stepped to the side and took out her phone.

"Bobby? Yeah, I think we might have something."