Love Is Not Enough
Part 4
Cassy walked down the hospital corridor, her heals clicking on the floor, the echo of the hallway emphasizing each step. She heard voices coming from her partner's room and stopped, listening to the sounds. "I don't want you wandering around on your own. You need to be careful. You could pull the stitches out." The voice belonged to Dr. Miller. "You do that and you'll be in the hospital another week, you understand?" The doctor used the same tone as one would use when lecturing a child. Cassy smiled to herself. When Tom was sick she always had to use the same tone. He had the maturity of a three year old when he didn't feel well. She took a deep breath and walked into the room.
"Good afternoon," she said cheerfully to Tom and the doctor. Dr. Miller turned and smiled, as did Tom. "I take it my partner's in trouble, huh."
"Well, he seems to be anxious to try things on his own instead of asking for help. I told him that I thought I'd be able to release him early next week, unfortunately, he seems to think that means he can go roaming around the hospital today."
"I'm feeling fine," Tom insisted.
"Yes, I know you are. But you've been in bed and resting. The minute you get up and start moving around your strength will disappear. I do not want to hear about how you collapsed at the foot of your bed because of exhaustion. Do you understand?" The doctor looked over the rim of his glasses, waiting for a response.
Tom said nothing for a minute. Cassy started to speak up, deciding it was time to tell the doctor about Tom's recent experiences with passing out. Tom must have read her mind because before she could say one word he interjected a "Yes sir. I won't move from this bed without assistance."
Cassy closed her mouth. The doctor nodded his approval, "That's a promise, right."
Tom nodded. The doctor continued, "Okay. I still intend to let you out on Monday, but if you don't keep your promise, I'll make sure you don't see the light of day for another week. And if that isn't enough to scare you, I'll make sure that Nurse Schmidt soaks her hands in ice water before coming in to give you a sponge bath." He smiled at his patient, waved at Cassy and exited the room.
Cassy turned to her partner and couldn't help laughing at the beleaguered look on his face. She walked up next to the bed and reached out for the side of his face. "I know, I know. The whole world's against you, huh."
"I just want out of here," he moaned.
"And we want you out of here, believe me. But, we want you out of here healthy, deal?" She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.
"Deal." Tom smiled at the contact.
"I saw Erin in the hallway," Cassy changed the subject. Tom smiled upon hearing his love's name. "How come you didn’t tell her you almost passed out this morning?"
"Harry told you?" Tom looked disappointed.
"Harry told me." Cassy shook her head. "So why didn't you tell Erin?"
Tom was quiet for a short time, "I didn't want her to worry."
"That's what I told her you'd say." Cassy smiled.
"You told her?" Tom had a partial shocked and 'Oh God I'm in trouble now' look on his face.
"You bet. She had a right to know. She cares for you Tom. And if you do something stupid, she has a right to know." Cassy explained.
"And revel in it, too, I bet." Tom grimaced.
"No…you're getting her confused with me." Cassy joked.
Tom smiled at his partner and then stifled a yawn. Cassy placed a hand on his leg, "You tired?."
"A little. I'm getting kind of use to taking morning naps. It's gonna be tough when I have to work all day again." Tom shifted position, frowning at the twinge of pain in his shoulder.
"Why don't you go to sleep. I'll leave."
"No, don't go." Tom said just a little too quickly. "I'd like to talk, and besides, my lunch is on its way."
"Okay, I'll stay, but I don't want to wear you out. If you start feeling like you need a nap, just tell me and I'll go." Cassy lectured.
Tom smiled at his partner's concern. She pulled the chair up close to the bed and took a seat. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on the bed and took hold of his left hand. He felt the warmth of her touch radiating through his body and it felt good. "So what do you want to talk about," she asked, a cheerful smile appearing on her face.
Tom said nothing at first, then he took a deep breath and decided to take a chance, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."
"What?"
"Yesterday, I was trying to remember what happened after I was shot…it's all kinda fuzzy. But I seem to recall you and Harry being at the hospital after I got out of surgery. We were talking about the case, and…" he paused as if searching his memory.
Cassy fidgeted. She was certain that Tom was going to bring up a subject that she really didn't want to discuss right now. She held her breath and prayed she was wrong.
"…and you told me that there was something you wanted to talk with me about…What was it?" Tom had a genuine look of innocence on his face.
"I was just going to talk to you about police procedure and about how you broke every rule in the book," Cassy lied, definitely uncomfortable now.
"No…" Tom stopped her, "That wasn't it. It was something else…something more."
"I don't know what you're talking about Tom. You must've imagined it. You were pretty heavily sedated and in a lot of pain."
"But, I remember that…I mean, I don’t remember much else, but I remember that." Tom's confused look broke Cassy's heart. It almost broke her resolve too, but she wasn't going to venture into that territory now, not after witnessing the love that was growing between Tom and Erin. She wouldn't ruin that for them…for him."
"I'm sorry, Tom. But you must've dreamt it." She leaned over and gave him another kiss on the cheek. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.
"Well, I guess I did. I have been having some pretty crazy, drug-induced dreams lately," he admitted.
"See, that's probably all it was…the drugs." Cassy agreed, inside feeling guilty for lying to her partner…to her best friend. Tom yawned again.
Cassy took his hand, her fingers lightly stroking the back of it. "Why don't you lay down. You could get a little sleep before your lunch comes. You look tired."
"I'm really not all that hungry. I think the pills are making me queasy as well as making me dream."
"Lay down. I'll ask the nurse to come by later with your food." She pushed the button on the bed to the down position before Tom could protest. She noted that he must have been ready to sleep, because he didn't put up a fight.
Almost immediately, her partner's eyes drifted closed and his breathing became slow and steady. She watched him sleep for a long time, enjoying the closeness to him.
A noise from the hallway caught her attention and she looked up to see the nurse entering with a tray of food. Quickly Cassy placed a finger to her lips, and pointed to Tom. The nurse looked at the sleeping man, nodded, smiled and left the room, food in hand. Cassy soon followed.
Tom started to roll over, and then sharp pain penetrated his dream and he woke suddenly. Once again, he had found himself in another wonderfully sensual dream about Erin, that ended with Cassy. Shaking his head in confusion, he threw the blankets back and prepared to make a trip to the bathroom. Suddenly, Dr. Miller's warning entered Tom's mind, not to mention Tom's promise to be good. Deciding it wasn't worth spending another week in the hospital with Nurse Schmidt's cold hands, Tom pushed the call button and waited for assistance. None came. After two minutes, impatience got the best of him and he slowly eased his feet to the floor. Remembering the slippers incident from the day before, Tom ignored the slippers and with bare feet, made his way to the bathroom.
This time, he met with success and within a couple of minutes was on his way back to the bed, unscathed. There was suddenly a loud scream from the hallway, followed by shouts in Spanish. Every cop instinct Tom had went onto alert and he made his way as quickly as he could to the doorway. He peaked out into the hallway, but saw nothing. From his vantage point he could see a portion of the nurses' station, but there was no activity coming from the area. Tom took a few tentative steps into the hallway, confused by the sudden silence. He hung onto the railing which ran the length of the hallway with his left hand and slowly made his way to the station.
As he rounded the corner he stopped short, shocked by the scene in front of him. A teenager, no more than 15 by the looks of it, had a gun in hand and was waving it in front of the hospital staff. The young man had his back to Tom, and did not hear the injured man's approach. The kid was clearly angry, and Tom guessed, also drugged out. Tom debated on whether to return to his room and call for the guard or try to do something about the situation. Circumstance made the decision for him. Nurse Schmidt had decided to take it upon herself to talk to the kid. She took one step towards him, arms extended in an unthreatening manner. The teen apparently didn't see it that way; he pulled back on the hammer of the gun and aimed it at her.
Tom could see the finger squeezing on the trigger and realized that there was no time to call for help. Without thinking about his pain or rationalizing the consequences, he leaped at the young man. The boy saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned. The finger continued to squeeze the trigger and the gun went off. Tom hit the kid in the chest and both bodies collapsed onto the floor with the momentum of the force.
Nurse Schmidt stood in shock, looking at the tangle of arms and legs. Then she realized that the only legs moving were that of the gunman, and he still had his gun. She ran forward and pushed the teenager's arm onto the floor. An attendant ran forward and held down the other arm with the weight of his body and pried the gun from the kid's fingers. The teenager screamed in anger, as he struggled against his captors and the weight of Tom's body over his.
The elevator doors opened and two guards ran into the hallway, and immediately ran to the struggling mass of bodies on the floor. Nurse Schmidt yelled over the screaming, "Get him off, but be careful." She looked at the police officer's face and saw his eyes were closed and he was unresponsive. "Sgt. Ryan…Tom…can you hear me."
Tom was rolled off of the struggling youth. The guards then picked the shooter up off the floor and slapped handcuffs on his wrists, dragging him away. Nurse Schmidt took a quick inventory of the cop and immediately saw a growing red spot in the center of his chest. "Oh God, no…Get a gurney over here. We've got to get him to ER, stat."
Cassy had returned to the station and settled back down in her chair. She tried concentrating on the files in front of her, but found that her mind continued to drift to her discussion with Tom. Why couldn't she tell him the truth?
When Tom was in surgery after he was shot, Cassy promised herself that she was going to open up to the man…tell him what was on her mind. She and Erin had talked about the failed marriage. Cassy had decided that Tom had a right to know why the divorce had happened, that Cassy had been afraid of marriage…afraid of losing control over her life. That she had walked away from Tom, not because she didn't love him, but because she loved him too much…and it scared her. She had never been one to depend on a man, and loving Tom as much as she did created a dependency that she feared.
And today, when confronted with the opportunity to open up to Tom, confess her feelings, she chickened out. She looked into the hazel eyes of her ex-husband and lost her nerve.
She reached for her coffee cup and took a drink. The coffee had turned cold and she couldn't help the grimace. Picking up the cup, she climbed the stairs to the coffee machine. She felt a presence behind her and turned to find Harry standing there.
"Coffee, Captain?" she asked.
"Cassy…" the Captain paused as if searching for the words to say next. His eyes were glassy and his face pale.
"What's wrong, Harry," Cassy felt her heart drop to her stomach.
"It's Tom…" His voice was quiet.
"What…what's happened?" she asked, dreading the next words.
Harry took a deep breath, "He was shot."
Cassy's face turned to confusion, "Of course he was shot, Harry. That's why he's in the hospital."
Harry placed his hands on Cassy's shoulders, "No, Cassy. He was shot again, about fifteen minutes ago. The hospital just called. He's in surgery right now."
Cassy's face blanched, and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to stay on her feet. "How?…What…Oh God, Harry, not again." Harry guided her to the chair next to the coffeepot, "How bad?"
"I don't know. The hospital just said we should get down there as soon as possible."
Cassy took control over her emotions, drew in a deep breath and stood. She raced down the stairs and grabbed her purse without another word. She wasn't surprised to find Harry following close behind.
End Part 4