Part 26

As George stood poised with the knife above Tom's chest, Harry ignored the fire in his shoulder and pulled furiously at the handcuffs that pinned his arms behind him. As he was about to rush George, he caught a glimpse of Doc in the corner of his eye. Harry remained in place as the doctor pulled the gun from behind his back. He was weak with relief when the gun sounded and the red spot appeared on George's shirt. Tom wasn't going to die.

Relief quickly changed to horror as the scene before him appeared to play out in slow motion. The knife made a sickening sound as it entered Tom's exposed chest. Harry stood frozen, unable to even echo the "NO!" that the doctor had screamed. His entire body trembled as he watched Tom's chest turn crimson. His brain screamed at him to rush to Tom's side, but his body refused the command. As the knife was raised for a second strike, shots again echoed in Harry's ears. He watched as George sank to the floor, eyes already dull and lifeless.

Recovering enough to take several strides toward the cot, Harry froze when Dr. Leonard brought the gun up in line with Harry's chest. Switching to his Captain's tone, he tried to reason with the doctor. "Come on now, I think we both want the same thing here. You have to put the gun down and help him. He's gonna die if we don't do something fast. You don't want him to die, do you?"

Tears were streaming down the doctor's face. He gestured to George's lifeless body as he spoke. "He hurt my Tommy. I had to stop him. He was going to kill my Tommy. I couldn't let him do that. You do understand, don't you? Tommy's the special one. I couldn't let him hurt my Tommy."

Harry continued the calm coaxing, though his heart was beating wildly. "You did good. You stopped him from killing Tom, but if we don't get some help for him now, he could still die. Please, put the gun down and call for help. He's gonna die if you don't."

Doc lowered the weapon and sat on the cot. As Harry took another tentative step, the doctor again raised the weapon. "You stay back. I'll help him. It's my job to take care of him. You go away and leave us alone. We're going to be together. I promised him."

Harry stopped in his tracks, not wanting to antagonize the obviously distraught man. He noted the change in Tom's breathing and pointed it out to the doctor. "Look at him. He's getting short of breath. He needs to get to a hospital. You are the only one who can save him. If you keep him here, he's gonna die. Is that what you want?"

Dr. Leonard lowered the gun and placed it next to Tom on the cot. Ignoring Harry's question, he began to examine the wound. He took a plastic bag from his medical case and placed it over the puncture. He taped it on three sides to prevent air from getting in and causing more pressure on the already bad lung. Despite his efforts, Tom's breathing was becoming more and more labored. When Tom began to cough, Doc quickly unfastened the cuffs holding Tom's wrists and turned his head to the side. As Tom coughed again, a pink bubbly substance spilled out the side of his mouth. The doctor cursed and began to cry again. "I'm sorry, Tommy. He's right. You need a hospital. I can't help you this time. I won't go far, though. I'll wait for you and when you get better we can finally be together. I promise I'll wait for you, Tommy."

The doctor took the cell phone out of his jacket and dialed 911. After giving the necessary information, he closed the phone and turned his attention back to his patient. "I'm sorry, Tommy, but I can't stay with you until they get here. I have to leave. They won't understand the way you do. I'm sorry, Tommy, I tried. I tried to stop him from hurting you. Don't you worry, though, we won't be apart for long. I promise. Good bye for now, my sweet Tommy." Tears again flowed as he placed a tender kiss on the side of Tom's face. He then picked up Tom's gun, placed it in his bag, and headed for the door.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Harry headed straight for his injured officer as the door closed. Another coughing fit brought up more of the pink bubbly substance. Harry was shaking as he took the spot vacated by the doctor. He wanted desperately to help Tom, but with his hands cuffed behind him he couldn't even attempt to stop the bleeding. The only thing he could do was to offer reassurance. "Hang in there, Thomas. You're gonna be fine. Help will be here any minute. The bad stuff is all over now. It's all over."

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Cassy left the Coconut Grove Bar and Grill less than satisfied. She had finally located the blonde who had distracted Pearson, but the woman was less than cooperative. Cassy had eventually managed to persuade her to give a vague description of a car she'd seen in the alley, though only after threatening to haul her down to headquarters for questioning. Roxy hadn't been able to remember any of the license plate, so Cassy decided to see Jeff Pearson in hopes that he might be recovered enough to remember something.

Less than five minutes after Cassy left the bar, a call came over the radio. The dispatcher's words burned into her brain. "Officer down at the industrial park, Palm Avenue and Ocean Drive. Caller reports they are in an abandoned warehouse at the rear of the park." She didn't need to hear any more; instinct told her Tom was the officer in question. Cassy quickly turned on the siren and raced to the scene, praying that she would find both Tom and Harry in at least fair condition.

When she arrived at the address, only one building had lights on inside. Two blue and white units pulled up right behind her, followed closely by an ambulance. Together, the five officers entered the building with weapons drawn to secure the premises. Cassy took the lead and cautiously followed the bloodstained hallway to the last door. She tried with limited success to ignore the stains along the wall, but her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the large stain next to the door. She quickly recovered and motioned for one of the other officers to open it.

Harry turned toward the door as it was flung open. At the sight of the officers, he immediately began barking orders. "We're all secure in here. Go find Gordon Leonard. Be careful. He's armed and should be considered dangerous. He took off outta here a few minutes ago. And for God's sake, get those paramedics in here! Now!" Two of the uniformed officers immediately ran out to begin the search while a third went for the paramedics.

Cassy was through the door the second that Harry announced that the room was secure. She fought to control the fear that threatened to overwhelm her at the sight of her partner lying bruised and bloodied on the cot. Tom's ragged breathing was interrupted by yet another coughing spell, which produced more of the pink frothy sputum on the pillow under his head. Cassy took note of George's lifeless body on the floor as she fell to her knees next to Tom and began to stroke his hair. The blue color of the skin around his lips had her heart racing. "Oh God! Tom! It's okay now. You're gonna be all right. Help is here. You just hold on." She desperately searched his face for any sign that he was aware of her presence. When she found no indication that he heard her, fear threatened to give way to panic. "The paramedics are right outside. Do you hear me? You just hold on." As if on cue, the medics walked through the door and instructed the pair to move out of the way.

Cassy helped Harry over to the other side of the room. With badly shaking hands, she took out her key and unfastened the handcuffs that held Harry's arms behind his back. He wasn't able to suppress a gasp from the pain of moving his injured shoulder. Slightly startled, she admonished her commanding officer. "Harry, you should have said something. You're hurt. You'd better have them check you when they're done with Tom." Harry cradled the injured arm close to him as Cassy moved to Harry's side.

Cassy grimaced and had to look away when the paramedics put a tube down Tom's throat. She wasn't able to keep her eyes away for long and watched as a female paramedic hooked a bag up to the tube and connected oxygen to it. They watched in silence as the paramedics checked Tom's vital signs, hooked up an EKG monitor, and started an IV. Periodically, one of them would reach over and squeeze the bag to get the oxygen into Tom's lungs. Turning to face her captain, Cassy lifted angry, tear-filled eyes to meet Harry's. "What the hell did they do to him, Harry?"

"Stein stabbed Tom. He wanted Tom to die the same way his son did. Leonard shot George to keep him from stabbing Tom a second time. . ."

The female paramedic interrupted Harry. "Are either of you the one who treated the stab wound?" He explained to her that one of Tom's captors was an unlicensed physician and told her about the list of injuries he'd given Harry. She frowned in concern as she reached over to again squeeze the bag. "Can you tell me if he was conscious prior to the stabbing? " Harry described Tom's condition during their conversations. She nodded in understanding and turned her full attention back to her patient.

Cassy was about to ask them how much longer it would be until they left for the hospital when they strapped Tom to a backboard and transferred him from the cot to the waiting stretcher. A hard cervical collar had been placed around his neck while Harry was relating the former doctor's report to them.

Neither Harry nor Cassy realized how identical their thoughts were as they followed the stretcher to the waiting ambulance. 'Hang in there, Tom. Dear God, please let him be okay. Please!'

End Part 26

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