Part 34
Lyam Ryan's world turned upside down as the doctor's words hit home. He managed to take the remaining few steps toward Captain Lipschitz and Dr. Morris on legs that felt like they were made of jello. The stunned father wasn't aware at first that the voice speaking was his own. "Yes, Doctor. We'd like to hear the answer to that one, too."
Cassy observed the father's reaction and knew that once the initial shock wore off, his Irish temper would take over. She had met the Ryans in the hallway after a fruitless interview with the nurse. She now regretted that Lyam had decided to accompany her when Cassy informed them that she had to go report to Harry, who was with Dr. Morris. Thankfully, Margaret had insisted she would remain with Tom and that Lyam could relate the doctor's report to her later.
The doctor greeted the two new arrivals and quickly launched into the explanation of Tom's condition. "Sergeant Ryan is stable, despite the excitement of this morning's incident. We've removed the pulma-vac, but he will likely remain on the respirator for another twenty-four hours. Everything is going as well as we could hope for with the injured lung, but we'll have to continue to sedate him if he keeps fighting the vent upon waking."
Lyam nervously rubbed his forehead and fought to concentrate on the doctor's words as the report continued. "Unfortunately, the news is not all as good as we'd like. While his lung is healing quite nicely, the infected shoulder wound has not responded as well as we'd expected. His fever is up, so we've done a blood test to determine the exact nature of the infection. The results of that test should be back in a couple of days, at which time we'll switch him to a more effective antibiotic. In the meantime, we'll continue to work to keep the fever under control. Please don't be too alarmed by this development. It's not at all uncommon for a complication such as this to occur. We are still anticipating a complete recovery for Sergeant Ryan."
Harry tried to ignore the knot in the pit of his stomach and listen as the doctor related the particulars of Tom's condition, but his mind kept wandering to the same thought--exactly how much had Lyam Ryan overheard?
As the doctor finished speaking, the captain stole a sideways glance at Tom's father. One glimpse of the man's ashen face revealed Harry's answer. His voice was steady, but barely above a whisper as he turned to face Lyam. "You heard."
Harry's words brought the father out of his daze. Barely able to control the rage which replaced his shock, Lyam tore into the captain. "How dare you keep this from me?" he gritted through clenched teeth. "You had no right. I'm his father, dammit--not you. I have every right to know what that animal did to my son. And how the hell could you be so careless? How could you let him get into Tommy's room, knowing what he'd done? For that matter, how the hell could you allow him to get anywhere near this hospital at all? You said he'd be in another state by now, yet he just waltzed in here like he owned the place and you people didn't do a damn thing to stop him. You're supposed to be Tommy's friends, for God's sake! How could you let a thing like this happen?"
Cassy watched Harry's face turn whiter with each accusing question. When the captain made no move to defend himself, she couldn't help but step in. "Lyam, that's not fair and you know it. Harry didn't know that Donato had Killian take his shift. If they'd followed procedure and tried to clear it with him like they were supposed to, he never would have allowed it. You know damn well that Harry would move heaven and earth to keep Tom safe. You know that he did exactly that to find Tom and get him away from those two psychos. And what was he supposed to tell you? We don't know anything happened. You heard the doctor say there's no physical evidence that Tom was sexually assaulted. Until he wakes up and tells us what happened, all we have are suspicions. I'm sure you'll agree that it won't do Tom any good to have this broadcast all over the place when we have no evidence that anything even happened."
Lyam's rage had not yet been quelled and his former daughter-in-law quickly became his next target. "Don't you dare defend him!" the red-faced father yelled as he pointed to Harry. "How can you stand there and be so damn calm about this? You're acting like this is nothing, like it's no big deal to find out what that--that animal did. Unless...you...you already knew about this. You did, didn't you?" Cassy's inability to look him in the eye gave him his answer, further fueling his anger. "I should have known that you'd be in on it, too. Neither of you have any right to keep this from me. I'm Tom's father, for God's sake! I want to know the rest of it and I want to know it now--no more lies, no more avoiding the truth. I know the both of you well enough to know that you're still holding out on me." Before anyone could react, Lyam roughly grabbed Cassy by the arms and shook her as he screamed at her. "You tell me the rest of it and you tell me now!"
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Frannie Lipschitz rounded the corner with a fresh cup of coffee for a weary Margaret Ryan. The mother was insisting on staying with Tom until he awakened again and the nurses had given up arguing with the strong-willed woman. She refused Frannie's offer to bring her some food, but she'd finally relented and agreed to a cup of coffee.
As Frannie passed the room before Tom's, a voice caught her attention. "Janine said that she heard the guy 'kissed' him! Can you imagine? A guy sneaks into a hospital room and kisses a cop--a 'male' cop!" The speaker broke into fits of giggles and was immediately joined by a second person.
The second voice stopped giggling enough to respond. "Yeah, but don't tell me that 'you' wouldn't like a chance to kiss that cop, too. Even with all those bruises, you can tell he's drop-dead gorgeous."
Frannie paused, revolted by the vision of what she'd overheard. It was all she could do to ignore the continuing banter that drifted from the room. 'No, this is outrageous--it has to be just rumors run rampant. There's no way this could have really happened.' Ready to march into the room and set the two gossips straight, she turned, but stopped abruptly when another possibility occurred to her. 'Then again, this would certainly explain what's eating at you, Harry Lipschitz. And Cassy did tell me how that doctor did time for sexual battery. Okay, Heschy, I think it's time for that talk now.' She left the two rumor-mongers to their work and continued on her way to Tom's room with the promised coffee, determined to find her husband as soon as possible.
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Dr. Morris had remained a silent observer during the tirade, but quickly stepped in when the distraught man became physical. As he forced his way between Lyam and a stunned Cassy, a now furious Harry Lipschitz moved to stand toe to toe with the out-of-control father, allowing the doctor to focus on Cassy. Harry got in Lyam's face and poked his finger into the enraged father's chest as he spoke. "You wanna throw accusations and blame around, Mister, then you aim them here, at me, where they belong. You leave Cassy out of it. I know you're upset about Tom--we all are, but that's no excuse for what you just did. If you EVER touch Cassy like that again, I'll personally haul your butt downtown and throw it in a cell on an assault charge. You got that, Ryan?"
As awareness of his actions set in, a pale and shaking Lyam Ryan felt his knees begin to wobble. Though still angry, Harry saw the man's faltering balance and guided him over to a chair. After heavily collapsing into it, the emotional father attempted to apologize. "Oh God, Cassy, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I--I--did I hurt you? Oh God, I'll never forgive myself if I hurt you." Tear-filled eyes lifted to meet Cassy's and she pulled away from the doctor, who was checking her arms for any sign of injury.
Kneeling in front of her former father-in-law, Cassy took his hands in hers. "I'm okay. You just surprised me, that's all. I know you'd never intentionally hurt anyone. This is hard for all of us, but you have to get a grip on yourself. You can't let Tom--or Margaret--see you like this." Moving one hand to his arm, she continued. "You have to believe me when I tell you that I don't know anything more than you do about this. Tom is the only one who knows for sure what, if anything, happened. Now, as hard as it is, we can't do anything but wait for him to tell us."
Lyam gently place his hand on Cassy's cheek. "You're right. I have to get my head together before I see Margaret or Tommy. I just...I just lost it when I heard the doctor talking. I never in a million years imagined that they would...that they could..." After pausing to wipe away a lone tear, the father continued in a voice that broke with emotion. "We sort of expected that he might be beaten up a little bit, but never, ever that he might..." He again paused to wipe at the tears that welled and threatened to fall. His eyes shone with heartbreak as he questioned her. "Why? Please, tell me why. Why do you think that Tommy was...was assaulted?"
Cassy turned to Harry for approval. The captain had already settled into the chair next to Lyam and began to explain. "Gordon Leonard did time for aggravated sexual battery before he came here. He developed an obsession for one of the football players at a small college where he was the team physician."
Lyam gave Harry an incredulous look. "That's it? That's what you're basing these suspicions on?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably and momentarily looked away. "That's not quite all. The note that Stein sent talked about Tom experiencing ALL the things that happen to a man in prison."
Lyam was desperate not to believe Harry's reasoning. "Okay, but that still doesn't mean anything happened."
Harry swallowed hard, knowing he would have to give Lyam the entire story. "I heard Leonard say some things to Tom. Things like how the two of them were going away to be together. He kept talking about promises to Tom that they'd be together forever. He kept calling him 'my Tommy' and things like that." The captain paused again before continuing with the last, most damning evidence of all. "And because I saw him kiss Tom. Full on the mouth. The way you'd kiss your wife."
Neither Lyam nor Cassy responded and Harry was startled when the elder Ryan stood and headed toward the door. When he reached it, he stopped suddenly and turned back to inform the pair, "I'm going to go check on Tommy now. You'd better catch that--that piece of slime before he sets foot anywhere near this hospital." The two officers were not surprised by the anger in the father's voice, but found the cold hatred in his eyes unsettling. "Because if I ever see him, I swear to you both I'll kill him with my bare hands."
End Part 34
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To Part 35