Part 19
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"In here, Peter."
Peter paused shyly at the doorway. "Dad? You got a minute? I really need to talk to you." The usual grin was missing from his face, and his expression was serious.
Caine rose to his feet in a flowing motion. "Something is on your mind? You seem troubled, my son."
Peter nervously rubbed a hand across the back of his head. "Yes," he answered slowly. "There is something on my mind tonight, Father."
Caine raised a quizzical eyebrow. {Father?} He waited quietly while the young man restlessly paced back and forth.
At last Peter stopped and stared directly into his father's face. "How did you know...I mean, what told you..."
Caine chuckled softly. "Peter, ever since you learned to talk, you have never been at a loss for words. What is it you would ask of me?"
Peter's face reddened and he blurted out, "Pop, how did you know that you were really in love with my mother and wanted to marry her?"
Caine's eyes lit up with delight but he said nothing for a time, reflecting thoughtfully about Peter's question. He put his arm around Peter's shoulders and they walked together through the flat and out onto the balcony, stopping at the brick railing and looking out over the community.
Caine sighed deeply and took a slow breath before speaking softly. "I had known your mother for only a short time when I knew that she was the one destined to walk my path with me." His eyes took on a far away look and his face softened. "She had a way of making the sun shine more brightly. The winds would blow more gently."
"I wish I could remember her," Peter whispered.
"Your mother was the most special person I have ever met. She was, and still is, the love of my life. Every time I look at you, my son, I see the best part of her and of myself."
Caine put an arm around his son, pulling him into his fatherly embrace.
Peter leaned into his father's shoulder, enjoying the moment of closeness.
They pulled apart, and Caine caressed Peter's cheek with his thumb. "Your Kacie reminds me very much of your mother. They share the same gentle spirit, yet there is a streak of iron underneath."
Peter laughed. "Is that your way of saying that my mother had a temper?"
"It is." Caine joined in his son's laughter before asking gently, "Your feelings for your friend have grown?"
Peter hazel eyes mellowed into a greenish glow, and he smiled. "I've never known anyone like her, Dad. She-she-she makes me feel whole. When I'm with her, I have a peace in my heart that I've never known before. Our relationship is so different than any I've ever had with any other woman." He blushed furiously at this. "I mean, there's always been...I've always had...more of a-a-a physical relationship with the others."
"There is more you wish to ask me?"
"This is none of my business, Pop, and you can tell me so. But, before you married my mother, had you and she been...I-I-I mean, did you and she..." Peter's face crimsoned and he dropped his head.
"Were we intimate?" Caine helped him out.
Peter nodded dumbly, too embarrassed to look directly at his father.
Caine smiled at Peter and grasped his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. "You knew that I lived with Serena and her daughter before they left me."
Peter bobbed his head in agreement.
"I met your mother several months later. We did not come together until after we were married. Laura was very insistent about the matter."
Peter smiled ruefully. "Kace and Mother are a lot alike, at least in that area." He sighed. "It gets harder and harder to leave her at night and go home to my empty apartment."
"And does she return your affections?"
Peter's eyes and face shone happily. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life. We've been taking it slow, Pop -- this exploring our feelings for one another." His eyes darkened and he turned to slap his hands on the brick balcony. "When I think of that night at the Agrippa, the way I was carrying on with Tyler, and how Kacie could have been killed." He shuddered and bowed his head. "Pop, I've never thanked you for being there and helping her." His voice deepened in self-reproach. "You were there for her, while I was..."
"Peter, all that is in the past, is it not?"
Peter nodded his head, then shook it in wonderment. "Kacie and I talked about it that day when I went to find her up at the cabin. She was so understanding, Pop. Any other woman would have handed me the keys to the road and kicked me in the ass."
"Are you saying you are no longer just friends?"
Peter laughed. "To quote Kermit, 'oh, yeah'. We realized that we had been more than friends for a long time, but that we just didn't know it." He stared at his father seriously. "Could anyone else see it?"
Caine threw his head back and laughed, gently slapping his son's jaw. "My son, EVERYONE else could see that you were in love with each other!"
Peter chuckled ruefully. "OK, so I'm a slow learner." His face softened and his eyes glowed happily. "We've been what you could call courting for almost two months." His mouth twisted in a crooked grin. "I told her tonight that I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be able to make myself walk out her door, and she told me she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to let me go." Peter's eyes softened in remembrance and he sighed dramatically. With a roguish grin, he grabbed his father in a quick embrace. "Gotta go, Pop; morning comes early. Thanks for sharing with me tonight, Pop. I love you."
"I love you, too, my son."
Peter started down the fire escape, pausing after two steps. "Night, Pop. Hey, you know, we really gotta have more talks like this." He grinned and saluted before disappearing down the fire escape.
Peter slipped in and closed the door before sitting down on a vacant chair and fidgeting nervously.
With a final click clack on the keyboard, Kermit pushed his chair away from the desk and leaned back in it, putting his hands behind his head and propping his feet up on his desk. "Now, my boy, what can I do for you?"
Peter reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a small jeweler's box. "What do you think of this?" he asked, trying to speak casually, but unable to hide his excitement.
Kermit grinned in delight as the open box revealed a sparkling diamond solitaire surrounded by smaller chips. He whistled through his teeth. "So when did you start making this kind of money?"
Peter asked anxiously, "Do you think she'll like it?"
Kermit slid his sunglasses up to sit on top of his head to get a better look at the ring. "You want an honest answer?"
Peter gulped. "Well, yeah. What? Oh, it's too small. Wait -- I know -- it's too gaudy. Oh, shit, what do I know about this kind of thing, anyway?" He slumped in his seat, eyes wide with distress.
"Easy, Peter, easy," Kermit laughed. "I was only going to say that you could give your woman a cigar band to wear, and she'd love it if it came from you."
Peter looked at him searchingly. "You really think so?"
Kermit slid the glasses back down in place and handed back the box back to Peter. "The way she lights up every time she sees you? Come on, Peter. I've known men who would kill to have a woman like Kacie look at them the way she looks at you."
Peter hooted derisively. "Come on, Kermit, you've known men who would kill somebody for just looking at them at all."
"Touche. So when are you going to ask her?"
"We were supposed to have dinner tonight, but she just called to say she has to work again. I want to ask her sometime when neither one of us has to run off somewhere. Maybe tomorrow night."
A staccato rapping at the door drew their attention, and Peter swiftly snapped the box shut and slid it into his pocket as Captain Simms stuck her head in the door. "Got a stakeout for the two of you tonight. Skalany and Powell will already be in position. Get the rest of the details from Strenlich." She popped out again as quickly as she had stepped in.
"Ah, the best laid schemes of mice and men," quoted Kermit. "You go from having an intimate dinner with your honey to an intimate stakeout with me -- you lucky guy!"
Peter snorted and bounced to his feet. "Come on, Mr. Funny Man. Let's go see what's shaking tonight. If it doesn't take too long, I might still be able to stop at Kacie's. Wouldn't want the night to be a total waste."
"Are you intimating that spending quality time with me is a waste?"
"Compared to spending quality time with my future wife? You've gotta be kidding."
Peter yawned sleepily. "What time is it?"
"Stop that," Kermit ordered, stifling an answering yawn. "And...it's ten minutes later than the last time you asked me."
"How long we gotta stay here?" Peter questioned grumpily. "There's nothing going down tonight."
He was interrupted by Skalany's voice crackling over the two-way radio that lay on the seat between them. "The mice are in the trap. Time to close the gates."
"That's our cue." Kermit straightened up quickly, pulled out his gun, and checked the load. Peter did the same with his own gun. They nodded at one another and left the Stealth, approaching the darkened alley cautiously.
Kermit entered first, Peter keeping watch on his back. They were more than halfway up the alley and still saw no sign of the suspects. The abrupt chatter of automatic gunfire erupted ahead of them, and both detectives dove for cover. They recognized the sound of Skalany's and Jody's standard issue police weapons from somewhere at the other end of the alley.
Kermit started to work his away forward again, and Peter hissed a warning to him. {Shit, this is ironic. Kermit's usually yelling at me to hold back.}
Some instinct made Peter search the rooftops, and he could vaguely make out a figure peering down over the edge of a fire escape ladder, gun aimed directly at Kermit. Without thinking, he stood to expose himself while firing his gun at the shadowy form above their heads and shouting, "Kermit!"
A lightning bolt struck his chest and threw him backward to the ground. He heard Kermit's gun fire once, twice, and then a sickening thud as something fell into the alley.
He lay stunned, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps. {I've been shot, but why doesn't it hurt?} He lifted up his head and peered at his chest, reaching out a trembling hand to touch the rapidly spreading wetness there. He held up his fingers and stared wonderingly at the blood that slowly dripped from them. His head fell back and he groaned, writhing in agony as shocked nerves awoke. He felt himself sinking into blackness, the sounds of gunfire and sirens growing fainter.
"Peter!" Kermit shouted, running up and falling to his knees beside his friend. "Ah, Peter, what did you go and do something like this for?" He checked the wound and stifled a moan, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and pressing it to the wound, cursing as the ineffective material was instantly soaked. Yanking off his coat, he covered Peter with it, his voice harsh with emotion. "You hang on, Peter. You just hang on. Help is coming. You're gonna be all right, Buddy."
"Kermit," Peter gasped weakly. "Kermit, you gotta tell..."
"Shut up, Kid. Shut up and save your strength."
"Kacie." Peter's voice grew weaker. "Don't...let...her...be...alone." His head lolled to one side as consciousness left him, a thin trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
"Where the hell are the paramedics?" screamed Kermit. As if in answer to his question a new set of sirens and lights screeched to a halt in the alley, which was now lit up like daylight. The EMTs relieved Kermit of his burden and the well-trained crew swarmed around Peter, stopping the uncontrolled bleeding and inserting a trach tube down the unconscious man's throat to assist his labored breathing. In a matter of minutes Peter was loaded into the ambulance and whisked away to the trauma center.
Skalany and Jody rushed up to Kermit just as the ambulance pulled away.
"How is he?" Skalany asked tensely.
Kermit looked down at himself and saw how Peter's blood had drenched the front of his coat and shirt. "Still alive. At least he was when they loaded him up." He ground his teeth and gritted out, "How do I tell Paul what I let happen to his son?"
"How do we tell Caine?" Jody asked no one in particular.
"Caine knows already," Skalany said quietly. "He always knows."
"Oh, my God." Kermit's voice was horrified. "Peter said to tell Kacie. She's working at the hospital tonight. We've got to get to her before she sees him shot to pieces like that."
"Go, go, go," Skalany shouted. The women and Kermit raced for Peter's car and a radio.
The trio of worried detectives burst into the ER waiting room together. As Skalany had predicted, Caine was there ahead of them, standing quietly in a corner of the room.
Skalany rushed to Caine and gripped his hand tightly. "Any news?"
"No. They have just brought him in and are examining him now." Only the tense lines about the priest's mouth gave away his emotion.
"We tried to get a message through to Kacie. I don't know if the hospital switchboard contacted her yet." Jody's voice was calm, but her face was white with unspoken fear.
Kermit stood wordlessly, staring tensely at the examining room door that hid Peter from their view. He risked a glance over at Caine, who was staring at the drying blood staining the detective's shirt and coat.
"Caine, I..." Kermit started in helplessly, but was interrupted by a doctor emerging from the examination room.
"Is anyone here family to the GSW just brought in?" the man asked dispassionately.
"That so-called GSW has a name, and it's Peter Caine," Kermit snapped, taking a menacing step toward the doctor.
Jody stepped between the two men. Clamping a hand on Kermit's arm, she spoke firmly. "Settle down, Kermit. He didn't mean anything by it."
"I am his father," Caine answered huskily.
"Mr. Caine, your son's wound is very serious, and he has lost nearly a fourth of his blood supply. We're pumping in units of whole blood as fast as we can, and as soon as he's stable, he's going directly up to surgery."
Caine closed his eyes and took a deep breath before asking, "Will he be all right?"
The doctor sighed and answered truthfully, "At this point, we just don't know. We're doing everything medically possible for him, be assured of that."
The elevator pinged. As soon as there was enough room for her slim form to slide through, Kacie squeezed through the doors. Desperate whimpering noises came from her throat as she ran toward them, her eyes wide and terrified. She was still dressed in surgical greens, though her facemask and gloves had been stripped off and discarded on the trip down from the OR. She observed Kermit's blood-soaked appearance and the tense faces around her, and her face completely drained of color.
She moaned and her legs started to buckle before Caine gripped her shoulders with both hands and told her, "He is alive," and crushed her to his chest.
She closed her eyes, a shudder convulsing her entire body as she sagged against him, covering her face with her hand and moaning, "God! Oh, God!" Gulping in a deep breath, she turned to the doctor and demanded, "Where is he?"
"Exam Room 2."
She pulled away from Caine and headed for the exam room with a determined stride.
The doctor attempted to block her path. "Wait a minute. You can't go in there."
Kacie snarled savagely, "I am an authorized member of this hospital staff and there is no force on this earth that can keep me away from him, so don't you fucking try!"
The doctor stepped back from her ferocity. She elbowed her way past him and disappeared through the door.
The doctors and nurses worked over the inert form in well-orchestrated, efficient movements. Dr. Dawson, the attending physician, glanced up and did a swift double take at Kacie's appearance.
"Mac, you shouldn't be in here."
"How is he?" She ignored the warning and moved closer to the table.
Dawson blocked her path. "We've stabilized him and we're taking him up to surgery now."
"Who's the surgeon?"
"McClanahan. He just finished a splenectomy."
"I know. I was in the OR with him until about five minutes ago." Two nurses and an intern took the gurney Peter lay on and rolled it toward the elevator that would take them up to the operating room.
Peter was barely visible beneath the tubes and wires and machinery that surrounded him. Kacie set her jaw and started to follow until Dawson gripped her arm. "Mac, you can't go. You know that."
"I have to be with him. Get out of my way!" Her voice rose in pitch as she struggled to free her arm.
The doctor kept his hold on her and spoke calmly. "You know procedure. You're too close to this one. You can't be in there."
She struggled in earnest. "Let me go! I'm the only one that McClanahan likes to have work with him. He's told me that things go smoother when I'm there. I have to be there!"
The door opened behind them and a deep voice resounded, "He's right, Kacie. You can't come in this time."
Both Dawson and Kacie stopped arguing and looked at Dr. McClanahan, who continued to speak, looking compassionately at Kacie the whole while. "Can't have you with me this time, Kacie. I need to be able to concentrate on my patient and not have to worry about whether or not one of my team is going to get hysterical on me."
"I wouldn't..." She faltered under his penetrating stare. Her eyes pleaded with him. "Please. I need to be with him. Please. I promise I won't get in the way."
McClanahan shook his head firmly. "Can't be done, Kacie. I'm sorry. I won't allow it. You need to be with family."
"I don't have any family! Don't you understand? He's all I've got! I love him. I can't lose him! I can't!" Her voice rose in panic and she clutched the lapels on the doctor's lab coat. "Please don't let him die -- please? Promise me you won't let him die? Promise me!"
The gray-haired surgeon abruptly pulled her into his arms and held her tightly for a brief moment. "The only promise I can give you is that I will use every last bit of skill I have to save him. He will get my very best; I promise you that." He released her and turned to address his colleague. "I've got to go get scrubbed up. Dr. Dawson, would you see Nurse McConnell to the waiting room area?" He strode away and disappeared into the elevator door that had just opened.
Dawson grasped Kacie's arm firmly and tugged her toward the waiting room. She twisted in his grip to stare desperately in the direction of the elevator to the OR, but allowed the doctor to guide her steps.
By the time they reached the waiting room, she had given up struggling and walked woodenly beside him. The detectives from the precinct were there, as was Caine.
When she looked into the eyes that were so like Peter's, her composure crumbled and she reached for Caine beseechingly.
He rose to his feet and met her. "I am glad you will be here to wait with me."
"They wouldn't let me stay with him," she choked out. "I wanted to, but they wouldn't let me."
Caine took her arm and seated her beside himself.
Clinging to the hand he offered her, she spoke in strangled tones. "Dr. McClanahan is doing the surgery. He's the thoracic specialist here -- the chief of surgery. He's the best. If anyone can help Peter, he can. He's..." Her lips crimped and her voice faltered to a whisper before failing completely. Caine put his arm around her shoulders, and she huddled next to him.
A nurse approached them. "Kacie? Dr. McClanahan wanted to let you know that if you want to come and watch the surgery, he's given permission for you to sit in the observatory."
Kacie immediately rose to her feet, then hesitated. "Can Peter's father come with me, too? I -- we -- need each other."
The nurse frowned and then remembered, "You're some kind of priest, aren't you?" At Caine's solemn nod, she considered a moment. "I don't think it would be a problem. You can both follow me."
She turned to Kermit, Jody, and Mary Margaret. "I'm sorry, but the rest of you will have to wait here."
The three walked away, their footsteps echoing hollowly down the long corridor.