Part 12
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Caine smiled at the voice calling up to his flat from the last flight on the fire escape and continued to tend his herbs. He was still smiling as Peter approached him.
"Hi, Pop."
Caine winced. {Pop. It is the noise one would hear when opening a bottle of champagne. Still, it is the name that Peter has chosen to use for me, and only me.}
"Oops. Sorry, 'Dad'." Peter grinned cheekily at his father and bent to sniff the jasmine blossoms, as was his habit when he visited his father.
"What can I do for you, my son?"
"Kacie's out of your tea, and it's making her feel so much better, she asked if she could have some more. I'd have brought her with me, but I didn't think she was ready for three flights of stairs yet."
"Ah," Caine responded, nodding. He stopped his gardening and entered his apartment, Peter at his heels. After carefully washing his hands at the kitchen sink, Caine reached for various bowls and jars. As he mixed and ground the fragrant herbs, he commented, "You are very fond of your new friend."
"Yeah, I am. I've never met anyone like her." Peter sniffed at the contents of some of the jars, wrinkling his nose at the scent of most of the herbs.
"You have feelings for her?"
Peter stopped toying with the jars in his hand and regarded his father curiously. "What do you mean by feelings?"
Caine shrugged his shoulder casually. "Feelings. Affection."
Peter stared suspiciously at his father, but Caine's face was devoid of emotion as he went about preparing the herbs. Thinking a moment, Peter replied slowly, "I like her a lot. She's the first female friend I've ever had, outside of the Blaisdell girls and the people at work. She's easy to talk to, fun to be with. She makes me feel...I don't know."
"You are...dating?"
"Dating?" Peter chuckled and then paused. "Dating? That's a different type of relationship entirely. Kacie and I are just friends. I mean, I've never even thought of...with her. Well, I mean, I guess I've thought of it, but not really thought about it. I mean..." He stopped in confusion, a puzzled frown on his expressive face. "Gee, Pop, that would be like...with Jody or Skalany, or Kelly Blaisdell." He shook his head to clear it. "She's just a friend, Pop, kinda like having another sister." He changed the subject abruptly. "You done yet, Pop? We're gonna be late for dinner at Annie's. She said for you to come over if you wanted."
Caine looked up from his work and smiled. "It would be a pleasure to see Annie again. I will wash up and change clothes."
Peter chattered happily with his father on the trip to the Blaisdell home. Annie greeted them at the door, and Peter left the two together while he went off in search of his friend.
Kacie was curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace. She was sleeping, a still-opened book lying on the floor beside her. Peter halted a moment and looked down at her as she slept. Her long, curling eyelashes stood out in dark relief against her creamy skin. Her lips were parted slightly, and from the look on her face, her dreams were pleasant. As he watched her, he suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. Without intending to, he leaned over her and, just as their lips were about to meet, she stirred in her sleep.
Coming to himself, Peter jumped back as Kacie opened her eyes and saw him looking at her.
Yawning and stretching, she mumbled sleepily, "Mmmm. What time is it?"
Bringing himself back to reality with a jerk, he checked the watch on his wrist. "Almost six."
She yawned again and struggled to sit up, the afghan in a tangle around her. "Six? Oh my gosh, I was supposed to help Annie with dinner." She started to unwrap herself but only succeeded in getting wrapped up tighter.
Peter tried to assist her, and soon both were laughing at his ineffectual efforts. "How did you get into this mess?" he asked her.
"Beats me. The afghan wasn't even here when I hit the couch with my book. Annie must've brought it."
"You sure must thrash around a lot in your sleep."
"I wouldn't know. I never stay awake to find out."
Caine and Annie worked on the meal preparations together, listening to the peals of laughter that reached them in the kitchen.
"Peter tells me that he and Kacie are just friends," Caine said conversationally.
"Now isn't that interesting. She says the same thing about him."
"Methinks the children do protest too much," Caine misquoted in an amused tone.
"I think you see the situation very accurately, Kwai Chang Caine. How long do you think it will be before they both open their eyes?"
She giggled and then chanted the answer along with him, "You do not know."
"So, what's new with Kacie these days?" asked Skalany. "Where you hiding her, Peter? Afraid we might tell her what you're really like and scare her away?"
He made a face in Mary Margaret's direction. "Very funny, ha ha. For your information, she's moved back to her own place again and wants to start back to work pretty soon."
Skalany looked over at him in surprise. "Would that be a good idea?"
"I don't think so," Peter groused. "Not so soon, anyway. But that tea that Pop came up with for her has her feeling so good, she's going to try it anyway. At least Mom was able to talk her into getting a physical first." He snorted. "You'd think someone in the medical field would know better."
Mary Margaret snickered. "This coming from a guy who has to be tied down to stay in a hospital instead of leaving AMA."
Peter stiffened in his seat.
"What's up, Partner?"
"We've been made. They're gonna rabbit. Let's go, Skalany." He opened the car door quickly and took off on the run, as usual ignoring his partner's plea to wait for backup.
The two suspects split up, and Peter took the one heading down an alley while Skalany went after the man racing down the street. She was lucky that her man tripped over his own feet, and she was able to subdue him with no problem. She had just handcuffed him and was leading him back to the car when she heard shots ring out from the alley where Peter had disappeared.
Heart in her throat, she unlocked the cuffs and quickly secured her prisoner again to the leg of a nearby bench. "You stay put, or so help me I'll shoot your kneecaps off." Sprinting to the alley, she peered around the corner, gun in hand.
Peter stood over his suspect with a foot on the man's neck, attempting to stem the flow of blood from a wound in his own upper right arm. A ribbon of red was already trickling from the bottom of his jacket sleeve and splashing to the ground.
Skalany raced over to Peter, taking his handcuffs off his belt and using them to secure the suspect, who was moaning and bleeding badly from a wound to his leg.
Before she could ask, Peter told her, "He was waiting for me when I came around the corner. Lucky shot."
She looked at the darkening stain on his jacket and commented dryly, "Lucky shot for whom, Partner? Come on, let's get you and these other two taken care of."
Skalany sat outside the ER waiting for Peter to get stitched up. The doctors had assured her it was a fairly minor flesh wound, the bullet slicing away flesh without doing any major tendon or muscle damage. He would be sore for a while, but there was nothing life-threatening involved. Their prisoner was in worse shape and had been patched up and sent to a room, an armed guard already posted outside his door.
Peter emerged from the exam room carrying his ruined jacket. His shirt wasn't in much better shape, but he still wore it.
A doctor followed Peter and handed him a prescription. "Take this to the hospital pharmacy and get it filled. That arm is going to be pretty sore for a few days. See to it that you change the dressing three times a day, and if there's any sign of infection, you need to get to a doctor immediately. The stitches should be ready to come out in about a week, and you'll need to see your own physician about that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to see." He wheeled about and strode swiftly down the corridor.
"OK, Partner, Simms wants to see you back at the precinct," Skalany informed Peter. "She already knows about the shooting and wants the reports filled out ASAP. I have an idea you've got a ticket home for the rest of the day."
The pair walked to the pharmacy and picked up his pain pills. "I'm fine," he insisted. "I can at least go back to the precinct and get caught up on paperwork. I don't need to go home."
"What, you gonna type with one hand?" Skalany scoffed. "And you're not exactly a candidate for best-dressed detective the way you look right now, either."
"So, I'll go home and change clothes. Come on, Skalany, I don't feel like arguing with you right now."
She muttered something under her breath and jerked open the outer door leading to the parking lot. "I suppose this means you still plan to come out tonight to Chandler's, too. Be kinda hard to take a drink on these pills." She read the instructions on the bottle. "Do NOT drink alcohol while on this medication. Hmm, you'll be a real party animal tonight, won'cha?"
Peter halted suddenly and smacked himself in the forehead with the palm of his left hand. "I forgot that Kacie was going to meet us there. I can't let her see me like this."
Skalany's jaw dropped. "You mean you're not going to tell her you got hurt today? Peter!"
"No, I'm not going to tell her, and neither are you! This isn't any big deal, and I'd rather not bring up the topic of a cop getting shot with her. She's not going to hear about it from me, and nobody else better say anything about it, either."
"I don't know, Peter. I don't think it's a good idea to keep something like this from her." Skalany shook her head doubtfully.
"Look, if none of you tell her about it, how's she gonna know? And as the saying goes, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. Now gimme a ride to my place so I can get changed."
They climbed into the car, Skalany taking the driver's seat still shaking her head. "I don't have a good feeling about this, Peter, and you know about a woman's intuition."
"I know about a woman's mouth. Drive, Skalany. Just drive."
The usual crowd had gathered at Chandler's: Kermit, Blake, Jody, Skalany, and Strenlich. Even Captain Simms had ended up at their table. Peter solved the problem about what to drink by making arrangements with Terry, the bartender, to bring him a rum and Coke, minus the rum. He had already been driven to take a pain pill, and the dire warning on the label was enough to keep even him from violating the directions.
He kept glancing at the clock. It was after seven, and Kacie had said she would meet them at six. He was getting worried, and his arm throbbed painfully. {Shit. Maybe I should have called her and begged off for the evening.} He looked up at the entrance and inwardly winced. {Too late. There she is.}
Kacie approached the group with a smile, and only Peter failed to notice that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Sorry I'm late, everyone. I got tied up." When Terry approached, she ordered, "Club soda, please." She looked over at Peter and then around the table at the others.
"So, Kacie." Skalany made a stab at starting a casual conversation. "Peter tells us you're back home again."
There was an unusual glitter in Kacie's eyes as she smiled from the teeth out. "Yes, just made the big move today. It was so nice of Annie to have me. I told her I had to leave before she had to start charging me rent. How was your day, Peter?" She looked at him and waited for his answer, her eyes challenging.
Kermit watched the exchange and murmured under his breath in a sing-sing voice to Jody, "She kno-ows. Our boy is in big trouble."
"I'll say," Jody whispered back. "I see storm clouds on the horizon."
Peter answered glibly, "Oh, it was just your typical day of crime in the big city." If he hadn't been on medication, he would have seen the light of battle shining in Kacie's eyes.
"How about you, Mary Margaret?" Kacie asked sweetly. "Did you have a 'typical day' today, too?"
"Uh, yeah, just your average run-of-the-mill being a partner with Peter day," Mary Margaret answered truthfully.
"Kermit, anything new in your life today?" Kacie asked guilelessly.
"Same-old, same-old," Kermit temporized, grateful for the sunglasses covering his eyes. "Never left my modem all day long. What's new with you?"
"With me? Oh, I'm going back to work day after tomorrow," she remarked casually.
"I thought you were going to get a physical first?" Peter commented, then took a sip of his drink.
"I did," she responded in a honeyed tone. "I went to the hospital today, had a complete physical, and have been pronounced fit to return to duty."
Peter choked on his drink and wiped his dripping chin with the back of his hand. "You-you were at the hospital today?"
"Yes, I was there this afternoon," she purred. "I stopped to talk to Dr. McClanahan for a few minutes after I'd finished my appointment."
Peter felt the beginnings of a headache whose throb matched that in his arm. Since he had no clue what to say next, he took another sip of his drink. He glanced around at his friends and realized that no help would be coming from any of them.
"Imagine my surprise--" Kacie said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "--when he asked me how you were? And imagine my surprise when I had to find out from the hospital grapevine that you had been brought into the ER with a gunshot wound." Her eyes flashed dangerously, turning nearly black with emotion. "Is that what you call a 'typical day', Detective Caine?"
Peter opened his mouth to reply, but was at an absolute loss for words.
He didn't have a chance to say a word before Kacie hissed furiously, "How dare you! How dare ALL of you keep something like this from me!" She glared furiously around the table. "Just how long were you going to keep this up? All night? Just when were you going to tell me what happened? Or were you going to tell me at all?" Her voice rose in pitch and volume and she abruptly stood up, spilling her glass of soda.
"For God's sake, I'm a cop's daughter! I know what goes on. I know the risks you all take every day. I don't need anybody to protect me from the truth." She fought for control, angry tears welling in her eyes. "Yes, I lost my father and my brother in the line of duty, and yes, it terrifies me that the same thing could happen to you." She looked directly at Peter before moving her gaze around at them all. "It terrifies me that it could happen to any one of you."
She drew a shaky breath. "But the fact that you would LIE to me about this just blows me out of the water."
Skalany looked liked she wanted to respond, but Kacie didn't give her a chance. "A half-truth is the same thing as a lie to me, and that's what you've done. I know that a precinct is like a family, and I know that you would do anything to help one another. That's fine. That's just FINE." Her furious gaze burned each officer in turn. "But don't you EVER do this to me again, do you hear? Don't you EVER fuck me around like this again!" With that she kicked over her chair and stormed out.
A stunned silence fell over the group.
"I didn't think she swore," Blake commented in surprise.
"I didn't think she ever got mad," added Jody.
"I didn't think she'd find out" was Skalany's contribution.
"Hell, admit it; we just didn't think at all," Kermit said.
They all looked at Peter, who was still staring off in the direction of Kacie's exit.
"What are you going to do about damage control, Kid?" Kermit asked.
Peter's face was drawn and the pain in his eyes was from more than his aching head and arm. "I don't know. Somehow, I don't think an 'I'm sorry' is going to get me anywhere."
Mary Margaret shrugged and sipped her drink. "How are you at groveling and begging, Partner? And remember: I did not say 'I told you so'."
"You never know until you try, Detective," remarked Simms. "Sometimes a simple 'I screwed up and I'm sorry' is very effective. And by the way," she continued. "Take the day off tomorrow, for medical leave. You don't look too well."
Wordlessly she stepped aside and let him enter, closing the door behind him and brushing past him. Sitting cross-legged on the couch, she hugged a pillow to herself, refusing to look at him. She snatched a tissue from a box on the lamp table and blew her nose, eyes fastened on the far wall.
He sat on the couch next to her and she slid away. The simple rejection cut him to the quick, and he struggled for words. He finally decided to take the captain's advice and said in a choked voice, "Kacie, I-I-I'm sorry. What I did was thoughtless and stupid and it was wrong. I don't have an excuse. I shouldn't have tried to hide what happened today from you." He waited for her response, but she simply sat and wiped away residual tears with the heels of her hands, steadfastly averting her eyes from him.
"I-I just didn't want to upset you. I wasn't hurt bad, and it didn't seem like a big deal. I never dreamed I'd upset you like this anyway. Kace...what do you want me to say?" he asked softly.
She looked at him then, eyes filled with pain. "You've never lied to me before. That was what I loved most about our friendship, that I always felt you were honest with me. I trusted you. I needed someone I could believe in again." Her breath caught raggedly.
He noted her use of the past tense and felt something inside start to crumble.
"Don't ever lie to me again. Because I just can't take that. Not from you."
"No," he whispered, hope suddenly leaping in his breast. He reached out a hand to her and she crawled over to him. He gathered her close with his good arm and she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.
She stayed close, leaning against his chest. "How does your arm feel?" she asked thickly.
"Hurts like hell."
"Let me look at it."
He obediently sat up and unbuttoned his shirt. She helped him ease his shirt off and then peered under the dressing. "Have you changed this yet today?"
He shook his head. "Nuh uh."
"I'll get my first aid kit."
As she headed for the bathroom, Peter closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief that unexpectedly turned into a grimace of pain.
Kacie returned, kit in hand, and deftly but gently changed his bandage before going into the kitchen and bringing back a glass of water. "Where's your pain pills?"
He meekly took them out of his coat pocket and handed them to her.
Frowning at the label, she picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Let me speak to an attending, please. This is Mac..." She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited. "Dr. Dawson? This is Katherine McConnell. Sorry to bother you, but I have a friend who has a scrip for Tylenol 3, and is about to go to bed for the night. He's in a lot of pain, so I wondered if he could take two as long as I'm here to check on him...I see...I see...thank you, Doctor." She hung up and shook out two pills. Handing them to Peter, she ordered, "Take these. No argument."
Tossing back his head, he popped in the pills and dry swallowed them.
"What are you doing? Drink this glass of water! That's no way to take medication!" She scowled darkly and thrust the glass at him.
He took it from her hand and quickly downed the entire contents without taking a breath. He looked at her over the glass. "I'm staying here tonight?"
"Right here on the couch. You want a pair of old sweats or something? I might have an old pair of Dad's or Kevin's lying around in a closet somewhere."
"That's OK; I don't wear...I mean I don't need...I mean..." He grinned sheepishly as she laughed at his embarrassment.
"Say no more."
She got out a pillow, bedding, and blankets from a nearby closet. After shooing him into a nearby chair, she quickly and efficiently converted the couch into the hide-a-bed and made it up for him as he watched. She helped him take off his shoes, and then headed toward the kitchen. He heard her rustling around in the refrigerator, and when she returned, she was carrying two frozen packages of peas.
"What are those for?"
"Do whatever you're going to do and get into bed."
She turned her back while he stripped off his jeans and crawled under the covers. She then reached into her first aid kit and took out an elastic wrap. She gently wrapped the frozen peas against his arm, using the elastic bandage to anchor the packages in place. Between the pain pills and the cooling comfort of the ice, the throbbing was lessening and he was beginning to feel sleepy.
She brought the blanket up snugly around his neck and then tenderly stroked the hair at his temple.
He looked up at her, his eyesight fuzzy from the medication. "I don't deserve you taking care of me like this. You should have kicked me out and locked the door."
"I was going to, but you used that 'look' on me again. Remind me to build up a resistance to it."
His eyes fluttered and he drifted off to sleep thinking drowsily, {God help me if that ever happens.}