Part 2
The fog slowly rose from around him, in him. The last he remembered was having dinner with Mary Margaret at an Italian restaurant. She had picked him up at his apartment, her dark wavy hair pulled back on each side with gold clips. Her dark brown eyes were soft in the candlelight of his apartment.
They had been 'dating' for over a year now. He still thought of Laura, his first true love and wife, but not as much.
Kwai Chang Caine continued to dive into his memory of last night. Fighting past his urge to linger with memories of Mary Margaret, Serena, and Laura, he dove deeper and found the product of his and Laura's love: their son, Peter. Smiling to himself, he watched Peter grow; then the smile faded at the memory of the fifteen years of sadness when he thought Peter was dead. Joy returned when he stumbled into his son, as Peter put it.
Caine again tried to find his memory of last night, but only ran into Tan, his father, Bon Bon Hai, and others from his past. Frustration greeted him, baited him to anger.
The strong emotions pulled him from his dreams. He found himself at the house of Peter's foster parents. "Why am I here?" he asked.
He walked toward the house, then stopped. "What am I doing? I don't need to be here." He turned to leave, but the front door opened.
"Mr. Caine? Is that you?" a voice asked.
Caine turned back to see Kelly Blaisdell bound down the steps toward him. With her hair pulled back, she looked even younger than her actual 23 years.
"Mr. Caine, are you all right?" Kelly asked as she came closer.
Caine stared at her. Again the fog descended on him; unclear memories battled in his mind.
"Mr. Caine?" Kelly asked again, concern evident in her voice. His look frightened her. The few times she had seen him, he had been in full control of his emotions. Peter often joked about Caine being the brother of Mr. Spock, the Vulcan on "Star Trek". But now, pain and confusion were playing across his face.
"Kelly? Who's out there?" Annie asked as she held open the front door.
"Um, it's Mr. Caine, Mom," Kelly answered, unsure of what to do next.
"Oh, Caine. Come inside," Annie offered.
Caine hesitated, but Kelly looped her arm around his and led him toward the house.
Inside, both Kelly and Annie led him toward the den. Annie felt the emotional turmoil Caine was in, but didn't know how to correct it. "Kelly, go make us some tea, please."
Kelly willingly obeyed, unsure of what was wrong with Caine, wishing her father or brother was here.
Annie sat beside Caine, putting her hand in his, and felt his body tremble. "Caine, what's wrong? Is it Peter?"
"I do not know. I cannot stay here." He didn't want to tell of his problem. He had to get to the Ancient; he could help him.
The phone rang as Kelly brought in the tea, and Annie answered the phone. "Hello. Oh, Paul. Did you find Peter?" She listened as Paul hesitated, evidently searching for the words to tell her what he had found. "Oh no, which hospital? Paul, do you know who did it?"
Paul answered, "Babe, it looks like Caine may have done it."
"I don't believe it," she said, then took a deep breath and added, "He's here."
"What! Caine's there?" Paul asked. In his heart, he knew Caine couldn't hurt anyone without provocation, but the proof was before him. "I'm sending a car over to pick him up."
"Paul," she started to protest, but her husband interrupted her.
"Annie, I know it's impossible, but just do as I ask, OK?"
"OK, but I'll get Kelly to drive us over there instead. All right?" She hung up the phone and squeezed Caine's hand, not believing what Paul had said. "Kelly, I need you to drive us to the hospital. Peter's been hurt."
Kelly gasped, "Is he all right?"
"Paul said he's in surgery," Annie explained as she tried to stand up. But she couldn't move; Caine still held her hand, but had not stood up. "Caine?" Annie tried to remain calm. "Peter's been hurt. We have to go see him."
Blinking his eyes, Caine finally understood what Annie was saying. "He has been stabbed. Yes, we must hurry." He stood slowly, his usually fluid movements missing.
As the three left for the hospital, Annie wondered, 'Did I say Peter had been stabbed?'
Mary Margaret went up the steps to the apartment above the meat market. She gingerly knocked on the door.
The door opened and an elderly Chinese man invited her in. "You are looking for Kwai Chang Caine. He is not here," Lo Si said before Skalaney could state the reason for her visit.
She watched as the elderly man went to the couch and sat down to pour two cups of tea and offer her one. She followed him and sat beside him on the couch, taking one of the cups. "I need to find him, Lo Si. Peter was found stabbed with his father's dagger, and there is a witness who said Caine was at Peter's. If another officer finds him…" she trailed off. She knew what cops did to those who killed or injured other cops.
"You do not believe this?" Lo Si asked, looking into her eyes.
"No. I don't." She shook her head. "But, what I believe is not what's important. Lo Si, I know you have powers, or something, where you can tell where Caine is. Please, you have to help me."
Lo Si saw the turmoil inside Mary Margaret's heart. The conflict between her caring for Caine and caring about her job was causing her heartache. "Something has happened. I cannot feel him anymore. It is as though he is being blocked from me. Please, could you drive me to the hospital so I can see Peter?"
Arriving at the hospital, Kelly dropped off her mother and Caine at the Emergency Room entrance, then went to park the car.
Paul met the two at the front door and stepped between them.
"Frank, take Annie to the waiting room, please. I need to talk to Caine for a moment." Paul watched as Annie looped her arm through Frank's and was guided to the surgical waiting room, then turned to Caine. "I don't want to believe this, but I have to look at the facts. Caine, where were you last night?"
Caine looked at Paul and remained silent. His confusion had not subsided.
"He was with me, Captain," Mary Margaret answered as she came up behind him. "We went out to eat. I picked him up about 6 and dropped him off about midnight, at his apartment."
"OK, that explains the first part of the night, but what about 4 this morning?"
"I do not know," Caine answered, bowing his head.
Lo Si rushed to his side, wanting to help his friend and feeling Caine's confusion. "My friend, you are not well. Please, he must sit down. His chi has been altered," Lo Si said to Paul, and led Caine to one of the chairs.
"Mary Margaret, stay here with him. When we find out about Peter, I want you to take him to the station."
Mary Margaret sat beside Caine. "Something's wrong with him," she said. "He wasn't like this last night."
Lo Si guided his hands over Caine's body. "His chi has been poisoned. I must take him back to my apartment."
Mary Margaret smiled and shook her head, "No, can't do that. Blaisdell would have my head. Besides, we need to see how Peter is. Caine? Do you want to go up to the surgical waiting room?"
"He must come with me," Lo Si stated more firmly.
"No. I will stay here until I know how my son is." Caine answered as he stared at the wall in front of him without really seeing it.
Dr. Spenser came out of the surgery suite and looked for the officer's family.
Frank was the first to see the doctor approaching them. He turned and nudged Paul.
"Are you Peter Caine's family?"
"Yes, we are. How is he?" Paul asked, holding more firmly onto Annie's hand.
"He's a fighter. Right now, he's weak from the blood loss. The knife nicked the spleen; I had to remove it. The other organs had some damage, but we were able to repair them. He'll be moving to SICU in a bit. Then we'll let him have a few visitors for a moment; but then he'll need peace and rest. Do you have any questions?" Dr. Spenser explained.
"Doesn't he need his spleen?" Annie asked, her voice shaky with emotion.
"No, people can function without a spleen. Its main purpose deals with blood clotting, but the other organs will pick up the slack. Any other questions?" Dr. Spenser waited for comments, but when none were voiced, he turned to leave.
"Oh, Doctor. The knife, what did you do with it?"
"Procedure is we bag it and send it to forensics. I believe a Sgt. Morrow signed for it." Dr. Spenser turned and walked back into the surgery suite.
Letting out a sigh, Paul kissed his wife lightly on the top of her head. "Frank, I want to know whose prints are on that knife as soon as possible. I'm going to tell Caine, then go to the precinct with him. Kelly, take your mother home."
Paul headed for the elevators to go to Caine, wondering why the priest had not come up to the surgical floor. As the elevator doors opened, Caine and Mary Margaret met him. "Caine, the doctor just told us Peter made it through surgery. They'll be taking him to intensive care in a bit," Paul explained. He didn't feel right, having to take Peter's father in for questioning, but policy mandated it, and Paul tried very hard not to show favoritism to his foster son. "I'll let you see him, but then, I'll have to take you to the precinct for questioning."
A nurse in blue scrubs arrived to take them to see Peter. Paul led Annie down the hallway, followed by Mary Margaret, leading a shaky Caine. The ever-present antiseptic smell hung in the air as they tried to avoid noticing the happenings in the cubicles to each side. The nurse led them to a cubicle halfway down the hall, its curtain drawn most of the way. It was opened enough for one person to enter at a time. Paul went in first and guided Annie to Peter's bedside. He cautioned her about the various tubes and wires that connected Peter to machines and bags of fluids.
Annie tentatively brushed Peter's forehead, caressed his cheek, and stifled a sob.
"Peter?" Paul asked as he held Peter's hand. "Can you hear me?"
Caine stayed at the doorway with Mary Margaret. The fog still had not lifted. Through the haze, he saw Peter lying in the hospital bed, the stark whiteness of the room enhancing the fog.
"Honey, come on. Please, wake up," Annie encouraged, continuing to caress Peter's face.
In the darkness of the medicine-induced sleep, Peter felt the soft touch, heard the familiar voices. Another familiar voice came through, pushing the nightmare before it.
"My son," Caine said softly.
"NO!" Peter shouted as his eyelids flew open and he tried to sit up.
Firm hands pushed him back down. "Peter, lie still," Paul said as he held Peter's shoulders down.
"Mr. Caine, you need to lie still," a nurse encouraged, then scowled look at the visitors. "If you don't lie still, I'll have to ask your family to leave."
Peter looked up into the eyes of his foster parents. "Paul? Mom?"
"Yes, Sweetie. We're here. Now, relax," Annie soothed.
Peter could not see past the couple and didn't care to. He was in a hospital room; he recognized the sight and smell, the pain. "Pop?"
Paul hesitated. Maybe Peter hadn't accused Caine earlier. Maybe he was just asking for the Shaolin priest. Paul moved over so Peter could see his father.
Terror filled Peter's eyes and face as he saw his tormentor. The nightmare came back. Closing his eyes against the hidden face of his attacker, he tried to forget, but instead heard his father's voice and saw who he thought was Caine, leaning over him. He heard again the voice of his father telling him he was the sacrificial lamb as he bound Peter's hands above his head, the glitter of the dagger as it reflected the moonlight from the window.
Peter screamed as he had screamed earlier in the night when the knife plunged into his abdomen. His arms and hands couldn't move, in the dream/past. Even now, Paul held Peter's shoulder's to the bed to prevent further injury.
"Get him out of here!" Paul yelled to Mary Margaret.
Dr. Spencer rushed from the nurse's station into the room, ordering all visitors out and more medication to calm Peter.
Paul ushered Annie out ahead of him, hearing the pleas and screams from Peter. This frightened Paul. Paul had heard screams like this when he was a mercenary, from men who had been tortured. He had even screamed like that.
In the corridor outside the SICU door, Paul glared at Caine. No longer did he feel that Caine was innocent. Taking a breath to calm himself, he nodded to Kelly to take her mother's arm, and then approached Caine. "Kwai Chang Caine, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Peter Caine. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Paul finished giving the Miranda Rights to Caine, watching for any clue from the man as to why the father would try to kill his son, a son Caine professed to love more than life itself.