Part 2

Paul walked slowly to the chapel to tell Annie the news. The doctor had come out and announced Peter had survived the surgery and would be all right with time and exercise. The good news was welcomed by all, but Paul and Eppy continued to blame themselves for Peter being shot.

Annie turned toward the slowly opening door. Her loss of vision when an infant had not affected her other senses, except maybe to make them more attuned to things around her. She knew it was Paul; she recognized the smell of his cologne, the slow steps and the creak of his leather shoes.

Mary Margaret squeezed Annie's hand. "Any word yet?" she asked, not able to tell by the expression on Paul's face.

A brief smile crossed his lips. "Yes. The doctor just came out. Peter's going to be all right. They'll let us see him in a little while."

Mary Margaret sensed the Captain's need to talk to his wife. They both needed to talk about their fears and feelings. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can cheer anyone else up." She gave a quick smile, laying her hand on Annie's shoulder as she stood. "Remember, I'm here if you need me."

Annie nodded, and listened for Mary Margaret to leave. Paul watched the brunette detective leave, the door closing securely behind her. Sitting down next to his wife, he began his practiced speech. "Annie, I'm sorry ab…."

Annie interrupted his speech. "Paul, I'm sorry."

"Let me go first," Paul requested, the agony he had been feeling for the last two hours weighing heavily on his heart.

"No, I need to say this." She waited for him to agree. She was answered with silence. "Paul, I had no right to blame you for what happened to Peter. Every parent dreams of their children following in their footsteps; why should you have been any different? It's just that I am so afraid that I am going to lose one of you. I love you both so much and it frightens me." The tears began again to well up in her eyes. Pausing, she tried to collect her thoughts. "When we were first married, I knew that every mission you went on, you might not come back. I worked with Rykker long enough to know the dangers of mercenary work. When the police department hired you, I accepted that also, because I knew you would be behind a desk. Matter of fact, I liked it, because you stopped going off on those missions. Well, at least not as many." She smiled; remembering the day he told her the news that he had been offered the position as Captain of the 101st.

Paul noticed the lingering smile as Annie remembered the night he told her of his new line of work. "Babe, I knew how worried you were. That's why I took the position. I felt your trembling each time I held you; I heard it in your voice. Oh, Annie, I love you so much." He pulled her into a hug, feeling the shared warmth of their bodies. Both let go of tears of pain, sorrow and worry. He continued to hold her as he finished. "I was so happy when Peter came to live with us. I guess, like every father, I was proud he wanted to become a cop just like me. I didn't stop and think about what it cost you in worry. You have put up with so much from both of us."

Annie pulled back slightly. "Don't forget the girls."

A crooked grin appeared, lighting up his blue eyes lined with red. "I thought they were not as bad as our son."

"No, they weren't, but they still got into trouble and knew how to get around their father."

The couple sat on the pew, each remembering the three children they raised together.

The door opened and Frank walked in with the doctor. "Captain Blaisdell, they just moved Mr. Caine to a private room. You can go see him, but I just wanted to tell you, he'll be sore for a while." With that, the doctor turned and left the room.

"Paul, IA is here. They are talking to Eppy now and want to see Peter as soon as he wakes up," Frank explained. He braced himself when he noticed the reddening face of his Captain.

Paul released Annie and stood. He tried to keep his temper under control, but this was too much too soon. "What the hell do they mean, talk to him as soon as he wakes up?!" Storming to the door past Frank, he paused. "Take Annie to Peter's room and stay with her. I'll be there in a minute, after I 'talk' to IA." With that, he opened the door and went to meet the people from IA.

He met the two from Internal Affairs in the snack shop. They were talking with Epstein. Paul reached into his pocket for change, depositing it into the machine for coffee. He watched as the styrofoam cup filled with black liquid, trying to calm himself before facing IA.

"Captain Blaisdell, I'm glad you're here. I'm Lt. Meyer of IA and this is Sgt. McGowan. We just finished our interview with Sgt. Epstein here, and now need to talk to Officer Caine." The tall woman stood, extending her hand to Paul.

Paul looked at the woman. He knew department policy on police shootings, especially when the shooting involved the killing of a suspect. But he also knew, as a father, that he didn't want Peter bothered with this just after surgery. "Lt. Meyer, you have taken Sgt. Epstein's statement, and I am sure you can find other witnesses. Officer Caine has just come out of surgery. He is not in any condition to give you a statement."

"I understand," Lt. Meyer said. "But Captain, we want to wrap this up quickly, before the media starts making it out to be more than what it was. I'm sure his family wouldn't mind if we talked just a few minutes with him. Surely, his family want to clear his name."

"Sue, I think..." Sgt. McGowan began but was cut off by the anger in Paul's next words. He knew of Paul's relationship with Peter, and knew that Sue's last statement was the wrong one to make.

"What the HELL do you know of his family? His name? I'll tell you what I KNOW! He is a young man fighting for his life after being shot by a man stopped for running a red light! Did he draw his weapon on the suspect? NO? Well then, you tell me what he did to sully his name. Both his mother and father, not to mention his partner, have been blaming themselves for this shooting and they DO NOT need you to add to it!" Paul yelled. The other patrons in the snack shop had stopped what they were doing, their own worries and fears briefly pushed to the side as they watched the confrontation.

Eppy came and stood beside Paul. "Captain, listen. He'll be OK. They are just doing their job."

Paul rubbed his hand across his face as he continued to glare at the IA officer. "Look, I'm sorry," Paul began, his temper gone as quickly as it had arrived. "I know it's your job to get the statements, but that is MY son that was shot. MY officer that did the shooting, in self-defense. I'm sure you can wait a day or two before interviewing Peter."

"Oh, I didn't know," she responded coolly. "But I have a job to do. And that means interviewing ALL those involved in the shooting. I will give Officer Caine until tomorrow morning." She then turned and left.

Sgt. McGowan then stepped up. "Paul, she's new and does everything by the book. I didn't tell her about you being Peter's foster father. Everything checked out with the witnesses, and Eppy had no choice but to gave his statement. It is her case so I need to let her run with it."

"Damn fool thing to do, to keep information from her like that. But I'll be damned if I let her upset Peter," Paul answered.

"Well, go check on Peter. We'll stop by and see him tomorrow if he's up to the interview. I'll talk to her, OK?"

Paul nodded. "Come on, Eppy. Let's go check on the kid."

Peter fought his way from the darkness that surrounded him. He could hear the whir of a machine, the soft murmur of voices nearby. The darkness turned to gray, then grew lighter. Opening his eyes, he saw the face of the woman he had come to call Mom.

"Mom?" he asked, making sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Yes, Honey. I'm here." Annie reached out and touched Peter's face. She felt the plastic cannula that went from Peter's ears to his nose, delivering oxygen to his lungs. "So are Paul and Eppy." Annie struggled to keep the quiver out of her voice.

"I was hoping…this was a…nightmare." Talking made the pain worsen.

"I wish it were," she answered.

Even through the haze of drugs, Peter could tell Annie was upset about something, but his mind would not allow him to pull the pieces together. He listened to the voices, hearing what sounded like an argument. "Paul?"

Paul heard the conversation and Peter's call. "Hi, Son." Grasping the young man's hand, he commented, "You gave us quite a scare."

Peter's vision slowly cleared, allowing him to see the drawn creases on Annie's forehead and Paul's red eyes. "I'm sorry."

Annie continued to caress Peter's face. "Honey, what are you sorry for? You haven't done anything wrong."

Peter wished he could look into Annie's eyes. Kwai Chang Caine, Peter's father, had once said, "a person's eyes were the gateway to the soul". If Peter could look into his mother's eyes, he knew he would see pain and concern about him. "Don't want…to make you…worry." Peter pressed his cheek into Annie's hand, wishing she would stay like that for a while longer.

"That's what we are here for. In the past year as a rookie, you've taken some chances that could have got you shot, or worse. That's why I put you with Eppy. I knew he could teach you things that I couldn't. Like, how to survive a shooting." Paul smiled as he talked, his own raging emotions coming under control as he talked to his son. Holding Peter's hand and getting a return squeeze helped ease Paul's own feelings of guilt. Guilt at letting Peter become an officer. Guilt that maybe he could have protected Peter more, though Paul knew nothing could have protected Peter from what had happened.

Peter attempted a smile. His eyes were getting heavy again after a nurse came in and gave some medication through the IV tubing.

Behind Paul, Peter saw movement as he fought off sleep. "Eppy?"

Sgt. Epstein walked up to the bed. He was still haunted by the day's shooting. Knowing everything had turned out all right did not change his feeling of guilt. "Hey, Kid."

"Hi, Partner." A smile finally spread across his lips, "I think we…need to make…a new rule."

"Yeah? What's that?" Eppy asked, watching Peter's valiant fight to stay awake.

"If someone runs…a light, let him."

"I agree," Annie stated. "We need to go and let you rest. I'll be back later, OK?"

"'k. Mom? Dad? I love you." Peter murmured as he lost the fight to stay awake.

"We love you too, Son." Both parents leaned down and kissed Peter's forehead. Paul pulled the covers up around the young man's shoulders.

As the three left the room, Paul knew it would be a while before any of them got over this. They had already made the first step - talking. Paul was taking Annie home, then would come back to stay the night at Peter's bedside. But first, he and Annie needed to finish their healing.

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