| Lennie shut the TV off in disgust. At least in the old days they ran game shows that could keep you entertained in the afternoon. Now it was all soap operas and Jenny Jones tell-alls. He couldn�t for the life of him understand why ANYBODY would agree to appear on those shows. Bored. Bored, bored, bored. Unfortunately, it had only been a few days since he�d woken up from the coma. He was still weak as a kitten. Getting shot AND nearly cracking his skull open on the courthouse steps had really done him in. Of course now he was still sleeping half the day. He couldn�t imagine how bad it was going to get when he was feeling better but still couldn�t go back to work. But at least Jack was all right. He vividly remembered that moment of panic when he had seen the man pointing a gun at the EADA. He�d barely had time to push Jack out of the way when he heard the �crack� of gunfire. He felt the bullet hit him, the explosion of pain, followed by another as he fell against the courthouse steps. He didn�t remember anything after that until waking up the next day to find Jack sitting beside him, holding his hand. For a moment he thought he�d died and gone to heaven; how many times had he dreamed of holding that hand? // and the rest of that body � // He�d thought he�d heard Jack moaning his name. // Wishful thinking, pal. // Lennie was sure he�d still been mostly out of it; he couldn�t be remembering it right. But it had been a nice way to wake up. The shooting had happened last Thursday; it had been Friday evening when he woke up. Over the weekend everybody had stopped by to see him. Lt. Van Buren had come in on Saturday, looking like she was going to cry when she saw him awake. He�d had his doubts about working for a woman, but she managed to combine a tough-as-nails exterior with a mother-hen concern for her detectives. It worked. Lennie had to admit he�d gotten rather fond of her. Rey and Debra had stopped by with Olivia, their oldest. The girls were apparently very worried about their Uncle Lennie, and Olivia had been charged to report back that he really was all right. Jack had come Saturday evening and every evening since then. Lennie had really come to look forward to his daily visits. Partly for the company � had he mentioned how bored he was? But mostly because he liked spending time with the man. Just like that evening a year ago when they had run into each other after work. Jack was easy to talk to, they had a lot of common interests. His devotion to the friend who had saved his life was touching, even if it left Lennie feeling vaguely uncomfortable. Of course, deep inside, Lennie didn�t want his gratitude, he wanted his love. Which was never going to happen. So gratitude would have to do. Sunday afternoon Don Cragen had come by. He had gently caressed Lennie�s face. �Don�t you ever do that to me again, you hear me? I thought we were going to lose you.� They were more than friends, not quite lovers, occasional bedmates. Lennie couldn�t even begin to put a name to the bond they shared. Cragen pulled up the chair, took Lennie�s hand, and they talked about anything and nothing, until finally Lennie had to ask him. �Did you call Mike?� Cragen nodded. �Yeah. Left him a couple of messages, Lennie. I don�t think he�s coming.� Lennie sighed. They had been so close there for a while. Such a short while, just a few months. Lennie had told him he wasn�t looking for romance, but their deep friendship had blossomed almost instantly into a passionate affair. The high had been more intense than anything Lennie had ever imagined, then the crash had devastated him. They hadn�t spoken in two years now, but Lennie knew that a little piece of his heart would always belong to Mike Logan. But apparently Mike didn�t even care that he had almost died. Cragen could see Lennie�s disappointment. He squeezed his friend�s hand. �Don�t dwell on it, Lennie. You�ve still got me.� Lennie managed a small smile. �Thanks, Don.� Of course, the biggest question remained. �Lennie? Has McCoy been here?� �He was with me when I woke up, Don. Holding my hand, if you can believe it.� // so he didn�t run away screaming after all � // �Really?� Lennie nodded. �I guess this hit him pretty hard, having somebody trying to kill him. Shook him up pretty good.� Cragen nodded. �Yeah, he took it pretty hard.� Lennie sighed, and Cragen squeezed his hand again, knowing exactly what his friend was thinking. �You wish you could be with him.� �Yeah.� Lennie�s eyes had closed, so he quietly slipped away, letting him rest. Cragen knew he�d have to tell Lennie about what Jack had heard at some point. But if he came back to the hospital after he�d stormed out, at least he wasn�t letting it get in the way. He must have accepted it at some level. Holding Lennie�s hand? Cragen wondered, it might not mean anything � ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jack sat up and stretched, glancing at his watch. 6:30. Enough of this for one day. Time to head over to the hospital. He�d just finished changing into his jeans when Jamie stuck her head into his office. �Heading home?� Jack shook his head. �Going over to the hospital to see Lennie.� At Jamie�s raised eyebrow, he continued. �The poor guy is bored out of his mind. The least I can do is keep him company a few hours each day.� She laughed, knowing how hard it could be to be stuck in a hospital bed. �Good point. Give him my best, will you?� Jack nodded, grabbed his helmet, and headed down to the garage. He found he really looked forward to these evenings with Lennie. He still wasn�t sure which motive had driven him back to the detective�s bedside after he woke up. Was it gratitude for the man who had saved his life? Or was it something else, something that had started when he overheard Cragen? He tried not to think about it. Sometimes, just sitting there talking or playing cards, he forgot about it completely. They were just two friends killing time, keeping each other company. But other times, he�d suddenly be extremely aware of that something else. Last night, Lennie had been really tired; they�d been running him around the hospital that afternoon for various tests. He�d fallen asleep shortly after Jack arrived. Jack had stayed there, watching him sleep, feeling something he wasn�t entirely comfortable with. He slipped into another fantasy of that evening a year ago. By the time the nurse chased him out, he was seriously aroused. And again, once home, he took his release. Thinking about it now made him wonder if this was yet another result of his gratitude � wanting to give Lennie his fondest desire? Or was it real, something he�d always been capable of but never noticed? He wondered if he�d ever know for sure. One thing was certain. It was going to be quite a while before Lennie was up to even talking about it, let alone doing anything. He had plenty of time to decide what if anything he was going to do. As he entered Lennie�s room, he was surprised to see a pretty young nurse sitting in the visitor�s chair chatting with the patient. It took a moment before he realized it was Lennie�s daughter Cathy, not a nurse who worked here. �Oh, sorry to interrupt �� �No, Jack, come in. I want you to meet somebody �� He smiled proudly at his little girl. Jack came into the room and hesitated. �We�ve met. Hello, Cathy.� She got up and turned to him. �Mr. McCoy, please, I want to apologize for Friday morning. I was very rude to you �� He sighed, relieved that she really didn�t blame him. �Nothing to apologize for, Cathy. We were all worried about him.� She nodded and reached for her things. �Listen, I�ve got to get to work. I�m on night shift this week.� She turned to Lennie. �I�ll try to stop by tomorrow if I don�t pull another double shift.� She leaned down and kissed his cheek. �Night, Dad.� As she left, Lennie sighed. �And I thought cops worked terrible hours �� Jack chuckled, then stopped as he noticed the almost sad expression on his friend�s face. �Lennie? What�s on your mind?� He pulled up the chair Cathy had vacated. �I just wish it didn�t take something like this to bring her back into my life. We haven�t talked since the day of the execution.� He knew he didn�t have to specify. For both of them, there was only one that mattered. Jack was reluctant to open the old wounds, but he sensed Lennie needed to talk about this. �I didn�t know your daughter was involved in that?� He made it a question, giving Lennie the opening. �She saw me on TV when they televised it. Came to see me that afternoon. We�ve never been really close, I left them when she was little. We started out catching up, actually talking together like adults. It was really kinda nice at first. But before I knew it, we were fighting again, blaming each other for everything wrong with our lives �� He sighed, then looked up at Jack. �That fight was why I went into that bar in the first place. We were talking about it on the way home. Claire was trying to convince me that my kid really didn�t hate me when �� Jack leaned forward, gently laid his hand on Lennie�s shoulder, struggling with his own emotions. �Don�t go there, Lennie. It�s over and done with. We can�t change it now.� Lennie looked up at him, saw the pain echoed in his friend�s eyes and reached up to lay his hand over Jack�s. They looked at each other for a long time, neither one wanting to move. Finally Lennie nodded and let go. Jack sighed as he leaned back in the chair. Old wounds opened and new feelings stirring at the same time. That touch had triggered something inside him. He decided a change of subject was in order. �Hey, isn�t there a game on tonight?� Lennie was as eager as he was for the distraction. �Yeah, I think so.� Jack turned his chair around to face the TV and grabbed the remote from the bedside table. They settled in to watch, chatting back and forth about the game. After about half an hour, Lennie stopped answering, snoring softly instead. Jack shut off the TV and looked down at Lennie. He wasn�t sure exactly what it was that he was feeling, but he couldn�t help reaching down to gently touch Lennie�s shoulder one last time. �Sleep well, Lennie.� Continue to "Chapter 4" Return to the Story Index Send me some feedback Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Unexpected Song (by Andrew Lloyd Weber, from Song and Dance) I have never felt like this, For once I'm lost for words, Your smile has really thrown me. This is not like me at all. I never thought I'd know the kind of love you've shown me. Now no matter where I am, no matter what I do, I see your face appearing. Like an unexpected song that only we are hearing. I don't know what's going on, can't work it out at all, whatever made you choose me? I just can't believe my eyes, you look at me as though you couldn't bear to lose me. Now no matter where I am, no matter what I do, I see your face appearing. Like an unexpected song that only we are hearing. |
| Unexpected Song |
| Chapter 3 |