The man in the bed shook his head. “Not a thing. I was standing there, and *wham* suddenly I saw stars.”
Monica fought the urge to scream, as she looked at Jake, who wore an expression of ultimate frustration. He closed his eyes, and ran a hand over them. “Okay. That’s it?”
“Sorry, I wish I knew more,” said the mailman, with a sigh. “Is Mr. Donovan all right?”
“He will be. If you think of anything, can you let us know, please?”
The mailman nodded.
They left the room, and headed straight for Frank’s. “This is crazy,” he commented, to Monica.
“I know. At this rate, we might never find out who did it.”
“Yeah, until he tries again.”
They were silent the rest of the way to the room. When they were almost there, a nurse ran past them holding a packet of blood, and into Frank’s room.
Jake and Monica looked at each other, and followed at a run. Jake’s phone started to ring as they ran in, and when he saw Alex holding hers to her ear, it was obvious who the caller was.
“What happened?” Jake said, going to the side of the bed.
“They gave him the wrong blood!”
“What?!” Monica exclaimed.
“I…grabbed it, before it had a chance to hurt him,” Alex said, remembering her not-too-gentle action.
“Thank God,” Monica whispered.
“How did this happen?” Jake demanded.
Alex shook her head. “I wish I knew.”
“I am about to find out,” said a voice behind them. It was Dr. Montgomery, with a frightened-looking nurse standing next to him.
“I-I just took the blood they gave me, and brought it up here,” the young girl said, no louder then a whisper.
“Who gave it to you?”
“I did.”
They turned to see another woman enter the room. It was the Head Nurse, having been told what had happened.
“You did, Barb? Tell us,” Dr. Montgomery asked her.
“I got a call to run up some 0+ to this room. I gave it to Rae, and she took it up.”
“Did you actually placed it in her hand?” Jake asked.
She looked at him, as if to say, ‘who the heck are you’. “No, I didn’t. I told her where it was going, and placed it on the counter.”
“Is this counter near the door?”
“Yes, it is.”
Jake thought for a minute. “And then you,” he looked at Rae. “Took it and brought it up here.”
Rae nodded, looking shocked over the situation.
Jake made a motion with his head to the doctor, indicating that the nurses should leave.
Dr. Montgomery ushered them out the door, and looked expectantly to Jake.
“It was the mailman.”
“Huh?” The doctor and Alex both said.
“We found out that the man who did this was disguised as the mailman. He was obviously here, and switched the blood. B+ on the label can be mistaken for 0+ if not looked at very well. Rae there took it from her superior, having no doubt that it was the right one, and so didn’t notice that it was the wrong type.”
“It’s not exactly easy to go into the blood bank and switch blood,” said the doc.
“Not easy, but not impossible,” Jake said. “This guy obviously likes disguises. It wouldn’t be hard to find a doctor uniform or a lab coat, and simply walk in there like he owned the place.”
They were all silent for a minute, as they realized that the danger was mounting now that the shooter was trying to kill Frank in the hospital.
The doctor sighed. “Let me go explain to the nurses, they’re probably wondering.”
Jake nodded. “Ask them if they saw anyone in there at that time.”
Dr. Montgomery nodded, and left.
Suddenly Cody walked in. “Hey guys. Did you find out about the mailman?” he asked.
Before anyone had a chance to answer him, they suddenly heard a noise. Turning to the bed, they saw Frank move slightly, and wince.
“Frank!” Alex said, as they rushed closer.
The second thing; he had no idea what had happened.
The third thing; he had no idea where he was.
The fourth thing; everything was black. He realized the reason for that being that his eyes were shut.
He tried to move, eyes still closed, but abandoned that idea when the pain intensified, shooting through his left shoulder all the way down his left arm. It made him gasp, and it took him a while to figure out that someone’s hand was on his good arm. Suddenly realizing that he heard voices, he figured it would be a good idea to see who they belonged to.
Finally opening his eyes, he saw people that looked familiar, but he drew a blank on their names. He just blinked up at their slightly fuzzy faces, wracking his muddled brain to tell him who they were.
They all smiled at Frank with relief when he finally looked at them, but their relief turned to fear when they saw his blank stare.
“Frank?” Jake said, nervously.
In a flood, it all came back to him. Frank sighed, in relief himself. “Jake.”
Everyone smiled. “How do you feel?” Alex asked, fighting the urge to ask now who’d shot him, wanting to at least give him a minute to really wake up.
Frank winced as pain shot through him again. “Terrible,” he admitted. His voice sounded weak and hoarse. “What happened?”
If he’d been paying attention, Frank would’ve seen their jaws drop. “You mean you don’t know who shot you?” Monica said, in disbelief.
Oh, someone shot me, he thought. “No,” he whispered, closing his eyes again.
The team exchanged glances with each other, not sure what to do. “Maybe he’s just disorientated?” Alex suggested.
Jake sighed, leaning closer to the bed. “Frank?”
Frank didn’t answer.
Jake put his hand on Frank’s good arm. “Frank,” he said again, a little louder.
This time Frank opened his eyes, slowly. Jake could see the glassy look to them, and hoped that Alex was right; it was either disorientation or the meds.
“Frank, you’re in Chicago Gen. You were shot yesterday, possibly by someone posing as your mailman. Do you remember?”
Frank looked at him as if he were nuts. “I was shot…by the mailman?”
Alex almost laughed. That was not the usual type of statement Frank Donovan would make.
“No, it wasn’t your real mailman. It was someone posing as him.”
“Oh,” Frank whispered, again closing his eyes, and falling back to sleep.
Alex shook her head in bewilderment at Frank’s uncharacteristic behavior. She stepped closer and felt Frank’s forehead. “He still has a fever,” she said. “Between that, the drugs, and finally waking after a day and a half, it looks like has no clue what’s going on.”
“I hope he remembers when he’s more coherent,” Jake said, crossing his arms. “If he doesn’t, we’re in big trouble.”
Alex looked up from her doze to see Frank looking at her. She gave him a smile. “Hey, boss! How do you feel?”
“I’ve been…better,” he answered, groggily. He sighed, trying to keep his eyes open. “Tell me…what…happened.”
Alex tried not to let her feelings show in her face. He still doesn’t remember. “We found you at your place yesterday morning. You’d been shot in your arm and shoulder.”
“How bad?”
Alex sighed. “Pretty bad. You’d been there a long time by the time we found you, and lost a lot of blood. They had to repair some muscles and things, and they put a pin in your arm; the bullet broke it. The other went all the way through your shoulder.” She elected not to mention the close call with the artery.
Frank sighed. Great. Two bullet wounds and a broken arm too. Again. “More therapy,” he groaned.
Alex hadn’t quite heard him. “What was that, Frank?”
He didn’t answer.
She leaned closer, studying his face. “Frank?”
“What?”
“Do you remember anything that happened?”
Frank didn’t answer immediately. He tried to think, but his brain felt like it was full of cotton, and he had a strange floating sensation. His arm and shoulder were throbbing mercilessly, but he was no whiner so he said nothing about it. “I don’t, Alex. Nothing.”
Alex sighed, leaning her chin on her arms on the bed rail, just as Jake walked in with two cups of coffee.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned, handing her one of the cups.
“He still doesn’t remember.”
“He’s awake?” Jake said, looking at Frank.
Frank’s eyes were closed again, and he hadn’t reacted to Jake’s voice.
“He was,” Alex corrected.
“Why don’t you go home and take a shower, Alex. You’ve been in the same clothes for 3 days,” Jake joked.
Frank opened his eyes, and they stopped talking.
“How you doing, Frank?” Jake asked him, relieved to see him awake.
“All right,” Frank lied. He suddenly realized what Jake had said to Alex, and he looked at her to realize that she looked slightly disheveled. No makeup, having obviously worn off, and her hair flat.
“Alex,” he said. “You were here…all the time?”
She smiled at him, waving her hand as if it was no big deal.
Frank was touched, and smiled at her. “Thanks.”
She smiled wider. “No problem. Hey, Jake was too, overnight.”
Frank looked at Jake, who shrugged. “You needed a bodyguard,” he said, with a smirk.
Frank smiled at that. Jake was a good 4 or 5 inches shorter then him. “Thanks…both of you.”
“You’re welcome. Okay, enough sentimentality,” said Jake, with a laugh. He looked at Alex again. “Go home, take a shower. When you’re ready, you might as well go to HQ and find out from Monica and Cody what’s going on with the investigation. I’ll stay here for a while.”
Alex nodded, and stood. “Okay. See you later.” She patted Frank on his good arm, and left.
“What’s been going on?” Frank asked.
Jake sighed. “A lot, but then again, not much.”
Frank blinked. “I think…that statement…made me more…confused…then I already am.”
Jake noticed Frank’s voice growing weaker with each word, so he tried to figure out how to explain everything to him in simple terms, and keep it short enough not to wear him out.
He sighed. “Well, we found you at your apartment after you hadn’t shown up for work—”
Frank nodded. “Alex told me.”
“After we brought you here and you made it through the surgery, we left Alex here and went back to your place. We found your gun under the couch.” Jake paused, hoping that Frank was capable of processing all the details.
Frank’s eyebrows went up, at mention of the gun’s landing place.
“You obviously had taken it out,” Jake continued.
“Fired?” Frank asked, sounding tired.
He doesn’t even remember if he shot back or not! “No. We figured out that the person shot you from out in the hallway, we found one of the shell casings further down the hall, they must’ve gotten kicked. We found out later that the mailman was seen running like a maniac, and that it wasn’t the usual guy. When we looked into it, we found out that the regular mailman had been attacked and his uniform stolen off him.” Jake stopped, realizing that he probably had said too much too fast. “Did you get all that?”
Frank nodded slightly, eyes now closed.
“We came here and talked to the mailman, who’s okay by the way, and found out that he didn’t see the man who’d done it. That’s really where we’re at, now. We started going through case files, to see if any particular jerk we caught could have a vendetta against you.” Jake suddenly remembered what had happened after the interview with the mailman. “Still with me, Frank?”
Frank nodded again, opening his eyes. Jake could see the pain in them.
“Do you want me to call a nurse? I’m sure she’ll give you something…”
Frank shook his head, though he would’ve liked nothing more. “I’m fine.”
Jake didn’t believe him. “By the way, did you know that you have a medicine allergy?” he asked.
Frank frowned. “No…what happened?”
Jake wondered if he should’ve said anything. Should’ve let the doctor tell him. “Well…your heart all of a sudden went haywire, and then…” he hesitated, trying not to let his mind replay the horrible scene. “It stopped. They had to change the medicine. Maybe you should wear one of those medical alert bracelets.”
Frank frowned. “Did you stay…it…stopped?”
Jake nodded.
Frank said nothing, but he looked even paler now. “What medicine?” he asked.
Jake shrugged. “Don’t know.”
Frank didn’t like the idea of a bracelet, but he wasn’t stupid. “Ask for me?” he said, knowing with the current state of his brain he would most likely forget.
Jake nodded. “I will.”
“Thanks,” Frank whispered.
“No problem.” Jake said softly, seeing that his boss was falling asleep. He sat there for a while, trying to figure out what to do next. So far the team had gone through nearly all of the past 6 months-worth of cases, and after putting aside the ones that didn’t meet the description—however vague—of the fake mailman, most of the remaining criminals were still in jail, and of the ones that weren’t, none really struck them as being the one. Cody had gone through the list of occupants of the apartment building, and aside from some motor vehicle violations, no one was a wanted criminal or anyone that Frank had ever dealt with. No one had escaped from prison lately, either, so Jake was frustrated, wishing they could find the person responsible and get it over with, so they could go back to their normal lives. Yeah, If you could consider ‘normal’ going undercover pretending to be a criminal so you could catch a criminal. He almost laughed at the thought.
Suddenly his stomach growled loudly. He realized that he hadn’t eaten in hours, but he didn’t want to leave Frank.
“Someone sounds hungry,” said a voice.
It was Tracy.
Jake laughed, slightly embarrassed that she’d heard it. “Yeah, I’m starved.”
“Why don’t you go to the cafeteria? I’ll stay with him,” she said, as she fussed around Frank.
Jake hesitated.
“Oh, come on. He’ll be fine.”
Jake shrugged. “Okay, I’ll be quick.” He hurried as fast as he could and ate something he wasn’t sure he wanted identified. No wonder people hate hospital food. When he got back to the room, he was surprised to hear a female voice yelling.
“Mr. Donovan! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Jake ran in to find that Frank was sitting—if you could call it that—on the edge of the bed, Tracy holding onto his arm.
“Frank! What the…” he ran over and grabbed him, as Frank looked like he was on the verge of passing out. He tried to lie him back down, but Frank protested. “No, Jake…”
“What are you trying to do, Frank? You wanna kill yourself or something?”
Eirian ran in at the sound of Tracy’s voice, and together they stood, watching.
“Jake,” Frank said softly, seeming out of breath. “Have to…get out.”
“Out of the hospital? Are you nuts? Why?”
Frank concentrated on breathing for a minute, trying to blink back the gray threatening to overshadow his vision. “We have…a job…to do.”
Jake snorted. “No; Alex, Monica, Cody, and I have a job to do. The only job you can do is lie here and recover.”
Frank shook his head. “Let go.”
Jake realized he had a death grip on Frank’s good arm, and eased off a little, realizing that he probably gave his boss a pretty good bruise.
“Frank, why are you doing this, you’re in no shape to leave here!”
“And I can’t think…while I’m here.” Frank paused. “You have nothing…to go on. I was there…you need me…to catch him.”
Jake sighed, thinking his boss to be the most stubborn man on Earth. Even though Frank was right that they needed him, how could the man possibly function? He couldn’t even remember what had happened!
Frank must’ve seen Jake’s uncertainty, and he tried to get up again. Jake tried to prevent him, but then helped him instead, knowing that when Frank got there, he wouldn’t be able to stand, and it would change his mind.
Jake was only half right. Frank could not stand, but it did not change his mind. His legs wouldn’t hold him, and he fell against Jake, who’d naturally expected it.
Tracy and Eirian moved closer to help, but Jake made a face at them, to stay where they were.
He tried again to sit Frank on the bed, thinking he had learned his lesson, but Frank stubbornly refused to let him.
“Jake, I’m leaving.”
“Why?!” Jake exploded. “We can do this ourselves!”
Frank couldn’t stand any longer, and he finally let Jake sit him down. “Listen to me,” Frank started.
“No, you listen to me!” said Jake. “You have been shot. Twice! You lost nearly all your blood, developed a fever, was unconscious for two days, ended up delirious, and almost got killed by an allergic reaction to medicine, and the wrong blood! Are you outta your mind?”
Frank was trying so hard to contain his pain and weakness that he didn’t even notice the mention of the switched blood, which he had yet to be told.
“Jake…please,” he said, switching tactics, not having the energy to fight.
Jake was shocked for a minute, over the fact that he'd said what he did, and the fact that Frank didn't go nuts over it. Talk about insubordination, Jake! he thought to himself with a sigh. If he didn’t help Frank, he knew that his boss would get out without his help—when he wasn’t there to stop him, most likely—and then he could get hurt or worse.
Frank watched him, waiting to see what he would do. There was no way he could get out on his own, he knew, and he wished Jake would hurry and make up his mind before he fell off the bed.
“Jake…” he said, trying to force some strength into his voice.
“All right, all right,” Jake said, feeling like he was making a horrible mistake. “But anything happens and you’re coming right back here.”
Frank nodded, not liking that Jake was treating him like a subordinate, but taking what he could get.