“Sorry!” Alex was trying to put a bulletproof vest on Frank, and it wasn’t easy with his bullet wounds.
Frank had to actually bite his lip, as she tried to adjust the vest so that it wasn’t resting on his shoulder, which naturally was impossible.
Alex was getting flustered, in her failed attempts to not hurt him, knowing he was still in a lot of pain. She knew how heavy the vest was, and how uncomfortably it hung on the body, digging into the shoulders as gravity pulled its weight down. She could only imagine what it would be like to not only have the thing resting right on the site of bullet wounds, but to have its weight crushing a weak body. If Frank is able to walk with this thing on, she thought, he’ll be lucky.
Alex looked at Frank, realizing he hadn’t made a sound all that time, and was alarmed to see that his eyes were shut tight, and he’d grown paler. Crap, I was hurting him and he didn’t say anything…“Jake! I need help here.”
Jake was there in a split second, and took in the sight. Knowing the problem instantly, he undid the vest’s straps around Frank’s left side, and loosened it above Frank’s shoulder.
Frank sighed, deeply, and opened his eyes.
“You okay, Frank?” Alex asked, afraid that she’d done more damage.
He nodded, unconvincingly.
Cody came walking in with Monica behind him, both vested up. “We’re ready….and you’re not.”
Jake stuck his hand gently under the vest above Frank’s shoulder. “Alex, hold this up.”
She came over and complied.
Jake left the room, and came back a minute later holding a handful of…something.
“What’s that?” Monica asked. It looked like pillow stuffing.
“Pillow stuffing,” Jake said, carefully sticking it under Alex’s hand.
“Pillow stuffing?” Cody repeated, sounding like an echo.
“Yeah, I had a pillow on the couch that didn’t match, had nowhere to put it.”
“Ah,” Cody answered, nodding his head, making a face as if to say, ‘allllllrighty, then.’
After Jake finished, he had Alex remove her hands and the vest rested on top of the stuffing. Alex then fixed the Velcro straps around Frank, and they all looked at him.
“How’s that?” Jake asked.
“Better,” Frank answered, sounding relieved.
“Now you owe him a pillow that matches his couch!” said Cody.
Strangely enough, the vest seemed to be keeping him warm, holding in his body heat, and warding off the chills he kept experiencing due to the fever he was sure had risen. What surprised him was the fact that no one had said anything about it, he was sure they had to have known. If he could feel it, then they could see it, no?
“Frank?”
Frank blinked his eyes to see that the car had stopped, and Jake was looking at him, a hand on his good arm.
“We’re here.”
Frank nodded, and Jake and Cody helped him out of the car. They were a short distance from the pier, but as close as they could get without the possibility of being spotted. There were no boats in the harbor as of yet, they saw.
“How’re we gonna get Frank over there?” Monica asked.
“I can walk.”
“No you can’t, but we have no choice,” Alex said.
They slowly made their way to the pier, Cody and Monica helping Frank walk, so that Jake and Alex could keep their hands on their guns and stay aware of their surroundings in case trouble popped up.
They found a convenient spot behind some crates and a low wall, and they all hid behind it. Eventually a car pulled up, and a bunch of guys got out. They stood around, waiting, until finally a ship could be seen heading towards the pier. It docked, and the team watched the exchange between the men and the ship’s crew.
“Is that Ortega?” Jake whispered to Frank.
Frank squinted, shaking his head. “I’m not sure.”
“Why don’t we go over there and grab them?” Cody asked.
“We want them to accept the drugs first, so we can prove they actually had them in their possession,” Jake said.
Cody made a face at himself. “Oh duh. Earth to Cody.”
Monica punched his arm. “Shhh.”
They watched for a while, as the boat was unloaded. The crew came ashore and went on with their business, completely in the dark as to what they had just given the men.
“Okay…now!” Jake said.
“I don’t think so,” they heard.
They looked up to the right to see a man standing on the deck above them, holding a gun.
“Ortega,” Frank whispered.
“Frank Donovan; the man who killed my brother and father. We finally meet properly!” Ortega said with a laugh.
“Ortega,” Frank said, “I did not kill your bro—”
“Shut up!” Ortega yelled. “You shot him in cold blood! And because if it my father died!”
“Ortega, listen to me,” Frank said, annoyed to feel himself start to shake, his body not yet able to handle the huge surge of adrenaline.
“No, listen to me!” Alex suddenly said, standing up in front of Frank. “Ortega, Donovan didn’t kill your brother. I did.”
A confused look spread across Ortega’s tanned face. “What?”
It was all the distraction they needed. Jake pulled his gun up and shot at Ortega, who turned and ran.
The other men who’d been standing near the crate of drugs with their guns aimed at them started shooting, while Alex ran after Ortega.
Jake pushed Frank down lower as he shot back. Cody was on his left, and Monica on the right beside Frank. Some of Ortega’s men started to run, and Cody and Monica ran after them, slightly surprising Jake.
This meant that Jake had to stay where he was, with Frank. A few of Ortega’s men remained, and Jake kept shooting at them.
A bullet hit the wall right next to his head and he ducked, stealing a quick glance at Frank to see him covering his head with his good arm. Jake waited for the right moment, and then popped his head up again, and fired in quick succession. Two of the men went down, and the third ran, limping.
Jake pointed his gun around the pier, searching for others, and finding none. He crouched down next to Frank.
“You okay?”
Frank nodded, trying to repress the dizzying effects of the adrenaline rush in his weakened body.
Jake craned his ears, listening for gunshots or any sound to indicate what was going on with the rest of the team. Hearing nothing, he sighed, hating to have to wait.
“Where are the rest?” Jake asked.
“Out of their—and our—misery,” Cody answered, pushing the handcuffed man to the ground.
“Where’s Alex?” Monica asked, looking around.
Jake sighed. “She went after Ortega.”
“Oh great.”
“No!” she yelled, bringing up her gun.
Frank sighed as the three of them ran over to him, as he stood unsteadily holding onto the crate for support.
“I’m all right,” he said, as they all tried to grab him. “Alex still not back?”
“No!”
Frank frowned, puzzled to hear his question answered by Alex’s shout. Before he had a chance to look up, two shots were heard, almost occurring together.
Frank gasped as a ton of bricks hit him square in the middle of his chest, knocking his weak body out of his team’s hands and hard into the ground. He cried out in agony as the impact sent unbearable pain through his shoulder and arm. He didn’t notice the thud made by Ortega’s body as it fell from Alex’s shot.
Alex ran over to the edge to see Frank on the ground, the rest of the team surrounding him. Oh God, please, not armor piercing bullets! she thought, jumping off the deck, and landing on her feet 10 feet away from them.
She ran over and knelt beside them, helping them turn Frank over, who had curled up on his side, gasping in utter agony.
They held him down as Jake gently but quickly tried to open the vest, to see if the bullet had gone through. When they saw the lack of blood, everyone sighed in relief.
“Thank God!” Alex exclaimed.
“We gotta get him to the hospital,” Jake said, after seeing that touching Frank’s chest got a moan from him. “The bullet did some damage, not to mention his arm and shoulder.”
“What do we do with that jerk?” Cody asked, gesturing to the man they’d handcuffed to a pole, who stared in shock at Ortega’s lifeless body.
Jake shrugged. “Leave him for the cops. Someone call them, I’ll get the car.”
Monica made the call and when Jake pulled up, they carefully put Frank in the backseat and sped to the hospital, no one considering what the ship’s crew would think when they returned to find dead bodies and a wounded man handcuffed to a pole.
Frank heard a voice, but didn’t know who it belonged to. He kept his eyes closed; sure he wouldn’t be able to hold them open if he tried.
“Frank? Are you awake?”
A woman.
That didn’t narrow it down much. He’d met tons of women over the years.
“Guess not.”
Another woman.
Intrigued now, Frank opened his eyes halfway to see who was obviously staring at him. When he saw the four faces, something clicked in his brain.
The team was relieved to see recognition flash across Frank’s face. The poor guy was so doped up they were afraid he would have no idea who they were.
“Frank?” Alex said. “Do you know who we are?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Four people who like to drive me crazy.”
They laughed at that, all of them noticing the slow and almost slurred sound to his voice. They watched as he made a face and blinked his eyes a few times.
“You okay Frank?” Jake asked, worriedly.
“Morphine,” Frank answered.
Jake nodded. “Yeah. A lot of it.”
Frank nodded, knowing instantly by the weird perception he was getting of his surroundings. It was a weird sensation—one he’d experienced before, naturally—but he was grateful for the abatement of most of the pain.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Ortega shot at you, hit you in the chest. The bullet didn’t pierce the vest, but it did crack one rib, and bruise another.”
Great, yet another injury! Frank thought. “When can I get outta here,” he asked, slowly.
Jake walked closer. “Uh-uh. No way! You are staying here for as long as they say. Do you know what day it is? Ortega happened the day before yesterday. Your stunt of ‘get me outta here’ almost did you in, Frank!”
Frank didn’t know how to respond. Whether it was due to the medication or not, he couldn’t be sure.
“Nah, Jake just likes having your job,” Cody said, smirking at Jake.
Monica and Alex laughed.
“No, really Frank, we just want you to get better,” said Monica.
“Monica’s right,” Alex agreed.
“Yup,” said Cody. “I’ll bet Jake’ll be glad to give you your job back.”
Jake snorted. “You can have it back. It’s too crazy a job, I’d never be able to do it.”
“You did a pretty good job all week,” Frank said.
They all looked at Jake. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I? Maybe it isn’t so bad after all.”
Frank smiled back, trying to keep his eyes open, as the morphine tried to rob him of consciousness. “Yes, you did. Just don’t get used to it….”
Alex, Monica, and Cody looked up to see Frank and Jake come walking in.
“Frank!” Alex said. “You weren’t supposed to be out for 2 more days!”
Frank smiled as he sat at the table, everyone else doing the same. “They let me out early,” Frank told them, adjusting the sling that was still on his arm. “They made me swear I’d take it easy for a while.”
“He crossed his fingers behind his back,” Jake said. “I saw him.”
Everyone laughed.
“Interesting timing, Frank,” Monica said. “Something happened last night that you need to know.”
Frank frowned. “What?”
“Raul Ortega committed suicide in his cell.”
The UC team had been surprised to learn that Alex’s shot had not killed Ortega that day, they were so occupied with Frank’s injuries that they never actually checked Ortega’s body to see if he still lived.
“And justice for all,” Cody remarked.
Frank said nothing, only sighed.
“You okay, Frank?” Alex asked, noticing that he still looked a little pale.
Frank nodded. “Such a waste of human life.”
Everyone was surprised at his statement.
“Waste?” Alex said. “A criminal like that, who tried to kill you? He deserved to die!”
Frank sighed again. “Alejandro Ortega was a criminal, a drug lord. His sons were not—at first, anyway. He was a bad father, allowing his sons to become like he was. Two waste of human life. He wasted both his son’s lives.”
Everyone was silent, realizing the truth in the statement.
“Well, I for one am glad that we don’t ever have to worry that he’ll break out of jail, and come after you again,” said Jake.
Everyone else nodded.
“So,” Cody said. “Did you stop in just to say hi or are you staying?”
“I would go home and rest if I were you,” Alex said.
“Yeah, you never know how soon you’ll be forced to chase after another drug dealer,” said Jake.
Frank nodded. He was still tired. “Do we have any pressing cases right now?”
They all shook their heads.
“All right,” Frank said. “Then let’s call it a day.”
Cody’s mouth dropped. “You’re letting us have the day off?”
Frank nodded. “It’s the least I can do. You all protected me from Ortega at the risk of your own lives. So go home, or go shopping,” he threw the last part at Alex and Monica. “And enjoy it. Like Jake said, you never know how soon you’ll be chasing after another drug dealer.”
Alex looked at Monica excitedly. “Monica, remember the red leather jacket in the window of Sak’s on Michigan Ave? Now I can buy it before the sale ends! Thanks, Frank!”
“No, thank you,” Frank said. “Thank you all.” He hesitated. “Without you all I’d be dead. Thanks for taking care of me.”
They all smiled, knowing that sharing his feelings was a hard thing for Frank Donovan to do.
“No problem, Frank, you can count on us,” Monica said.
“Yeah, we really do care,” said Alex.
They both looked at Jake and Cody, wanting them to say something too.
Cody held up his hands. “I leave all the mushy stuff to you two.”
Everyone laughed.
“Okay, okay,” said Cody. “They’re right, Boss. Happy now?” He threw the last part at the girls.
Jake smiled. “And he’s right that they’re right, Frank,” he said.
Frank smiled back. “Thanks,” he said again.
“Anytime,” they all answered, in unison.
THE END
* “Father’s and Son’s”, season 1, episode 3
For those who haven’t seen the episode:
Rafael Ortega was on death row in jail and his father, Alejandro Ortega, (a Colombian drug lord) hired a man named Ritger to kidnap the AG’s 7-year-old son to trade for Rafael. Rafael later was shot dead by Alex when he tried to shoot Frank, and Ritger told Alejandro that Frank shot him dead in cold blood. (The liar!) Yes, Frank did get the AG’s son back, after shooting Ritger.