Catch Me if You Can

Chapter 16

"What were you thinking?" Jeff was as angry as Stu had ever seen him. "You could have killed yourself!"

"Who said I was thinking? And I've already had this talk with the doctor, Jeff. And he was none too polite with me, either."

"Polite? He shouldn't have been polite. He should have taken the top of your head off!"

Stu remained silent and let Jeff get it all out of his system. Besides, anything his partner had to say to him, or yell at him, was well-deserved. And Jeff couldn't say anything that Stu hadn't already said himself. Eventually, Jeff stopped.

"Is that it? Have you said everything you wanted to say?"

"For the moment, yes."

"Look, all I can say is I'm sorry. I was wrong and not thinking clearly and you're right. I could have killed myself. And the next time a doctor tells me something I will abide by whatever he tells me." Stu paused for a moment. "And I'm sorry I upset you."

"You know why I was upset, don't you?" Jeff asked in a much calmer voice.

"It's too hard to break in a new partner?"

"Yes, but it's even harder to break in a friend. A very dear friend. Promise me that you'll do what the doctor tells you from now on, please."

"I will, Jeff. I swear."

Jeff had just sat down when Nurse Avery appeared. "They just called from the airport. The blood is here and on its way to us."

"Thank God."

"Now all you have to do is get those gunshot wounds healed."

Stu smiled for the first time in days. "At least I'll be able to get out of bed."

Within the hour the blood was at the hospital and Stu got his transfusion that night.

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Three weeks later Jeff unlocked the door to Stu's apartment, then went back to the elevator to help his partner inside. Stu stopped in the doorway before going in. "The last time I was here I didn't know if I'd ever see this place again or not. That seems like years ago."

"Actually, it was only a month. How time flies."

"Guess I'm going to have to get some groceries. Remember the last time we were here?"

Jeff chuckled as he helped Stu to the couch. "You mean when all you had was a bottle of scotch?"

"And two bottles of vodka. Don't forget those."

"We did a good job of finishing off the scotch. But you should still have the vodka."

Stu looked serious. "I don't think two bottles of vodka is going to get me far."

"You've got more than that, my friend. Suzanne dragged me to the grocery store, and she bought enough groceries to feed an army." Actually, shopping with Suzanne had been fun. But he wasn't about to tell Stu that.

"Well, bless your wicked little hearts. I won't have to eat ice cube sandwiches." Stu was tickled to death that he didn't have to figure out a way to get food in the house.

"Not only that, my friend. I'm bringing Suzanne here tonight after work and she's going to cook both of us dinner."

"What did you have to promise her?"

"That I wouldn't let you get shot again." Jeff looked smug when he gave Stu that answer.

"I hope you can fulfill that promise, Jeff," Stu said from the couch. "I really do."

It was almost another month before Stu felt like himself again, and the day he walked back in the front door at Bailey and Spencer was one of the happiest of his life. No matter what happened in the future, there was no more Binny Carroll to contend with. And for that, Stu was eternally grateful.

The End