It’s Not My Fault
Thanks as always go to Judy, my patient beta. This story was different from the rest ‘cause
after I wrote it, I drove over to Judy’s the next morning for her to beta it
for me.
~~~~~~
Blair raced into the emergency room, aimed arrow straight at the nurses’ station until he saw the large familiar form off to the left in the waiting room. “Is he okay? Have they told you anything yet? What happened? He was shot? What about…” Blair trailed off as Simon rose from his chair and waved Blair outside.
“He’s in surgery right now,” Banks said as he gave Sandburg a comforting squeeze on the arm. “We don’t have a lot of details yet. Bystanders said the perp started shooting at him as soon as he got out of his vehicle. Accounts have any where from five to twenty shots being fired, but he was the only one hit. The ambulance brought him in about an hour ago and the doctors transferred him up to surgery half an hour later.”
“But,” Blair started.
“They haven’t given me an update yet. I thought I’d wait in the ER until you showed up.” Simon gave a tired smile. “I figured it would be less wear and tear on the nurses.”
Blair let out a half hearted chuckle. “Okay, thanks for waiting for me. Let’s go up and see if they’ve heard anything.”
~~~~
Officer Jameson stopped Captain Banks and Sandburg in the hall just as they entered the surgery waiting room. “Captain Banks?”
“Yes, Jameson?”
“Sir, we have some more information about the incident. The perp is in custody and we have his story… lame as it is.” Jameson trailed off as the rest of Major Crimes moved in around him. He took a quick breath and tried not to be too intimidated by all the large bodies surrounding him. “Robby Tollins was recently fired from his job. He was involved in a fender bender at the stop sign and evidently that was the last straw. According to Tollins, ‘It was just temporary insanity.’ He said he wasn’t even thinking and ‘it was society’s fault.’” Jameson took an instinctive step back at the loud snort that was issued from the large detective on his right.
He glanced up and into furious blue eyes. My god, he thought irreverently… that’s what they mean. I’m glad it’s not meant for me. Jameson took a small side step left and bumped into someone else. He muttered a quick apology to the pair of furious blue eyes on his left. Jameson looked around the circle for reassurance but was met only with more fury… blue, green, and brown. Thank goodness they’re on my side. Jameson turned his attention back to Captain Banks. “That’s all we have right now, sir.”
“Thank you, Jameson. Good job. You can return to duty. Oh, and pass the word to the other officers at the scene, Major Crimes owes you one.”
“No problem, sir. Have you heard anything about Detective Brown’s condition?”
Banks shot a quick look at Rafe who shook his head. “Not yet,” Brian replied.
“Will you keep us informed, please?” Jameson asked.
“Will do, officer.” Simon broke off as Rhonda escorted Brown’s wife, Lisa into the waiting room.
She was surrounded and then passed around for hugs and reassurances. Lisa made it back around the circle ending up between Rafe and Ellison just as the doctor came into the room.
“He’s going to be all right,” the doctor immediately reassured the group. “One of the bullets went into his right lung and caused it to collapse. We’ve removed the bullet and re-inflated the lung. Another went in and broke a bone in his left arm. The other seven bullets were just minor tissue damage. He’s in recovery right now. We’ll move him up to ICU for a while just as a precaution.”
~~~~
“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Brian,” Blair said pinning Jim to his chair with a glare. “It’s not your fault. You weren’t there. You can’t be every where at once. H is going to be fine. Lisa will make sure of that.”
“I know, but…” Jim started.
“No buts, Jim. Was it Brian’s fault?”
Jim shook his head sheepishly.
“Right,” Blair said firmly. “So… by the same token, it’s not your fault either.”
Jim grunted, unwilling to admit that Blair was right. “Okay, so it’s not my fault. It still feels like I should have been able to do something to prevent it.”
“From across town?!”
“Well… It just seems like these senses should be good for something.”
“So now you want a heightened sixth sense? Maybe we should come up with some tests?”
Jim smiled reluctantly then shrugged. “Or maybe we could just go patrol the city one more time and then grab some dinner.”
“No Wonderburger,” Blair teased, willing to give in if it would make Jim feel better.
“I don’t know,” Jim mused. “I was planning on trying out that Thai place on Fifth Street, but now that you mention it….”
“JIM!”
~~~~~
This is loosely based on a real story. The “Houston Chronicle” ran a blurb in the
“Around the Nation” section of the
Feedback is greatly appreciated. Cheryl