CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“Hey, Jayy,” Ben tried hard to keep his spirits high for
Jay’s sake.
Jay looked up at him from his hospital bed and forced a
light smile. “Hey Benny boy.” He paused briefly and
choked back his tears. “I dunno how to thank you…”
“No thanks needed,” Ben replied, walking towards his
bed, dragging a chair with him. “You’d have done the
same for me.”
“Damn straight I woulda!” Jay perked up a little. “All the
same, what you did, that took guts. I owe ya buddy.”
Ben sat back in the large padded chair and rubbed at the
scar over his temple. He was at a loss for words, the last
few days had been horrendous for Jay. Danni had lost
the baby and he was stuck in hospital for a few more days
with a broken collarbone and some minor cuts and
abrasions. It tore him up seeing his partner like this and
he felt powerless to do anything about it.
“How’s Danni?”
Jay sighed and lowered his head. “She’s alive. Pretty
shaken up still. She’s staying with her mother until I get
out of here.” He looked up at Ben. “She can’t bring herself
to go back to the house, though, not on her own. I don’t
know if she ever will, y’know?”
“She’s been through one hell of an ordeal, Jayy. It’s
going to take her some time.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Then a smile tugged at his lips. “She’ll
be up here a little later, you wanna hang around? I know
she’d love to see ya.”
“Oh, I dunno…”
“Course you’ll stay!” Jay’s eyes pleaded with him. “I want
you to.”
Ben threw his hands in the air in a surrendering gesture
and laughed. “How can I say no to that?”
“I really wanted that baby, Ben,” Jay’s voice fell to less
than a whisper.
“I’m so sorry. I should have moved faster, acted differently.
I, I just…”
“I’m not blaming you, mate, gees. Is that what you are
thinking?” Jay pulled himself more upright in his bed
and raised his words to a deep, steady tone. “Losing that
baby was not your fault, and given the situation you were
in, you did what you could, when you could. There’s
nothing wrong in that Ben.” He rubbed his hands across
his chin and then added. “Hell, if it wasn’t for you, neither
of us would be here today. Christ man, we owe you our
lives. So no more talk or thoughts about coulda’s and
shoulda’s, okay?”
All Ben could do was nod. He wanted to pour his heart
out to Jay and tell him how petrified he had been and
how he thought he was never going to see him again. The
ordeal of two nights ago knocked the wind clean out of
him. In his years of service, he had never been in that
situation before. Not once had he been concerned that
him or one of his mates was not going to be coming
home. Trying to disguise his rising emotions, Ben
coughed and held his hand over his mouth.
“I know just how you feel, buddy.” Jay stared at him. “So,
how about our psycho-morgue-tech, Ed? What’s the story
with him?”
Ben cleared his throat and sat up in his chair. “Good God,
Ed! He’s as nutty as they come. He was trying to impress
Augie, can you believe that?”
“What? You’ve gotta be shittin’ me?”
“I wish I was, Jay. I wish I could sit here and offer you a
more valuable reason for those women losing their lives,
and for your…” Ben cut himself short. “Hell, Jayy, I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”
“It’s ok, really. I know where you’re coming from and what
you’re trying to say, and I agree with you. But then,
murder is always so senseless isn’t it?” He stared off into
the distance.
The pain on Jay’s face cut Ben to pieces. He didn’t know
what to say to him and even if he did, it probably wouldn’t
heal his wounds. Ben knew most of his own wounds
would heal, but Jay’s? Can anyone truly recover from
losing their unborn? Even though he had been to hell and
back with Anna and her part in what had happened, Ben
was at least able to rationalise things. But how does one
rationalise what Jay has been subjected to?
“So what was Ed’s big idea of impressing Augie, all
about?” Jay kick-started the conversation.
“Who knows? Apparently Ed had been wanting to advance
up the ladder of pathology and thought that putting his
surgical skills on display for Augie to see might just help
his career.”
“Talk about a twisted whisker! He’s gotta be a candidate
for Greenholme, hasn’t he?”
“I hope not Jay, that psychiatric institution is too good
for the bastard. He deserves to rot in prison for the rest of
his miserable life.” Ben’s anger was building inside him.
“After the pain he caused, why should he be given the
easy road of the justice system?”
“I’m right with ya on that one,” agreed Jay. “But what
about…”
“The foetuses?” Ben gently pressed him.
“Yeah. What did he want with them?”
“Just sick trophies of his sick surgery. What can I say, the
boy was on a power trip. They reminded him of what an
expert surgeon he was, in his eyes at least.”
“Bloody hell, this world just gets weirder and weirder.‛
‘So what are your plans when you get out of here?” Ben
asked.
“Well, I’m gonna take Danni on a long holiday and in a few
months, maybe give her a ring and see if she’ll put up
with me for a few more years, or maybe even the rest of
her life!” He smiled broadly and then said, “From there?
Who knows. Kids are still in the picture.”
“Really? That’s fantastic, Jay, good on you.”
“And how about you, Ben? You still on with that cute
nurse?”
“Carolyn? You betcha! As a matter of fact we’re going out
for dinner tonight.” Ben’s grin was ear to ear. “To tell you
the truth, Jayy. I’m terrified.”
“After all you’ve suffered this week, a cute nurse terrifies
you?” Jay roared laughing. “You have some serious
terror issues man, you might wanna see someone about
that.”
Ben rubbed his scar and thought about Rose and Ed and
then looked back at Jay, a smirk creeping over his face.
“You’re right! If I can take on an abortionist and a serial
killer, I can surely go on a date with a nurse who can patch
me up afterwards.”
“Am I missing something here?” Danni’s voice filled the
room.
The two men turned and smiled at her, standing in the
doorway. She walked into the room and up to Ben, he
rose from his chair and said, “How are you, Danni?”
Without warning, she threw her arms around him and
held him tight, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t
know how to thank you, Ben.”
He
returned her embrace but couldn’t find any words. She
pulled back and stood in front of him, holding onto his
hands. Danni turned her head and gazed over at Jay
before leaning over and planting a kiss on his forehead.
Ben felt it was his queue to leave. He stepped away from
his chair and offered it to Danni. “Well, I think this is how
it feels to be that third wheel everyone keeps talking
about.”
“Oh please don’t leave, Ben. We’d love for you to stay and
shoot the breeze or whatever it is you cops do.” she let
out a little laugh.
Jay beamed at her and said, “Stick with us kid and we’ll
show ya what real cops do!”
“Is that a promise?” she asked, her pretty face looked from
Jay to Ben. “Is it?”
“You can count on it,” laughed Jay.
“It sure is,” Ben agreed.
THE END
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