Alan located me in the ER, while they were taping my ribs. His face glistened with tears.
He didn’t rush to embrace me.
“I can’t take this, Jack. I can’t live like this. First your mother, and now you.”
I thought about telling him that I quit, that I was no longer a cop.
But love doesn’t have conditions.
“Good-bye, Alan.”
He left his brown bomber jacket on the cot.
A nurse came in, tried to give me a shot of Demerol for the pain.
I declined.
“Is Detective Benedict out of surgery yet?”
“Not yet.”
I lay back on my cot and stared at the ceiling.
Cops came, wanting to debrief me. I told them all to go to hell. Captain Bains stopped by. He told me there would always be a spot on the force for me, if I decided to come back.
I laughed in his face.
Five hours later, Benedict was wheeled into recovery. I sat in his room with him until he woke up.
“Hi, Jack.” His voice was hoarse, a symptom of a bruised larynx.
“Hi, Herb. They told me your surgery went well. You’ll get full use of your arm back.”
“Are we okay?”
My eyes teared up.
“We’re okay, buddy.”
“You’re my partner, Jack. You’re supposed to tell me when I’m acting like an idiot.”
“Maybe we were both acting like idiots.”
He nodded. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure, Herb.”
“Can you call my wife, tell her I’m done being an idiot?”
I smiled through the tears. “I think I can do that.”
“Tell her to bring doughnuts.”
“I will.”
“Two boxes.”
“I will.”