BluesSong


by Sally Stark

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Author Notes
This, as everything else is dedicated to the leather coat crowd, to 
Deb, Kitteridge, and Gina on the Noth list, and to my amiga, Lennie's
Lady (Hey, 'partner') and most of all, to CN. 
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10pm--2/13 

"Briscoe---we found him--This way--" An altogether lousy day had suddenly
gotten dangerously worse. Briscoe and Logan had been called as backup in
an undercover drug deal that had blown up in their faces. Two terrified
kids had stumbled into the middle of it and been grabbed as hostages. 

By the time the S.W.A.T. Team arrived, the place looked like Beirut.
Two cops were down, one perp dead, and Mike was missing. Lennie had a bad
feeling about this one as he headed toward the patrolman who had called. 

When he got there, Don Cragen and Anita Van Buren were waiting for him.
Anita looked gray. "Lennie--wait--please--" Briscoe looked at Cragen, 
who shook his head and turned away. Anita took his arm. "Lennie, he's
still alive, but it's very bad. The weather...exposure---" 

In 25 years on the job, Briscoe had seen just about all there was to see,
but nothing had prepared him for the sight of his partner lying crumpled
in the snow. Without thinking, he took off his coat and wrapped it around
Mike, holding him in his arms. "GODDAMMITTOHELL, where's the freaking EMS?", 
he bellowed.. 

"Easy, Lennie," Cragen said, "they're here now." The medical crew rushed in,
took one look and immediately started an IV, loading Mike into the ambulance.
"Thank God for this weather," the technician told Anita, "it kept him from
bleeding to death..." The ambulance sped off towards St. Vincent's. 

11:00pm 2/13 

Don Cragen walked over to where Briscoe was leaning against the fence in
shock. "Drink this,--NOW", he handed him some scalding coffee from the 
command post. Lennie shuddered as the hot coffee went down, thawing him.
"Feeling better?", Cragen asked. "No--but I can handle it.
Donnie, I always thought it would be me..." "It's the roll of the dice,
Lennie. It could have been any one of us, and I think Mike would tell you
the same thing. Let's get moving...the family will be meeting us at the hospital." 

Lennie blanched. "Oh, my God... ...how will we tell Kate?" 

"I called the Stones and Phil Cerretta. They're with her. We'll *all* 
be with her." 

11:00pm 2/13 The Logan's Apartment 

Kate Logan dropped the mail on a chair as she let herself in. Not that 
it wasn't nice to spend time with her sister, Corinne, but she missed
her man. Due to the blizzard and the flu epidemic, Mike and Lennie were
pulling a LOT of extra duty. Sometimes a note on the pillow in the morning
just didn't do it! 

Kate was still chuckling to herself when she suddenly noticed Eleanor,
the family cat. The cat was perched on one of Mike's old shirts, mewing,
and in obvious distress. "It's alright, sweetie," she said, "I miss him
too." Kate bent to scoop the cat off the laundry, when Eleanor hissed.
"Ok, OK! I wanted to get rid of that thing anyway." Kate was placing cat
and shirt in Mike's chair when the doorbell rang. Looking through the 
peephole, the saw Phil Cerretta, Mike's old partner, and Corinne. 
Smiling she went to let them in. 

She always remembered that Phil had been at the "flea-pit" on that first
day when she had slipped on the wet floor. Both detectives had tried to
catch her, but Mike had gotten there first... "Hi, Guys," she said, 
giving Phil a big hug. "what's up?" She looked to her sister. "Rinna,
is something wrong, is it Matthew, or Ben?" 

Phil reached out to take Kate's hand. "Sweetie...It's Mike...there was
a shootout..." 

"Phil..My God! What happened?, Where? How bad is it? Is Lennie OK?" 

"Kate, they've taken him to St. Vincent's. It's not good." 

12:00am St. Vincent's Hospital 2/14 

They were all there in the waiting room of the trauma unit. This was
the downside of the job---The dark, nagging fear that all police 
families face. A break in the blue wall. 

Mike Logan and Lennie Briscoe had been on their way home when the 
call came in: "10-13!, 10-13! Officer down..." 

They had rushed to the scene and right into a nightmare. 

Mike had been shot twice and was now in surgery, fighting for 
his life. 

Don Cragen sat there with his head in his hands. He had been 
through this so many times before. When his old partner Max
Greevey had transferred to the 2-7, Cragen had wisely partnered him
with the impulsive live-wire who had been the young Mike Logan. 
The two had gotten along famously from the start. Each had complimented
the other. Max had helped Mike harness his volutility into more
useful channels, and the younger man had given Max a joie de vivre
that he hadn't felt in years. 

Marie Greevey rushed in, having heard about a wounded cop on her
police scanner. "Don--what happened? Who?", she said. Cragen looked
at her. This would be a hard one. "Marie, it's Mike Logan. 
He's in surgery now." 

Marie made the sign of the cross as she sank down on the bench. 
"Dear God, Help him." 

She remembered her Max saying that he was bringing his partner home
for dinner one Friday night. He had also hinted that Mike had had
some rough times growing up. Marie took one look at Logan, and 
decided that since he was an official member of the Greevey-Torelli
clan, she was going to feed him until he dropped. 4 years later,
when the bad times came, and Max was killed, Mike had been there
for her. He had gone after, and caught Max's Killer. Now she would be
there for him and his family. 

Suddenly, they all looked up. Kate Logan had arrived with her 
sister and Phil Cerretta. She was a tiny young woman with wild
red hair, who gave the impression of a child in her mother's overcoat.
It was deceptive. She might seem as delicate as Waterford Crystal,
but underneath, the lady was as tough as a Mack truck. 

"Lennie, are you OK?" She walked over to her friend and took both
his hands in hers. "Can you tell me what happened?" Briscoe just
looked at her with a combination of grief and shock in his
beautiful eyes. Kate understood. Though she had been "in the life"
for only 7 months, she sensed that Lennie blamed himself. 
It was more than partnership. It was "Family". When one cop went
down, all the rest of them bled. 

2:30am 2/14 
Hours later 

Kate had finally fallen asleep against Phil's shoulder. "My God,
she's so like Mikey," he thought, remembering the day that they 
had first met. Mike had dragged him to what was probably the
most Godawful bowl of Chili in Manhattan in order to meet "the
prettiest lady in New York." Phil saw a skinny little "Mick" with
tangled red curls, and a look of devilment in her blue eyes that
promised a merry chase to anyone who got close enough to try. 
He took one look at his partner and realised that Logan was a 
"gone goose", and mentally started budgeting for a wedding present.
Now that same lovely girl was dozing against his shoulder in a 
hospital emergency room... 

3:00am 

"Kate...wake up, Honey, here's the Doctor." Kate stood up with
her chin out. "I'm Mrs. Logan, Doctor." she said, "tell me 
'straight', please." 

"Mrs. Logan, I'm Dr. O'Donnell." His eyes smiled at her. 
"Barring any complications, I think I can say that your husband
will be fine. If he's as stubborn as I think he is, he can probably
return to light duty in about 7 months. Most of the time was spent
stabilizing him, and repairing the damage to his left lung. 
The other shot was a flesh wound." 

"When can I see him?" "Later on, this morning, when he's in his 
own room.", the Doctor replied.  

"May I stay here?", Kate said. "I'm sorry, but it's not advisible",
replied the nursing Sister. "you will need all your strength." 

Phil spoke up. "Don't worry, Sister. I'll take her home myself. 
I guarantee you she'll get some sleep." 

Before they left, Kate looked imploringly at Briscoe. ---"Lennie--" 

"Relax, Hon---I'll take care of him. I'll stay right here." 
He held out his hand and gave Kate a small packet. It was Mike's gold
detective ring. "I knew he'd freak if he lost it..." Kate clutched it
tightly, holding it against her cheek. "You can give it back to him 
when you see him." 

"Thanks, 'partner' ", she whispered, as she walked out the door.

4:00am. 2/14 Back at the flat 

When they unlocked the dor, Eleanor immediately started to nuzzle Kate,
making plaintive little cries. She had taken to this new "guest", with
her gentle hands and sweet scent, but where was *he*? Where was *her* 
person? 

Kate sank onto the sofa as Phil began to check the answering machine.
"Corinne", he said, "you get Kate settled while I make these call backs."
Kate started to protest, but Phil replied, "No nonsense, Lady---I don't
want Mike after me if you get sick!" 

Kate complied. 

A few minutes later, Corinne returned with hot milk and some medicine
the doctor had sent. Kate was curled up in bed wrapped in one of Mike's
old shirts. The faint scent of aftershave helped her to feel that 
somehow he was nearby...  

"Here, Sweetie, take one of these...it will help you sleep." Corinne
handed her the hot milk. "Thanks, Rinna, but I can't take any pills
unless the Doctor says it's OK." Now it was Rinna's turn to sit down. 

"Kate, are you telling me what I think you're telling me? Kate nodded.
"Yes, the Doctor said I was about 6 weeks along. I just found out 
yesterday." "Does Mike know?" "Not yet," Kate said sleepily. "I'll
tell---him--Valentine----" as she drifted off. 

Corinne smiled to herself. 8 years ago she might have been in the 
same situation. She'd been working in the PBA office one day, when
a young detective had walked in with some paperwork. She'd looked
up to ge greeted by a combination of wide green eyes, a mop of black
hair and a lopsided smle that made her knees buckle. They'd dated 
casually for a few months, and then parted, wisely realising that 
there had to be more than just physical compatibility. The parting
was amicable and they had remained friends. 

Corinne had left the PBA to work in the Manhattan DA's office. 
There she had met a quiet, almost painfully reserved ADA named 
Ben Stone. He had taken one look at the gentle, serene woman in 
the green linen dress and fallen in love all over again. They had
married and were now the proud parents of 5 year old Matthew. He 
was a mellow little boy with his mother's russet hair and his 
father's luminous eyes and long, slender hands. 

Later, they had watched with amusement as "Rinna's Cop" had fallen
for her younger sister, skinny freckled Kate. 

Mike hadn't changed much, Corinne thought. A little grayer, and he
had lost the scrawny look of youth. There was also a permenant 
shadow of weariness that would never leave him. His smile was the
same, though, and it still had the power to knock her flat!! 

8:00am 2/14 

Suddenly Kate stirred. "What time is it, Corinne?" "It's 8:00am,
and you're not going anywhere until you've had some breakfast."
She replied. ... ..."Can we at least call the hospital?" 

"Relax, Darling," Corinne said. "I just talked to Lennie, and he
said Mike isn't down yet. He'll call us when it's time." 

"Just the same, I've got a million things to do!" Kate was up and
half dressed before Rinna had a chance to blink. 

"I've got to get cards, some flowers....a Valentine... ..." 

Corinne laughed. "Katie, you're already giving him the best 
Valentine a man could have.." 

"I know, but Rinna...HE'S ALL RIGHT! He's all right and he'll be 
coming home. I want to set off every siren in New York!" Kate went
skimming around the flat like a bird. 

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Kate opened the door to reveal a 
florist's delivery boy. "I have a delivery for Kate Logan." 
"I'll sign for it", Kate said, "Thank you", and tipped the boy.
"What is it, Sis?" Rinna called. "Someone sent me flowers, it
wasn't you and Ben?" "Sweetie, sometimes Ben even forgets *me*.
No, it wasn't us. Rinna heard a faint cry from the other room..
Kate was holding a bunch of yellow daisies in one hand and a 
tiny card in the other. There, shaky but recognisable, were the
words: "All love..ML" It was enough. Kate put her head on Rinna's
shoulder and cried. 

11:00am 2/14 

Later, as they headed to the hospital, Kate marveled at how 
pretty everything was. The sun was out and the snow had stopped. 
It looked like the whole city had been polished. When they got 
to the hospital, there was no stopping her. Kate was halfway to
Mike's room before the car was parked. 

Mike was sleeping when she got there. It was a shock to see him
so pale, and hooked up to monitors and tubes from stem to stern,
but he was *there*. Lennie gave her the "thumbs up" sign as he 
left the room. Kate arranged the peppermint carnations on the 
nightstand and turned to sneak another look at Mike. He was 
watching her quietly. 

"Hello"... ... 

"What?"..."Oh Mike..Mike.." She took his hand in hers and held it
tightly. "Don't you ever do this to me again...Don't ever leave me." 
He smiled at her then. "Lady, you'll *never* get rid of *me*. Did
you get the flowers?" 

"Mike, they're the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Thank you, 
Darlin'---I wish I could give you your Valentine, but it's not ready yet." 

Mike looked confused for a minute. "Sweetie, you lost me. What did 
you mean 'it's not ready yet'?" "Maybe this will explain," Kate laughed
for the first time since the accident. She placed a small lace packet
in his hand. "Anita's "surprise" worked!" 

"A baby?, Kate...when?" Sometime in October, I think. Happy Valentine's
Day, Poppa!" She knelt beside the bed, and there the nursing sister 
found them. The impatient patient and his lady, his one free arm around
her shoulder. Both asleep. 

FINIS  

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