Shadows Fall (25 page)

That was the only way Charlie knew how to describe it. Titus’s eyes had lost their focus, dilating until the clear blue had been almost completely swallowed by black. He’d stared off into the middle distance and his expression had gone slack. It had looked like he was listening to music or watching a movie, and had just become hypnotized by it. He’d moved his mouth slightly, like he was whispering, but no sounds came out.

At that point, Charlie had been confused but not worried—until the shaking had started. It wasn’t like a full-blown seizure or anything; Titus had still maintained his upright sitting position, but every so often his body had been wracked by bursts of violent tremors. Then they would subside, and begin again.

Charlie had tried to get his attention then, but when Titus didn’t respond, he’d called for help. Not a moment too soon, either, because Titus went into brutal convulsions that rocked him out of his chair and onto the cold linoleum. Charlie had slapped his cheeks to try to revive him, and for a brief few minutes, that had gotten through to him.

Titus opened those beautiful eyes, and they were clouded at first, but when they focused on Charlie, it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. Just as the paramedics had come into the room, Titus tried to get up and then passed right the fuck out. Charlie was pretty sure his own heart stopped from the fear.

He’d used his badge to ride in the ambulance and to get past reception, but no amount of authority could’ve gotten Charlie into the cubicle while they were working on Titus. He had no idea what it was they were even doing to him.

After what seemed like hours, a doctor pushed aside the curtain and stepped out. Charlie caught a brief glimpse of a pale, wraithlike version of Titus, surrounded by nurses and hooked up to monitors, before the doctor shut the curtain again.

“Detective Hale?” the doctor asked.

“Yeah,” Charlie said, forcing himself to still his nervous motion. “How is he?”

“Ah, well, as far as we can tell, other than fatigue and maybe a little dehydration, he’s just fine.”

“Huh, what? He had a seizure! He passed out and was unconscious for like twenty minutes.”

The doctor winced and raised his hands up in a ‘who knows?’ gesture. “So the paramedics said as well, but none of that happened here, and from what we could tell on exam, there’s nothing wrong with him that’s treatable. If the seizing happens again, his GP can put him on some anticonvulsants for epilepsy, but some seizure patients can go their whole lives without having another.

“He needs to keep hydrated, eat regularly, and get a few good nights of sleep, and he’ll be fine—physically.”

“Physically?”

“Well, yes. I’ve no doubt he had the seizure, but some of the other symptoms you’ve described could be psychosomatic in nature.”

“Like in his head?”

“Possibly. He’s resting now, but before he’s discharged, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to speak with the staff psychologist to see if there’s been any emotional trauma.”

Charlie wasn’t one to tell someone how to do their job, but he knew what he’d seen. Something had happened to Titus—something physical. Given the way Titus was raised, he doubted he’d be willing to see the head shrinker.

“I don’t know if he’ll agree to it, but I’ll talk to him.”

The doctor nodded. “I want to keep him here for a few hours for observation but after that, he can go home. I’d recommend he not be left alone for the next twenty-four hours, just in case.”

“Not a problem. Can I go in now?”

“You can, as long as you don’t disturb him. He
needs
to rest.”

The man aimed a pointed look at Charlie.
Message received, don’t interrogate the guy.
That wasn’t going to be a problem. Charlie’s adrenaline was still pounding through his body, and his fingers ached with the urge to get his hands on Titus, just to see for himself that he was okay.

“Thanks, Doc,” Charlie said, before stepping around the guy and slipping through the curtain.

He stood in the corner of the semi-permanent cubicle that served as a hospital room and just stared for a little while. Titus looked so small and thin lying there in a hospital johnny, contrary to Charlie’s memory of his body. Charlie watched his chest rise and fall in the comforting rhythm of life. A muscle shift drew his attention, and his eyes snapped to Titus’s face.

Those Siberian husky eyes were staring at him, wide and unguarded. Titus wasn’t sleeping. Charlie should have known, no way would Titus be able to relax in a place like this.

“Hey,” Charlie said quietly, his voice cracking with emotion.

Titus had to swallow before he was able to speak. “Hey.”

“How ya feelin’?”

“Like the devil’s been running around inside my skin for a while.”

What an odd expression,
Charlie thought. Then again, Titus had a lot of odd expressions; it must be the gypsy thing.

Titus gave him a weak smile, and all the hundreds of times he’d seen that smile flashed through Charlie’s mind in seconds. Then he thought back to how he’d felt when Titus was lying on the floor, unresponsive. Something inside him just snapped.

He carefully removed his sidearm and his badge-chain and placed them on a nearby cart. The whole time, Titus watched his every move. Charlie made it across the cubicle in three wide steps. He leaned over Titus, gripped his chin, and swooped down to take his mouth in a furious kiss. It was filled with fear, desperation, need, and relief, all rolled in together.

Charlie wasn’t gentle. He pushed his tongue between Titus’s lips, fucking his mouth relentlessly, though he didn’t touch him anywhere else for fear of hurting him. Soft gasps escaped Titus, filling the room, causing goosebumps to break out along Charlie’s skin.

They shouldn’t be doing this here, where anyone could walk in, but he’d just needed a moment to lose himself in Titus. He’d been so fucking
scared
. It wasn’t the kind of scared you get when something bad happened to someone you were acquainted with. It was the kind of scared you got when you thought you might lose a limb—as if you’d be irrevocably changed if you lost that part of you.

These thoughts had Charlie feeling a whole new kind of fear, but he welcomed it. Titus was okay. That was all that mattered.

Finally, Charlie broke the kiss and pulled away, licking Titus’s lips on the way out. “Please, don’t ever fucking scare me like that again.”

Titus hit him with a full grin that time. “Only you would begin a statement like that with ‘please.’ My southern gentleman.”

Charlie blushed, and then jumped guiltily when Sonny burst into the room. While they hadn’t been doing anything overtly sexual when he’d come in, from his narrow-eyed stare, Charlie couldn’t help but think his partner suspected something.

DeRossi just pointed at Titus. “He gonna live?”

Titus stiffened and lifted his chin. “I’m
right here
. And yes, I’m going to be fine.”

Jerking his head in a nod, Sonny stepped closer. “Good, because we’re not finished questioning you.”

Charlie couldn’t believe the nerve of the guy, coming into Titus’s hospital room and trying to intimidate him. Rounding on Sonny, Charlie flattened a hand against his chest and pushed him backwards out of the room. “We need to talk.
Outside
.”

Sonny allowed himself to be driven out of the room, but as soon as they were relatively out of earshot, he smacked Charlie’s hands away. “What the fuck, Hale?”

“What the fuck, me? What the fuck, you!” Charlie hissed, ashamed that this was beginning to sound like a playground brawl. “You can’t just barge into the emergency room and start questioning a witness.”

“A witness? Or a suspect? What is it with this guy, man? He fucking your sister or something?”

“You’re unbelievable,” Charlie muttered. DeRossi had come way to close to the truth for his liking. “I told you, we were friends before the goddamn murder. Look, I agree with you that he knows something, that’s why I brought him in this morning, but he is
not
a suspect. He was on the verge of giving me whatever info he has when the seizure happened.”

“Well, let’s go in there now and get the story.”

“Like I said before, he doesn’t trust law enforcement. Let me talk to him as a friend. I’ll take him home once he’s discharged, and we’ll talk then. You’re going to have to trust me on this one, Sonny.”

Those inky black eyes bored into Charlie’s soul as Sonny clenched and unclenched his jaw. Charlie thought for sure that his partner would storm back into the room and drag Titus out of bed. He was banking on the strong bond of trust and friendship that built between partners who knew that their lives were in each other’s hands.

After a long, tense moment, Sonny gave another terse nod, but crossed his arms over his thick chest. “You have twenty-four hours. If you can’t get him to talk by then, I’ll put him under arrest for obstruction.”

Despite the not-so-subtle threat, Charlie was filled with relief. He was confident he could get Titus to confide in him, especially when the alternative could be jail time. “I’ll get it done. I’m going to hang around here until he’s discharged.”

Without waiting for an answer, Charlie went back into Titus’s room. Titus glanced up apprehensively, so Charlie gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“When can I get out of here?” Titus asked, his eyes darting nervously around the cubicle. “I hate hospitals.”

Charlie sighed. “I know. They’ll discharge you as soon as they’re sure you aren’t going to have another seizure.”

Titus’s eyes did that fuzzy focus thing, directed at the far corner to Charlie’s left. Charlie’s pulse skittered—he was sure Titus was going to lose consciousness again—but then Titus looked back at him. He seemed apprehensive, more than was called for from just a dislike of hospitals.

“My grandmother…” Titus began. “Someone needs to go get Hester, she should know where I am.”

“Sure thing. Gimme her number and I’ll call her.”

Titus looked at Charlie like he was a kid who’d gotten caught sleeping in class. “Old-school gypsy, remember? She doesn’t have a phone. Someone will have to go get her.”

As they spoke, Titus had grown paler and his eyes were darting around the room, never focusing on one thing. It seemed like the longer he stayed in the hospital bed, the more nervous he became.

“Titus, you’re only going to be here for an hour or two more. I don’t think we need to drag Hester all the way over here. You’ll see her when you get home,” Charlie reasoned, hoping to help calm Titus’s nerves about being there.

If anything, it seemed to ramp him up more. “No, no, I need to see her. She needs to know where I am. It’s important.”

“All right, I’ll call for a patrol car to go pick her up.”

“No! Haven’t you been listening?” Titus barked, his voice bordering on shrill. “No way will she get in a cop car with some strange
gajo!
No, we’ll have to get Riot or—no, Riot’s at the shop and so is Chelsea.
Damn it!
”

Charlie was seriously starting to worry about Titus’s state of mind. He seemed so edgy and frazzled, like something terrible was on the verge of happening and he was powerless to stop it. What Charlie couldn’t figure out was what in the hell it could be. He’d kept Titus from being arrested so far, he’d gotten him to the hospital after his seizure, he’d made DeRossi back off—Charlie wasn’t sure what else there was to worry about right then. He didn’t take offense at the tone; it concerned him more than anything else.

He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “It’s okay, Titus, relax. I’ll run over and pick Hester up myself. It’s just across the city center, shouldn’t take me long. I—”

Charlie was interrupted by Sonny bursting through the curtain, pushing someone in front of him, whom he’d gripped by the shirt collar.

“Caught this guy lurking around in the hall. He refused to tell me what his business was,” Sonny said, shoving the guy in farther.

“It’s just me! Call off your velociraptor,” Riot said. Charlie took in the familiar slim frame, baggy clothes, and floppy brown hair. Riot must be getting tired of being manhandled by cops. Then again, from the look he tossed over his shoulder at Sonny, maybe not.

“Stand down, DeRossi. That’s just Titus’s roommate, Riot.”

Sonny grudgingly let Riot go and the guy immediately rushed to Titus’s bedside. “Hey, T. You okay? I ’bout had a heart attack when I got your message.”

“I’m gonna be fine, Ry. Just had a bit of an episode,” Titus said, hedging.

“Seizure,” Charlie supplied.

“
Charlie!”

“A
seizure?
What are they doing for you? They’re doing tests and shit, right? There’s got to be a plan.”

Titus pinched the bridge of his nose, and Charlie had the urge to throw everyone out of the room, physically if he had to.

“They don’t do much for an isolated event. I’m just being monitored. They’ll release me in a couple of hours, then Charlie’s going to take me home. I’ve got to do another interview about the murder.”

“Fuck that,” Riot said. “We’ve got bigger problems. Chelsea’s
missing.
”