Medical Center.
"I'm not going to your office."
It wasn't until they reached the skybridge that Kate finally caught on. She swatted Adam's hand away and shook her head repeatedly. 🙅♀️
"Why not?" Adam asked, genuinely surprised.
"I've got a ton of colleagues working around here… Don't even think about it," Kate shot back, glaring at him. "And don't you dare think I'm gonna help you chase Jessie either."
"You thought I'd want you to help me chase Jessie?" Adam said, incredulous. "Where'd you even get that idea?"
"…"
Kate clammed up. She never won these little verbal sparring matches with Adam anyway, so she just gave up talking.
"Alright, alright, no more teasing," Adam said with a grin, dialing it back. "Relax, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not here to embarrass you in front of your coworkers—I just wanna know more about the case."
"Just the case, huh?" Kate rolled her eyes, switching to her no-nonsense detective face. "That's confidential. No comment."
"Oh, I see…" Adam reached for her hand again. "No rush then. We'll talk later. How about we swing by my office first? You haven't checked it out yet, right?"
"No way!" Kate glanced around nervously before sighing. "Okay, enough! What do you wanna know?"
"Tell me what you've got. Maybe I can help you break it down," Adam said with a smile.
"Fine," Kate relented. It's not like she hadn't dragged Adam into case discussions before—more than once, actually.
At this point, the situation was mostly clear. From Kate, Adam learned about the big-shot background of the bearded dwarf guy. The shootout at the psych hospital? Total bloodbath—both sides had grudges so deep they nearly wiped each other out.
Hmm…
The survivors? Pretty much all scooped up by the NYPD in one big sweep.
After cleaning up the scene, they found the bearded dwarf had been practically blown to bits. But his old lady—the one who sparked this whole mess—somehow made it out alive.
She wasn't in great shape, though.
When they found her, she was cradling her son, the bearded dwarf, singing lullabies like she was putting a kid to sleep. Even with NYPD shouting standard commands, she didn't flinch—didn't seem scared at all. Every now and then, she'd glance over with this creepy, smiling look in her eyes.
Super weird. 😬
She's locked up now, pending a psych eval to figure out her mental state.
Adam's first thought? She's faking it—playing crazy to dodge the heat. Juno had pegged her as a ruthless old bat who'd strangle an enemy without a second thought. This didn't vibe with that.
But then again, maybe losing her only son—her whole world—hit her so hard she snapped. It's not impossible.
Adam just chuckled and let it go. Either way, that tough old lady's fate was sealed—and it wouldn't be pretty.
This whole drama was wrapping up nicely.
"Nothing to say?" Kate asked, surprised.
"Oh, I've got plenty," Adam replied with a grin.
"Then spill it!" Kate perked up. Adam always gave her great insights that helped crack cases.
"If you did help me chase Jessie, how would you even do it?" Adam asked, deadpan serious.
"…"
Kate turned and walked off.
In the bustling medical center, she wasn't about to indulge Adam's nonsense. Especially not this late at night—it felt too risky. Who knows? Blink once, and her service pistol might end up swapped out or something.
She was used to Adam's shameless antics by now. Nothing weird fazed her anymore. She didn't even mind, honestly—just not now. Her colleagues were still working, and she didn't want anyone questioning her.
Being a woman in law enforcement was tough enough—she had to work twice as hard to earn the respect she deserved.
Adam got that, too.
After dissecting cases, when neither of them felt like sleeping, Kate would often vent about this stuff. Adam would half-listen while flipping through a book, occasionally tossing in Dr. Bailey as a comparison to cheer her up.
Both were ambitious career women, after all.
Dr. Bailey had it way rougher than Kate, though. For one, she's Black, and thanks to this wacky system, Black folks get preferential treatment in all sorts of fields.
Take college: her scores might've been half of her peers', but because of her race, she got to sit alongside real geniuses. Job apps? Check the "Black" box, and boom—extra points, easier acceptance. Otherwise, it's "discrimination."
For most Black folks, that's a perk. But for elite outliers like Dr. Bailey, who want to prove themselves on merit? It's a curse. Even if she didn't check that box, people assume she coasted on her race anyway—that she's not really that good.
So she had to work double—triple—time to shatter those assumptions and earn real respect.
Now? Dr. Bailey's the shining light of the medical center, admired by all. But that took years of grueling effort. Married for ages, and nobody even knew. Had a kid but couldn't be there—always tied up in surgery. Her marriage and family nearly fell apart.
It's all about perspective.
Whenever Adam brought up Dr. Bailey's insane struggles, Kate would snap out of her funk, nod off contentedly, and sleep like a baby.
"Juno, is Monica asleep yet?"
Adam watched Kate's retreating figure, smiled, and pulled out his phone to call Juno.
"Not yet," Juno replied, just as Monica's voice chimed in. "We're chatting right now!"
"Oh yeah?" Adam could hear Monica sounding steady and cheerful. "What about?" he asked with a grin.
"Mr. Heckles," Monica said, laughing. "Adam, you remember Mr. Heckles, right?"
"Your downstairs neighbor? Of course," Adam said. "When he passed, it freaked Chandler out big time."
"Haha!" Monica cracked up. "We were just talking about how ridiculous Chandler was back then. Mr. Heckles dying alone totally spooked him."
"Heh," Adam chuckled along.
Mr. Heckles, the lonely old guy in the apartment below, was a little unhinged. He'd always come up to complain about Monica and Rachel being too loud.
They were noisy, so he'd retaliate by jabbing the ceiling with a broom. Monica and Rachel would stomp back in a huff.
One time, after the usual routine, the banging stopped. They thought they'd won—until they found out Mr. Heckles had fallen and died.
Later, a lawyer showed up, and to their shock, Mr. Heckles left them his stuff. It wasn't worth much, but it showed that despite his grumbling, he secretly liked their lively chaos. Way better than being alone.
When Chandler helped sort through Heckles' things, he realized how similar they were—and freaked out about ending up the same way: old and alone.
"Mr. Heckles had it pretty good, all things considered," Adam mused.
"Totally!" Monica agreed over the phone. "Compared to those nursing home folks stuck on meds all day, Heckles was lucky."
"Chandler's not scared anymore, right?" Adam asked, steering the convo away from anything too heavy with a teasing tone.
"Nope," Monica said, rubbing her belly and exchanging a happy look with Chandler. "We've got little Adam now."
Adam: "…"
---
(End of Chapter)