By the Book

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Hospital Game

Hospital, New Haven. January 1, 2004 – Thursday morning, barely.

Peter paced the waiting room floor. He'd followed the ambulance to the hospital. Jones was now using Peter's car to drop Tricia and an arrest warrant at the Sinclair residence. Agent Rice and her team were escorting Collins back to his home in New York.

He kept reliving those last few minutes of the op, when he realized what Neal was about to do, and couldn't stop him. Like Gardiner, he hadn't been able to think of a better exit strategy. But they had been so close to getting a warrant. Hearing the inhaler, hearing Neal struggle to breathe, hearing the sirens and the EMTs loading Neal into the ambulance, and not being able to do anything... It had been hell.

Peter's phone rang, and just seeing the caller's name relaxed him a bit. "Hey, hon."

"Happy New Year, Peter. How are things going?"

"It's 2004 already? I haven't been watching the clock. Happy New Year, El. The good news is, our missing person is on his way home, and one of my agents is currently arresting a white collar criminal."

"Congratulations. And the bad news?"

"I've been the White Collar taskforce leader for two weeks, and already a member of my team has been hospitalized."

"Oh, Peter, I'm so sorry. How serious is it?"

"I don't know yet. The doctor is still checking him out. He should be fine. It's just... it's nerve-wracking."

"Is it Neal?"

Peter sighed. "Yes. Yes, of course it's Neal. He's reckless, impetuous, foolhardy, impulsive... did I say reckless?"

"But how did he do on his first real case?"

"You should have heard him, El. He was brilliant. At the end, strategizing an exit plan with an FBI legend, cool as could be. And the team's coming around, starting to support him. And there was this cat..." Peter paused. He didn't normally share many details of his cases with Elizabeth. Partly for security, but also because they were often boring to a non-agent. It was hard to convey the thrill of the capture if you hadn't experienced it. And the rest of the work simply didn't lend itself to good stories. At least, it hadn't before Neal joined the team. "I'll tell you about it when I get home."

"I look forward to it. You know, I'd like to meet Neal sometime. All of your team, really. It would be good to put faces to names. We should host a party."

"Oh, I don't know, El. There's so much going on, and Neal will just be getting out the hospital."

"Not tomorrow. What I'm thinking about would take a few weeks to plan. But what do you think about having everyone over to the boss' home for a little socializing one evening?"

"Um..."

"And I love you, anyway. We'll talk about it when you get home."

A cup of coffee and ten minutes of pacing later, Peter heard what Jones and Wiese had identified earlier as the School for Wizards theme. Neal's phone. His phone and wallet had been given to Peter for safekeeping when they got to the emergency room.

Peter grabbed the phone, intending to silence it rather than answer. Unless it was Kate Moreau. Or Mozzie; Peter had spoken with him once and couldn't help being fascinated by the man's circuitous thought processes.

The phone's display indicated it was Henry Winslow. Peter pressed the answer button without even thinking about it. "Hello?"

"This is Henry. I got a text from Neal, and a voicemail from a hospital in Connecticut. Is he okay?"