It was late afternoon by the time I arrived at the hospital and walked down the hallway to the exam cubicle Frank was in. I heard his voice long before I entered the room.
“Come on, already. I’m fine. I have people to talk to and places to go.”
I pulled the curtain aside to see Frank sitting on the table and giving the nurse a hard time. She looked at me and rolled her eyes.
“Can you make him shut up so I can listen to his heartbeat?”
Frank grunted. “Obviously, my heart is beating, or I wouldn’t be sitting here. Now can you get somebody to discharge me, please?”
She shook her head and walked out.
I took a seat next to Frank. “So you couldn’t have avoided falling onto the tracks?”
“Well, shit, McCord, I didn’t have a lot of time to weigh out my options. He was waving that knife all over the place.”
“According to the CTA, the Ashland stop will be down for days.”
“I’m sure it will, but we got a killer off the trains.” Frank shook his head.
I wrinkled my brow. “What?”
“Just thinking.”
I waited.
“Richard was the subway killer, and in the end, he got his just reward.”
“By dying in the subway terminal?”
“Yep—it was meant to be. We all know about karma and justice. Death by subway couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.”
“I think the knife was what actually killed him.”
Frank shrugged. “My version is more fitting. I also know why he targeted me, and it didn’t have anything to do with Gina.”
“Really? Then why?”
“He said I looked like his old man, and since Ronald Hill died in prison, Richard never had the chance to honor him.”
“By killing his father’s stand-in? That makes no sense at all.”
Frank reached for the cup of water on the side table and took a gulp. “Some shit about imitation being the best form of flattery.”
The nurse returned minutes later. “Sign this release form, Mr. Mills. The doctor said you can leave.”
“Great.” Frank scratched out his name at the bottom of the paper and dated it. He winced when he climbed off the table.
“A little sore?”
He waved away my comment. “Falling five feet and landing on steel tracks is kind of painful, but I’ll be fine. It’s all in a day’s work. Where’s Gina’s room?”
“Third floor, and she’s expecting us.”
“We need to hit the gift shop first.”
“Frank, remember what I said? Don’t get too attached.”
He frowned. “If anyone knows how it feels not to have family, it’s you, Jesse. Gina just needs a little compassion and a few good friends.”
I knew he was right, and if anyone had a heart of gold, it was Frank.