[May 2nd] [The Racket] Star-Wrangling

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: Star-Wrangling
Day/Theme: May 2nd - Wringing stars out of zero
Series: The Racket (1951 film)
Character/Pairing: Officer Bob Johnson/Lucy Johnson, Captain McQuigg, Mary McQuigg, doctor
Rating: K+/PG

Again dedicated to Tarlonniel; she (and this theme) inspired me to finally write this. Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen the film and wants to.


By Lucky_Ladybug

Lucy Johnson had been left alone in the locker room, at her request.

Captain McQuigg had consented. But while his expression had been largely impassive, his eyes had revealed his true regretful and angry feelings over the tragedy. He had lost one of the best men in the 7th district, someone whom he had taken under his wing and assigned to the case that now had taken his life.

The doctor had been visibly sorrowful and had tried to offer his condolences, but Lucy had cut him off with a sobbing “Please.” She was not yet ready to accept sympathies. It was too much to see the lifeless body stretched on the bench knowing that it was only an empty shell, that Bob was gone. And with his uniform shirt still open from the doctor’s vain examination, she could clearly see the angry hole in his flesh and the blood he had lost.

She sank to her knees near his shoulder, unable to bear the sight. “You big idiot,” she sobbed. “You wanted this case so bad. But did you want it more than me? More than . . . us?” She raised a hand to her stomach. “I was coming to tell you what the doctor said about our little Robert or Roberta. Now you’ll never know. You’ll never . . .”

She trailed off, burying her face against the still shoulder. She remembered how excited Bob had been the night she had told him about the upcoming addition to their little family. Of course he had not wanted the case more than them. He had only wanted to bring the criminal empire down, to make the city safer to raise their children. He had always been among the most staunchly honest men in the district. That was why Captain McQuigg had personally selected him to assist; they had the same ideals in an increasingly corrupt world of dirty cops and politicians.

Perhaps when the first wave of this hurt and anguish eased, she could feel proud. Somewhere, deep in her grieving heart, she already was. But those feelings were overshadowed by her agony. She did not want to lose the man she loved. Especially not now, not like this.

“You wanted six children,” she said, not looking up as she brought her other hand around to run through his hair. “Now I can only give you one. And you’ll never even meet her!”

She froze at the weak motion of the shoulder. She must have accidentally jarred it. There was no other explanation.

But what happened next was definitely not her doing.

“. . . I still want six kids. . . .”

She looked up with a jerk, her eyes wide and disbelieving. What kind of inhuman prank was this? Bob was looking to her, his eyes half-open and glazed, his expression filled with pain but still trying to smile. Lucy could not even find her voice.

“Bob?!” she choked out. She sounded like she was being strangled.

Without waiting for him to reply she flew to her feet, running for the door. “Doctor!” she screamed. “Doctor! Come in here, quick!”

She looked back to her husband, her heart pounding. Was it a dream? Was she hallucinating? He was still trying to focus on her, but the pain was overwhelming him. He breathed heavily, clenching a fist.

The physician opened the door, baffled and concerned. “Mrs. Johnson, what on Earth . . .” But he never finished his sentence. As soon as he saw into the room it was obvious why Lucy had been calling for him. “Dear God!” he burst out, hastening to Officer Johnson’s side.

“You said he was dead!” Lucy cried. “He wasn’t dead. He isn’t dead! He needs help right now!”

“He was dead, Mrs. Johnson,” was the shaking reply. “At least, he certainly appeared to be. Maybe a hospital, with modern equipment, would have found differently. An ambulance is already on the way, but I fully thought it would be picking up a corpse.”

He brought his stethoscope to the policeman’s heaving chest, listening in stunned amazement to the desperate beat. “Officer Johnson? Officer Johnson, can you hear me?”

Bob weakly opened one eye. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “What’s . . . what’s going on?” He tried to raise his hand. “Lucy?”

Lucy was instantly there, grabbing his hand in hers. “I’m here, Bob,” she said through tears of joy. “And thank God you’re here. We thought . . .”

“So did I,” Bob said. He tried to squeeze her hand as he looked to the still-reeling physician. “Well? Do I . . . have a chance?”

The doctor shook his head. “At this point, I don’t think that’s even for me to say,” he said. “But it seems that Someone must want you to stay here very badly.” He grabbed his bag, immediately preparing to do what he could to treat the wound.

The ambulance siren wailed in the distance.
****
Captain Thomas McQuigg was weary yet triumphant as he made his way out the door of the police station and to the car, where Mary was waiting. He climbed in, kissing her in greeting.

She smiled. “Well? Did you do it?” she asked as she started the car.

“We did it.” McQuigg nodded. “Welsh and Turk were both caught in their lies. Scanlon’s dead, though. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.”

“Death is too good for him?” Mary supplied.

“At least I wanted him to sweat out a long trial first,” McQuigg said. “But Turk shot him and that’s the end of it.”

He looked to her. “How’s Bob?”

Mary’s eyes flickered. “It’s still bad,” she said. “But he’s fought hard to stay alive. When I left the hospital, they were saying he might make it.”

“He’ll make it.” McQuigg’s voice left little room for doubt. From his tone, he almost sounded as though he had personally spoken with God and knew the young officer’s fate.

Mary pursed her lips but smiled. “I think he will,” she said. “He has a lot to live for.”

“I let Scanlon think Bob was dead,” McQuigg remarked.

“So no one else would come after him?” Mary guessed.

McQuigg nodded. “Until we round up the rest of the organization, including The Old Man, it isn’t safe to let anyone else know that Bob’s alive. But it shouldn’t take long. Welsh will crack now that he’s been caught. And Turk was ready to talk deals.”

“Good,” Mary declared. “And then we can go back to normal?”

“First we’ll have to find what ‘normal’ is,” McQuigg said. “For a long time now, ‘normal’ for this town has been corruption. But not any more.”

“And that’s largely thanks to you and Bob,” Mary said. “I’m not going to pretend that I’m not just a little bit proud.” She smiled.

“It’s thanks to a lot of people,” McQuigg said. “Irene Hayes and Bob’s friend Dave, too.”

But as he leaned back in the seat, a smile of satisfaction tugged at his usually deadpan visage. There was still a lot of work to do. However, there was no doubt that tonight had been a victory.

Actually, more than one.

Lucy Johnson would certainly agree with that.