Learning curve
Jack is transitioning from high school to college but is still unsure of what he wants to do with his life. He takes on a job and an internship while taking the basic courses needed for any degree. In the end, he makes a decision he knows that the Reagans, and his mother, could be proud of.
One Shot. I decided to write a story about each member of the Reagan clan. Since I got Joe and Sean and several for Frank, this one is about Jack.
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"It's part time," Jack's advisor, Eileen Miller, told him about a possible job. "And the pay kind of sucks, but the work isn't bad."
"I don't know," Jack said. "I'm trying to find something that will lead me to what I'm supposed to do with my life."
"What do you like to do?" she asked as she began leafing through the files.
"I like sports," Jack told her. "I've played soccer and lacrosse. Maybe I could do coaching?" She leafed through the files and he went on. "My father is a police detective and, well, that whole side of the family is in law enforcement."
"Law enforcement," she mumbled. "What about your mom? What does she do for a living."
"She was a nurse," Jack said quietly. "She was killed last year in a helicopter accident airlifting a patient."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Eileen replied. "Something in the medical profession?"
"See, that's the problem," Jack said. "Part of me wants to be a cop like my father's side of the family. But my mom didn't want that for me."
She bit her lip and thought for a few minutes. "There is an internship with the police department," she said. "Only 10 hours a week, and the pay is minimal…"
"Cops don't get paid much in the first place," Jack pointed out.
She nodded. "I know," she said. She leafed through the file cabinet behind her. "Ah, here it is. You think you'd pass a background check?" He gave her a look. "Right, family of cops… Let me see." She opened the file. "Reagan… Are you related to Commissioner Reagan?"
"He's my grandfather," Jack replied.
"The internship is in his office at 1 PP," she told him. "Would you like to apply?"
"Yes!" Jack was excited at the prospect of working with his grandfather.
"It includes a small stipend," she said. "So you'd still have to find a job…" She leafed through the cabinet then, frustrated, turned to the computer next to it. "Here we go. This is perfect." She hit a few keys to print it out. "St Victor's needs someone in the nursery."
Jack breathed at the thought of working at his mother's hospital, but he was intrigued. "What's the job?"
"Holding babies," she replied.
"You're kidding," Jack said. "Just holding babies?"
"Yes," she replied. "They're mostly drug babies… you know, born addicted to whatever their mothers are addicted to?" Jack nodded. "They've found that addicted babies weather through the withdrawal better if they are held. Just the touch of a human being, any human being can help. And they pay and it's not bad. It's 20 hours a week."
"I think I'd like to try for that," Jack said. "My mom worked at St Victor's."
"Then what about your classes," Eileen asked. "You need a minimum of 12 credits for the scholarship."
"I'm going to take the basics," Jack told her and offered the class registration sheet.
"Good idea," she said as she looked over the sheet. "English, math, science, civics. Everything needed no matter what major you choose later on. If I might make a suggestion…"
"Go ahead," Jack said.
"Take the classes you have the most trouble with in the evening," she said. "They're taught by high school teachers then."
Jack nodded. "I'll remember that."
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"I got the short list of intern applicants from Detective Baker Friday," Frank began as he spooned a big helping of potatoes on his plate. "I have my eye on one particular candidate, but I thought I'd ask your opinion."
"Since when," Jamie began as he passed the green beans to Eddie on his left. "Do you ask our opinion on interns?"
"Since Jack applied," Frank said. "And made the short list."
The table fell silent and everyone looked at Jack. He pretended not to notice and forked a piece of chicken onto his plate.
"Jack?" Danny asked.
Jack finally looked up at his family. "I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with my life, so my advisor suggested I apply for it."
"You had a good application, too," Frank said.
"Just as long as it's on my merits," Jack said.
"It is," Frank replied. "Baker printed them all out and cut out any identifying information when she saw your application. She assigned each one a number so I could go through without knowing which one was yours." He paused to receive the basket of rolls and took one before passing it on and splitting the roll to butter it. "I have actually found a final candidate." He looked at Jack. "It's yours if you want it."
Jack nodded as the family showered him with congratulations. "Thanks grandpa," he said.
"Is that going to leave you time for that job you applied for at the hospital?" Danny asked.
"The hospital will work around my classes and other stuff," Jack replied.
"What's the job?" Eddie asked.
"Holding drug addicted babies while they go through withdrawal," Jack replied.
"Man," Sean said. "I can't give you a hard time about either of those things."
"Your mom would be proud of you though," Danny said.
"I just want to cover all the bases," Jack said. "I know I want to go into service, but this will help me decide what direction."
"Good for you," Henry said.
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"For the most part," Baker explained. "You'll just be running errands. Filing paper work. Stuff like that. From 1 to 3 in the afternoon Monday through Friday. Got it?"
Jack nodded. "Got it."
"I hear that you interviewed for a job at the hospital your mom worked at, too," she went on. "If you get it, let me know and we can figure out a good schedule for you and still let you have free time and weekends off."
Jack nodded. "What do you need me to do first?"
"Well," Baker began. "You need to go down to security to get your picture taken for the ID. By the time you get back up here I should have something substantial for you to do." Jack nodded. "You know where it is, right?"
He nodded again. "Thanks."
When he returned from security, Baker made sure he had things to do until 3.
"Good work," she told him as he delivered one last stack of files to her desk.
"This is what it is going to be?"
"I'm afraid so," Baker replied. "We are, unfortunately, tasked with the paperwork of running a major police department." She patted him shoulder. "The commissioner is in his office. Why don't you go talk to him before you leave?"
Jack nodded. "OK. Thanks, Baker."
When Jack went into his grandfather's office, he was on the phone. "Make sure that gets to me, forthwith," he said. "Thank you. Goodbye."
He leaned back into his chair to look at his oldest grandson and waved him to a chair. "So how was your first day?"
Great," Jack replied.
"Is it what you expected?"
"Some," Jack replied. "Dad's always complaining about paper work and now I know where it all goes."
Frank chuckled. "You'll be alright. Just keep your eyes and ears open and know when to keep your mouth shut and you'll be fine."
"Keep my mouth shut?"
"Sometimes, when things are happening around here, the press wants to know but they can't," Frank explained. "They have a right to know, but this office has to make the decision when they get to know. Because it can be dangerous if some things get out. Do you understand?"
"I think so," Jack replied as his phone began to vibrate. Part of him wanted to check it, but he knew how his grandfather felt about such interruptions.
Frank smiled. "Go ahead. I know your waiting for the call from the hospital."
"Thanks grandpa," Jack said and he answered the phone.
"Jack Reagan?"
"Yes, that's me," Jack replied.
"This is Lacy Adams from St Victors," she said. "I'm calling to let you know that we have decided on you for the position."
"Really?" Jack said. "That's great!"
Frank smiled as Lacy went on. "Can you come in at 11 am tomorrow and we'll get all the paperwork squared away and get a schedule worked out for you."
"I'll be there," Jack told her. "See you then.
"You, too," Lacy said. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Jack hung up and looked at his grandfather. "I got it."
"Good for you," Frank said. "You going to be able handle both jobs and your classes?"
Jack let out a breath. "I hope so," he replied. "It'll take me a bit to get used to things, but I'm trying to stay optimistic."
"That's good," Frank said. "Why don't you guys come over to the house and we can celebrate over your great-grandfathers famous chili."
"Sound great, Grandpa," Jack replied as he stood. "I've got to get going now. I've got a class in a half hour."
"You'd better get going then," Frank said as he stood and came around the desk to hug his grandson. "We're all very proud of you. You know your mom would be, too, right?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, I know she would."
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"For the most part," the NICU nurse, Kelsey Wyatt, told Jack. "You will be holding babies so their moms can have a break. The opioid epidemic means that one in twenty children born in this country are born addicted to prescription drugs and heroin." She finished tying the gown on him and pointed to the gloves in the dispenser on the wall. As he pulled on some gloves, she went on. "Their mothers are often trying to kick the habit, too, and we try to keep them together, but sometimes mommy is too addicted and baby ends up in the system."
"Got it," Jack said.
She led him into another room where four incubators were lined up along two opposite walls, two on each side. She introduced him to each child and their family as she went by then pointed to the last incubator in the corner. "This little one was born last night," Kelsey said. "Her mom hung around just long enough after the birth to need a fix before taking off." She put her hand into the container and touched the tiny thing and she jumped. "She couldn't even give her a name."
"That's horrible," Jack said.
"Get used to it," Kelsey told him. "We get one or two like this a month." She waved to the rocker. "Sit down. I'll get her out and you can start with her."
Jack sat down and Kelsey handed the infant to him. Her cries mixed with those of the other children in the room. "Talk to her," Kelsey told him. "It'll help calm her."
"I don't know what to say," Jack said.
"Tell her stories your parents told you when you were a kid or about your family," Kelsey told him. "It doesn't matter what you say. It just matters that you say it."
Jack nodded and looked back down at the crying girl. He tilted his head. "I am going to tell you a story about a wonderful lady named Linda," he began. "She was my mom. But now, she's an angel…"
As Jack told her about his mother, she calmed and watched him intently. Every now and then, she would tremble and cry out and Jack would gently say, "Now none of that. You are a good girl."
For the next few weeks, Jack would go to some classes in the morning, head to 1 PP for a couple of hours, do some studying and a class, then spend the evenings after dinner at the hospital where, more often than not, he rocked the same baby girl.
After the first week, he noticed that the little girl had been given a name, Lynn, and he asked about it.
Kelsey smiled at him. "You come in every night and tell her stories about your family, but they always start with 'Linda, the angel that watches over you.' It seemed only natural to give her the angel's name, too."
Jack could only smile. "I think my mom would like that."
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Jack was confused more than ever. He liked the job at 1 PP. The people were friendly and he'd even been able to find a piece of evidence that had somehow gotten lost. He also felt like a bigger part of the discussion at Sunday dinner because of it.
Then, there was the hospital. He enjoyed holding the babies and telling them stories and watching them and their mothers get better and leave the NICU. Then there was Lynn. She was growing and gaining weight, but no one came to see her and no one came to hold her except Jack and the other baby holders.
One Monday, Jack came in to the nursery and found her gone. He smiled with the hope that she had gotten well enough over the weekend to have been placed with a foster family.
As he stood outside the nursery after his shift, he asked if he could find out where she had been placed so he might be able to visit. "No one told you?" Kelsey asked.
"Told me what?"
"Lynn died on Saturday," she told him. "I'm sorry."
"But she was doing better, getting stronger," Jack said.
"She was," the nurse told him. "Then she had a seizure and she wasn't strong enough. When the seizure stopped, her heart stopped. We tried to restart it, but there was nothing we could do." She touched his arm gently. "These things just happen sometimes. I'm so sorry."
Jack couldn't speak so she went on. "You did a lot for her though." She smiled. "She was calmest when she was being held by you. That little bit of love you gave her… it meant the world to that little baby."
Jack pulled off the gloves he wore and pulled at the gown until Kelsey untied it and he could pull it off. He pulled off the cap and handed everything to her before stalking off down the hall. As he turned the corner, he saw Danny come out of the elevator and was torn as to whether to go back the way he had come or go forward to meet his father.
Danny saw him, and knew the look on his son's face and realized that something had happened. Before Jack could make the choice, His father's arms had engulfed him and he let the tears fall.
In the time since they had lost Linda, Danny had become accustomed to the occasional hug to comfort his sons, but this was different. Jack was grieving and Danny hated to see his son go through this again. Behind him, his partner Maria Baez, stood quietly deflecting people to go around the man and his son until Danny pulled away she pointed him to an empty waiting room and stood guard at the door so they could talk.
"What happened?" Danny asked as he took his son's face in his hands.
"She died," Jack said as he stifled a sob. "Lynn died."
"Oh God," Danny breathed and wrapped his arms back around him. "I'm so sorry, Jack."
"I know, Dad," Jack said into Danny's shoulder. He left his head there for a bit longer then pulled away.
"Let's go home and we can talk about it," Danny said.
Jack shook his head. "I can't," he said. "I have to do something for her."
"She's gone son," Danny began.
"No, I mean," Jack looked at the ceiling. "She'll be buried in a potter's field if someone doesn't claim her. I have to find a way to make sure she gets a proper burial."
Danny looked him in the eye. "Alright," he said. "Let's go talk to the ME see what we have to do to claim her. Then we'll go see Grandpa. He may be able to help us get some money to get her buried. OK?"
Jack nodded and wiped at his face. Maria handed him a box of tissues and he blew his nose and cleaned his glasses. Then she handed him a photograph someone had printed out. "The nurse saw you in here and asked me to give this to you when you had calmed down," she told him.
It was a picture of him feeding Lynn during the last week. Kelsey had taken it and printed it out to hang over the baby's bed. Jack smiled. "I was the only one she'd finish a bottle for," he said. "I should have been there."
"Hey," Danny said as he took his son's face in his hands again. "Her mother's the one that should have been there. She was the one too interested in a fix to make sure her baby was OK. You were there. You held her. You loved her. Even though you didn't have to." He put an arm around Jack. "You showed her love when she was here. That's everything she deserved."
Jack buried his head in Danny's shoulder again, but this time he didn't cry. "Kelsey said basically the same thing," Jack said. "But thanks for repeating it."
"Better?" Danny said as he held Jack's face in his hands. Jack nodded. "Then let's get this stuff done."
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Sunday dinner was solemn. The family was quiet and respectful of Jack's bad week, but everyone had put in something to help bury Lynn and her funeral was scheduled for the next morning.
Henry had found her a plot while Frank had arranged for an officiant. Erin, Nikki and Eddie had gone shopping and bought her a dress, booties, a bonnet and a blanket. While out, Eddie had grabbed a white Teddy bear to put in the coffin. Jamie came with them to pick out a coffin and took a collection to help pay for it. Danny had led Jack through the process of planning a funeral and Sean, he was just there for his brother. He didn't know what else to do for him.
"I want to thank everyone for your support this week," Jack said as they sat with coffee and desert.
"We're there for you, Jack," Frank said. Everyone around the table nodded in agreement. "You do realize that this happens with whichever choice you make."
Jack nodded. "I know Grandpa," he said. "But I think I've decided what I want to do." The family looked at him expectantly. "I want to be a nurse," he said. "Like mom." Before anyone could say anything, he went on. "I want to be a pediatric nurse like Kelsey."
"Your mom would love that," Danny said.
Jack nodded. "I want to help babies like Lynn so that they can go home. Or if they can't go home, make sure they're loved."
Smiles went around the table as his family offered words of encouragement.
"Did you ever tell your dad why they named her what they did?" Frank asked him.
Jack shook his head. "The nurses in the NICU named her Lynn," Jack said. "Because I kept telling her stories about mom."
Danny's cup stopped halfway to his mouth. "Really?" He sipped the hot liquid. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"I didn't want to upset you," Jack replied.
"It wouldn't have upset me," Danny told him. "It just makes me proud." He fiddled with the handle of his cup. "Proud enough for me and your mom."
"Thanks, Dad," Jack said.