Story: Voices of Death
Summary: Cryptic title, but I'm bad with titles. The Donnelly brothers face life after killing Dokey Farrell. Will Ma live? What about Sal Minetta? He's gone and Nicky Cuttero is left to run the Italians.
Rating: Oi M…. Lots of Violence in Hell's Kitchen, and of course mobsters throw out some rough language.
Pairings: Tommy/Jenny hints and reminiscing. Jimmy/Joanie.
Disclaimer: I LOVED the Black Donnellys, even own the DVD set, but I do not own the characters. The story line is all mine, grasped off of hints dropped in post-series interviews by Kate Mulgrew (Helen) and Jonathan Tucker (Tommy). NBC owned it, Haggis and Moresco created it. I just live in it.
...the world will see that they won't have a days luck
and will disappear like the froth of the river... Ancient Irish Curse
Chapter One
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Five minutes late.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Six Minutes.
He was getting restless now. The wind whipped down the city streets, pulling his jacket against his flesh and sending an unwanted shiver through him. It was unusually cold for October – It felt like December and the threat of bad weather grew imminent as the gray clouds gathered above him, darkening with every moment.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Finally. Tommy Donnelly let out a slow breath as he watched Frankie Stein, a detective in the local precinct, cross the street and walk into the looming shadow of the massive General Hospital. "Anything on Joey?"
Frankie shook his head. "They arrested him outside the Firecracker after 1 last night, but no word on what they're doing with him.
"Joey Ice Cream would rat us all out in a second." Tommy ran his hand through his matted down hair. It had been a very long night and knowing Joey had been picked up felt like a kick to the… what is it the Italians say…? Yeah, gonads. That reminded him… Nicky Cottero was probably looking for him. Tommy had in no uncertain terms threatened the man's mother, but that might not be enough to stop an Italian prick like him. Tommy ventured further into the all-but-confession he was making to the Detective in front of him. "If he says too much, they'll pick us up too."
Frankie nodded. He always liked Tommy, a good kid with a head on his shoulders. If he wasn't so bent on defending and protecting his derelict brothers he could go places. "How's your mother?"
Tommy glanced at his hands, her blood still under his fingernails, dried. He'd never fought for something so hard in his life, but ma, she was important. If he had known the plan… Dokey's plan… he would have taken that bullet for her. "They haven't come out with any information. She's still in surgery."
"Take care of her, Tommy, your father would want that." Frankie touched Tommy's shoulder lightly, and than without another word, turned and walked back toward where he had come from. Back to the station no doubt, to continue sifting through the mess the Irish had left him.
Tommy felt a familiar sting behind his eyes. He'd been crying all night – they all had been. Their mom was tough, but hope was fading. They'd never seen her this helpless, even after dad had died…
He turned and walked through the automatic glass doors and into the elevator. He'd been in the ICU too many times this year.
Jimmy paced in the waiting room, Joanie watching him… back and forth.
"You're making me nervous." It was mostly true. They both needed desperately to get high, but neither wanted to leave until they were sure Helen would live.
"I need it, Joanie!" He whispered fiercely, even as he spoke, Kevin was up and by his side.
"Coffee might help. Let's go get coffee. Seannie can wait here and call us if the doctor comes out."
Jimmy nodded knowing that moving and caffeine would help take his mind off the desire to crawl out of his skin.
They walked out, passing Tommy as they went.
"Where are they going?" Tommy had a frustrated look in his eye.
Sean said nothing. He didn't even look up. A response would take too much effort and it didn't really matter. Nothing mattered.
Tommy's frustration vanished as he realized teas were dripping steadily down his little brother's cheek. "Seannie?" He knelt down so he could look straight in the younger man's eyes. "She'll be ok. She knows we need her."
Sean shook his head. "No, Tommy, I don't think she will be. Dokey took dad, now he's taking Ma too."
Tommy stared at his brother. He seemed confident, almost as though she were already gone.
Suddenly Sean jumped to his feet and Tommy turned to see why. Two doctors, clothed in dress pants, gray button-down shirts and black ties approached, standard white lab coat draped over top. He stood up and squeezed Sean's shoulder, as much for his own comfort as Sean's. He had no idea what to expect from the expressionless men who approached and the knot in his stomach was tightening like a noose.
"Mr. Donnelly?"
Tommy was certain he'd seen these doctors before; probably after the brutal beating Cottero and his partner Vinnie Culiari had given to Sean. "Is she… is she okay?" He stammered, not sure if he wanted an answer.
"She took quite a blow," The first doctor began speaking, "The bullet entered her heart above the left ventricle and lodged in…"
His voice seemed to fade as Tommy struggled to focus. He didn't want this… he didn't want details, information… he just wanted to know if his mother was going to live. He felt a ringing in his ears and the knot in his stomach made him nauseas. Just tell me. He wanted an answer now. He felt the room begin to spin and he saw the fluorescent lights move from the ceiling to the wall in front of him as he collapsed to the cold hospital tiles.
"Tommy?"
His eyes opened slowly. One of the doctors and Sean were leaning over him.
"What happened?" He managed as the ceiling came into focus beyond the faces staring down at him.
"You passed out son." The doctor was older, and had a thick Boston accent, a stark contrast to the obvious New York one he heard every day.
"Where's the other guy? He was telling how Ma was." Tommy looked around frantically.
"He got a call from the ER. Your mother is stable, but not awake. You can go in if you promise to keep your feet."
Tommy agreed, trying to stand needing the other two to help.
"Both of us." Sean's statement was flat. He wasn't staying in the waiting room and those three words expressed his sentiments clearly.
"Very well." The doctor looked reluctant, but nodded to allow it. The reluctance scared Tommy. How bad is she?
They walked down the hallway past empty rooms with glass walls and both froze as they saw the machines attached to their mother. She had needed multiple transfusions and those monitors beeped loudly, an uncomfortable reminder that she was nearly dead.
The nurses had cleaned her up a bit, no traces if blood left on her and her hair was down and pulled to her side. Tommy couldn't remember the last time it wasn't pulled back into a clip or up in a bun. Maybe not even since he was a kid.
"She looks hurt, Tommy." Sean's whisper was barely audible as he shuffled toward the bed, his independent confidence all but gone. He reached toward the bed, fingers outstretched and he touched his hair. Slowly he pulled small bits out from under her and arranged it carefully over her shoulder, smoothing it down. "There's cuts on her neck and shoulders." He touched the soft flesh and ran his fingers along her neck, wincing as though the wounds were his own.
"She was laying on the glass from the shattered window." Tommy was still standing at the door. He hadn't moved and his eyes were fixed on her limp body.
"Yeah." Sean finished smoothing her hair as he began to cry again. He wiped his eyes hard and looked up at Tommy. "She's so sick."
"It's my fault."
Both turned to see Jimmy's guilt-stricken, tear-stained face in the doorway.
"If I had just come with you we would have been out of state before Dokey knew what the fuck we were doing!"
Joanie wrapped her fingers around his wrist. "Ssh… It's not your fault, you couldn't have known he'd do this."
Her words were little comfort to Jimmy as he wrenched his arm away from her. "I should have known! Tommy said he killed dad!" He limped to the bed and grabbed Helen's hand in both of his. "I'm so sorry, Ma." He breathed into her ear, his face inches from hers.
Kevin was the only one who'd composed himself. He felt he owed Ma that much, to be strong for her. "We all had a part in the events that led to last night."
"Don't try and be the fucking voice of reason, Kevin!"
"Jimmy!" Sean was glaring, a face he didn't assume easily. "I'm pretty sure it does Ma no good for you to be cursing and causing problems!"
Every eye was on Sean. He was usually easy going, but he was on edge. He watched a man who claimed to be a good Catholic shoot his mother with no provocation or reason whatsoever. She didn't do anything to him, it should have been one of them lying there dying.
"Seannie..?" Jimmy was hoarse.
Sean managed a sharp breath as he looked at Jimmy. "I'm sorry, Jimmy, but it shouldn't be her."
Jimmy nodded and slumped into the chair behind him, Joanie easing onto his lap, eyes fixed on Helen.
Tommy finally moved from the door to lean against the bed, his hand resting on his mother's leg.
Kevin joined Sean on the other side and they all remained quiet for a while. The monitors beeping was the only sound breaking through.
Joanie sat in the ICU room alone. They had decided to take shifts, each a turn sitting with Helen. She was the second, relieving Kevin so he can go home and rest. Secretly she hoped Helen wouldn't wake up, they'd only met once and not under circumstances that would reveal Helens feelings toward the scrawny little druggie dating her eldest son. She no sooner decided that it wouldn't happen and Helen's eyes opened. No other movement, just the eyes.
"Mrs. Donnelly?" Joanie wasn't sure if she should leave and call one of the brothers or sit and wait. She slid to the edge of her chair and into Helen's field of vision. "Mrs. Donnelly? It's Joanie, Jimmy's girlfriend?" She wasn't sure why it came out as a question, but Helen didn't respond. Instead her eyes drifted shut again. Maybe Joanie was a little more tired than she thought.
"Where are the bodies?" Joey repeated the question out loud to himself as he sat in the dark cell. The keep asking and the more 'bodies' they discuss, the deeper the conversation gets. He didn't want to rat on the Donnelly Brothers, but the cops knew he was clued in on it. He couldn't feign unawares as was his initial plan. Yeah the plan. "My phone call!" He shoved his arm through the cold steel bars to draw the guard's attention.
"You want your call, Joey?" The guard's tone was mocking.
"Yeah, I know my rights."
Rolling his eyes, the guard slammed his nightstick against the lock making Joey jump back. Than he unlocked it and slapped cuffs on Joey's wrists. "Five minutes." He shoved Joey toward the wall of phones at the far end of the cell block and stepped just out of ear shot. He didn't have any interest in Joey's phone call.
Joey punched in the familiar 9 digit number and the answering machine. "You've reached the Donnellys, leave a name and number." It was short and carried Mrs. Donnelly's curt attitude straight to his heart. He loved that woman like a mother, like the mother he never had. He didn't even know if she was alive. "Hey guys, it's Joey. Ya there? Pick up?" He paused and glanced sideways at the restless guard. "Pick up-pick up-pick up-pick up!"
"Okay! Gimme a second." Kevin sounded tired on the other end. "Geez Joey, I just walked in. What do you want?"
"I have five. They booked my last night outside the bar walking back from the hospital. Is your Ma alive?" It was out before he could stop it and he grimaced at the way it sounded. Kevin's silence didn't help for an answer either.
"Kevin, I - I didn't mean it like that."
Kevin took a slow breath, the emotion finally cracking his voice. "It's alright, Joey. She's the same as last night. They stopped the bleeding, but we have no answers. She's not any better. You good? No way we can make bail."
Joey hadn't exactly expected them to bail him out, he just wanted to know about their Ma, she did practically raise him when his Grandmother wasn't able to be the mother. He had forced his way into the Donnelly's home, but Helen always looked at him with the same loving, sometimes odd look she gave her own sons. "No, I'm alright. Tell ya Ma I love her." Joey wasn't usually sentimental, but he was tearing up thinking about her lying in that hospital bed.
"Yeah, Joey, I will. Take care of yourself."
"You too."
Click. Joey shuffled back down the cell block, leaving the guard to catch up. Not any better. Not any better. They were gonna haunt him - keep him up at night, those three words. Not any better.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Steady… like a ticking clock. And after maybe twenty of them pressure. It tightened quickly and than loosened with that same rhythm.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Punctuated. A slight, barely registered pause between each, but ever steady.
Light. It burned. Searing pain.
"Mrs. Donnelly?" The voice. She heard it many beeps ago than it had been gone. "Mrs. Donnelly? It's Joanie, Jimmy's girlfriend?"
Joanie. Yes. She was innocent. Caught up in a world not meant for such a sweet girl. Not like Seannie's Kim.
Darkness. Relief.
The voice… Joanie… it sighed and than there was movement before silence again.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"How is she?" This voice was different. Very familiar. "I should have been with them."
"Yeah." Joanie. "Tommy wants you bad."
Both voices giggled. The first said something, but what? It sounded nice.
"Hi, Mrs. Donnelly." There was a happiness in it, but only slight, maybe melancholy? "I bet you're cold… always cold." The voice laughed again. "I remember Mr. Donnelly hated when you kept the house hot. Between you and me, he was wrong, it was always comfortable." Hands pulled the blanket up and tucked it close around. Safe.
"Jenny…." The words took an eternity to form and to utter both syllables… it sounded and felt like ten and it hurt. It would not be tried again, but it felt good to make her hear it.