Blue Bloods belong to CBS, characters included.
Pre-series, whenever the parents go away Jamie always seems to run in to trouble.
I was not having a good day. I had woken up with a slight stomach ache and shrugged it off as being hungry or maybe some kind of delayed effect from eating Joe's cooking but as the day progressed I began to feel worse and worse. I was sitting in Calculus when my churning stomach got the better of me. I raise my hand and wait for the nun teaching us about applying derivatives to acknowledge me.
"Jamison, do you have a question?"
"Sister Mary Alice, may I go to the nurse, I'm not feeling very well." I asked even as my stomach cramped.
She nodded, "I'll write you a pass." Ten minutes later I'm sitting in the nurse's office, thermometer in my mouth steadily feeling worse and worse. Sister Mary Clark plucked it from my mouth and shook her head.
"Well Mr. Reagan, you are running a low grade fever, so that means that until you have been fever free for 24 hours you may not be at school. I'm going to call your parents-"
"They're not home," I murmur. "My brother's staying with me." I took a deep breath in an attempt to settle my upset stomach. I felt my throat tighten and bile begin to rise in my throat, I jump up and hurry in to the little bathroom connected to the clinic, where I gag and retch till there's nothing left to purge from my stomach.
"Are you through?" asked the sister Mary Clark, armed with a damp towel and a bottle of water. I nod and she settles me on a cot with a trash can next to the bed. "Now, you said your brother is looking after you, which one, Danny or Joe?"
"Joe," I reply as I close my eyes, sleep, that was all I could focus on. I just want to sleep.
I was asleep for what felt like seconds when I heard Danny's gruff voice. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to block it out. When a rough hand came down and rested on my forehead and I cracked an eye open.
"What are you doing?" I groan, shoving his arm away from me.
"Just seein' how you're doing kid?" replied Danny.
I close my eyes and fling my arm over my face, "Where's Joe?" I murmur.
Danny scoffed, "I come all this way to pick your sorry butt up from school, and this is the thanks I get." He scratched the back of his head and sighed, "He's on tour so you got me. Speaking of which I gotta get back to work so let's get a move on." When I made no move to get up Danny gave me a gentle shake, "Come on Jamie, It's not like I got all day." Grudgingly I peal my-self off the cot and follow after Danny. He slings my backpack over his shoulder and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Let's get outta here kid."
Danny and I began the trek back to our parents' house; we were about half way there when the unrest began. My stomach began churning again, I exhale shift in my seat. Danny looks over at me warily, "You doing okay kid?" I shake my head afraid to open my mouth, I feel awful, "Jamie, I swear if you puke in my car…" my older brother lets the threat hang there, as I wrap an arm around my angry stomach.
All of the sudden a stabbing pain cut through my stomach, it was sharp and I gasped and moaned in pain. "Kid?" I feel Danny slowly pull the car over, "Jamie, what's wrong?" I don't get a chance to answer before my stomach clenches. I clamber out of the car and puke in to a gutter. Danny puts a hand on my neck that feels like a lead weight, "You okay kid?" he asks when I can breathe again. I nod, "What was that all about?"
I spit on the side walk, "Nothing just a cramp,"
"That was some cramp," muttered Danny, "You good to go?" he asked me and I climbed back in to the car. We made it back home without any more incidents and I got settled on the couch, Danny brought a bucket and set it down next on the floor below me. "Just in case… ya know," he explained scratching the back of his head, "Are you gonna be okay here…by yourself?"
I glare at him, "I'm not a child." I seethe.
"Kid I never said you were, but you seem pretty sick-" Danny tries to explain.
I roll my eyes "I can take care of myself, go back to work" I mumble pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and curling in on myself, I was freezing. I snake an arm out and snag the remote, flipping on the TV. Danny stood there for a few minutes before sighing.
"Well you need anything before I go something to drink, some meds, food?"
"Hell no, no food." I grouse my hand coming to rest on my upset stomach.
Danny shrugged, "You gotta drink something so you don't get dehydrated I can go pick something up for you."
"No, no water will be fine, maybe Joe can pick up some Gatorade before he comes home." I suggest.
"Yea kid, I'll make sure he does." He disappeared in to the kitchen when he returned he handed me a glass of ice water and a pack of saltine crackers. "Here eat a couple of these and then you can take some Tylenol try and get your fever down a little bit." I grimace, but I know he's right. I nibble on a cracker and then throw back a couple pills.
"I gotta go, you're sure you're gonna be okay?"
"Danny, I won't get any better if I can't sleep and I can't sleep if you won't leave me alone." I tell him pulling the blanket up to my chin.
Danny chuckles and gently musses my hair, "get some sleep kid Joe will be home in a couple of hours," I nod and close my eyes, I was so tired.
When I woke up two hours later, it was to a sick cramping stomach. I scrambled off the couch and to the bathroom. I kneel in front of the toilet and throw up the crackers and water Danny made me eat then I spend ten minutes dry heaving, this was the worst that I can ever remember feeling. I was beginning to regret telling Danny to leave. I push myself off the floor and rinse my mouth out before making my way back to the couch. I look at my watch, Joe should be coming back soon it was embarrassing to admit but I felt so bad I didn't want to be alone. The stabbing pain by my belly button was back I roll to the fetal position in an attempt to find some relief. Exhausted I fall into a restless sleep, but even sleeping the pain is still there lurking.
The next thing I know I'm being shaken awake, "Jamie, come on buddy wake up." I groan and crack an eye open, Joe's standing over me a big goofy grin spreading across his face. "Hey little brother, how are you feeling?" He asks me squatting beside the couch palming my forehead. "Danny said you were running a fever." I shrug instead of answering, "I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up today."
"Don't worry about it Joe, I'm fine. Danny didn't kill me." I smile at him.
Joe smiles back "Yeah, he said you almost puked in his car." He laughs to himself "Seriously J, ya feeling any better?"
I sigh, "Not really." There's no point in lying.
"Have you gotten sick since you've been home?"
I nod, "Once, a little while ago, but its fine it's probably a stomach bug or something." I rush to tell him as I sit up.
"I don't know maybe we should call mom and dad-" Joe began only for me to cut him off.
"Don't call them! I'll be fine in a couple days." I assure Joe whose eyes were wide with shock from my outburst.
Joe gives me a hard look before rubbing a hand over his head. "Okay, okay relax I won't call them yet, but if things don't change by tomorrow then we need to …" he paused at a loss for what to do, "do something." He stood, "You want some of Grandpa's secret cure-all?
I sat up and looked at Joe a smirk on my face, "Scotch on the rocks?"
"Smart ass," Joe chuckled, "I was talking about Grandpa's chicken soup?" I frowned.
"I'm not hungry," I mumble playing with the blanket in my lap. In truth my stomach was far from settled.
"You gotta eat Jamie; your stomach has to be getting empty you're gonna be left with dry heaves next time you get sick." I look down at the carpet, "Unless you've already gotten to that point?" He questions with a raised eyebrow. When I didn't answer Joe leveled me with a glare. "Why didn't you say anything?"
The irritation I had felt towards Danny bubbles up again this time directed towards Joe, "Because I'm not a little kid Joe I can take care of myself."
"Damnit Jamie I never said you couldn't," barked Joe exasperated, we sat there in silence for a few minutes. He was annoyed and I knew I wasn't helping the situation. "I'm gonna make dinner, yell if you need anything." Joe stood from his crouched position and made his way into the kitchen, where he began banging around in preparation to make me some soup, I turn my attention back to the TV where the local news is playing, I flip through channels till I settle on an old James Bond movie. Though I wasn't really watching it, the combination of the smells wafting from the kitchen and the lingering anxiety from my fight with Joe left my stomach stirring, increasing the nausea that had been lingering all day. I get up and shuffle into the kitchen, noticing that there is a pull in the muscles of my stomach; I must have tweaked something from all the puking I've done today.
Joe is standing over the stove stirring a pot of chicken broth; he's chopped up a pile of vegetables that are sitting on the counter, "Joe?" He turns toward me. "Listen I'm sorry…I'm just so tired of being the baby of the family. It's like everyone… I don't know everyone is always treating me like I'm still a little kid, and I'm not I'm seventeen." I tell him as I take a seat at the dinner table.
Joe stopped stirring and turned so he was facing me leaning against the counter, "Jamie you're always gonna be our kid brother in the same way that you're always gonna be Ma's baby." Joe continued to explain hierarchy of birth order to me, but I had checked out the smell of the food was really bothering me. "Jamie, are you okay?"
"I'm gonna throw up" I gasp covering my mouth with my hand and stumbling to the bathroom to try and empty my already empty stomach. I only had bile left and each heave was like someone was trying to rip my stomach out through my belly button. I could barely hold myself up to retch over the toilet. "Joe," I moan in to the bowl. "I think …GAH… something's wrong Joe. It hurts so bad, something has to be wrong." I cry curling in to a ball on the bathroom floor.
"Relax kid," he soothes, gently rubbing my back. "I'm gonna call Danny, I then we need to get you to a doctor." I'm shaking in an effort to endure this pain. I have never been this sick before. I don't know how much time passes before I hear Danny's voice.
"What the hell Joe, you though it was a good idea to wait, look at him." came Danny's harsh accusation and then he crouched down next to me laying a hand on my head. "How you doin' kid?"
I can't help but sob, "Danny my stomach hurts." Tears are streaming down my face.
Danny thumbs the tears away, "Okay kid, just take a deep breath, we'll get you fixed up." he tells me as he scoops me up and carries me out to his Jeep.
I pass out on the way to the ER and the next thing I remember is waking up to someone petting my head, I crack an eye open and see my mother standing over me looking worn and haggard. A smile spreads across her face when she notices I'm awake.
"Jamie,"her tone was equally relieved and concerned. "How are you feeling?"
I squint at her, "Weird, what happened?"
"You had appendicitis, you've been in and out of consciousness for the past day, gave your brothers a good scare." She smiled. "Danny called us in such a panic saying that you were having your appendix out-" I try to sit up feeling the pull of stiches by my right hip, "Relax Jamie, lay back. You need to get some sleep we'll all be here when you wake up." I do as my mother instructs and allow my body the rest it needed.