So here it is, Chapter 4. I sure hope it was worth the wait! :)
When Jamie finally slowed his pace to catch a breath, it was all he could do to see what was directly in front of him. His tears clouded his vision, his head was spinning. He felt like was going to pass out. Jamie leaned back against the cool concrete of a building down the street from the hospital, sliding to a seat on the sidewalk. His thoughts returned to his brother. No, it isn't possible. I'd know if he were gone, wouldn't I? Jamie thought as he reached up to wipe his eyes, to clear his vision. He stared at the night sky above him as if it held all of the answers he longed to hear. To his surprise, Jamie started to feel himself calming down. They're wrong. Danny isn't dead. There's no way Danny would leave us.
How could his father simply accept what they were telling him at the hospital? He had to feel the same thing as Jamie himself did. Its not the same as when Joe was killed. As awful as it was, deep down they felt the loss. They felt it in their very core that he was gone. He doesn't feel that way with Danny. As a matter of fact, all of his senses are screaming at him that its not the truth. With that realization, Jamie also realizes that his brother is out there somewhere, most likely in danger. Danny needs his help.
Jamie lifts himself up off of the sidewalk, drying his eyes with the collar of his shirt. Its up to him to take action, to find Danny, to bring him back safe. Jamie begins walking again, a quick pace, back to his car in the hospital parking lot. Its time to get to work. It's time to find out what happened to his brother.
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Frank hadn't moved since he had been told the news, as gently as possible, from the ER doctor. His eyes were cast towards the floor, but were seeing nothing but flashbacks in his mind, all of his memories of his oldest son. From the day he was born, bringing him home from the hospital with Mary. Those big, trusting eyes that would gaze up at Frank as he held his son, walked the floor with him to get him back to sleep in those early sleepless nights. All of his achievements and growth after that. The first time he rolled over, the first time he crawled, his first steps. How his Mary's eyes welled up with tears the first time Danny's little voice said 'Mama'. The day his son stole his heart when he heard him say 'Dada'.
He felt his eyes stinging and blinked to keep the tears at bay. The smile he saw on Danny's face in his memories reminded him just how much his son was like him. He was never short on confidence and strength but there was also a mischevious side just barely contained. It was that side of Danny that always got him into trouble as a youngster. The kid who was just too antsy to sit still. The kid who would fly through assignments and start talking to the kids around him, not understanding that he was disrupting them in any way. And then there was the flip side, the kid who would take any punishment given to him, doing whatever it took to protect his family. He could give his siblings crap, no doubt about it. Let somebody else do any of them wrong and Danny was in their face in a second. Frank found it hard at first to punish the behavior but not the reasoning for it. He must've done a good job though because Danny never lost that protective side of him. Not then and certainly not now. Why else would he have put himself in harm's way to protect a resident of the city he loved?
Frank let out a deep, pained sigh. He had never been able to get it through to Danny that he was not invicible. He'd tried... Lord had he tried. No amount of talking got through to him. "Dad," he'd say "I've always got my head on straight. I know what I'm doing." No amount of talking could change that perception in his mind. And now...
Frank shook his head. He couldn't handle that thought. He couldn't go there. The pain was just too much to bear. Instead he chose to stick with the earlier memories, the ones that would have to do in place of his son's vibrant presence.
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Erin looked up from her spot on the floor next to Linda. Her arms were still wrapped around Linda, as if to hold her together. She could only imagine the pain and suffering that her sister-in-law was feeling right now. She knew what she was feeling, having lost another older brother. Her hand rubbed a slow circle on Linda's back as she tried to soothe them both. Her eyes landed on her father. The complete look of despair on his face... how fragile he looked... Erin didn't like it. That is not the man she's known all of her life. She knew that it was his inability to protect not one, but two sons that had him looking like that right now. She wished there was something she could do, something she could say to take that pain away from him.
Erin carefully shifted herself and Linda, so she could reach her father as well. She covered Frank's hand with her smaller one, her slender fingers squeezing his hand gently. She didn't get his attention right away but when she did the look in his eyes brought tears to her eyes. She spoke to him softly. "Dad... it's going to be okay."
Erin knew her words meant nothing. She knew that nothing would be okay again. Her father barely offered her a faint smile before retreating back into himself. Her gaze shifted over to her grandfather. The helpless look he gave to her in return reassured her a little bit. At least both she and Henry were equally as confused on where to go from here.
The focus of her thoughts moved to her little brother. Where was he? She felt like she should've leapt to her feet and chased after him. She did the next best thing. She pulled out her phone and hit his speed dial number. She listened to the ringing of the phone, praying Jamie would answer. She felt relief rush over her when she heard his voice.
"Hello?" Jamie's words were rushed and Erin could hear the sound of traffic in the background.
"Jamie... where are you? Are you okay?" She asked, the concern evident in her voice.
"I'm fine. I have some... I have work to do. An investigation to start."
"Jamie... what are you talking about? What could be more important than being here with your family right now?" Erin asked, trying not to snap at her brother. She knew he was going through the same hell as the rest of them.
"Erin. He's not dead. He's in trouble. I'm going to get to the bottom of this."
Erin sighed inwardly. She knew it was all part of the grieving process to deny Danny's death outright. But she feared Jamie would move onto the next step out there alone and something would end up happening to him, too. She couldn't bear the thought. She spoke softly, trying not to be harsh with her words, but wanting to leave no doubt in Jamie's mind what the truth was.
"Jamie. I know it hurts, I don't want to believe it, either. But Danny's dead. I know you want answers... we already have the answer. As much as it kills me, he's gone. Please come back. We need to be together right now."
Jamie shook his head, his eyes stinging, his frustration growing from his sister's ignorance. "Erin. He's alive. And I'm going to find him." With those words, Jamie hung up the phone.
Erin squeezed her eyes closed tightly. All she could do now is send up a prayer that she wouldn't lose another brother tonight.
Pleeease review! They make me smile.
