I woke up to loud, incessant groaning some hours later. I turned my head, only to see Frank rolling around like a large walrus.

"Frank must be crashing" I thought, but said. "Morning"

"uhhhhhhhhhggggggggg!" he groaned some more, looked at me, and did a double take. "Is that you, Don?"

"It's me..." I rolled my eyes and got up, sternly saying. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Uh...not really..."

"You called me high as a kite,..."

"no way!" he reluctantly took his head and shoulders out of the covers.

"Yes way...you claimed that monsters were out to get you and that one of the comedians was a demon" I continued with agravation.

"I just had too much to drink." he insisted. "And must have called you about that."

"Drunks don't say they see monsters"

"Someone must have spiked my drink then" he said, rubbing his head.

"Come on!" I said sharply. "Just face the facts, man! You were high on X,and started to hallucinate"

"I haven't even tried 'X'. The strongest stuff I take is vodka" he persisted, looking like hell. His hair was dishevled, the clothes on him were wrinkles, and he had circles around his eyes.

"Look, the important thing is that you got home safe" I changed the subject, still feeling disapointed at him. "And if I see you in that state at work, I will fire your ass. Look I gotta go. Take care" With that I left and went home.

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"Don't be so hard on him, Don" Dad advised me when I told him about Frank at the house. I sat on the couch, while he was doing crossword puzzles on a chair. "I remember a certain twenty year old, who called me, as drunk as hell, to ask me to fly on a magic carpet, and plead to the King of the potatoe people for his freedom"

"Dad!" I sighed. "That was a crank call" Me and a bunch of friends were taking turns at crank calling our parents. It's one of those crazy things college kids think up late at night.

"You were drunk" he claimed, putting down the newspaper.

"Drunk? Come on! I was just tipsy!" I argued. Dad liked to exagerate sometimes.

"So you say" Dad shrugged doubtfully. Before we could argue some more, my cell rang. It was Joey.

"Morning! How did it go?" she asked.

"I fell asleep, and he was crashing when I woke up." I told her. "And he denied taking anything"

" Really?"

"Yeah..."

We chatted a bit more, but then Joey had an appointment with the parents of a baby, who died of SIDS.

"How's Joey's doin'?" Dad asked me when I hung up my cell.

"Good...she had an appointment" I didn't want to bring him down by getting into details. Despite my long years in law enforcement, dead, exploited, or injured kids still affected me.

"At least your new line of work allows for a more flexible schedule" Dad smiled.

"I find it easier to make time for relationships." I said. It also helped that my cases didn't consume me emotionally anymore, or take my brain to a bad neighborhood. It's hard to be in a relationship in that state.

"I can see that" he said. "Why don't we have lunch?"

"Sure" I agreed happily.

Dad got up and went to the kitchen.

Being my own boss definitely did have its advantages.

TBC

a/n sorry this chapter is kinda short, but I promise the next one will be longer and have more case related stuff.