Chapter 14: The funeral of Samantha Flack

Flack tried to function but it was painful. He knew he had a duty of care to his twins but his heart was broken because he had been so close to Sam and she was dead, in his eyes, because of him. He had to tell his brothers, but he feared they too would blame him for her death. He shakily made the call to his eldest brother Joe who lived in Toronto "Don what's going on? You haven't called in months" he asked answering the call.

"You need to come to New York… Sam's dead" said Flack, his voice shaking, still crying.

"I'm on my way" replied Joe before slamming the phone down.

Flack then called his other brother Kane and told him Sam was dead. He too said he was coming straightaway before slamming the phone down.

By the next morning Joe and Kane had both arrived in New York and went straight to the precinct together. They told them Flack was still at the hospital so they went there. From there they were led to the paediatric unit. The nurse fetched Flack for them and brought him to the quiet room they were waiting in. "Don… what happened to her?" asked Joe

"She was shot" replied Flack "In the chest…"

"By who?" seethed Kane "Who murdered our baby sister?"

"Hayden Jackson" Flack looked down

"That son of a bitch!" hissed Joe "I thought he was locked up on the Death Row?"

"He was… but he escaped a couple of months ago… he didn't try anything on any of us. He didn't make any more threats… he just did that" said Flack trembling, his voice cracking.

"I'll kill him!" raged Kane "I'LL KILL HIM!" then room fell silent before the three brothers all broke down tears. They only had each other now.

Samantha's body was sent to the morgue where new corner Elsa Henrik carried out a forensic examination. It was hard having one of your colleague's and friend's relatives on the table, it was even harder when it was one of your own. She delicately carried out her examination before Mac came down to talk to her. "C.O.D?" asked Mac, though really it was obvious.

"The gunshots are a contributing factor to her death" began Elsa "But during surgery when they were trying to remove the second bullet the surgeon made a tear in one of her major arteries. The bullet was lodged and when he tore it out he accidentally made the hole a lot bigger. The blood flowed incredibly fast and at huge volume. The damage, because of the sheer volume of blood being pumped, was unrepairable to an unexperienced hand. Had the surgeon been more experienced she would've probably survived. But had that bullet not been there… well they would've have had to open her up in the first place."

"How do you know the surgeon wasn't very experienced?" asked Mac

"The surgeon, Alex Henrik, is my husband" sighed Elsa

"So her death is a result of a medical accident?" asked Mac

"No. As I said had that bullet not been there at all she wouldn't have been opened up in the first place" said Elsa, shaking her head "They only made the tear bigger. There would've been a hole when the bullet was removed anyway but the tear made it much bigger. Had it not been torn there only would've been a small amount of blood and the damage would've been much more repairable."

"So?" asked Mac "Homicide?"

"Yes. I'm ruling her death a homicide" sighed Elsa "He shot her and it led to her dying on the operating table. It was very unlikely she would've survived had she been found any later. The bullet was centimetres from her heart".

"Thank you" mac nodded.

"I feel for him" sighed Elsa, looking down at Samantha's body "I don't really know him that well. I only started here a few months ago. But he seems like a good guy. He doesn't deserve this"

"No. he doesn't" mac agreed also looking at Samantha's body laid out on the table. "But we've got the evidence to put Hayden Jackson away for life". She nodded then mac left and went back up to the lab.

The days passed and the brothers had to start making funeral arrangements. They had been allowed to see her body. They had all cried. Flack had been the last to leave. He'd clung to her hand and cried his heart out because he missed her so. All the things he loved about her were gone. Her laugh, her smile, her sense of humour and caring nature were all gone. All because of him.

Two weeks after Samantha had been murdered they held her funeral. They had respected her wishes that she be buried next to her mother and have hers and Flack's favourite childhood song 'Red Rain' by Peter Gabriel, played.

Flack's colleagues from the crime lab came to pay their respects including Mac, Danny, Lindsay, Adam, Hawkes and Jo. The twins had just come out of hospital and were still recovering, but they too were there. This was there auntie after all.

Flack, Joe, Kane, Danny, Mac and Adam carried her coffin into the church as they didn't have much family. All three of the brothers gave eulogies for their sister. But Flack's was probably the most moving. "She was my sister. And I loved her. I loved her with all my heart." Flack felt tears in his eyes and he couldn't hold them in. There was no point trying. "I may have disapproved of her lifestyle sometimes. I gave her such a hard time and now… I wish I hadn't. She was the best sister I could've wished for. She was by best friend. I wish we'd never fallen out, all those years… wasted. Now she's gone… my best friend is gone… and I feel like…" Flack was crying now, the words were so hard. "Like a part of me died with her… they say… they say it's the things you don't do… you don't do that you… you regret… it's the things I did do… did do… that I… I regret… and the hardest part is knowing I didn't get to say goodbye". He couldn't say anymore. He just broke down and cried in front of everyone something he was not known to do. None of them had ever seen cry that way and it was heart-breaking. After he had sat down again they played 'Red Rain' by Peter Gabriel. It made flack cry even more because it had been their favourite childhood song. He had loved watching her dance to it time and time again, even more so when they had danced to it together. Now he was never going watch her dance to it again.

Flack, Joe, Kane, Danny, Mac and Adam carried her coffin out of the church into the cemetery and her coffin was lowered into the grave above their mother's coffin. The priest said a few words before the three brothers each chucked a handful of dirt over the coffin. "Goodbye Sam" Flack whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. After the funeral the grave was piled with flowers and reefs. Her name had been added to their mother's gravestone and they had put a large reef spelling sister on top with her favourite teddy.

Joe and Kane soon returned home with their families. It had hit them all hard but it had hit Flack the worst and he was really not coping at all. Greif-stricken he started drinking heavily and his whole attitude changed. His outlook on life became incredibly dark and very negative not like his normal frame of mind. His state of mind mentally seemed to be tainted and was completely different person. Jamie's patience were wearing thin and in her eyes it looked like the road to the end.

i know really short chapter. but it's all it needed to get this part across as it is vital to the events that follow.