Cold Water

I do not own / am not associated with the NBC show The Black Donnelly's in

any way.

(Unfortunately...)

AN: I was listening to Damien Rice's Cold Water when I wrote this and I fund it fits the mood I'm trying to convey perfectly. So, if you would, take a listen before reading this chapter.

His heart raced inside his chest, so fast he could barely breathe until they pulled up to the dock of the hospital. Even before Sean had stopped the car, Tommy was out and down the hallway towards reception.

"Sheehan, Sarah is she here? Where is she? Is she okay?" Tommy berated the receptionist with questions.

"Tommy!" Holly called to him, coming down the hallway.

"Holly, what's going on? Is she okay? What happened?" His heart was beating so fast his chest hurt. All she could do as look up at him, she had no idea what to say.

"Holly..." But the look on her face said it all. It was as if someone had sucked all of the oxygen out of the room. His chest tightened and his breath caught. His knees buckled and he would have fallen to the floor if Kevin and Sean hadn't caught him first.

"No, no, Holly please," was all he could get out.

"Tommy, I'm so sorry Tommy," Holly knelt down with him, tears now streaming down her face.

"I need to see her," he stood up with the help of his brothers. "I need t see her." He tried to push his way past Holly.

"Tommy, you can't! She's gone. Tommy, she's gone." Holly held him back. He stared down the hallway at nothing, just trying everything he could to not let what she said be true, though he knew there was no way to change it. "Sarah!" He pushed Holly aside and began to run down the hallway but didn't get far before his brothers stopped him again.

"Tommy! Stop!" It took All three of his brothers to hold him back from running further down the corridor.

"Sarah! Sarah!" He cried out for her fighting the brothers who stood in his way.

"Tommy! She's gone! She's gone man," Jimmy held his brother as he reached out for her.

"I didn't say anything. I didn't say goodbye. I didn't tell her I loved her. I didn't..." he stopped fighting and just stood in the middle of the hall, his older brother trying to find the right words to comfort him.

"You!" They all turned around to see Bryan Sheehan coming at them with pure hellfire and grief in his eyes. "You! You bastard! You took my Babby away from me! You little Shiite!" Bryan plunged himself at Tommy who did nothing to stop the blows he rained down on him. He couldn't even feel the barrage of hits to his face and chest. His brothers scrambled to pry Bryan from off of Tommy.

"Stop it! Mr. Sheehan stop!" Holly yelled from the side just as security came running down the hall.

"She was all I had Tommy! She was everything to me! And you stole her from me! You bastard! You took my baby girl away from me!" He fought against the security guards as Sean and Jimmy helped Tommy up off the ground.

Tommy said nothing, rising to his feet with the help of his brothers. The security guards pulled Bryan away, into another section of the hospital, as everyone in the vicinity just watched in shock and silence. Tommy stood looking off into space, trying to make any kind of sense out of what had just happened.

"Tommy?" Holly took his hand in hers and for a moment, with more hope then sense, he thought it was Sarah's. The second he looked at their fingers entwined, his heart sank even further. "Tommy?" He finally looked up at her.

"I deserve it," he said solemnly, with tears in his eyes. "He's right. If it wasn't for me..."

"Let's get you cleaned up okay?" Holly faked a smile for him. He said nothing as she began to lead him down the hall.

"We're going with him," Kevin looked at the others then back at them.

"If it's okay, we'd like to stay with him," Jimmy looked back at Kevin then at Tommy, "Is that all right?"

"I shouldn't be long. Just give us a sec okay?" She smiled back at them before turning back to Tommy as they walked towards one of the private rooms just down the hall.

Opening the door, she let go of his hand and sat him down on the bed, gathering her tools and gauze.

"I'm so sorry Tommy. I just couldn't over the phone, you know?" She grabbed a stool and sat down in front of him. Putting on her gloves, she dampened some gauze with alcohol and wiped the blood from his face. Where anyone else would have cringed or hissed, he didn't even blink. He just sat silently while she worked, cleaning away the blood and dirt from his wounds.

"She loved you, you know. Talked about you all the time, never stopped. Hell I feel like I know you, the way she talked about you," Holly smiled as she applied the bandage to his forehead. "It was like Christmas for her every time you showed up at the restaurant, defying her father like that. She loved it." Holly sniffled back tears. "Took your picture everywhere, that one of you and her at the street carnival late last year," she reminisced as she wiped the last of the blood from his face with gauze. "There, all done." They sat for a moment in awkward silence before she took his hand again.

"Tommy, if you ever need to talk..."

"Thanks Holly," he squeezed her hand, "for everything." He nodded before standing up and leaving the room.

Kevin, Jimmy and Sean all stood up when they saw Tommy coming back towards them.

"Let's go home," Jimmy put a warm hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'm sure Ma's up waiting for us." Sean ran off to get the car while Jimmy and Kevin stood on either side of Tommy, both silently hoping he wouldn't collapse again.

Jimmy looked at his little brother, wishing he could do something, anything to take some of his pain away. Even though Tommy was younger than him, he had always looked up to him because of how strong he had always been in stressful times. But now, now Tommy looked beaten, deflated, worn. He hadn't seen him like this since their father died all those years back and it hurt him deeply to see his brother like that.

Jimmy watched Tommy silently until Sean came around with the car. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Jimmy opened the back door and helped Tommy into the car. Walking around to the other side he got in along with Kevin and without a word to one another, they made their way back home.

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