Chapter 37

"Hey, Mom! Dad! We're home!" Sean called out as he and Jack stomped in the front door of their home in Staten Island early that afternoon, thoroughly covered from head to toe in the big, white fluffy flakes that were still falling heavily outside. "Dad! Look at how much money we made!" he exclaimed as he pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket. "We've been shoveling people's walks by Ginny's house all morning long!"

"That's great guys, but keep it quiet; your Mom is finally sleeping upstairs," Danny warned from the kitchen where he was making a failed attempt at the prep work for a homemade lasagne dinner, complete with flour on his face, stains on his shirt and an apron wrapped haphazardly around his waist.

"Wait, what's wrong with Mom?" Jack stopped with the smile melting off his face immediately. Ever since the shooting at the hospital he had a bad feeling well up anytime Linda had any issues with her back or had fallen under the weather. "Is she sick?" he demanded, now worried about that doctor's appointment he and his brother had been ferried away for.

"No, she's not sick," Danny assured and downplayed the pain his wife had been in now that some rest, ice and a long warm shower had finally seemed to lessen it. "That test she had yesterday made her back a little sore and they gave her some pills for it, but that hasn't helped too much so she didn't sleep well last night down here on the couch. She just needs to take it easy for a few days... that's all, guys, and she might seem kind of down for a while because she was hoping that the doctor might be able to take that piece of the bullet out, but he says it's better if it stays where it is. Now stop dripping all over the floor, I just cleaned it… and put that wet clothing up in the laundry," he deflected intentionally to take their attention away from Linda and the worse pain in her heart she was suffering through.

"Dad, you sound just like Mom," Sean laughed more innocently as he pushed himself out of his snow boots and dropped his wet gloves and jacket on the ground next to the coat rack. "Ha ha! You look like her too!" he giggled and grabbed his sides as Danny came around the corner with a scowl on his face for his youngest.

"Watch it weisenheimer," he warned. "Gloves, hats… all the wet stuff in the dryer," he repeated. "C'mon, help me out this weekend guys. I don't want your Mom to feel like she's gotta get up and do anything, plus we have to take turns keeping the walks clear. Every time the plow comes through it throws the snow right back up in the driveway. My car has to be able to get out in case I get called into work."

"How's Uncle Jamie?" Sean continued as he picked up his things since their mother had glossed over the seriousness of the accident until it was clear what her brother-in-law would be facing and had only told the boys that he had been hit by a car and had a broken leg. "Will we take him Sunday dinner at the hospital tomorrow like we did for Grandpa Henry at Thanksgiving, or does he have to talk on the phone like you and Mom did that time?" he questioned, figuring that since his dad was here cooking and talking about laundry his uncle must be okay now too. "Can we sign his cast like when Jack broke his arm in football?"

"No, uh… sport. Listen, why don't you two come sit here for a second and we'll talk about Uncle Jamie," Danny advised as the two boys joined him on the couch. "First off, tomorrow looks like we won't have a dinner anywhere but here. Your Mom's not supposed to be on her feet yet, Grandpa had to stay at 1PP over the weekend, and Grandpa Henry is busy watching Kaylin at their house while Aunt Eddie is with Jamie up at the hospital they took him to, but that's about an hour away. He's gonna have to stay a bit," Danny revealed to them. "The doctor said he needs to be there at least two more weeks while he has a couple more operations, and then he'll only get to come home on the weekends for a while."

"Why?" Jack asked. "Mom said he broke his leg. Can't he just use crutches or a cane like when Grandpa sprained his ankle?"

"Not yet, Jack. Uncle Jamie got hurt pretty bad. He broke some ribs, but his leg… the car hit it really hard and broke the bones here… here and here," he pointed to the various spots. "It's gonna to take a while to fix everything, and he's going to have to work really hard to walk on it again, but after he has a special operation on Thursday, he'll be able to start moving it and getting better… he won't even have a cast on but probably a brace like when Tyler tore his ACL on your team, Jack."

"So he won't be able to play basketball with us or soccer with Kaylin?" Sean asked sadly as those were some of his favorite pre-dinner activities with his uncle before Sunday dinner. "But she really likes that," he added, not wanting to admit his own disappointment.

"He won't be able to… not right away, bud," Danny acknowledged while keeping the possible more dire prognosis away from them for now. "But everyone needs to pitch in and help, so the three of us can do that by taking her to practice and making sure she still gets to play with her team once a week and sometimes maybe Mom and I will have drive Jamie back uptown to his appointments or stay over at their house or bring Kaylin here to babysit while Eddie is working… things like that."

"Will he get to run in his race?" Jack asked. "The one for kids with cancer that he's been training for?"

"No, bud, not this time at least," his father answered honestly, fairly certain now that was one more thing on Jamie's bucket list that would now go unchecked.

"That stinks," Sean summed it up succinctly as his father wrapped his arm around for a hug.

"Yeah, it does," Danny agreed as he sat back with both his boys and considered the challenges his brother now faced both professionally and personally with a new wife, a young daughter and another child on the way. "It really does stink."

###

"So how far along is your wife?" Marguerite asked pointedly as she tried to engage Jamie once more after several failed attempts had left the three women frustrated and concerned at his continued flattened affect with little or no emotional expression for the last hour. Kenzie had left a few minutes before to go to the lab with a urine sample and to hurry along the blood test previously ordered although whatever it was seemed to be lifting slightly now and the nurse was using whatever she could to encourage that along.

"Jamie, c'mon," Eddie begged as she squeezed his hand in an attempt to reconnect with him. "You know all this… I know you do. Tell her what the fruit of the week is."

"What?" he finally responded verbally as he snapped out of whatever funk he was in and focused on her face for the first time since his return. "Ed?"

"Hey, welcome back," she sniffed in relief and gently kissed his forehead, refusing to let go now that she had his attention even as he backed away a little deeper against the bed while his breath came heavier and his eyes narrowed at her close approach. "Tell Marguerite what the baby is up to… we're just starting the second trimester," she patted her tummy and explained to the nurse in an effort to clue him in. "This week at twelve was a lime... we were supposed to make key lime pie for dessert at dinner tomorrow, but we'll have to see if we can order some with your supper instead now. What comes next?"

"Thirteen?" he questioned, still not putting the whole request together.

"Well, that's a step forward," Marguerite acknowledged with some relief as she noted the change of his demeanor and time in his file. "Personally though, limes are not my favorites unless they're in a drink… too sour, anything sweeter?" she asked as she typed.

"Mango?" he reached in a puzzled effort to comply as he pulled that one out of obvious order.

"Oops, that's a bit too big," Eddie insisted with a look of concern flashed at the nurse since Jamie could normally recite this information upside down, backwards and in Swahili. "My belly would be out to here by then," she demonstrated. "I think the munchie is still a lot smaller… something like a tangerine," she hinted shamelessly with emphasis to put him on the right path. "What else can you tell us? Maybe that she can suck her thumb and smile already, or do you still think it's a boy?"

"I don't know, Ed… why are you asking me?" Jamie reacted out of character with frustration and marked suspicion. "You're with them trying to trick me," he accused as he shook away from her grasp on his arm.

"Them? Them who?" she demanded before Marguerite put her hand up and silently signaled her not to press too hard. She had reminded Eddie not to confront Jamie if he was in this delirious state, but rather to go along with it in an effort to keep him calm until it passed. What neither could know was that he had been dosed with something to cloud his memory by the man in the elevator to keep his identity a secret for now… an action that was on the verge of succeeding even as Jamie battled with a few stubborn facts that remained stuck in his brain as truth while the surrounding edges blurred… literally as his vision doubled and threatened to make him sick to his stomach.

"The FBI I think… 'member him from before," he begged as his arm went over his eyes to hide them. "He was there again. Baby Reagan… he called me baby Reagan… just like… Sonny did after… they got Joe killed."

"Joe was Jamie's older brother," Eddie explained when the nurse raised an eyebrow. "He was a police officer too, but he died a long time ago while working undercover with the FBI."

"It's not unusual for the delusions and paranoia to revolve around work or traumatic memories," Marguerite assured quietly as they both jumped to that conclusion while she noted Jamie's blood pressure and heart rate creeping up once more. "Just stay calm and keep reorienting him to the present to see if you can switch him over to something more relaxing. Delirious patients may become increasingly agitated and confused when treated with more sedatives, so it would be much better for him to not do that and Dr. Kenzie wants to avoid adding anything else to the mix if at all possible."

"No! No more drugs! He did that to me! Just, please stop!" Jamie insisted as that claustrophobic feeling of being trapped and having his mouth covered was resurfacing while his chest was tightening as the panic welled up once more. "I don't feel so good now."

"No more, I promise," Eddie assured as she steadied herself and once again wished she could crawl onto the bed next to him to cuddle and soothe. "Jamie, it's me… please listen, you know I would never do anything to hurt you. You're just overtired and need to try to relax so you can sleep for real without any more of that stuff and then you'll start to feel better," she explained softly as she started touching him once more, and while he flinched initially, her familiar caress soon began to work its magic and he sagged back a little. "Let's talk about something else. Remember on our honeymoon in Iceland when we stopped at the spa that first morning and got to float in the lagoon with the snow all piled up around it?"

"Think so," he admitted finally after a few more moments as his eyes remained closed while he tried to picture it. "Warm and cold at the same time."

"That's right. The hot springs made the water so soft and blue... you said it was because of some kind of minerals, but all I knew was that I had never seen something so beautiful in my life before, and I was with you which made it the best thing ever… I even told you that I wanted to stay there the whole time, but I'm glad we saw everything else too… even that rocking boat in the storm that made me sick and the night at the cottage with the Northern Lights that left us with our little munchie. Try to focus on that first place we went, baby," she pleaded. "The blue lagoon… this time I'll hold you up as we float along," she soothed and started to rub small circles on his chest while Marguerite noted with relief that his vitals were dropping back to normal accordingly. "I've got you… I'm not going anywhere," she added in familiar fashion.

"It's working," the nurse encouraged in a whisper with a thumbs up.

"You and I can just stay there for a while," Eddie continued, taking her time between words to lull him gently along. "Trust me… all you have to do is keep your eyes closed, Jamie… relax and float and remember how good you felt that day. Nothing will hurt you. When all of this is over we're going to go back there where everything can be perfect again... I promise, lambchop," she added as her actions coupled with pure exhaustion saw him off into his first and much-needed restful sleep since the accident, at least until some of the circling demons revisited one last time.

###

"No, I'm not asking… I'm telling you I need his records sent up here, all of them, including what was done before I took over the case!" Dr. Kenzie insisted before a click on the end of the line from the emergency department of the hospital in Washington confirmed that was not going to happen. "Damn it!" she cursed as she stared at the initial drug test results in front of her which purported that Jamie's findings were clean except for appropriate levels of the narcotics she was currently prescribing for him until a soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

"She managed to get him to sleep," Marguerite reported as she felt confident enough to step away after Jamie had quieted. "Are those the results?" she added with a bit of worry. "I did not make an error," she insisted.

"I know you didn't… nothing on the first test is out of the ordinary," Kenzie revealed. "But the second urine test… it's…"

"Ketamine," Marguerite answered for her. "Disorientation, muscle ticks, general confusion… memory impairment."

"My first guess too, but there isn't any stored on our drug carts and the vials for supply in the surgical suite are unopened and accounted for… every single drop," Kenzie assured. "He does have metabolites for it in his system, but all that tells us is he's been exposed recently, and if you would have seen the absolute mess of an ER in Washington… God only knows what he got when they were prepping him for surgery with that other doctor, and well… they're refusing to send me the files anymore because I sort of didn't play well with others down there and I think they're worried about a lawsuit," she smirked.

"But that's a fast-acting drug," Marguerite insisted.

"Yes, for the anesthesia qualities, but the psychological effects reportedly can be apparent for a week in some individuals. Jamie is so sensitive it is possible, perhaps likely that the delirium just intensified it… at this point I have no other explanation and a second blood test would have to be sent out which is not going to happen in this weather over the weekend anyway," she offered as she sat back considering the absolute iron-clad security she counted on and the intensive vetting each of her employees had undergone. "His infusion unit did not test positive for it either… Let's just keep a careful watch on him the rest of the afternoon, and since she seems to have a hold of herself now if his wife is able to keep him settled I'll clear it for her to stay as long as needed. Make sure he's hydrated. What about Quincy?" she asked as she shifted her attention over to her other post-surgical patient.

"Behaving and staying quiet for once since I told him his ward mate needed sleep," Marguerite informed her. "Taking his meds, all of his stats are normal and the incisions look good. At least one of these boys has been cooperating with me," she huffed with indignation as she prided herself on making sure each of her charges received the utmost level of care. "He's asking for Commander Rigsby to be allowed in for a visit, though. I think… I think maybe that would be very good for Sergeant Reagan, too," she added knowingly. "He's going to need some strong direction to get through what comes next."

"I agree it's about time, but I want them both to rest today especially after what happened this morning. Hold him off until tomorrow, and then you can tell Janet to look the other way when the Commander goes on one of his nightly walkabouts," Kenzie allowed and then smiled as her phone lit up with a now-familiar incoming number from one Rick Fellows. "If you'll excuse me."

"Mm-hmm," the older woman nodded, knowing exactly who that was and the looks that had been exchanged between the two when he had been present the other night. "'Bout time for that too," she smirked before leaving.

###

"Isn't it time to be done yet? I'm tired," Sean whined as the allure of shoveling was diminished when the white stuff kept dumping down and there was no promise of payment on the other end. "I wish this stupid storm would be over!" he added with a kick that sent a pile of loose snow clods scattering over the freshly cleared sidewalk.

"Well, we were done until you did that. Go," Danny sighed as he directed his youngest to clean up the residual mess. "Seems like there's a lull coming for the next few hours so this should be good for a while. Jack, why don't you put our shovels up in the little shed on the side of the house and we'll keep your brother's by the door," he asked as he handed over his implement while they walked up the driveway and Sean finished by the street.

"Dad!" Sean yelled suddenly as he lingered behind. "Look! I found your wallet laying over here on the ground by the mailbox! Oy! It's the one with your badge!" he revealed as he came running back with the item. "Finder's keepers! Twenty bucks!" he teased at first refusing to hand it over.

"My badge?" Danny puzzled as his hand went immediately to his pocket which was of course empty because he was sure he had left his own inside on the table where it belonged. "Let me see that," he demanded until his youngest finally complied and he opened the fold to reveal an NYPD Detective's badge. "This isn't mine," he added as he looked at the gold shield's number 16543.

"Then how did it get here?" Sean asked. "It wasn't before."

"Maybe somebody cleaning up found it on the street and figured it belonged to me so they dropped it off on top of the mailbox and it fell down," Danny reasoned while wondering why the accompanying ID was missing from its plastic holding space. "Terrific, this looks like a legit one too," he muttered, knowing that a call to IAB was the prescribed route to follow… but losing one's badge was a major headache, leading to lots of annoying paperwork and a penalty that could cost up to ten days pay… so much so that many officers kept their actual badge at home and bought a fake "dupe" one for everyday use. Danny was in no mood at this point to stick himself too far out on a limb for someone he didn't know, but he hated to see another cop get pinched like that so he promised to do what he could to keep it under the radar for now. "I'll take care of it. I need to make a phone call when we get inside," he shrugged. "Don't tell Grandpa until I find the guy it belongs to," he made Sean promise before taking a quick look up and down the empty street as those prickly hairs on the back of his neck raised again before he closed and locked the door behind them.

So who's badge might that turn out to be, and how will it link back to Malevsky and his little refocused scheme to mess with our Danny boy's mind? Speaking of that, he's done a real number on his brother… or has he? Still to be determined although something untoward is definitely going on under Kenzie's nose up at Columbia. Coming up next though is a nice long chapter as Jamie struggles with memories and nightmares while being told they are just delusions and Danny deals with a needy wife at home before another set of those coincidences will have him stressing and looking over his shoulder as he steps up his investigation.