He takes a week off work after rescuing Linda. He gets a lecture from his father, but after they both had nightmares that first night, he doesn't care.
She'd fallen asleep first, exhausted from food and water deprivation and the sheer agony of being kidnapped.
Normally, he can fall asleep in less than five minutes…thanks to the Corps…but tonight, he's afraid to close his eyes, afraid he'll wake up and this will all be a dream and Linda will be gone.
He holds her a little more tightly, and she wakes up. "Danny, you're squeezing me. What's wrong?"
"Three days, Linda…I didn't know if you were dead or alive…and when Dad called…to say they'd found…a car…with a body…a female body…I couldn't drive. Jackie had to drive. I thought…I thought… And then Dad said it…it wasn't you. I…"
He sits up, still holding her tightly with one arm, throws up in the trashcan next to the bed.
He's back on that road, running toward the Hummer, totally unsure how he's going to go on without… If that's her…he might as well kill himself now.
A hand is rubbing his back. "Danny, I'm here. I'm right here."
He blinks. "Why am I the one falling apart? You were kidnapped. I just…had to chase empty lead after empty lead…it's not like I was the one who was…."
Her hands cup his face. "It's okay, Danny. I was scared, too. I was having a nightmare just now, when I woke up because you were squeezing the breath of me. I'm still scared. But we're together, and we're gonna get through this, okay?"
He nods and kisses her.
His week off goes way too fast, and soon it's back to work, to cases that are boring, run-of-the-mill stuff.
Until Jamie plays him a recording with Joe's voice on it.