It's been a while since I've been back on this site, but I found this partially written one-piece after a recent check of my Google Docs and it just begged to be finished, especially with season 12 starting soon. This was born from that little incident Jamie and Eddie shared in season 4's Mistaken Identity...anything for a little Jamie angst, no matter how minor. ;)
From 10-63 to 10-87
"My kingdom for a cheeseburger!" Eddie Janko proclaimed as she and her partner neared the entrance of a small Hell's Kitchen diner they'd visited once or twice on tour.
"Are you ever not thinking about food?" Officer Jamie Reagan wondered out loud as he held the door open for his rookie.
"Of course, but we're on meal and I'm hungry and this place makes a mean bacon cheeseburger," Eddie said. She stepped inside and tucked her hat under her arm, stopping in front of a vertical stand. The delicious smells inside the joint made her stomach rumble, yet she patiently waited to be seated, as the sign requested. Eddie scanned the dining room and spotted a few open tables, relieved that there wouldn't be a wait so long as somebody came by to seat them soon, that is.
Jamie took off his hat and ran his fingers through his spiky brown hair, grateful for a break after a busy morning. "All of that bacon is not good for you," he commented, hoping the waiter coming their way was going to seat them; he was also hungry, but he didn't feel the need to announce it to the world like his partner.
"But it's so yummy," Eddie smiled, shifting her gaze from her training officer to the approaching server.
Jamie grunted in agreement; there was no arguing with that.
Eddie was just about to hold up two fingers to confirm the size of their party when the distracted, twenty-something year old waiter with a mop of brown, unruly hair mumbled at them without so much as a glance in their direction. "Take a seat wherever."
He then proceeded to walk right by them.
The partners traded looks and shrugged, but didn't waste time and selected a booth at the back of the restaurant. They were hungry.
"Kind of defeats the purpose of the polite 'please wait to be seated' sign," Jamie pointed out as he slid into the booth.
"But he did seem so nice," Eddie snorted. From her vantage point, she saw two other servers buzzing around their assigned sections while no one was tending to theirs. Eddie worried that they did a poor job of picking a table...of course, that would be her luck when she was starved.
"What are you going to do? Not everyone can love their job as much as we do," Jamie shrugged and passed a menu over to his partner.
They studied their options quietly, but it wasn't long before Eddie's expression brightened and she broke the silence. She may have been dreaming about a bacon cheeseburger before they arrived, but she always made sure to know all of her options when making an important decision such as this. The eclectic menu listed something that, in her opinion, trumped bacon cheeseburgers any day of the week. "Oooh, I changed my mind! I will not be having the burger today," Eddie announced. She tucked the menu behind the condiments and looked around the restaurant for their server. Time was ticking away on their meal break and she was crossing over into hangry territory.
"It's a miracle," Jamie joked and kept scanning the menu.
"Don't take too long reading the menu, Reagan. I think Mr. Sunshine is our waiter and I'm grabbing him as soon as he shuffles back over here. I have a feeling he's avoiding all of us," Eddie said, noting that a few other tables seemed to be waiting for service as well. She located the waiter behind the beverage station and eyed him suspiciously. He stood stock still and stared down at something in front of him as a sigh of boredom passed through his lips, at least that was what Eddie saw it as. She probably shouldn't judge, but she sensed that work ethic wasn't very strong in that one.
"Don't worry, Janko, I know what I want," Jamie assured her, as he replaced it along the wall.
It was a few more minutes before the server headed back their way with two glasses of water. The waiter - Bobby, according to his name tag - silently plopped the glasses between them and was about to run off before the blonde officer ruined his plan.
"Hey, Bobby! We're ready to order," Eddie said.
The two officers shared another look at the exaggerated eyeroll they got in response from their waiter.
"What do you want?" Bobby droned as he searched his apron pockets for pen and paper, but it was clear he really didn't care.
He wasn't in a hurry, but they were and Jamie didn't waste time giving him his order. "I'll have the Mediterranean chopped salad with the tricolor quinoa...oh, and no olives, please,"
"Uh, huh," Bobby grunted, barely scratching two words along the notepad before sighing again to wait for his other customer.
But Eddie was momentarily distracted from ordering by her partner's selection. "Really?" she snorted.
Jamie frowned at the mild taunt. "What's wrong with it? What are you having?" he replied defensively.
Eddie recited her order, praying Bobby got it down, not that it was all that complicated. "Steak sandwich with grilled peppers, onions and mushrooms and a side of shoestring fries." If she was going to get through the rest of the day, she needed a full, happy belly.
"That it?" Bobby asked, hoping that was in fact, all that they wanted.
"Yeah, that's it, Bobby," Eddie responded. The waiter was out of ear shot before she stated the obvious. "I really don't think he likes his job."
"What are you gonna do?" Jamie shrugged and took a sip of water.
"So long as he gets my order right, I really don't care. I'm starved. And seriously, Reagan? You eat more salads than any woman I know," Eddie criticized. He was starting to make her feel self-conscious about what she ate, not that it would have any effect on her meal selections. The stomach wants what the stomach wants, that was her motto when it came to food.
"Thanks. And not all of us have your metabolism, Eddie," Jamie said.
"You should be so lucky," Eddie laughed.
Jamie smiled and shook his head.
The two were chatting about their morning when the food finally arrived, which was good because both were growing hungrier and more impatient. But the partners wisely chose against voicing any displeasure with the service; nothing good came from complaining about the service at a restaurant before you got your meal.
"Salad...sandwich. Anything else?" Bobby said as he placed the dishes in front of them.
Eddie was impressed that he at least got the two meals right between them. "Naw, Bobby, that will be all. Thank you for your service."
"Whatever," Bobby muttered and headed back to the safety of the beverage station.
"Whoah," Jamie smirked, but let the man's salty demeanor pass as he got ready to eat.
"Remind me never to come here again unless I want a bacon cheeseburger," Eddie requested as she reached for the salt.
"You mean the one that brought us here and you didn't get?" Jamie teased.
"Whatever," Eddie smiled, mimicking Bobby.
They were quiet again, too hungry to continue the conversation as they dug into their meals.
Well into her sandwich, Eddie leaned back. A sigh of satisfaction came from deep within; her belly was thoroughly pleased with her selection. Eddie wiped her mouth with a paper napkin when she noted something strange about her partner.
Jamie had been gathering forkful of the quinoa-salad concontion when he sensed a pair of blue eyes on him. "What?" he said at the strange look he was receiving from Eddie. Jamie leaned his fork against the edge of the plate. He too had made a dent into his meal, but he was nowhere near the speed eater his partner was. Jamie reached up to scratch an itch under his bottom lip and then slipped his fingers under his collar to get at another sudden itch while waiting for Eddie to answer his question.
Eddie swallowed her last mouthful of food and frowned at the puffy appearance of his bottom lip. She didn't remember it looking like that at the start of shift. "You okay there, partner? What's up with your mouth?" she asked, while pointing back at his face.
Jamie shook his head in confusion. "My mouth?" he asked, automatically reaching up to wipe his lips with his napkin. Did he have salad on his face? he wondered and was about to voice the question when he caught sight of a few red, welts on the back of his right hand. Jamie pulled on the cuff of his sleeve and found more on his wrist. He frowned and looked between the red marks and his salad. His eyes widened when it hit him. "Uh oh," he said as he looked down at the ingredients on his plate.
Eddie's eyes widened in alarm at the hives that magically appeared before her very eyes along his mouth and cheeks. "Jamie? What's wrong?"
Jamie ignored her, turning in his seat to shout across the small dining room to get Bobby's attention. "'Scuse me. Hey!"
"Jamie," Eddie said, growing more concerned. Her partner, on the other hand, was more determined to get the idiot waiter to come back to the table as he shouted for him again.
Surprisingly, Bobby traipsed back over, albeit reluctantly. "Yeah?"
"Are there olives in this salad?" Jamie asked, pushing the dish closer to the waiter.
"What?" Bobby said as he stared down into the salad plate, not understanding the cop's question.
"Jamie, what's wrong?" Eddie demanded. She was just as confused as Bobby. Her partner was turning into a giant, walking hive with bloated lips but he only seemed interested in interrogating the waiter.
"Are there olives in this salad?" Jamie repeated as he vigorously began to scratch his arm through his uniform.
"Nah, man," Bobby scoffed with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "Does it look like there's olives in there?" Even he could see there weren't any of the little salty globes in the salad.
Jamie loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar, wishing the man wasn't so dense. "The tapenade...you had them leave it out, right?" He asked as he recalled the troublesome ingredient listed on the menu. His face became heated and he could feel his lips swelling tight.
"Tapa-what?" he replied.
Yeah, that answered his question. "Eddie, we gotta go," Jamie said and reached for his hat.
Eddie finally verbalized what she had been observing. "Woah, Reagan, you're blowing up right before my eyes! What the hell is going on?!"
"There are olives in here," he huffed, pushing his plate farther away as he sent an angry scowl at the waiter. "I'm allergic," he shared. A short cough followed, triggered by an itch in his throat.
"What?" Eddie replied, shocked by his revelation.
"I'm allergic," Jamie repeated, ready to get out of the booth but for Bobby remaining firmly rooted in his way.
The words sank in and Eddie went from being concerned for her partner to livid at the waiter. "Seriously! What the hell is the matter with you?! He told you no olives!" she shouted, as she stood to her full height of five feet, four inches.
"There are no olives, lady!" Bobby argued, picking up Jamie's discarded fork to toss the remainder of the salad from side to side as proof.
"There's tapenade in his salad. What do you think that's made of, genius!" Eddie spat back as she jabbed her finger in the idiot's chest. Seriously, the guy was a box of rocks on top of being a terrible waiter.
Jamie let the two argue. His skin was itching furiously now, his face and hands the only parts of him he could easily get to. He was starting to consider tearing off his uniform shirt to get better access to his chest and abdomen, public indecency be damned.
"Then he should have said no tapenade! Duh!" Bobby fired back.
"Eddie," Jamie called out to his partner as another button on his shirt came undone.
The blonde officer shot forward and got right in the waiter's face, which sent the younger man stumbling a few steps back, clearing Jamie's path out of the booth. "You know what, Bobby? You need to turn around and put your hands behind your back," she ordered and reached for the cuffs on her belt.
The commotion caught everyone's attention. Every employee and customer now stared at the two officers and the waiter.
"Eddie," Jamie repeated, trying to get her attention.
"For what?!" Bobby argued.
"For assault on a police officer! He told you no olives because he's allergic which you clearly disregarded! Now turn around!" Eddie said more forcefully. She grabbed his bicep and was ready to tack on resisting arrest if he questioned her again.
"Officers? Officers, I'm the manager. Can I be of assistance?" A gray-haired older man scurried over, his voice calm and reassuring in the hopes that he could diffuse the situation before it affected the lunch rush. The manager had yet to see what the commotion was about, but he knew they had a terrible problem as soon as he saw the seated officer. "Oh, my."
"Eddie!"
Eddie had been ready to lay into the manager when Jamie's voice cut through her anger. "What?!" she shouted and turned back toward her partner. Her eyes widened at the sight: Jamie was covered in red welts and his uniform shirt was half undone as he scratched at his chest, doing his damndest to get under his vest.
"I think we need to go….need to get some antihistamines or something," Jamie said, remaining calm despite the maddening sensation of a million fiery ants crawling through every pore of his body. No matter how hard he scratched, he could not get any relief. His lips were heated and tender to the touch, undoubtedly double, if not triple, their normal size. It had been years since he last had a reaction, but the last one had been something like this. As long as it didn't affect his breathing, he would be fine...he could totally deal with this. They had driven past a drugstore on the way here. Not a big deal, he tried convincing himself.
The other two men were now forgotten, Jamie was her sole focus, but Eddie was of a totally different opinion on how to treat this medical emergency. "We need a bus," she decided and reached for her radio.
"No -"
Eddie returned the cuffs to her belt and reached for Jamie's arm to help him up. "You're right, St. Benjamin's is a few blocks away! I'll take you to the ER myself!" she stated.
Jamie shook his head as he stood. "No, just a drug store. I just need -"
Eddie had reached for both their hats and then shoved Bobby aside to lead her partner out of the restaurant when she cut him off. "Or maybe I should call a bus! What are you feeling?!" Seeing her partner resemble a splotchy blowfish was freaking her out. She was a rookie, she couldn't let her training officer die on her watch! And he was the PC's kid, for crying out loud! Her mind was racing and she worried about the more serious signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis.
It was just the hives and itching and swollen lips, but it was intense. At least his tongue wasn't swelling….yet. He didn't want to worry Eddie or end up at a hospital, although it looked like it was too late to prevent that from happening. His partner was freaked out already.
Eddie's eyes were as wide as saucers. The hives were more impressive from close up. "Woah, Reagan! Come on, let's get you out of here." They were reaching the front door when she turned around and glared at the horrible waiter. "I'm not done with you, Bobby! I'm coming back here and it's not for the cheeseburger!" she warned.
Bobby didn't talk back this time. He was too afraid of what the scary, petite officer would be doing to him if she kept her promise, but he might not have a job here anyway, so what did it really matter?
"It's fine. I got you...St. Benjamin's is three blocks away. Just hang in there, partner," Eddie guided him to the RMP parked out front, deciding that it was indeed faster than a bus.
"I don't think that's necessary. I just need the over-the-counter stuff," he mumbled through swollen lips aa he undid the rest of his shirt, pulling it from his pants. Jamie got a nanosecond of relief as his hand slipped under his vest and t-shirt to scratch a fiery spot on his stomach.
"We're not going to some drugstore to see if some over the counter medication may or may not help you! Now get your ass in the car, Reagan!" Eddie ordered. Her tone was the opposite of her actions as she gently helped him into the passenger's seat. She felt bad yelling at Jamie like this, but she was in panic mode.
Eddie was making her way around the front of the car when she reached for her radio. "Central, 12-David. Cancel our 63. 10-87 to St. Benjamin's. Officer in need of medical attention."
"Copy that 12-David. Do you require a bus?"
"Negative, Central. We'll contact the C.O. with details."
Eddie got in the car and glanced at her partner. She saw him swallow thickly, but couldn't determine if it was discomfort, fear or another scary symptom of anaphylaxis. Regardless of what it was, she needed to get him to the hospital fast.
Jamie pulled the visor down and was startled by his own appearance. "Holy shit," he whispered. Now he understood Eddie's reaction.
"Hang in there, partner. We'll get you fixed up in a jiffy," she assured him as she sped off with lights and sirens.
Almost two hours later, Eddie shuffled through the maze of the Emergency Room looking for curtain ten, having finally been given a report on her partner and the all clear to head back to his bedside. "Hey, you decent in here?" she asked when she arrived at the drawn curtain, not that she waited for a response before she slipped through inside.
The sight that greeted her was a relief. Jamie lay back against the raised head of a gurney, now covered in a hospital gown and blanket. He was hooked up to an I.V. and a heart monitor. A pair of drowsy hazel eyes smiled back at her. "Depends on who you ask."
Despite knowing he was okay, a wave of relief washed across her whole body now that she could confirm it with her very own eyes. "How're you feeling?" she asked when she reached his bedside.
"Better. See?" he proclaimed and held up his arms to prove the hives were gone now.
Just seeing his face and mouth almost looking normal again was proof enough for her. "You still look a little puffy," she pointed out in case he thought he really was better.
"Better than before, at least, but no biggie," he smirked, dropping his arms to his sides. He was feeling stupid for letting this happen. And if he wasn't so loopy he might have picked up on what was coming.
There he was trying to convince her this wasn't a big deal! The floodgates opened and out rushed all her worries and fears from the afternoon. "You were turning into a giant hive right before my eyes, Reagan! I was afraid you'd have trouble breathing eventually! Why the hell wouldn't you tell me about that before? I'm your partner! Food allergies are serious! This isn't something to laugh at!" she reprimanded.
"Ahh, come on Eddie," he responded, feeling bad about how badly her scared her. The guilt hit him hard; he hated that he put her through this, but he didn't think her knowing about an olive allergy would have helped the situation with the dumb waiter. "It's just an allergy I've always had. I didn't think-"
"No you didn't think! If I would have known…," she started, trailing off when she realized she wouldn't have identified the tapenade in his salad either, not that it would have been her job to inspect his food before he ate it.
"If you would have known, what?" he asked, confirming her very own thoughts. "I didn't even know they left the tapenade in the dish. I couldn't taste or see it with all the other things in there. That's why I asked for no olives. It's on me, I guess. I gotta be more specific when you get bad waiters who don't know the ingredients to their own dishes," he reasoned as he shook his head and closed his eyes, letting out a tired, weary sigh.
Now Eddie was the one who felt bad for putting any blame on him. The poor guy was spent and didn't need her adding to an already stressful day. It was dumb Bobby's fault, anyway. "Or don't care!" she added, knowing that was a major factor in the day's events.
Jamie smiled, relieved that she didn't seem upset with him anymore. He closed his eyes and they shared a comfortable silence. Jamie was going through the whole exchange at the restaurant when a short laugh burst through his lips.
"What?" Eddie inquired as she took command of a stool and parked her bottom on it, scooting closer to Jamie's side.
Jamie's head rolled left to face her. He couldn't prevent the twinkle in his eyes as he questioned her. "Were you really going to arrest that guy for assaulting a police officer?" He was both amused and touched by her reaction at the diner.
All Eddie sensed was his amusement. Embarrassed by how far she took things, she felt the need to defend herself. "It's legit, Reagan! I should still go back there."
Jamie laughed. "Come on….he's just an idiot," he said, not wanting her to waste her time worrying about dumb Bobby.
"An idiot that almost killed a cop!" she reminded him.
"Death by tapenade," Jamie joked while covering his face with both hands. "Can you imagine? Danny would never let me live that down."
"It's not funny. You looked like you were in real trouble." Eddie said. She'd never seen anyone go through an allergic reaction before and she hoped she would never go through that again, especially with him.
"I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I know it looked bad, but I swear it wasn't serious. I would have had you call a bus if I was feeling worse than I was," he assured her and reached for her hand, needing her to know how sincere he was.
Eddie watched him take her hand and her anger dissipated. Still, she felt the need to point out how serious this was. "You're no doctor, Reagan," she smirked. "Food allergies can be serious and you can't go treating yourself for things like that."
"Now you sound like the ER doc," he commented.
"Smart guy," she smiled.
"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. Thanks for watching my back, Janko. You really saved my ass," he said with a squeeze of her hand.
Eddie's smile stretched wider. Her heart stuttered at the tone of his voice and the feel of his hand in hers. "You're welcome," she replied almost shyly.
She was starting to feel like a silly school girl, so she let go of his hand and kept the conversation going. "So, anything else I gotta worry about with you, princess?"
"Nope," Jamie assured her. There were no other medical conditions to disclose.
"What did the doc really say?" She wondered if he was really telling her the truth.
"They gave me I.V. antihistamines but they're going to watch me a bit longer to make sure there are no delayed reactions. They think I should see my doctor to follow-up and go over the need for an epi-pen in case the reaction's worse next time," he summarized the treatment and discharge instructions from the doctor.
"Yeah, I've heard that about allergies."
"Yeah, so they say. This one was about the same as last time, though," Jamie pointed out.
"Doesn't mean it can't get worse. Maybe you should carry stuff with you. I don't know, maybe if you'd had something with you we could have avoided this mess," she surmised.
"I still think you could have listened to me to begin with, all I needed was a bottle of Benadryl, a straw and a ride home and we could have avoided hours in the emergency room," he replied.
"Yeah, well, an allergy is not something to play with. And last time I checked, the J.D. you earned isn't the same as an M.D."
"I know," he nodded in agreement.
"Hey, I have a real solution for all of this," she said.
"What's that?" he asked.
"From now on, how about you go with simple burgers and fries and stay away from those frou-frou salads. Then, we'll really avoid all of this," she suggested with an all-knowing look.
He couldn't argue with her, not today. And if it meant he would be eating more burgers than salads for the foreseeable future, there were a lot worse things. "Alright, partner. You got a deal," he smiled.
I hope you enjoyed this! As the new season gets closer, I'm hoping more ideas begins to flow.