Mac entered the ICU waiting room to find Danny and his mother sitting on one of the couches. Danny, clearly exhausted, had his head resting on his mother's shoulder. She was singing something in Italian. Mac set the bags of food and coffee on the table next to Mrs Messer. He pulled two cups of coffee out of the bags and left the rest, knowing that Mrs Messer would insist that her son eat, which was exactly what Mac was counting on.
He walked over to the window where Mr Messer was watching a nurse taking Louie's vitals.
"Thank you, Detective." He took the cup Mac held out, but didn't bother to drink. He glanced over at his son and wife. "Perhaps we could take a walk."
"Sure."
They walked in silence for a several minutes. Mac let Danny's father take the lead. In walking and talking. The gravity of the situation was sinking in. And Mac all too well understood how that felt.
They paused outside the nursery.
"I met Sophie working in her father's bakery." Mr Messer said, watching the activity in the nursery with a faint smile. "She was a beauty. So much that I couldn't believe it when she feel in love with me. We married just a month after Sophie finished high school. Louie was our first anniversary present.
"Barely six months later, Sophie was pregnant again. Only she lost the baby two months later. She lost three more after that. Two miscarriages, one still born. It was like God wanted us to only have one child.
"And then, almost four years later, Sophie was pregnant again."
"Danny?"
"Yeah. He was born six weeks early. Scrawny. But he was stubborn. And Louie adored his brother. He made us bring him to the hospital every day until we could take Danny home. He would beg to feed Danny, hold him. He even helped bath him and change him. Danny was his baby.
When they got older, Louie was always protecting Danny. Wouldn't let his baby brother cross the street alone. At the playground, at school. No one dared to pick on Danny, no matter how scrawny he was. You didn't mess with Louie's little brother."
"Did you know that Louie was a Tanglewood boy?"
"Yeah. Danny was about fourteen. Louie wasn't a smart kid like Danny. He knew it, figured it was the only way he could make something out of himself. He stopped hanging around with baby brother. Danny would nag him to play ball, go see a movie. Hang out like the old days. Then one day, couple of years later, Louie shows up at the house. Danny had just gotten his license so Louie tole him they could go for a ride in his car. He and the Boys were going to drive down to Atlantic City for the weekend. It was summer so I let Danny go."
"You trusted Louie to look after Danny, like when they were kids."
"And then Danny shows up back home a couple of hours later with a bruise on his face, talking about Louie telling him to go home. I didn't push him on it. Next week, Louie calls, tells Danny he's sorry for hitting him. But things were never the same between them."
Mac jumped when his phone beeped. There was a text message from Danny. 911.
"Something's wrong." Mac said, heading for the elevator.
They got back to Louie's room to find it filled with doctors and nurses. Danny and his mother were watching, their eyes full of panic.
