When Maria arrived, she walked inside and asked to be taken to the room where she might find Daniel Reagan. Doctor Dawson had called the desk staff and alerted them to expect several people requesting to see his patient. They should be given an escort to his room and then he should be called in his office. Maria and a volunteer started down the hall unaware that two more people would be joining her shortly. They arrived at the patient's room and the volunteer told her to enter at her own risk. The patient wasn't the most cooperative patient and had requested no visitors. She then returned to her duties. Maria straightened her shoulders and walked inside. The room was dark, but she could see something hiding underneath the blankets. She tried to determine which way he was facing and just took a guess. She walked close to the bed and pulled the covers down uncovering his head and the upper part of his body.
"Daniel Reagan, if you don't turn over and talk to me, I'm going to call your father and he'll order you to respect and respond to any order given to you by a senior officer. Surely you can see the stripes on my sleeves? I'm now a sergeant and as such I finally outrank you. Now turn over or I will take the pitcher of ice water that is in my hand and throw it on you. Now, move, mister!"
"Go away, I said no visitors and I meant it. I can't…
"You left messages for almost everyone, but you forgot your child that I'm carrying. How could you leave my child out?" She picked up the pitcher and threw its contents at him. He came up sputtering and was so angry he couldn't speak. She handed him a towel and waited for him to speak.
"Please leave me alone. I can't make you happy without making Linda unhappy. And if I make her happy, you'll be unhappy. I can't win, just let me…"
"You have no right to take the coward's way out! Now, turn around and face me like a man!"
"I have never hit a woman, especially one who is carrying my baby but you're giving me no choice. Maria, I'm begging you, I can't take this anymore, please let me be." He tried to pull the blankets back up over his head, but she had walked to the foot of the bed and pulled them all the way off. She stood there and watched Danny pull himself back into as small a shape as possible. She could hear him sobbing and it was breaking her heart. She walked over to the side of the bed where she could reach his hand. She picked it up and placed it on her abdomen so he could feel his child moving around.
He left his hand in place, amazed at the feeling. "How long have you been able to feel the baby move?"
"Just two or three days, isn't it amazing?"
"Maria, I wish I could be there for the baby but…I don't see how. It's not fair, I find myself finally rejoining the human race, I create a baby with a woman I respect and admire as well as love, but I don't see any other way out."
"So, you leave me, our child, your sons, your wife, your whole family because you don't want to hurt me or Linda? Are you out of your f'ing mind? Could I possibly hurt any more than knowing you'd rather die than face up to the hand fate has dealt you?" She turned around and began to walk away. "I thought you were a man of your word, you promised me you would be there for every event in our child's life, and you won't even be there to see the birth? Maybe you're right, I'll just leave you to be with Linda, and raise MY child with my beliefs and ethics. Anything would be better than having a father that…Ow, oh, God, stop." She began rubbing her abdomen trying to encourage the baby to stop kicking her bladder.
Danny sat up and looked at Maria. "How can I help, is something wrong?" he asked.
"No, nothing is wrong, but the baby keeps kicking my bladder making me run to the bathroom. Excuse me." She walked around the bed and into the patient bathroom. She closed the door leaving Danny bewildered. The bed was now soaking wet, and he didn't know what to do first. Just then there was a knock on the door and Linda came into his room.
"What is this, Grand Central Station?" he said to himself. At least, he thought it wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear.
"Daniel Fitzgerald Reagan, if you don't get out of that bed in the next ten seconds, I'm going to drag you out of there by your ears and we're going to sit down and discuss this ridiculous plan you've concocted to fix this situation. Now, move mister before I move you!" Linda yelled. Danny was staring at his wife, unable to make sense of what she was saying. "Danny, what did you do, spill your water pitcher into your bed? Are you trying to make yourself sick? You've got three seconds left, mister, now MOVE!"
Danny looked around for a robe but couldn't find one. "I'm not dressed, please leave so I can…"
"I've seen you naked, and right now, I don't care if you're in a smoking jacket or naked. Get out of that bed!"
Danny began to slide off the bed into the chair next to the bed. Just then Maria came out of the bathroom.
"Linda, I didn't know you were coming…"
"Maria, Danny didn't tell me you were here."
"Well, you did better than I did, he wouldn't get out of bed for me. How did you do that?" Maria asked.
"I just treated him like I did the boys when they were younger. Did you take the pitcher of water…"?
"And I threw it at his head; he wouldn't respond to me." Maria had two towels in her hand and handed them to Linda. "He might need these; the water pitcher was full and at least half of it was ice. I'm sure he's cold. Wonder where we might get something dry for him," said Maria. Both women began to look around, totally ignoring Danny who was watching them intently. The women weren't fighting as he had expected. Instead, they were working together; he would never understand the female brain. Finally, Linda picked up the call unit and pressed the button for 'Nurse'. A voice came over an intercom and Linda requested some help for her… whatever he was right now; his bed was full of water and ice and the garments he currently had on were soaking wet. They were told that someone would be right there and within moments there was a knock on the door. Maria looked at Linda and said, "boy, you are good." Now, Danny could get into some dry clothes and perhaps the three of them could make some progress together.
However, instead of someone from the nursing staff coming in the door it was Frank and Doctor Dawson. The two men looked at the bed, the patient sitting in a chair wrapped in towels and tried to make sense of the picture before them. "Doctor Dawson, I have no idea what has happened here. I can't see any of the people in this room causing the mess. Is this how your patients are treated?" asked Frank.
"No, most of the time we don't see anything like this. Perhaps I should stop treating your family, Commissioner. "Just then there was another knock on the door and this time it was two people from the nursing staff there to take care of Danny and get the room squared away. Doctor Dawson suggested that Frank, Linda, and Maria step into the hall with him while the staff performed their jobs.
"Danny, we'll be right outside and when we come back, I expect to see you either sitting up in bed or in a chair. You will not be hiding under the blankets. Is that understood?" asked Frank. There was no answer, so Frank walked over to the chair where Danny was looking on at the comedy in his room. "I said, Danny, when we come back you are to be either sitting in a chair or in your bed, but you will not be hiding under the blankets. Is that understood?"
"Fine, Dad, but please get out, I'm freezing in these wet clothes." The group moved out into the hall. Frank looked between Linda and Maria.
"Which one of you had the brilliant idea of throwing ice and water at my son?" he asked. Linda and Maria looked at each other.
Maria stood at attention as she addressed Frank, "That would be me, sir. He refused a direct order from a superior officer. Given my current condition I didn't want to wrestle with him and thought that might be the best way to get his attention as he totally ignored me."
"And what order did he ignore, Sergeant?"
"I asked him to please come out from underneath the covers so we could talk, and he could tell me why he left messages for both Linda and I but no message for his unborn child, sir. I apologize, sir."
"Well, it turns out there is a message for your child, and we can play it for you. I'm glad you're here; I'm hoping we can work together to talk some sense into my son. His solution is unacceptable, but I understand the position that he sees himself to be in. We're going to have to be creative, but I've got a few ideas.
Once Danny was changed and the room cleaned up, they walked back into the room to see Danny sitting up in the chair; he was looking better than earlier but was also much warmer. Danny had agreed to the treatment prescribed by the consulting physician that Alex had called. Danny promised that he would no longer be on a path to destruction but was unable to agree to more than that. Monsignor Donahue would be called to visit but family members would be asked to stay away from Danny for now.
