Chapter 3
Boom, Like That
Still trying to stay in order here. Have no fear, Rick's Beer is a planned chapter! Should have come up with an interim story called "Three Lost Weeks," but it's fun trying to write for these requests. Back to the point, it seems no one wants me to let the nasty Ms. Adams off the hook so here's a multi-shot one for that. I see Frank taking it upon himself to bring in some of his well-hidden Godfather-style dark arts into play here to make absolutely sure his little sweetheart Kaylin is safe. He did it for Garrett, so no doubt would do it for her too. Inspired by a Mark Knopfler song "Boom, Like That" which is written about the underhanded things done by Ray Kroc, the guy who brought MacDonald's across America… awesome song, look it up and you'll think of that guitar riff throughout this chapter. To paraphrase:
Or my name is not Kroc, it's FranK with a K
Like crocodile, but not spelt that way, now
It's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
FranK-style, boom like that
Sometimes you gotta be an S.O.B.
You wanna make a dream reality
Competition? send 'em south
If they're gonna drown, put a hose in their mouth
"We should have told him last night," Erin fretted as she followed her father and his trusted bodyguard Detective Jimmy Nuciforo into the elevator on the ground floor of St. Victor's Hospital early Saturday morning while on their way up to visit Jamie as he had yet to be released following the injuries he suffered in the Bridgewater building collapse.
"Honey, you know how your brother gets on these drugs, he was still stoned out of his senses last night with whatever they gave him to help him breathe yesterday," Frank Reagan frowned as he turned around and hit the button for the third floor. "He barely knew we were in the room when he was awake for those few minutes. Besides, Eddie needs to be there to hear this too, and she was on tour last night."
"So it would have been the perfect time," Erin insisted. "It's gonna kill him outright; you know it will," she added, shaking her head. "Dad, you seriously need to have somebody standing there ready to hit him with another tranquilizer dart or he'll try to get up and walk right out of here when we tell him that Ms. Adams filed her intent with the court for a final objection from CPS. I still can't believe that wicked witch is doing this to them. He's not in any shape to deal with this… mentally or physically."
"And I'm not going to let him," Frank assured her. "I've already made a few calls. I'm hiring William Ashe from Ashe and Patton to represent us. He's the preeminent attorney for family law in the city. Bill's assured me that this is just a grandstanding attempt by Ms. Adams and she doesn't have cause. The best she can do is block the adoption from being finalized until the end of the month. She only has a fifteen business-day window to lodge the formal complaint."
"Which will take them through the week in between Christmas and New Year's and you know what he had planned for Eddie out in California with Spencer, don't you? He'll never rest if this is still up in the air... and I don't know how you think you're going to talk Jamie of all people into stepping out of this and let another lawyer take over when it's Kaylin's custody on the line. Not gonna happen," she insisted. "Even if nothing comes of it, she's already ruined his plans… and Dad, I gotta tell you, this Ms. Adams… she's gotten away with stuff like this before… once with a judge's family. Don't underestimate her."
"I'm not underestimating anyone," Frank gruffed as the door dinged and they stepped out after Detective Nuciforo cleared the hall. "Wisdom prepares for the worst, but folly leaves the worst for the day when it comes." he quoted. "Richard Cecil. Trust me darling, I'll handle it. Kaylin isn't going anywhere, there's no need to worry. That's what you have to convince your brother of. He needs to focus on healing right now and the three of them will make that trip to California if I have to carry him out on the tarmac and put him on the plane myself. I'm not going to have this ruining any of his plans. This will end before that."
Erin turned to her him and pursed her lips. She was not naive enough to believe that someone who had climbed the ladder through the department to his position as Police Commissioner did not have the ways and the means to have certain situations "handled" under the radar, but it was a dark art and not something her father ever really spoke about. "Boom, like that you mean," she muttered.
Frank's mustache wrinkled as he returned the look and stood up straighter, rocking back on his heels. "Between us, if it comes down to it... yes," he nodded, although it didn't please him to know that one of his children could read his intentions like that. "Now, let's get this over with. After what happened yesterday, I did tell Dr. Holden we needed to give him some upsetting news so he will have a little something in his morning cocktail to… let's just say prepare him. We just need to wait until he's had that. He's not walking out of here until he's had time to process this, trust me."
"DAD!" Erin gasped. "I wasn't serious before!"
"I'm handling it," Frank insisted with a frown. "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Benjamin…"
"...Franklin. Yeah, I know!" Erin retorted. "But your own son?"
"He won't even realize it; I'd do it to my own mother, if needed… and you know how your Grandma Betty was. Let's go," he insisted as he walked the short distance down the hall to Jamie's room and entered only to find an empty bed and Eddie sitting alone in the chair reading a magazine.
"Frank… Erin," she looked up in surprise. "I thought you two were here last night. I wasn't expecting anyone so early… is everything alright?" she questioned as she caught an uneasy vibe emanating from them.
"Yes, of course. We just needed to talk to Jamie about something on the case, and he was not really… present last night. Where is he?" Frank pried.
"Oh, Cheryl has him up walking laps," Eddie revealed, assuming that he was talking about the Denison investigation. "He should be back soon though, they've been out for quite a while already. He did much better with his breathing this morning too," she enthused. "Looks like he'll come home Monday for sure now. I guess that twelve hours of dead sleep he had last night was the ticket," she smiled but her expression soon fell as it was not returned by either of the Reagans in the room. "Something is wrong, isn't it?" she deflated as she looked back and forth between them. "Please tell me…"
"Eddie, I will explain everything, but I need you to put up a strong front for Jamie," Frank revealed. "Ms. Adams is back to her bag of tricks again trying to delay things with the adoption is all," he assured. "It's being taken care of, but I don't want him getting upset so please follow my lead on this. Let him get settled when he comes back and wait for me to bring it up."
"Oh, no… not now!" Eddie breathed with wide eyes. Even as a newcomer to the family she could sense the tension in his voice, but if there was one thing she had learned it was that Frank Reagan prepared himself for every situation and it was best not to get in his way when he was taking the lead. She nodded and quickly wiped a sniffle and turned away to compose herself as the nurse led Jamie in from the hallway.
"Hey, look who's up and around!" Frank smiled as his son gingerly walked into the room on his nurse's arm dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. "No walker and real clothing… looks like they're getting set to kick you out of here."
"Hey, Dad, sis," he greeted them a bit tiredly as he was helped back into bed and the nurse settled him in. "Cheryl here either wants me home, or she's trying to kill me off... you'll have to ask her which one it is. I lost track of how many times we went around the block today," he griped. "She wore me out."
"Oh, definitely home," Cheryl smiled as she adjusted things and hooked him back up. "They track bad outcomes here, and I don't need you on my record although swing shift left a note last night thanking us for drugging you to the gills for them last evening. Just give me a minute to get his meds on board and I'll be out of everyone's hair," she added with a soft nod at Frank that didn't go unnoticed by his daughter.
"Got hooks everywhere, don't you?" she hissed.
"Hush," he replied.
"Alright, Jamie. Looks like you're all set," Cheryl offered after she injected things as necessary into his port. "Nothing is on the schedule for you besides lunch until three when Addison comes back, so try to get some rest. You look pretty tired from your walk," she added deliberately before smiling and making her way out after a few more minutes.
"Yeah, I guess m'm," he admitted as he sank back down against the pillow. "Sorry guys, seems like I've been doing a lot of sleeping lately when you two show up," he sighed. "I must be so out of shape… 'm legs feel so heavy now..." as a soft warm buzz descended.
"Oh, it's no problem, son. You can just relax and take it easy," Frank spoke up a little louder, trying to get a sense of where they stood. The dosage had to be just right but luckily Dr. Holden had lots of practice prescribing for Jamie. Eddie looked up at Erin in surprise when she realized what had just happened, but all she got was a set of raised eyebrows with a smirk and a nod in return from where Jamie's sister stood leaning up against the wall. "We just had a few things to talk to you about."
"Well I'll be damned," Eddie muttered to herself. "Remind me never to get on his bad side."
"How are you feeling?" Frank continued.
"Just a little… fuzzy," Jamie answered. "S'okay, I'll just rest my eyes. What's up?"
"Erin got a call late yesterday afternoon from Judge White's court since you listed her as an alternate contact while you were in here." Frank tread carefully.
"S'good. They were supposed to give us the date for the rescheduled hearing this coming week," Jamie noted agreeably, his eyes still closed as he rested comfortably on the bed. Got it just right, Frank thought with relief as he sat back a bit.
"Yes, about that, Jamie," Erin interjected while being careful to project her voice. "They had to push the final hearing back a little," she admitted while scrunching up her face and waiting for the expected blowup. It didn't come. Damn him, she shook her head and made a face at her father. I wonder how many times he's pulled something like this on the rest of us.
"S'kay, docket m'st be full. First up next week, then," he surmised still drifting in a pleasant state.
"Actually it's looking more like the end of the month at the earliest now," Frank added, taking the bull by the horns himself. One tired hazel eye opened and planted itself directly on him; the jig was up and Eddie was looking on anxiously herself now, having remained a passenger on the ride so far as requested.
"Why?" came the cold question. No amount of drugs was going to mask what followed.
"Ms. Adams," Erin began as she watched the eyeball roll back in Jamie's head at the mention of her name and then decided to rip the bandaid off in one quick swoop since he hadn't made a move yet. "She's filed an intent for a final objection from CPS citing the fact that you made yourself unavailable for the last scheduled hearing."
"Made myself unavailable," he echoed as he sat up now further on the bed with both eyes wide open and Eddie's hands came over to hold him down as he fought to balance himself. "I made myself unavailable!" he seethed as he blinked hard. "How? By doing my job and having an effing four-story building blow up and fall down on top of me!"
By now the little sway affecting him was evident to everyone in the room and had not escaped Jamie's attention as somehow his legs were refusing to do his bidding at the moment and he could not convince them to swing themselves over the side of the bed where he wanted them to go. His gaze immediately shifted from them to Frank. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he barked at his father, using more lung capacity than he had for more than a week, followed immediately by a cough and a grimace as he curled back up and sought to protect his damaged ribs.
"Son, you need to take a moment to hear me out. I spoke to Dr. Holden, and we thought it best to give you something to relax you a little before you could react and hurt yourself. We want to get you home, but you still have a lot of healing to do and walking out of here angry and half-cocked would put you in jeopardy, especially after what happened yesterday. You need to take a deep…" Frank paused with regret at that unfortunate choice of words. "You need to listen."
"Or else, right?" came the soft gasp. "Tell her."
"Jamie, please don't make yourself sick again," Eddie begged as she hovered over him and tried rubbing his back to sooth him. "What does this mean?" she demanded as he was not able to respond so she looked up at Frank and Erin. "It's just a delay tactic, right? She's just doing this to be a bitch. Judge White will still sign off on everything, we just have to wait three more weeks. It's not the end of the world… it doesn't mean they can still take Kaylin away from us?"
"Jamie, Dad's hiring Bill Ashe to take care of this for you," Erin added. "He's the best in family law. You don't have to worry about anything."
"So you're in the dark too," Jamie retorted as he looked at her before turning on his back and scooching himself up on the bed with effort, determined to fight off his father's 'helpful' intervention for as long as possible. "Why would he need to do that if it's just a delay tactic? Why would he do this to me over that? Think, Erin," he added before he turned his eyes to his father and huffed. "Tell them both then. You should have had Dr. Holden hit me with the good stuff if you wanted to try to slide this one past me," he challenged even as he put his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes as his valiant effort to fight off the effects of the medicine was taking its toll.
"Dad?" Erin asked quizzically as Eddie locked eyes on Frank at the same time. "What's he talking about?"
"Yeah, tell them, Pop… and you better plan on keeping me… down… for… a while," he trailed off with an implied threat.
"Jamison Reagan, how on earth did you hear about that?" Frank sighed as he glanced at his son and looked at the two women. While he regretted having to use these measures against him, it was evident now it was the right call or his youngest would have been halfway uptown on his way to the courthouse to challenge it by now. Somehow Jamie had managed to keep himself abreast of every possible obstacle that could affect Kaylin's adoption process… even from his bed in here. The only reason he didn't already know about the filing was he had been drugged to the gills the previous afternoon as the nurse had mentioned. Maybe his boy had his own magical skills in the dark arts, he pondered. "Ms. Adams is using this as a delay tactic, but Jamie's right… there's probably more to it than that." he revealed.
"You have your ways… I have mine... by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail," came the mocking parroted line. "Right, Pop?"
"Jamie, you don't have to be insolent," Frank sighed. "Late this past week…"
"Friday morning," came the interruption once again from the unrepentant man whose body might be heavy and sluggish, but who refused to let his mind shut down with it.
"On Friday morning, Judge White announced she is taking an extended medical leave as of the first of the year… something about having major back surgery, so all her open cases will be transferred to Judge Castor."
"Might as well be joined at the hip with Adams," Jamie forced out as his eyes opened and he stared at the ceiling. "Tell them… she's never lost a ruling in front of him. Not ever… no way we get a court date with White between the holidays on short notice if that complaint is filed on the last day… too late… Kaylin's case will go to Castor… they'll delay everything… Eddie, we'll lose her..." he grimaced at the forced deep breaths that statement caused him to take and started to look physically ill.
Eddie gasped as she once again did her best to minister to him and Erin straightened up and looked at her father. "Is this true?" she demanded.
"Yes," Frank revealed reluctantly since he had hoped to keep this part quiet and deal with it by himself… keeping it well under the radar which was so much easier to do if it had stayed there in the first place. "But only if the objection actually gets lodged… Bill is already working on this… he'll have us in court the minute that filing period is over. Jamie, I assure you… I will handle this. Those papers will be signed… the only reason they weren't last week is because there was no attorney or anyone from the family present… you tried to do this on your own and none of us could have seen this coming. Bill has a whole staff… son, I promise you we will NOT lose that little girl," he vowed straight up. "Kaylin is part of our family… she's not going anywhere. I give you my word…"
"She'll file it," Jamie managed. "You know she will… you can't stop her from doing that… we'll lose her..." he finished as an alarm started sounding on one of his monitors and Cheryl rushed back in the room from the hallway where she had been hovering nervously trying to give them enough time to finish since she had noticed the readings start to track poorly.
"I'm sorry, Commissioner," she stated as she worriedly began adjusting things and lowering the bed as Eddie helped straighten Jamie out and get the pillows where they belonged before she climbed in the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around while whispering to him as they both were in tears over this news and the threat to their new family. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave…" the nurse continued to speak to Frank and Erin. "His blood pressure is much too high now. Any more of this and we'll be keeping his company for a lot longer than Monday."
It was at this point with the sight of his son making himself ill over what should be an almost automatic court ruling and a happy time in their lives that Frank completely flipped a mental switch that had thus far been reserved for very few occasions and fewer people. Ms. Adams may have gotten things over on others, but Francis Xavier Reagan seeing red in full out papa and grandpa bear mode was a force all on its own. Unknown to everyone at the time, things she had already set in motion would come back to haunt the entire family once more in the following months, but on this point… on this challenge she would personally lose and he would see that it never happened to another child or family in his city again.
Okay, so I myself would not want to tick off Frank like that and it's obvious that Ms. Adams is on her way down. This interim story looks like it will need to be a three-shot to cover all of that. Next Jamie's made it out of the hospital, but only as far as supervised daycare at the family home as he and Henry have a chat about what's happening and his grandfather urges him to keep his plans for the trip while letting his father handle things.
