Chapter 15

Jamie's eyes squinted against the late afternoon sun, focused on the fleeing figures ahead of him. His feet pounded mercilessly against the pavement, his jaw clenching tightly as he increased his efforts to catch up with his partner and their rabbiting perp. Vinny had spotted the young kid first, pointing out how he had been nervously glancing at them over his shoulder. As soon as the kid realized they were both eyeing him suspiciously, he snatched the purse off the nearest female and took off down the sidewalk with both officers in pursuit.

Jamie's stomach clenched as soon as he saw the purse-snatcher and his partner turning into the Bitterman Houses and yelled to get Vinny's attention. "Hey, Vinny...we need backup to go in there!" he panted. "Hold up!"

Vinny didn't let his partner's advice deter him. He was focused on the little punk who was leading them on a foot pursuit. "I got him, Reagan! I got him!" he yelled out to his partner.

Jamie cursed but knew there was no stopping Vinny when he was focused on nabbing a perp, so he reached for his shoulder mike instead. "12-George requesting a 10-85 forthwith. In pursuit...a male Hispanic...heading into the Bitterman Houses...we need backup." He could hear dispatch responding to his call for assistance but remained focused on his partner, running after him on the concrete walkway as the kid easily hurdled over a wrought iron fence with Vinny on his tail.

"Stop! Police!" Vinny yelled, but his orders fell on deaf ears.

The perp went left and disappeared from their sights for a few seconds as they came around the corner.

Vinny frowned when he came up on the quad and was unable to locate their purse-snatcher. "Where the hell did he go?" he asked as he slowed from a run to a trot on the grassy fenced-in area and scanned his surroundings. "Where is everybody?" he asked his partner when he realized the normally busy quad was eerily empty.

Jamie slowed his pace as well when he came down the ramp to meet his partner in the main area of the quad. His partner jumped from the elevated grassy area to meet him. Both looked around for any sign of their perp - for anyone, really - when the hairs on the back of Jamie's neck stood on end and his eyes narrowed at a sudden realization.

"Vinny, it's a set-up," he warned his partner as his eyes continued to scan the common area. He reached out with his hand to motion Vinny back as a strong urge to run settled in the pit of his stomach. "Come on," he ordered.

Suddenly, Jamie heard a pop of gunfire just as what felt like a Mack truck slammed into the right side of his chest, throwing him to the ground with a low guttural grunt. Jamie's hearing faded out as he struggled to get some air back in his lungs, but he could still feel the gunfire continue around him. His training kicked in and he rolled onto his hands and knees to scramble for cover while he called out to his partner in between gasps for air, "Vinny! Vinny!"

Jamie flinched with each shot that ricocheted off the ground, kicking up bits of concrete near his knee, one piece striking his cheek. His eyes widened in horror when they landed on his partner, lying almost motionless on his back. He was out in the open and unprotected while shots peppered the area between them. Vinny remained still, breathing rapidly and shallowly as dark red blood ran down the back of his hand where it pressed up against his side just below his vest.

Jamie acted on instinct and went back to his radio first. "Officer's been shot! Bitterman Houses! Main quad!" he yelled, knowing that there wasn't any more time to provide additional information. He then pulled his weapon and fired in the direction of their shooter, up on the roof of the building somewhere in front of them. When the figure drew back, Jamie made his move, reholstering his gun and scurrying low and over to his partner, sending prayers out to a merciful God that the gunfire was indeed over.

"Vinny, get up," he begged and grunted when he grabbed onto his partner's jacket near his shoulders, pulling him up. Jamie hauled Vinny back to cover slowly. His partner was too consumed by the pain of the gunshot wound to provide any assistance, but that didn't stop Jamie from begging him the whole time they were on the move. "Get up, man," he pleaded, hoping to rouse Vinny into action, but all he got in response were grunts and gasps with each sudden movement. "Get up, come on. Come on, get up," Jamie continued to beg through clenched teeth as he pulled him back - inch by inch - to cover.

"Okay, alright, I got you, it's okay," he babbled nonsensically as he laid his partner down along the concrete wall. Jamie crawled along side him and straddled Vinny's legs, leaning down low to remain protected himself and ignoring the continuous ache in his chest. Vinny was breathing shallowly, his eyes squeezed shut as his pale face remained frozen in a permanent grimace. "I got you," Jamie assured him and ran his eyes down Vinny's body, opening his jacket to assess his injury. Jamie's eyes widened when he spotted the dark, wet patch on Vinny's right side. "It's gonna be okay, Vin," he repeated as he pressed both hands down on the gunshot wound, apologizing when his partner yelped in response.

If Jamie weren't so focused on tending to his partner, he would have noticed the sound of approaching sirens coming from various directions. "Hey, hey, Vinny?"

Vinny groaned again at the blinding pain, trying, but unable to answer his partner.

"It's gonna be okay, alright?" Jamie muttered nervously, not knowing what else to do until help arrived. "Okay, hey, you're gonna be okay," he said more frantically. Deep down, Jamie was terrified at losing another brother to the job. "Hey, look at me," he pleaded, desperate to get some sort of response out of his partner. "Hey, look at me, Vinny! You're okay, all right?" he yelled, stopping to catch his own breath.

Vinny could hear the trembling in Jamie's voice and he knew he needed some sort of reassurance that he was okay. Still unable to get anything out, Vinny responded with the next best thing.

Jamie frowned at the expression on Vinny's face. "Hey, stop smiling," he told him. "Hey, look at me, man!" He couldn't understand why Vinny was grinning and it was scaring the hell out him.

The pained smile remained on Vinny's face. "It's okay," Vinny whispered. "It's okay, Reagan."

"What?"

Vinny looked at his partner through narrowed slits. He reached down and took hold of Jamie's wrist as he continued to painfully press down on his wound. "It's gonna be okay," he said and focused on Jamie in an effort to distract himself.

Jamie nodded. "It's okay, Vinny."

"Yeah," Vinny hissed through another wave of pain. "It hurts, man."

"I know. Help's coming. Help's on its way. Just stay with me," Jamie pleaded. He fought to ignore the feeling of Vinny's blood as it continued to seep, hot and sticky, through his fingers.

Vinny nodded and closed his eyes, squeezing Jamie's wrist as he tried breathing through the pain.

Frank Reagan felt sick to his stomach. One moment, he's sitting at the dinner table trying - but failing - to enjoy a meal with his family; the mess with the Bitterman Houses had been eating at him all week. And the next, he's getting a call from his DCPI that two of his officers had been shot there. And as if that weren't bad enough, to hear that one of the officers had been his youngest son had nearly brought him and the rest of the family to their knees. They had endured thirty endless minutes of terror until it was confirmed that Jamie had only been hit in the vest. By then, they had all been on their way into the city to get to Jamie. Erin had driven him, Nicky and Henry - Frank having refused to wait for his detail to arrive at the house - as she fought to keep up with Danny who drove Linda and the kids in their Jeep.

The ER waiting room at Bellevue had been full of officers and brass by the time he and the family arrived. Frank couldn't help the chill that ran down his spine as he walked through those doors. He'd been through this with countless other officer-involved shootings, but he was taken back to another heart-stopping emergency room encounter - when he'd had to endure the loss of a son. Frank had to remind himself that this was not the same; Jamie was going to be okay and he couldn't begin to describe what he was feeling.

Frank followed the nurse as she led him through the maze of the emergency department, along trauma rooms and treatment bays until she pulled the curtain of a small room to the side. Frank had eyes for his son only. Jamie sat dazed on top of a gurney, legs dangling over the side as he stared down at the floor. His uniform shirt was open at the front and even from where he stood, Frank could see a darkening bruise on the right side of his chest. He gave thanks again that Jamie had been protected by his vest.

Jamie looked up and met his father's worry-filled eyes. "Dad," he rasped.

Frank took a breath and pursed his lips at seeing his youngest up and talking. He approached the gurney and stopped in front of Jamie, reaching out to grip the back of his neck affectionately. "You okay?" he asked, his voice rough with emotion.

Jamie closed his eyes, grounding himself with his father's touch. "Yeah," he sighed. When he looked up again, he swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. "Vinny? Is he okay?" he inquired, afraid of what answer he would receive.

Frank could see the fear in Jamie's eyes and his hand moved down to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly - he wasn't ready to let go of his boy just yet. "He's on his way to surgery, but the doctor's think he'll be okay," he assured him. "They don't think the bullet caused any major, permanent damage, but they'll know more after surgery," he added.

"Thank god," Jamie whispered while he hunched forward to grasp the metal frame of the gurney next to his knees.

"What happened, Jamie?"

Jamie looked his father in the eye, his jaw clenching as he thought of the whole incident. "They set us up," he responded, feeling stupid that they'd let themselves run into something like that.

"Who?"

"Los Lordes," Jamie said dryly as he ran his hands up and down his face. "The purse snatcher had to be one of their guys - he was eyeing us and when we spotted him, he snatched a bag and gave chase, led us right into Bitterman," he said and paused as he went through the events of the afternoon in his head. "By the time we realized what was happening -"

"They were firing," Frank finished for him and he clenched his jaw in anger. Two of his men - his son - could have been killed. Frank was done playing games with the DA and the Mayor; he wouldn't allow any more bloodshed at Bitterman.

"Yeah," Jamie confirmed sadly. "Is everyone here?" he asked.

Frank nodded and released Jamie's shoulder. "They're all in the waiting room. You're brother was ready to storm back here to find you," he said with a tight smile.

One side of Jamie's mouth curled up...that sounded like Danny. "When can I get out of here?" he asked.

"You've already been discharged," he told him and patted him on the shoulder. "But you'll have to talk to the detectives before you can go home," Frank instructed.

Jamie forgot about protocol. They were going to want to talk to him as soon as possible to get the investigation rolling and he was fine with that. He wanted these guys caught more than anyone, but he didn't want to stray from the hospital until he knew his partner was okay. "I'd like to stick around and wait for word on Vinny," Jamie requested.

Frank smiled softly at his son. "I figured as much. The detectives can debrief you here. We'll have a few hours before the doctors will be done with him anyway."

Jamie slid off the gurney while buttoning his shirt. He'd been stripped of his vest, gun and duty belt back at the scene when the paramedics had done their initial assessment prior to transporting him to the ER. However, that didn't stop him from looking around, feeling like he was missing something. He leaned over to pat the large pocket on his right thigh, confirming that he hadn't lost his phone. He slipped his fingers under the flap and snatched the device out of the pocket.

He began to follow his father out of the treatment area when he glanced down at the phone and saw a text from Eddie. Jamie stopped in his tracks and brought it up on the screen:

Pls let me know ur okay

Upon seeing her message, Jamie had a need to call and hear her voice, before he was mobbed by his family and investigators. He didn't know when he'd have another moment of peace.

Frank sensed that Jamie was no longer behind him and turned around.

Jamie looked up to find his father staring at him curiously. "Hey, dad? Can I get a minute? I need to call someone. I might not have a chance later," he explained.

Frank's brow furrowed. He was on the verge of asking who he needed to call - the whole family was outside waiting for him - until the image of a certain blonde rookie officer popped into his head. Frank nodded and smiled knowingly at his youngest. "I'll let them know you'll be right out," he said and headed back to the waiting room.

"Thanks, Dad," Jamie said as he pulled up Eddie's number on his phone and stepped back into the privacy of the treatment bay.