Charlie stuffed his laptop and a textbook filled with student papers into his bag. Lieutenant Walker had called in the middle of a committee meeting that the genius math professor was supposed to be leading, thanks to Mildred. The meeting had started at 6:30, and it looked like it was going to last forever. Charlie had managed to breeze through some of the topics on the evening's agenda, skipping others altogether. Finally, at 7:45, he managed to wrap up the meeting and escape before anyone tried to stop him to talk. After a quick detour to his office, the prof was headed to the parking lot.
While driving to the police station, Charlie called Megan on his cell phone. She didn't answer. Neither did Colby or David. He started to worry. Lieutenant Walker hadn't been specific on the phone about what was going on, just that Don was at his office and that Charlie needed to come as soon as he got a chance.
Charlie quickly parked and ran inside the police station. After passing through security, he asked the nearest cop where he could find Lieutenant Walker's office. The officer unenthusiastically told Charlie to go to the fourth floor, third door on the left. Charlie thanked the man before striding quickly to the elevator. He didn't want to look panicked, but he was worried about Don and his team. Why weren't any of them answering their phones?
The ride in the elevator seemed agonizingly long, but soon enough, Charlie found himself at Walker's office door. He knocked, then waited briefly as the Lieutenant opened the door. "Ah, Professor Eppes. Come on in."
Charlie's eyes glanced over the whole room as he took a step inside. They came to rest on the unconscious form of his brother, slumped over in a chair against the wall. "What happened?" came a strangled cry from Charlie's throat.
"He had too much to drink," Walker explained calmly. "A couple of my officers picked him up while he was punching a brick wall outside of a bar."
Charlie ripped his eyes away from his older brother so he could look at Walker. His heart rate was slowing back down to a normal rhythm, but he was still concerned. "What do you mean, they picked him up?"
Walker chuckled for a second, although he didn't sound very amused. "They actually arrested him for Public Intoxication. He punched the guy trying to detain him, so they charged him for that, too." When Charlie's eyes widened, the Lieutenant tried to reassure him. "I ran into them before they actually booked him, so the charges have been dropped."
Running a hand through his curly hair, Charlie nodded. "So, what now?"
"Well, your brother is really drunk right now, as you can see." Walker motioned to the still-sleeping body in the room. "I imagine that you'll want to take him home. Don's mentioned your… unique situation when you were in college, so I don't really know if you've had any experience taking care of anyone who is completely wasted." He paused. Charlie nodded again. Walker continued. "Then you'll know not to let him sleep on his back; if he throws up, he could choke. Keep an eye on him for the next several hours. He's not had any more to drink in the last hour, but he's had enough that he might be in danger of acute alcohol poisoning. Just keep watch to verify that he's still breathing."
While working on his PhD, Charlie was actually the normal age for college students, so he remembered the nights in the dorms when someone down the hall would stumble in after a wild party. There were many times when Charlie had to stay up with one of the freshmen to make sure they didn't die in the night from drinking too much. He just never figured he would have to do it with his older brother. Especially not when his brother was just a couple years shy of forty. Don always seemed so responsible when he had a beer at the house. Charlie didn't understand what had happened.
"Did he… did he say why he drank so much?" Charlie asked, still stunned.
Walker shrugged a bit. "All he said was that it was a bad case. I don't know anything else." Charlie sighed.
"I should probably get him home now." Charlie stopped beside his brother's chair and shook his shoulder. Don didn't wake up. "DON!" Charlie shouted in the agent's ear as he shook him, a little harder this time. Don's eyelids peeled open and his eyes shifted as he tried to focus on his younger brother.
"Char-lie," he slurred, smiling broadly.
"Come on, Eppes." Lieutenant Walker helped Charlie stand his brother up and draped the agent's arm across Charlie's back and shoulder. The professor kept one arm around his brother's waist as they navigated back toward the elevator. Walker pushed the buttons for the brothers as he escorted them down to the lobby and out of the building.
Just as the pair stepped out of the police station, Walker added one last thing. "Charlie, tell Don that he needs to stop by my office on his way to work tomorrow morning. I want to make sure that he understands what I told him earlier tonight, since he probably won't remember any of this in the morning." Charlie nodded in confirmation. "Tell him that half an hour should be enough time."
Charlie called out his thanks to the Lieutenant as he guided Don toward his car. It was awkward trying to manipulate the agent's limbs so he was sitting in the passenger seat, all extremities clear of the door. As Charlie turned the key in the ignition, he checked the car's clock. Nine o' clock. It was only nine, yet Charlie felt drained.
The drive back to Charlie's house passed in silence. Don was drifting in and out of consciousness, and Charlie was furious, but knew that this was not the time to yell at his brother. Even if he did, Don wouldn't remember in the morning, so it would be useless. Charlie was not looking forward to the long night ahead of them. Don would be passed out, but Charlie, who was already exhausted, had to stay awake and take care of him.
When they arrived at Charlie's house, the younger brother had to wake up the older, pull him out of the car, get them inside the house, and position the older so he was lying on his side on the couch. Then came the really interesting part: explaining all of this to their father.
Alan, too, was stunned at first. He would never have expected something like this from Donnie. Then, like Charlie, he got angry. How could Donnie have been so irresponsible? This was something a college student would do. Not a seasoned FBI agent. Not Donald Eppes, former Special Agent in charge of the Albuquerque office. Had he and Charlie missed any signs leading up to this? Alan couldn't remember Don acting any differently than any other time he was on a tough case.
As Charlie settled into a recliner opposite the couch, Alan insisted that they take shifts watching Don. Charlie argued for a while, but Alan's mind, once made up, was nearly impossible to change. Finally, Charlie gave in, but insisted on taking the first shift. As he watched his father yawn and leave the room, the youngest Eppes made the decision not to wake his father. He could handle this on his own; no need to cause Alan to lose sleep over Don's stupid decision.
The hours passed slowly. Charlie caught up on most of his grading, which was good since finals were quickly approaching. Don woke up at midnight and groaned. Charlie was at his side in an instant, a cup of water in hand. He remembered from his college days just how little coordination people had when they were this drunk, so he had found a straw to help prevent spills. Don mumbled unintelligibly for a couple seconds, but went silent when he saw the water. The mathematician helped the agent sit up so he wouldn't choke on the water, then held the straw to his brother's mouth. Don drank greedily, emptying the glass in under a minute.
"You want something to eat?" Charlie asked softly. Don nodded a fraction, so Charlie went into the kitchen to find some bread. While he was opening the twist-tie on the bread bag, he heard something splatter in the living room. Bread forgotten altogether, Charlie ran back to the couch, wrinkling his nose at what he found. Don had already passed out again, but not before decorating the floor and the front of the couch with the contents of his stomach. Thankfully, it was mostly the water that he had just swallowed. Charlie checked that Don was still breathing before starting to clean up the mess.
The rest of the night was uneventful. Don woke a few more times requesting food or drink, but Charlie told him to go back to sleep. The professor was not at all interested in cleaning that up again.
TBC