AN - Hello! Thank you all for the great response, I really appreciate it. I apologize for the break, but here's the fourth installment of this story. Because of you, I might just drag this one out to fill more than the intentional five chapters, but no promises. Hope you like this one. /K.
Chapter FOUR) Wednesday, 8.30 pm, Brooklyn Heights
Jamie pushed open the door to his apartment walked inside. He sighed as he tossed the contents of his pocket on the counter. Keys, phone and wallet landed in a neat pile in the middle and he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the tap. He walked to the table and set down the glass before retrieving his case notes and reports, so he could practice his testimony for tomorrow. He brought the papers back to the table and sat down, just as a knock on the door sounded throughout the apartment. The knocks were hurried, loud and persistent so he almost jogged to the door, flinging it open, not knowing what to expect. The next second an echoing impact to his head sent him to the floor, dazed and confused. He didn't even get the chance to utter a single word before hands grabbed him by the arms and roughly pulled him upright and towards the door. That was when his brain decided to kick in and his instincts took over. Jamie threw himself backwards against the two men holding on to his arms. He surprised them enough so that he flung out of their hands and stepping back, already reaching for his gun at the small of his back. He raised it up high, leveling the aim at the biggest of the two men, the one on the left, but before he could even think about squeezing of a shot, the gun was knocked out of his hands. Apparently, he was more dazed than first anticipated, which showed in his movements. His weapon skidded along the floor and he brought up his hands to block the row of punches suddenly thrown at him. He managed to land a few jabs of his own, but far from enough as another jaw rattling punch landed square on his chin and sent him to the floor, landing on his stomach. He could feel the pulsating burn on the left side of his face and the thick blood trickling down his cheek. He probably got something in his eye as well, because everything seemed blurry and out of balance. He could also taste the blood and he saw the droplets of blood on the floor in front of him, dripping from the corner of his mouth. He felt one of the men looming above him before a fist grabbed a handful of his hair and turned his head. He took in a sharp breath when a pinch to his neck made him wince and all of the sudden his body started failing him and his mind grew slower and fuzzier. Before he passed out, his head was dropped to the floor again and everything went black.
"Hey, look at this, man," the scrawnier of them said and pointed to the papers on the table.
"Bring them and let's go," the bigger one replied after he had glanced at the files.
"I don't understand, why we can't just let him float in the river," the scrawnier one said, almost whiny.
"That's not the orders, you know that. He paid us to make sure that he didn't show up in court. Anything else is his problem, Paul," came the response.
"But Chris…" Paul began. He stopped when the bigger man sent him a look.
"Don't," Chris warned and gestured to the unconscious man on the floor. "This one's a cop. Put one of those in the ground and you'll have to watch over your shoulder the rest of your life. And to make it worse, this one is NYPD royalty, the golden boy on the streets," Chris continued. Paul huffed and stepped over the cop and grabbed the files from the table.
"Dips for the legs," he mumbled and took the files under the arm. Chris sighed and bent down to turn the lifeless man onto his back.
Thursday, 9.30 am, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Midtown
"What… happened?" he asked, this time looking at his father, questions in his eyes. "Was I shot? On duty?.. is Eddie alright?" he asked as his eyes grew worried, on the edge of panic, he would think, if he had seen himself. He padded himself down, searching for the potential bullet wound, when he sat up straight in the bed, much to his father's disapproval.
"Relax, son. You were attacked in your apartment last night," Frank replied and pushed Jamie back down in the bed when his eyes flickered. Jamie voluntarily leaned back down because his head throbbed and the room spun around him.
"Ugh," was his only response as he rested his arm over his eyes. All three of them were silent for a while, letting it sink in before Jamie peaked out from under his arm.
"Last night? I don't remember anything from …" he zoned out for a second, trying to remember. "Beers… with Eddie," he decided and removed his arm, only to replace it with his hand.
"The doctors found some drugs in your system that would cause a temporary memory loss, but it shouldn't be anything to worry about," Erin said, clearly sounding relieved. She had shredded her jacket and draped it over the chair she was seated in.
"We're just happy to see that you are alright," Frank said, just as the door burst open and Danny rushed inside with Eddie right behind him. Danny's face turned from tensed up to relieved and then to neutral. Eddie mimicked him, but instead of her face going neutral her eyes warmed and the corners of her mouth twitched.
"Dad, is he alright?" Danny asked and scrutinized Jamie's form before him.
"He will be," Frank replied with a smile and got to his feet. He turned half around and nodded to Eddie, gesturing to move from the doorway to take a seat in the chair. She hesitantly walked to chair and sat down, not saying a word.
"He is right here," Jamie said pointedly and lowered his hand.
"Yeah, but he would just say he's fine and brush if off, like it was just another road rash on the knee," Danny threw pointedly back at his brother. Jamie glared at him, but he felt queasy enough to not start arguing with Danny right now, so he looked to Eddie for help but she only shrugged and smiled.
"Oh, I'm with your brother on that one," she said and glanced at the said detective.
"Traitor," Jamie muttered jokingly and laid his head back in the pillows with his eyes tightly closed. He shut out the talk around him after Danny declared he wanted the case and he almost thought he drifted for a minute or two, until Erin put a cold hand on his arm and he peered up at her face, squinting again.
"What's wrong, Jamie?" she asked and suddenly all of them was looking at him, curiously and concerned.
"Just a little dizzy, that's all," he replied and closed his eyes again. "I'm trying to remember what happened last night," he continued, when he still felt Danny's scrutinizing eyes on him.
"It will pass, son, don't worry about it," Frank said from the end of the bed where he was standing.
"I'll find the doctor," Erin volunteered and walked out of the room.
"Detective Reagan, do you have a minute?" the Frank asked, turning back to their previous conversation. Danny looked at him for a moment before glancing at his brother and then headed for the door with the commissioner right behind him, effectively leaving Jamie and Eddie alone.