Another late post...taking advantage that the boss finally left!

Chapter 24

"Sergeant Reagan, please relax. We need to finish our examination," Dr. Ray Miller pleaded. He and his staff were doing what they could to handle their patient with extra care considering he was a member of the NYPD had been forced to ingest a myriad of narcotics. They had been attempting to draw his blood for a full tox screen, but their patient had grown more uncooperative since he'd arrived in the emergency department. They even made special considerations to allow his brother to remain by his side after he'd panicked at the sight of the strangers circling him on the gurney. But that was doing little to stabilize his patient's vitals as the physician glanced worriedly at the monitors next to the bed. He wasn't concerned yet with the injuries to Sergeant Reagan's face and the bruising to his torso after they managed to get him undressed; more important was stabilizing him and dealing with the effects of the drugs.

"I wanna go home!" Jamie demanded as he yanked his arm away from the nurse with the giant needle. "Danny!"

Danny's stomach clenched at the panic in his little brother's voice. He glanced down from Jamie's crazed and dilated eyes to his watch and wondered how long it had been since he'd called his father. Jamie had broken down when he finally heard Eddie on the phone back at that vacant office, but he finally seemed to believe that she truly was alive and well and Danny hoped that was enough to bring him back down to earth.

However, once the medics arrived and began to poke and prod at Jamie and then prep him for transport, the confusion and fear returned, his mind worried that he was off to some other location on what Noble touted as the trip down memory lane. He was getting worse with all of the ER doctors and nurses circling him now. The only person that could calm him down now was Eddie. "I know, kid, but first you gotta let the doc here check you out. Just relax," he said as placed his hand on Jamie's shoulder and gently pushed back down onto the bed.

"Where's Eddie?! You promised she was coming! You said she was okay!" Jamie said while pulling the nasal canula from his face and simultaneously shirking away from another nurse who was attempting to refasten the blood pressure cuff around his arm. "No!"

"Hey! Hey, Jamie! Calm down!" he ordered while snagging Jamie's wrist before he had a chance to strike Dr. Miller. "Leave that on your face, huh? She's coming, alright? Dad's almost here. I'm sure he's got the lights and sirens going and everything just to get her here," Danny tried pacifying his brother as his own heart raced.

"Let's get 4 mg of IV lorazepam on board," Dr. Miller ordered.

"Yes, doctor."

Danny frowned at the physician, wishing Linda was here to explain all of the medical mumbo-jumbo spewing out of everyone's mouths. He understood parts of it here and there, but what concerned him most were the looks they'd give each other. And now they were going to drug him up some more? How did that make any sense?. "Wait, what? You're going to sedate him? Doesn't he have enough garbage in him already?"

"It's not enough to sedate him. He's tachycardic and hyperthermic. The lorazepam will help calm him down and help with those other issues as well so that we can hopefully avoid more aggressive treatment. It's that or we restrain him so we can finish examining him," he informed the detective before turning to one of the nurses. "Let's get him to CT and x-ray when he's calm. Let's also get a Foley in and start watching his output."

Jamie settled down with the medication, allowing for the his blood to be drawn and a more accurate reading on his vitals to be taken. But his eyes searched the room suspiciously for more danger. Danny hated to see his brother distressed over the tricks his mind was still playing on him and for the millionth time that night he considered hunting down Noble Sanfino and killing the bastard with his bare hands. He was just imagining Noble's untimely demise when two familiar figures filled the doorway of the large trauma room.

Frank and Eddie were escorted to the treatment area as soon as they arrived, but both hung back now, stunned at the site of the medical personnel buzzing around the room.

Danny glanced down at his brother who lay quietly and half-dazed on the bed and squeezed his shoulder affectionately before stepping away to meet them. "Hey. So glad you two are finally here," he sighed tiredly.

Eddie's eyes remained frozen on the activity behind her brother-in-law where Jamie lay hidden by the doctors and nurses surrounding him. Her mouth opened to ask the obvious question, but she couldn't get any words out, her eyes misting over instead.

Frank could sense Eddie's anguish and brought an arm around her shoulders. "How is he?" he asked as he stared into the trauma room.

Danny saw the same questions and fears mirrored in their faces. "They're still checking him over, but he's still pretty out of it. Seeing everyone around him had him freaking out that he was still on Noble's wild ride. They gave him something to settle him down but the doc's worried about his temperature and heart rate," Danny began to explain...and those two were just the tip of the iceberg.

"His heart?" Eddie squeaked with large eyes. She wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived. Jamie had barely uttered a word when Danny called them and she'd been frantic over all of the complications she assumed that he could be facing, but hearing that out loud now only sacred her more.

"Yeah," Danny confirmed, wishing he had more positive news to report. "Come on, he's been asking for you. The doc knows you were on the way. They gave him something to help him relax, but he's awake," he said as he led them into the room. Dr. Miller frowned at the new visitors before recognizing the Police Commissioner. "Doc, this is Sergeant Reagan's wife, Edit Reagan."

"Detective Reagan explained what happened, Officer Reagan, he'll be glad to see you. Stay up near the head of the bed and keep him calm and distracted and we'll work on everything else."

Eddie approached the bed slowly, watching as a few of nurses ran wet towels across Jamie's torso and legs and another set up a cooling fan aimed directly at the gurney. She placed her hand gently on top of Jamie's feverish brow as the last of the dried blood was cleaned from his lips and chin, grimacing as she noted the mottled bruising on his face and body. "Jamie?" she whispered when her eyes traveled back up to meet his own.

Jamie turned his head toward the sound of her voice, his eyes sluggish and unfocused, but they widened slightly when he recognized his wife. "Ed..?"

"Hi, baby," Eddie smiled sadly, her eyes filling with tears as she bent over the edge of the gurney.

Jamie's brows crinkled in confusion. "You're here...okay?" he asked as his hand came up to loosely cup her cheek. Tears of relief spilled from the corners of his eyes and his heart fluttered when he felt her soft, warm skin under his fingertips.

"I'm fine, honey," Eddie cried. She took his hand in hers and placed a gentle kiss across the back. But her jaw clenched tightly when she took in the raw skin of his knuckles and could only imagine what else Noble had put him through to leave him like this.

Jamie's face became pinched at what he perceived as anger at him, for everything Noble had done to them...to her. "I'm so sorry," he gasped in between quiet sobs.

Eddie dropped her forehead onto his. "It's okay. It's over now, Jamie," she assured him as he repeated breathy apologies from the guilt she was certain he'd been carrying ever since that day Noble had introduced himself to her in front of their building. "Hey, you got nothing to apologize for, Reagan," she stated more sternly, needing to squash any notions that any of this was his fault. "Shh, I'm fine. We just need to worry about getting you better right now." Eddie continued to whisper soothing words of comfort and maintained constant physical contact until he was quiet once again, both oblivious to the continued activity around them.

"Don't leave," Jamie pleaded as his eyes grew heavy again.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jamie," she promised, not intending to let him out of her sight anytime soon, at least not until her own fears eased.

Frank and Danny stayed off to one side, out of the way of the medical personnel and to allow Jamie and Eddie a little privacy - if that was even possible in a room full of strangers. They looked on quietly, glad that at least Eddie was bringing Jamie some peace.

"How is he really?" Frank asked, knowing there was more that Danny had left unsaid to spare Eddie more worry.

"I don't know, dad," Danny grumbled. "The docs kept saying things about his liver and kidneys and heart - like every major organ has the possibility of being damaged by the damn cocktail Sanfino fed him. And that's on top of the fever he's running which has them afraid of seizures. That's why they got him stripped down." Danny turned in circles like a caged lion. "You might not want to let me wander down the hall or I may go over and kill the bastard."

"Sanfino's here?" Frank questioned, his brows arching high. He'd been so concerned about Jamie that he hadn't thought that Sanfino could be anywhere other than on his way to booking.

Danny grimaced at the way he announced that little tidbit of information. "Yeah, Jamie beat him up pretty good," he explained proudly. "We had to bring him in, but I got four uniforms on him. I'm not taking any chances. He has to pay for what he did and with more than a stupid all-expenses-paid trip back to Colorado."

"Oh, he'll pay," Frank said darkly. "One way or another, he's not getting away with what he's done," he promised, thinking of the conversation he would need to have with Erin once he knew Jamie would be alright. But he planned to drop in and visit with someone else first.

Frank walked past the uniforms standing guard outside of the small, isolated treatment room. "As you were," he instructed the saluting officers before walking through the door. "Mr. Sanfino," he greeted as he casually closed the door behind him.

Noble sat up straight from where he had been reclining against the raised head of the gurney, holding an ice pack to his bruised and swollen nose as the handcuff on his left wrist clacked against the metal railing. "What do you want?" he asked in voice that, while nasally, was heavy with animosity and unease. He knew who this was, had seen his photo many times after he'd pulled the articles on the real Jimmy Riordan.

"To actually lay eyes on you. I've heard a lot about you," Frank answered with a dangerous smirk as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I'm sure you have. Did Jimmy run home and tell you all about our adventures every time he went out to play me and my family? Is that what you do as Police Commissioner, huh? Get your cops to go out and dupe innocent people?"

"I'm sorry, I think you might have yourself confused with someone else. You were never innocent and that's never been clearer to me than now," Frank said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, geez. Is that where he got that line? You're all the same, every last one of you," Noble accused.

"Yes, well," Frank began as he approached the shackled man who in turn eyed the closed door nervously. "I don't need to argue my son's or my department's integrity with you of all people. I just wanted to let you know that during our investigation into locating you, we did look into whether your family and their associates had any knowledge of your return to the city."

"They have no clue. You all had no clue I was here until I showed my face. And even then, you never had a clue how close I was to your precious little boy and his new bride," Noble spat back smugly.

"They may have had no clue...not until you contacted Ricardo Garcia at least." Frank waited, proceeding when Sanfino paled. "I believe you know him as Richie? Anyway, Richie, was quite shocked to see you around these parts again and considering that you did in fact land him in the hospital when you forced drugs on him, just like you did to my son, well, he didn't hesitate to let some people of questionable morals know of your existence."

Noble's jaw clenched angrily before shooting off his mouth again. "I know he tried tailing me and I lost him. He could tell the world he saw me, but it wasn't going to get anyone closer to finding me."

Frank smiled as he prepared to reply. "Be that as it may, you are in fact now under arrest for a multitude of crimes - kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault, rape-"

"What the hell is your point?!" Noble yelled, drawing the attention of the officers outside.

"It's alright," Frank waived off the officers before turning back to answer the question posed to him. "My point, Mr. Sanfino, is that you can very well end up in one of the state's many prisons."

"So?"

"Did you know that there is at least one member of the Sanfino and Cavazerre organizations residing at each and every one of those prisons? They got sentenced for an array of crimes...felonies of course, from larceny all the way through murder one. I checked twice...every single New York facility," Frank repeated, as if discussing your everyday, mundane topic. He didn't let the younger man's look of stunned realization deter him. "And I imagine that wherever you end up, anyone of them would be very interested in seeing you again," he finished with a smile that was meant to leave Sanfino feeling uneasy. "Just a little food for thought."

"That-that's, uh, a death sentence. You can't do that!"

"I wouldn't be doing anything. You committed your crimes here in New York. Sure, you could end up anywhere, but it's almost a certainty that you'll end up in one of our prisons. You brought this on yourself for going after my son and daughter-in-law. Now, I understand that you've been discharged with nothing more than that broken nose and some minor bruises. I'll be sure to send my officers in to transport you to central booking so that you don't have to wait here any longer. Have a good night, Mr. Sanfino," Frank said and promptly turned on his heel, surprised to see Danny when he walked back out into the hallway.

Frank gave the order to have his officers escort their prisoner to jail before walking down the corridor with Danny in tow. "What are you doing out here?"

Danny wiped the smile off his face as he processed everything his father had said back there. "I saw you heading back here, wanted to make sure you didn't kill the scum for me."

"I would never touch the man."

"No, but you certainly did get him to crap his pants," Danny quipped. it felt good to have something to smile about right now.

Frank looked over his shoulder and traded smirks with his oldest son. "Let's go check on your brother."

Our couple is reunited again and Frank got a chance to strike a little fear into Noble's teeny-tiny heart. A few more chapters to go before this story is done with one more face to face with Noble to bring some closure.