Jaime walked up the path to his father's house. It was their Mom's birthday and the family was getting together for dinner. Jamie pushed open the door.

"Hey Dad." Frank looked up from his paper.

"Hey Jamie." Frank folded up his paper and motioned for Jamie to sit. "Danny and Erin got dinner covered." Jamie nodded and sat down. "How's work?"

"The same." Frank nodded.

"Did you finally close the case you were working on?"

"Yea, finally pinned the guy. But he made bail. Now we're just waiting for the court hearing."

"Well I'm sure he'll be found guilty."

"He better be. After everything he did to those women, he doesn't deserve to see daylight every again."

Erin entered the dining room carrying a plate of hot food.

"Smells good sis." Erin smiled and retreated back to the kitchen.

The whole family settled down to eat dinner. Henry said grace and everyone dug in. Not 5 minutes after diner had begun, the doorbell rang. Frank pushed his chair out.

"It's ok pops I'll get it." Jamie stood and walked to the front door. The family went back to eating. Danny felt a wave of uneasiness pass through him. He decided to get up and check on Jamie.

Jamie pulled the door open. He was met face to face with the criminal he had just tried to put away.

"What are you doing here?"

"Making sure that you can't testify against me." The man pulled a gun and pointed it at Jamie. Jamie's hand instinctively reached for his gun, but his gun was in his safe at his apartment.

"Slow down, just think about this."

"I have thought about this." The man fired and Jamie fell to the ground.

Danny stood from the table and walked into the front room. A gunshot echoed throughout the house and he watched as Jamie hit the ground. He ran forward and landed on his knees next to Jamie. He placed his hands on Jamie's wound and pressed hard. By now the whole family was in the living room. Erin and Linda covered the children's eyes. Frank was talking frantically into his phone.

Danny looked down at Jamie and noticed his eyes were closed.

"Jamie! Look at me kid." There was no response. Danny felt for a pulse and only found a weak one. "Don't quit on me Jamie!"

Jamie could hear Danny calling to him, but Danny's voice was slowly fading. A new voice replaced his.

"Jamie." He turned around and was standing face to face with his mom.

"Mom?" She was beautiful.

"It's alright Jamie."

"Where am I?"

"You're teetering between life and death." Suddenly the pain of the bullet wound hit him. He sank to his knees. His mother approached him and gave him a hug. All the pain disappeared. Jamie stood back up and looked into his mother's eyes.

"Am I going to die?" His mother looked down and refused to answer. "Mom?"

"Jamie?" Jamie spun around and saw Joe.

"Joe!" Jamie gave Joe a big hug.

"Jamie, you shouldn't be here. You're still so young."

"So were you." Joe sighed and put an arm on his younger brother.

"You have so much potential. Don't tell me you're giving up."

"There's no pain here."

"Pain is a part of life." Joe forced Jamie to look at him. "What do you think Danny will do if he lost you too?" Jamie looked at the ground.

"It would ruin him." Jamie looked at Joe and his mom. "I miss you guys."

"I know honey, but they need you. We will always be here. When the time is right we will meet again." Jamie gave his mom another hug.

"I love you, and Happy Birthday."

"I love you too. Now go back before it's too late."

"Don't give up on me Jamie!" Suddenly, Jamie's eyes popped open. "That's it kid. Stay with me."

"Don't worry I'm not leaving." It was just a whisper, but Danny heard it. He grabbed Jamie's hand and climbed into the back of the ambulance.

Jamie woke up a couple hours later, he was in a hospital bed, hooked up to many machines.

"Hey, kid." Jamie smiled at his brother. "How are you feeling?"

"Considering I'm pumped full of drugs, I'm good." Danny chuckled.

"Well they caught that son-of-a-bitch. He doesn't qualify for bail, so it looks like he's going to be there a while. And attempted murder has been added to the list of charges."

"Good that guy deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his pathetic life." Danny patted Jamie's leg.

"Yes he does. Now get some rest so you can get out of this hell hole." Jamie yawned and closed his eyes, knowing his brother would be there when he woke up.