Danny had called Jamie four times in the past hour. He knew that Jamie was not out on duty, his shift had ended four hours ago. Danny checked his watch, it was a quarter to ten, meaning that Jamie should be home. He called his cell again. Jamie once again didn't answer. Danny decided that he would swing by his apartment and see if everything was ok. It probably was, maybe he was just sleeping. Danny hoped in his car and drove to Jamie's apartment. When he arrived he knocked on the door, when no one answered he pulled out his key and opened the door. All the lights were off, Danny switched on the hall light.
"Jamie?" Danny walked through the little apartment and found nothing. Jamie was not home and from the looks of it, he hadn't been home since he left this morning. Danny called Jamie again and slammed the phone down when no one answered. He began to wonder where the kid was. Danny walked out of the apartment, turning off the lights and locking the door. Danny decided to go down to the station. He parked out front and walked in. The place was empty. All the on duty cops were out on the streets and only one sat at the front desk. Danny walked over to the desk.
"Detective Reagan."
"Is Jamie here?" The officer checked the computer.
"No, his shift ended over four hours ago. But, I haven't seen him leave. He might be in the locker rooms." Danny nodded a thanks and headed towards the locker rooms.
"Jamie?" Danny entered the locker room and walked through the rows of lockers. He came to the row that Jamie's locker was located at and stopped dead in his tracks. Jamie was slumped against his locker. His eyes closed, he looked pale. Danny dropped down next to him and reached a hand out. He was cold. Tears sprung in Danny's eyes, even though he already knew, he reached a hand to Jamie's neck and checked for a pulse. He didn't find one. Danny slowly stood and buried his face in his hands. How had this happened? He couldn't see any injuries. Danny pulled out his phone and called the front desk, he didn't want to leave his brother's side.
Seconds after he hung up the phone, many people rushed into the locker room. The officer from the front desk reached them first.
"He was fine when he came back from his shift." There were tears in her eyes. Paramedics rushed in and assessed Jamie, they officially called his death and started to slowly move him into a body bag. Danny watched with tear filled eyes. Somebody burst through the door and stopped dead in their tracks. Danny met the eyes of Eddie. She was crying, she ran to Danny.
"This is my fault." she sobbed. Danny looked at her puzzled.
"What happened?"
"While we were on tour, we came across a robbery. Damn guy had a taser. He got Jamie and I told him to go to the hospital, but he wouldn't listen. When we got back I figured he was fine, but..." She began crying again. Danny's phone began to ring, he answered without looking.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Danny. When are you coming home the boys are refusing to go to bed till you get home." The boys were laughing and giggling in the background. Danny held back tears.
"Um..." Danny heard Linda shush the boys. "I'm going to be a while."
"Danny. What's wrong? It sounds like your crying." Tears rolled down Danny's face.
"Jamie's...Jamie's..."
"No..." Linda gasped. "Do you want us to come to you?"
"No...I'm going to my Dad's house. He should know in person, not over the phone." Danny could hear Linda crying and the boys in the background, asking her what was wrong. "Keep the boys calm. I'll be home when I can."
"Love you, Danny." Danny hung up the phone and turned to the paramedics.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened to him?"
"We won't know for sure, until the coroner looks at him, but it appears to be cardiac arrest from the shock of the taser." Danny nodded and watched as they wheeled Jamie's cold body out of the police station. He slowly walked to his car and drove to his Dad's house. When he parked, he noticed Erin's car and was glad that she was here. He shuffled up the steps and walked inside. He walked into the dinning room, where Erin had papers strewn all over the table. Erin and Frank both looked up when Danny entered. They both grew worried when they say the tears, threatening to fall.
Danny sat down and looked at them.
"J..." Suddenly, Danny couldn't speak and sobs racked his body. He took a deep breath. "Jamie is dead."
"What?" Erin's eyes sparkled with tears.
"What happened?"
"Paramedics called it cardiac arrest from being tasered. When I found him...he was already cold." Danny hung his head and cried. They small group sat in silence. Frank's phone rang and he left the room to answer it.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
Danny stood and watched as the casket was lowered into the ground. He had no more tears to shed. The coroner had found that Jamie's heart had been knocked out of rhythm from the taser and it had slowly killed him. Danny hated that Jamie had died alone and in pain. He didn't blame anyone but the person who tased him and that man sat in jail waiting for a hearing and he was now being charged with the murder of a police officer. Danny threw in his handful of dirt and watched as the men began to fill the hole. He watched as the sun began to set and looked into the sky.
I'm sorry Jamie. I will miss you.
Danny walked towards his car, where Linda and the kids were waiting. He turned back to glance at the grave one more time and he swore he saw Jamie standing tall next to his grave in his uniform. He saluted to Danny and then turned around and disappeared. Danny smiled a sad smile.
Goodbye little bro.
I would like to thank all of you for reading this. It has been fun writing it. I figured I would end it with a sad story. I'm thinking about creating another A-Z story about Jamie and Danny and their brotherly bond. Let me know what you think.
