3rd person pov
A few days later, Doc was preparing for a session with Joe. It had been a while since the last one, as they were able to space them out, and even stop them for a while once they had been able to get to the root of Joe's nightmares a few years back. But after losing LA, Joe was back at rock bottom, emotionally. He had first turned to Jamie, but more to distract him than to actually address the problem. Joe had not felt like opening the Vinny-shaped wound in his uncle, especially with Vinny's brother being Jamie's captain. Speaking of Joe, Doc raised his head to look towards the door as the young Detective walked into his office
"Hey, Doc."
His voice was quieter, more subdued. It had been three days since Joe had told Laurie he would seek help after trying to grasp everything that had happened first, get his bearings, take a free breath first. The funeral had not even happened yet, still four days away at least. A soft smile on his face, Doc returned the greeting
"Hey, Joe. I'm so sorry for your loss."
Nodding, the Detective found his voice
"Thank you. I... I can't stop replaying everything. We had a system, it was not even department regulation, but after checking our own vests and ammo, we'd check each other's. Fresh pair of eyes, having each other's backs. But I... I failed him. He was about to propose to his girlfriend... Sleep has started to get wonky again... It's weird, no one is even mad at me. Not the higher ups, not his family from Los Angeles... Not Grandpa... Not even Aimee."
Gently, the doctor prodded
"But you think they should? Why? You did not do it on purpose, checked his vest and ammo..."
A spark of rage took over the detective
"But I obviously missed SOMETHING!"
Voice steady and gentle, Doc spoke
"I read the report, Joe. Nothing was wrong with the guns, ammo or vest. It just went under the vest and nicked several big time arteries. Not even a chopper could get him to a hospital before he'd bleed out. It wasn't incompetency on your part or his, it was just a really well-placed shot. Considering neither of you saw it coming, probably a rooftop sniper. That's what your Uncle Danny told me. That that type of surprise shot is usually a rooftop sniper."
Joe nodded
"Yeah, it was. But I still feel guilty, I still can't sleep... I miss my best friend."
Doc spoke
"That doesn't go away, missing him. You just turn it into smiling at memories over time. But we do need to work on the sleeping."
Thankfully, they had been on that journey before, and, with the help of a few cliche tricks, the Detective was finally granted a few hours of rest
