Revenge on the Reagans

Chapter 4

Erin had climbed into the ambulance with her brother, and her father's car followed close behind the emergency vehicle. She sat by and watched as doctors tended to her brother. Jamie had gone with their father and she wanted to stay with Danny. After seeing him in the rubble, she didn't want to leave him alone. She had never seen Danny so still, so quiet. She was expecting him to wake up and make some smart remark about the guilty look in her eyes. She knew he would tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that he was going to be fine, but she couldn't help but blame herself. She felt as if though there was something wrong about the whole end result; she walked out with only a few scratches and he was lying unconscious on a hospital stretcher still being checked for broken bones. It didn't feel right. No matter what anyone could tell her, there was no way she couldn't feel responsible. Just then, her brother began to stir on the bed.

"Danny?" she called to him, "can you hear me? Danny?" But he didn't answer. His eyes fluttered open, and just when she thought there was a chance he would be okay, his response wasn't to her liking. He shifted to see her, but pain radiated through his entire body, and the pain was evident on his face.

"Where are you in the most pain Detective?" one of the nurses asked.

"My leg," he responded in a very weak voice, "I...cough.....I can't move.....my leg." The nurse moved over and laid her hand on Danny's leg only for him to grunt in pain. Stinging tears began to form in his eyes for the pain was too unbearable. Erin's heart broke for her brother as she watched him suffer. After being buried under rocks and debris, who knew how bad the pain he was feeling truly was.

"Where else detective?" the nurse asked but Danny didn't respond. From the looks of it, it looked like he was about to pass out.

"Danny," Erin tried.

"Back," he said, trying to explain in what little voice he could muster, "arm, chest, head, everything really."

"Okay," the nurse said, "I'm going to need you stay awake with me okay?" She turned to look at Danny and saw that he was moving, but his eyes were closed. It wasn't long before he would be out cold again. But he couldn't close his eyes. If he did, there was no telling when he would wake up.

"Danny stay with me," Erin pleaded, "come on wake up. Danny? Danny!" But sadly, he was unresponsive. Erin sat back in worry as she watched her brother lay back into the stretcher and the only thing leaving her certain that there was still some hope left for his health and safety was the steady rise and fall of his chest.

"Please Danny," she pleaded silently then looked up and said, "Please God. Don't let me lose another brother."

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Frank kept his eyes forward, his focus on the ambulance ahead of them, and his thoughts on the well being of his son. He remembered what it was like to lose Joe. How guilty he felt when he was killed under his watch. He felt responsible for his death for the longest time, no matter how many people told him that he wasn't. And now he had countless men and women who were in that precinct injured. Erin's secretary was dead. And there was no telling how badly hurt Danny was. Jamie didn't know the whole story. He didn't know how Danny was really doing. What he had told them seemed like an understatement. Danny was tough but there was no telling how much of this he could really handle. Danny was not unbreakable. Just then he was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket.

"Is that Erin?" Jamie asked as he watched his dad pull out the phone.

"No it's Linda," he told his son and then answered the call, "Linda."

"How's Danny?" she asked automatically.

"We haven't reached the hospital yet," he explained, "but it doesn't look good." He listened to her sigh on the other end of the line and heard the catch in her breath. He wished he could have told her that Danny was okay, but he knew he'd just be lying to her and to himself.

"Please tell me he's going to be okay," she pleaded and he hesitated. It was hard for him to tell her that, when it was hard for him to believe that himself. But he still had to keep her positive.

"He'll be okay," he said, "he's Danny."