Revenge on the Reagans

Chapter 6

"How 'bout we go get some coffee and come back," Frank had suggested and they all began to say their goodbyes to an unconscious Danny and make their way out of the room in agreement. He let his family pass him, and as he was about to walk out the door, he looked at his youngest standing beside his oldest. He knew how much Joe dying hurt Jamie, and seeing Danny in the hospital was probably eating at him as much as it was the rest of them. Maybe even worse. He decided not to say anything, and instead he walked out of the room and left Jamie to be with his brother. He walked down the hospital halls and walked right over to his family who had stopped in the waiting room. He looked around the room at his loved ones and his eyes fell on Linda. She stood there like a statue with the look of pain and fear in her eyes.

"He's gonna be fine Linda," he said placing a loving hand on her shoulder, "the doctors said he'll make a full recovery." She nodded in understanding and as they all turned to head to the cafeteria, they heard Jamie yelling from Danny's room.

"Somebody help!" they heard him yell and turned to see him run out of the room, "we need a doctor!" Two nurses began rushing towards Danny's room and Frank's heart stopped. Danny was fine when they left him. They just left him. How could things have gone from good to bad so quickly? He soon sprung into action when he saw Linda dash in the direction of her husband's room. Frank began rushing towards the room, with his family trailing close behind. He watched as Jamie and Linda were being forced out of the room, as the doctors checked Danny.

"What happened?" Henry asked from behind his son.

"I don't know......he um......he started moving and.....and I thought he was awake,"Jamie tried to explain in his state of shock, "and then I walked over to his bed and.....and his eyes were open and.....next thing I knew......he was gasping for air."

"Do they know why?" Erin asked with hints of panic in her voice.

"They say it might be smoke inhalation," he responded, "the doctors said that sometimes the signs show late and he didn't show any signs when he arrived." Just then, Danny's nurse walked out of the room to bring news to the family.

"Is he okay?" Linda asked immediately.

"We have him on oxygen," she explained to the group, "he may experience some coughing fits when he wakes up, but like I said, he is expected to make a full recovery."

"Is he awake?" Erin asked.

"He blacked out from the lack of oxygen," she admitted, "but he's expected to wake up soon." There was nothing any of them could do. They could  go into his room, but then they'd be sitting there staring at him, leaving Danny with an uncomfortable feeling when he woke up. There was no point in them all sitting around in his room waiting for him to bat and eyelash. It was agreed that Linda would stay with him and the rest would go back for that coffee. As they went their separate ways for a small moment in time, Linda took the seat next to her husband's bed where Jamie was sitting. She placed her hand on Danny's injured one, and let a tear fall down the side of her face at the sight of her husband, his face covered in bruises and scratches with an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth just so he could breathe.

"Don't go anywhere Danny," she said to him, "'cause I'm right here. I will always be right here."

———————————————————————————————————————-

Darkness. All he could see darkness. He could barely breathe and his hearing was fading. It was like he was being suffocated and all his senses had just shut off. He tried to suck in air but his scratchy throat and tingling lungs were failing him. Fear began to set in, no matter how hard he tried to push it away. Would someone come to his rescue? Was he going to die there? Just then, he heard a muffled sound that would appear and disappear again and again. He couldn't make out a single word, or who it was coming from. Then he felt something cold placed against his neck right under his jaw, and a hard material, plastic maybe, touch his face. The scratching in his throat grew less irritating, and his lungs began to feel less congested. Air began to pass through his lungs and he took slow steady breaths, trying to ease the desire to cough built up in his airways. But what mattered was that he could breathe again. He must have still been in the hospital, but the only thing he had to rely on to clear up the situation was his memory. The last thing he remembered was his brother running out of the room calling for a doctor, and then it all went black. He couldn't breathe. He passed out. The only thing he could think of now was his family. How scared they must have been hearing Jamie screaming frantically for someone to help save his brother. How angry they must have been at, well the world really, that he was lying there in the hospital, unresponsive, unconscious, and now unable to breathe. But he was fine now. Hopefully they would understand that, but he knew that him being fine in that instant wouldn't change their feelings. They would still be worried. They would still be scared. They would even be heartbroken. He thought about them all. He thought of his little brother Jamie, what must be going through his mind. He was probably thinking about the what if. What if he hadn't been in the room with Danny? What if the doctors couldn't help him because it was that bad? What if he would never get better? Jamie was always the Reagan with his heart on his sleeve in these instances and would always be the one to question the outcome. He thought of his dad and how he would probably be telling Jamie that he was okay and that that was all that mattered. Danny knew his father was probably putting up a brave face for the rest of the family, but deep down he was hurting like the rest. Thoughts of Joe were probably filling his mind, and he would need his grandfather to bring him back if he went to far. His grandfather. He was the one who never really showed his emotion, and was probably more angry and vengeful than the rest. Danny knew because he got some of his grandfather's ways. It was as if he was cut from more of the cloth of Henry Reagan than anyone else. He could see him now, putting his coat down on the hospital chair revealing the gun he had sitting on his belt and taking a seat next to Nicky. Thinking of Nicky led to thoughts of his sister. How was Erin handling this? She cracked a few jokes when they first walked in, but she was the Reagan that didn't become a cop. She was a compassionate soul who has already lost one brother. Danny in here was probably killing her. But if anyone was hurting more than the rest it was Linda. His wife, the love of his life. And now the love of her life, was lying motionless in a hospital bed, not moving, not talking, and now barely breathing. He could practically see her sitting by his bedside, not afraid to cry at the sight of her husband. 'I'm so sorry Linda,' he thought. Just then his hearing began to clear up and his mind became clearer. Everything was coming back to him. And that when he heard her voice.

"Don't go anywhere Danny," Linda said, "cause I'm right here. I will always be right here." If only he could talk or move. If only he could show her he was still here. But sadly she had her hand placed on the one he couldn't move. But if he had a reason to be glad he couldn't open his eyes it was now. His wife didn't need to see the tears that he could feel welling up in his eyes.