But I'd Have Had to Miss The Dance (Sylverasey Collection)

Vj ~ Frank III, Sylvie IV, Nolan IV

15 pages, 8.2K words, and one ridiculously irritating and ongoing case of poison ivy later, and we're finally in Manhattan. Happy birthday to me! Any chance I could get some comments to cheer me up? XD

Tensions rise in Manhattan, Jack has a solution, Nolan's holidays quickly change for the better, and Peter . . . he may or may not be helping. I guess he can have a little payback after being left out of the loop a few times. If only his "help" didn't give more questions than answers.

Enjoy!

***

Jack sighed and removed his glasses as he finished reading the report on his desk. "Thankfully, you and Shaw arrived there in time, Cosgrove."

"Thankfully, the medics got there in time," Frank corrected, shaking his head. "If they hadn't gotten there when they did, our killer would've tallied another victim."

"And now, all we need to worry about is if the victim will be paralyzed or not from where the knife went in the back," Nolan muttered from where he sat on Jack's couch, his multicolored eyes as hard as diamonds as he read the report. "Damn it."

Frank shook his head and rubbed his forehead. "That ambulance was the second one dispatched," he said. "I don't know what happened to the first one, but with the rate of nonemergency calls rising . . . "

"I know," Jack nodded gravely. "But paramedics cannot ignore these calls, because if they ever do - "

"It could turn into a true emergency," Nolan said, snapping his folder shut with more force than necessary as he abruptly stood. "Catch-22."

He walked out the door without saying anything further, and Frank frowned in concern for the man he loved. He turned to look at Jack, who didn't look surprised at all by Nolan's reaction. "He sounds like he's speaking from experience."

Jack sighed and nodded. "It was one of the first stories he heard when the weight of nonemergency calls hit hard," he said. "One ambulance was the second dispatched to a Greek party before final exams. The girl they transported died of an overdose after Narcan didn't work. The original ambulance was delayed to a nonemergency caller: a man with dementia whose medication had expired two months ago."

Frank grimaced. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

Jack nodded grimly. "In a sick way, Manhattan has been lucky. No nonemergency call has delayed paramedics to a call that ends in a death," he said. "Other cities cannot claim the same thing."

"I'll count my blessings while I can," Frank said dryly as he stood from his chair. "But how much longer until that luck runs out? With the cases our teams get, it'll eventually be a nonemergency call that leads to a homicide landing on our desks."

The very thought made Jack grimace, and he pushed the hard copy of the report towards Frank. "Then let us hope very desperately that day never comes."

Frank could only nod in agreement, and he walked out the door, already contemplating if he should ask Nolan if he wanted to meet for drinks once the day was finished as he absently read over the report. The increase in nonemergency calls was being felt by all of the teams due to ambulances and first responders of all departments being delayed, and it seemed like each complaint that reached Nolan's ears increased the stress piled onto his shoulders. One of these days, Frank expected the prosecutor to crumble under the weight, and he desperately hoped a murder that could have been prevented by an on-time ambulance wouldn't be the cause.

As he closed the folder he held and pushed off the wall to leave, he faintly heard Jack on the phone. "Commissioner Newhart, please. Thank you."

***