Alison Reagan

Dannys Driving.

"So, Nicki, I saw you drove out to the house today." Jamie commented as the Sunday dinner conversation came to a lull. "How did you convince your mother to let you do that?"
"I used my powers of persuasion," Nicki replied. "That, and her arm was sore this morning."
Erin sent a glare her brother's way. "Jamie, I do let her drive. And I'm doing much better at staying calm when she does."
"Sure you are," Danny teased his sister. "You're just hiding the aggression better."
Erin glared at her older brother. "You just wait, Danny. It will be your turn soon." She gestured toward her oldest nephew.
"Yeah, Dad, when do I get to learn to drive?" Jack asked his father.
Danny nearly choked on the wine he was sipping. "In a few years. You're not old enough yet."
"If I remember correctly, Danny, he's only a year younger than you were when you first drove my car," Frank commented.
"You learned to drive when you were fourteen?" Jack asked. "I thought you had to be fifteen."
"Drove. Not learned to drive. And there were extenuating circumstances," Danny argued.
"Ex-ten-you-ate-ing?" Sean asked.
"It means he had a good reason for doing what he shouldn't have, Sean," Linda explained. "And I'm sure you want to explain what that reason was, don't you, babe?"
"It was 1987. Your grandparents were out of town at a law enforcement conference, your great-grandparents were at some school thing of Erin's with Jamie and I was home alone with that one," Danny gestured toward me, "and Joe..."

-B-B-

1987

"You give love a baaad naaaame," fourteen year old Danny Reagan sang along with the Bon Jovi song pounding through his headphones as he worked on his homework at the dining room table.
"Danny."
Danny didn't hear the quiet voice of his 5 year old sister from beside him.
"Danny."
This time, the voice was louder and accompanied by a kick to his leg. "What the hell, Allie?" he snapped, pulling the headphones off his ears.
Allie stood beside the chair, cradling one arm to her chest. "I hurt my arm, Danny. I think I need to go to the hospital."
With a sigh, Danny dropped the headphones on top of his Walkman on the table. "Lemme see." He reached out for the arm his sister was clutching against her body.
Allie twisted away from him. "No! Danny, it hurts," she whimpered.
Danny finally looked up at his sisters face. Allie was biting down on her lower lip in an effort to keep it from trembling, and tears were tracking down her cheeks. He glanced down at his sisters left arm. Even he could see it was broken. The bone clearly was going at wrong angles, and the skin over the break had already discolored vivid red and purple. "Allie, what the hell happened?"
"I was playing basketball with Joey..."
"You're 5! You can't play basketball!" Danny protested.
"So I'm not very good. But I tripped over him and fell, and my arm hit the rock wall funny. And it hurts. A lot." Allie choked on the last word and fresh tears slipped out of her eyes. "I want Mommy. Or Grandma."
Danny threw an arm around his sisters shoulders. "Me too, kiddo. But I'm all you've got right now."
That was apparently the wrong thing to do, and the wrong thing to say. Allie stumbled forward, yelping in pain and holding her arm tighter. The brave expression she had struggled to maintain crumbled and, despite her best efforts, one quiet sob escaped, followed by another.
Danny carefully pulled his sister against him. "Hey. Hey, Allie, don't do that. If you start blubbering, then I'll start too, and then Joey will be the only big kid here. Come on, I'm not that bad, am I?"
Allie sniffled. "Yes," she choked out as she tried to stop crying.
"Am not. C'mon now." Danny wiped at his sisters nose with the hem of his shirt, then found a clean spot to wipe away the tears. He tried to come up with a plan. Of all the days and times for Allie to hurt herself, it had to be on a day when his parents were out of town at some law-enforcement shindig and at a time when his grandmother taking a casserole to a young woman from church who'd just had a baby and his grandfather was off with Erin and Jamie at her junior high basketball game. How was he going to get Allie to the hospital? He could call 9-1-1 and get an ambulance, but then what would he do with Joey? Speaking of which... "Allie, where's Joe?"
"He sat down on the front step and told me to get you." Allie sniffled again, then coughed, then whimpered as the movement jostled her broken arm.
Which meant Joe was probably playing in traffic, because that kid never sat still or did what he said. Danny quickly walked to the front door and sighed in relief. For once, Joe was keeping his word and sitting on the step. His baby brother was curled around the basketball, his little shoulders shaking as he cried. Danny stepped outside and sat down beside his baby brother. "Hey, Joester, what's wrong?"