Complicated

Chapter Forty Eight: Distraction

I don't know if you hear me there
When it's darkest and no one cares
I will hear you...

Vertical Horizon - Forever

The men's room in the Precinct was surprisingly tidy considering the time of day. Usually the bin was overflowing with paper towels and the soap had mysteriously vanished but apparently the janitor had been around at some point during Don's shift for which he was grateful. He was on his knees in front of one of the sinks that attached to the green tiled island in the centre of the room. Sam was beside him, both their hands were in the sink under the hot water tap as Don helped the younger boy rinse the blood from his tiny hands.

The distraction was a welcome. With his focus on an actual task Sam appeared to open up a little bit more. Don had taken this opportunity to prod him tentatively with questions in order to gain information about Sam and his brother and the shooting.

"He died of cancer." Sam said quietly, answering Don's question about the location of his father.

Don turned off the tap and shook the water off of his hands, watching distractedly as Sam did the same. There wasn't much he could say to comfort the young boy at the moment, in realistic terms he was doing what all good detectives did and building up an image of the child's circumstances. Yet that didn't stop him from caring.

It tugged at his heart strings that this kid had been through hell and back already. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose his own father at any age, the thought of his old man passing away almost made him break out into a sweat. As he looked at Sam, he understood the younger boys resilience. He was the man of the house now, even if it was only temporary. The young boy seemed to be carrying a lot on his shoulders for a twelve years old kid.

"That's a tough one buddy." Don said picking up a handful of paper towels from the stack on the island. "I'm sorry you had to lose your dad."

Don meant that with the utmost sincerity. Sam was a serious child by the looks of things, Don couldn't help but think maybe that was something to do with the fact he had clearly been forced to grow up too quickly.

"Dry those puppies off real good." Don told Sam as he handed the paper towels to the young boy chancing a glance at the kid's expression.

It was sobering to see a kid like this. Don knew his own expression was grim at the set of circumstances that had presented themselves but Sam's was beyond solemn. It always shocked Don to see a child so devoid of emotion. The poor kid was probably still in shock, he reasoned.

They were in a precarious situation at best. Grace had called from the hospital and the prognosis was that it didn't look good for Nicky. They were in luck that they had managed to rush the kid there in the Golden Hour otherwise he would have bled out on the street. The hospital would call his cellphone directly of there was a change in Nicky's condition. Grace had given them his number in order to relate the information to Sam as quickly as possible before she had left. Don knew she wasn't much use pacing up and down the waiting room, Nicky had been in for a long surgery to repair the damage that had been done to his lower body.

Don averted his gaze back to Sam who was holding out his shirt from the hem, his eyes taking in the blood that had soaked into the material. Don knew from experience there wasn't a chance in hell that they were going to be able to get that stain out even if it didn't need to be collected for evidence. He remembered himself standing in the exact same spot doing the same thing when Grace had been shot.

Every time he had looked at the bloody splotches on his shirt and tie, he had been taken back to those horrendous minutes he'd spent in the diner trying to keep her alive. He had heard her frightened whisper and seen her terrified eyes in his head. He knew that Sam must be reliving something similar in his own mind. Although Don knew he would never forget that day he had learned and moved on from it and he knew that when this was all over that Sam would be able to do the same.