Headache

Chapter 6

He was surrounded by a faint darkness with a ringing sound prominent in his ears. He heard muffled voices that sounded so far away, and he felt like he was floating. He felt hot and cold at the same time and he barely had any recollection of what happened when his eyes were closed. Suddenly the ringing started to fade and was replaced with sound of his heartbeat. The voices got louder, clearer and closer. He could hear one of them calling his name, but he didn't know whom. The fog soon began to lift and he opened his heavy eyelids to see his sister hovering over him. But he wasn't registering anything; he just watched her lips move. His mind was still in a euphoric state that he soon snapped out of. He woke up to his surroundings and realized he was lying down in the living room, but he had no idea how he got there. He tried sitting up, hoping to hide his obvious cluelessness from his sister, but he was hit with another wave of dizziness at the speed of which he sat up. He felt his sister's loving hand on his shoulder as she eased him back onto the couch.

"Danny?" Erin started as she watched her brother blink rapidly attempting to remove the dizziness from his head, "how you feeling?"

"How'd I get here?" Danny asked confused.

"I had a little help from dad," she explained, "You collapsed in the kitchen after dinner. What do you remember last?"

"I had a headache," he told her, "felt a little off. Couldn't hear anything, there was this ringing in my ears. Couldn't see. And then it just all went black....then I woke up here." He turned his head slowly to look at his sister, his tired eyes finally registering the worry on her face. He instantly felt a wave of guilt over what happened and the pain he was unconsciously and indirectly causing the people around him.

"Sorry for the scare," he told her and her expression softened.

"No Danny," she said kneeling down next to him, "You don't have to be sorry. I know these past few days haven't been easy on you. Between this case and this thing with Jack, it's expected for this to take a toll on you. But....you don't have to keep pushing yourself to make things right. And you can't keep blaming yourself when they don't. You're not alone in this all right? Why don't you let someone else take the reigns on this."

"Alright," Danny responded just as their father entered the room.

"How's he doing?" Frank asked.

"I think he'll be just fine," Erin responded with a smile.

"Your sister's right Danny," he started, "She and Detective Baez will carry on with the case and you will take time off and look after yourself. This is not a suggestion it's an order."

"Copy that," Danny simply said. Erin stepped out to get him some water and Frank stepped forward to properly view his son. Danny looked beyond exhausted and it didn't look like he was getting better. He knew about the hospital trip and his requested time off under doctor's orders. But there was something about his son's condition that was hitting him harder than most. He was seeing first hand how much his job and the stress of it was affecting him. The job was affecting the health of his officers. That's why Danny collapsed in the kitchen. And that's why Detective Thompson fell asleep behind the wheel. And without putting the breaks on it, the problem would only get worse. Danny was proof of that. Maybe he shouldn't have left the detective on the job. If anything were to happen, he would have had a hand in creating a bigger problem. And that just couldn't happen.

"You okay?" Frank asked his eldest.

"Yeah I'll be fine dad," he replied.

"And so will Jack," Frank started, "as I recall you had your moments too. Even threatened to run away yourself if you didn't get your way."