In Sickness and In Health

Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Six

Eddie and Lila ran inside the ER doors with Danny, Erin, and Linda bringing Frank behind them. Eddie went straight to Jamie and threw her arms around him, "What do you know? Is he okay? Are you okay?"

Jamie brought his arms up to hold her hands, "I'm fine. Joe is probably all right too honey, he was grazed but he lost some blood, Sean will be out to see us any minute now."

Danny reached down and clasped Jamie's shoulder, "You did good, Kid? You did really good I'm proud of you."

Jamie smiled, "The perp died on the table. He was just a mixed up kid, I really didn't want to give that order but..."

"Uncle Jamie," Sean said as he hurried out from the treatment area. "Aunt Eddie..." He greeted his grandpa, aunt, and cousin along with his parents. "Joey's going to be fine, he's getting stitched up and you can take him home. You'll need to do neuro checks on him every two hours because of the head injury but I expect he'll be up and around in a day or two."

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief, Joey hadn't been hurt in the line of duty before, it was terrifying to her as a mother to hear her boy had been shot. "Can we see him?" She had to see him for herself to be sure he really was okay.

"Sure, you can come on back and..." Sean stopped as three uniformed officers walked into the ER. One he recognized as Joey's partner, Annie.

"Commissioner, Detective Reagan," she greeted passing her hat from one hand to the other. She knew that Joey had probably told them about his their ill-fated discussion. "I heard about what happened but command didn't tell us which hospital until...How is Joey?"

Eddie glared at her, "My son is resting and he needs peace and quiet right now. I'll tell him you stopped by."

Jamie looked at Eddie's face, it was set firm and hard. "Eddie, they are partners and friends, it should be up to Joe." Jamie didn't want a big scene in front of the other officers.

"We're going to see him now and we'll let him know you are here," Jamie told Annie. "If he's feeling up to seeing you, you're welcome to visit him here or at home."

Sean led Jamie and Eddie back, "He's a little woozy and very tired but he is going to be fine."

Joey was lying on the cubicle bed, his arm in a sling and a bandage around his head. His arm felt numb but his head throbbed especially with the lights over the bed. Still he smiled when he saw Jamie and Eddie come around the privacy curtain. Jamie moved to the side of the bed and touched Joey's leg through the covers while Eddie began to stroke his hair, "Are you all right?" she asked quickly. "Do you hurt?"

"Mom, I'm fine..." Joey grimaced as she fussed. "I'm a grown man, don't pet me."

"You are a grown man, but you are still my little boy and I'll pet you if I want to after you get shot," Eddie demanded. "Sean says you can come home soon, you can rest in your old room upstairs."

Joey smiled, "Thanks Mom, but I'm really okay. I have a thick skull. My arm feels kind of numb, you'd know about that right Dad?"

Jamie nodded, "It's a very odd feeling but I'm sure it's just temporary. I didn't get to tell you how proud you made me out there."

"What were you doing at Markman's anyway?" Eddie asked. "You weren't on duty, you didn't roger a call."

Joey had to think fast as not to ruin his Dad's surprise, "Lila's wedding, I wanted to get her a pin for it. I didn't get to order it yet when the robbery happened. How is the guy? Jeremy?"

"Died on the table," Jamie replied. "We did our best, Joe, that's all we can do. I don't want you to feel guilty about it, all right. I gave the order, you just did what you had to do."