Danny swerved when Maria told him Jamie was awake after getting off the phone with Linda. So, juts for that, she made him stay at the hospital with his brother (she played it off as some sort of a punishment but she knew that he just needed to be with his family as opposed to tracking down the guy who could lead them to their drug lord, and she'd deny it if you asked). One by one, as the night droned on, his family trickled out of his room. Erin and Linda left around eleven to take the kids home since they had school in the morning, and Erin gave Henry a ride back home.
Danny and Frank were the only two left in the room with Jamie, the three of them carrying on light sporadic conversations. Around midnight, Frank got up and said he would be back. He hadn't said where he was going, but his sons didn't ask. Really, Frank knew that Danny and Jamie needed some alone time, so he was going to give it.
In the absence of their dad, there was an uncomfortable silence that fell between the two. After Joe had died, there was really nothing that the brothers shared--other than the job. Over time, they were able to come together as brothers like they needed, but there were still moments where neither knew what to do or say to the other. This was one of those times.
There was a lot that Danny wanted to say, a lot of things he had realized when Jamie was still in the woods shortly after his surgery. There were a lot of things that the older brother had thought about, regrets he had regarding his younger brother, things he wished he had said or done for his younger brother. That fear was founded on the memory of Joe. Regardless of the differences he and Jamie had, Danny knew he didn't want to lose another brother. He couldn't.
The silence was deafening in the hospital room, only being broken by the steady noises from the machines Jamie was hooked up to. The beeping from the heart monitor cut through the quiet like a hot blade through butter. It made both of the brother's uncomfortable, but neither of them knew what to say. Neither Jamie nor Danny were very good at being honest about their emotions.
Finally, Danny said, "I'm glad you're okay."
Jamie smirked. "Don't go all sappy on me."
Danny chuckled and looked down, rubbing his brow as he thought about everything that had happened that week. While there was this great sense of relief in knowing Jamie was going to be okay, there was still this pressure sitting on the older brother's chest.
"I mean it," Danny said, more serious this time. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't pulled through. I'm not prepared to lose anybody else, Jamie."
He wasn't too specific, but he didn't need to be for Jamie to know what he was talking about. There were times when Danny got seriously hurt on the job that made Jamie think about what it was like when Joe died. He understood that feeling.
"Well, good thing I'm not going anywhere," Jamie replied. Danny nodded, and the two got back into a more lighthearted conversation for the rest of the night.
~
The end.
