Tolerance Book II

Chapter Thirty-Four: Coping

After retreating to the Locker Room Jay leant his hands on the small sink in front of the mirror after throwing some cold water on his face.  He tried to stop the thoughts swirling through his mind.  Images of Lance in their Afghanistan days were interspersed with reunions they'd had once stateside.  He knew, better than most, that life could be incredibly cruel with twists of fate and now he found himself in the unimaginable position of actually wishing the deaths could in fact be put down to fate untainted by Lyle.  He wasn't sure what he would do if it transpired he was the reason his friend and his beloved wife had been killed and purposefully consigned the grim possibility to the back of his mind.  Right now Mark needed him to be strong so they could protect Jack from himself.  Sighing he straightened as he realized the daunting task ahead of burying Lance was going to be compounded by the fact that Jack was not coping.  Although Mark had not elaborated Jay had read between the lines and knew the other man was concerned about Jacks' state of mind.  It would not be the first time but the freshly grieving man resolved if necessary to help his friend overcome his demons just as he had done before. 

Voights' Office

Al sat across from his old friend as he listened to him arrange re-assignments for several of their cases since he was going to be down on manpower.  Watching as he put down the black receiver with a shake of his head the astute Detective spoke.

"So the higher ups aren't too happy about the change of plans?"
"That would be one way of putting it," Voight concurred but didn't seem too put out by the prospect "so you sure Ruzek and yourself will be enough?"
"Should be.  If necessary someone else can fly out later."
"You think Lyle could be behind this?" Voight finally queried.
"It's a possibility but I doubt it."
"You sure that's not just wishful thinking?"
"Hell it will eat the Kid up if this is Lyles' work," Al conceded sadly, "but how would he know about Hanson?"
"We both know he's been able to gain access to information he shouldn't have," the Sergeant reminded for what seemed the hundredth time, "and we still don't have any definitive reason for his interest in the Kid ...,"
"Unless we catch him we'll probably never know," Al had learned long ago that tidy answers were not always attainable in their line of work.  Accepting that was a prerequisite to staying sane.

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Cemetery

Three days later Jay stood by the freshly filled graveside flanked by Mark and Jack all in full dress uniform as Al and Adam looked on from behind the main mourners.  The sombre day had been accompanied by light spring showers but those gathered paid little attention to the droplets descending on them.  The military gun salute and presentation of the flag with its' symbolic 13 folds to Lances' parents was a tangible reminder of the sacrifice the dead man had made for his country.  As always the act was a bittersweet one for all those who had served.  It was little recompense for what every Soldier went through in battle.  Leaning back against an old tree trunk Adam sighed and eyed his companion.

"You think he's going to go home soon?"
"You bored?"
"No," Adam tossed a glare at the older man, "just feel safer on home ground."
"Can understand that but Jay has other things on his mind now besides Lyle."
"But we confirmed it was definitely an accident ....,"
"And the driver wasn't actually drunk he had a stroke," Al nodded recalling their findings, "but right now Jay's worried about his friends."
"What do you mean?" the younger man frowned as the Chaplain shook hands with the bereaved sets of parents.
"The three of them all served together, they're like brothers.  Losing a brother is tough .....,"
"Yeah but Jay .....,"
"Jay needs to be there now for his brothers," Al explained quietly, he couldn't elaborate any further as he wanted to respect his friends' privacy but from what he had seen of Jack Williams the man was not coping and Jay wouldn't walk away when he was needed.