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John placed his gun down and wiped the tears from his face. He figured it may have been the captain checking up on him. He got his breath and picked up the phone.
“Hello,” John said.
“Hi yes is this Detective Remington?” a quiet voice came on the phone.
“Yes, it is. May I help you?” said John concerned.
“My name is Amanda, and I am one of the pediatric nurses at Children’s Hospital. I apologize for calling late, but I heard from the officer who was stationed here what you did for little Janet here and I wanted to thank you and to say that you are a hero to this little girl,” Amanda said.
“Thank you for calling, Amanda. Janet is a nice name for her. How is she doing?” John said relieved that she survived.
“It means ‘God’s gracious gift,’ which she is. She is doing great thanks to you. You were there at just the right time that we could save her. If she were there any minute longer, we could be having a different conversation,” Amanda said confidently. “DCF will be picking her up at the end of the week to start looking for a family for her. Did you want to say hi to her?”
John was about to say his goodbyes, but Amanda cut him off. Amanda put the phone up to Janet and John listened closely. He could hear the light cooing over the phone and John felt a warm sensation in his stomach. He could feel the tears running down his face. Amanda thanked him again and they said goodbye to each other.
John hung up the phone and wiped his tears away. He looked at his Glock and realized that he was done wasting his life away with the alcohol. He had more to live for and needed to clean his act up.
John grabbed his phone and called his captain.
“John, do you know what time it is?” Captain Stevenson groaned.
“I am sorry, Captain, but I need to talk to you if you have a few minutes,” John said apologetic.
John told of his regular drinking habits and his need to clean up, silence took over the phone call. Captain Stevenson let out a deep sigh.
“Thank you for coming clean about this. What are you going to do about this?” Captain Stevenson said.
“Captain, I am going to need some time to get my stuff together,” John said.
“John, take all the time you need. You have not taken a sick day in quite a few years, so you have plenty of time. You call me when you are ready to come back to work, but if you slip up on the job again, I am going to have to fire you. Do you understand?” Captain Stevenson said.
“Yes, Captain. Goodnight, sir,” John said.
“Goodnight, John. Take care of yourself,” Captain Stevenson said as he hung up the phone.
John hung up the phone and picked up the bottle of whiskey. As he looked at the golden liquid, he could feel a voice urging him to take one last sip. John then brushed it off and poured it down the sink. He had made his promise.