Chapter 3

The rest of Meghan Kelley's special report started to depress me, so I changed the channel.

Everything except the obscure channels that I never watch - no matter what - were covering the assassination twenty-four seven. CNN was airing a special on the "Life and Times of President John Gray," and speculating on how well or poorly Dryden would perform now that he was President. TNT was showing clips of my speeches, along with commentary from some people who claimed to be 'intimates' of the President.

I could have told the folks at TNT that I'd never spoken to any of them in my life.

ABC was sticking to the videos of the speech and the shooting, with shots of Marine One (by then no longer Marine One because Hawk was President), arriving at Bethesda with my dead body.

Even though I knew I never earned it, and even though I knew it was a temporary job, watching video of Hawk being sworn in by Justice Roberts made me sad. Watching Kevin being shot trying to save my life infuriated me, each time I watched it, and they played it hundreds of times, I felt my blood pressure climb.

Eventually a doctor came in and shot me up with something that put me under for the rest of the night.

My first thought up on waking was – I needed to get up and go let Benjamin out.

That hurt and got me thinking about the family. We'd had a good run in John Gray's body, but being back in my teens wouldn't work out nearly as well. I needed to figure that out before I made contact.

Beth Ann was now the tragic, former first lady and very much a public figure now. At forty-five, rich, famous, and maybe even powerful, she wasn't going to be nearly as interested in a teenaged boy as she was the other time around. Colleen and I had something truly special, and even though we were separated by thirty years, I had a chance of rekindling it with her, but it was a very small chance.

Rebecca was probably gone from me. Her emotional ups and downs, coupled with the difficulties in living with bi-polar syndrome would work against us.

Regina was closest to my age, and the neediest. I hoped she would cope and come to love me again, but it worried me.

Benjamin was going to love me no matter what. I just knew it, as would Jim and Millie. They wouldn't turn away from me. What made us the way we were was too strong.

As I worked it all over in my hurting head, I was doing my best to wash my face and brush my teeth. It was very slow going because it made my head hurt.

After several failed attempts to comb my hair around the bandages, I gave up, looked up, and discovered that I had a visitor.

Kevin," he said somberly. "My name is..."

I cut him off. "You're the Secretary of the Treasury, Shane Victorello. Good morning Mr. Secretary," I said formerly. "How can I help you, Sir?"

His face was priceless. "Kevin, I am here to apologize for what happened to you. The Secret Service let you down, son. We should have taken Mr. Muhammad down before he shot you, and certainly we should have reacted to his threat before you tried so bravely to save the President.

"Son, I want you to know that my department owes you an enormous debt, and we will fulfill our debt to you. Your bravery makes us so proud of the coming generation. You showed us all how much promise is waiting to be discovered.

"How are you, son?" he meant every word. You can tell when a politician is lying, and Shane Victorello was telling the straight truth.

I pointed to my head and sighed. "It hurts. Really, really hurts, but I'm going to be fine. I just wish the President was fine. I would trade places with him in a heartbeat. I tried to get to that gun, Mr. Secretary. I really tried to get to him in time, but everything happened so fast..." That was as far as I was willing to take this. Shane would have to fill in the blanks to suit himself. Just talking about what poor Kevin lost trying to save me had my eyes tearing.

Shane put a stop to any talk of blame falling on Kevin Townsend, which would be important in days to come. "Young man, your bravery was beyond amazing. What you did will be part of history, because you saw and tried to intervene when we failed to notice the second gunman. Our gratitude is boundless, and I need you to know we will be there to help you along, as you heal and go back to your life.

"I would like you to consider becoming a Secret Service Agent when you mature and are ready for a career. In the meantime, though, I heard that some federal agents tried to question you yesterday. We'll put a stop to that, and you won't have to worry about them coming back until you recover your strength. We will need to follow through with you as part of the investigation, but it will be as a help and NOT be as part of the problem." We talked for a few more minutes and he thanked me again and left.

I was processing that when one of my nurses came in and said, "I have instructions to help you clean up, before your more official visitors begin to file in to see you." She carefully, patiently washed me head to toe, and Kevin's traitorous penis decided to take that opportunity to stand up and introduce himself. I must say, Kevin had nothing to be ashamed of in that department, and I hoped we would have a mutually beneficial and long lasting relationship, before I was hijacked into someone else.

My nurse smiled that ironic, pleased, yet professionally detached smile that nurses must learn in college, helped me into a fresh gown, and then gathered her things up and left without saying a word.

The exertion of letting someone else wash me up was apparently more than I could stand, and I realized I had fallen asleep when I woke up. Sitting patiently at the side of my bed was Hawk Dryden. The room was empty except for the two of us. That was a big surprise, considering he was President, and someone killed the previous President – which was me - only yesterday. As I got ahold of myself, realized I had company, and saw who had come to see me, I visibly jerked, which caused all kinds of head pain.

Hawk saw it all, understood that every little movement hurt, and patted my arm in a calming, fatherly way. "Kevin, I guess you know who I am, and I am very proud to meet you, son. What you did last night was quite brave..." He seemed to be trying to figure out what to say, which was very unusual for the Hawk Dryden I knew.

"I am so sorry that you were shot trying to save President Gray. He was a truly good man, and a great friend. I can't believe it yet, that someone killed him and shot you.

For some reason, hearing Hawk tell me about me dying got to me and I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I tried to brush it away before he saw me cry, but it was way too late.

The President of the United States actually leaned over and hugged me the way I would hug my children! That simple, humble act of kindness was too much, and my will power was not sufficient to hold back more tears.