Chapter 5

The remainder of my hospital stay was better than the first two days. Once the hospital administration got wind of the President visiting me, they pulled out all stops, moved to a private floor, with a corner room, and round the clock attention, and the chief of staff personally took charge of my recovery. When I nicely asked that my favorite nurse Carole, be assigned to help take care of me, she appeared within minutes, out of breath, claiming that her bosses pulled her form her regular floor, gave her a raise, and demanded that she dedicate all of her energy to helping me get well.

She giggled when I told her that I asked for her. "You are so bad. You just want another hand job, don't you?"

Maybe ... Maybe not...

The next time Candace Ames came to see me she was carrying another file folder. "Well, Kevin. Your doctors tell us that you are starting to recover from your gunshot wound, and might be able to go home within a week, or two. That being the case, it's time to talk business."

She was dressed for the White House. Female staff always strove to dress over the top, and Candace would be fitting in perfectly dressed like she was, in another stunning dress and high heels. Her hair was different too. I noticed she was calmer, and if anything, better at keeping her emotions to herself.

"First off, because you are a Congressional Page, injured in the workplace, everything is paid for. Your hospital bill, the helicopter flight in here, the ongoing therapy, any retrofit of your home to help you while you mend, and any out of pocket expenses that might come up as a result of your injury. The President would throw a tantrum, and dozens of people - if not hundreds – would get fired should it come out that the US Government failed to take care of your every medical need.

"On top of that, because of the severity of your workplace injuries, your medical care will be fully funded by the Federal Government for life, also. I was told to tell you that that includes, medical, prescription drugs, in and out-patient treatment of any kind, dental, and because of the head injury, vision, and hearing. You will never spend a cent out of pocket on a medical need as long as you live."

She consulted her notes some more. "As for employment, the President called me in and told me to tell you that he will personally approve virtually any job classification you wish to pursue, once you are cleared to work again. He was particularly thinking about appointing you to one of the Service academies, until I reminded him that you are already a college graduate, and therefore ineligible for a service academy.

"That did not please him, and he wondered aloud if you could give me any ideas as to how you would like to proceed as far as employment, once you are back to normal." She smiled, finally, when she was done reading from her notes.

"Miss Candace," I said. "The doctors tell me I died a few days ago, when I was shot, but didn't stay dead. Dying changes how a person views their life – at least it did for me. I wonder if I could be paid a living wage and not work for a while, while I get back my strength, all of my memory, and see if it is possible to recover all of my physical skills.

"Right now I am thrilled to hold a pen, put stupid blocks in their respective holes, and walk carefully around this floor. Once they kick me out, it is going to be a long time before I am what I was, if ever. Do you think it is ungrateful for me to ask about getting my pay while I work through it all?

"I certainly understand if that sounds too selfish, or lazy. If I have to, I can live off my savings for quite some time..."

Her eyes clouded over for just a second, like she was about to get mad. I wasn't expecting anger.

"Kevin. I'm not sure you understand the position you're in. Let me make some things perfectly clear. First – I'm a lawyer, and I work in personnel. The President gave me this assignment because I know how to deal with employee/employer issues.

"The second thing is, you are special. Your circumstances are way past unusual, and all the way out to incredible. I have the authority to get you any reasonable request you make, as long as it is legal, and possible.

"If you need time to get back to being what you were before you were shot trying to save the life of President Gray, that's all I need to hear. By this time tomorrow, you will be classified as pay level PH-AD. That means your new salary, for as long as you wish, up until age sixty-five, will be a little over three-hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars a year."

She let that sink in and I let it roll around inside my head.

"Kevin. We'll leave it at that for the time being. Enjoy having one of the highest pay grades in federal service, with zero job responsibilities. I will fix it up, and the President himself will sign the payroll order." She smiled that megawatt smile again, and I wanted to look under her skirt. Her smile was that attractive.

Apparently I had solved her problem, because she kissed my cheek, just like the other day, and was gone.