Chapter 35

Beep ... Beep ... Beep...

'Someday I am going to hunt down the inventor of that beeping machine, and when I do, I'll kill him in his sleep, ' I thought as I swam towards wakefulness.

"Man, Oh Man. What a weird dream," I said out loud.

The next thing I heard was a loud squeal and things hitting the floor. The door flew open and two very large, menacing looking men stormed in with drawn guns, pointing at everything and nothing. Beside me a young woman stood shaking, looking at me like I was a ghost, or something worse.

"I know I look disheveled when I first wake up, but am I really that ugly," I asked, trying to calm her down? She squeaked an answer that I didn't hear and looked at the large, armed, duo for reassurance. They holstered their weapons and approached the bed.

"We are real glad to see you awake, son," the lesser of the two giants said. "You had a bad night from everything we've been hearing."

I tried to sit up, but he placed a surprisingly gentle hand on my chest, and said, "Why don't you just rest and I'll get the docs."

Resting felt like a great idea, right then.

He left.

His partner returned to the doorway, looking sad that there was no one to shoot. I was very glad he was on my side.

Pretty soon the door flew open and a white coated man strode in, followed by what had to be described as his entourage. Everybody carried a clipboard, an iPad and a variety of medical paraphernalia. The doctor took in my appearance, checked the monitors, and used a light to check out my eyes.

Satisfied that both eyes were still in their sockets, where I'd left them, the doctor finally spoke.

"You, Sir, have had an interesting night. My name is Dr. George Hinson. Although sure that I'm not cleared to know all that you got up to last night, I would love to hear your story. For a Federal prosecutor to call the hospital chief of staff, after midnight, demanding I meet four of his agents, who just happened to be waiting outside my home, at that exact moment, to rush me here so I can take care of an injured teenager, there has to be a heck of a story.

"Hopefully, you will deign to tell me all about it someday.

"As for your condition, what do you remember?" He was not over officious - just professional, and focused. I'd misjudged him by the first impression I had of him.

"The last thing I really remember, clearly, is getting knocked down. Everything else is a swirl of brief flashes, and a really bizarre dream. You have one up on me if you can tell me anything more than that." The two behemoths were VERY interested in our conversation and that set off my warning bells.

Turning to them, I asked, "Can you tell me if my doctor, Rebecca Temple and my attorney, Colleen Bell are nearby? I need to see them, right away." That tamped down their interest, and they briefly argued over which one would go find them, and which one would continue to eavesdrop.

The doctor, sensing my hesitancy, said, "Dr. Temple was in our physicians lounge, getting a bit of rest. I will have one of my assistants ask her if she can come. You sir," indicating the larger of the two guards, "might try the cafeteria for the other lady. It seems, I overheard them talking about her running down and bringing back a hot meal."

That crisis momentarily settled, the doctor continued. "You're in great shape, as long as you define great shape, as living through hell, and playing Russian roulette with an aneurysm that has been repaired and re-repaired.

"Actually, the repairs appear to have knitted together just fine, and there is no indication of any new bleeding, whatsoever. Other than your obvious, visible injuries, you're in fine shape, son. You were a bit dehydrated, and your blood pressure was through the roof, but within an hour of arriving, your vital signs were normal and have remained stable. We hydrated you, gave you something to calm your heart rate and reduce your blood pressure, then got you comfortable, and since then, a large contingent of fine gentlemen from the US government have guarded you like a national treasure.

"I'd recommend you try to avoid harsh blows to the head, for the foreseeable future, try to stay away from firefights, and exploding bombs. You might see if you can live a few weeks, or even a year without another near fatal episode. Honestly, son, you'll like life better on those terms.

"I'm going to review your chart, give some orders to the staff, and find which one of the many governmental agencies represented in our lobby, is responsible for giving me a ride home. It was a pleasure taking care of you, Brian Morse. Your stay with us has been short, but memorable. We like sending people home alive, and you certainly qualify.

"Stay safe." As he and his team walked out, Rebecca arrived with Colleen in tow. They looked like I felt – totally strung out. Rebecca hugged me fiercely, giving way only when Colleen shoved her out of the way to get her own hug and kiss. Rebecca resumed her ministrations from the other side of the bed, and I was soon buried alive, under a layer of joyful, tearful, sloppy kissing, female admirers.

Our minder coughed, and when that failed to dislodge my ladies, he cleared his throat to get our attention. Rebecca and Colleen ignored him until they were good and ready, and then turned to give him their attention. He was a good looking giant. If you needed someone to block out the sun, on a hot day, you could hire him to walk in front of you without risk of sunburn. His arms looked like sawn off tree trunks, but he moved with the grace of a panther.

I suspect someone important called out the A team, last night. Remembering all that happened, I'm not surprised.

"Ms. Bell. I am Special Agent Edison of the personal protection division of the US Department of Justice. Your ... client, Mr. Morse, is of the utmost important to us, as are the two of you, given the ... let us say ... unusual circumstances you all experienced while in the care of the FBI." He was leading us to something. I wished he would get to the point. Apparently Colleen felt the same way.

"Agent Edison," she began. "Can you tell me exactly what your interest is in the three of us? As you can plainly see, we have had a brutal twenty-four hours, and have been stretched almost to the breaking point. Brian nearly died at the hand of a rogue agent, who would have murdered him, had it not been for the fortuitous arrival of reinforcements, from the DOJ. Rebecca – Dr. Temple – and I are exhausted, dirty, hungry and frankly, not in the mood to be civil right now."

She was at her best, and I loved her all the more. Rebecca looked at me while the other two did their lawyer dance. As she exchanged a sweet smile with me, I watched her smile dissolve into tears, and all at once, found myself holding a crying woman, cradling herself in her in my arms like a new born.

Colleen saw that I had it under control and resumed sparring with the federal government. Agent Edison soon realized he was up against a formidable foe, and excused himself to get the big brass. That gave Colleen a chance to wrap herself around Rebecca, and croon quietly in her ear, calming her.

We stayed, locked together, for a long time, separating when the door opened, and a group of well dressed, important looking people entered. I recognized the Attorney General of the United States, but no one else.

It was clearly his show. Everybody else deferred to him.

"Dr. Temple, Miss Bell, Mr. Morse, on behalf of the Department of Justice, I apologize for what happened during your stay as guests of the government, yesterday. I have ordered an all-out, no holds barred, investigation into the entire event, and I assure you, we will not be bogged down by interagency sniping, power struggles, or political sandbagging. Wherever the blame lies, we will root it out, and deal with it.

"Please accept my apology, and please allow us to glean everything you can tell us about the last twenty-four hours, to help is root out those responsible, indict, convict and incarcerate everyone whose duplicitous actions brought this on, and satisfy ourselves that the agencies tasked with protecting our citizens are behaving in a safe, honorable and competent manner.

"The President has asked that I extend his apologies, also.

"I can also tell you that there is absolutely no possibility that your information will go toward anything other than the internal investigation of our own behavior, the arrest and conviction of those responsible, and the continued safety of the three of you, and your family, Miss Bell. One of my assistants has a document, which I personally signed, assuring you that no information will be used against any of you, under any circumstances. However, we are very anxious to debrief the three of you, and see if we can fill in some of the blanks.

"Thank you all, for allowing me to opportunity to personally apologize on behalf of the President of the United States and the Department of Justice."

He stood quietly and waited to see how that was going to go over.

Colleen looked at him a long time, and then nodded her agreement. The Attorney General thanked us again, and then left without a glance at any of the agents gathered around.

As soon as the room emptied, the door opened and a new face appeared. This one was clearly on a mission. He nodded to the twin towers, and addressed us. "Mr. Morse, Miss Bell, Dr. Temple, I am Federal Justice Cleveland Jones. I've been appointed special prosecutor by the Attorney General, with a broad brief, to go after those who did this to you, and those who helped them. We will get to the bottom of this. I promise you. It will be better for us if we can debrief you as soon as you two and Mr. Morse are up to the stress.

"Dr. Temple, I am aware of some of Mr. Morse's ... health challenges, and I am frankly, astounded that he has persevered thus far. If you think it will not complicate his condition, we would dearly love an opportunity to hear his side of things as soon as possible.