Changing of shifts was in progress as a hard hit to the head levels a male hospital employee, a man wearing a black tee shirt and jeans drags the unconcious male into a broom closet. Moments pass, then the door opens revealing what could be called a metamorphose, black tee shirt, jeans replaced with the uniform of a hospital orderly, complete with clip board and all.
Having a positive air about him, he moved among other employees as if he belonged there. Casually greeting each that pass with a gentle smile of knowing, an ocassional slight wave. A , "morning to you" here and a, "another day, another dollar", there. Looking for the operating room were Phyllis would be, finding the right one he hid in a closet near by waited for the surgery to be over. He saw them wheel her out and heard a nurse saying. "Take her to room 303".
When he reached her room he saw a guard sitting outside reading a newspaper. He walked up to him, smiling, nodded and said, "I'm here to check on her IV. Everything okay?" The guard nodded and went back to his paper. He went inside silently. Stood at her bed looking down at her. She was sleeping.
He was very angry at her. He had believed her when she said she missed him and wanted to be with him again. They were having a good time at lunch, but then she got too nosy. All those questions! What's with these women?! Always trying to get inside your head. Why couldn't she leave well enough alone? And then she threatened him! Telling him that if he didn't tell her about
what his dealings she would leave him. Dumb broad! Nobody does that to him. Now he has to finish the job, or else she'll tell the police about him. He shook his head and reached for a pillow. He was just about to put it over her face when the door opened. It was the guard. "hey," called the guard. "You finished in here?" He put the pillow on the chair and said, "Yeah, just straightening things up here. She's still sleeping." He walked out the room, towards the elevator. Damn! Now he'll have to find another way to get to her. Of all the dumb luck!
Jack opens his door slightly as Charles parks next to the truck. "Look", Jack says, "Iam heading inside the hospital to see if Phyllis is out of surgery yet, if she made it ok, I'll head home and return tomorrow".
"No problem Charles assures, I'll park, over there, next lane and we can meet in the cafateria, grab a fast cup of coffee before you head out". "Sounds like a winner, see you inside". Jack steps out of the door, closes it and heads to the front entrance. Inside he walks up to the front desk and asks about Phyllis.
"Yes, she is out of surgery and resting in room 303, no doubt will be out it all night, needs the rest, check with her first thing in the morning", offers the grey haird looking grandmother looking up from the monitor.
"Good, really great", a releived Jack mutters. Looking up at the panel showing directions, he spots an arrow pointing to the 24 hour restaraunt. Down the hallway he heads, looking forward to a hot black cup of coffee, chances are they will not have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Approching the coffee urn, Jack reaches for a cup, places it beneath the spot, pulls down on the handle, glances away as the cup fills. There in his vision sits Mr. black shirt, even out of his street cloths Jack could never forget that face. He stood stock still, trying to regain his composure. The guy was sitting
there, drinking coffee, looking very calm. Jack knew he had to stop staring at him or he'd get suspicious. He looked around the room again for Charles and saw him walking towards him.
Jack waited til Charles got a cup of coffee. They both sat down at a table and Jack told him that the guy who shot Phyllis and the others was sitting at a table at the other end of the room. Charles stared at the man and then reached for his cell phone. He called for back-up and told them to come quietly. After he hung up, he told Jack to go outside and wait for the police and direct them to the cafeteria. He would keep an eye on the
suspect. Jack did as he was told.
Within minutes four police cars pulled up at the front entrance. Jack told them where to find Charles. He also told them there were about six otherpeople in the cafeteria. They were to go in slow and easy. They nodded and one of them told him they knew how to handle this. He was to stay outside. Jack didn't like this too much, but felt they were right.
He kept pacing up and down the driveway anxiously waiting for something to happen. It finally did. He heard a shot fired and people screaming. He ran inside just in tme to see the suspect being led out by two policemen, with the others following them. He didn't see Charles. He raced towards the cafeteria and saw Charles sitting on a chair and a Doctor attending to his arm.
"What happened?" yelled Jack. Charles looked at him and said the suspect pulled a gun and fired when the police came in the door. He got shot in the arm but the police grabbed the suspect before he could fire off another shot. "At least we have him in custody now. We'll put the pressure on him until he tells us what we need to know." Charles said, looking grim. He thanked
Jack for all his help and said he would keep in touch. Jack watched him walking out the door and suddenly he felt very angry. He was being brushed off! This guy was telling him he wasn't needed anymore! He wanted to know more about what was going to happen now.. They were shutting the door in his face and he didn't like it!
He followed Charles to the door and stopped him. "Look," he said, anger showing in his voice. "I'm still a part of this. I want to know what's going to happen now. Phyllis is still in danger. Maybe not from that guy now, but possibly from the drug dealer. I want to protect her. I want to help her, you understand?!?"
Charles looked at him and finally nodded. "Okay Jack. We'll talk about this tomorrow. I gotta go and book this guy. I'll call you in the morning.
As Charles turns to leave, Jack's face shows a sign of agreement, shaking his head, kind of to himself, "Yea, in the morning" he turns toward the vacant table, sets down, slowly drains the remains of a cold cup of black coffee.
Totally exhasted he lifts his frame up and starts to walk toward the door, "going to check on Phyllis myself", he hears himself murmmer, "Yea! gotta do that", as he exits seeking the entrance to the elevator. Third floor door opens startling a semi dozzing Jack, regaining his mind he steps off looking at the wall, 300-320 to the left the arrow points. He turns left and sees a cop sitting infront of what must be 303. As he approches the door, Mr. Cop stands up, ask for identafication. Jack
flashes his driver's license, having his name on the list, the cop motioned him into the room as he retunred to his welcome chair.
Phyllis was still out of it all, tubes attached like some robot comming to life. "It's Alive! It's Alive! came thoughts to Jack's mind of the Frankenstien movie. "Thank God and the doctors she IS alive", a releived Jack also thought as he reached for a chair, pulled over next to her side. Placing her small hand in his he leans forward placing a gentle kiss on it, placing it along side of her, lowing his head onto the glinced hands he falls asleep.
He was awakened by the policeman shaking his shoulder. "Hey, I'm sorry but you can't sleep here. You have to leave now." Jack looked at him groggily and then nodded his head. "Okay, Okay." he said. "I hear you. I'm leaving now. I'll be back later." He walked out of the room slowly trying to will himself awake. When he walked out of the hospital the cool night air cleared his head. He drove back to his apartment and made himself a peanut butter jelly sandwich. He sat at the kitchen table trying to get his thoughts together. He still couldn't take it all in. Later in the morning, he was going back to the hospital and stay with Phyllis for as long as she needed him.
The next morning he drove over to the hospital and went to her room. There was a new cop at the door. He nodded to Jack after seeing his ID and said Jack could go inside. When he walked into her room he saw a nurse taking care of her. Phyllis was still unconcious. The nurse looked at him and said, "There's no change. Her vital signs are stable, but she hasn't come out of it yet. We don't know when she will. Maybe it would be better if you waited outside." Jack shook his head. "No." he said. "I'm staying right here in this room. Nobody is going to make me leave." The nurse shrugged and said. "Okay. If you notice any change, let me know immediately." He nodded and she left the room.
Jack looked at Phyllis and sighed. He sat down in a chair at the foot of her bed, staring at her, willing her to wake up, but she slept on. An hour later the door opened and Charles walked in. He looked like he hadn't slept. Jack looked at him inquiringly and said, "Well?" Charles beckoned him to come outside. When they were in the hallway Charles said, "I didn't want to talk about this in front of her. I know she's not conscious but sometimes they can hear what's going on." They walked over to
the corner where there was an empty room and went inside.
"We questioned this guy all night. He didn't give us much information. But we did find out that he is part of a big drug deal, originating from Columbia. This thing is international. They have contacts all over the world. Unfortunately, he claims he doesn't know the head honcho. Says he takes orders from someone he's never seen just hears his voice on the phone. How
true that is, we don't know. We did get a phone number. He was scared. Afraid they would kill him, now that he's in custody. They're tracing the number now but I don't think we'll get anywhere with that. They're too smart to use the same number again. Right now it's a dead end. How is she doing?"
"The same, no change." said Jack. "Look, what does this mean? She's still in danger, isn't she.?" Charles looked at him and nodded. "They don't know what she knows, but I'm sure they'll connect her with her husband and figure it out. I won't lie to you.......yes, I think she is in danger. We're keeping a guard on her twenty-four hours a day. That's all we can do right
now. I think they will try to get to her, and her husband."
"Just thinking this whole thing over, you said that you were with the Terrorist Division of the FBI, what is this drug connection?", asks Jack. "Well, the terroists require alot of money so they have branched into drugs to get it", assures Charles.
"The fact that Colombian cocaine lords are pumping lots of narco-dollars into campaign coffers in Honduras, has become one of the worst-kept secrets in this country, in the last few days before presidential elections. Voters in Honduras, the third poorest country in the Americas, elect a new leader after campaigning that analysts estimate has cost close to $13.5 million -- double what was spent in the last election in 1993. The minimum wage in Honduras is $79 a month".
"Colombian traffickers have sharply stepped up their use of Central America's Caribbean coast as a transit point for narcotics destined for the United States, drug experts say. Honduras's remote Mosquito Coast, made famous in the Harrison Ford movie, has become a favorite drop-off point, while its nascent prawn industry offers effective cover. All of this data has caused my department to be involved". "And now I find myself right in middle of the mix", adds Jack.
They left the room and were walking down the hallway
towards Room 303. There was no one in front of the room! The cop wasn't there! Quickly Charles drew his gun and rushed toward room 303, with Jack in hot pursuit. Both stopped just outside of the room, Charles placed both hands on the grip of his weapon, dashes head first into the room, throwing himself, landing on his back, arms outstreatched, finger on the trigger,
ready to shoot.
Realizing he was alone in the room, he stood up as Jack entered. The two glanced about the room, where nothing is amiss, only the crumpled bed sheets and blanket attest to the emptiness of the room. "Professional, very professional", mummers Charles. "AND NOW THEY HAVE PHYLLIS!!!!" almost at a scream level, the words leapt from Jack's lips.
Charles went to check the bathroom. The cop laid on the floor, in a pool of blood, been hit from behind. Charles bent down and saw that he was dead. Standing up, Charles ran outside to the nurses station. Someone must have seen something. This was a pretty busy time of the day. How could they get her out without anyone noticing?.......No one had noticed anything unusual. The hallway had been busy with nurses doling out the meds, aides serving the meals. Early visitors were standing in the
hallways talking to friends and relatives.
He called the precinct and told them to cover the grounds of the hospital on the slim hope that she was still somewhere inside. While on the phone Charles learns that the ex husband had been knived to death while in the cell block. Within minutes the hospital was surrounded. A swarm of police seemed to be on every floor, searching everywhere, inside and outside the hospital.
After an hour they gave up the search. Leaving a policeman on every floor the rest of the force left the hospital.
Exhausted, Charles and Jack find themselves once again at the hospital cafeteria, before them stood cups of black coffee, without a sip missing. Both were even to tired to raise the cup to their mouths. After a few moments of silence Charles says, "Well they did get to the husband as we were afraid of and there is no way he could have told Phyllis much information prior to his shooting up the resturant". "But the bastards that have her do not know that, for all they know she is aware of alot of things, God only knows what they will do to her to force her to tell, Iam sure they won't take "I don't know", for an answer".
Pushing the now cold cup of coffee away, Charles stands up, "Look, Iam heading down town to headquarters, see if anything has come up, will be in touch with you at your place". Doing like wise with his coffee, Jack stands and starts to walk with Charles to the exit, "Ok, sounds good, keep me in mind".
The two head down the corridor to the exit. Outside they pass the Emergency Room entrance were what appears to be two doctors and an attendant are pushing a covered patient toward a waiting ambulance. As they walk pass the streatcher Jack notices the patient is Phyllis, quickly he nudges Charlie's arm, the two stare in disbelief. Charlie grabs at his weapon as Jack takes two giant steps toward the attendant. Jack's right fist finds a home on the attendant's jar, staggering backwards the attendant crashes thru the Emergency door's glass frame.
Charlie's first shot rang out as words jumped from his mouth, "FBI, .......FREEZE!!!!! The two would be doctors each reach for conceald AK47s from under the sheets that cover Phyllis. Charlie's 2nd and 3rd shots embed themselves in the chests
of the fake doctors. The entire scene is now framed by weapon drawn police and security guards.
Jack turns toward Phyllis, steps upto her side, gently strokes her forehead saying, "Jack and Phyllis, together again, you are my Alpha, I your Omega, the
beginning and the end...........................................
