He sat there, next to her through the rest of the day, holding her hand. He didn’t look at the food the nurse brought in. He focused only on her. Later that evening, the nurse wheeled his bed in next to Honi’s. The nurse helped him into his bed. He spent the night holding her hand.
In the morning, Dr. Rosen entered the room and pulled up a chair close to him.
“How is she doing?”
“They took her off breathing support early this morning. She’s breathing on her own.”
“How are you doing?”
“I can’t handle losing another one.”
“You said you didn’t see her as a partner. She was with a different agency.”
“Yeah,” Jake said quietly. “That changed the instant I saw her lying on the sidewalk, not moving. She…she just seemed so formidable, you know? I didn’t think anything could ever happen to her.”
“And now?”
“I keep thinking of how my father, and grandfathers, have sacrificed so much, and I see her lying there. I see her willingness to make whatever sacrifice is needed to do her job.”
“Just like you?”
Jake looked back at her.
“You’re not the only one. I talk with hundreds of agents who struggle with the same feelings of dedication and sacrifice. You spoke of destiny before. I want you to know there is no such thing. You are not destined to die doing your job. I don’t believe she is either.
“I also counsel Secret Service agents, who are trained to throw themselves in front of bullets to save our political leaders. The inner struggle between dedication, sacrifice and survival is extremely powerful. No one comes through that without having issues. It’s okay to be afraid of death, as long as you can still function and do your job. That’s why we have our sessions. I need to be sure you’re not frozen when the situation becomes critical.”
“Yesterday, during the battle…I wasn’t afraid. It was only when I saw her…”
“I know you’re not afraid of death for yourself. That’s not the issue that concerns me. I need to know that your fear of losing another partner isn’t going to get you killed.”
A soft moan came from Honi. He jerked and stared at her. She moved slightly.
“Nurse!” Jake screamed. “Nurse!”
She’s back! Relief flooded through his body.
Dr. Rosen reached across, gripped Jake’s arm. “We’ll talk more later this week.”
CHAPTER 5
Honi’s room was filled with doctors and nurses. Jake had been unceremoniously pushed to the side of the room. He saw Honi open her eyes for the first time since the battle two days ago. She looked around, her eyes locked on his. He tried to get a read on her state of mind, but her expression was a blank.
Both Jake and Honi needed more tests run. After two hours of being poked, prodded and CAT-scanned, he was returned to his own room. The numbness, created by the bullet’s pressure on the nerve in his back, had left, leaving him in pain. This was the first time he’d actually been shot. The stiffness and soreness in his body made moving difficult. It seemed like everything hurt, but some places were in a lot more pain than others. I guess being shot isn’t supposed to be easy.
At his request, a nurse pushed him in a wheel chair to visit Honi. Her boss, Ellington was talking with her when Jake entered. Ellington glanced at Jake and gave him a nod. He spoke quietly with Honi for a few minutes more and then left. The nurse wheeled Jake over next to Honi and then left the two of them alone.
“How do you feel?” Jake asked.
She grimaced. “Worst headache ever.” She looked him in the eye. “Ellington told me what you did.”
“Look, Agent Badger, I didn’t do anything but my job. I…”
She reached out and touched his arm. “You stood side-by-side with me and fought with everything you had. When I was down, you called in help, immediately. I am so tired of men thinking they have to protect me because of my size, or because I’m a woman. You fought beside me as an equal, you treated me with respect. You didn’t act as if I were fragile.”
“Agent Badger, fragile didn’t ever enter my mind,” Jake said, hoping it sounded believable.
“Nor should it. Which is why you should call me Honi. You’ve earned that right.”
“Agent Ba…”
She held up a finger to stop him.
“Honi.”
She smiled.
“I’m just glad you’re alive.”
“I’m glad we’re both alive. Now we have to get out of here so we can figure out what’s going on and who’s behind this mess.”
Jake smiled. “I’d like that.” He felt so relieved that she was back to her precocious self.
“You better do more than like it. Briggs referred to you as his puzzle master. Ellington told me to feed you all of the intel I can get my hands on. From there you’re supposed to sort everything out and put it into its proper place, like pieces in a jig-saw puzzle.”
“Yeah, about that.” He showed her the watch that ran backwards. “This may be more complicated than we think. According to the man, who died giving this to me, we have 29 days, 11 hours, 6 minutes and…18 seconds before we all die.”
“From what?”
Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. The guy died before he could tell me.”
“Do you believe him?”
He looked at the watch again. “It came from a vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His tox screen was clean, so the guy wasn’t delusional as far as I can determine. He said we were all going to die.”
“All? Does all mean everybody in the city, the country, or worst-case, the planet?”
“I’m thinking everyone in the country. I can’t imagine how everybody on the Earth would die.”
“So you think this is a real threat?”
“In my experience people at that level of authority aren’t plagued by superstition or fantasy, they tend to be very reality-based. Plus, his statement qualifies as a type of death-bed confession, so I believe he is credible. I think the threat is real, until I can prove otherwise.”
“And what exactly do you think the threat is?”
“I wish I knew.”
Late the following morning Jake and Honi were allowed to leave the hospital under the condition that they didn’t do anything physically strenuous or dangerous for at least the next 48 hours. Honi complained about feeling weak and fatigued. Jake was still stiff and sore.
“You up for a science trip?” Jake asked.
“To see what?”
“I’m not sure. Something new that Dr. Spencer said we should see.”
“Oh, that. Maybe a side trip would do us some good.”
They took a cab to George Washington University.
“Where can I find Dr. Harold Franklin?” Jake asked a student as they entered the Engineering Building.
“Basement, Lab 5.”
Jake knocked on the frosted glass window in the door, but didn’t get a response. He opened the door slowly and looked around. A small man who looked to be about thirty stood furiously writing numbers on a pull-down chalkboard. The man wore a white lab coat smudged with blue and yellow chalk.
“Hello,” Jake said in a loud voice. “Are you Dr. Franklin?”
The man turned quickly and looked at them. “Yes. What class are you in? You don’t look familiar to me.”
Jake chuckled. “We’re not in any class. Dr. Spencer referred us to you. Something about a new development?”
“Oh,” Dr. Franklin replied. “I’m afraid I can’t talk about that. It’s classified.”
Jake and Honi showed him their IDs. “Call your project manager at the Pentagon,” she said.
“How did you know he…” Dr. Franklin glanced at her ID again. “NSA. Of course you would know.” After a short phone conversation Dr. Franklin opened a steel door to a secure room. There were no windows and the room was covered, walls, ceiling and floor with copper mesh.