FOREVER MINE (35 page)

Patrick is close to the address.  He spots a blue truck on the side of the road and pulls up behind it.  He recognizes Brody’s truck and looks through the windows.  There is nothing inside that is of any use.  He feels the hood to see how long it has been sitting; it warm so he wasn’t here too long.

He carefully walks around the truck into the high grass.  He walks on the balls of his feet so he doesn’t make a sound.  Following the path he gets to the building and looks inside.  This must be the front entrance; there is a small studio style apartment set up where there should have been mechanical equipment.  He sees a kitchen area, a living room type area, and a bedroom. 

He continues walking when he hears a gun shot.  He runs around the corner of the building and trips over something.  He falls on his stomach and tries to stand back up.  There is a thin, clear, wire wrapped around his ankles.  He pries it off; amazed at how something so small can be so strong, but he has lost a lot of time wrestling with the wire.

Hauling himself to his feet, he continues around the building, to where he thinks the sound came from. He breaks the glass and climbs through the now open window, careful not to get cut on the jagged shards protruding from the window frame like teeth in a gaping mouth.  Once inside he takes in his surroundings.  He is standing in front of the flowers that Brody sent him pictures of, but the room is empty.

He moves around the flowers, and sees Brody lying on his side tied to a chair in a pool of blood.  He takes out his phone as he runs over to the body on the floor.  “This is Officer O’Connor, I am at 15231 Old Mill Road,
I
need immediate back up and an ambulance.  There were shots fired and we have one wounded.”  He Checks Brody’s pulse; it’s very slow and weak.   “There is one missing person and the perp is still on the loose.”  He hangs up the phone and cuts Brody loose, laying him on his back.  Then, he notices the chains hanging from the ceiling and a very large pool of blood going down a drain in the floor.  He knows who was hanging there and he can feel the anger start in his gut and roll through his entire body. 

Patrick calls Fitz and tells him what is going on, as he creeps out the door in search of Michael.  “There is blood everywhere; I don’t know where he took her.  Brody is unconscious but alive, for now.  You need to hurry.”

“We are 15 minutes away.  We were trying for stealth, but that doesn’t seem to matter anymore.  I will call the locals and have
them
send in back up.”

“I did that, already.  Just hurry.”

Pat hangs up as he spots a trail of blood leading farther into the grass.  There are woods up ahead if they made it there; it will be hard to find them.  He can hear an ambulance in the back ground along with the arrival of his back up. 

Turning one more corner he stops dead in his tracks and drops to a crouch.  He sees Michael.  He is standing over Charlie.  She is on her hands and knees; bleeding from everywhere.  Patrick crab walks a little closer, Charlie stands and turns and in one swift motion shoots Michael right in the chest, and falls back on the ground.

“NO, Charlie,” He runs to her side.  Michael is laying on the ground with a hole in his chest the size of a fist.  Charlie isn’t moving.  She is so pale from the blood loss.  Her body has withered away to almost nothing.  The bruises she is covered in are different colors from oldest; a blue green color, to the newest; a black purple color. 

Patrick feels for a pulse and is rewarded with a weak thump under his fingers.  He takes off his jacket and drapes it over her naked body.  It doesn’t cover much, but he feels it necessary, why expose her to anyone else, anymore. He picks her up and carries her to the waiting ambulance.  Gets her loaded up and heads back for Brody.  The FBI team arrives and Patrick tells them where Michael’s body is.  They quarantine the building and the land to start their lengthy investigation.  Patrick gives his version of events and heads to the hospital to wait with his friends.

I can hear someone near me.  I guess I missed my chance.  I feel something cover me.  It is scratchy against my shoulders.  Then I am lifted into huge strong arms; not Michael’s.  If I wasn’t dying I would cry with relief that someone found me.  I can feel the heavy dark chasing me; if I can reach it all the pain will stop.  It will all be over.  I reach out to touch it and it retreats from me; like a tide breaking on shore, it rolls toward me only to run away as I get closer.  Frustrated, I stop trying and lean into the solid chest of my rescuer.

I am not dead.  I want to scream it; I want her to hear me.  I can’t make my body respond, my mouth won’t move.  I can’t form words.  I hear her scream and it shatters me.  I beg my body to move, just a tiny bit.

I can hear Michael’s desperate voice calling out her name.  What did she do?  She coughs and gasps and I hear him whimper his thanks to whatever god he believes in.  Then the lights flash and he is moving her.  No, please don’t go.  Charlie.  I have only one thought before I lose the fight with my body; I love you, then darkness.

**********

I feel someone holding my hand.  There is a low rumble next to my head.  The burning pain in my abdomen is not as bad as it was.  I still have pain in my head but everything seems to be hurting less.  I can feel soft cool sheet under me, and hear a steady beeping noise that is identical to the beat of my heart.  As I put all the pieces together I slowly come to the conclusion I am in the hospital.

I try to open my eyes and the machine next
me
goes crazy.  The rumbling voice whispers to me and strokes the hair away from my face.  I can’t understand what is being said, but I feel calmer and the beeping stops.  Finally, I take a deep breath and force my eyes open.

The lights are
so
bright.  I blink against the assault on my retinas.  After a few minutes I can see everything around me; the machines, the bed, the bandages along my arms and legs.  I look over to my left and see a giant red head with watery eyes and a big toothy grin.  He is holding my hand and saying something to me.

I make an effort to speak only to be rewarded with pain.  My throat is raw like I’ve been swallowing glass while I slept.  I try again but Patrick squeezes my hand and shakes his head.  He brings my hand to his face and gently kisses my knuckles.

“No, talking for awhile.  You have damage to your throat from the rope.  I am going to get the nurse; stay with us, ok?”

He walks out of the room.  Where am I going to go?  I look around my room; it’s a normal hospital room, visitors chair, monitoring equipment, TV that shows nothing good, a rolling tray, and the ugly curtain that separates the beds when there are two patients in the same room.

I feel a little better with every minute I am awake.  I try to sit up, I feel like I am forgetting something very important about why I’m here.  My head feels foggy and thick.  I can’t grasp any one thought for very long. 

I have a bandage on my arm from wrist to elbow.  When I look at it I can feel the phantom pain under the dressing.  It is hot and burns.  I know I did this to myself, why?  Why can’t I remember why I would want to bleed to death?  Brody will be so mad when he finds out I did something so selfish and stupid.

The room starts to spin and the pain in my chest is unbearable.  I grab my chest; the monitor is going wild; beeping and flashing.  I scream his name through the endless cascade of tears that have started to fall from my eyes.  I remember. 

The nurses and Patrick run into the room and hold me down as I thrash and bawl my way through excruciating grief.  The nurse sticks something in my IV and instantly I am calm and my eyelids are heavy.  Patrick is talking again; I only make out one word before I pass out.

“Alive.”

I sit by his bed holding his hand.  I will him to open his eyes.  I talk to him every day.  I read to him.  Today I am telling him about the physical therapy I had to do.  I lost some mobility in the arm I cut, so the doctors are making me do exercises to strengthen the weak muscles. 

He is in a coma.  He has been for two weeks now.  The doctors don’t know when he will wake up.  When Michael shot him he broke his rib, punctured a lung, and grazed his heart; at the outer most layer, the pericardium.  A couple millimeters to the left and he would be dead.  The Cardiac surgeon was ready and waiting for his arrival by ambulance.  After hours of surgery, they managed to repair the damage, but he has yet to regain consciousness. 

When I woke up I freaked out pretty bad.  Patrick filled me in on everything I don’t remember.  I tried to help the police with the investigation, but it seems I have temporary amnesia.  The trauma of what happened has shut my brain off until I can handle the events of that day.

Patrick saw me shoot Michael and kill him.  I don’t remember.  Although I wish I could.  I am seeing Mrs. O’Connor every day.  Today we are going to try regression therapy.  It is kind of like hypnosis.  She is going to relax me enough to sleep, but will keep me awake and walk me through what happened, from beginning to end.  

I have been telling Patrick and the rest of the team not to tell me too much; I don’t want my memories influenced by what they tell me.  I look at the clock and see it is time to go.

“Alright, I am going to see Ms. O’Connor, I will be back in about an hour.  Don’t go anywhere.”  I lean over and kiss his mouth.  “I love you” I watch for a reaction.  He just lies there sleeping.
 
I sigh and walk out the door.

“Alright, Charlie, I want you to go back to the night in your apartment when Michael came for you.  What were you doing?”

“I was waiting for him?”

“Why would you be waiting for him?”

“I knew he set Brody up with that woman in Chicago.  I wanted to catch him before he could hurt either of us.”

“What happened that night?”

“I stopped and got duct tape and rope to tie him up.  I got back to my apartment and waited for him.  He always knew what we were doing at all times so I thought he would know where I was.  He never showed.  I called him out taunted him.
 
He still didn’t show.  I called Brody to come get me, I didn’t want to drive and I wanted to go home. 
Our home.
  When I got off the phone I went to the bathroom, I heard a noise and came out to investigate.  I didn’t see anything or anyone.  I turn to go back into the bedroom and I’m thrown backwards my stomach landing against the counter.”

“Ok, Charlie, I want you to relax.  You are safe. You are not there now you are in my office.  I need you to slow your breathing for me and relax.” 

I take a few deep breaths and relax like I’m told to do.  We continue in this manner for the rest of the hour.  I can remember most of that day by the time I leave.  We are leaving the hard memories for tomorrow.  My mind is still trying to put pieces together as I walk back to Brody’s room.

I walk in and lay in bed with him.  I put my head on his chest and tell him how my session went.  Afterward I start to read to him.  Today we are reading
Wuthering Heights
.  I have always wanted to read the classic love story.  I have never been able to get through it as a kid, maybe now will be different. A couple pages in I start to fall asleep.  I guess it’s not going to be any different this time either.  I close the book and my eyes.

Someone is trying to wake me.  I mumble something about a little more time.  My hair is brushed away from my face, and I give in and open my eyes.  A glance at the clock shows I slept through the rest of the day and the whole night.  There is no one in the room but someone is still stroking my head. 

I can feel a lump form in my throat and the tell tale burn of tears in my eyes.  I’m afraid to move incase I’m dreaming and the feeling of his hands will stop.  I slowly move my head.  I am looking up into striking blue eyes; eyes that I have seen for over half my life and never tire of looking into.

A sob catches in my throat as he weakly smiles at me.  “Are you awake?”

“I think so.  You have been sleeping for a long time.”   He smiles and I could die, it is the best smile I have ever seen.

“I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up.  I thought I lost you just as I got you.”  My lip trembles and I can barely finish the sentence before I am overcome with emotion.

He kisses my tear stained face.  He winces as he draws air into his lungs.  He puts his head down on the pillow and closes his eyes.  “I hurt
everywhere
.”

“Let me get the doctor for you.”  I roll off the bed and start to walk toward the door when his hand wraps around my wrist.  He just looks at me for a long time; searching my face, his eyes wonder over me and land on my arm.

“You are doing alright?”

“Please Brody, you just woke up, there will be time to talk lets concentrate on you right now, ok?”

“Ok.” 

I walk out the door, wipe my eyes, and head for the nurses’ station.  When I get there I can barely contain the smile the cracks my face in two as I talk to the nurse.  “Excuse me, can you please get Dr. Reid, Brody just woke up.”  The tears start up again, this time however they are happy tears.  I brush them away as fast as they come.

“Absolutely!
  Lauren, Sue; please go to room 515 and run vitals on Mr. Harrison, while I get Dr. Reid down here.”  The two young ladies hurry into Brody’s room with their equipment to check him out.

I go off into a quiet corner and take my cell phone out.  Dialing Patrick’s number with shaking hands I wait for the gruff Irishman to answer, on the 5
^th
ring I hear his abrupt, “Yeah, O’Connor.”

“Patrick,
it’s
Charlie, when are you going to learn to look at the caller id before answering?”  I chuckle.

“Oh, hey Chuck, sorry about that.”  I hear the smile in his voice. “What’s up? 
You alright?”

“Yeah, Pat, I’m really great.  Brody is awake.” 

“YES!!  I’m so glad.  I thought the stubborn ass would sleep forever.”  I hear him sigh through the emotions that are evident in his voice.

“We are waiting to see his doctor.”

“Good, I will stop by after work.  The FBI is going to need to know and want to ask him questions ASAP; just a heads up.  I won’t say anything for today, but his doctor might.”

“I am just happy he is awake, I don’t care who wants to talk to him.”

“Ok.  I will see you guys tonight then.  I’m really happy for you Chuck.”

“Thanks Pat.  I owe you so much.”

“No you don’t.  See you.”  He hangs up everytime I try to thank him.  He is such a good man, and friend, I don’t know what I would‘ve done without him.