1990

Cole flashed his warmest smile at Kris and said, "You're welcome, but as I said, it really was in my best interest to have a safe landing. I'm just glad that Mr. Acosta is going to be okay. Captain Avery and I were really worried when we saw the amount of blood from his injury."

Rick sensed the energy between his daughter and Cole Aranda, and it surprised him. Kris had dated several men in her thirty-three years, but none of her relationships had been anywhere near serious. Kris' career with DHS since graduating from Texas A&M University had been on the fast track and she wouldn't let anything distract her from her goals. She'd proven herself to be perspicacious, yet as a senior special agent, she had risen as far as she could and still remain in the field. Rick had been sensing a recent change in Kris' career focus and wondered if she was contemplating a more sedate lifestyle.

"Cole," Rick said, "I'm not sure how long I'll be able to remain awake once the pain meds kick in. Would you mind giving Kris your contact information so that I can thank you more profusely once I am out of here?"

"No thanks are necessary," Cole said, "but I would like to stay in touch with you. Once I get the insurance claim settled and have the chopper repaired, I could use some more business referrals if you can send any my way."

Nodding towards Kris, Rick said, "If it's business referrals that you're looking for, then Kris is the person that you need to stay in contact with. She is much more involved in field operations where the need for contracted air transportation is likely to be required. I only get out into the field on special assignments."

"From the skills you demonstrated today, I would be more than happy to send any business opportunities that I become aware of to you," Kris told him as she handed him her card. "Here's my card. Let's chat in the next few days so that I can get a grasp of the types of services that you would be able to provide."

Cole pocketed her card and said, "Wonderful. I'll text you my contact information. I'm going to be pretty free until the helicopter is airworthy again. Check your calendar and schedule a time most convenient for you."

"I'll do that," Kris assured him as she shook his hand. "As soon as I have your contact information, I'll get something scheduled. Would you be opposed to meeting over drinks one evening next week? That might allow me to find a time for us to meet sooner rather than later."

Cole laughed and said, "I'll be drowning my sorrows while waiting to get back into the air. Having a lovely companion to share the experience with me would be quite welcome. I look forward to hearing from you."

Kris laughed and said, "I'll be awaiting your text. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Aranda."

"The pleasure has been all mine. Take Care of yourself, Mr. Acosta. I'm really glad that you're going to be okay."

Rick and Kris watched Cole Aranda squeeze through the door to exit just as Wendy and her husband, Kirby were trying to enter. Wendy glanced at Kris, saw her star-struck expression, and asked, "Who was that?"

Rick waited for Kris to speak, but when she didn't, he said, "That was Cole Aranda, the pilot of the helicopter that I was on when I got shot."

"Really?" Kirby said, "Let me go catch him. Some people in Washington want to talk to him..."

Kris heard her cell phone chime, glanced at the screen, and spoke before Kirby could leave the room, "There's no rush, Uncle Kirby. He just sent me all of his contact information. I'll forward it to you."

Kirby paused and turned to Kris. He then saw Wendy wink at him and caught her meaning. He said to Kris, "Well, you seem to have established a rapport with Mr. Aranda if he is sending his information to you so soon after meeting him. How would you like to act as the liaison with him for DHS? You know, negotiate a contract arrangement for his future services and such."

Rick said, "I tried to position Kris into that role with Cole while he was here. They're planning to meet over drinks in the next few days."

A visibly blushing Kris Acosta tried to change the subject. She addressed Wendy and asked, "Were you able to find something for Dad to drink in the cafeteria?"

"Oh crap, I forgot. When I saw Kirby, everything else just slipped my mind. That happens sometimes with us old married folks."

Kris just shook her head at Wendy's comments as her father tried not to laugh at them. Wendy and Kirby had been married for almost twenty years but anyone who saw them together would immediately assume that they were newlyweds. Their love and passion for one another were that obvious.

"That's okay," Kris told her. "I need to take a bio break anyway, so I'll check on what they have that he can drink while I'm out. Do either of you want anything?"

"Not unless they are serving cocktails," Kirby said with a chuckle. "Anything weaker than a shot of whiskey wouldn't satisfy me right now."

Kris laughed and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She leaned over and kissed Rick on his forehead and asked, "Is there anything else you want me to get for you while I am out?"

"You're sure it wasn't in with my clothes and other personal items?" he asked his daughter with a serious expression on his face.

"Wendy and I checked through everything that they sent up from emergency in the bag of personal belongings," Kris assured him. "I'll check with the staff in the emergency room again though."

Kirby pulled something out of his coat pocket and asked, "Is this what you're looking for?"

He held a gold chain with dog tags on it. Hanging next to the dog tags was a clear crystal vial about a half inch in diameter and an inch long. The vial was three-quarters full of something resembling gray sand.

Kris gasped and asked, "Where did you find it?"

Kirby handed the chain to Rick and answered, "The paramedics had it. They removed it when connecting the EKG leads in the ambulance and it got separated from the rest of your stuff somehow. When Wendy told me it was missing, that was the first place that I had the team check."

Rick placed the chain with the vial containing a small part of Suzy's ashes around his neck. He kissed the vial before allowing it to rest on his chest.

"Oh, Uncle Kirby, I am so glad that you were able to find it. Even though it would have broken my heart to some degree, I was prepared to give my own vial to my dad."

Kris wore an identical crystal vial on a chain around her next, hanging beside the heart-shaped locket with the only picture she had of her and her mom together. Her mother had been wearing it when she had been murdered and Kris had worn the locket since her twelfth birthday when her father had felt that she was responsible enough to properly care for it. Before that, he had kept it safe but accessible for Kris to look at any time she desired. She hadn't been given the crystal vial to match her father's until her eighteenth birthday.

Kris had known the details of her mother's murder since a young age. They didn't have many pictures of her mother during the months between the birth of her daughter and her death, since her father hadn't been present during the majority of the period to take pictures, but there were a few, mostly focused upon their wedding and the days immediately after. Kris had spent her childhood praying for vengeance against the unknown men who had so callously murdered her mother.

It was on her eighteenth birthday, when her father presented her with the vial containing her mother's ashes, that he had detailed for her his actions to avenge the murder of his wife and her mother. She had sat in silent awe as he had described retrieving her from the aunt and uncle who had taken her after conspiring to plan the robbery of the bowling alley to hide the for-hire murder of Suzy Diego.

Hearing the details of her father's search for the men responsible for the actual murder and the subsequent acts of revenge that resulted in the deaths of those men, as well as the family members who had orchestrated the crime provided Kris with a satisfaction of justice being served that she was not ashamed of. It also helped her to understand why her father had chosen to seek out and assume new identities for both of them.

Her father had always been her hero and she was so proud of him that she could barely contain it sometimes. Her admiration for him had been the major deciding factor when she had chosen to follow his example and seek a career with DHS through Brandt Consulting. She also recognized that she was destined to live a life without a mate unless she eventually encountered a man who compared favorably to the kind of man that she knew her father was; the type of man who was steady, level-headed, and, in most respects, kindhearted and humane. They also would likely happen to be expert killers. She wouldn't settle for an ordinary man. She wanted a "hero" of her own. She had grown up with one, and she would grow old with one, or do it alone.

Kris had worked with, or at least knew of hundreds of brave men. Current and former military, law enforcement, or private security types who would willingly risk their lives for God and country, but who had no defined sense of justice; right or wrong. They were motivated in their bravado by ego or pride rather than a moral or ethical compass to guide them. No matter how vehemently they professed their willingness to lay down their lives for a cause, they still measured their commitment against what others would think of them over any other factor.

She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Kirby and Wendy watched Kris leave her father's room before stepping to the side of his bed. Wendy said, "She seems at least mildly interested in the pilot guy. What do you know about him?"

Kirby answered before Rick, "We know that he is someone that you can count on in a pinch..."

Rick interrupted, "Don't give me that, Kirby. By tomorrow morning you'll be reporting to me on how many times he shakes his dick after taking a piss. Wendy wouldn't accept anything less."

Wendy laughed and said, "He's right, Honey."

"I know," Kirby said. "I was going to have him checked out anyway, but now the motivation is different."

"Did you hear that, Hey, you? My handsome husband thinks I'm motivation. How cool is that?"

Rick suppressed another laugh and said, "Don't make me laugh, at least not until the nurses give me something for the pain. Where are they anyway?"

Wendy glanced out into the hallway before saying, "It does seem to be taking them longer than it should. I'll go light a fire under them."

Kirby pulled a chair over and sat beside Rick's bed. They couldn't discuss the events of the day or talk shop since they were not in an area free of possible eavesdroppers, so they settled for safe topics. Rick asked, "Are Sean and Amanda still shuttling back and forth every other month?"

Kirby's nephew, Sean Wallace, and his wife, Amanda, jointly ran an international holding company that they had formed from their two families' separate businesses. Sean's family business was headquartered in Nashville, while Amanda's family business was headquartered in Sydney, Australia. They had attempted to create a single headquarters operation in one country or the other, but the different customs, tariffs, and trade regulations had made their efforts far more challenging than either had anticipated. Consequently, they found themselves sharing their time between the two operations.

"Yeah," said Kirby, "but they're handling everything pretty well. Wendy and I thought that their deciding on which education system they would use to home-school Eddie and Caranda might cause a rift between Sean and Amanda, but when they compared the curriculum and core requirements, choosing the higher Australian standards was an easy choice for them. Amanda used her contacts at the Australia National University to find a young doctoral candidate in childhood education to hire as a tutor for both kids. She is free to travel with the family and is using the experience as part of her thesis."

"And what about your mom?" Rick asked. "Wendy had mentioned that you were concerned about her memory."

Kirby nodded and said, "We had her tested and she isn't showing any of the typical signs of early-onset dementia. The doctors believe that she is simply facing the same periods of forgetfulness that are common with a lot of elderly people. She is still able to take care of most of her own needs and the household staff has stepped up to assist her without making her feel coddled. She's still active at eighty-five so we want to keep her independent for as long as possible."

The two men had been discussing other mundane subjects for fifteen minutes when a harried man in a business suit strolled purposely into the room, flanked by two new nurses. They were followed by visibly angry Wendy and Kris, accompanied by Bobby Brandt.

"Mr. Acosta," the man said as he approached the foot of Rick's bed, "I am Larry Dennison, Chief of Staff here, and I want to assure you that the level of care that you have received so far is not what the administration of this facility deems acceptable in any way. Rest assured that Doctors Pope and Wise have been relieved of duty at this hospital and are suspended pending a full investigation of their actions relative to your care. If I have my way, they will both be facing the suspension of their medical licenses in this state due to their unethical behavior."

Rick watched as one of the nurses inserted a hypodermic needle into a port on his IV line and injected something. Within mere seconds, he could feel the pain in his head fading slightly. He looked to Wendy and Kris, "What's going on?"

Wendy stepped beside where her husband was sitting, place one hand on his shoulder, and then took one of Rick's hands in her other. She explained, "The two doctors that tended to you earlier apparently took offense at us going over their heads to their boss about allowing us to remain in your room while they examined you. They instructed the nurses to hold off giving you anything for your pain for at least three hours and to delay providing anything for you to drink for as long as possible..."

Kris handed her father a freshly opened bottle of apple juice and continued the tale, "They tried to stop me from bringing this juice to you. They were also doing their best to ignore Wendy's questions about your pain medication..."

Rick nodded, took a long drink of juice, and then glanced over to Bobby. He knew what, or rather who, had resolved the issues. "Thanks, Bobby."

"No problem. I was glad to help. How are you feeling?"

"I've had worse hangovers," Rick grinned. "In fact, you and I have shared a few hangovers worse than this."

Bobby laughed and said, "I should have had you fired from the Academy for the torture that you made me endure on my twenty-first birthday. You're lucky that Wendy talked me out of reporting you."

"It's not our problem that you were such a lightweight," Wendy teased. "You should be thanking Hey, you for protecting your virtue that night. I could have, and probably would have had my way with you if he hadn't stopped me."

"Plus," Rick added, "I stand by my belief that you were faking it. No one, especially a guy your size can get that intoxicated from two beers. I've seen you down a six-pack and then place six shots in the center of a target from a hundred yards."

Mr. Dennison finished giving instructions to the nurses before interrupting the friends. He said, "I can't relieve all the nurses on this floor because I don't have the staffing to replace them right now. However, I can assure you that nurses Garrett and North here will be dedicated to your care until the morning shift change. I have already spoken with the head nurse for the morning shift and she will be meeting with her charges to emphasize this hospital's expectations for patient care. I am to be contacted immediately if there are any further issues."

Dennison addressed Bobby, "Is there anything further that I can do?"

Bobby had a serious expression on his face when he said, "Just make sure that everyone does their job. As long as there are no further issues, upon my friend's discharge, I will speak with the Secretary and request that he rescind his orders."

It was obvious to anyone watching his demeanor that Dennison was hoping for a more concrete commitment from Bobby that the federal funding for the multiple grants that the hospital had been awarded, along with all their Medicare revenue would be restored immediately. After all, this Brandt fellow had gotten the funding cut with a single phone call. He could likely reverse it with another call, but Dennison wasn't going to push the issue just yet. The hospital could survive for one day, so if the patient, Acosta, could be discharged tomorrow, the hospital would no longer have the sword of Damocles hanging over it.

"Thank you," Dennison said before walking briskly out of the room, followed by the two nurses. The assembled group in Rick's room could hear stern, but muffled commands being barked at the nurses as Dennison led them down the hallway toward the nurses' station.

Kris studied her father before addressing the other visitors, "We should let Dad get some rest now that the pain medication is kicking in."

Rick's eyes were growing heavy, so he simply nodded his agreement with his daughter.

Bobby walked up and placed a hand on Rick's shoulder. "Get well, my friend. The country needs you, Kris needs you, and I need you."

***

For those interested, Rick Acosta first appears in "His Daddy's Car". He is also featured in "Change", "Searching", and "Betting on the Aces".

Wendy Foster first appears in "His Daddy's Car". She is also featured in "Heavy Traffic" and "Little Differences".

Kris Acosta first appears in "Heavy Traffic" She is also featured in "Change" and "Searching".