Eva Pt. 16

When we got into the house we had a message from Connor. All the Midshipmen were given permission to call home and he said we should call him on his cell when we got the message. I called right away and we made sure we were all safe, then I put Rachel on the phone with her brother for a few minutes before Eva spoke to him, worried but reassured from hearing his voice. After that she called her parents, who were grateful to hear from us, and finally we spoke to Cammy, who left work early. She wanted to come over but since we had at least one student who might have to spend the night, I asked her to stay at home with Kyle. It made things a little better to just talk to all of them. It was that kind of day all over the country. Even the world.

Katherine's mother arrived after the pizza's we ordered did, so we invited her mother to join us and she did, gratefully. The poor woman hadn't eaten since early in the morning. After we ate, Katherine and her mom left (after her mother thanked us with huge hugs and a lot of tears). But after they left, Steve was a wreck. He started crying almost inconsolably and Eva went right into mother mode. I kept Rachel busy while she comforted the young teen, who was convinced his mother was dead. Honestly, we tried to reassure him that he'd be hearing from her soon, but inside, Eva and I were feeling much the same. The only reason we had some hope was because the television news reported that cell towers were down in the area of the World Trade Center and other phone lines were hopelessly jammed.

I dug out some of Connor's old clothes, including some things Steve could wear to sleep in, and we put him up in the guest room, but the poor kid was in terrible pain. I took over for a while, hugging him while Eva tried to get Rachel to sleep. Rachel was in no condition to sleep on her own so I got a couple of air mattresses from the attic and pumped them up so all four of us could sleep in the family room together. That's where we were after 1 AM, all of us awake, when we got a frantic knock on our front door. I opened it and it was Steve's mother. He ran to her and the two of them cried in our foyer for a long time. I finally got them to sit in the library and Eva and I gave them a few minutes to be alone.

We sat in the kitchen and Eva called to Cindy (Steve's mom) and asked if she needed something to eat or drink. She asked for something cold and we brought her some iced tea. She told us how she was in a cab just a few blocks from Tower One when it was hit and from then on, she was stuck in traffic and dust. She couldn't get a signal to call anyone and was frantic most of the day. The commuter trains were all shut down and she didn't know how to get home but luckily she met a couple of people also trying to get back to Philly. One of them managed to hail a cab and offered the driver a ridiculous amount of money to drive them home. By the time her phone was working, she had no idea where Steve would be, so she called her ex in California, who told her where to find Steve. By then she was just a few minutes away so she just showed up on our door.

"Mr., Mrs. Grossman, I don't know how I can thank you enough. You two are a Godsend."

Eva told her "Mrs. Brent, it was our pleasure to help. We could never leave any of our students alone. Steve's a good young man and we are just relieved your ok. Maybe before you leave you should call your ex back. We told him, if needed" she said in a way that hinted to the worst that could have happened, "that Steve could stay with us until he could figure out some arrangements. He was very worried about you."

"Yeah, I'd better call him back. And thank you again. You're a couple of lifesavers."

She called her ex and put his mind at ease, then took Steve home. By then it was almost 2 and Rachel was out cold. I carried her up to our room and put her in our bed, in case she woke up frightened during the night.

Eva and I hugged Rachel, then finally had some time to hold each other and cry. And we cried without saying much of anything for a long time. We hugged across Rachel's sleeping body, consoling each other as best we could. After a long while, I whispered "I hope to god we didn't know anyone in there. It's horrible to even think about."

"I don't know, Jon. I'm just so grateful we're all safe, and I'm relieved Steve's mother finally showed up. I can't imagine what we would have done if something happened to her. They just moved here a year ago and they have no family here.".

I sighed and pulled her as tight as I could without hurting Rachel. I started singing, softly, Please Be With Me by Eric Clapton, a loving, tender song, and then I sang our song, Tupelo Honey. Eva was crying softer then and she did something she rarely ever did in bed with me: she sang with me. Rachel stirred a little, surrounded by the love of her parents. I stroked her hair, and I stroked her mothers hair with the other hand. Eva brushed my hair back on my head, which was getting a little thinner every year. "I love you, my Honey Bear."

"I love you too, my sweet Angel. Thank God you're here with me. I hate to think about if I didn't have you with me right now."

"We're always going to be together, Bear. For a long time to come. I love you so much. I love Rachel and Connor and Cammy and my brothers and their families and my parents." She was rambling a bit, and I didn't care. As long as we were together I didn't care.

"A very long time, my love. Right now I'm worried most about our children and our other children, our other family. I think we need to talk to the Trustees about bringing in few psychologists. I doubt we're going to be able to deal with all the need. Maybe one for the staff too."

"That's a good idea, Jon." She yawned which made me yawn. It was 3 by then and exhaustion was catching up to us. We kissed, a long kiss of love, and we went to sleep with two of my three favorite girls in the world in my arms. I comforted them and they comforted me. None of us knew it then, but in a few short weeks, everything would almost all go to hell.

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School stayed closed the rest of the week, like most public and private schools throughout the country. Eva and I got a lot of emails from students and parents, worried about everything from a terror attack at school to making up class time, especially among seniors getting ready to apply to colleges. Those who worried about a terrorist attack seem kind of silly looking back from twenty years, but at that time, anything seemed like it was possible, especially bad things. We answered every email, even called a few students who seemed particularly worried, and we did hire a few psychologists to help out with those students and staff who were feeling anxiety. For the first few weeks after the attacks, they were very busy and they were a great help to many who were suffering.

It was an exhausting time for Eva and me. We dealt with a school with dozens of distressed young people, including two who did lose relatives in New York. We also knew a couple of people from our past, including one at the reunion just days before, who died in the terror attacks. Rachel had her own anxiety. She used to be the most happy-go-lucky kid you could imagine, but she was showing her own distress at times. Eva was a huge help for her, thankfully. And her love of music also did her wonders. She channeled her feelings into music, even concocting her own songs. That was more my area, and she and I would sing and play together. It helped her so much Eva and I started a music therapy session at school, open to anyone whether they had talent or not. We had our kids healing.

Almost all of them. There was one young man, a 15 year old named 'Corey Romano' (Not his real name), who was troubled before the events of September 11. He had a real Master of the Universe type father who ran a large hedge fund and was an alumnus of the school. He expected Corey to be the same, a real take no prisoners type who would brow beat those he didn't agree with. I know; I had a couple of run-ins with him over the two years Corey went to school there. Mr. Romano came in to argue every A- that he believed should have been a A. Corey wasn't a great athlete, but his father thought he should be a starter on the basketball team. The man was a nightmare for Eva and me, but a cruel bastard to his less than perfect son. No child is perfect. No person is perfect. But that's what Mr. Romano expected. And we couldn't deal with Corey's mother because she was so beaten down over the years she wouldn't answer the phone at home. She never came to school meetings or parent teacher nights. We never met her.

So Cory, a sweet, vulnerable ninth grader who was already sinking emotionally before that terrible September morning, was getting worse. We matched him with the best psychologist on the staff. But Corey kept spiraling down and down. He couldn't reconcile between the help he was getting at school and the abuse he was getting at home. He was prone to outbursts in class, some of them violent, like when he threw his chair across the classroom. He didn't hit anyone, but he was becoming dangerous.

After that incident, Eva and I decided he was a danger to himself and other students and we had to suspend him. Ideally, with supportive parents, we would have recommended Corey be placed in a lock down institution. His father certainly could have afforded the best private mental care for his son....if he was interested. We requested he come in for a meeting on October 23rd, with his mother as well.

Of course, Mr. Romano showed up by himself. He was brought into my office, with Eva and the psychologist, Dr. Alan Wein, with Corey waiting in the outer office by the secretarial staff. Mr. Romano, his usual charming self, started off by saying "Well, what's he done this time? And make it fast; I have an important meeting in two hours in the city." Like his son wasn't important.

Eva said "Mr. Romano, this is your sons life and wellbeing we're talking about. We think that's rather important, don't you? Corey is deeply troubled. He threw a chair in class the other day and he could have seriously hurt someone. It's only by luck that he didn't."

Dr. Wein then spoke, about Corey's emotional state and how he was a danger to others and to himself. That he needed to be in a 24 hour a day psychiatric facility for treatment and observation. Mr. Romano was having none of it. He said, he actually said to us, that all his son needed was a good kick in the ass.

I spoke up then. "Mr. Romano, that's the last thing he needs. He has serious problems. You may not want to acknowledge it, but if you don't, we have to expel him from school for the safety of everyone involved. We care about your son, and we want to see him get the treatment he needs. But one way or another, we cannot allow him to attend here anymore. We have a responsibility to keep everyone here safe, the students and staff and your son as well. If he gets the help he needs, we'll be glad to welcome him back after a mental health professional tells us he is able to rejoin us."

Mr. Romano just got red in the face with rage. He screamed through the door at Corey to get inside my office. We saw Corey get up through the glass window on my office door, hesitate for a moment, then watched in horror as he pulled a gun from his pants, a semi-automatic. He fired into the air and there were screams throughout the office.

"Oh god, no!" Eva cried as she gripped my shoulder. I hit the emergency button under my desktop (there was one in Eva's office as well, plus in other discreet places throughout the building that all the staff knew about). It was a klaxon type horn, loud, different from the fire alarm, which was a bell. We had drills a couple of times a year regarding what to do if that emergency horn sounded. You think it can't happen to your school. But it happened there. In our home.

Mr. Romano threw open the door and shouted "What the hell do you think you're doing? Put that fucking gun down now!" Corey didn't put the gun down. He turned, didn't say a word, and he shot his father in his throat. He went down fast, and Dr. Wein moved to him to cover the wound with a handkerchief from his pocket. Eva and I were doing what we were trained to do, what we trained everyone to do. We got behind my desk to wait for help to arrive. We knew classrooms were being locked and students were hiding behind overturned desks. Corey then calmly walked out of the office, into the hall.

Fuck. This was our worst nightmare at work. We heard screaming from the halls and I got up like I was on automatic. "Wait here, stay with them" I told Eva with some authority.

"Jon, No! Don't go out there without me! I'll come with you!"

"I'll be very careful, honey. Just look after Mr. Romano and the office staff. And stay here!"

"No, don't go....!" I heard her but I had to check on our students. I passed through the office, saw everyone was frightened but unhurt, then I darted out into the hall. I followed the sound of people yelling, keeping close to the lockers on the side of the hall. Then I felt someone touch my arm and I nearly screamed. I turned and it was Eva.

"What the hell are you doing? I told you to stay with Dr. Wein and Mr. Romano!"

"He's dead, Jon. You're not going anywhere without me" she said in an angry whisper.

"Go back! See if you can get the students out on the other end of the building."

"Not without you!" By then we heard the sounds of sirens approaching but we also heard two gunshots followed by screams. "Fuck it" I said under my breath. I couldn't argue with her right then. I crept along and Eva followed me. We turned a corner and saw a teacher, Tom Sorenson, lying on the ground with blood coming from his leg. I hurried to him and saw he was bleeding, but not from the femoral artery, which would have been lethal. He was bleeding heavily, however. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around his leg. then I took off my belt and looped it around the jacket over the wound to try to stem the bleeding.

"Tom, can you stay still?" He nodded, in pain but not in shock yet. "Eva's going to hold this on your leg. Which way did Corey go?"

"Down that way, towards the gym. God, this fucking hurts!"

"Eva, hold this to his leg. He'll be all right until help gets here. Just keep pressure on the wound and keep talking to him." We heard police enter the building and start calling out, then someone from then office was talking to them.

"Jon, you'd better be careful! You'd better come back to me!"

I didn't argue, I just gave her a very quick kiss and got up and went down to the gym. I entered and saw Corey holding the gun in the direction of about fifty students and two teachers, all sitting on the floor. There was a lot of fear on their faces. I didn't blame them at all, not even the teachers. I knew I was scared shit but I had a responsibility to all those people. I called out, gently so as not to startle him, "Corey, it's Mr. Grossman. Look at me, please." He turned quickly, his gun in front of him, and pointed at me. His arms were shaking and his face was covered in sweat. "Corey, why don't you just put the gun down? You don't want to hurt anyone else. Please."

"What about my dad and Mr. Sorenson?" He was crying and shaking.

"Mr. Sorenson is ok. Your dad is hurt, but he'll be all right too" I lied. If he thought he killed his father, he might think he had nothing to lose. "You can still have a future, Corey."

He was on the verge of putting down the gun; I could see it. "That's it, Corey. I know you don't want to hurt anyone else." He started to bend down. Then the door burst open and a police officer yelled loud enough to wake the dead.

"Put it down, kid! Put that fucking gun down now!" Corey flinched and the gun went off and I felt a tremendous blast of pain in my left shoulder, like a searing hot hammer slamming into me. I staggered back a few steps before falling hard on my ass on the gym floor as I heard more shots ring out from the other direction. I had enough time to yell out "No!" I didn't want Corey shot. I didn't want him hurt in any way. Then the depth of the pain in my shoulder screamed at me. Even the slightest motion of any part of my body sent another bolt like lightening through me. Police came over to protect me while the students ran out the gym doors to the inside of the building.

"Eva" I gasped as I passed out from shock and pain. "Eva" I managed one more time, a gasp, as I sunk into darkness.

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I woke up some time later, I don't know how long, in a hospital, in an ICU, with other patients in beds attached to machines and nurses at a central station. I had oxygen in my nose, tubes in my arms and one leg, and I felt another tube coming from my penis. I was in a fog from morphine, which was probably keeping me from feeling the worst of the pain. And what I was feeling was bad enough. A nurse came over and talked to me. "Mr. Grossman? Can you speak? Try to say something."

"Where....am I?" I managed with a mouth that felt as dry as a desert.

"You're in U Penn Medical Center. You were in surgery for about twelve hours, then you were brought up here about six hours ago. Let me get a doctor and then if he says it's all right you can see your wife. She's been here all day and night. Poor thing. And your daughter and son are there, along with your sister. You have a lovely family, Mr. Grossman."

"Dry" I said, and she understood. She brushed my lips with a swab that moistened them and my tongue.

"That's all I can give you for now. It should help enough. I'm Carla if you need anything, Mr. Grossman." She went off to call for a doctor.

In a few minutes a man of about fifty came and introduced himself. "Hello, Mr. Grossman. I'm Dr. Polanski. I'm the surgeon who repaired your shoulder. You were seriously wounded." I realized I was in a cast from my mid stomach up, around my shoulder and my left arm was out at a right angle and the elbow bent forward. "That cast is going to be on you for a long time, I'm afraid. At least two months. And then there will be a period of physical therapy. I'm not going to lie to you. It's going to hurt like hell. But the good news is you will regain almost all your mobility in your shoulder within a year."

"Doctor....the boy. Corey."

"That's not for me to say, sir. Your wife is waiting anxiously to see you. I'll send her in for fifteen minutes. Then she needs to get some rest. She's been here since you were brought in and wouldn't leave. I met your daughter as well. Such a sweet child." He wrote some notes and then stepped out. I wanted to fall back asleep but not until I saw Eva.

She came into the room and as disheveled as she looked, she never looked so good to me. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were red and swollen, her suit was wrinkled and she was my Angel. "I'm sorry, Angel. So sorry."

"Jon... my Honey Bear." She started crying as leaned over the bed and kissed my head and my lips. Then she sat down to my right and grasped my fingers. "How do you feel?"

"Sore as hell. Tired. So tired. And thirsty. Could you rub some of that water on my mouth?" She saw the swabs and the cup and spread a little cooling liquid over my lips and tongue, easing my thirst a little bit. Not enough but it helped. "Where is Rachel?"

"She's outside with Cammy and Connor. They won't let her in here. I don't know if i want her to see you like this, Bear. No offense, but you look frightening. I'll go out in a few minutes so Connor and Cammy can see you for a few minutes." She quietly held my hand. "Jon....I know you had to do it. And I'm so proud of you. You were so brave. But when I think of what almost happened to you...." She started crying and I tried to squeeze her fingers to offer some comfort to her. She got herself under some control. "I'd better go for now and let them come in for a few minutes. I'll be back tomorrow after we all get some sleep. I know the detectives will want to talk to you as soon as they can and I have to meet them at the school the next day to go over what happened. I don't know how we're going to ask the children to come back." She sounded so sad. "My sweet Bear. I love you so much." She leaned over and kissed me, the best kiss I ever got from her.