Fathers and Sons Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography, which is currently not updating. Stories after Music Box Dancer are: Return To Apple Grove, Media Matters, Swamp Frogs, Man of God, Fathers and Sons.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 8 - The Road Home

"Whaaa?" gasped Chief Griswold.

"Y... e... s... y... e... s..." I said as Charlie's eyes blinked in dots and dashes. "H... i... d... a... d. Hi Dad, he says." I said, interpreting.

"Oh my God..." Chief Griswold whispered. "This is... Charlie, you've been blinking Morse Code all this time?"

"Y-e-s." blinked Charlie, with me saying the words out loud. "I l-o-v-e y-o-u D-a-d. T-e-l-l M-o-m I l-o-v-e h-e-r t-o-o."

"I love you too, son." said the old Chief, beginning to cry himself. "What can we do to help you, son?"

"T-a-k-e m-e h-o-m-e." blinked Charlie.

"How about University Hospital?" I asked Charlie. He blinked that he would be good with that. "Okay, you take it easy, Charlie. I know you have a lot to say, but just take it easy and we'll get it all out in time, okay?"

"O-K." blinked Charlie.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"The problem is, Don," said Griswold as we talked in the lobby as doctors examined Charlie, "that if we try to move him we may kill him."

"Maybe not." I said. "I talked to Admiral Cordell on the phone. He's flying over with the University's rescue helicopter to see what we can do. The doctors here say we can land the helicopter in the backyard, though they're worried about being able to carry Charlie's equipment with him."

"I know he wants to go home." said Griswold. "And it'd be great if we could get him over there. But not if the risk of killing him is too great."

"If we can do it, Chief," I said, "we probably should. In addition to his own desire to go home, I can't stay here and interpret the Morse Code forever. And if someone realizes he he may have information on the Queenie Files, I can protect him in our jurisdiction at home much better than here."

"Yeah, I thought of that, too." said the Chief. "That's why I risked moving him here in the first place. And I was glad I did when Jack Lewis went to Eastern State--- oh geez, that got much worse now, didn't it?"

"Yes sir." I said. "I thought of that, too. Too many enemy on this side of our State and to our east. We may risk Charlie dying if we move him... but he may die if we don't try..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dr. Cordell did not arrive alone. Dr. Laura Fredricson had flown over with him. She still had some of the shadows of her long night before in her eyes, but brightened up when she saw me.

We took them up to see Charlie, and I told Charlie that Laura was my wife. "L-u-c-k-y m-a-n y-o-u a-r-e." Charlie spelled out. Laura smiled sweetly at Charlie as I agreed heartily with him on that.

"Yes, it's going to be a challenge." Dr. Cordell said as he looked at the equipment. "This stuff is all bulky and permanent. No way we can use it for the life-flight. We do have mobile equipment, but if Charlie stops breathing and needs a ventilator..."

"What about neo-natal equipment?" Laura asked when the sudden thought came to her. "Look, Charlie's withered physically to the point he's almost like a prematurely born baby. Just a bit of super-sizing of everything, and it may work long enough for the flight."

"That is Iron Crowbar thinking, there." I said. "No wonder I married you, you brilliant, beautiful woman, you." Laura blushed but was very happy to hear that compliment, I could tell.

"All right, let's see what we can do." said Dr. Cordell.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

7:00pm, Saturday, August 4th. I was riding co-pilot with the University Hospital helicopter pilot. In back were a number of doctors and nurses, including longtime combat medic Dr. Leonard Cordell and my wife Laura.

I had told Charlie of the risks. "I know you want to go home, and I'm going to try to get you there." I said to him. "But I'm not going to sugar-coat this: it's going to be dangerous for you. You may not wake up again. Are you sure you want to try?"

"Y-e-s. M-o-r-e t-h-a-n a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g." blinked Charlie. "T-e-l-l D-a-d I d-o-n-t f-e-a-r d-e-a-t-h." I smiled. That was a Griswold talking...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

10:00pm, Saturday, August 4th. The room was ready in the Hospice wing of University Hospital. The window along the back wall faced south, but it was still a view of our Town & County.

Our life flight was swift, as the pilot knew how to push the big Bird hard but not cause any engine problems. We were blessed with good, calm weather. We had two places to bail and land along the way if we had to, but Charlie remained stable. He'd been sedated before being put on the mobile equipment and then hurried out onto the helicopter.

We approached along the Nextdoor County Highway around the mountain, then turned north. Where the 'GO TERESA!' sign had been was now illuminated 'UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL' in bright blue lights. Seen from above, it was an impressive sight.

As soon as we touched concrete on the roof of the Hospital, people rushed out to begin moving Charlie and his 'stuff' inside, while the pilot showed me the shutdown procedures for the helicopter. I'd not flown one of these, but it wasn't that much different than any other chopper, so I felt that I could if I needed to. And I'm always trying to learn... always trying to learn...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"It'll be a few hours before we know for sure," said Dr. Cordell to me and Chief Griswold when he came out of Charlie's new room, "but it looks like he made it through pretty good. Tough man... like his dad."

Just then, two TCPD Officers, Goodwright and Johnson, came up. "Sir, we've been assigned to watch the room."

"Who told you to do that?" I asked.

"I did."

I whirled around and saw my Captain of Operations approaching, followed by the Deputy Chief and CIA Agent 'Honeybee'. "You didn't risk bringing him all the way over here for no reason, sir." Teresa said. "So I'm assigning guard details."

"Har!" said Chief Griswold. "and she doesn't even need a crowbar." That got as close to a smile from Teresa as we were likely going to get.

"And if you and Dr. Cordell will give us your car keys, we'll go pick up your cars." said Cindy. "I'm driving the Black Beauty over, then I'll drive it back, Callie will drive the Admiral's car back, and Teresa will drive yours."

"Sure." I said as I handed Teresa my Police SUV keys. "Just don't drive fast through Nextdoor County. I hear their Police Chief is a Canadian, and intolerant of speeders."

"She's watching over your kids and dogs right now." said Cindy of her sister, Nextdoor County Police Chief Molly Evans. "And I can whip her ass, anyway..."

Part 9 - Mothers And Sons

9:00am, Sunday, August 5th. Charlie Griswold opened his eyes. I looked at him and said "Welcome home."

"L e t m e s e e." he blinked. I carefully turned his head so that he could see out the window in a southwesterly direction. We were on the eighth and top floor of the Hospital, and the vista was of Junction Station and some buildings as the land stretched towards the River. But it was enough, and Charlie's eyes showed emotion as he gazed at it for a long time.

Doctors and nurses came in, and Chief Griswold and I stepped outside while they did doctor things and examined Charlie. His vitals were weak, but stable and strengthening.

When they were done, we came back into the room. Charlie blinked "M o m?" and I told him we'd bring her later this afternoon, when he'd recovered more from the trip.

"Charlie," I said, "what happened to you, the night of your car accident?"

"L o s t c o n t r o l o f c a r." blinked Charlie.

"Were you driving fast on purpose?" I asked. Charlie's eyes showed a bit of anger.

"N O!" he blinked. "W a s m a d, b u t b r a k e s f a i l e d. C a r s p e d u p. N o c o n t r o l. T r i e d t o g e t t o h i g h w a y. C a r s w e r v e d i n t o b r i d g e s u p p o r t."

I looked over at the Chief. "We need to check that out." I said. Griswold looked stunned as he realized what I was saying: Charlie might not have been trying to kill himself; someone might have attempted to murder him.

I was writing everything down on a pad that was a sheaf of affidavit sheets. This was all going into evidence. I then asked "What happened with Rita?"

Charlie blinked "S h e s a i d j u s t w a n t e d t o b e f r i e n d s. T h a t w e w e r e t o o d i f f e r e n t. S h e s a i d s h e w a s b a d g i r l a n d I w a s n i c e g u y."

I nodded as I wrote down the letters, then looked up to see Charlie blinking furiously to get my attention. "Okay, go ahead." I said.

"A c c i d e n t n o t h e r f a u l t." Charlie blinked. "T e l l R i t a n o h a r d f e e l i n g s."

Chief Griswold's face was the one in shock. All these years he'd pretty much blamed Rita for what had happened to his son. And now that son was saying to not blame Rita for what had happened...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cindy and the Reverend Dr. Edward Ayers, the Presbyterian minister, escorted Mrs. Griswold to the Hospital. As they came in, I told her to lean over so Charlie could see her, since he couldn't turn his own head. When she came within his sight, the emotions began for both of them. And he was blinking furiously.

"H i M o m." Charlie blinked. I repeated the words out loud as I wrote them down.

"Oh son, is it true?" Mrs. Griswold said through her tears. "You're blinking words?"

"Y e s M o m." blinked Charlie. He then blinked some more, and I stopped speaking as I wrote the words down, which got Cindy's attention.

I could not say the words out loud. It would not have been proper for me to. I just turned the pad where Mrs. Griswold could read what Charlie had blinked:

"I l-o-v-e y-o-u M-o-m."

Mrs. Griswold lost it. "I love you too, son!" she wailed as she began breaking down. "I love you so much!" Her head fell onto his shoulder as she cried, and finally Chief Griswold came over and helped her to stand upright again.

As they communicated, I continued interpreting, trying to control my own emotions. I happened to glance over at Cindy and saw the tears rolling down her ruggedly pretty face, followed by feeling a vibe from her. We both knew we'd witnessed a very special moment... after all these years, Charlie finally got his 'bucket list' chance to tell his parents that he loved them...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As the sun set, the Griswolds, all three of them, were exhausted. The Chief took his wife home, accompanied by their preacher.

"I'm going home, Charlie." I said. "I'll be back tomorrow. You get some rest."

"T h a n k y o u D o n." Charlie blinked.

"Listen, Charlie," I said, "we have a puzzle you might can help us solve. Would you be willing to do that?"

"Y e s." Charlie blinked.

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow." I said. "If you solve it, we can work on the Cicada3301 puzzle for fun." Charlie blinked that he was looking forward to it. Then he stunned me with his next words:

"P u z z l e a b o u t W i l l i s f i l e s?" he asked.

"Uh, yes!" I said. "How did you know?"

"M a n c a m e t o m y r o o m." Charlie blinked. "W o r e s u r g i c a l m a s k. S h o w e d m e p h o t o s a n d c o d e k e y s."

A shock ran through me. These might be the clues I needed! I thought to myself. I really wanted to start talking to Charlie about it... and then I realized that he was becoming totally exhausted. It had been a huge weekend for him, and he needed some rest.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "You get some sleep."

I went home. Laura and I talked about what had happened with the Griswolds. I didn't say anything about the puzzle and the masked man's visit; for some reason I had a premonition that this was something to keep back until I had the answers.

I took the dogs out to do their business. When they came back, they jumped onto the metal mesh seat I was sitting on and patiently waited for me... even Buddy and Bowser could tell when I was in a deep reverie. I woke up out of it, then began petting them and telling them how awesome they were.

Dogs just make things better.

Part 10 - Down To Business

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, August 6th. "Fox Two News is bringing you continuing coverage of the amazing story of Charlie Griswold!"

Bettina began: "Charlie Griswold is the son of Sheriff candidate Antonio Griswold. Over a decade ago, Charlie was grievously injured when his car crashed into a Bypass bridge support at over 100 miles per hour. Since then, he's been a quadriplegic that could not move and could not speak."

"Over the weekend," continued Bettina, "it was noticed that Charlie's pattern of blinking his eyes were Morse Code, that he was able to communicate through blinking his eyes! He was subsequently life-flighted to University Hospital, where he had a tearful reunion with his parents. Doctors will be working on ways to improve Charlie's ability to communicate through his eyes. Charlie's father, Sheriff candidate Antonio Griswold, put out a statement thanking doctors and others that have cared for Charlie, as well as the team that brought him home."

"In State news," continued Bettina, "Dave Smigelski, former aide to Governor Val Jared, will be testifying before the Independent State Counsel today. Mr. Smigelski could have blockbuster information about allegations that Governor Jared used SBI Police power to abuse two women who made credible sexual harassment claims against the Governor."

"And Judge Harry Nance has ruled that the Town & County Police Force must give the Media their duty logs in a more timely manner!" said Bettina, smiling brightly now. "Judge Nance ruled that the TCPD was exceeding the intent of the law by forcing the Press to go through a rigid and time consuming process, when they'd been giving the duty logs to the Press within a few hours for years. Judge Nance also made a special note to rebuke Sheriff Allgood and Commander Donald Troy for, and I quote, 'abusing their authority in an unnecessary harassment of the Media, who are just doing their important jobs', close quote."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"So the law doesn't matter." Joanne said as we watched in the newscast in MCD. "Judge Nance just arbitrarily said what he felt like, and making or rewriting law instead of adhering to it."

"That's what activist judges do." I replied. "But there was plenty of wiggle room in the law to allow him to do that. Soooooo, Commander Ross, we shall comply and put out the Duty Logs as we used to... but not before I've examined them first. Make damn sure the Precincts know that."

"I already have." said Cindy.

"So just who in the world was able to notice that Chief Griswold's son was blinking in Morse Code?" asked Theo, as if he had no clue... though he certainly knew.

"You get one guess." replied Cindy. "Don't blow it."

"Commander," asked Joanne, "when did you learn Morse Code?"

"In the Boy Scouts, when I earned the Signaling Merit Badge." I replied.

"Told ya." said Cindy. Then her face darkened as she said: "It makes me absolutely furious that Bettina did not give Commander Troy the credit he is due for that observation."

"Blessing in disguise." I said. "It is infinitely better that people not know it was me that noticed, and that I know Morse Code in the first place."

"Now we all have to learn Morse Code," said Teddy Parker, "and check and see if someone is blinking in it." That started some banter up.

"I hope some of you will learn it." I said after the chatter died back down and I'd refreshed my coffee mug with more of the beverage. "I've got a long next few days ahead of me, interpreting." No one asked why, or what I was going to interpret... thankfully. I did notice Jerome Davis perk up a bit, then go into what looked like a reverie.

"Judge Nance took his shot at Sheriff Allgood." said Teddy Parker. "Wonder what the Media is going to say about Charlie Griswold to sabotage Chief Griswold's candidacy."

"I'm sure Della Harlow will make as offensive an ad as she possibly can." I said. "O-kayyyyy... I need to see my Angels in my office. Let's get the party started early, if you ladies don't mind."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Here's what I need." I said. "Tanya, do not assign Joanne Warner as the lead Detective on this. I'll explain my reasons at a future time. Maybe Jerome and Teddy can handle this. I need the car, or what's left of it, that Charlie Griswold crashed to be found and brought to the Crime Lab across the parking lot. Put the mortal remains inside the gates if it has to be left outside."

"What are we looking for, sir?" Tanya asked.

"Evidence of sabotage." I said. "We have wonderful tools today that we didn't have when he crashed, and I don't expect the case was too heavily investigated at the time. Also, do not involve the State Crime Lab. If you need to talk to J.R. Barnes or Christina Cho to get their help, let me know first."

"You might need a warrant to get the car remains, even though it was impounded by the Police." I continued. "I've put the notes that I made of Charlie's testimony about the crash into evidence, under the original case file, which I have formally re-opened."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"This is Cynthia Freeman with KSTD Five-Alive News, part of the SNN team!" said Cynthia at 8:00am. "SNN has learned that Dave Smigelski, former aide to Governor Val Jared, will cooperate with the Independent State Counsel when he testifies today. Sources close to the matter say that Smigelski might have the 'smoking gun' information that will prove Governor Jared did use Government resources to harass two women who filed sexual harassment allegations against him, and may show that Commander Donald Troy committed perjury when he said Governor Jared did not tell him to investigate the women. Legal and political experts say that this could be the information Robert Mullen needs to end Val Jared's racist tenure as Governor."

"In the City," continued Cynthia, "our affiliate KCTY, also part of the SNN team, obtained documents related to the murder of Selena Martinez last year. Other documents obtained from the University's Campus Police archives show that a rape complaint was made against then-assistant coach Willy 'Speedy' Gonzales by Ms. Martinez, but the complaint was pulled and only the backup continued to exist. We are working with our SNN colleagues to investigate this matter further."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We'd listened with avid interest, Cindy and I.

"They're getting close-rrrrrrr" Cindy said.

"Nothing damaging yet." I said.

"Okay, Don." Cindy said, turning to me and speaking authoritatively to get my attention. "JUST in case you come over all dead because you have to eat that hospital food, tell me what's really going on with Charlie Griswold. All of it. Between you, me, and the crowbars."

It was a fair request. I said "You know I decoded a little bit of those Queenie Files. One of them had a message to contact Charlie Griswold for the keys to the puzzles that were still there. I went to Chief Griswold, and he showed me why he thought that was going to be impossible. So we went to see Charlie, I saw him blinking in Morse Code, and all of our suppositions changed."