Father's Day Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

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, racism, 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.

There may or may not be discussion of political issues in my stories. If you are a Snowflake that feels you need to be protected from any mention of politics, then click the Back button now, and never attempt to read any of my stories ever again. You've been warned.

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Part 8 - Reconciliation Denied

12:45pm, Friday, June 17th. Two TCPD vehicles, an SUV and a Police cruiser, were hurtling down the University-Midtown Highway to the retirement community of Valley Villages. I was driving the SUV, which also contained Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle and Lieutenant Jerome Davis. The Police cruiser leading the way was driven by TCPD Vice Lieutenant Micah Rudistan, with Admiral Leonard R. Cordell and Police Chief Sean Moynahan as passengers.

The Chief and Teresa had barged into a meeting of Precinct Captain Hewitt, Lieutenant Davis, and several Sergeants and plucked Davis out. As we got onto the Bypass south, blue lightbars blazing, Teresa told Jerome "All we know is that your father did not show up at lunch at his normal time, then he didn't answer texts and phone calls. So they went to his house and found him lying on the floor, unconscious. They called the ambulance and then someone called Chief Moynahan for us to notify you."

Jerome seemed to be in a state of shock as we drove down at 'Cindy Ross' rates of speed. We turned off onto the road to Valley Villages and headed straight to the hospital there, which had emergency care as well as long term care for residents, most of them veterans and families.

After we parked, Jerome rushed in, followed by the rest of us. He was already at the front desk asking about his father, and was directed to the waiting room of the section Jonathan would be in. We went there and I had Teresa keep Jerome in the waiting room while I went to the Nurses Station and asked about Jonathan. The look she gave me told me volumes, but all she said is that she would notify the doctor that Jerome was here, and he'd be with us in a moment.

Ten minutes later a wiry man of above average height (but not nearly as tall as me) with a receding hairline and a trimmed mustache, beard, and goatee.

"Jerome?" he said. Jerome nodded and stood up, and the doctor said "I'm Dr. Ahrens. The Sheriff Department found your father on the floor of his home. It looks like he had a stroke, then hit his head as he collapsed to the floor. He was taken into surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, and we'll evaluate further once he's out and stabilized. That's all I can tell you right now."

"Thanks, Doctor." Jerome said. He sat down and put his head in his hands.

"Would you like me to call Father Romano?" Teresa asked. "Or one of our other Chaplains?"

"My dad was never religious, and neither was I." said Jerome.

"I'll call Father Romano." Teresa said. "Even if you're not Catholic, he always seems to know what to say that will help."

As she was making the call, the local Sheriff, Art Dodge, came in. I remembered him from the Terhune murder at Valley Villages (Author's note: 'Riverboat Gambler', Ch. 03; 'Schoolhouse Rock', Ch. 04.)

"Glad to have you back down here, Commander." Sheriff Dodge said as he shook my hand. "I'm sorry about your father, Lieutenant." he said to Jerome as they shook hands.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Jerome asked.

Sheriff Dodge said "He didn't show up at lunch, so his regular lunch group texted him then called. They got no answer, so they called us to make a health and wellness check. We found him on the floor of his home. In fact, I'm hoping Commander Troy can go up and take a look around."

Chief Moynahan said "You Commanders go on ahead. We'll stay here with Jerome."

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

Teresa and I entered the home of Jonathan Davis. It was exactly as I remembered it; immaculately clean, everything in its place, the bed made, no dirty dishes to be seen. The only sign of activity was on the breakfast room table... and the blood spot on the floor.

"Lessee..." I said as I went to the table, seeing the chair that faced the front of the house pushed back, as if he'd been sitting in it. At the end of the table was a small pile of mail. In the middle of the table was an envelope and the card that had been extracted from it. On top of the card was the colorized photo of Jerome and his dad that I'd ignored regulations to create.

"Look, he was writing something." I said. Teresa came closer, and together we saw the writing. At first it was clear and well-written, but as it went along, the handwriting got worse and worse, like a child's writing, until it became unintelligible, then just stopped.

I read what I could, which said "Dear son, I got your card. I remember when we took that photo. You were so proud of that sailor suit, and couldn't wait to take that picture with me. And I was proud... of you... when we posed for it... Why don't... you... come up... on July 4th..."

"I can't read the rest, it got too messy." I said. "Jonathan was having his stroke even as he was writing that. Then it looks like he was trying to get up, maybe to get to his phone to call for help. But he fell down and... yes, look here, you can see that he hit the corner of the table. The corners are rounded off and not sharp, but that still would've been a bad blow on top of the stroke. He went down and hit his head again on the floor, and that's where that blood spot came from."

Teresa said "There's not a lot of blood, so he wasn't bleeding out. But he must've lay there what, a couple of hours?"

"At least." I said. Just then I heard the door open, and I turned to see Jerome Davis come in, followed by Chief Moynahan.

"I had to come see it." Jerome said, his voice quivering.

"He got your card." I said. "He was writing a letter to you." I had Jerome go to the table. As he read his father's last note, he began whimpering, then openly crying. Teresa went over and hugged him, holding him up until he regained control of himself.

"He was going to invite me down here." Jerome said, his voice breaking. "He was going to try..." He could not finish the sentence...

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

Chaplain Romano had arrived in the waiting room, wearing his Police uniform with a white clerical collar. A number of Jonathan Davis's friends had checked in with us, but only a couple of them stayed so as not bother Jerome too much. Those two were sending texts out about Jonathan's condition whenever we found something out. They lived in Jonathan's cul-de-sac, and had raised and lowered the American Flag there with Jonathan every morning, a tradition that had continued after the death of Army Master Sergeant Terhune. (Author's note: 'Riverboat Gambler', Ch. 02.)

At 5:30pm we were huddled in the waiting room. I was working on the State Constitution on my iPad, and Teresa was a very interested observer. We looked up to see Dr. Ahrens come in with a doctor who was heavyset but had a military bearing to him. We all stood up as Dr. Ahrens said "This is Doctor Oswald Burgess, who operated on Senior Chief Davis." said Dr. Ahrens.

"Hello, Admiral Cordell." said Dr. Burgess. "I remember you from a stint I did at Bethesda."

"I remember you, too, Dr. Burgess." said Admiral Cordell. "You make Captain?" That would be a Navy Captain, one step short of Rear Admiral.

"Yes sir, but it was a promote-and-retire carrot, and I took it." said Dr. Burgess. "Then I got on Staff here." He paused and took a breath and said "Mr. Davis, why don't we sit down a moment." Jerome sat down and Dr. Burgess pulled up a chair and sat nearly in front of him, just off Jerome's right knee.

"Just tell it to me straight, Doctor." Jerome said.

"Sure." Dr. Burgess said. "Your father is in very bad shape. He had a massive stroke on the left side of his brain. He also endured a hard blow to the right side of his head that cracked his skull and caused direct brain damage. We operated to relieve the pressure on his brain from the internal bleeding, but that was all we were able to do."

"What are his chances, sir?" asked Jerome.

Dr. Burgess glanced over at Father Romano, as if to warn him, then turned back to Jerome and said "It's too early to tell for sure, but your father will never be the same again. We're monitoring his EEG as well as his vitals. The next 24 hours will be crucial."

"Can I see him?" Jerome asked.

"He's in post-op now, so no." said Dr. Burgess. "We'll let you know when we get him to ICU." He and Dr. Ahrens left us. Dr. Cordell followed them down the hall and caught up to them, and there was a long conversation out of our range of hearing...

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

7:30pm. Teresa, Rudistan and I went to Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers for some dinner. Admiral Cordell declined our invitation to go with us; he had dinner with some of the resident Veterans in their dining hall.

"Man, that sucks." said Rudistan as we ate. "Jerome told me that he and his dad were off-again, on-again, off-again for years. Things were good after Jonathan helped Charlie, then went bad after he got arrested during the riots." (Author's note: 'Fathers And Sons'; 'Consequences', Ch. 03, 04.)

"And there was a chance they'd be on again." Teresa said. "But they may have lost their chance."

"They both had reconciliation in their hearts." I said. "I choose to accept that."

Rudistan said "Well, maybe he'll wake up and Jerome can speak to him." Then he saw the look on my face.

To deflect from the bad news, Teresa asked Rudistan "When is your baby finally going to make its appearance in this world?"

"It could be any time now." Rudistan said. "In fact, as much as I'd like to stay with Jerome, I'm going to have to get back tonight..."

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

We got to-go sacks for Jerome and Chaplain Romano and headed back to the hospital. Sheriff Griswold and Cindy had arrived, and the Sheriff and Jerome were talking. I handed Jerome his sack of food, and the Sheriff and I all but forced Jerome to eat. He did finish off his burger and fries.

At 7:30pm, Admiral Cordell came into the waiting room again... from the direction of the ICU and the doctors. He looked past Jerome at me, and I got up and went into the hallway to converse with him.

"I just checked with his doctors and the ICU nurses." he said quietly. "For all intents and purposes, Jonathan is on life support. When they talked about monitoring his EEG, Jerome didn't realize what that truly meant, but of course I do." Dr. Cordell paused, then said "They're just monitoring to determine when his brain activity ends, so they can declare him dead and turn off his life support..."

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

2:40am, Saturday, June 20th. Admiral Leonard R. Cordell was shown the vital signs and the EEG of Jonathan Davis. The retired Senior Chief Petty Officer was in a coma, on life support, and his EEG readings were weakening.

Having learned from his Captain in Viet Nam, and from the heroes in the Town & County Police Department, Cordell made a decision... regulations are merely guidelines for an Admiral to follow... or not.

He had Jerome come with him to a small dressing room, where they both put on full scrubs, paper hats, and masks. As they dressed, he said to Jerome: "Your father is near death. I don't know if he'll hear it, but I want to to have a chance to speak to him while he has brain activity."

Though rocked by the news, Jerome followed Dr. Cordell into the ICU. Jonathan was in the bed on the far end, nearest the Nurses Station. They looked up, then looked back down, pretending they were seeing doctors.

Jerome saw his father lying there, tubes connected to his face, his head wrapped in bandages and a massive patch taped down over the upper right side of his head. Jerome looked at Admiral Cordell, who was examining the monitors but turned and said "Speak into his left ear. The stroke probably killed his hearing in his right ear."

Jerome nodded, then took his father's left hand in his own, leaned to within inches of his father's left ear and said "Hey Pop, it's Jerome. I'm here. I need you to wake up and get better. And no matter what, I love you, Pop. I'll always love you in my heart."

There was no change in Jonathan's vitals nor his EEG. Jerome gave his father a final squeeze of the hand, then followed Dr. Cordell back out of the ICU room. When they got back to the waiting room, Jerome said "Thank you for taking me to see him, Doctor. Do you think he heard me?"

"There's no way to tell, son." Dr. Cordell replied. "But that's not what matters. You got to tell him you loved him. That's what matters, and what you'll be able to carry with you for the rest of your life..."

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

Saturday, June 18th. The news in Valley Villages was not good. On Saturday morning the doctors told Jerome that his father was in a coma, pretty much on life support, and his EEG readings were weakening further.

The waiting room began to look like the TCPD's MCD room. Detective Sergeant Julia Rodriguez and Detective Kerry Ambrose came in. A short time later, Teddy and Janice Parker came in, as did Theo and Nareese Washington. Captain Hugh Hewitt and Detective Roark Coleman arrived just before lunch, and Roark handed out Krystal burgers from the huge sack of them he'd brought.

Captain Hewitt had told the Officers of 1st Precinct to not come down to Valley Villages. Jerome sent a text to the entire TCPD, saying to not send any flowers, but they could give to Jonathan's favorite charity, Tunnels To Towers, in lieu of flowers.

At 8:00pm, Dr. Cordell got an update of Jonathan's condition, and reported to us: "There's no change, and there probably won't be for the foreseeable future. He looked at Sheriff Griswold, who got the hint.

"I know that Jerome appreciates your support." growled Griswold, to all of us. "And so do I; I'm remembering what Jonathan did for my son Charlie. But there's nothing any of you can do for Jonathan right now. I want everyone that does not outrank me to go home. Admiral Cordell will let you know of any change in Jonathan's condition."

Jerome got up and said "Guys, I really appreciate you being here. The TCPD is my family. But the Sheriff is right. Please, go home, get some sleep, and pray for my dad."

A line formed, and Jerome either man-hugged or fully hugged each of us in turn. I didn't want to go, but Teresa enforced Our Sheriff's instructions. With heavy hearts, she and I loaded up in my Police SUV and headed home...

Part 9 - Father's Day Cards

Sunday, June 19th. At 7:00am I took my iPhones and my mug of coffee to the deck of The Cabin. It was Father's Day, and I felt bad that Jerome Davis was having to spend his Father's Day waiting for his father's condition to resolve itself.

My Police iPhone chimed. It was a text message from Admiral Cordell, reporting that Jonathan's condition had not improved at all. A moment later, Laura came out on deck, fully dressed. "How is Jonathan Davis?"

"No improvement." I said as I glanced at her. "You going somewhere on a Sunday morning?"

"I have to go into the office and get some paperwork done." Laura replied. "I'll be back by lunch. Cindy, Callie, Tim Jennings and their kids are coming over, so Callie will drag me here kicking and screaming, if need be. Paulina is coming, as well."

I said "Todd and Teresa are bringing their boys, and Edward and Stephanie Steele are brining Selena and Marie over, as well. I just hope we don't get bad news from Valley Villages..."

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

10:00am. Roddy Baker was incarcerated at a medium security prison. He'd been moved there from the hard time of the maximum security prison when a student group at Wildcat School created a petition drive to improve his situation. It is possible that Your Iron Crowbar contacted officials there and helped get Baker better conditions, as well.

"Mail call." said the guard coming through. "Baker, you got a letter."

"Really?" said a stunned Roddy Baker. He took the envelope, which had been opened and its contents examined; convicted inmates had no rights of privacy in prison. He took out the card that wished him a happy Father's Day. It had been written by his daughter Agnes, and his stepdaughter Annie had also signed it.

It said "Hi Dad, I know you're in jail forever, but I have not forgotten about you. I hope you are doing okay. Craig and Jenny are taking good care of us, and they make us go to bed early like you always made us do. The Iron Crowbar's daughter Tasha is my best friend, and we play basketball. Her older sister says we're going to be on the high school team some day. I'll write again on your birthday and at Christmas if they let me. Take care of yourself. Love, Agnes."

Roddy had to wipe a tear away as he read his daughter's letter. Then he read the note I'd slipped in, telling him to send any replies for Agnes to my attention at TCPD Headquarters. Roddy got up to head down to the Prison Library, where he could write a reply letter under supervision...

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

12:00pm. Sheriff Griswold arrived at The Cabin, and received hugs from my kids. As Molly guided them to begin helping with the placesettings, the Sheriff said to me: "Cordell told me that Jonathan is totally non-responsive. His eyes are not responding to light at all, and there's no autonomous response to localized pain. If he was taken off the ventilator, they believe he would die."

I nodded. "What about his EEG?" I asked.

Griswold replied: "Cordell says he's not an expert, but he thinks the only brain activity is coming from the autonomous systems. His cognitive brain is gone."

Our conversation was stopped by the arrival of more guests. Within the next ten minutes everyone was present... except Laura and Callie. "I'm on it." Cindy said as she whipped out her personal iPhone and sent a text...

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

Once Laura and Callie arrived, we all had lunch. The mood among the adults was somber, while the kids were more enthusiastic but were clearly affected by the mood of the adults. Carole was especially quiet and wary, and Betsy seemed nervous.

After lunch, everyone gathered in the greatroom. I took the hardback rocking chair, while the others sat on the sofas or chairs from the dining room table. The kids were going to hand out Father's Day cards to the fathers.

First came Marie and Selena, who gave Edward cards. Marie, who was adopted, had written "Thank you for choosing me as your daughter.", which evoked emotion from both Edward and Stephanie. Edward gave Marie a warm hug as he said he was glad he chose her, as well.

Next came Todd Burke. Mike and Doug gave him humorous cards. Jack had written into his card "For an uncle, you're a pretty good dad." Teresa looked askance at Jack, but Todd laughed and told Jack that "For a nephew, you're a pretty good son." Teresa would later tell us that that was how Todd and Jack rolled.

And then came the ambush. It looked like all of my kids were going to hand me cards. But they diverted as one, like a flock of flying birds changing direction all at once, and went over to Sheriff Griswold and handed him Father's Day cards. Our Sheriff was very much moved as he read all the cards and hugged each 'grandchild'. Then he read the extra one Jim had handed him. It was from me. The Sheriff got 'revenge' by making me stand up to exchange a hug with him.