Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 15

"Okay Michael, I will prepare a couple of nests for him to lose himself in. Send me something so I will know what he looks like when he gets here."

"Snail mail."

"You have it Michael, see you soon."

Alan put his head into his hands and said, "How the hell am I supposed to break this news to Susan?"

"You don't have to you pussy. I was listening to the whole thing on the other phone. I picked it up so Callum would not wake up. When I heard Michael's voice I knew it was trouble. He never calls to pass the time of day. How do you want to handle was Alan?"

"First I have to clear my mind by getting laid by the most wonderful woman west of the Mississippi. Then I have to get laid by the most wonderful woman east of the Pacific Ocean. Then I have to get laid by the ..."

"I get the message Alan, you want to get laid. Come to bed."

"You have to be quiet Susan; we don't want to wake Callum."

"One more word out of you and you will be sleeping in the barn for a month."

"Yes dear."

When Patricia arrived at the hospital, she was still unconscious. Her vital signs were good but she was in a coma. She did not react to pain induced stimulation and her eyes did not react to light. They did an MRI of the brain, and they found a small area of blood in her right temporal lobe. She had suffered a stroke that would affect the left side of her body, and if they could not seal the blood vessel in time, she could die. The small hospital in Glens Falls was not equipped to handle this delicate operation. She would have to be transported to Albany or Westchester County for the delicate surgery.

William demanded that she be airlifted to the New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia Medical Center in New York City. The director of medicine at the hospital said that they did not have a medical helicopter available to take her there.

Stephano said, "Her vital signs are good. All we need to do is keep her lying down, and on the intravenous and oxygen lines she is hooked up to. I have a helicopter capable of carrying her there, so it is not a problem. Can one of your doctors come with us to make sure she remains in good condition, while we go to New York City? Once we are there, our helicopter can bring the physician back."

"One of our experienced nurses can do that. We will prepare Ms. Parent for transport, while you get your helicopter here. However, Northern Westchester Hospital is equipped for this type surgery and has a well-qualified staff. It is also 40 miles closer to New York City. I would recommend going there, instead of wasting the extra time. I can call them and tell them you're coming. They will have everything ready for you when you get there."

William shouted, "No, I am taking my daughter to the best hospital there is, and that is Columbia."

Stephano stood there thinking and wondering what to do as they prepared Patty for transport. He didn't want to fight with William, but he did not want to lose Patty. Finally, he made his decision and was willing to fight for her life.

As they were putting Patty into the helicopter, he said, "William, I don't want to fight with you, but I am taking Patty to North Westchester County Hospital. She is going to be my wife and I will not lose her. You can get into the helicopter with us or you can stay here. The choice is yours."

"She is still my daughter; I don't want to lose her."

"You are going to have a son, and a new life. Patty is my future. Let me take her William, please."

William looked into, Stephano's eyes, and saw a man pleading for his life. "Take her Stephano; we will meet you at the hospital."

"Thank you, dad, I will see you later."

Paul started the helicopters engines and within moments, they were in the air, and heading south to Mount Kisco, New York. 42 minutes later they landed on the helipad and an emergency team rushed to take Patty off the aircraft, put her onto a gurney.

The surgeons had the MRI films on televisions, in the operating theater. The nurses had the sterile trays of instruments ready to be used. Now, all they needed was their patient.

She was being pushed towards the OR by four people, running at top speed. The magic hour was running out, and time was of the essence.

As soon as the door closed, a nurse put an electric razor to Patty's head. She removed the gorgeous white hair from the right front side of her head, without blinking an eyelash. She had done this 1000 times, and she would do it 1000 more times, in an attempt to save lives.

They put Patty parallel to the operating table and shifted her on to it. The surgeon took one last look at the MRI, and marked a spot on her head. The OR staff started the process of placing her head into a device, which would hold her head in exactly the right position for the doctor to drill into her cranium. He would begin the delicate process of finding the bleeding vessel, and sealing it, without damaging the delicate brain tissue surrounding it. It would take days before they knew how badly the stroke affected her. It could take years of physical therapy for her to get back onto her feet, and into as normal a life as she could possibly have, if the stroke was severe, as it appeared on the monitors.

Stephano, Paul, and Rita were in the waiting room, when William, Gemma, and Michael arrived. He had no news for them, and William was about to explode.

He stood up; he looked at Michael, shook a finger at him, but the words would not come out of his mouth. Finally, he said, "I will be right back."

Jemma said, "I better go with him, and calm him down. Otherwise he will have a stroke."

Jemma caught up with William, just as he stepped outside the hospital door.

"William, stop, I need to talk to you. I need to tell you how much your son, and I need you to be strong. I know how bad you feel right now. Patricia is not my daughter, but she is my best friend. I would give my life for her. Whatever you are thinking of doing, make sure you, your son, and I can live with it for the rest of our lives. I know what I said to you when that man was on the stage, and what I am saying to you now is contradictory. However, somehow I feel it is the right thing to say. If we are going to go after the man at the top of that agency, let's do it right. Let's parade him in front of the people of this country and disgrace not only him, but every person who wants to drag this country down to the level of our enemies. We are better than they are, William. We have to be; otherwise, we are nothing. We go around yelling at other countries, "Human Rights, Human Rights," and then this man has someone try to kill your daughter, my best friend. You could walk right up to him and put a bullet in his head, but that solves nothing. Do it the right way, William; do it for Patty, do it for me, but most of all do it for yourself."

Jemma kissed him, turned, walked back into the hospital, and returned to the surgical waiting area.

William stood there for a few moments, before taking out his phone and calling an old friend at his home in Virginia. He told him what had happened, and where his daughter was at this time. He wanted the director of the NSA, Richard Stengel in jail for attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, and attempted robbery. He told his friend, there were 25 witnesses to the break-in, and 1 witness who was given the order directly from his lips to kill or kidnap Patricia. The witness was in FBI custody, and his family was in the process of being buried in the witness protection program. He told his friend, if Richard Stengel was not in jail by tomorrow evening, he would not be able to guarantee his safety, if Patricia died.

Clark Atwater asked William to remain calm and not to do anything he would regret. "William, we have been friends for many years, and I have never lied to you. I will put my best people on it, and if I can substantiate what you told me tonight, I will have him in jail tomorrow. Let me call Michael and get the name and location of the witness. I will get a deposition from him and take it from there. You know the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they do get results, and I promise you I will take care of this man."

"Clark, I know you are going to run for President. I am going to give you his name, and only four people know it, outside of the people at the NSA. Michael Free, Stephano Valentino, Alan Robbins, and myself. You will be the fifth person. Keep this name in a very tight circle, because Richard will stop at nothing to kill him before he can testify in open court. I am going to sue Richard Stengel, personally, in the name of my daughter starting in the morning. My lawyers are going to have his name in every paper in the United States. I have as much money as God, and I am going to drag him through so much mud the President is going to fire him. When he is out from under political cover, I am going to grind him down, until he is nothing but sand. If my daughter has the slightest limp, I swear to you, that man will not have a penny to his name for the rest of his life. I will keep him alive until he is 100 years old to make sure he lives in abject misery."

"Clark the man he told personally to kill or kidnap my daughter is Frank Turin. He has been with the NSA for 17 years, and that is all he has told us so far. He won't tell us everything, until he is sure his family is safely tucked away in the witness protection program. After that, I am sure he will speak to your people. I want to get back inside to see if they heard anything about Patricia. Don't let me down, Clark, we have been friends for a long time, and you can count on my money to back you in your coming campaign."

"William, I will pray for Patricia, and I will pray for you. Do not do anything illegal, because he will turn it around against you. Remember to watch your back. If he went after your daughter, he might be brazen enough to go after you; or even worse, he could go after Jemma, to make you do something stupid. Keep in touch with me, every day if you have to, and I will have my people checking up on Stengel. I don't know if Fred is ready for this yet, but I know he would die to get his teeth into Stengel. I think I will ask him just to see what his reaction to this is."

"Clark, the boy nearly died for you. What are you try to do; kill him again?"

"You don't know this young man like I do, William. This is the type of bone he would pay me to give him."

"All right Clark, I'm going inside. I will talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, William."

Clark went on the intercom and asked, "Does anyone know where that lazy former assistant of mine is?"

Four young girls yelled, "Yes, Uncle Clark, he is by the pool, doing push-ups on top of mother."

"How many push-ups has he done so far?"

Danni replied, "I don't know, Uncle Clark, I lost count at 500."

"Are you sure that's Fred?"

"Do you want me to take a closer look?"

"Are they dressed?"

"Of course they are, he's doing push-ups, I think? I just don't understand why my mother is moaning. I better go help her, he is probably too heavy."

"Danni, stay where you are; leave Fred and your mother alone."

Fred and Sharon were standing at the entrance to Clark's office listening to his banter with Danni. Sharon walked in, sat across from her uncle, and said, "How often does the Attorney General of the United States get taken in by a 17-year-old girl?"

Clark said into the intercom, "Danni, no ice cream for you tonight."

"Uncle Clark, that's Debbie, I am the cookie monster."

"Danni, there will be no cookies for you tonight."

"Thank you Uncle Clark."

"Sharon, I love you girls. You did a fantastic job raising them. You should be extremely proud of yourself."

"Thank you uncle, I am very proud of my girls."

"You bellowed, O mighty one!"

"Listen you insolent pup, I have a question for you. First, how are you feeling?"

"I am feeling very well, thank you very much for asking."

"Sharon, how is he feeling?"

"On a scale of 1 to 10, he is about a 6.5."

Fred said, "I am not. I am at least an eight probably closer to a nine."

Sharon replied, "Would you like to go down to the gym and prove that?"

"I'm a little tired today. We can possibly do it a week from Thursday, or so."

"I rest my case uncle."

"Can you sit in a chair for eight hours a day?"

"Why sir, what did you have in mind?"

"There is a case coming to us shortly. It may be worth your talents, but I'm not sure you are ready for it yet. You've been putting on weight and you're not as sharp as you used to be. I will let Elizabeth handle it."

"Okay, was that it?"

"You're not going to ask me what it is about."

"No, you're giving it to Elizabeth, why would I care? I'm not as sharp as I used to be, and I'm getting fat. I should go to my room and try on my suits."

"Sit down, before I get your cane and beat you with it."

"I told you Sharon; if I teach the girls a few easy lessons on how to control the Attorney General, he would fall for it every time. He can't stand having someone agree with him. That's why when he becomes president, the Congress will love him. He will say something; they will disagree with him, and he will be as happy as a pig in shit."

"Fred, watch your language."

"Sorry dad. What is on your mind, sir?"

"What would you do if I gave you a case of attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, breaking and entering, and robbery?"

"I would bump it down to a local assistant US attorney, who would probably plead it down to a minimum of 20 years, in a maximum-security prison. Why do you ask?"

"What would you do if I asked you to handle it, and put the words Richard Stengel as the defendant?"

"Who do I have to kill to get the case?"

"You don't have to kill anyone. You almost died for me, and I owe you this one. I hate to say this, but this is almost unworthy of your talents. The B and E has over 25 unimpeachable witnesses. The tip that broke the case came from the Department of Homeland Security and was given to the FBI to decode. They have five NSA agents are under arrest in Glens Falls, New York. The NSA is not getting them back, because two of these charges are capital crimes committed on US soil. One NSA agent is going to testify against the Stengel, because he was given the order directly from him. He was ordered to steal two computer programs, and kidnap or kill Patricia Parent in the process. Stengel has become a loose cannon, and I am going to talk to the President about it tomorrow at the morning security briefing. The young woman who was the intended target had a stroke caused by the tension focused on her. The father is going to sue him, personally, and I would expect the government in general. I don't blame him. I know the man personally, and he is my friend. If he Patricia Parent dies, because of Mister Stengel, all hell is going to break loose. If you take this case Fred, you are going to have to work your ass off, and put this Stengel into a SuperMax for a very long time. William Zabo will accept nothing less than that."

"Sir, if I remember correctly, the President declared Patricia Parent a National Treasure. It was early in his first term, before we came on board, but I'm sure it was her. If Stengel put a hit out on her, he is looking at a firing squad."

"Okay Fred that will be your first priority on this case. What is next?"

"What is the name of the informant, or don't I need to know right now?"

"The agents name is Frank Turin, Fred. He is one of the agents that were captured. If the name leaks, it will not be a problem, but if it doesn't, it's better for us. The wife and family are being put into the witness protection program as we speak, and he is being sent underground also, with an experienced caver."

"Okay, sir, I'll report to the office first thing tomorrow morning."

"No you won't Fred. You will work out of this house. You still need people to keep you in check. I will have the staff set up an office for you in the library. Sharon, do you type?"

"Certainly uncle; I type 5 maybe 6 words a minute, with 100% inaccuracy."

Fred laughed, "Maybe she can bring in lunch, sir?"

"Yes Fred, just make sure she is not it."

"Uncle, watch your language."

90 minutes after the operation started, the surgeon opened the doors, and walked towards Stephano and William. They were wearing a whole in the linoleum, where they were pacing the hall.

"Doctor Heath, how is she?"

"She is stable, and that is about all I can tell you, until she wakes up. The bleed was not significant, and I was able to seal it with very little trouble. She had two other weak areas in the vessel that I sealed. Now it is a wait and see proposition. It could be 12 to 48 hours before she wakes up. From what Doctor Belmont told me from Glens Falls, she had a very traumatic experience just prior to the stroke. It could have been causative. If I were you, and I'm not saying this, I'm talking to the wall, I would sue the bastards for every penny they have. That young woman in there was perfectly healthy, until they pulled this game on her. If it was my wife or daughter, they would never hear the end of it; but then again, I'm talking to the wall."

Stephano asked, "When can I see her, and I want to stay with her around the clock.

"You are the husband?"

"No, she is my fiancé."

"I will arrange with the nurses to have a bed put in the room for you. She will be on a monitor 24 hours a day, if she moves, one of our nurses will know it."

"Thank you, Doctor; who will be in charge of her case now? "

"I believe Doctor Nall, our chief neurologist, will be Patricia's physician from this point on. She will call in whoever else she wants to assist her with the case."

"Thank you again, Doctor, for saving Patty's life."

One hour later, they stood peering down at Patty, as she lay resting in the intensive care unit. Her head was bandaged; she was receiving oxygen and intravenous fluids. Most troubling of all was she was sleeping and she did not wake up from the anesthesia. Stephano kept thinking she didn't want to wake up; he believed she never wanted to wake up again.

After a while he looked at the William and with tears in his eyes, he said, "Dad, I don't think she wants to come back to us. I think she's had enough. With everything she lost in her young life, I think now all she wants to do is die and be at peace. She was not joking today when she said it to Michael. As much as she may love you, Jemma and I, I think she loves the thought of being at peace more."

"Don't give up on her, Stephano. She was glowing yesterday, when I saw her, and you were the one that put that glow on her face. I have never seen her so happy. She was looking forward to a life with you. Don't write her off."

Michael Free said to them, "I want to stay here more than anything in this world, but I have to go to Washington and prepare to arrest the man that did this to her. You have my number, if anything at all happens, please call me."

Everyone said their goodbyes, and Michael was the first to leave. Stephano had Paul and Rita fly William and Jemma to New York City. He told Paul to use the corporate account to stay in the city and do whatever flying he asked them to do.

When he was alone with Patty, he sat down, took her hand, and began telling her about the things they were going to do for the rest of their lives. He did not use broad brush strokes. He spoke in minute detail. He told her how he wanted to decorate their first baby's room. He said, "In the corner, just past the bay window, is your rocking chair, Patty. It is pale yellow, and has a thick cushion on the bottom and a thinner one for your back so you can sit comfortably as you hold our baby in your lap and nurse her at your breast. When you are cold, there is a comforter, over the arm of the rocker. All you have to do is slide it over the both of you, and let it slip down, over your legs to keep you both toasty warm. On the other side of the bay window is the bassinet. It is made in Italy, and it is a work of art. It is the purest of white and it glows when the light hits it. A tiny string attached to a brass rod holds yards of gauze fabric that covers our tiny creature's habitat, keeping her the center of attention in the room... Stephano talked for hours as Patty lay there unresponsive. His heart was heavy with despair. He thought he had talked his last talk, had his last argument, and had his last loving moment, with the love of his life. He fell asleep holding her hand, leaning over her bed.