The Rescue Mission
Chapter 5
Written by rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

Tuesday morning at the hospital

I can not believe how much damage Richard took and he is still hanging in there since yesterday. Fortunately he wore that metal corset. Right now he is stable and he is unconscious at this time with the medical induced coma we gave him. Perhaps a consultation with Anna will help here. I find it a great relief that the Wilson family showed up. Perhaps they can add their voices to the decisions that have to be made. I better add their name to my list of things to do.

He hears a knock on the door. He looks up and sees Dr. Mitchell walk in, “Good morning Sarah, are you ready for the next session with Richard? The specialists are here to start reassembling his hands and to check his jaw closely. They will also check his throat as well.”

“Oh hello, Dr. Thornton, good morning, yes I am ready. I was writing some notes here. We are going to need a meeting with a group of people so that we are in agreement for Richard’s future.”

“I agree. The list is going to be formidable. But they will need to attend.”

“We are fortunate that Richard protected his groin area and vital organs.”

“Yes, that is fortunate, the X-rays revealed the bones in his legs and arms have several stress cracks and are not misaligned. Fortunately we were able to go in and stop the bleeding He is pretty much immobile with the casts we put on and putting him in traction. From the X-rays we can see his previous injuries he sustained when he was eight. Also his muscular development is excellent from his martial arts training. That is what kept his bones aligned.”

“Do you think we can get a meeting Thursday or so, Dr. Thornton?”

“It is possible, Sarah, but we will need to do some phone calls to check their schedules. We will start the phone calls after the lunch break.”

~~~000~~~

Dan arrives at his desk in the morning and sits down with his cup of coffee. He opens the DVD case that he received from Mr. Bryson yesterday.

That is an incredible beating that Richard took yesterday, and from what I hear he is still hanging in there. He must have made some enemies. But considering the company he is with, I am sure it is a revenge tactic on him. Let me take a look at that video again and see if there are any additional clues to identify these 4 men.

Dan inserts the DVD into the laptop and begins to scan the video.

From what I see and hear so far, these four men are all wearing gloves. Great, no finger prints from that avenue. Fortunately Richard identified each one in turn and yanked off their masks before the beating commenced. From what is being said here. Brent has a total dislike for Richard. Brent says his programs are better, not Richard’s. That has to be an ego trip. According to some, the statements by the other three, there is more trouble ahead for Secure-Sys. What did Richard mean that Jackson from Raleigh will know what he sprayed him with? Hmm . . .

“Bzzz…Bzzz” A call from the front desk? I push the button on the phone base. “Hello Karen”

“Good morning Dan. I have a call from Mr. Robert Bryson at Secure-Sys. He is on Line 4.”

“Thank you, Karen.” Dan pushes the button for Line 4. “Good morning Mr. Bryson. This is Detective Torres. How can I help you?”
“Good morning Mr. Torres. I have a request that you need to be at a meeting at Richard Moore’s apartment around noon time today. Can you make it?”

“Let me look at the schedule today. No, I have nothing planned. What is this about Mr. Bryson?”

“Richard made a presentation that we need to see. He sent me an email last Sunday, I opened it this morning. He made some interesting discoveries about some employees here at Secure-Sys. He is also requesting the AG and some members of my company to be there when he reveals this information.”

“That is an unusual request. How is he going to present this information? Is it a tape recording?”

“Well, if I know Richard, it should be a 3D-video recording which should be more informative than a regular tape recording.”

“If that is the case, I will definitely be there for it. There is not much information on this recording from the beating, except for what the four men said.”

“Good, I will be calling the AG for a similar confirmation when I get done here. See you later today, Detective Torres.”

“Click.” Well that was interesting. Richard was able to do a 3D-video recording of some information that he has found. Basically what that means Richard found something and this beating was meant to keep him quiet and not interfere with their plans before it was revealed. Perhaps Richard beat them to the punch.

~~~000~~~

Karen Walker walks into the AG’s office to begin her day. “Good morning Mr. Russell, did you see the news yesterday? An employee from Secure-Sys was beaten up very badly.”

“Yes, I did see that headline. I wonder what it’s all about. But, I guess we will find out soon enough once the investigation begins.”

Ring…Ring…”I got that call, sir. Good morning, this is the City Attorney General office, Mr. Stephen Russell presiding. Karen speaking, how can I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Mr. Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I would like to speak to Mr. Russell please.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Russell is here this morning. If you will hold, I will connect you with him.”

“Thank you, Miss Karen, I will hold.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bryson.” Click. “Mr. Russell, Mr. Bryson is on line 2.”

“Well, it looks like word travels fast. Thank you, Karen, I will take the call in my office.” Stephen goes to his desk and picks up the phone and punches Line 2. “Good morning, this is Stephen Russell. How can I help you?”

“Good morning, Mr. Russell. I am Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys. I am sure you have read the news about one of my employees was beaten up very badly. He is one of my top programmers. He was able to record a video message the day before he was attacked. He sent me an email that he would like to have several people there to attend. I was able to talk to him for a few minutes Monday morning. I witnessed the live feed from his apartment when the beating took place. The police have a copy of the recording. I would like to give you a copy as well when you come to the meeting.”

“Live feed from his apartment? How is that possible?”

“The employee’s name is Richard Moore; he is the inventor of the 3D-video system.”

“Richard Moore is your employee? I am intrigued.”

“Yes, I figured you might be. Richard has requested an audience of the police, the AG and some of my staff members to witness some information that will be of concern to everyone. Richard requested a 12 noon showing at his apartment today. Can you make it?”

“Yes, I can make it. I don’t have any appointments at that time.”

“Good, here is the address for Richard’s apartment. It is …”

“Yes, I have the address, thank you. See you later today Mr. Bryson.”

“Thank you Mr. Russell. See you then.”

Click. “Karen, put me down for a 12 noon meeting. Apparently there is going to be 3D-video show at Richard’s apartment. This should be interesting. I did not realize it was him that invented the 3D-video system.”

“If that is so, sir, perhaps this beating portends something really big.”

“That is true, Karen. But, I will have to wait and see until then.”

~~~000~~~

[Brianna Wilson]

“Mom, Dad, I am so glad we got this apartment near the hospital.”

“Yes, we were fortunate. Even Mr. Bryson is helping with some of the expenses, especially in the deposits. He is saving us some money. So, are we ready to go to the hospital? Brianna dear, I am glad that the Rescue Mission is allowing you to stay here for this week until he becomes conscious.”

“Yes, mom, that was nice of them. So, are we ready to go?”

“You sure are impatient today. You know he will not be awake for a few more days.” Helen puts her keys into her purse. “Okay, I am ready now. Let’s all head over.”

“Right, honey, I am ready also.”

We all get into the car and take a short drive over to the hospital. We were able to find a parking spot with no problems. We walk to the front desk to check in and to see which waiting area we need to be near. Karen went back to Charleston as planned. I will call her if there is any more news about Richard. We were told to wait in the lobby area where Dr. Mitchell will meet us and to explain what has happened so far. When we arrive there, we also meet Anna Dawson. As we were about to sit down Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton arrived.

“Good morning. I am glad you are all here. We need to give you an update. Mr. Bryson will be getting a daily report from us as well. We need to arrange a day, perhaps Thursday or Friday and have a meeting to discuss Richard’s future. Hopefully Richard will be conscious so that he will know what is going on.”

“Have you figured out how Richard is going to communicate with us?”

“If all goes well Anna, he should be able to nod his head very slightly to give yes and no answers easily.”

“Well I suppose it is better than nothing. At least he is able to respond.”

“Yesterday we were able to able to operate on the bleeders from his internal injuries. We also checked on his secondary female organs, there was no damaged there. Fortunately there were not too many internal injuries; just a lot of cracked leg, hand and arm bones and blood vessels near them. He is in a basic body cast. The specialists arrived late yesterday, so today we will be doing the delicate operations today for his hands, fingers, the jaw, and the throat. This will take most of the morning until lunch time. We will give an update then.”

What is there to be said about surgery? In this case it is tedious and you need a steady hand to guide the bones back together. The hand and fingers were easy; you just need a lot of splints. But the jaw and throat is the trickiest. You are trying to do two tasks at once and there is only so much room available. We decided to do it in shifts. The jaw was set first to provide a frame and to keep the bones still. Then the larynx was looked at. There is no damage there. I can not believe these creeps. All of this is to just silence him. Right now his face, jaw, nose and head all wrapped giving that mummy look. Fortunately we have the air-tube down his mouth so that he won’t choke on his tongue. We did set a mouth piece in to keep his mouth open a little bit to allow for breathing and liquid foods. If he does heal enough there he should be able to talk through the mouth piece without moving the jaw. We will just need to keep on eye on the larynx and see if he can talk and swallow. If he can not, it will be with yes and no answers.

After several hours and declared today’s surgery session a success. We went at got cleaned up to go out and meet them in the waiting area.

“Well, I just want to say everything went fine. It was delicate work to reassemble the bones. We will do another set of X-rays and MRI’s later today to make sure nothing has moved. What we need to do is to set a time for a meeting with everyone either Thursday or Friday. We will not bring him around until then. I am sorry that is all we can do for him. It is now time for the healing to begin. No bed side visitors until then.”

“I know, Dr. Thornton, we are a little impatient but it does take time. Considering what we do at The Rescue Mission, it is along those same lines.”

“I will get a report together now and send it off to Mr. Bryson; he needs to be informed of the situation. Besides we need a time agreement with him also.”

“Right now we have a catheter there to relieve his bladder.”

“Oh no, I … er, uh, no I am being too selfish mom. It will be an adjustment that we will have to go through as he goes through it.”

“That’s right, Brianna. This will be an opportunity for all of us to grow and accept. We must be there for him. Remember he has no other family members to lean on.”

“I hope he has peaceful memories while he is lying there mom.”

“We all hope he does.”

“So has everybody given it some thought when it will be a good day to meet?

“It’s really any day that you choose and we will be there. We are going to be here all this week, then we will be off and on the next few weeks on rotation, Dr. Mitchell.”

“That’s fine. We will let you know what the others decided.”

“Let me give the phone number at the apartment that we were able to arrange. Here it is, I have written down several copies for everyone.” I handed them my card with the address and phone number to the Doctors and Anna. “Be sure to give the phone number to Mr. Bryson when you talk to him. He did not get it at the time we moved in. Our cell phone numbers are on there as well.”

“Thanks, Mr. Wilson. That is greatly appreciated. I am going to call him as soon as we leave here.”

“Dr. Thornton, I have a question.”

“Yes, Anna?”

“I know sometimes dogs and cats are allowed to visit the patients. They are sensitive to the patient and the patient sometimes heal faster as well.”

“That’s true, Anna. Dogs and cats are allowed to visit patients. But in this case, Richard is not fully able to interact with a pet. Are you suggesting another option?”

“I am, Dr. Thornton. Richard’s apartment has a balcony garden on the second floor. It is very lush and beautiful. It is visited by many butterflies and other flying insects. Even some of the humming birds come in to check it out when they migrate through the area.”

“That’s admirable, Anna.”

“Well, there are about four pairs of butterflies that are attached to the garden. I stopped by there yesterday, I can see they are listless and slow. I was thinking it would be nice to have these butterflies be in the recovery room. It would help them and help Richard to recover faster.”

“Butterflies? That is an unusual request.”

The Wilsons look at each other quickly and give a cryptic shrug and look of ‘I didn’t know that’ while mouthing the words to each other.

“I remember a story from Richard once, when he was in Mt. Blanc. You can talk to the butterflies, but to get a response from them, it will be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers.”

“How would you know their answer?”

“Tell them to land on the right shoulder for a ‘yes’ answer and have them land on the left shoulder for a ‘no’ answer.” She smiles at them.

Everyone chuckles and giggles and tries to imagine that in their minds.

“They would stay near the flowers to drink the nectars from them to stay charged up.”

“I remember seeing a bunch of butterflies landing on Richard at the end of the DVD. They must be consoling him. That is very interesting, Anna. Okay, I’ll allow it. This is not first time I’ve seen such a connection with animals. It might be a first for butterflies. I’ll be sure to tell the nurses not to have those flowers sprayed with insecticides. Those potted flowers in the vases come in clean anyway.”

“Thank you, Doctor. We just might find Richard healing faster with them in there.” Anna and Sarah look at each other quickly and smile at each other.

“Yes it might be, Anna.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up groggily. Uh, where am I? Why am I here at the house? I thought it was burnt down. I get up from my bed. I see that I am dressed in my school clothes when I was freshman in college. What’s this I hear, voices from downstairs? I walk down the stairs and see mom, dad, Kenny and Mike all down there watching TV and laughing.

Kenny turns around and notices me coming into the room. “Ah there is the sleepy head now. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Hi everyone! What you are all doing here? I thought you. .. You … how should I say it?”

“What?! Do you mean to say “dead”? That’s right Richard you are still asleep! God has seen to it that we get to have one more family meeting before you leave here and go on to bigger and better things,” laughs Mike.
“You’re kidding me; another family meeting?”

“That’s right son, one more meeting. This is probably not what you expected after you heard the news when God took us home.”

“No, dad. I thought I would never get to see you all together one more time. I’ve seen mom and dad on a few nights I slept.”

They all get up and start hugging me, mom kisses me on the cheek, the brothers pounded me on the back in laughter, and I hug them back. We all start to shed some tears along with the laughter. We all sit back down in the living room after awhile.

“Richard dear, I want to be first. Your dad and I want to apologize for not telling you about your medical condition after you got out of the hospital when it was discovered that you were born with an extra set of female organs. We did not want it to cause you problems while growing up.”

“That’s right Richard, if we knew that we would have ridiculed you for a few years more. But, then when God explained it to us up here, we realized that he has some big plans for you. We also realized we were wrong for teasing you during all those years. You will have to discover that new purpose in life yourself. I envy you bro’ or I should sis now.”

“Well, actually I’m both. I am still male where it counts. I have been blessed by the Creator to give birth to fairies.”

“Fairies?”

“That’s right Kenny. My title now is the Omega Unicorn.”

“Eww . . . I have a horse in the family instead of a brother.”

I stare at Kenny. “Yeah, you would say something like that, Kenny.”

Mike and Kenny give me a quirky smile.

“That was smart to put on the metal corset to protect yourself. I wished you had taken them down with your Shaolin training.”

Then all four of them say it at the same time. “Do you forgive us?”

“I...I...yes…I do forgive you all. I will do it again in a heart beat. I did it in Anna’s office when I read the medical report for the first time. And I will do it again here.”

“That’s good Richard. God is pleased with that decision. You will be stronger as you go on in life,” as mom sheds a tear.

“That’s a neat invention that you put together for your Master’s degree project. Who would have thought that our son, was able create the first working hologram projector like on Star Trek. I am glad you were to able to use it get those two idiots where I worked at. That’s good work, Richard.”

“Thanks dad. That is good to hear that compliment from you.”

“I want to apologize as well for keeping Brianna from you. But my anger got the better of me.”

“I never did forget her, dad. She has proven to be my best friend. I wished you had given me their address so that we could write to each other. Why…I… I still forgive you mom and dad.” I start to shed some tears again.

“You will have to ask Brianna for her new address when you wake up. Nothing will separate you two again. But, as you know, life is still full of tests.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“So, Richard, you have a few days’ vacation here. Why don’t we get in some sights around here and show you around.”

“Thanks, Kenny. That’s a neat idea. It will be good to be a family for a few more days.”

“Well hold onto your stomach, you are in for a wild ride. We’ll also visit our royal relatives as well.”

“You know about that, Kenny?”

“We had to tell them, Richard. You and Brianna will make a lovely couple.”

“But, I’m not ready to be the King. I’m sure Brianna is not ready either to be a Queen.”

“She isn’t, Richard.”

Then we hear a knock on the door. Dad walks to the front door and opens it. He sees his two distant relatives there.”

“Has he been told, Robert?”

“He has the read the letter we left behind. He knows his ancestry now.”

“That’s good.”

“Please come inside and say hello to my son.”

“Of course, Robert.”

Mr. Moore turns around. “Moore family, I introduce you King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.”

We all get up and bow before them.

“Rise up, everyone. Royalty doesn’t bow before royalty. You are my descendants. You don’t need to use King and Queen in the title.”

“Yes, Arthur.”

They all come inside. We greet each other hugs, handshakes and kisses on cheeks.

“So, you are Richard. That is a good name to have.”

“Yes it is, Arthur.”

“I see you have met some adversaries already. You have done well so far.”

“Thank you Arthur. I have to meet the main enemy yet.”

“Don’t worry about it, Richard. Mordred’s Legacy will be dealt with in time. You need to know a lot more than I did when I became King.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ll talk some more as the years roll along.”

“King David did offered his time and words as well.”

“That’s okay, my son. You’ll need a council of close friends for your inner circle.” He smiles at me, “I see you feigned your strength against those four employees in your company. That is good thinking to put on your armor to protect yourself.”

“Once I saw who Brent’s associates were, I knew there was something brewing in Europe. I had to let them think they are going to win. I think it was triggered when I created the 3D System.”

“Yes, they want the status quo and have their unified currency be the ruling currency. Some realized having individual currencies for each of the nations kept things in check with each other. However, gold is a better currency than paper is.”

“Yes, history has proven when gold is separated from the paper money, the worldwide debt increased rapidly.”

We continue to talk some more. The house disappears, then I’m taken on a tour of the heavens. Arthur and Guinevere introduce me to several other important people.

“Arthur, of all of the people I have met so far. I haven’t seen Merlin yet.”

“Merlin is not here in Heaven, Richard. He is still on Earth. You have met him before. The name he uses today is Dr. Russell Spellman.” He smiles at me.

I smile back, “Oh him? Now I get it.”

“Yes, he helped me as much as possible to keep me safe. He was the one who told me of Mordred’s evil plans while Guinevere was pregnant with our first born son.”

“I have met the three dragons of the rings, Arthur.”

“That’s good, my son. You will need them to reestablish my throne through you.”

“Have you met any of the Eleven Magi?”

“I met only two of them at the time. They do have a weakness, Richard. Every time they purge their supposed weaknesses at a full moon, it gets sent to a special set of clothes the wizard has in a closet.”

“A special set of clothes. . . I wonder what they are? I will tell him the next time I see him.”

After that, Kenny, Mike and I would team up with others and have grand snowball fight without getting ourselves tired out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So how is our patient doing nurse?”

“He seems to be doing fine, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Thornton. I think he is having some dreams. I hope they are good. Sometimes I see tears coming down his face, sometimes I see him trying to crack a smile. Even his heart rate goes through various different rates, from fast to slow.”

“That is fine nurse; as long as the heart does not fluctuate too widely from stopping or to arrhythmic like a heart attack.” Turning and facing Sarah. “Are you ready to call Mr. Bryson, Sarah?”

“Yes, Frank. I just finished the summary. It is almost 11:30 now. I think I will call him sometime after lunch to give him the update.”

~~~000~~~

Well it’s time to go. I will need to check in at the front desk at the apartment and get the key from the manager.

Arriving at the apartment complex I park my car and walk to the office.

“Good morning. I am Detective Dan Torres. I would like to get a key to Richard Moore’s apartment. There will be some additional people coming here about noon time. I was alerted that there might be some additional evidence inside.”

“Sure, if you will just wait a minute, I will get the magnet key card.”

Ah, here she comes. That didn’t take too long.

“Here you go detective. Be sure to return the card when you are done.”

“Thanks. I will be sure to return it.”

Well let’s go out and wait for the others. I am curious as to what Richard left for us to see.

Waiting in his car for about 10 minutes the others show up. Stepping out of the car he stands by the taped off area in front of Richard’s apartment.

~~~000~~~

Back in the hospital cafeteria, the Wilson family and Anna are having lunch together with Sarah and Dr. Thornton.

“I need to confess, Sarah. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this whole thing. As smart as Richard is and who he works for. I can not say the same thing for what those four men did to him. What it boils down to is just plain greed and power.”

“I know what you mean, Anna. But, this is the world we live in. Nothing is perfect by any means. There will always be somebody who wants to be above others.”

“Then hopefully Richard found a way to stop this madness in this corner of the world.”

“Tomorrow morning, after we go over his latest vitals, X-Rays and MRI we will let you know if you can be by his bedside.”

“Thank you, Dr. Sarah. We realize it is just a waiting period right now. He is going to be laid up in those casts for at least six weeks. We just want to be here and to let him know that his not alone anymore.”

“I appreciate your sentiments, Helen. This is just the first stage of recovery for him. There is one thing that was noticed during his examination of his female organs. From all indications, it seems he has given birth to children already.”

“How is that possible?”

Anna and Sarah look at each other quickly and nod their heads up and down slightly.

Sarah speaks up, “It is possible, Dr. Thornton. Sometimes women have become pregnant spontaneously without men. This could be a miracle birth from the Creator.”

“I forgot about that Sarah. Yes, it is possible. But the size of his womb is really small. Then the children must be small as well.”

“How big would say the children might be, Dr. Mitchell?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I was there when he gave birth to his first pair of children.”

“What? From the way you sound. He has given birth to more children.”

“He has, Dr. Thornton. He has given birth to winged fairies. He’s currently in his sixth month right now.”

“What? You mean to tell me those two babies in his womb are fairies?”

“Yes, I am, Dr. Thornton.”

Everyone starts snickering and giggling, except Anna and Sarah.

“Fairies don’t exist, Sarah.”

“If Richard if so special, what if the Creator wants to do something new and wonderful? Are we to dissect Richard and prevent the miracle from Creator from happening?”

“Now you are saying we need to let the intersexual people alone and let them decide. It has been our practice to remove the minor sex organ so the dominant one lives on.”

“I know there are individual cases that warrants that, Dr. Thornton. What if the Creator wants them to give birth to fairies as well? How will the world react to that?”

“Then it must be kept a secret as long as possible until attitudes have changed over the centuries like it has done with the TG folk in the last one hundred years.”

Anna and Sarah look at the Wilsons with intent. “Not meaning to change the subject, Larry and Helen, we were at the cabin a few years ago. We found two old books there.”

“Did you find the box?”

“We did, Larry. Richard was able to open it and confirm his heritage. Don’t worry about the items. They are still in the box. The box is in the possession of very special friend who will keep it safe until the time is right. Richard did read the letter written by his parents.”

Brianna looks at her parents for an answer.

“We’ll tell you later about the box and the books later, Brianna. You have a letter there written by us as well.”

“I guess I will have to wait until then, mom and dad. I’ll have to trust you on that.”

“You will have to trust us, my dear.

“Thank you, Sarah. Brianna do you have any questions for Anna and Sarah?”

“Well, it was pretty hard for me when you told me about Richard’s condition a few months ago. Then when I heard that Richard was found, my heart leapt for joy, but then they were tempered with what I learned. Even my emotions are confusing right now. I do not want to walk away from this chance to renew our friendship. I thought it was fun when we had our times together. I thought of him as a boy who will grow into a man. Now he is intersexual. That’s what hurting right now. What is the solution to this?”

“Well, I think what is best right now is to make sure when he wakes up is to let him know that he is not alone. We will let the records be Richard for now. Do not forget we have a big meeting on Thursday afternoon. Perhaps thinking on it for the next few days will reveal a solution that we have not thought up yet. We are all probably going to need some counseling while we are doing this. This is new territory for us as well. Brianna, try not to worry about it too much right now. There are other forces out there that want to do some harm to others. Richard’s story is just one small part of the bigger story.”

“That’s right Anna. Our main concern right now is Richard’s physical health. He has some broken bones that need healing before he can move around or even communicate with us. The healing for his soul and spirit will be later down the road.”

“I am sorry. Even with that information, which is great to hear, I do thank you for doing your best. It is just a lot of possibilities are going through my head right now.”

“Brianna, I have a question for you. What is it like on the island? Is it not like a family there?

“Oh…I see what you are saying. The ladies, they come to the island to seek refuge. They no longer have a family where they are coming from. So, The Rescue Mission is like a family that welcomes them with love and understanding. It helps them to recover and move on with life.”

“Isn’t that what Richard needs? He needs a safe environment so that he can get on with life. Of course time will tell if he will be able to continue his employment at Secure-Sys. I know Mr. Bryson would like that to happen. He is a valuable employee there. They will have to make adjustments as well if Richard returns there.”

“But if Richard and I decide to live together. Would that mean I leave the island and start all over again?”

“Well, Brianna. Those pages of the story have not been written yet. Why don’t we just take this first week as for starters and make it through. Then we will tackle the next week, one day at a time. That is all that we can ask for. We are not given the ability to look into the future. But we can try and plan for it.”

“Well, okay. I think I can do that at least. To be here when he wakes up.”

“That’s the spirit Brianna. Take it one day a time. You will have to excuse me everybody. I need to make a call to Mr. Bryson and give him an update. How about we meet here in the first floor lobby area tomorrow morning around 9 AM, by that time we will have the examination of him done. If everything is okay, we will let you sit by the bed in the morning for about an hour and one hour in the afternoon.”

“Thank you, Sarah.”

They all get up and clear off the table and walk out to the lobby area in front of the cafeteria. Sarah walks to her temporary office.

“Well I just thought of something to do this afternoon. Why don’t we take a ride around town, see the beach and the sights? How about we have a dinner near the beach? You are welcome to come along Anna.”

“Thank you, Larry, but not today. Perhaps tomorrow I can go out with you all. I have some work to do that needs to be done today and tomorrow morning. How about I meet you here for lunch and the afternoon bedside session, is that okay?”

“Sure, that is great, meet you here tomorrow.

“Goodbye Anna.”

~~~000~~~

Ring…Ring…”This is Secure-Sys. How can I direct your call?”

“Yes, my name is Dr. Sarah Mitchell; I need to speak with Mr. Bryson.”

“Yes, Mr. Bryson is here this afternoon. Let me direct you to his secretary.”

“Thank you. I will hold,” pushing a button Cheryl reaches Linda.

“Hello Linda, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold.”

“Thank you Cheryl, I will pick it up here. …. Hello, is this Dr. Sarah Mitchell? I am Linda Thompson, Mr. Bryson’s Secretary.”

“Yes, thank you. Is he available? I have an update on Richard.”

“Yes, thank you for getting it ready, he has been expecting it. Let me send you through.” She pushes a button. “Hello Mr. Bryson, I have Dr. Sarah Mitchell on hold. She has an update on Richard.”

“Thank you Linda, I will take it from here.”

“Yes sir, she is on line 3 that is flashing now.”

“Line 3, thank you Linda.” Robert pushes the Line 3 button. “Hello Dr. Mitchell, this is Robert Bryson, CEO of Secure-Sys, I understand you have an update on Richard?”

“Yes, I do sir. I am glad to report he is doing fine despite his injuries. Yesterday, we were able to remove his metal armor so we can do the CAT scans. We went into to stop the internal bleeding in his legs and arms. We also re-aligned only one bone in the leg and one in his arm. His previous injuries that he had when he was eight held up and did not fracture. Then his arms and legs are put in a strap cast. This morning we did the delicate operation of his hands, jaw and throat. There was only one stress fracture line found in the jaw. There was no damage to the larynx fortunately. It is the hands we are concerned about.”

“Can he be available to talk to us on Thursday and Friday?”

“It’s possible, Mr. Bryson. We are planning to bring him to consciousness so that we can discuss what to do next.”

“We are having a meeting Thursday morning downtown with the AG and the police detective to discuss some other issues that I will not say now. But it does concern Richard in the end. There are other developments that will be happening. I am beginning to think we all can come down that Thursday afternoon and we will meet with you and everyone else who needs to be there.”

“That sounds wonderful, Mr. Bryson. What would be an appropriate time?”

“We should be done about 12 noon. How does 2 PM sound?”

“That’s a good time. I will set up a conference room for all of us;
hopefully Richard will be coherent enough to know what is going on. We will make sure before you all arrive.”

“That is fine. See then at 2 PM on Thursday.”

“See you at 2 PM.”

Click.

~~~000~~~

Dad drove us back to our apartment so we can change into more comfortable clothing suitable for a beach walk, such as beach towels, beach shoes, etc. We have no intention of swimming today, but just to get our feet wet in the surf. We drive around and take in the sites around Jacksonville. We see the Gator Bowl, a few old homes in the historic district. We even walk around downtown and window shop. After a few hours of that, we left for the beaches. My mom and dad have not been to an ocean beach for quite a long time. It turned out to be a nice break for all of us and get ourselves recharged. We will definitely be doing this a few times while we are here.

We arrive at Jacksonville Beach around 5 PM. We found a parking spot with no problems. It is not the height of the tourist season. This makes the beaches pretty quiet with few people out enjoying this beautiful day.

After walking around, I did get the usual looks from some guys, which is not too bad. Except for a few hellos, most of them stayed away because of mom and dad being present. I acknowledged them with a smile and continue walking on. I was not in the mood to doing any flirting during this trip. I just want to be with mom and dad now. So after a while we laid down our blankets and soak up some late afternoon sun. Seeing the sunset was gorgeous as it set behind us and changed the color of the sky and clouds. After seeing the sunset, we went and had a nice late dinner at one of the beach side restaurants.

We get back to our apartment later that evening and turn ourselves in. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully all will be well and we will be able to sit bedside with Richard.

Chapter 6 Wednesday morning at Secure-Sys