The Raid
FBI Special Agent Colby Granger suits up in his tactical uniform, getting ready to perform a raid at a warehouse with the SWAT/HRT team. Colby meets up with Tim King, the team lead for SWAT, both agents walk out of the downtown LA field office into the waiting FBI's black SUV in the parking lot. They drive to the warehouse, the team surrounding the building. Tim King counts to three on his fingers, when he gets to three, the team makes entry. Colby enters through the door, walking down the hallway, he turns at the first door, turning he sees a young girl with a rifle in her hands, pointing it at him, Colby yells, "FBI, put the gun down, now." The girl puts her finger in the trigger when Colby shoots his own gun, killing the girl. Turning away from the room, Colby continues walking down the hall, stepping onto another room, he sees a woman holding up another hand gun ready to pull the trigger, Colby hesitates for a moment, allowing the woman to get off a shot, hitting Colby in the vest, staggering back for a moment, he gets his wits back together before pulling his own trigger, killing the woman. Colby turns back around, heading back into the hallway, walking down to the end of the hallway, turns right, going into the end room, looking around, the agent crept slowly through the room, seeing a closet on the opposite side of the room, Colby stands next to the door, slowly opening the door, a young boy barrels out of the closet with a grenade in his hand, listening to King in his ear piece, Colby gives a sit-rep, "King, in the backroom, young boy with a grenade." Listening to King ordering another entry into the warehouse, Colby whispers into his microphone, "No go, too dangerous, keep a perimeter outside." Colby raises his gun up to the kid, "my name is Colby, what's yours?" The kid stays silent, "the only way you'll get out of here alive is to slowly put the grenade on the floor and walk out with me." The kid pulls the pin out of the grenade, Colby walks slowly backwards out of the door into the hallway, the room eerily silent, the agent keeps walking down the hallway when he hears an object dropping to the ground, hearing the explosion, Colby gets blown forwards onto the floor of the hallway, everything ringing in his ears, the room getting smoky, and someone yelling his name, before everything goes dark.
Colby slowly come back into consciousness, hearing voices above him, taking a moment to distinguish the different voices, though he does recognize Agent King, slowly becoming more alert, Colby recognizes men in jackets that says FDLA, realizing that they're firefighters and that the paramedics are the ones who are surrounding and talking to him. Colby attempted to sit up but someone pushes him back down, people yelling above him, feeling a neck brace being put around his neck, Colby once again tries to push the medics away, however someone grabs his arms, keeping him still on the floor while the paramedics work in him. Feeling a pinch on his hand, he knows that they are putting an IV in his hand, feeling something cold go through his veins, he hadn't realize how much pain in had seemed to be in until that moment, but with the pain meds going through him, his back doesn't feel like it's on fire anymore nor does it fell like an elephant is sitting on his chest anymore, he feels the medics roll him onto his side, pushing a back board underneath him, the medics gently roll him back over on the board, then strapping him onto the board, he then feels being lifted up and getting put on the stretcher. The medics roll him out of the warehouse into the bright sun, amplifying his headache, he gets put in the ack of an ambulance, with one of the medics jumping into the back with him and the other going up to the driver's seat. The driver taking off to UCLA Medical Center, whilst the rest of the firefighters and SWAT members finish up at the warehouse.
SWAT leader Tim King stands outside of the warehouse dreading the all he is about to make to Agent Granger's boss Special Agent Don Eppes of the FBI's Violent Crimes Unit. Standing outside, King opens up his cell and punches in the numbers for Eppes cell, hearing the ringing, King waits until Eppes picks up, "This is Eppes."
"Eppes, its King, Granger got hurt on the raid, he's going to UCLA Medical Center."
"What happened?"
"One of the suspects had a grenade, Granger wasn't able to get away fast enough from the blast, he got through forward further into the hallway."
"How was he?"
"He was unconscious for a few minutes before the medics got to him, he came too, we had to keep him still until the medics was able to get him strapped to the back board."
"What about the suspect?"
"The firefighters are still trying to clear away the rubble but my preliminary opinion is that the suspect dies when he had pulled the pin off of the grenade. We won't know for sure until we get a full statement from Agent Granger, though I'm not sure how much he would know?"
"Why would you say that?"
"From Agent Granger's position when we found him, he was already out in the hallway when the grenade went off, he was thrown further down the hallway with the blast."
"They're still processing the scene, right?"
"Yeah, it'll be a little while until they're finished. You should go check on Granger."
"Yeah, thanks King for the update. See you back at the office." Agent Eppes hangs up with Agent King and jumps into his black SUV to go to the hospital.
Agent Eppes arrives at UCLA Medical Center, parking his car in the closest visitor spot that he could find, he gets out of his car and walks through the sliding glass doors, only to see his father, Alan Eppes already talking to a Doctor. Don walks up to them while Alan makes the introductions, "Doctor, this is my son as well as Agent Granger's team leader Don Eppes, son, this is Doctor Antonia Dearborne, she is the doctor who is working on Colby." The two of them shakes hands before Don askes, "how's my agent?"
"Agent Granger is already in peak physical condition, however, Agent Granger took a round to the vest, which has left a contusion on his lung which is making it difficult for him to breathe so we have him on an oxygen mask. He also took a blow to the head; he is currently up in radiology to get a more thorough picture of what's going on. Agent Granger will be admitted overnight, under observation for any serious head injuries, otherwise, if everything checks out, he would be able to leave tomorrow afternoon."
"Thank you doctor."
"Of course, Agent Eppes, if you have any more questions, have one of the nurses' page me, other than that, Agent Granger should be settled into his own room in about an hour."
"ok, but if you could, Agent Granger's parents are in Idaho and I'm Colby's medical proxy, any information you have regarding Colby's injuries, can you relay it to my dad."
"Of course, I can."
"Thank you again Doctor, I have to get back to the office."
"Of course, Agent Eppes." The two of them shakes hands and Agent Eppes turns around and leaves the hospital. Getting back to the parking lot, Eppes finds his car, gets in and drives away and back to the office.
Agent Eppes arrives at the FBI's LA Field Office about an hour after leaving the hospital, he takes the elevator up to his floor, getting off, he sees SWAT leader Agent King standing by his desk, Eppes walks up to King and shakes his hand, taking his seat, Eppes askes, "does the techs have anything from the scene yet?"
"Yeah, the firefighters were able to clear away the debris, the suspect looked to be a ten-year-old male, he had a handgun in his hand as well as the grenade, the kid died on impact from the explosion as the grenade was right by his feet."
"Colby had a bullet entry in his best, is it possible that the kid shot at Colby first before dropping the grenade?"
"No, the techs who had handled the gun reported back that it had not been fired, the gun also had all of its rounds in the magazine plus the one in the barrel, and there weren't any extra magazines at the scene."
"Then how did Colby get the gunshot wound?"
"Most likely from one of the other subjects, the lab retrieved the bullet from the hospital and they're comparing the casings and the bullets still in the magazine of the other shooters guns to determine the bullet that had hit Granger."
"Ok, thanks, keep me updated."
"Of course, Eppes, but it might take a few days." Agent King walks away from the cubicle, while Agent Reeves and Sinclair, two of the other agents that's also on Eppes team comes over. Agent Sinclair asks, "how's Granger?"
"Colby should be fine, he has to stay at the hospital overnight for observation, but if everything checks out, he'll be able to leave tomorrow afternoon."
"That's good. What about the investigation of the raid at the warehouse?"
"Only preliminary results, the techs are still analyzing the evidence at the scene."
"Do you know when they'll have the results back?"
"A couple of days, perhaps a week. There was a lot of evidence left at the warehouse."
"Good, do you know what the raid was for?"
"We had gotten intel that there was an extremist group plotting to attack somewhere in Los Angeles, that tip pointed the team the warehouse and it was confirmed that there was a group there plotting something. SWAT was assigned to the raid to gather more intelligence; their main goal was to arrest as many of the suspects alive."
"How many were they able to arrest?"
"Quite a few actually, they were able to arrest six alive, two more are in the hospital with various injuries and only four were killed, including the boy who had the grenade."
"Do we know who shot who at the warehouse?"
"It's already been confirmed that Colby shot and killed two of the suspects, it's also the theory that one of them had managed to get off the shot that hit Colby in the vest. The other suspect was shot and killed by one of the other agents on the team, he had already written up his statement."
"Ok, what now?"
"Now we just have to wait until Colby wakes and we can get his statement, and we let the CSI's finish with their investigation."
"I just want to know what happened; it should have been a routine raid."
"Raids are never routine, we both know that, and we will know soon enough, we just need to be patient and wait for the results."
"And Colby's at UCLA Medical Center, right?"
'Yeah, he's allowed visitors until visitation hours are over, my dad should be with him now."
"I guess I'll go over there now to check up on him." Agent Sinclair leaves the bullpen, whilst both Eppes and Reeves goes back to their desks to work.
David walks in the UCLA Medical Center, walking down the hallway towards Agent Granger's room, he sees Mr. Eppes standing next to a doctor. Mr. Eppes looks up and sees David walking towards him, Alan holds up his hand to make David stop and introduces him the doctor, "David, this is Doctor Dearborne, Colby's doctor."
"Nice to meet you Doctor, I'm Agent David Sinclair, Colby is my partner."
"It's nice to meet you as well. I was about to inform Alan about Agent Granger's condition."
"How is he?"
"We got the results back from Radiology, Agent Granger does have some swelling in the brain, we will start him on corticosteroids."
"Wait, what does that mean?"
"Swelling in the brain is also known as a cerebral edema and can occur in specific locations or throughout the brain. Wherever it occurs, brain swelling increases pressure inside the skull, this pressure can prevent blood flowing to the brain, which deprives if of the oxygen it needs to function, it can also block other fluids from leaving the brain. To reduce the swelling, we can use a combination of several different treatments, one of which is medication. We will also be keeping Colby on oxygen to help reduce the swelling."
"How long does it typically take for the swelling to go down?"
"A lot of the times, it is dependent on the patient with how long it will take to reduce the swelling, it could be a few hours to a few days."
"What if it takes longer than a few days?"
"Then we'll look into an alternative treatment option, but I can tell you that we are not there yet. Also, Agent Granger's swelling is on the minor side, he is also in peak physical condition, he is young and healthy, all of these factors makes Colby's recovery all the more likely. I suggest to sit with Agent Granger and be patient."
"Thank you Doctor."
"Of course. The nurses will also be coming in to check on Agent Granger from time to time, ok."
"Ok, thank you again Doctor." With that, the doctor walks down the hallway while David goes into Colby's room and sits in the chair that is situated in the corner. Meanwhile, Alan walks down to the nearest nurses' desk and calls his son, Agent Don Eppes.
Don snaps his phone shut and walks over to Agent Reeves desk, "that was my dad, Colby is still unconscious, he has a lung contusion as well as swelling in the brain."
"What are the doctors doing to help Colby?"
"They have him on an oxygen mask still, they are also giving him corticosteroids to help reduce the swelling."
"Do they know when he'll wake up?"
"No, dad says it could be a few hours to a few days, we just have to be patient."
"Ok," Megan looks pass Don and sees Agent King walking towards them, she gathers up some folders from her desk, standing up, "I need to make some copies." Megan leaves the area, nodding towards Agent King on her way pay him, Agent Eppes goes back to his desk, while King leans against the desk, "the techs came back with more results from the raid Don."
"Ok, what are the results?"
"Doesn't look like the kid had a gun, just the grenade and according to the ME, he was killed instantly when the blast went off. The techs were able to match the bullet from one the other guns, a young woman, perhaps around nineteen or twenty was holding a handgun in her hand, the bullet matched the striations from the gun."
"Ok, were you able to talk to the woman?"
"No, she was killed by Agent Granger in the raid, she was the only person that was in the room."
"Ok, was there anything else that the techs were able to determine?"
"No, all we need now is Agent Granger's statement then we should be able to wrap up everything."
"Did you get everyone that you wanted?"
"We did; besides Agent Granger's injuries, the raid was a success."
"That's good. Thank you, King."
"No problem Eppes, Grangers a good man. Good luck."
"You too," King walks away from the desk. Leaning back into his chair, Eppes heaves a sign and rubs his face, "tough day?" Megan walks up startling Don, setting down a cup of black coffee in the desk, Megan walks back to her own desk, carrying her own cup of coffee, "well, what did King want?"
"Had an update in the case."
"Ok, anything important?"
"Not really, the kid died instantly, wasn't the one who shot Granger. Another suspect in one of the other rooms managed to get a shot off at Granger."
"Well, I'm done with these reports."
"You going home or are you going to see Granger?"
"To the hospital first, want to see Colby myself before going home. What about you?"
"I have a meeting with the Assistant Director first before leaving, but I'm going to stop by the University to tell Charlie and Amita about what happened, then heading to the hospital."
"Ok, see you later." Megan gathers up her belongings, walking out of the cubicle towards the elevator on her way to the hospital.
Don Eppes walks up to the mathematics building at CalSci on his way to his brothers, Dr. Charlie Eppes office. Walking down the hallway, standing outside of the door, hearing laughter inside, grabs a hold of the door knob and turns it, opening the door. Standing around a cluttered desk laughing are Dr. Charlie Eppes, Dr. Amita Ramanujan and Dr. Larry Fleinhart. All three professors turn to see Don standing slightly inside the doorway, "what's up Don? Got a case?" Charlie asks. Don walks further into the classroom, "no," Don takes a deep breathe, "Colby is in the hospital."
"How?"
"FBI raid this morning, Colby got hit in the vest as well as got caught in a blast from a grenade."
"How is he?"
"He got a lung contusion and has some swelling in the brain. They have him on medication and an oxygen mask. The doctors are expecting him to stay unconscious for a few days."
"Is dad with Colby?"
"Yeah, as well as David. Megan should be there already and I'm about to go there now."
"Then we'll go too." Charlie grabs his things, while Amita and Larry grabs their own stuff, "ok, they're at UCLA Medical Center." All four leaves the classroom, getting to the parking lot, the three professors get into Charlie's car, meanwhile, Don goes to his black SUV, getting in it. Starting up the engines, both cars leaves the University parking lot. Taking about forty-five minutes to get to the hospital, they walk into the medical center and down the hallway to Colby's room, seeing Megan already arrived. They all gather inside the room, Megan and Amita going to the couch under the window and the others sitting in the chairs that are scattered around the room, waiting for Colby to wake up.
Six Weeks Later:
Agent Colby Granger walks into the Federal Building, where the FBI's LA field offices is located in, taking off his sunglasses, Agent Granger goes through the metal detectors, stopping in front of the elevators, he sees both Agent Sinclair and Reeves come up next to him, also waiting for the elevator. The elevator opens up and the three agents step into the empty chute. They go up to the floor that hosts the FBI's Violent Crimes Squad, the elevator door opening, the three agents come upon a group of Agents clapping. Agent Granger starts walking towards his cubicle, with various agents welcoming him back. Agent Granger being gone for six weeks due to his injuries, with his stay in the hospital lasting about two weeks and being at home for the last four weeks of his medical leave, being cleared medically to go back to work just the past Wednesday and requalifying to get back into the field on Friday. Once Agent Granger reaches his desk, he sits down in his chair, starts up his computer, ready to go back to work.
The End!