3
The Deep, Blue Sky
The Following takes place day 7 starting at 7:30pm
Karen Hayes hummed softly to herself as she chopped up vegetables. She glanced up at the wall clock which read 7:30pm. She frowned, put down the knife, and picked up her cell phone. No messages. That was weird. Bill always called her every night at 6pm and he still hadn't? Karen shrugged to herself, remembering the day that he had forgotten to call entirely. She had freaked out, and he'd told her not to worry some days he might not get the opportunity to make a call. Besides it was only seven thirty. There was still time.
Karen finished making dinner and sat down at the table, alone. She could hear the clock ticking behind her head and the neighbors walking by with their dog. She sighed and looked down at the phone. She set the fork down, picked up the phone and dialed the number. It rang ten times before the voicemail picked up. "You've reached Bill Buchanan's phone. Leave a message at the beep and I'll return the call." "Hey honey, it's me. It's about 7:30pm on Wednesday and I was just wondering if everything was alright. I know you told me not to worry but I really miss you can you just call me as soon as you get this? Thanks." Karen hung up and put her dishes in the dishwasher.
She went and sat down on the couch and opened her book placing the cell phone beside her. At around 12:00am she dozed off and was startled awake by a pounding on her door. Karen sat up quickly and looked over at the clock. 9:00 am. "What?!" She jumped up and grabbed her phone which still read no new messages. She smoothed down her hair and called out. "Who's there?!"
"Secret Service!" was her answer. Karen took a sharp breath in and walked over slowly to the door, peeking through. Two men in secret service uniforms stood there, looking extremely impatient. Karen calmly unlatched the door and poked her head out. "May I help you?"
One of the men cleared his throat. "Yes, are you Karen Hayes, the wife of Bill Buchanan?"
Karen's heart dropped her to stomach and she opened the door a little further. "Yes I am."
"We are sorry ma'am, but your husband died last night during the raid on the White House."
"What?!" Karen seemed to forget to breathe. "What raid on the White House, when did this occur?"
"At approximately 8:00pm last night ma'am."
Karen looked at the two men and managed to croak, "I was reading until midnight and then fell asleep. I had no idea about this at all. I don't…know what to say."
"Actually we need you to confirm the pictures we have of his body. All the bodies were removed by 9:00pm last evening but with all the terrorist attacks that have occurred since last night we are just now getting to all the families.
Karen shook her head. "I…I'm sorry…I'm just not processing this right now. Do you think you could come later?" Karen felt a squeezing in her chest and was afraid she would stop breathing. The world was spinning around her and she had to place a hand on the doorframe to keep from passing out.
The one man glanced at his partner. "I'm sorry ma'am but we have over twenty families to visit. It would be much easier if you could just confirm the pictures for us so we can move on; logistics can be cleared up later after you have had time to mourn." The speaker took out a picture and handed it to Karen before she had time to speak. The picture of Bill showed him lying on his side, in the doorway of a safe room in the White House. His eyes had been closed but his face was torn apart where the bomb had hit him.
Karen moaned and tasted vomit in her mouth. She turned away and handed the photo back to the men, nodding.
"Again, we are very sorry for your loss ma'am. And we're sorry this has to be done this way but there are so many casualties to deal with."
Karen tried to speak but nothing came out. She opened her mouth and merely nodded. She shut the door and leaned her back against it looking up at the ceiling. She could feel hot teats springing up behind her eyes and she angrily wiped her face and stood up straight. "No! I'm not gonna get upset. I'm not! Bill would want me to remain calm." Suddenly Karen heard a beeping and she dashed into the living room. Her phone beeped and displayed one new message. "You have one new message, sent at 8:10pm received at 9:08am," the computer recited. Karen picked up the cellphone and hit the voicemail button. "Hey Karen, its Bill. I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to respond to your calls but so much has been going on right now… I'm in the White House. An attack here is imminent and I'm already stealing time away to call you. I just want you to know that I love you so much and if something happens to me I will ALWAYS be with you. Gotta go bye." The phone clicked.
Karen looked down at it for a couple of minutes. "Stupid, damn PHONE!" She screamed, closed the phone and threw it across the room. She stood there breathing heavily for what seemed like hours before she could move her muscles again. Karen plopped down on the couch and turned the television on. Every normal channel had an emergency broadcast signal with the news regarding the attack on the White House, the status of President Taylor, and the bio threat.
At 8pm that night Karen had not moved from her spot on the couch. She glanced up at the clock again and suddenly felt tired. She got up walked over to the phone, picked it up, and played the message again. And again. And again; before sitting back down on the couch and turning the television off.
Before she knew it there was another rap on her door. She sat up quickly and called out "Who's there!"
"It's Bill!!"
"Bill!" She screamed, jumped up, and ran into the other room opening the door quickly. Bill stood at the door with his bags in his hand. Karen threw her arms around his neck. "Oh Bill, you're home. They told me that you were dead. I knew it wasn't true!" She let go and looked up. "Bill?" Suddenly, he collapsed into her arms and she fell down from the weight. He was lying on her, on his side, dead. Karen gasped and tried to get up but she couldn't. His dead body was stuck on her. "Help!" Karen tried to yell. "Help! Bill! Please!! Please!" She burst into tears and began to thrash around.
Karen startled awake and sat up quickly, sweating. She got up and ran into the bathroom just making it before vomiting in the toilet. She sat up, went back over to the couch, shaking. "This can't be happening to me. This can't be happening to me." She choked up and felt a lump of tears. "No!" She stood up. "No crying!" She yelled.
She trudged up the steps and turned on the light in their room. She walked over to his dresser and opened up the top compartment. She gently touched his shirts and then carefully picked one out. She went over to the bed, lay down on her side, and wrapped the shirt around herself breathing it in.
Before Karen knew it she was dreaming again. Karen turned over in bed to see Bill standing in the doorway. "Bill! You're back!" He stepped inside the room and grinned his boyish smile. "Yup. But I tried to call you and you didn't answer. Why didn't you answer?"
"I didn't get the message until this morning." Karen sat up and looked at him. "But what's the big deal? You're right here."
"It's your fault Karen!" He pointed at her. "Why didn't you answer the phone? It's too late now because of you!" He suddenly collapsed and she ran up to him, but he was dead.
Karen sat up in bed again, shaking. She looked over at the clock which read 11:00pm. Karen sat with her head against the board. "Bill?" She whispered. Silence answered her. "Bill?!" She called louder this time. Still there was no answer. Karen picked up her cell phone again and listened to his message to keep herself awake. She couldn't go back to sleep. She just couldn't.
The next morning at 8am Karen sat at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. She felt exhausted. She opened the pantry but the sight of food made her feel sick. Her phone suddenly rang and she opened it quickly. "Hayes."
"Ummmm…Ms. Hayes? This is Chloe O'Brian."
"Oh…hi Chloe. Do you need something?"
"Actually…uuhh…I was wondering if you needed something. I could go get you some food or run an errand or something if you need it."
Karen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you Chloe. But I'm okay really."
"Are you sure? You know I could come over or something because Morris could just watch Prescott and…"
"That's okay Chloe. I really just want to be by myself right now."
"Oh okay." There was a pause. "You have this number right?"
"Yes Chloe."
"Okay then." Chloe hung up and Karen sat staring at the phone for a couple of minutes before returning to the paper. At around noon the doorbell rang. Karen sat up quickly and turned to face the door, fearfully. "Who is it?"
"The President."
Karen bolted to the door and opened it. President Allison Taylor, Ex-Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce, and about 20 secret service agents stood in front of her house. "Come in, ma'am please."
"Thank you Karen." Allison smiled and walked in, followed by Aaron and three bodyguards. "May I sit down here?" She pointed at the wrinkled couch.
Karen nodded and sat in the chair across from her. "What can I do for you?"
"Actually, Karen, I have been making my personal rounds to all the families that lost loved ones in the attack on the White House two days ago. I'm just sorry it has taken me this long to get to you but this was a special visit."
Karen nodded.
"I just wanted you to know that Bill died saving my life. He created an explosion that caused the death of Benjamin Juma's men so that Aaron Pierce and Jack Bauer could get my daughter, me, and the rest of the agents to safety. He is a national hero."
Karen looked up at Allison and blinked. "It really means a lot for you to come. Thank you."
Allison frowned at Karen, glanced at Aaron, and looked back. "You don't look so upset…" she said cautiously.
Karen sniffed. "I do not believe it is respectful of Bill to be crying or getting upset. He would have wanted me to move on and deal with the emotion. I'm honoring his memory."
Allison stood up and walked over to Karen. She took her hands and lifted Karen from her seat. "Karen, coming from a woman who has lost her son, I know what it feels like to lose someone you love. It hurts. But it is okay to mourn. From what I know of Bill he was a noble man, but very sensible. I don't think that he would want you to deal with this pain alone."
Karen withdrew her hands. "Thank you for your concern Madame President, but I am alright. I am a strong woman I can deal with suffering. I made it 47 years of my life without Bill Buchanan I can make it now."
Allison frowned and turned to Aaron before looking back at Karen, tears glistening in her eyes. "Well, my heart is with you Karen. Here is my personal number. If you need anything at all, call me and I will be happy to help." She turned and walked back to the door.
Aaron turned to Karen. "There is something I think you should have." He reached into his pocket and pulled out Bill's silver wedding ring and handed it to Karen.
She gently took it and looked up at Aaron. The lump in her throat seemed almost uncontainable but she swallowed hard and squeezed it down to her stomach. "Thank you."
Aaron nodded and gently touched her arm before following the president out the door.
Karen looked down at the ring and nearly fainted. She quickly sat down. Her stomach churned within her and a sharp pain had formed in her chest. She kept swallowing to keep back the tears that were fighting to be let out. The lump reappeared in her throat and this time would not go away. Exhausted, Karen put her head in her hands and nearly dozed off. She quickly pulled her head up and went in the other room to make another pot of coffee. Going upstairs she opened her jewelry case and took out the necklace Bill had gotten her for their five year anniversary. She looped his ring on it and placed it around her neck before going back downstairs.
At 10:00am the next morning Karen was a wreck. She had thrown up five more times during the night and still hadn't eaten anything. The lump in her throat was getting worse, and despite her empty stomach, it continued to churn like a storm at sea. She had listened to the message from Bill so many times that it was engrained within her brain and the coffee had stopped helping.
Karen put her head in her hands at the table. "Why Bill?! Why did you do this to me? Why did you leave me?!" She suddenly sat up angered and picked up her coffee mug throwing it against the wall. It shattered and coffee went everywhere. "WHY?!" She picked up a candle holder and chucked it at the wall as well. "YOU PROMISED TO ALWAYS STAY WITH ME!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, picked up her cell phone and threw it in the other direction. "DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!" This time it hit the wall and shattered into a couple of pieces.
Karen stopped. She ran over to the pieces of the phone and kneeled on the floor. She hurriedly tried to put them together. But the phone wouldn't turn on. Panicked, she took it apart and reassembled it. But it was no use. The phone was dead.
Karen couldn't take it anymore. It seemed as if tears exploded from her eyes and her core. The lump in her throat was joined by the lump in her stomach and the pain in her chest. She collapsed completely on the floor, her entire body shaking with sobs as she cradled the phone. "Bill" she choked out. "Bill…come back. Please. Please come back. I love you. Why did you leave me? I need you. I…need…you." She could barely speak anymore but just rocked back and forth as her tears continued to flow and she held the phone. Her breathing came more slowly and more infrequently as she continued to sob. Could a heart really, physically break? Karen felt as if her entire chest had been ripped in half: one half was with her and the other was missing. Just when she thought she would fall apart, two strong arms gently lifted her and carried her towards the stairs. That's when everything went black.
Karen slowly opened her eyes but it hurt. Her eyes were swollen red and her head ached very badly. Her limbs felt paralyzed and it took her a second to realize she was in her bed. She looked over to see a red haired man leaning on his knees staring at her with a concerned look on his face.
Karen gasped. "Who are you? What do you want?" But she had to stop talking because it made her head pound more.
The man walked closer and Karen recognized him as Aaron Pierce. "Aaron Pierce?" Karen questioned. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Aaron pulled up a chair and sat down at the edge of the bed. "After what happened I thought I'd better come check on you. As I came up to the door I heard screaming inside and grew concerned. By the time I picked the lock and got inside you were lying on the floor crying so hard…" Aaron cleared his throat and looked away. He turned back, but his eyes looked wet. "Bill loved you so much. He talked about you all the time and I remember feeling jealous that I no longer had that…" Aaron took a deep breath and looked down at Karen. "I want to help you. I don't think that you should be on your own right now."
Karen placed her hands on Aaron's hands and sat up. She tried to hold back the tears but it didn't work. They slid down her face as she choked through her sentence. "I thought I could deal with this myself. And I…can't." Her voice broke. "He was everything to me. Everything. After we met…I don't know how I lived without him. I hear his voice wherever I go and I see him wherever I stand. It hurts so much." She couldn't go on.
Aaron hugged her. "It took me a year before I could think about Martha without hurting. But he will always be with you, remember that okay?" Aaron attempted not to cry but tears also leaked from his eyes. He looked down at her. "The best thing you can do right now is to take care of yourself and let others help you."
Karen nodded and slowly got out of bed. "If you don't think it's too weird, do you mind staying with me for a couple of days?"
Aaron nodded. "Absolutely."
Karen's head began to clear and she walked over to the window. The sky was dark blue, the color of Bill's eyes. "You know Aaron? Every time I looked at the sky I always thought of Bill. It's so deep, beautiful, wonderful…and blue." She turned to look at him. "And now I can see him all the time."
Aaron nodded and Karen smiled for the first time in days. She turned back to look at the sky. She could have sworn she saw Bills face in the sky, looking down at her with that boyish grin.