WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
by ardavenport
- - - Part 4
"Hmmmmmm." The other man in a gray suit - - he was called Agent Marsh - - finished scribbling in his note pad. "I think that's everything." He nodded toward Corrigan who agreed.
"I think, so. We won't need to trouble you any longer. Thank-you for your cooperation."
Roy kept his expression neutral, but Johnny openly sneered at them. "I can't believe you two."
"And what is that, Mr. Gage?"
"You." He pointed back at Corrigan. "Both of you. You're just going to cover this up?"
Corrigan sighed in mock patience. "I had hoped that I wouldn't have to repeat myself." He glanced Roy's way. "To either of you. But it has been decided that it is in the public's best interests that this 'incident' not be announced."
"You mean covered up."
Corrigan remained calm. He had all the power. And he knew it. "If you choose to call it that, Mr. Gage, I have no objection. As long as you do so privately. We certainly appreciate your cooperation in not starting a public panic. This hospitals administrator agrees with us. Along with the Fire Chief, the County Board of Supervisors. And the Governor's office. Now, if you'll excuse us."
"Y'know." Corrigan and Marsh paused at the door. Roy folded his arms before him. "People don't trust their government like they used to these days. And I'm finally starting to understand why."
Roy thought he saw a repressed flinch from Marsh at least before they both left.
Early and Brackett came back in.
"I don't believe those guys. I don't believe those guys!" Johnny's voice rose in outrage.
Brackett, standing by his bedside again, shook his head. "I didn't believe it either until I got a call from the hospital administrator at three in the morning. And then from the Governor's office."
Roy looked up at him. Brackett's face looked haggard and sleepless, blue eyes bloodshot, his black hair not so neatly combed.
"It goes that high?"
"To be honest with you, Roy. I strongly suspect that it goes a lot higher. I didn't ask. I'd recommend that you don't ask either."
Johnny wasn't satisfied. "Well, what happened to the people who died? Are they just going to get covered up, too?"
"Well, that building has been cordoned off and condemned. The official story is illegal storage of banned pesticides. Which I suppose is close enough to the truth. The Army is doing the autopsy on the bodies you found."
That surprised Roy. "The Army?"
"Given the circumstances, it was understandably too dangerous for anyone to do it here or at the coroner's office. The Army at least has prepared for hazards like that."
"Well, who were they?"
Early shook his head to Johnny's question. "We don't know. Those two who just left wouldn't say. And they were pretty heavy handed about discouraging anyone from asking."
Brackett made a sour face. "They showed up last night while we were treating you. Practically gave everyone the third degree about what they knew. And threatened them with losing their jobs if they repeated anything but the 'official' story about what happened. And they made damn sure that there wasn't any evidence left in case anyone wanted to say otherwise."
"They took the tape from the bay station and changed all the charts." Early sounded resigned.
Roy knew how he felt. "And they burned everything we had."
"It's not right." They all looked toward Johnny. "It's not right."
Brackett irritably challenged him. "So, are you planning on going public with this?"
"Nope." Johnny shook his head. "But it's still not right. I mean, if something like this happens again, a lot more people could get killed and they'd never know what hit 'em. We were just lucky."
"Yeah, Doc, I was wondering. . . . how did you know how to treat something like this anyway?" Roy also wanted to get off the uncomfortable subject of what could befall them if they said anything in public about what really happened. "I mean, we don't get a lot of nerve gas attacks around here."
"Well, most nerve agents are chemically similar to a lot of modern pesticides. All the information we get about treating pesticide poisoning always seem to mention nerve gases in the footnotes. Along with the fact that atropine is the antidote for most of them, including sarin."
"How bad is it?" Roy stared up at Brackett, a man not known for skimping on the truth. He folded his arms.
"It's about five-hundred times more toxic than cyanide. One drop on your skin is enough to kill you in minutes."
That silenced even Johnny. Brackett took his pen light out of the pocket of his white lab coat. "Now lets have a look at you two."
Brackett looked at their most general vital signs, listened to their breathing. Early checked them neurologically, sight, reflexes and any signed of tremors. They didn't find anything and Brackett said he would sign their releases for that afternoon as the two doctors left.
After that, a nurse came in with breakfast trays. Orange juice, milk, pale scrambled eggs and a big splat of tasteless oatmeal for both of them. Johnny curled his lip up at it. "Suddenly, I'm not all that hungry."
"Yeah, and we missed dinner last night, too." Roy tasted the eggs. They had to be powdered. "How about coming home to dinner with us tonight? I'm sure Joanne will cook anything we like."
Johnny grinned back at his partner and then his cheer faded. "Are you. . . . are you gonna tell Joanne what really happened?"
Roy put his fork down and stared at the unappetizing meal on the tray over his bed. "Yeah." He nodded. "I'll tell her. . . . I might wait until it's late and we've gone to bed. And we're really alone."
"Yeah, but Roy guys like Corrigan . . . .they're the kind of people who are always listening on people when they shouldn't be."
"Well, guys like Corrigan can't fire me from being Joanne's husband. But she can." He stared forward, picturing the moment when they would be alone, the kids in bed, the rest of the house dark and quiet. He'd tell her about the sarin. And the note that he'd written to her. The one still in his front pocket when they took his shirt away to be burned. "I'll tell her."
- - - End Part 4