So Close
It was approaching dusk when Steve parked his car outside the dwelling. He got out, and rapped sharply on the door of the large house. A woman came to the door.
"Yes?" she inquired. "What can I do for you?"
"I am Lieutenant Steve Sloan, of the LAPD. Does a Frank Huddersfield live here?" Steve asked her.
"No," the woman replied. "I've lived here for two months now. Mr Huddersfield was the last resident here."
"Do you know where he might live now?"
"Personally, I have no idea, but when my husband gets back, he'll know."
"Do you know where he is?"
"He's on a business trip in Europe. He'll be back tomorrow, at about lunchtime."
"Ok, thank you, Mrs..."
"Mrs Edwards," the woman said, smiling.
"Ok, Mrs Edwards," Steve said, fumbling in his pocket. "Here's my number. Call me the moment your husband arrives back please."
"Sure thing, Lieutenant Sloan," Mrs Edwards said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be anymore help."
"You could be. Do you know anything, absolutely anything at all about Frank Huddersfield?"
"He was a great photographer," Mrs Edwards said instantly.
"How did you know that?" Steve asked in surprise.
"My eldest daughter, Louise, worked as a training journalist at the same outfit as Frank Huddersfield," Mrs Edwards explained. "She spoke highly of him before the big accident. After that, he totally fell apart, losing his family like that. He spent all his spare time caring for his wife, even though he had employed an around-the-clock carer for her."
"What about after that?"
"Well, her condition got much worse," Mrs Edwards began. "Oh, my manners! Come inside! Would you like some tea?"
"Hmm?" Steve was confused by the sudden outburst. "Oh, no thank you." He went into the living room and settled down on one of the armchairs. "You said Mrs Huddersfield's condition..."
"Yes, it got worse," Mrs Edwards picked up where she left off. "Well, Frank was losing his sanity, it seemed like. He came into work less and less, from what Lou told me, and when he did go to work, it was not his usual quality."
"Carry on," Steve urged her.
"After Beverly died, Frank took a week off, and then he quit his job, just like that. I suppose it was to be expected, but it was still a big blow to the company." She paused a moment, before asking, "Can you tell me why you are looking for Frank?"
"I'm afraid not, Mrs Edwards," Steve replied. He thought of another question. "Was he computer-literate?"
"Everyone at the company was," Mrs Edwards told him. "It was part of the job to be able to touch-type and use the Internet, and for Frank, the photographer, he should be able to use the scanner, digital camera, and editing programmes on the computer."
Steve pondered this. Frank could have easily accessed the Internet and found out how to make a bomb.
"He could use a camera," Steve said, "but was he a very mechanical person?"
"I'm not sure," Mrs Edwards replied.
"Don't worry," Steve told her. "Did you ever see him? Do you know what he looks like?"
"Hold on," Mrs Edwards said. "I'll be right back." She headed out to the back of the house, and fetched a young woman of about twenty, or a little older. "Louise, this is Lieutenant Sloan."
"Hi," Louise said. "What can I do for you?"
"Can you describe Frank Huddersfield for me, please?"
"Would a picture help?"
"Help?" Steve asked in surprise. "Help doesn't cover it."
Louise sprinted up the stairs, and returned a few moments later with three photographs.
"Would you mind if I took these to the police station?" Steve asked.
"Not at all, but would you know if I would get them back or not?" Louise asked. "They are in my portfolio. I'm training to be a photographer one day."
"Okay, sure," Steve said. "You'll have them back tomorrow, when I see your father."
"I'll be sure and phone you when he gets back," Mrs Edwards added.
"Thank you, both of you," Steve said, heading to the door. "You have both been a great help. See you later."
Steve decided that since it was now late, he had better go home instead of going to the police station first. He was not surprised to see his father's car in the driveway.
"Hey, Dad," Steve called as he dropped his keys on the table in the hallway.
"Hi," Mark called from the kitchen. "I'm in here. Want a coffee?"
"Yeah, please," Steve replied, walking into the room. He was presented with a cup of coffee, and the father and son team sat down to talk.
"What did you find out?" Mark began with the question.
"Quite a lot, actually. I didn't find Huddersfield, but I found someone who can tell me where he is, sometime tomorrow." Steve explained the whole story of the events of the afternoon to his father.
"Couldn't you find out the whereabouts of Frank Huddersfield from the company that he worked at?"
"I've tried to do that, before I went to Frank's old house," Steve said. "Something about the company not being able to disclose the information. I couldn't understand that."
"Never mind," Mark said. "At least this thing is finally going to be over soon."
"Not soon enough for my liking," Steve said. "How are CJ and Jesse?"
"CJ went home about an hour ago. He's doing pretty well. Jesse still hasn't woken up yet," Mark replied.
"Is that normal?" Steve asked, slight surprise in his voice.
"Well, yes," Mark answered. "He should be awake tomorrow, probably."
"Good," Steve said. After a pause, Steve carefully asked, "if Jesse wakes up, differently, how different will he be?"
"It's difficult to tell at this stage," Mark replied just as carefully. "But, it will take a lot of effort, if he is different, to help him and urge him to recover."
"So there is a chance that he could recover?" Steve asked anxiously.
"Again, we'll have to see the extent of the condition. It could be temporary, or not. But whether it is temporary or not, we need to give Jesse all the help and support that he needs."
"I know," Steve said, hoping and praying that Jesse would be okay when he woke up.
The next morning, Amanda wandered down the corridor of the hospital in a daze. She was going to spend the day with her sons, and take a step to helping them get over what had happened the previous day. They were waiting in the car, whilst Amanda checked on Jesse.
"Why can't we come in, Mommy?" CJ had asked.
"Jesse is not very well at the moment," Amanda had explained. "It won't do him a lot of good to have too many visitors. He might be asleep, anyway. I'm just going to look in on him to make sure he's doing okay. You two be good for me, understand?"
Amanda loved her kids so much. It was an indescribable experience to be a parent. Yesterday, someone had almost taken away half of that from her.
She stopped outside the door to Jesse's room. After taking a deep breath, she walked in.
The amount of machines and wires that were attached to Jesse was the first thing that hit her. Did he really need all of them? Inside, Amanda knew that Jesse was relying on them.
"Hey, Jesse," Amanda began, wondering if he could hear her at all. She decided that he probably couldn't, but she carried on regardless.
"How's it going?" She swallowed. "Well, I'm here because I want you to get better, firstly. I'm also here because I have to give you the biggest thanks that I've had to give to almost anyone. You saved CJ's life yesterday. You saved my son's life. Now, I cannot even begin to describe how much I appreciate what you did yesterday. No words can even come close to how I feel. I am just so glad that you did what you did, and that you put your life behind everyone else's lives. And, you put CJ's life first."
Amanda was now at the point of crying. She grasped Jesse's limp hand tightly. "You saved so many lives in there yesterday, you know. I don't know why this had to happen, but when it happened, you were great. I remember Dion saying something like, `Jesse was so cool out there!' I think that about sums it up. Thank you, Jesse. I am eternally in your debt."
Amanda was about to replace Jesse's hand back at his side, when she felt that the hand was not so lifeless anymore. Jesse's hand squeezed Amanda's hand back.
"Jesse?" Amanda enquired. She waited, hoping that Jesse's eyes would open. After a moment of being tense, Jesse's hand dropped back to being unresponsive again.
"Maybe I wasn't just talking to myself," Amanda muttered as she left the chair. "I'll see you later. Meantime, get better, d'ya hear?" The door was shut quietly as Amanda left.
Jesse could hear the muffled sound of the door shutting fill his head. He wanted to call out to Amanda, and let her know that he was there. The only thing he could do was grip her hand.
It was approaching dusk when Steve parked his car outside the dwelling. He got out, and rapped sharply on the door of the large house. A woman came to the door.
"Yes?" she inquired. "What can I do for you?"
"I am Lieutenant Steve Sloan, of the LAPD. Does a Frank Huddersfield live here?" Steve asked her.
"No," the woman replied. "I've lived here for two months now. Mr Huddersfield was the last resident here."
"Do you know where he might live now?"
"Personally, I have no idea, but when my husband gets back, he'll know."
"Do you know where he is?"
"He's on a business trip in Europe. He'll be back tomorrow, at about lunchtime."
"Ok, thank you, Mrs..."
"Mrs Edwards," the woman said, smiling.
"Ok, Mrs Edwards," Steve said, fumbling in his pocket. "Here's my number. Call me the moment your husband arrives back please."
"Sure thing, Lieutenant Sloan," Mrs Edwards said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be anymore help."
"You could be. Do you know anything, absolutely anything at all about Frank Huddersfield?"
"He was a great photographer," Mrs Edwards said instantly.
"How did you know that?" Steve asked in surprise.
"My eldest daughter, Louise, worked as a training journalist at the same outfit as Frank Huddersfield," Mrs Edwards explained. "She spoke highly of him before the big accident. After that, he totally fell apart, losing his family like that. He spent all his spare time caring for his wife, even though he had employed an around-the-clock carer for her."
"What about after that?"
"Well, her condition got much worse," Mrs Edwards began. "Oh, my manners! Come inside! Would you like some tea?"
"Hmm?" Steve was confused by the sudden outburst. "Oh, no thank you." He went into the living room and settled down on one of the armchairs. "You said Mrs Huddersfield's condition..."
"Yes, it got worse," Mrs Edwards picked up where she left off. "Well, Frank was losing his sanity, it seemed like. He came into work less and less, from what Lou told me, and when he did go to work, it was not his usual quality."
"Carry on," Steve urged her.
"After Beverly died, Frank took a week off, and then he quit his job, just like that. I suppose it was to be expected, but it was still a big blow to the company." She paused a moment, before asking, "Can you tell me why you are looking for Frank?"
"I'm afraid not, Mrs Edwards," Steve replied. He thought of another question. "Was he computer-literate?"
"Everyone at the company was," Mrs Edwards told him. "It was part of the job to be able to touch-type and use the Internet, and for Frank, the photographer, he should be able to use the scanner, digital camera, and editing programmes on the computer."
Steve pondered this. Frank could have easily accessed the Internet and found out how to make a bomb.
"He could use a camera," Steve said, "but was he a very mechanical person?"
"I'm not sure," Mrs Edwards replied.
"Don't worry," Steve told her. "Did you ever see him? Do you know what he looks like?"
"Hold on," Mrs Edwards said. "I'll be right back." She headed out to the back of the house, and fetched a young woman of about twenty, or a little older. "Louise, this is Lieutenant Sloan."
"Hi," Louise said. "What can I do for you?"
"Can you describe Frank Huddersfield for me, please?"
"Would a picture help?"
"Help?" Steve asked in surprise. "Help doesn't cover it."
Louise sprinted up the stairs, and returned a few moments later with three photographs.
"Would you mind if I took these to the police station?" Steve asked.
"Not at all, but would you know if I would get them back or not?" Louise asked. "They are in my portfolio. I'm training to be a photographer one day."
"Okay, sure," Steve said. "You'll have them back tomorrow, when I see your father."
"I'll be sure and phone you when he gets back," Mrs Edwards added.
"Thank you, both of you," Steve said, heading to the door. "You have both been a great help. See you later."
Steve decided that since it was now late, he had better go home instead of going to the police station first. He was not surprised to see his father's car in the driveway.
"Hey, Dad," Steve called as he dropped his keys on the table in the hallway.
"Hi," Mark called from the kitchen. "I'm in here. Want a coffee?"
"Yeah, please," Steve replied, walking into the room. He was presented with a cup of coffee, and the father and son team sat down to talk.
"What did you find out?" Mark began with the question.
"Quite a lot, actually. I didn't find Huddersfield, but I found someone who can tell me where he is, sometime tomorrow." Steve explained the whole story of the events of the afternoon to his father.
"Couldn't you find out the whereabouts of Frank Huddersfield from the company that he worked at?"
"I've tried to do that, before I went to Frank's old house," Steve said. "Something about the company not being able to disclose the information. I couldn't understand that."
"Never mind," Mark said. "At least this thing is finally going to be over soon."
"Not soon enough for my liking," Steve said. "How are CJ and Jesse?"
"CJ went home about an hour ago. He's doing pretty well. Jesse still hasn't woken up yet," Mark replied.
"Is that normal?" Steve asked, slight surprise in his voice.
"Well, yes," Mark answered. "He should be awake tomorrow, probably."
"Good," Steve said. After a pause, Steve carefully asked, "if Jesse wakes up, differently, how different will he be?"
"It's difficult to tell at this stage," Mark replied just as carefully. "But, it will take a lot of effort, if he is different, to help him and urge him to recover."
"So there is a chance that he could recover?" Steve asked anxiously.
"Again, we'll have to see the extent of the condition. It could be temporary, or not. But whether it is temporary or not, we need to give Jesse all the help and support that he needs."
"I know," Steve said, hoping and praying that Jesse would be okay when he woke up.
The next morning, Amanda wandered down the corridor of the hospital in a daze. She was going to spend the day with her sons, and take a step to helping them get over what had happened the previous day. They were waiting in the car, whilst Amanda checked on Jesse.
"Why can't we come in, Mommy?" CJ had asked.
"Jesse is not very well at the moment," Amanda had explained. "It won't do him a lot of good to have too many visitors. He might be asleep, anyway. I'm just going to look in on him to make sure he's doing okay. You two be good for me, understand?"
Amanda loved her kids so much. It was an indescribable experience to be a parent. Yesterday, someone had almost taken away half of that from her.
She stopped outside the door to Jesse's room. After taking a deep breath, she walked in.
The amount of machines and wires that were attached to Jesse was the first thing that hit her. Did he really need all of them? Inside, Amanda knew that Jesse was relying on them.
"Hey, Jesse," Amanda began, wondering if he could hear her at all. She decided that he probably couldn't, but she carried on regardless.
"How's it going?" She swallowed. "Well, I'm here because I want you to get better, firstly. I'm also here because I have to give you the biggest thanks that I've had to give to almost anyone. You saved CJ's life yesterday. You saved my son's life. Now, I cannot even begin to describe how much I appreciate what you did yesterday. No words can even come close to how I feel. I am just so glad that you did what you did, and that you put your life behind everyone else's lives. And, you put CJ's life first."
Amanda was now at the point of crying. She grasped Jesse's limp hand tightly. "You saved so many lives in there yesterday, you know. I don't know why this had to happen, but when it happened, you were great. I remember Dion saying something like, `Jesse was so cool out there!' I think that about sums it up. Thank you, Jesse. I am eternally in your debt."
Amanda was about to replace Jesse's hand back at his side, when she felt that the hand was not so lifeless anymore. Jesse's hand squeezed Amanda's hand back.
"Jesse?" Amanda enquired. She waited, hoping that Jesse's eyes would open. After a moment of being tense, Jesse's hand dropped back to being unresponsive again.
"Maybe I wasn't just talking to myself," Amanda muttered as she left the chair. "I'll see you later. Meantime, get better, d'ya hear?" The door was shut quietly as Amanda left.
Jesse could hear the muffled sound of the door shutting fill his head. He wanted to call out to Amanda, and let her know that he was there. The only thing he could do was grip her hand.