Disclaimer: I don't own Early Edition or any of its Characters, cause if I
did the show would still be running. I'm just an obsessed fan with lots,
and lots of time on her hands.
An Accident of Trust
Written By: Felicity Poole
Reflections of a Man
Marissa Clark moved towards the ringing phone. Feeling her hands touch the base she reached up gripping the receiver in her hand and lifting it quickly to her ear. "McGINTY'S this is Marissa speaking. How may I help you?"
"Miss Clark?"
"Yes that's me"
"I don't know if you remember me it's been quite awhile, my name is Doctor Noah Adams"
Marissa scrunched her eyebrows together, knowing fully well who it was at the end of the line. "Yes, yes I remember you" she whispered, feeling a sense dread climb slowly but steadily up her spine at the name.
'I'm calling about Mr. Hobson"
"Yes, what about Gary? Is everything alright?"
Chuck who was standing nearby moved closer to Marissa not quite sure what was going on but by the expression currently creasing her features he could tell something was wrong. He continued to look on, inquiry written within his eyes. Had he heard Gary's name? What about him?
"Oh my God!" Marissa cried lifting her hand to cover mouth as tears welled up in her chestnut eyes "Is he alright? Can I speak to him?"
"We have him stabilized at the moment, but I'm afraid despite our efforts he's slipped into a coma. We won't know how badly he's been injured until he awakens"
"We'll leave right away, just tell me where to go"
"Marissa what's going on? What about Gar?" Chuck asked impatiently as he made a grab for the phone. "In a minute" Marissa hissed swatting his hands away.
"No, no I want to see him tonight" she choked. Grabbing a pin from the cup beside the phone she then felt for a pad of paper, finding one she began to jot a few words down. Chuck leaned in closer reading each word as it was written. 'County General Hospital Second floor ICU room 347'
"Thank you for calling me" she whispered quietly. Almost afraid to speak again she barely got out her goodbye as she set the receiver down.
"Well!" Chuck inquired impatiently.
"It's Gary he's been in an accident"
"What kind of an accident?"
Shaking her head she shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, I forgot to ask" "He's alright isn't he, I mean he's gonna be fine right?"
Marissa broke down leaning heavily into Chuck for support. Her tears quickly began to soak unnoticed into his expensive suit and quietly he let his arms wrap firmly around his friend. "Marissa?" "Oh Chuck!" she cried "He's in a coma. They don't know how bad it is!"
Fishman felt like his body had become unstable his knees were threatening to give out from underneath him, but he continued to stand firm willing himself to be a rock for the woman in his arms. "Come on Marissa I'll drive us there" he whispered softly not willing to raise his voice any higher in fear that it would crack with the raw emotions he felt coursing through him Slowly as he led her through the crowd of starring customers he saw Patrick giving him a questioning look. "Patrick close up for us tonight will ya? I'll explain later"
Nodding Patrick stood silent watching as the couple left, his heart knowing something was terribly wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck watched Marissa as she sat next to Gary's prone form, one of his hands lay gently within hers. Her head rested softly on the side of the mattress, tear tracks still visible on her face. At the moment Chuck was thankful that she had found peace in sleep, and for the first time in his life he was envious of the woman's blind eyes; for she was spared the sight of they're friend's appearance. The room was deafening with the buzzing and beeping of machines each one connected to Gary, each one keeping him alive. The man's skin was so pale he blended in to the white sheets that covered him. Braces were wrapped around his neck and stitches held his skin together in several places across his face. A tube taped to his mouth every few seconds let a burst of air fill his lungs causing the reassuring rise and fall of their friend's chest. 'How could this have happened?' He had asked himself time and time again. 'He had the paper, why didn't he stop the incident from occurring?' these were questions he knew could only be answered by one man unfortunately that man lay asleep, lost in an abyss of darkness so great Chuck prayed silently that his friend would find his way out and soon.
Lifting the star foam cup in his hand slowly to his lips he sipped at the lukewarm liquid just like he had done several times before, in fact several cups before. The coffee kept him going and that's what he wanted. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes afraid that he would miss some sort of sign that would tell him Gary would be alright. So, as he had for hours he sat his eyes transfixed on his friends face hoping that the eyelashes that lay caressing Hobson's cheeks would flutter open revealing the expressive mud green eyes he knew so well.
'How many years had he and Gary been friends?' Too many to count, they had met in college Gary had always been the serious one, and he had been the man with a plan, a scheme around every corner. 'Not much has changed' he thought with a smile.
Though he hadn't taken the time to admit it he had always admired Gary. Hobson was sincerely a good man, never thinking about him self, but of others. Not very many people like him exist in this world today, but seeing Gary gave him hope for the rest of mankind. Not once had he used the paper for is own personal benefit, he had to admit he wouldn't be able to say the same thing if he'd received it, and that's why he knew the paper chose Gary because he had the heart.
Despite all the remarks he had heard Gary make after a hard day of saves like "I don't want it any more" to "I just want to be normal for once" and of course the "I want to wake up in the morning and not know what's going to happen" He knew the man never truly meant what he said. If Gary wanted to live an ordinary life all he'd have to do is sleep in, or toss the paper in the trash instead of reading it, but he couldn't do it both he and Marissa knew that. They also knew that if the cat never came again and the paper ceased to exist that reading the headlines of the daily paper seeing all the tragedies that could have been stopped would devastate him. Yes, Gary was one of a kind, a hero. No he didn't have superpowers and he didn't wear a cape, but he was a hero nonetheless. Chuck smiled at the thought 'Yes, he was a definitely a hero'
He never noticed that his eyelids drifted closed, nor did he feel his head fall to the side. Just as the clock struck 5:00am Chuck Fishman was fast asleep, his night of reflections ending letting his mind slow and drop off into the world of dreams.
Continued...
An Accident of Trust
Written By: Felicity Poole
Reflections of a Man
Marissa Clark moved towards the ringing phone. Feeling her hands touch the base she reached up gripping the receiver in her hand and lifting it quickly to her ear. "McGINTY'S this is Marissa speaking. How may I help you?"
"Miss Clark?"
"Yes that's me"
"I don't know if you remember me it's been quite awhile, my name is Doctor Noah Adams"
Marissa scrunched her eyebrows together, knowing fully well who it was at the end of the line. "Yes, yes I remember you" she whispered, feeling a sense dread climb slowly but steadily up her spine at the name.
'I'm calling about Mr. Hobson"
"Yes, what about Gary? Is everything alright?"
Chuck who was standing nearby moved closer to Marissa not quite sure what was going on but by the expression currently creasing her features he could tell something was wrong. He continued to look on, inquiry written within his eyes. Had he heard Gary's name? What about him?
"Oh my God!" Marissa cried lifting her hand to cover mouth as tears welled up in her chestnut eyes "Is he alright? Can I speak to him?"
"We have him stabilized at the moment, but I'm afraid despite our efforts he's slipped into a coma. We won't know how badly he's been injured until he awakens"
"We'll leave right away, just tell me where to go"
"Marissa what's going on? What about Gar?" Chuck asked impatiently as he made a grab for the phone. "In a minute" Marissa hissed swatting his hands away.
"No, no I want to see him tonight" she choked. Grabbing a pin from the cup beside the phone she then felt for a pad of paper, finding one she began to jot a few words down. Chuck leaned in closer reading each word as it was written. 'County General Hospital Second floor ICU room 347'
"Thank you for calling me" she whispered quietly. Almost afraid to speak again she barely got out her goodbye as she set the receiver down.
"Well!" Chuck inquired impatiently.
"It's Gary he's been in an accident"
"What kind of an accident?"
Shaking her head she shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, I forgot to ask" "He's alright isn't he, I mean he's gonna be fine right?"
Marissa broke down leaning heavily into Chuck for support. Her tears quickly began to soak unnoticed into his expensive suit and quietly he let his arms wrap firmly around his friend. "Marissa?" "Oh Chuck!" she cried "He's in a coma. They don't know how bad it is!"
Fishman felt like his body had become unstable his knees were threatening to give out from underneath him, but he continued to stand firm willing himself to be a rock for the woman in his arms. "Come on Marissa I'll drive us there" he whispered softly not willing to raise his voice any higher in fear that it would crack with the raw emotions he felt coursing through him Slowly as he led her through the crowd of starring customers he saw Patrick giving him a questioning look. "Patrick close up for us tonight will ya? I'll explain later"
Nodding Patrick stood silent watching as the couple left, his heart knowing something was terribly wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chuck watched Marissa as she sat next to Gary's prone form, one of his hands lay gently within hers. Her head rested softly on the side of the mattress, tear tracks still visible on her face. At the moment Chuck was thankful that she had found peace in sleep, and for the first time in his life he was envious of the woman's blind eyes; for she was spared the sight of they're friend's appearance. The room was deafening with the buzzing and beeping of machines each one connected to Gary, each one keeping him alive. The man's skin was so pale he blended in to the white sheets that covered him. Braces were wrapped around his neck and stitches held his skin together in several places across his face. A tube taped to his mouth every few seconds let a burst of air fill his lungs causing the reassuring rise and fall of their friend's chest. 'How could this have happened?' He had asked himself time and time again. 'He had the paper, why didn't he stop the incident from occurring?' these were questions he knew could only be answered by one man unfortunately that man lay asleep, lost in an abyss of darkness so great Chuck prayed silently that his friend would find his way out and soon.
Lifting the star foam cup in his hand slowly to his lips he sipped at the lukewarm liquid just like he had done several times before, in fact several cups before. The coffee kept him going and that's what he wanted. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes afraid that he would miss some sort of sign that would tell him Gary would be alright. So, as he had for hours he sat his eyes transfixed on his friends face hoping that the eyelashes that lay caressing Hobson's cheeks would flutter open revealing the expressive mud green eyes he knew so well.
'How many years had he and Gary been friends?' Too many to count, they had met in college Gary had always been the serious one, and he had been the man with a plan, a scheme around every corner. 'Not much has changed' he thought with a smile.
Though he hadn't taken the time to admit it he had always admired Gary. Hobson was sincerely a good man, never thinking about him self, but of others. Not very many people like him exist in this world today, but seeing Gary gave him hope for the rest of mankind. Not once had he used the paper for is own personal benefit, he had to admit he wouldn't be able to say the same thing if he'd received it, and that's why he knew the paper chose Gary because he had the heart.
Despite all the remarks he had heard Gary make after a hard day of saves like "I don't want it any more" to "I just want to be normal for once" and of course the "I want to wake up in the morning and not know what's going to happen" He knew the man never truly meant what he said. If Gary wanted to live an ordinary life all he'd have to do is sleep in, or toss the paper in the trash instead of reading it, but he couldn't do it both he and Marissa knew that. They also knew that if the cat never came again and the paper ceased to exist that reading the headlines of the daily paper seeing all the tragedies that could have been stopped would devastate him. Yes, Gary was one of a kind, a hero. No he didn't have superpowers and he didn't wear a cape, but he was a hero nonetheless. Chuck smiled at the thought 'Yes, he was a definitely a hero'
He never noticed that his eyelids drifted closed, nor did he feel his head fall to the side. Just as the clock struck 5:00am Chuck Fishman was fast asleep, his night of reflections ending letting his mind slow and drop off into the world of dreams.
Continued...