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Part five
Harm opened his eyes. He felt like he had been sleeping for a long time. It was time to get up. He went out of bed, opened the door to what he was used to was his living room, and entered it. But then he felt confused, were was he? The scenery wasn't familiar. It was definitely not his living room. He was in a garden, with trees and flowers as long as he could see. Colorful birds flew around in the canopy. The temperature was nice, not to cold and not to hot. There were children playing, people walking around or sitting and talking in one of the numerous garden pavilions scattered over the area. They all looked so happy and peaceful, as if they were without worries or fears. The whole place gave an impression of perfection. It felt strange, he didn't belong there; he wanted to leave and turned around. The door he just entered had vanished in thin air. There was only garden, with green lawns and flowers. A butterfly flew by him. He had never seen such a big butterfly before. It was bright, and the birds could easily spot it, but it seemed they weren't interested. They were to busy flying around in a playful manner, and singing magnificent little songs.
He had an eerie feeling about the situation. What was this place, and what the hell was he doing here? He looked at his watch. "Damn, I should have been at the office an hour ago". He could just imagine what kind of punishment Chegwidden would give him, probably hours and hours of paperwork all week. The Admiral wasn't gracious when some of his staff came in late.
Since no exit was in sight and he had no idea were to go, he just started walking in the direction he was pointing. The people seemed so annoyingly happy, he just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, and have nothing to do with them. The whole place was surreal. He had to get to work, so he started to walk faster.
Suddenly he stopped. The impression of perfection shattered quickly. Was he really seeing what he thought he was seeing? Mac, in a revealing dress, sitting in one of the garden pavilions together with Tiner? And kissing him? Tiner was blushing and they both were giggling nervously like teenagers meeting secretly behind a barn. "What the hell, Tiner?" Harm rubbed his eyes and pinched himself. But they were both still there, giggling and kissing in the pavilion. This couldn't be real. And where had she got that dress? She had never worn anything like it in his presence. "Well this can't go on; I need to have a serious talk with her. She is my wife for God's sake", he hurried towards the happy "couple". "And why Tiner", he asked himself rather deflated. He maybe could have understood if she had an affair with another colonel or an admiral. But a petty officer? And of all the petty officers in the world, Tiner, an immature nitwit, who probably still would have lived with his mother, if it wasn't for his father who enlisted him in the navy. Harm was about to blow. Tiner would regret this!
He silently approached them. It didn't seem that they noticed him. He was just about to put his hand on Tiner's shoulder when suddenly everything changed, the world started to spin and faded into darkness.
Mac sat by Harm's side. It was tree days since he had been shot. His condition was stable for the moment, so she was allowed to sit with him for longer periods. He was still in a coma, but she felt he was more alive now. His eyes twitched a little, and she could swear that he had moved his right little finger a bit. It was almost as if he was dreaming. Mac had heard somewhere that coma victims maybe can hear what is said to them, so she talked to him. She talked to him about everything, from the weather to how his favorite football team was doing it. She tried to sound cheerful and happy, which in this situation wasn't an easy task, if anything she felt like crying.
Bud and Harriet had left yesterday evening. They had to go home to get some rest, they both probably had to go to work the next day that is today. Bud hadn't wanted to leave; he still blamed himself for Harm's condition and had a terrible time. He hadn't slept at all since it happened. He was afraid it would haunt him in his sleep, and didn't dare to close his eyes. Harriet was finally able to persuade him to go home with her. It wouldn't do Harm any good if Bud collapsed because of exhaustion and had to be admitted to the hospital too.
Mac hadn't left the hospital for a minute since she arrived there three days ago. A vending machine had provided her with what she needed of food and drinks. But she really needed a shower, and the only plant she had in her apartment, probably would have liked some water. Not that watering the plant was so extremely important; it was a cactus, so it didn't need much water. It had been a silly present from Harm, but it suddenly meant so much more now. She had to go home for some hours to get some rest. She looked at Harm, there was no change. He was there, but at the same time he wasn't. Mac kissed him on his cheek, the oxygen mask and the bandage almost covered the rest of his head. She didn't want to, but she had to leave him for some hours. She rose from the chair and went to the door, there she turned around and looked at him one more time. It was hard not to cry. He was so dreadfully pale. It tore at her soul to see Harm like this. Reluctantly she closed the door behind her and silently walked down the corridor.
At the forensic lab DNA had been extracted from the hairs found at the scene, and was now run through a database of known felons. After a few minutes the computer started to beep, and stopped searching. It had found a match. A sheet of paper came out of a printer, and a lab technician picked it up. Another pair of hands quickly ripped the peace of paper out of the technician's hands, as if it was on fire. "Damn that bastard" Clayton Webb clenched his fists as he studied the paper he just had got his hands on. The sheet of paper, now crumpled up like a ball, fell to the floor. The DNA matched the person he feared it would. This person was a sick maniac, a master of disguise, who wouldn't give up. Making Harm's life miserable was his only plan in life. He had tried, and temporarily succeeded before. And if he found out that Harm still was alive, he would try again until he got an, for him adequate result, or died trying. That meant, Harm's life would probably end very soon if not something was done. "Clark Palmer, that fuckin' maniac", Webb grinded his teeth as he said the name. The next weeks wouldn't be easy. Palmer was hard to catch. Something probably had come in-between since he hadn't covered all his clues. It wasn't like Palmer to do serious mistakes.
Webb had things to do. He had to arrange for a guard outside Harm's room in the hospital. Harm would probably end up dead before night fall, if this wasn't instantly taken care of. Harm's safety was top priority now. Webb hadn't much confidence in the local police. Usually one officer had no clue about what the other one was doing. So he would make sure that the CIA would lead this case. And then he had to talk to Admiral Chegwidden. The Admiral felt about Palmer in the same way as himself, and knew Harm very well, without getting too personally involved. The Admiral's knowledge would be indispensable. Webb knew it, and even if he disliked bringing outsiders into a case, they usually screwed things up; this time it would be unwise not to.