Chapter 8

On the way to Charlie's house, David filled in the others on Raven's statement. As soon as Colby pulled the vehicle into the driveway, everybody knew they wouldn't be needing Larry's key. In the headlights they could see that the door to the garage stood open, and papers blew across the lawn.

"Guys…look…" Colby was gesturing toward the house. The kitchen door stood open as well.

Megan pulled out her cell phone. "I'm calling in a team," she said, "and requesting a protective order for everyone. I want security on Don in the hospital. Alan and Larry are going to a safe house."

"Oh, no, Megan…surely that is not necessary. My classes…"

Megan turned to glare at Larry in the back seat. "Have you not seen that somebody wants something from Charlie in a pretty bad way? They're trashing every place, they obviously haven't found what they want. If you had Charlie and you wanted to persuade him to do something, how would you do it?"

Larry paled a little in the face of her anger, but he persisted. "Surely you don't believe that you will entice Alan to leave Don."

David had turned in the front seat and was looking at Larry. "You don't understand, Larry. Alan isn't exactly going to have a choice. And neither do you."

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Don was out of recovery and a second CT scan, and in his own private room before midnight. Alan and Cecile entered the room quietly and approached the head of the bed.

Cecile let Alan take the lead, and he leaned over the rail to touch his lips to Don's forehead. She watched for a moment but felt as if she were seeing something she shouldn't, somehow, and focused her attention on Don's leg, suspended over the end of the bed. She had seen intramedullary nailings of the tibia before…she had seen countless patients, in countless beds. She had been a nurse since she was 21 years old, for almost 10 years now, and it surprised her how completely unprepared she was to see someone she loved in this position.

She heard the words echoing through her brain and barely suppressed a gasp. Without knowing it, she reached for one of Alan's hands again. She loved Don.

Now there was an insight.

Cecile tore her eyes away from his leg and looked at his face, covered with stubble. The brown eyes were closed, and wouldn't crinkle in laughter anytime soon.

How had she fallen in love?

Cecile tried to pull herself together. Alan was gripping her hand tightly, and hadn't looked away from Don. She tried to find her bedside demeanor. "Dr. Lemuel was very positive," she said, hearing her own voice shake a little. She cleared her throat. This was ridiculous. "The pressure in his skull hasn't increased at all since he was admitted."

"It hasn't decreased, either," noted Alan unhappily.

"But he was honest with you," insisted Cecile. "The brain swelling should steadily decrease as the anesthesia leaves his system and the corticosteroids kick in more. I've seen is happen hundreds of times, Alan."

Alan finally took in Don's suspended leg. "Maybe I should be glad he's not awake. That probably hurts."

Cecile let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Morphine," she said. "It's a wonderful thing."

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Given the chance, Charlie would disagree.

Instead, he found himself flat on his back, on a bed of white. Turning his head with difficulty and looking sideways, he saw that it was deceptive. It appeared to be fluffy, comfortable…but it was really sticky, and hot. As he worked to push himself up on his elbows, he saw a huge, dark shadow in the distance and focused on it. Counting legs and taking in its general shape, he determined that it was a spider, and he was trapped in its web. Charlie really didn't appreciate that discovery, and he kept looking around for a way out. So far away he could barely recognize him, Charlie suddenly saw Don. Also flat on his back, the spider was actively cocooning him in its web so that he couldn't move at all. "Donnie!" cried Charlie, and in a burst of desperation he was able to flip onto his stomach, and bring his knees up under him so that he could crawl. He had to reach Don before the spider was finished, and had him for lunch.

It was hard to crawl in the sticky substance, but Charlie began to make progress. Not fast enough, though, he could see that the spider had almost totally encased Don. Charlie's left knee snagged in a particularly sticky spot of the web, and he looked down at it for a moment. Managing finally to pull it free, he looked back at Don, and was surprised to see and feel that they were no longer in the spider's web. Their white bed was surrounded by a calm blue sky, and he saw that they were on a cloud. It was such a relief. Charlie looked over the edge and saw the earth far below — the actual earth, a round globe as if he were seeing it from the moon — and then looked back at Don. His relief was replaced with terror as he saw Don rolling toward the edge of the cloud. Charlie had to reach him. He had to save Don. He started crawling again, but the cloud was so soft that he sank into like quicksand, and his progress was slower than it had been in the spider web. "Donnie!" he called again, and he watched his brother teeter on the edge for a moment. Charlie frantically reached out a hand, but there was no way to reach his brother. He was too far away. He watched Don spin over the edge and hurtle toward the planet, and heard himself scream.

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Megan waited, gathering more information and planting Larry in the safe house, until almost 6 in the morning before she corralled Alan in Don's hospital room. Cecile was still with him, she was glad to see when she silently pushed the door open. She knocked lightly and continued on toward the bed.

Alan looked up at her anxiously. "Charlie?"

She just shook her head and looked at Don for a moment. He was either sleeping or still unconscious, and he looked gray. "How is he?", she asked. "Has he regained consciousness?"

Cecile answered. "We're very optimistic. He's showing signs of lightening…especially when the nurses come in here every hour and hook him up to traction."

Alan suddenly started and glanced at Cecile as if just noticing her, even though she had sat next to him all night. "Sweetheart…you must be exhausted. You worked a full 12-hour shift yesterday, and sat with me all night…"

She smiled at him. "It's all right, Alan. I'm not scheduled for another three days, so I can stay. Besides, you've been here all night yourself!"

Megan cleared her throat. "That has to change, Mr. Eppes."

They both looked at her.

"Someone has been at your house, your garage…Charlie's and Larry's offices, Larry's apartment, Don's apartment… Until we know what's going on, I need you and Larry under protective custody. I've had security on Don since he got out of surgery. Larry's in the safe house already, and I'm here to take you."

Alan straightened in his chair and glared at her, but spoke lowly so as not to disturb Don. "I. Will. Not. Leave."

Megan tried again. "I'm sorry, Alan, really. I've stopped at your house and picked up a few things…"

He stood up and stepped away from the bed. "If you have security on Don already, why do I have to leave? I'll be in here with him!"

Megan looked at Cecile. "That's another thing. We'll be moving Don to a more secure location in the hospital. Huntington has agreed to let you stay with him, there, as his primary nursing care, if you agree. There will be back-up, of course — Alan is right, you need some rest. We've added a roll-away to the suite of rooms we use in these situations. Please understand, Cecile, you don't have to do this. There are other arrangements we can make."

Cecile stood as well. She didn't even hesitate. "No, No, I want to. I'd like to. Thank you for arranging this."

Alan continued to protest. "I still don't understand why I can't go there with him."

Megan spoke gently, but firmly. "Alan, for whatever reason, and until we learn otherwise, you're a target yourself now. So is Don. Leaving the two of you together would double the danger for you both. Is that really what you want for Don?"

Alan stared at her silently for a moment, and then looked back at Don. "He's not even awake, yet," he said, and the heartbreak in his voice nearly broke Megan's resolve.

Cecile spoke quietly. "I'll take care of him, Alan. I promise."

He looked at her and nodded. "I know that, dear…but…" He looked back at Don.

Megan played her last card. "Mr. Eppes. Larry is trying to go over the data we originally gave to Charlie, but he's having some difficulty. Nobody understands the directions Charlie's mind can take like you do. You might be able to help find him."

Alan was smart enough to realize that Megan was probably playing him, just trying to gain his cooperation.

But he was also desperate enough to hope that she was right.

So he sighed heavily, and leaned over the rail to kiss Don one last time. He held Cecile for a moment as if she was a life jacket and he was drowning in the middle of the ocean — which was precisely how he felt.

Then he picked up his jacket, and followed Megan out the door.