Chapter 4
Charlie found himself standing beside a stream that seemed to wander aimlessly through the mountains. He wasn't sure how he got there, but it seemed vaguely familiar. There was an outcropping of rocks — boulders, really — at a bend in the stream, and he sat down to listen to the water. It was very soothing, trickling gently over pebbles. It almost put him to sleep.
"Whiz Kid! Good to see you."
Charlie looked up, startled, into Colby Granger's smile.
Which was not possible.
"C – Colby?"
"Shove over." Colby sat on the boulder beside him. "I saw your name on the list, so I came early."
"What?"
"This is what I do, here. I'm still a Special Agent, in a manner of speaking." Colby chuckled.
Charlie reached out a tentative hand to touch Colby's arm. Seemed solid enough.
"I don't understand." The mountain stream suddenly placed itself in his memory. "Are we back at your cabin?"
Colby looked at him. "Looks that way. I was kind-of surprised that this is what you made it. Everybody makes it whatever they want to, so I never know what I'll find. This was a surprise. It's nice."
Charlie suddenly shivered. "What is this place?"
"I like to refer to it as a 'holding cell'. Not that the people who come here are on their way to jail. It's just what it reminds me of. You're here until you decide what you're going to do."
"I don't understand," Charlie repeated.
Colby stood back up and stretched, turned his face to the sun. "I always loved it here, Charlie. Thanks for letting me come back here." Then he turned back to face Charlie, moved a little to block the sun. "I met your mother. She's cool."
"What?" Charlie stood quickly and tried to peer over Colby's shoulder. "Is she here?"
"Nah. This isn't where she works. She's on the other side. You can only see her if you choose to go there."
Charlie looked at Colby desperately. "The other side? Of what? Is that … is that heaven? Am I dead?"
Colby smiled at him a little sadly. "Some things you can't know until after you choose, Charlie. But you're not dead. Yet. You're deciding."
Charlie felt an indescribable sadness and sank back down onto the boulder. This close. This close and he couldn't see her. "I don't understand," he said a third time.
Colby suddenly brightened. "Hey, Charlie, I escorted an agent I used to work with last week, and he told me about the Whiz Kid Foundation, the Colby S. Granger Fund. That is so cool. You are something else. It means a lot, man. Thanks, really."
Charlie blinked up at him. "Escorted. You're here to take me somewhere?"
"Only if you want to go. Not everybody gets to choose. Some take the A-train. But sometimes, it can go either way."
"And my mother is there?"
"Yeah, she's there."
Charlie smiled. "Then it must be heaven."
Colby smiled back, but didn't say anything.
Charlie remembered some things then, and he shivered again. "But … But Colby … I got married."
Colby sat down next to him again. "You're kidding. Unless someone I'm escorting tells me these things, I never know what's going on back there. Who is she?"
Charlie grinned. "Archimedes."
Colby wiggled an eyebrow. "Gesundheit."
Charlie laughed. "Stop it. That's her name. Her parents named her … you won't believe this … they named her for the man who discovered Pi. They both teach high school math. Anyway, most people call her Archie, but I think she's too beautiful for that. She was supposed to be your permanent replacement, but after we got married she transferred to Reynolds' team."
Colby looked surprised. "My replacement? You married an FBI agent?"
Charlie nodded.
"Wow." Colby looked a little stunned. "Just don't tell me Don is married to a math teacher."
Charlie laughed, the sound breaking off in a sudden choke. "I've missed you."
Colby smiled at him fondly. "I know, Whiz Kid. I could feel that."
The two sat silently at the water's edge. Charlie lost track of time, for a while. Eventually, Colby cleared his throat.
"Charlie? There's kind-of a time limit on these things."
Charlie noticed that the sun had started to set, and he was feeling a little cold. He understood, suddenly. "I have to choose. Between them. Archimedes, Don, Dad … or Mom."
Colby nodded. "That's one way to put it. Even here, Charlie — even here, you can't have everything. Not yet."
Charlie huddled into himself. The wind was blowing, now, chilling him to the bone.
He had to choose?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Alan returned to the hospital a little early, so that he could stop by Larry's room first.
The professor was just pushing away his dinner tray, and Alan was pleased to see that he looked a lot better than he had the last time he had seen him. The IV pole was gone, and the bed was at a 45-degree angle. He could see the thick bandaging on his shoulder under the hospital gown, even with his arm in a sling across his chest, and winced a little. He made himself smile.
"Larry. You're looking much better."
Wary eyes regarded him. "I am, Alan, thank you. The bullet missed everything major. It's simply a matter of muscle damage."
"That's no small matter itself, Larry. It will take you some time, some therapy … But only two days after surgery, you're sitting up and eating. That's good."
Larry didn't even attempt a smile. "How is Charles? I know that he was quite seriously wounded … I can't recall everything you told me, yesterday."
Alan sighed and rubbed his chin. "What do you remember?"
Larry furrowed his brow. "I remember you said he was shot three times … the abdomen, chest, and arm? And some sort of head injury?"
"Right. Apparently some of the white board fell off the wall, sliced into his temple. That took several stitches … if he had ever been awake, they could grade his concussion, but he hadn't regained consciousness before the surgeries, and now they have him in a barbituate-induced coma. There's swelling — brain — and they want to give it a chance to heal itself without additional surgery."
Larry frowned. "Surgeries? Plural?"
Alan hesitated.
"Please, Alan, I'm much better now. The doctor is speaking of releasing me tomorrow, or the next day — I need to hear about Charles."
"All right. Two teams worked on his abdomen and his chest wounds. He's lost his spleen, several feet of intestine, his liver was nicked — but they repaired that. They had to remove almost a quarter of his stomach … A lot of damage. They're very concerned about infection, with that one. The bullet into his chest missed his heart — thank God — but there were some extensive repairs to his left lung. Those two surgeries were done at the same time, and went on for almost ten hours — he was opened from his neck to his navel, Larry, his sternum had to be sawed in half …" Alan felt himself losing control and stopped to take a breath. "The next day, the orthopedic surgeon felt he couldn't wait any longer to repair his arm. The radius bone was shattered, and it took several plates, pins, screws … bionic implants, for all I know. Anyway, that took another three hours. It was during that second surgery that his brain began to swell. They think it's a combination of the head injury and the anesthesia."
"Dear God," Larry had paled. "What's his prognosis?"
"Guarded." Alan's voice was a whisper, and he coughed to clear his throat. "They wouldn't let me see him at all until yesterday, and then for only 15 minutes. This morning they allowed me in the room for half-an-hour. I get another half-hour visit tonight. So maybe he's improving …"
"Archimedes and Don must be in pieces, themselves."
"I can't reach them. They don't know."
Larry looked horrified. "What?" Understanding began to dawn on his face. "I left Megan a voice mail yesterday … she's never returned it. I must say, I was surprised that I even had to call her, I thought that she would come when she heard the news." He looked at Alan. "You've been here all alone. I'm so sorry."
Alan felt tears threaten and straightened a little. "Listen, Larry. I've been trying to reach Director Merrick, and get them back here — obviously something is going on, if they're all gone. But when you're released, please come and stay with me at the house."
Larry started to protest. "Alan, that's not necessary …"
Alan put on the face he saved for Charlie's deepest moments of distraction, when he couldn't get him to eat, or sleep. "Yes, it is. You know if Archie were here, she would insist upon it. Just for a few days." He let his guard down a little. "Please. Neither one of us should be alone anymore."
Larry nodded and opened his mouth to say something else when they heard it over the hospital p.a. system.
"Code Blue, ICU 12. Repeat, Code Blue, ICU 12. Drs. Reese and Fitzgerald, stat to ICU 12. Code Blue."
The blood drained from Alan's face and he looked at Larry in horror.
"That's Charlie."