βHey Pitt, this is Al." Pitt could hear his friends voice over the phone.
"Hi. Did you find anything?" He had asked Al to go back to the Sea spirit to check Dirk's diving equipment for any traces that might lead them to the person who had tried to kill his son. Al hadn't hesitated and had left immediately.
"Yeah, the whole cylinder is still full with the poison. But other than that, nothing. Whoever did that, knew how to hide his marks. There is one other thing though ..." He paused a moment.
"What is it?" Pitt asked impatiently.
"I checked your emails, like you asked. There was one mail ... It said: This was a warning, testify and he's dead." Al knew he didn't have to say more.
Pitt was quiet for a moment. He had already suspected that this attempt on Dirk's life was connected to his witness testimony next week. "Did you find out who send it?"
"Not yet. I informed NUMA for further investigation, but I don't think they'll find anything. Whoever planned this knew what he was doing."
"Okay, thanks Al. Keep me posted."
"I will. And Pitt, be careful, okay? Next time they might be more lucky."
"I'm not worried about myself, Al."
"I know. I'm just saying."
XXXXXXX
The next few days Dirk was more and more able to stay conscious for longer periods and he was slowly regaining his strength. Summer had been reluctant to leave his side, but she had eventually agreed to spend the nights in a nearby hotel. She made sure though to come back to the hospital first thing in the morning.
"Good, you're awake." She smiled at her brother when she stepped into his room. "I got you something."
"My release papers?" Dirk couldn't wait to get out of this hospital. He wasn't used to lying in bed all day and he was getting more restless with every passing hour.
"Come on, it's only been four days. See this as a vacation. You can relax, you don't have to work and there are lots of nice nurses taking care of you." Summer tried to cheer him up.
"I am more than relaxed and I want to work. And I haven't seen a single nurse under forty in this hospital." Dirk replied. "So, what did you get me?"
"Uh, so you are curious." Summer laughed. "Here, something more comfortable to wear. Al got it from the Sea Spirit when he returned last night. As cute as you look in that hospital gown, I thought you might like to wear some of your own clothes."
"Summer, you're the best. And tell that to Al too." Dirk beamed with joy at the aspect of wearing his own clothes again.
"You need any help?" Summer asked hesitantly when she saw Dirk slowly getting into a sitting position. He was still weak and it took him longer than expected to regain his strength.
"I think I can manage." Dirk groaned when he lifted his feet of the bed. He waited a moment for the world to stop spinning and to regain his breath, then he pulled of the hospital gown and got into his sweatshirt.
"Hm, it smells like the sea." He said smiling. Then he tried to get into this trousers. But when it was time to stand on his own feet β even if only for a short moment β Dirk looked hesitantly on the floor. He wasn't sure he was already able to stand on his own.
Summer saw his hesitation and tried to help him. "Put your arm around my shoulder. I hold you around your waist, this way you won't fall."
Dirk looked gratefully at his sister. "Thanks."
After a few minutes Dirk was lying back in bed, trying to catch his breath. "I never thought that getting dressed ... could be so exhausting."
"You still need time to get stronger. You almost died, your body needs time to recover from that." Inwardly Summer was worried that her brother was still so weak. After he had woken up, Dr. Norton had said that he would be able to leave the hospital in a few days. But in this weak condition, even thinking about a release was senseless.
XXXXXXX
"Mr. Pitt." Dr. Norton called when he saw his patient's father walking along the corridor.
Hearing someone calling for him, Pitt turned around and saw the doctor coming towards him. "Dr. Norton, hi. How is my son doing?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Dr. Norton said.
"Is something wrong?" The earnest expression on the man's face immediately alerted him.
Dr. Norton hesitated a moment before he spoke. "The poison your son was exposed to ... the antidote didn't kill it completely."
"What?" Horrified Pitt looked at Norton.
"There is still a slight trace of poison in your son's blood. It's different from the poison we treated him with. So far we haven't been able to identify it."
"What does that mean? Was he poisoned again?" Pitt stared at the doctor in disbelief.
"No, I think your son has been exposed to two different poisons at the same time. The first one worked very quickly, attacked his lungs and stopped his breathing. The second one works very slow, it spreads through the body without doing much damage in the beginning. It's similar to the other one, that's why we didn't see it at first. But it's slowly killing your son. That's why he's still so weak." It hurt Norton to give this news to Pitt. He could only imagine what the man in front of him was going through right now.
"How long?" Pitt whispered. He couldn't believe what was happening here. He had thought his son was going to live and now ...
"A couple of days, a week maybe, not longer."
Pitt only stared at the doctor, then nodded slowly. "Does he know yet?"
"No, I just found out myself."
"I'll tell him. And then I get the bastard who did this." Pitt said through clenched teeth. He already knew who was responsible for this.
XXXXXXX
Slowly Pitt stepped into the room. Neither Summer nor Dirk noticed him coming in and he listened to their talk for a few minutes. He didn't know how he was supposed to tell them. What should he say?
"The first thing I'll do when I get out of here is get something real to eat. A real steak with real potatoes and real sauce. This hospital food sucks." Dirk replied grinning.
"I promise to invite you to the nearest steak house when you get released." Summer laughed.
"I'll remind you of that. Hey Dad." Dirk had finally seen his father standing in the room.
"Hey." Pitt forced himself to smile as he stepped closer to the bed. "How are you feeling today?" He bit his lip. He was about to tell his son that he might be dead in a few days and he asked him how he was doing.
"Better, still weak, but definitely better." Dirk smiled at him. "Did the doc say when I can be released?"
"You can't even stand on your own two feet and you can't stop thinking about getting out of here." Summer chuckled.
"Well ..." Suddenly Dirk noticed his father's worried expression. "Dad, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Surprised Summer turned around to her father. She hadn't noticed anything strange about him until now, but looking into his eyes she could see why Dirk had asked.
"Yes ..." Pitt stepped closer to the bed, until he stood right next to Summer. He put his hand on her shoulder to give her comfort for what she was about to hear.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Summer asked. His behavior was starting to scare her.
"Dirk, the poison ... there are traces of another poison in your blood. It's slower than the first one and very similar to it, that's why it wasn't noticed before."
"What?" Summer called out.
"Can't they just give me another antidote?" Confused Dirk looked at his father. He could feel that Summer had taken his hand and when he looked at her, all color had drained from her face. He wanted to tell her that she didn't need to worry, but he needed to hear his father's response first.
"They don't know the poison. There is no antidote."
Now it was Dirk's turn to pale β as he hadn't had much color in the first place, he now looked as white as the sheets he was lying on. "So I'm going to die?"
"No!" Summer choked out barely audible.
"No, I'm not going to let that happen. I think I know who did this to you. I will get the antidote, no matter at what cost."
"Who did this?" Summer demanded to know.
"I have to testify against Thomas Hatch, remember? He threatened me not to testify. I thought he was planning some kind of attack against me. I never imagined he would go against either of you." He looked apologetic at both Summer and Dirk.
"It's okay, Dad. You couldn't have known." Dirk said quietly.
"I'm going back to Washington. There is nothing I can do from here. Promise me that you will fight until I come back."
"I can't make such a promise, Dad. You know that."
"Promise me." Pitt looked intently at his son.
Dirk nodded slowly. "I promise."
Tbc
A.N.: Thank you all so much for the reviews. :) I hope you like this chapter. Thank you for reading.
