Chapter Eight: Forces of Nature

From the moment her phone rang; between the seaweed salad and the salmon sashimi, Larry knew something dreadful must have happened.

He watched the charming smile he adored dissipate and from the first question Megan posed after listening to the voice on the other end of the line, the character of the call was apparent.

"Where?"

A wave of sympathy washed over him as Larry watched Megan's eyebrows knit together and she listened to the answer.

But he did not expect her to reach out and grab his hand as if he should be sharing in her distress.

"Does Alan know?"

As the comprehension that this calamity; whatever it may be, was of a personal nature for them, Larry raised his eyebrows in an inquiring fashion.

Megan's next question to the caller would have confused him if she hadn't accompanied it with watery eyes and a forlorn glance of sympathy in his direction.

"And what about Don?"

Larry felt his heart plummet into this stomach and land solidly amidst miso soup and green tea.

"Charles?"

She met his inquiry with a tight lipped expression and a subtle nod, but did not disclose any details until they had paid the check and were safely out of the restaurant. Megan even went as far as to suggest that she drive and he gladly handed over his keys.

The ride to the Saint Joseph Emergency Medical Center was made in shocked silence. The notion that Don had somehow managed to drive himself and another car off a bridge and into the river was a hard sell for them both.

Pulling into the hospital parking lot, Larry shook his head in disbelief.

"If this was caused by reckless driving and poor weather conditions, you can keep those keys, Megan. If Don couldn't keep it on the road, then I've certainly got no business behind the wheel. And I just refuse to believe Don, of all people, would be that careless. Not with Charles in the car."

Taking his hand and placing the keys gently in his palm, a faint smile danced over Megan's face.

"Of course not, Larry. No one believes that. But right now all the information they have came from a terrified five year old girl. Hopefully Charlie will be able to tell us something when he wakes up."

"Did David know……?"

Larry was unable to voice his concern for his young friend and Megan squeezed his arm gently.

"Let's go find out, okay?"

Fifteen minutes later, Larry sat in the waiting area with Amita. His friend and colleague kept her eyes on the floor. When she and Alan had arrived, Megan had located Charlie and had already used her badge to get in to see him. The nurse quickly ushered Alan through the double doors after her. If Larry hadn't grabbed Amita's arm, he was certain she would have followed; despite the nurses' instruction that it was family only. Everyone knew how much Amita truly cared for Charles…..well almost everyone.

Perhaps the two subjects of the postulation were only beginning to see it.

With a sigh, Larry moved to sit next to her.

"Charles is one of the most stubborn men……"

The two friends exchanged a rueful glance.

"He'll be alright, Amita. He's going to be alright."

Larry put his arm around her shoulders and they settled in for a long wait.

The wait was cut short when Megan rushed out of the double doors and across the lobby to the Emergency Room Ambulance Bay.

Larry jumped to his feet.

"Megan?"

When she turned back to him, she was wearing an almost imperceptible smile. But nevertheless, it was a smile.

"They found Don."

"Oh, thank heavens. And Charles?"

"Alan is with him."

"But, Megan. How is he?"

She declined to answer his question as the ambulance pulled into the bay.

David climbed out first.

"He's okay, Megan. It could be worse. Broken leg….hit his head a few times."

The EMT who had been riding in the front of the ambulance circled around to the back doors. He paused to reassure the two agents.

"We're lucky it was a warm night….despite the rain. If we'd hit the 60's tonight, they wouldn't have had a chance."

Megan looked stricken by the comment and David grabbed her arm, pulling her aside so the medical personal could pull Don from the ambulance.

"Like I said…..it could be worse. Where's Charlie?"

"Room two, with Alan."

Instead of specifying as to his condition, Megan shrugged her shoulders.

Colby rushed through the ambulance bay doors and David nodded his head in greeting. Huddling in the hall, he addressed his fellow agents.

"I got the details from Don on the way over. There's no way this was an accident."

………………………………

Alan sat in exam room two and looked at his youngest son's tranquil features. Charlie was still wrapped in warming blankets and they were preparing to take him for a CT scan to determine the severity of his head injury. His right arm was in a splint and while they were waiting for the x-ray, warm saline was being piped into his body through his IV.

Resisting the urge to rush after Megan to see about Don, Alan turned back to the bed and brushed the curls off of Charlie's forehead. His skin still felt cold, but the nurse had assured him that his son's core temperature was rising steadily. When he had spoken with the doctor, the physician had seemed quite concerned with the possibility of a severe concussion. Charlie still had not regained consciousness and it was obvious from the dual knots on his head that he had been stuck multiple times during the accident and subsequent ordeal in the water. Cranial swelling was likely and the doctor seemed deeply concerned with that possible development on top of the hypothermia.

Turning toward the door, resolving himself to wait for Megan to return, Alan was startled by a weak cough from the bed.

"Charlie? Son?"

"m, sorry, Dad."

Rushing to Charlie's side, Alan found his son's hand.

"Its okay, Charlie. You're alright."

Watching Charlie's eyes fill up with tears, Alan shook his head.

"It's going to be alright, Charlie."

Blinking rapidly, Charlie allowed his tears to flow down his cheeks. He struggled to sit up, grimacing as he tried to put weight on his right arm.

"I couldn't do anything……….it was just………the water……"

"No, no. Megan said they know this wasn't just an accident and Don….."

Much to Alan's surprise, Charlie bolted into an upright position and slung his legs over the side of the bed.

Tears suddenly gone, his voice was weak but determined.

"I have to talk to Megan…Dad. They pushed us off the road. They're responsible for what happened. They killed Don. I have to………….."

"What?"

Alan interrupted, grabbing Charlie's shoulder.

"Charlie. Don is alright."

Charlie shook his head miserably, looking pitiful.

"No, Dad. I saw it."

His eyes swam out of focus as the memory of how Don had been lost played behind his eyes.

"The car was gone. It went under. There was nothing I could do. I had to save the little girl."

"Yes. And the children are fine, Charlie. But so is Don. He is in an ambulance. David is with him. Megan just talked to Colby."

Smiling, Alan put his hand on Charlie's cheek.

"Your brother is alive, Charlie. He'll be here in just a few minutes."

The expression of disbelief on Charlie's face diminished, but only slightly.

"Are you sure?"

Alan's smile must have convinced him to a certain degree, because Charlie's shoulders seemed to relax. But the moment was brief and before Alan could say anything else, Charlie had thrown off the blankets, wrapped his hand around his IV pole and lurched unsteadily to his feet. The movement was so unexpected; Alan didn't have time to restrain him before Charlie was shuffling out the door and headed down the hallway toward the ambulance bay.

………………………………

"Where is he? I need to see him."

Don's voice was shaking as he struggled against the restraints holding him onto the gurney.

"Temp's up to ninety four five."

He found the face of a nurse above him.

"I need to see my brother."

"Just lay back, Sir."

Don pulled his arm up and started un-strapping the Velcro restraints that held his body in place during the ambulance ride.

"If I don't see my brother in the next five minutes, something very bad is going to happen here."

The doctor put his hand on Don's chest to restrain him and yelled at his nurse.

"He's agitated and hostile. Get me five milligrams Haloperidol."

"Wait, wait!

Megan's voice rang up the hallway after them.

"He's not in custody. He's a federal agent!"

The doctor looked from Megan to Don and relaxed a bit.

"You need to calm down, Sir. If you try to get up, you could permanently damage that ankle."

Megan rushed up next to the gurney as it traveled down the hallway.

"He's okay, Don. Your Dad is with him."

"Megan, if I don't see my brother, I'm not sure……"

Don's sentence was interrupted by a familiar voice from down the hall.

"Don?"

As they reached the door to the trauma room, Megan put out her hand to slow down the gurney.

"Charlie?"

Don locked eyes with his younger brother and just as it had outside the car in the river, everything slowed to a crawl. As Alan rushed up beside Charlie to support him, the EMT's pushed Don into the trauma room and time regained it's natural velocity.

Charlie wavered several times before he felt steady enough to walk into the room. He stood at the foot of the bed as they hoisted Don from the gurney and he felt Megan put her hand on his back.

"He's okay, Charlie. He may have a broken leg, but he's okay."

Charlie nodded mutely without taking his eyes off of Don's.

As the EMT's exited the room, Charlie pulled away from Alan's supportive grasp on his arm. And despite the fact that he felt light headed and wasn't really sure he could stay standing, he worked his way around the side of the bed.

One of the nurses attending to Don was the same one that had been in Charlie's room earlier and she was genial enough to move aside and let him through. But she remained directly behind him as if she were certain his legs would give out at any moment.

"Don. I….I thought you were…………….."

The words were spoken so quietly, Don almost had to read Charlie's lips.

He nodded at his younger brother and swallowed hard to suppress the massive surge of emotion that was filling his chest.

"So did I, Buddy. You hit that car door pretty hard."

"But you're okay?"

Despite the visible reduction of worry etched on his face, tears were starting to shimmer in Charlie's eyes.

Don quickly found himself fighting the same reaction.

"Yeah."

He took a deep breath and allowed himself a relieved smile.

"Yeah. I think so. How 'bout you?"

Leaning hard against the bed and holding tightly to his IV pole, Charlie nodded slightly. His expression was hovering between amazed and confused.

"I really thought……...Don…I really thought you ………"

Realizing that the E.R. team had reached a stopping point and was not prepared to wait for the brotherly moment to conclude, Alan nodded at the nurse behind Charlie.

"Come on, son. Let's get out of the doctors way."

The nurse tapped him on the shoulder and indicated a wheelchair someone had pulled in from the hall As she took Charlie's arm he teetered and almost fell over. Keeping him upright, she lowered him expertly into the chair, giving him a friendly smile.

"Your doctor will be glad to see you awake, but I'm afraid we need to get you back to your room and laying down. They're expecting you downstairs for that CT scan. You're lucky you didn't fall on your face walking down that hall."

The nurse began to push Charlie from the room and the ER team began the process of cutting Don's pants from his body.

"Wait."

Some of the typical, brusque authority had returned to Don's voice. Not only did the ER team freeze, but the nurse wheeling Charlie from the room stopped in her tracks.

Charlie careened his head around to look at his older brother.

"It's okay, Buddy. We're both okay."

Don watched as Charlie blinked releasing the tears that had been welling up in his eyes.

"I'll see you again in a few minutes, alright? Okay, Buddy?"

Charlie was nodding gravely, but then suddenly he smiled and Don felt as if a two ton weight had been lifted from his chest. Resolving himself to the humiliation of being undressed by strangers, Don didn't object when the doctor and his team resumed their undertaking. He shifted his eyes to his fathers fretful expression as he headed after Charlie.

"Dad?"

Alan turned back to meet his eyes.

"Yes, Donnie?"

"I'm alright. I'll see you both in a little while, okay?"

Alan nodded solemnly but much to his surprise, Don's expression changed and he appeared to be suppressing a grin.

"And I'm real sorry about the car."

With a brief laugh, Alan shook his head.

"It's just a car, Donnie."

His face turned serious again.

"I'm just glad you're both alright."

Following Charlie and the nurse toward the double doors that lead into the hallway, Alan saw Colby and David talking to a well dressed couple. The two agents appeared to be trying to usher them away from the door and back toward the waiting room. The man and woman were drenched from the rain and as the door opened they fixed their eyes on Charlie.

As Alan followed, he turned to look at his oldest son again.

"I somehow think I'm not the only one who wants to know what the hell happened out there tonight."

………………………………

Authors Notes: Hey all, thanks for your comments. I appreciate all of the input!

Perhaps I will destroy Amita in the future - but not in this fic…sorry to disappoint.

I love everyone's comments! And because of them, I wanted to let you in on some of the info that I based this scenario on…..

According to my research, in Southern California, the average temperature for an evening in the month of March is about 67 degrees. The rain is naturally going to be colder than that. Therefore, the temperature of that river would likely be around 60 degrees. But the surrounding air is much warmer...and I intended it to be a bit warmer than usual; as the EMT pointed out the air temperature was above 70.

How fortunate for our heroes, huh?

I know the breeze could substantially worsen the condition of hypothermia. But the trees are really, really thick...they actually are...I've got several pictures of this particular stretch of the L.A. river taken from the Victory Blvd. Bridge….I think Don and Sophia could easily have huddled in those trees and kept out of the worst of the wind, therefore voiding a serious case of hypothermia. The very dense foliage of these trees is what made their initial survival possible…It would have made them very hard to find when the rescue team was searching as well.

I try to keep my facts straight…but do try to give me some creative flexibility as well.

I'm fighting to keep it as close to realistic as I can get it!

("Damn It Jim, I'm Not A Doctor!")

But I do research my locations and events! I really do.

I hope you can oversee anything that I failed to fully explain in the story and still enjoy the read.

And I hope this helps clear up any questions or issues with my scenario and it's ramifications.

Thanks again for all your comments! I really appreciate them!

I'd love to continue to hear from all of you and feel free to email me if you don't want to leave a public comment. My email address is listed on my profile.

d

Chapter Nine: Prevailing Winds