Cole was a vegetable. At least, that was how Lou interpreted the nurse's medical jargon. All they could do was keep him comfortable until he woke up. If he woke up. Every few hours, they would roll him into a different position to prevent bedsores. Every once in a while, his eyes would open, but they wouldn't focus on anything, and he didn't respond to any form of stimuli. Mostly he slept. His vitals weren't good, but at least they were somewhat stable for the time being.
Lou called one of Anna's old military friends and asked for help. He did not trust the police to protect Cole from another attack, since they had proven incompetent in the past. The military, on the other hand, were more than willing to do whatever it took to keep Cole safe.
"Anything for the lieutenant colonel's son."
Lou was sitting next to Cole, watching him breathe when Wu came in.
"How is he?" Wu asked.
"Not good. They don't know what's going on with him. The plan is to make him as comfortable as possible and wait and see what happens," Lou explained.
"Ah. The others wish to see him."
"No. They're the reason he's here in the first place. I told them it was a trap, but they didn't listen."
"They did what I'm sure they thought they must do."
"I told them to leave! Morgen wasn't going to hurt me. She was never after me. She wanted Cole. It's always been about Cole with her. I've spent the last twenty years trying to keep her from getting to him, and he walks into her home." Lou turned his attention back to Cole. The man who could sing and dance his way through any situation sighed in defeat.
"Cole is strong. If anyone can pull through this, it is him," Wu said after a minute of silence.
"No. She won. She finally won," Lou muttered. He felt like the room was closing in around him.
"She did not win. He is still alive."
"Not for long… I need some air." Lou got up and left the room, making sure one of the MPs standing guard outside the room went in to keep an eye on Cole. He made his way downstairs. The other ninja, who were anxiously waiting in the waiting room, ran over when they saw him.
"How is he? Will he be alright?" Jay demanded.
Lou silently walked past them and out of the hospital. He made his way down the street in a haze. He somehow made his way to his house, a good forty-five minute walk from the hospital. He opened the door and looked around.
Everything was just as Lou had left it when his kidnappers had rung the doorbell. The TV was on, there was a half-eaten sandwich on a plate on the coffee table, and next to the plate was his lyrics notebook, open to the song he had been working on. He cleaned up his mess, turned the TV off, and headed upstairs. He threw some clothes, his toothbrush, laptop, chargers, and a few other essentials into a small suitcase and went down the hall to Cole's old room.
Most of Cole's things were at the monastery, but Lou decided to look anyway. It was mostly empty, but there were some old books from Cole's childhood on the shelves and one book on the headboard. Lou picked it up. It was a book of silly poems for children. He didn't know how many times he had come home and found Anna reading this book to Cole. As he leafed through the book, something came fell out of it. It was a picture of the three of them in front of Anna's fighter jet when Cole was five years old. Lou remembered that day.
Anna was the first women pilot to be selected to fly with the demonstration squadron that performed at airshows and such. After three years of flying with them, this day was her first time commanding them. Lou and Cole were in the audience. They watched as the six pilots walked down the runway to their aircraft. Lou was always impressed with how sharp Anna looked in her flight suit. When she took off her cap to put on her helmet, the sun made her blonde bun light up like a halo. The pair watched as the planes taxied to the end of the runway, before taking off as a group. The little boy was fascinated by the maneuvers the pilots performed. Over an hour later, the planes landed. Lou and Cole made their way onto the runway to meet up with Anna. She picked Cole up so he could get a better look at the plane, and the event photographer saw them and snapped a picture of the three of them.
Lou put the picture back in the book and placed it back on the headboard. He found some of Cole's old shirts and put them in the suitcase along with a few other things he thought Cole might need. He went back downstairs. A picture on the mantle caught his eye. The three were on an aircraft carrier. Anna was in her formal wear, and Cole, four years old at the time, was standing on the railing of the ship, wearing Anna's cap. The picture was taken only half an hour before Morgen's forces attacked the carrier, which was full of civilians at the time. The military quickly subdued the terrorists, but Morgen was nowhere to be found. Not for the first or last time, Anna insisted Lou let her take care of Morgen once and for all, but Lou always hesitated to agree. He wanted to believe that deep down, Morgen was still the person he fell in love with.
"I should've let you handle Morgen," Lou admitted as he put the picture in the suitcase. He quickly double checked all the locks, then got in his car and drove back to the hospital.