In the United Kingdom, the terrorist alert was also high. Chief Technician Riley was watching the radar and making sure that the airspace was free from threat. He had spent most of his shift bored and was fighting to keep himself from dozing off. As an attempt to stay awake, he got up and walked around the room. He was gone from the monitors for a short time and when he sat back down, he saw a slow moving blimp on the monitor at an altitude higher than any airliner. He alerted his superiors and within minutes three R-5 Starbusters were sent to intercept.
As the Royal Air Force pilots were approaching the unknown aircraft, the aircraft began to pull away from them. The pilots had orders to prevent the aircraft from escaping at all cost and just before the aircraft was able to get out of range, all three pilots opened fire. Two of the missiles that were fired impacted the aircraft. The aircraft turned towards the royal aircrafts and began returning fire. The pilots made an evasion maneuver. Ten additional R-5 Starbusters were scrambled to assist.
Within the first fifteen minutes of the skirmish two R-5 Starbusters were destroyed. After another ten minutes of fighting, the unknown aircraft was brought down and it splashed twenty-five miles from United Kingdom in the Atlantic. The Royal Navy was dispatched to retrieve the wreckage. A Cylon raider had been flying close enough to Earth and had monitored the skirmish.
9:50 P. M. at the university hospital, Rebecca saw Beth walking through the entrance while carrying a container of cookies. Rebecca had a smug grin on her face as she and Beth approached each other. Beth looked at Rebecca in a curious manner and asked, "What?"
"When you leave this hospital, you're not supposed to be diagnosing diabetics or reviving heart attack victims," said Rebecca.
"You heard," said Beth.
"I heard it from the paramedic and the EMT who brought the heart patient in," said Rebecca.
"Well, it happened right in front my apartment building," said Beth. "In fact my car was involved in the incident. The suspected diabetic…"
Rebecca interrupted with, "I heard all about what happened and the kid has been diagnosed as being diabetic. I also want you to know that what you did was a judgment call, so I'm not bringing this up to tell you that you done wrong. In fact, from what I heard you did good. You have the potential to be a great doctor so just be careful about doing things like that."
Beth grinned and said, "I promise that I'll be careful. In fact, if it wasn't for the guy having a heart attack without any paramedics around, I wouldn't have jumped in like that."
Rebecca looked at her watch and said, "Well, it's about time for you to get ready for work and for me to get ready to leave."
Beth held up the container and said, "I brought cookies in if you want some. My grandma made them."
"Sure, I'll take a couple," said Rebecca. Beth opened up the container and Rebecca took two cookies.
Once the lid was re-closed Beth said, "Well, if I don't see you again before you leave, have a good night."
"Good night," said Rebecca. She and Beth then went their respective ways.
Beth went to her locker to get her scrubs on. Once in her scrubs she put the cookies where the doctors, nurses and the orderlies could help themselves. She then went to Tim's room.
Tiffany was allowed to stay the night with Tim and was playing with Tim by using the teddy bear when Beth stepped in. Tiffany's parents and fiancé had went home.
When Tiffany looked at Beth, Beth grinned and said, "I thought you would still be here. So how's Tim?"
"His fever is fluctuating between one hundred to hundred and two," said Tiffany. "He still can't hold solids down, and he cried a little earlier, but right now he's in an okay mood."
Beth stepped up to Tim's bedside and said, "His fever and him being unable to keep solids down were expected, but I'm sure both will be manageable by morning. And I'm glad that his mood hasn't been all that bad."
"I saw the most improvement with Tim in the first few hours," said Tiffany. "After that, the improvements in him were tapering off."
"That's because he was dehydrated and now he has fluids in him," said Beth.
"He wants to be held too and because of the IV, I didn't think I should do it," said Tiffany.
"As long as you are careful not to pull on the IV in his arm, it would be okay," said Beth.
"That's why I'm not picking him up," said Tiffany. "I don't think I can hold him without accidentally pulling on the IV."
"Well, the IV should be able to come out in the morning," said Beth "You can hold him then." She looked at her watch. "Anyway, my shift is starting and I should get to work."
Tiffany nodded and said, "I'll be here if you want to stop by and check on us."
Beth grinned and said, "I will. Bye for now." She then walked out.
For the first two hours of the shift, the Emergency Room was quieter than usual. Megan and Carlos were also working and while it was slow Dr. Ritter had all three researching certain surgical procedures. Beth took that research time to research stuttering and the therapy for it as well.
12:20 A. M. more and more patient began coming in. Beth was reading the therapy for stuttering when she was paged to the O.R.
Dr. Ritter was scrubbing in when Beth stepped in. When Beth saw who the doctor was, she hesitated for a brief moment. She then stepped up to the sink to scrub in and as she picked up the soap and brush, she asked in a skeptical tone, "You did page me, right?"
"I did, and don't act shock," said Dr. Ritter.
"Normally you page Dr. Sanchez to assist you," said Beth.
"You're more experience at this type of operation than Dr. Sanchez is," said Dr. Ritter.
"And what kind of operation are we doing?" asked Beth.
"A heart transplant," said Dr. Ritter. "The donor's heart will be here in a few minutes."
"I'm not trying to sound as though I'm passing up this opportunity, but I've never assisted with a heart transplant before," said Beth.
"Neither has any of your fellow interns, but you do have the most experience when it comes to heart operations," said Dr. Ritter. "So stop questioning me as to why you were selected over Dr. Sanchez or Dr. Bailey and scrub in."
"Yes, Doctor," said Beth.
After the bars closed at 1:00 A. M., Richard and Number-Three went to Richard's motel room.
As the hours passed, the temperature dropped below freezing and the wet overpasses began freezing up. A few accidents had occurred on the highways throughout the city. One of the accidents involved a large truck and an interstate bus that was fully loaded with passengers. The university hospital and two other hospitals received the wounded. Beth, Megan, Carlos and the surgical doctors went from one surgical procedure to another.
One of the victims of the bus-accident had a punctured heart. Beth was the assisting doctor during that surgery.
In London, the Royal Navy returned with what the Royal Air Force had shot down. As to how small the craft was, it was thought to be able to hold no more than thirty people.
As it was being transported to a secure location Charles, Frank and Abby, three-journalist students from Oxford University saw the craft. Charles had a camera and all three were stalking around looking for evidence to an old story when their attentions were drawn to the craft. They quickly abandoned the original story that they were working on and followed the craft. Charles took pictures the entire time it took for the military rolled the craft into a large hanger. Once the craft was inside and the hanger doors were closed, the experts began doing what they can to open the craft. The students kept themselves hidden as they waited nearby. They were hoping to get more information on what they just witnessed.
6:40 A. M. Beth had stepped into a sixteen-year-old boy's room to check on him before he was prepped for surgery. The teenager was awake and watching early morning cartoons. He had a slicing cut that was bleeding on his outer wrist from catching it on a sharp edge in the restroom. In his opposite hand he had a paper towel that was spotted up with blood.
The teenager, Alexander Crandall, watched Beth as she walked up to him and said, "You look wide awake this morning."
Beth saw the wrist as Alexander said, "I can't sleep while thinking about the operation."
"Can I call you, Alex?" asked Beth. Alexander just nodded. "Alex, the operation is routine and Dr. Montana is great surgeon so the chance of any complications are very low. Anyway, what happen to your wrist?"
"Oh, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I was taking the cap off the toothpaste, I drop it into the floor," Alexander began. "The cap landed under the pipe of the sink. When I went to pick it up, I caught my wrist on a sharp edge on the pipe."
Beth held out her hand and said, "Let me take a look at it."
As Beth was taking Alexander's hand, Alexander said, "When the nurse comes back I was going to ask for a band-aide."
Beth looked at the wrist for a few seconds before saying, "I'll get you a band-aide. Before I do that though, how long ago did you do this?"
"I'm not sure," said Alexander. He then gestured to the TV. "It was before this cartoon came on though."
Beth glanced at the TV and saw that it was a thirty-minute program. She then looked at her watch and said, "It's six-forty-three now. So does fifteen minutes sound about right?"
Alexander shrugged and said, "I guess."
"When you cut or scrape yourself, do you always bleed this long?" asked Beth.
"Even when I cut myself with a paper cut, I always have to cover it up with a band-aide to stop it from bleeding," said Alexander.
"So you bleed for a long time each time?" asked Beth.
"Always," said Alexander. "Is that a problem?"
"It might not be, but to be sure, I'm going to talk to Dr. Montana about it," said Beth.
"How long should I bleed far?" asked Alexander.
"It varies from person to person, but after a few minutes of bleeding from a cut like this, the cut should start forming a clot," said Beth.
"I don't understand what you mean," said Alexander.
"Your blood should be thickening in order for it to form a scab," said Beth.
Alexander asked in a frighten manner, "So there's something wrong with me?"
"Alex, it's way too soon to even think that there's anything wrong," said Beth. "However, there are times though that boys and on rare occasion girls don't clot as well as they should, but that's nothing to be alarm about. Now I'm going to go and discuss your bleeding time with Dr Montana. I'll be back in a few minutes. Okay?"
"Don't forget the band-aide," said Alexander.
Beth grinned and said, "I won't."
Beth left Alexander's room and went straight to the nurse's station.
The nurse watched Beth approached and as Beth stepped up the nurse asked, "Is there anything you need, Dr. O'Brian?"
"Can you page Dr. Montana for me," said Beth. "I need to talk to her before Alexander Crandall gets prepped for surgery."
The nurse picked up the phone and paged Dr. Montana. Once the nurse was done, she said, "It might be a few minutes before Dr. Montana respond."
"I need to take Alex a band-aide anyway, so I'll be back in a minute," said Beth.
Beth was gone for a short time from the nurse's station, and as she was returning to the nurse's station from one direction, Dr. Susan Montana was approaching from the other director. Dr. Montana stepped up to the nurse's station first and when the nurse pointed towards Beth, Dr. Montana waited for Beth to get closer before asking, "What do you need, Dr. O'Brian?"
"Around six-thirty Alexander Crandall cut his wrist on a sharp edge in the bathroom while reaching for the cap off the toothpaste from under the bathroom sink," Beth began. "I noticed the cut when I check on him fifteen minutes later, and there was very little sign that the cut was trying to coagulate. I understand that you have Alex scheduled for an operation at seven-thirty, but I really think he needs to be tested for being a hemophiliac before any operations."
"How certain of you of him being a hemophiliac?" asked Dr. Montana.
"I'm certain," said Beth. "My Uncle Ernie has a mild case of the disorder, so I was familiar with it even before medical school."
"I'm assuming that your dad doesn't have the disorder or you would have mentioned him as well as your uncle, but if your Uncle Ernie is your mom's brother then there's still a good chance that you and your mom are carriers," said Dr. Montana.
"Uncle Ernie is not a blood relative," said Beth. "He's married to my Aunt Melissa… my mom's sister."
"Ah." Dr. Montana looked at her watched and continued to say, "The operation that Alex needs is not a critical one, so go ahead and run the required tests. I'll go and tell Alex's parents that the operation is on hold pending the outcome of the tests."
"Thank you, Dr. Montana, for taking me seriously with this," said Beth.
"I prefer to error on the side of caution," said Dr. Montana. "Anyway, go do the tests."
"Yes, Dr. Montana," said Beth. She and Dr. Montana went their respective ways.
In London, the spacecraft was finally cracked open. As the United Kingdom Special Forces were making their way through the craft, they located dead Greys throughout the ship. As two of the Special Forces reached the medical lab, they found two dead humans, three half developed clones of humans and two more human clones that were in the beginning stages.
"Bloody hell," said one of the soldiers as he shined his light.
The other soldier got on his radio and reported what they found.
Once every inch of the craft was searched each corpse was brought out. The military didn't bother covering up the corpses and as the corpses were being placed in the back of the truck Charles was able to get a picture of each corpse.
After Charles took the fourth picture, he said, "You two won't belief this, but we have our own Roswell incident. Those bodies are dead aliens like in those photos."
Abby grabbed the camera and said, "Let me see."
Charles said in a sarcastic manner, "I don't mind at all that you rip my very expensive camera from my hands."
As Abby looked through the camera at the corpses she said, "Relax, I'm not going to hurt your precious camera." There was a moment of silence before Abby spoke again. "My god. They're also bringing out what I can only describe as being deformed humans."
Abby was taking pictures as Charles asked, "Can I have my camera back now so I can look?"
As Abby continued to take pictures, she said, "Hold on. I want to get this while I can."
"With you operating the camera, it's a good thing that it automatically focuses," said Charles.
"If you want your expensive camera back in the same condition as I took it then you should stop talking," said Abby as she took more shots.
"Just don't hurt the camera," said Charles.
8:20 A. M. at the University hospital, Beth was walking into the reception area from after being paged. She didn't know what to think when she saw her cousin Cindy. As she stepped up to Cindy she said, "I thought you were on your way back to New York."
"Mom hates getting on a plane in ideal weather and once Mom saw the weather forecast, she canceled the flight," said Cindy. "Since it's supposed to snow all weekend, we might be here until Monday."
"Ah," said Beth. "So did your dad leave something behind?"
"I'm actually here to ask a favor," said Cindy.
Beth looked at Cindy in a curious manner and asked, "What kind of favor?"
"Dad had gone through a couple of operations in hopes to restore his sight," Cindy began. "Obvious they failed; however, there is another procedure my husband and I feel that's worth trying, but Dad refuses to even consider it. Since we'll be here over the weekend, I was hoping that I can get you to talk to dad about the procedure."
"Three days ago was the first time in twenty years that I have seen you guys, so I doubt that your dad would even sit long enough to hear me out," said Beth.
"You're a doctor though," said Cindy. "He will listen to you quicker than anyone else."
Beth slightly sighed. She then asked, "What procedure are you talking?" Cindy pulled out papers from her purse and handed them to Beth. Beth skimmed through them. "Cindy, can I take the time and research this procedure before saying yes or no to this?"
"Of course." As Cindy pulled out a piece of paper and pen from her purse she said, "I'll give you my cell number." Cindy wrote out her number and handed it to Beth.
Beth looked at the number and said, "I'll call you when I'm done researching this."
"I'll be waiting for your call," said Cindy. "Bye."
Beth waved and said, "Bye."
Beth put the papers in the pocket of her lab coat. As she was walking back into emergency area, Rebecca saw her and motioned for Beth to go to her.
Beth looked at Rebecca in a curious manner. As she stepped up, Rebecca said, "There's a medical conference in two months on heart procedures and I think that you should go to it."
"I'm not wanting to become a heart specialist… or specialist in any field as far as that matter, so I'd be wasting my time going to it," said Beth.
"Not every doctor will be there because they're specializing and as it stands at the moment, you have the most experience among the interns with heart procedures," said Rebecca. "You will be the first intern who will be called on when there's a heart surgery that needs to be performed and I feel that you should know all you can about it."
"Dr. Eisen, I want to remain in the field of general surgery and if I go to that medical conference, I might get caught in a rut that heart procedures will be the only procedure that I'd get called to the O. R. for," said Beth. "I don't want that. I want to do it all."
"That medical conference is not a required course so I can make you go," said Rebecca. "I do think that you're making a mistake by not going."
"Dr. Eisen, I'll read any procedure that you want me to read, but I don't want to go to any medical conferences that would inadvertently push me into a rut of a specialized field," said Beth. "Also if possible I would like to be selected to assist with more various types of surgeries and not just heart surgeries."
Rebecca slightly sighed and said, "Okay, Dr. O'Brian. You win."
"I'm sorry if I disappointed you," said Beth.
"Your attitude about attending medical conferences surprises me rather than disappoints me," said Rebecca as Beth's beeper sounded.
As Beth looked at her beeper, she said, "I'm a fast reader so I actually can learn the same information in half the time by reading about it from a book or online."
"That would be good if all of the information from the medical conference could be found in written form," said Rebecca.
"True," said Beth. She then gestured to her beeper. "Anyway, the lab is paging me. Most likely it's Alexander Crandall's test results."
"On the off chance that you would change your mind, you have three weeks to sign up for the medical conference," said Rebecca.
Beth grinned and said, "Okay." She then walked away.
Beth went straight to the lab for the report. After seeing the report and learning that Alexander was Hemophilia as she suspected, she went and found Dr. Montana in the break room.
After Dr. Montana saw the report, she said, "Dr. O'Brian, since this was your find, I want you to tell Alex and his parents about his condition and how he is to deal with it in the future."
"I have no problem with that," said Beth.
"Okay, let's go," said Dr. Montana. During the walk to Alexander's room, Beth saw a female Cylon walking through the halls. Dr. Montana saw Beth stopping and staring at the woman. "Are you coming, Dr. O'Brian?" Beth didn't respond. "Dr. O'Brian."
Beth quickly looked at Dr. Montana and asked, "What? I mean, yes, Dr. Montana?"
"Is there anything going on I should know about?" asked Dr. Montana.
Beth looked at Dr. Montana in a confused manner and asked, "Like what?"
"Like why were you staring at that woman who's getting on the elevator as though she's holding the answers to life?" asked Dr. Montana.
"Oh, it's nothing like that," said Beth. Dr. Montana looked Beth in a curious manner. "I thought I recognized her that's all. I don't though."
Dr. Montana continued to look at Beth in a curious manner and said, "Okay. Then we should continue to Alex's room."
"Yes, Dr. Montana," said Beth. As they started walking again, Dr. Montana noticed Beth glancing back towards the elevators for a second.
Alexander's parents were visiting Alexander when Dr. Montana and Beth walked in. As they stepped up to the parents Dr. Montana said, "Mr. and Mrs. Crandall, I like for you to meet Dr. O'Brian."
As Beth shook the parents' hand, Beth and the parent said in unison, "Nice to meet you."
"Dr. O'Brian is the doctor who will be assisting me with Alex's operation," Dr. Montana continued. "As you know Alex's operation was put on hold because of a suspicion Dr. O'Brian had about Alex's medical condition. Dr. O'Brian had run a few tests on Alex and now she will be telling the conclusion of those tests." Dr. Montana gestured for Beth to continue from there.
"Well first of all, I ran these tests because I noticed that Alex wasn't clotting as well as he should," said Beth. Alex remained quiet. "The tests I ran were tests for hemophilia A and hemophilia B. The lab results confirmed that Alex has the bleeding disorder of hemophilia B…"
"I heard that someone with hemophilia bleeds more than the average person, but what exactly is it and how do we cure it," asked Mr. Crandall.
"A person with hemophilia doesn't bleed more, he or she just bleeds longer…" said Beth.
"What exactly is it though?" asked Mrs. Crandall.
"There are thirteen clotting factors in the blood and the blood needs all thirteen in order for the blood to clot," Beth began as she looks at Alexander. "In Alex's case his body is only producing eleven percent of the required amount of factor nine that his blood needs to clot properly. Now eleven percent is considered a mild case of the bleeding disorder…"
"So how do we cure this?" asked Mr. Crandall.
"There's no cure for Hemophilia, Mr. Crandall, but it is easily treatable," said Beth.
"How?" asked Mrs. Crandall. "What's the treatment for it?"
Beth looked at Alexander and said, "For mild cases of hemophilia the treatment is gene therapy prior to any surgery or major dental work, like tooth extractions."
"What is gene therapy?" asked Mr. Crandall.
"Alex will get an infusion of the factor nine prior to any surgery," said Beth. "For a temporary time this will put his clotting factor close to normal and allow him to clot normally after the operation."
"How did Alex become hemophilia?" asked Mrs. Crandall.
"Hemophilia is an inherited genetic disorder…" said Beth.
"So he got it from me or my husband?" asked Mrs. Randall.
"Hemophilia is caused by a mutation on the female sex gene and when Alex was conceived he would only get the male sex gene from his father," said Beth. "The female sex gene would have come from you, Mrs. Crandall."
"So this is my fault?" Mrs. Crandall questioned. "I gave this to my son? But I don't have any problems with clotting."
"Women are normally carriers to the disorder and there is only an eighty percent chance that Alex received the disorder from you, Mrs. Crandall…" said Beth.
"How else can Alex get the disorder if he didn't get it from me?" asked Mrs. Crandall.
"Twenty percent of all cases of hemophilia are caused by a spontaneous mutation of the female sex gene," said Beth. "Alex, most likely you are still too young to be even thinking of this, but since you do have hemophilia you should be aware of that all future daughters that you'll have will be carriers of hemophilia B and when they get old enough to have children of their own there's a fifty-percent chance that they will pass the disorder to their children. Oh, also since you would pass the male gene to any future sons, you cannot pass the mutated female gene to your sons. So any sons that you have will be free from the disorder… or at least he won't get the disorder from you anyway."
"How is it that males can get hemophilia and females are merely carriers?" asked Mr. Crandall.
"Females have two female sex genes and for a woman to have the bleeding disorder both female sex genes must have the same clotting factor deficiency." Dr. Montana's attention towards Beth was revived as Beth continued to say, "In fact, every book I read and every teacher whoever taught me says that the gene that causes hemophilia is a recessive gene, but I disagree that the gene that causes hemophilia is a recessive gene."
Alexander finally broke his silence and asked, "What's a recessive gene?"
"Recessive genes and even dominant genes are genes that determine the features or trait of a person," Beth began. "When a dominant gene and a recessive gene get paired up, the dominant gene will always dominate someone's trait or features as with someone having brown eyes, or dark hair color or in my case, freckles." Alexander grinned. "The only time that a recessive gene will show in someone's trait or features is when two of the same recessive genes are paired. The genes that cause hemophilia in a woman do fall under that criterion of it having to be two recessive genes so I can certainly understand the current belief. There would be no way for me to prove this example, however, if a woman has one female gene with factor eight deficiency and the second gene with factor nine deficiency then according to the dominant and recessive gene protocol, one of those gene is dominant, therefore, the woman must have at least one of the two disorders. That's not the case though. The woman from my example will be free from having hemophilia because what one gene is lacking the other gene is producing. Plus people don't call a failed kidney as being a recessive kidney when a person is living with one good kidney and one bad kidney." Beth was quiet for a second. "Is there any more questions about hemophilia?"
"I've heard of spontaneous mutation before, but what causes it," asked Mrs. Crandall.
"There are unproven theories floating around," said Beth. "In fact I just very recently heard a new explanation as to why spontaneous mutation occurs; however, none of these theories or explanations has reached the medical journals yet, so for now I have to say, it's still one of those medical mysteries." Beth noticed Dr. Montana giving her a curious look, but ignored it. "Anymore questions?"
"Do I have to quit playing sports?" asked Alexander.
"I have a uncle with a mild case of hemophilia A which is factor eight deficiency and he played football all throughout college… except he didn't find out about having a bleeding disorder until he was thirty-five," said Beth. "Anyway by you playing sports is a judgment call on your part. Are there any other questions?" Alexander and his parents shook their heads. "Well, before I let Dr. Montana take over from here you might find it interesting to know that hemophilia B is also called Christmas disease. It's called that because the first person who was diagnosed with having hemophilia B was Stephen Christmas. Now if there are no more questions then that's all I have."
"Well as Dr. O'Brian explained, prior to any surgeries that Alex would get, he'll need gene therapy," said Dr. Montana. "So I'll schedule Alex for that and reschedule his surgery for in the morning."
"That sound's good," said Mrs. Crandall.
"Dr. O'Brian and I will see everyone later," said Dr. Montana.
"Dr. O'Brian, thanks for being intuitive and catching Alex's condition," said Mrs. Crandall.
Beth smiled and said, "You're welcome." She and Dr. Montana turned and left the room.
After Beth and Dr. Montana separated, Beth scoured each floor of the hospital in search for the Cylon she saw. When she couldn't find the Cylon she went to the E. R.
8:50 A. M., at the police station, Eric was in the process of booking an nineteen-year-old woman for shoplifting when Officer O'Toole stepped up to him and said, "Hey Eric, there's a woman in the waiting area requesting to talk to you."
"Who is she?" asked Eric.
"I don't know," said Officer O'Toole.
"Well, I'll be another five minutes here," said Eric.
"Okay, I'll let her know," said Officer O'Toole. He turned and walked away.
In the waiting area, Number-Three watched the diverse crowed of people. Her attention was then drawn to a man brought in, in handcuffs. The man was completely covered in tattoos.
Number-Three was watching the man when Eric stepped up to her and asked inquisitively, "Belinda?" Number-Three turned to look. "How did you know to look for me here?"
Number-Three stood up and said, "After you left last night, I got to know your father. He told me that you are a policeman here."
"You should be more choosier on the people you hang out with," Eric said in a serious manner. "Anyway, what can I do for you?"
"Your father knows he made a mistake and he is genuinely sorry…" Number-Three was able to get out.
"That S. O. B. sent you here, didn't he?" asked Eric.
Number-Three looked at Eric in a confused manner for a second before saying, "Coming here was my idea, but he does know I'm here. In fact he told me that I was wasting my time."
"Finally there's something he and I agree on," said Eric.
"Although I just met you and your father last night, I feel attached to your situation," said Number-Three. "He knows he lost the chance to be a father to you, but he would like to be a friend to you and a grandfather to your son."
"That's not going to happen," said Eric. "I'm also a bit curious as to why you feel attached to this."
"When your father leaves for Peterson Air Force Base, I'm going with him," said Number-Three.
"And when I met you last night, I thought you had good taste… or at least good sense," said Eric. "Now I see you don't have either."
Number-Three grinned and shook her head. She then said, "Well, your father and I will be here for another week. He has a room at the Motel-Six."
Eric looked at Number-Three in a curious manner. He then said, "You never told me what your last name was and since you and my dad are becoming close, I should know what it is."
"It's Woods," said Number-Three.
"A word of advice, Belinda Woods, you really should pick your friends better," said Eric.
Number-Three grinned and said, "Well, I should get going. Perhaps I'll see you around. Bye"
"Bye," said Eric.
Seconds later Eric sat back down at his desk and started a search on Belinda Woods on the computer. A few matches came up on that name, but not one of the pictures matched the woman he was looking for. He searched for the correct Belinda Woods for ten minutes. His search ended by his partner, Geri Downing, when she stepped up and said, "Hey partner, we have a call."
Eric closed out of his search and as he stood up he asked, "Where are we going?"
"A drug addict got caught breaking into the medicine at a nursing home," said Geri. "The guards there apprehended him and we get the duty of bringing him in."
Ten minutes later, Eric and Geri were walking into the security office of the nursing home. Eric and Geri saw the responsible nineteen-year-old man as soon as they walked in. Lloyd, the teenager, was bleeding from the head and was in need of stitches.
When Lloyd saw the two police officers, he stood up. As he gestured to the security officer who apprehended him he said, "I want to file brutality against that man."
"I said, stow it," said the security officer. "What happened to your head was an accident."
Geri stepped closer and asked, "What did happen to his head?"
"He ran when I caught him stealing the medicine," the security officer began. "I ran after him and before he was able to get completely away I tackled him. When he fell, he hit his head on the corner of the door." He then held up a piece of paper. "Here's a copy of the incident report."
As Geri took the report, Eric said, "We'll take him to the university hospital before we take him in."
Geri looked at Eric in a confused manner before saying, "All prisoners are to be taken to regional."
"True, but I have my reason to want to take him to the university hospital," said Eric.
"What is that reason?" asked Geri.
"Let's just take him to the university hospital and if something gets said about it, I'll take the heat," said Eric.
"That's damn straight that you'll take the heat," said Geri. She then read Lloyd his rights and put the handcuffs on him.