Just Another Day: Chapter 18
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DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine
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7:41 p.m. on May 14, 2012, on the third floor of the San Francisco Chinese Hospital in Chinatown
The hustle and bustle of the third floor of the hospital is a living, breathing organism at this moment. It is loud and boisterous, and it can be best described as controlled chaos. Things are moving quickly, decisions being made instantly – based upon good and sound information – and actions are being taken.
Kate Beckett stands back, watching the proceedings with a bit of awe, knowing that the best thing she can do at this time is step back and stay out of the way. She watches a tall doctor in a white jacket approach her, walking side by side with Dr. Tersea Argento, the chief of staff for this facility.
"Miss Beckett," Dr. Argento begins, "This is Dr. Francis, the surgeon who operated on Detective Blackard this afternoon."
"Miss Beckett," the doctor offers, hand extended. His manner is crisp. He has short, cropped blonde hair and haggard features, looking to be in his late forties, perhaps.
"Dr. Francis," Kate replies, accepting the handshake from the surgeon.
"Detective Blackard will need to take one of these daily, for the next two weeks for infection control," he tells her, handing a prescription bottle to the ex-NYPD detective.
"And this," he tells her as he hands a second bottle to her, "is for the pain that I promise you is going to kick in at some point in the coming hours."
"Understood," Kate replies officiously, nodding her head. "Anything else I should know, any other instructions I should give her?"
"Avoid physical activity that involves swing her arm . . . you know . . . like fighting, for one," the tall blonde remarks with a smirk.
"That may be difficult," Kate chuckles in reply, "but I will do my best to convey these instructions to her."
Then turning her attention to the chief of staff there, Kate continues.
"Thank you, Dr. Argento," she tells the smaller woman, offering her a short hug, which is easily returned.
"It is my pleasure, Miss Beckett," Dr. Argento replies. Her countenance and tone remain serious, however.
"Please understand, your friend is not out of the woods, not by any means," she continues. "The biggest concern for her now is infection, and since she is not going to be here under our care, I cannot overstress how important that is going to be."
"I understand, truly," Kate tells her, matching her serious tone. "We have good recovery facilities at the complex where we will be keeping her."
Kate then turns to Dr. Francis.
"And we have a security staff on the campus that will ensure Jennifer doesn't need to resort to any of the physical activities you are concerned about."
Dr. Francis simply nods his head, conducting an almost military-style about face, and walks away down the hallway.
"Can we trust him?" Kate asks Dr. Argento quickly, as soon as the man is out of earshot range.
"Can I trust these?" she continues, jostling the two bottles of prescriptions in her hand.
"I understand your concern, Miss Beckett, given what has transpired here in the last hour," Dr. Argento replies. "But yes, he – and those – can be trusted. I have known Dr. Francis for a long, long time. Everyone involved with our two VIP patients are hand-picked by me. Anyone not hand-picked by me should be dealt with . . . well, dealt with in the manner you people seem comfortable with."
Kate has to laugh out loud at the word selection from the chief of staff, who laughs easily with her.
"One can never be too careful," Kate reminds her.
"You do not have to tell me twice," Dr. Argento answers. "I know the great importance of our two patients to Mr. Carlos. Any misfortune that befalls them while they are in this building would come down on me . . . of this, I have no doubt."
The two women have started walking toward Detective Jennifer Blackard, who sits in a wheelchair outside her room, some twenty feet away. Junior Boy stands beside her, his hulking for almost swallowing her. The two are engaged in a conversation that has both chuckling.
Kate, once again, is struck with the incredible family-dynamics in play between people who should have nothing in common . . . and yet have everything in common.
"Jenn, I have your meds with me," Kate shows her friend once they reach Blackard and Junior Boy. "I'm keeping them for now."
"What, now you're my mother?" Jennifer laughs.
"For the next week or two, yes," Kate replies, immediately turning her gaze to Junior Boy.
"Everything good with her?" she asks.
"Everything is fine, yes," Junior Boy replies, glancing down at the detective. "She certainly is in . . . rare form this evening," he finishes with a broad smile.
"And Willie?" Kate asks, watching Dr. Argento separate from them, now walking across the hallway to Crockett's room.
"Willie is Willie," the large Filipino man remarks with a shake of the head.
"Stubborn as always," Kate agrees.
"He will be a problem, Miss Beckett," Junior Boy warns her, his tone serious. "Willie has already tried to stand up, to get out of bed. They actually tried restraining him," the large man laughs raucously.
"When you say restraining, what do –" Kate asks, but is interrupted.
"They actually tried handcuffing him to the bed," Sam Carlos remarks, laughing as he walks out of the door from Crockett's room, now joining the conversation.
"You can't be serious," Kate laughs as well. "That could not possibly have ended well."
"I was able to help them understand the foolishness of such an action, and just barely in time also," Carlos continues laughing.
"The important thing is that Willie is resting comfortably, his blood pressure is fine, his temperature is fine, everything seems all right, given the surgery he has just undergone."
"And they are okay with us moving him back to Sausalito?" Kate asks, eyebrow raised suspiciously.
"Oh, heavens no, Katie," Carlos replies. "Not even close. But . . . how shall I say this . . . we really didn't give them an option of saying 'No'. The entire discussion focused on what we need to do, what we need to provide to ensure a full and safe recovery away from this institution."
Carlos takes a long pull from the bottled water, before continuing.
"We brought Willie here for the surgery, which was our goal," he adds. "The fact that we now have to depart from here prematurely is secondary. The important thing was getting him here for surgery. Which we accomplished."
Kate nods her head, once again marveling at the strategic compartmentalization of her old college friend.
"Does that mean you will be staying with us indefinitely?" Kate asks. Considering the man has not left Willie Crockett's side for more than a few minutes at a time, she cannot imagine him returning back here to the city without his enforcer and friend.
"Actually, no," Carlos answers, and once again, Kate Beckett is given a glimpse of the darkness that dwells in her long-time friend, as his entire demeanor changes just briefly enough for her to notice.
"Jennifer was attacked," he tells her, his voice changing. "Twice now, in fact . . . and Willie once. Which means they knew where she was taken. And they knew Willie was here. Far sooner than I could have imagined."
"You said 'they'. You suspect a leak? In your . . . family?" Kate asks, incredulously.
"It is not so much a leak, Katie, as it is intelligence," he remarks. Seeing her questioning face, he continues.
"You must understand – in my world – intelligence is king. There is nothing more important than being able to take action, to make decisions based upon sound intelligence. The one who has what I like to call 'the silent information', the hidden information . . ."
"The intelligence," she nods her head, now understanding.
"Yes, once someone has that, then they have true power," he tells her. "Intelligence can be used to influence. To persuade. To control. To purchase. And in this case, to discover. That is all that has happened here. Dr. Argento is a friend, a trusted confidante. Yet the same can never – ever – be assumed of all of her people."
"But if she is –"
"Teresa is trusted. But Teresa's people can be influenced," he interrupts. "They can be persuaded. They can be controlled."
"They can be bought," she nods her head, again understanding this very different world. "And since you used the word 'they', I can only assume that you know who 'they' are."
"Astute as ever," Carlos nods, not giving any more away.
"That is all you're going to tell me?" Kate asks.
"That is all I am going to tell you," he replies. "Right now, it is important that we get Jennifer and Willie away from this place, and to the place I trust most to protect them and wean them back to health."
Kate can only smile at the maximum trust being placed in her hands . . . in the hands of Richard Castle and their friends.
"Right now, it is important that Richard secure his premises from any future attacks, which I have no doubt that he is doing at this very moment," he continues, as Kate nods in agreement.
"And finally, right now, it is important that I visit a few . . . associates here in the Bay Area that I suspect may have foolishly attempted to harm my two friends here."
Kate literally shudders as she catches a smile crossing the face of Junior Boy, who stands next to Carlos. Clearly, this 'visit' of which he speaks is not going to include much talking, of this she is quite certain.
Dr. Argento chooses now to make her return, opening the door from Willie Crockett's patient room, and joining the entourage in the hallway.
"Mr. Crockett is as ready as he will ever be," she tells the group. "Miss Matthews is with him, and is evidently on the phone with your pilot, who is a minute or two away, according to what I was able to gleam from her conversation. So, lets' get this party started, as they say, and get our friends out of here."
She motions to the nursing station, where two attendants quickly abandon their station at the station and rush down the hallway toward her.
"Marcie, you take Miss Blackard here, in the wheelchair," Argento tells her. Then turning to the other nurse, she continues.
"Derrick, you assist Miss Matthews in Room 321 here, in extracting our patient there. Keep him in the bed. Do not attempt to get him into a chair."
"The two orderly/attendants take swift action. Marcie takes Jennifer Blackard and begins wheeling her down to the elevator.
"Junior Boy . . . please," Carlos remarks, and immediately the large man falls in line behind Marcie.
"Katie, that leaves you, Miss Matthews and I with Willie and . . . "
"Derrick," Dr. Argento fills in the name.
"Yes, with Derrick," Carlos continues.
The elevator door dings, and Marcie pushes the wheelchair carrying Detective Blackard into the elevator car. Junior Boy enters and punches the top floor. He says nothing, staying quiet, and his piercing eyes never leaving the eyes of Marcie, who finally breaks contact, staring down at the floor.
Seconds later, the door opens, just in time for Junior Boy to see Ron Daniels landing the helicopter on the roof. It has been a long day for Daniels, who hasn't seen this much continuous action since joining Richard Castle's staff.
"Beat it," Junior Boy tells Marcie brusquely, and the woman does not need a second order from the large, intimidating man. She quickly retreats back into the elevator, punching the floor for the third floor as Junior Boy wheels Blackard toward the aircraft.
Seconds later, her elevator door opens yet again, and this time there are four bodies and a patient in the bed waiting outside the elevator doors.
"Get lost," Lindy Matthews tells the orderly, who has clearly had enough, and is now running down the hallway back to the nursing station.
The foursome – made up of Kate, Carlos, Derrick and Lindy – enter the elevator, pushing the patient bed in first, the moving it sideways. Lindy hits the button for the rooftop floor, and the elevator car is soon moving upwards toward the roof. The door opens, and the foursome watch as Junior Boy stands next to the craft, while Jennifer Blackard sits in one of the seats on the chopper, fastened in tightly.
They gently, purposefully roll the mobile bed from the elevator to the waiting chopper, taking positions to lift and hoist the bed into the aircraft. Derrick is on one side, and now Junior Boy has positioned himself on the other side. He glances down at his dark-skinned friend, who simply gives him a thumbs-up.
With that, both men lift the bedframe into the aircraft, positioning it so that Junior Boy and Matthews can tighten it on the hooks provided.
"Thank you, now leave," Junior Boy tells Derrick, who – like his colleague – needs no further persuasion. He is at the elevator in a flash, watching as the remainder of the entourage file into the chopper. Seconds later, the chopper is lifting airborne as the elevator door closes.
As soon as the door closes, Derrick hits the red Emergency Stop button, freezing the elevator in place. He takes out his cellphone, punches a few digits, and waits patiently for an answer. He does not have to wait beyond three rings.
"Farley," the voice answers.
"Mr. Hopkins," Nurse Derrick Farley replies. "They have all just left. Apparently, they are on to the fact that someone is after them."
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A/N: A good place to stop. The next chapter is already written and being posted along with this chapter. Happy reading, my friends.