Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench
Well, in the previous chapter: Chuck talked with Bryce after he had a grueling physical therapy session put together by Hannah. While talking with Bryce, he encouraged Chuck to not waste any time because he has the right woman in his life. This led to Chuck quickly leaving the 4th floor of Hannah's physical therapy room in order to find Sarah. Unfortunately, he doesn't find her in her office, but does find out she's outside in the courtyard. Instead of making his way down there the normal way, he takes the unconventional route. He goes out Sarah's office window and drops down on to a window washing scaffold. Needless to say, things don't necessarily as planned, but it makes for a not so perfect memorable moment for the nerdy couple. A nerdy couple who got engaged after Chuck proposed with everybody in the courtyard, hospital, and on the YouTube Channel watching. So, what happens in this chapter? Here are the who, what, where, when, why, how's? Who makes Chuck and Sarah an offer to be part of a movie project? What is the project called that the newly engaged couple are potentially going to be a part of? Where did Sarah meet the woman who she found out is the lead actress in the project she's a part of? When do Mr. and Mrs. Turner appear causing Sarah to laugh her butt off? Why does the emergency room of Westside Medical Center is referred to as The Trenches? How do people in the emergency react when they find out something about Casey they learn for the first time? Read and find out! I hope you enjoy the read and leave a comment to share your own thoughts on this particular chapters. As always, reviews are awesome.
Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment, I truly appreciate it. Please continue to do so as it gives me the incentive to write more chapters.
I don't own Chuck.
A Valuable Lesson
XXX
"Are you serious?" questioned Sarah. A mixture of confused disbelief was expressed on her face.
Three months had passed since Chuck and Sarah got engaged. It was an insanely crazy whirlwind afterwards as the outpouring of congratulations in emails, text messages, and social media messages were sent to the newly engaged couple. As things somewhat started to slow down, Chief Beckman called her second in command and Chief Operating Officer into her office for what she deemed an important meeting. Sarah wasn't alone. The person that sat in the seat right beside her was Chuck Bartowski because he was involved in the meeting as well.
"Why, Sarah?" Chuck asked, briefly glancing over at his now fiancée. "Why me, for that matter?" he added, pointing to himself.
Chuck's attention was then turned to the other occupant in Beckman's office besides Casey and Scooter. A female to be exact. She was sharply dressed in a pants suit holding her cell phone as if it were permanently attached to her hand. A type of woman who doesn't accept no for an answer. The beautifully attractive woman in question had dark shoulder length hair styled in a seemingly expensive way. Her dark, high heeled shoes were definitely worth more than the converse high top black and white sneakers that he was wearing right now.
What made her such a standout was her eyes. They were dangerous, but at the same time were seductively alluring and mysteriously captivating. It was if they were able to capture then hold on to anyone's attention. The female in question was an executive producer of a movie and her name was Alexis White. She was there to discuss a matter of importance that could financially benefit not only the hospital, but the newly engaged couple as well.
"Like I discussed with Chief Beckman," said White, stepping forward. She briefly glanced at the auburn-haired woman sitting behind her desk. "I'm here on behalf of the studio."
"What studio?" inquired Scooter.
"Five Elders Studios," she retorted.
For Chuck, he found the concept of how a movie, or a television was made from start to finish an exceptionally interesting process. Of course, he knew the television and movie industry was an incredibly cutthroat and cold business because of how popular shows can be unfortunately canceled, especially if they had one season under their belt. The series that Chuck immediately thought of was Joss Whedon's science fiction series that ultimately became a cult classic with fans, including himself. The series was called Firefly.
The fact that Firefly had never gotten a second season and fans still want one, still blew his mind to this day. Although actors such as Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk have enjoyed awesome success in other series related projects, a diehard fan like himself still dreamed and wished for it to come back to the point where online petitions have been made. Of course, he and Morgan signed those petitions and hoped the powers that be listened to the fans, which some have and made countless nerds incredibly happy. Essentially, there's a valuable lesson to be learned and that patience is a virtue, especially if you're a nerd that lived and breathed pop culture growing up.
"And the project being worked on?" the nerd asked.
"We'll Always Have Omaha," White answered. "It's still unclear whether it's going to be an actual movie or turned into a series. Maybe a movie then a spinoff series,." she shared, shrugging her shoulders. "Not my concern. I'll just let them figure it out."
"What's it about?" asked Scooter, with curiosity.
"The female character lead is named Katrina Omaha," she revealed. "She's considered one of the youngest and smartest administrators who works at Joan of Arc Memorial Hospital in Santa Clarita, CA. She's accomplished so much in such a short period of time. The lineage of the Omaha family, generation to generation is there. Essentially, an Omaha has worked at that hospital in some form or another," White thoroughly described. "However, Katrina's strengths are also her weakness as well."
It took a moment for everybody in the room to digest the description White gave. A few seconds later, Chuck spoke up.
"If you ask me, it works better as a series than a movie," he suggested, shrugging his shoulders.
As much as Sarah was intrigued by the inner workings of who and what's involved in creating a movie/series, she knows her metaphorical plate was already filled. Her responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer combined with planning a wedding didn't leave any room whatsoever to add being some kind of advisor for a sense of realism in a land of make believe, she thought to herself.
"That still doesn't explain why we're here," stated Sarah, shaking her head. Her attention is directed back to Chief Beckman. "Why us?"
"We've actually had you two on our radar for a while now. We were waiting for the perfect opportunity that matched any project we were currently developing or in pre-production," White explained.
Sarah sat there with her eyebrows furrowed. In her head, she wasn't mentally buying what the expensively dressed executive producer was selling. Her focus on Alexis White was then directed to her boss, Chief Beckman.
"Does the Board of Directors know about this?"
Chief Beckman nodded. "They approved it."
Of course they did. In her mind, the Board of Directors possibly had some kind of under the table handshake deal that financially benefited not only them, but the hospital as well. Sarah's attention was abruptly broken and directed to someone who appeared, then stood on the other side of Chief Beckman's desk. It was Alexis White, and she locked eyes with her. It seemed that White was asserting herself and making some kind of Hollywood power play.
"Two actors will be shadowing you and Mr. Bartowski…"
"Please," interrupted Chuck, speaking up. "Call me Chuck."
White softly smirked and nodded. "Okay, Chuck."
The Chief Operating Officer of Westside Medical Center immediately chimed in. "I'm not comfortable with someone following me around," Sarah shared, turning her attention from White to Beckman. She then directed her attention to her hulking partner. "Besides, Casey doesn't like strangers roaming his halls." Speaking of Casey, he doesn't say a word. Instead, he sounded off a growling grunt to let White know Sarah was right about how protective he truly was when it comes to his Castle.
The female executive producer was silent for a moment. It seemed as if she was actually taking into consideration Sarah's feelings on the matter of someone shadowing her. Plus, add the hospital's Head of Security into the mix and she knew she had to tread lightly, "I understand." A few seconds later, she continued on, "I understand you and Chuck are newly engaged. I'm sure planning a wedding can be considerably costly," she added, quirking her brow. She glanced down at the 5-carat diamond ring adorned on Sarah's ring finger.
"We'll manage," Sarah responded, crossing her arms.
An acknowledging nod was given by White once again. "I'm sure the both of you will."
White took that moment and took a seat on the left side edge of Beckman's desk, which Casey took umbrage with. He was about to react when Beckman quietly signaled him to stand down. He complied and then continued to listen to what White had to say.
"How about I sweeten the offer by not just adding you as paid technical advisors."
Chuck and Sarah briefly look at each other. After a few seconds, Sarah turned and responded to White, "What offer?"
"Your privacy will not be infringed, and I'll have contracts written for the both of you to sign that states that. Does that satisfy your concerns?" questioned White. "Businesswomen to businesswomen. Do we have a deal?"
Sarah doesn't answer right away. She broke her focus on White and looked at Chief Beckman. Both women shared an unspoken communication between the two of them that spoke volumes without saying a word. Afterwards, she stood up and it caused Chuck to do the same. Sarah then locked eyes with White.
"Contracts first and we'll go from there."
"That can be arranged," smirked White. "I'll have the necessary documents drawn up."
"Is that it, Chief?"
"Nothing else, Chief Walker."
"Awesome," Chuck responded, expressing his toothy smile. Afterwards, he turned around to leave but stopped. He then had a question and directed it to White. "By the way, who are the leads?"
"Stephen Pollack. He's playing Brody. Katrina Omaha's potential love interest and male lead."
"And who is the actress chosen to play Katrina Omaha?" inquired Chuck again.
Sarah was already at Beckman's office door and was about to open it when she heard the actress' name. "Heather Chandler."
After she heard that name, a pained expression washes all over Sarah's face. Her head dropped down and faintly uttered the following word: "Shit."
XXX
"All right," Chuck said, taking a moment to wipe his mouth. He and Sarah sat together in the hospital's cafeteria. It was somewhat crowded since it was seemingly a busy Tuesday morning for the Westside Medical Center. Both having a cup of coffee instead of eating. "Who is she?"
Ever since Sarah reacted the way she did after she heard the actress' name, Chuck knew there was history with her. What sort of history remained unclear but judging the way she reacted it wasn't good history, he thought to himself. After the both of them sat silently at the table for a while, Chuck initiated the conversation.
"Who?"
"Nicole Richie," sarcastically answered Chuck. "Heather Chandler. That's who," Chuck said, leaning forward. Both his hands were intertwined and then placed on top of the small table between them. He stared at her and waited for Sarah to answer back. She just stared right back at him. After a few seconds, he shook his head. "Don't make me do it."
Sarah quirked her right brow after she heard that. "Do what?"
"The restaurant scene from When Harry Met Sally."
"Seriously?" she responded, with a bit of amusement. "That scene only works if a woman does it rather than a guy," added Sarah, shaking her head. "A guy couldn't pull it off effectively."
"That sounds like a challenge to me."
Instantly, Sarah's eyebrows rise up. "You," she blurted it out loud, but then quieted down. After looking around the cafeteria for a second, leaned forward and whispered over to him. "You wouldn't dare."
Chuck doesn't say a word. Instead, he readjusted the way he was seated in front of his loving fiancée and sat there for a moment. The next thing Sarah heard was the sound of heavy breathing from across the table. Sarah expressed a bit of laughter thinking that he was going to stop once people around them took notice of what was going on. He would be completely embarrassed and stop but didn't. He kept on going. So, she then crossed her arms and leaned comfortably back in her chair.
"You're bluffing," Sarah firmly stated, quirking her right brow.
"Oh, boy," Chuck heavily breathed out. It definitely caught the attention of those sitting around them. As Sarah continued to sit there completely stone- faced, Chuck closed his eyes and placed his hands flat on the table. He then made circular motions as the heavy breathing gradually turned into guttural growls that became somewhat louder. Afterwards, he tilted his head back then briefly stretched out his arms to the sides. When he did, he lowered his arms then grabbed the sides of the table with both hands.
By that point, the entire cafeteria had already stopped what they were doing and just stared in awe at the scene that was unfolding before their very eyes. A few people walked by then stopped after they finally located the sound, they thought they were hearing. As for Sarah, she didn't budge once, as she continued sitting there stone-faced across from Chuck. Every once in a while, she picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip.
When Sarah placed her cup of coffee back down the table, Chuck slammed his right fist down on top of it. Instead of yelling, "Yes! Yes! Yes!," like Meg Ryan's character Sally did in front of Billy Crystal's character Harry, Chuck simply crossed his eyes and convulsed/contorted his body while the patrons within the hospital cafeteria watched on completely wide-eyed. The whole thing lasted 2 and half minutes for Chuck.
By the time Chuck finished his performance, the entire hospital cafeteria was dead silent, except for Sarah. She simply picked up her cup of coffee again and before she took a sip, she uttered one word.
"Finished?" she asked, dryly.
Chuck was about to respond when Mr. and Mr. Turner suddenly shuffled by hand in hand. The elderly couple stopped in front of their table and took a moment looking back and forth at Chuck and Sarah. Mr. Turner then focused his attention on Chuck, as Sarah started to take a sip of her coffee.
"It's ok, son," he said, reaching down to pat him on the right shoulder. "Passing a kidney stone is tough at any age. You got this," Mr. Turner added, with sound encouragement in his voice.
Mr. Turner's response caused Sarah to nearly spit out her cup of coffee all over herself. It also caused her to bust out laughing as she carefully set her coffee cup down on the table. Chuck, on the other hand, had a disappointed look on his face after he attempted to recreate the restaurant scene from When Harry Met Sally. Unsure of why Sarah was laughing, Mrs. Turner softly smiled at Chuck then spoke up.
"Hopefully it's only one you're dealing with, Charles." Her attention turned to her husband. "Craig, suffered through 3 of them," she shared, reflecting back on her husband's most painful moments of his life. "Poor dear," she softly breathed out.
"All good, Laura. Nothing like a delicious Manhattan that I knew was waiting for me. It helped soothe the pain that I suffered," Mr. Turner recalled. He then crossed the fingers on his right hand and directed it to Chuck. "Fingers crossed, my boy," he positively retorted
Afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Turner walked off while the hospital cafeteria patrons returned to what they were doing after they heard the word kidney stone. Plus, the fact that although the nerdy couple's relationship didn't make sense on paper, it just worked and made absolutely sense, especially when they're seen interacting with each other in the hospital. It got to the point where they were actually dubbed a fan favorite nerdy couple. A nerdy couple who are not only open, inviting and fun, but welcoming as well.
In any case, Chuck sat there a bit defeated after his failed attempt to embarrass his fiancée, but at least he got her to laugh. "Fine, you win," he conceded, shaking his head.
Sarah responded by sipping what remained of her cup of coffee as she humorously stared at her fiancé in a victorious way. After things settled down in the cafeteria, Chuck took a deep breath, leaned forward and continued investigating.
"Remember, we promised each other no secrets, no lies," Chuck reminded her. The sound of encouragement in his voice.
Sarah was silent for a moment then expressed a defeated sigh afterwards. She finally responded, "Heather Chandler and I," she hesitated briefly, but continued on, "We went to High School together when my dad moved us to D.C." Sarah revealed. "We met," Sarah air quoted the word met. "Early on during our freshman year."
"Awesome."
"No, it wasn't." responded Sarah, shaking her head. She expressed the sound of pained discomfort in her voice.
"Why?" questioned Chuck, clearly noting the pain in her voice. "She was the mean girl, wasn't she? She made your life a living hell like the girls did with Lindsay Lohan's character in the movie, right? At least I think that's what happened in the movie. It's not really geared towards guys," he shared, shrugging his shoulders.
The latter part of what Chuck shared was disregarded by Sarah. What she focused on was what he said before that. "No. She wasn't," answered Sarah. "I was." She firmly added, breaking eye contact with Chuck. She then peered down and started fidgeting with her coffee cup. Meanwhile, Chuck sat back with a look of surprised shock on his face. A part of Sarah's past that resurfaced both literally and figuratively that she never thought would come back to haunt her.
XXX
Chuck and Sarah left the hospital's cafeteria and ended up walking till they made their way out into the courtyard. Sarah didn't say a word since leaving there, as she was lost in thought. Fortunately for her, Chuck never pushed her to share the reason she became a mean girl, which she was grateful for. In any case, she was more or less being guided by hand by Chuck who fully intended to take her to the pediatric hospital. In his mind, spending time with the kids helped brighten her day whenever she found herself having a bad day. When they reached the walkway that headed towards the front entrance of the pediatric hospital, the beautiful blonde suddenly stopped. The couple were 10 feet away from the blue courtyard bench, when Sarah spoke up.
"I'm not proud of myself," Sarah said, expressing remorse. "But it all started back when I attended middle school in San Diego. I considered myself an ugly duckling."
"Come on," Chuck responded, squeezing Sarah's right hand with his left. "I bet it wasn't that bad. We all remember…"
The nerd didn't get to finish his sentence when he was suddenly shown an image on Sarah's iPhone that caused him to become startled. "Wow," responded Chuck, eyes wide as saucers. His brain tried to compute what his eyes were seeing right now. True, it was an image from a school picture. The middle school image of Sarah to be exact. She was what looked like a light purple sweater with designs on it. Her hair seemed all over frizzy and flat. What accentuated her hairstyle was her 3-D like bangs that not only resembled a bowl haircut style but looked incredibly uneven. However, what drew you immediately in were the braces that adorned her teeth. "It's not that bad. Not that bad,." he repeatedly stammered out.
"You're just saying that."
"No…No…Nooo. No," repeated Chuck, shaking his head. He then attempted to make it better for her. "You should see my middle school picture. Hair…" He pointed to his head. "White afro and bed head on picture day. Plus, I'm pretty sure I had my eyes closed," he shared. Chuck did his best to put not only a smile on her face but tried to get her to laugh.
Fortunately for him, it worked as she did both, thanks to Chuck's efforts. Afterwards, Sarah turned around and walked towards their blue courtyard bench with Chuck following behind still holding her right hand with his left.
"I'm surprised you still carry around that picture. I would have assumed you'd burn it or something," stated Chuck, expressing curiosity.
Unfortunately, Sarah didn't respond back. She was lost in thought but then took notice of the blue courtyard bench. After reaching their bench, she turned around and took a seat. Chuck followed suit and sat down beside her on her left. A few seconds later, she began opening up again.
"By the time I entered high school, puberty hit me and…"
"Ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan," Chuck chimed in.
Sarah nodded then continued on. "I fell into the popular crowd. I didn't seek it out because I still felt like that ugly duckling on the inside. Although I never felt comfortable being part of the jocks and cheerleaders, I made the mistake of going along with the popular kids."
"Let me guess," responded Chuck. "That's when you crossed paths with Heather."
There was a momentary pause on Sarah's part before she nodded. "I was 15 years old." She painfully reflected back. A mixture of regretful remorse in the sound of her voice. "I should have stood up for her, because Heather was just like me in middle school."
"What did you do?"
"You know how popular kids can be, especially the mean girls. Zeroing in on anything that could be used to personally, mentally, emotionally, and physically tear her down," Sarah stopped and shook her head. She struggled with what she did. "I took part in it and sometimes started it."
Chuck noticed the mental and emotional toll it had put on her ever since finding out who the actress was that was going to be shadowing her. Tears formed in her eyes. Sarah's loving and caring nerdy boyfriend wrapped his right arm around her. He then squeezed her upper right arm and comforted his girlfriend the best he could.
"It's not your fault. You succumbed to peer pressure," Chuck said, in a comforting way.
"At least I didn't get hit by a bus like Regina George did in the movie," Sarah recalled, injecting a bit of humor into the situation. She was momentarily silent then shook her head. "It also didn't help that my rocky relationship with Jack was an added factor."
"What happened with Heather?"
"She confided in the guidance counselor because her teachers were incredibly concerned about her. Next thing we all knew, her parents took her out of school. I found out they moved to Los Angeles," Sarah answered. "When my mom found out, after getting a call from the principal, she was pissed off at me for going along with the popular kids. She said I was raised better than that."
"What did Emma do? Punishment wise?" wondered Chuck.
"I was transferred to another school, grounded for at least a month, and she took away my cell phone privileges. Needless to say, I didn't have a social life," Sarah answered. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't have much of a social life to begin with, until I went to college. I just studied hard and right around that same time I slowly became brainwashed by Jack."
"You learned a valuable lesson. Obviously, nothing from Jack." Sarah nodded then continued to listen to Chuck. "Don't be a follower. Instead, be a leader."
Sarah let what Chuck shared with her sink in. Afterwards, she responded knowing that she and Heather were going to be coming face to face soon. In her mind, it was going to be an absolute unknown on what she'll do or say, since she was part of the reason that she had to leave not only school, but the state as well. It was that thought that Sarah shook her head because she was disappointed in herself.
"Still, it doesn't excuse the fact I screwed her up. To what extent? That I have no idea," Sarah retorted. She was visibly conflicted with her thoughts, emotions, and feelings. "I gotta make it right with her somehow."
"Hey," Chuck whispered in her left ear. He leaned with comforting reassurance and kissed the top of her head. "I," he softly added. "We got your back." Sarah reciprocated a smile back knowing they truly do, especially her fiancé.
XXX
The time was 1445 hours in military time for John Casey. 2:45 p.m. for those who weren't going by military time and almost time for the hospital's Head of Security to clock out for the end of his shift. He would leave his security team that was scheduled for the next shift to take over. It had been a long and interesting day for him. After leaving the meeting in Chief Beckman's office with the Five Elders Studio's executive producer, Alexis White, he marched off and performed several duties that needed to be taken care of. One of those duties was filling out a report that involved a complaint lodged by the hospital's weasel attorney Emmitt Milbarge.
As usual, it was a complaint against Chuck and when it came to the complaints against the nerd, Casey had a large stack of thick files full of them. Of course, he never really did anything about it because his immense disdain for Emmitt outweighed the childish antics of not just Chuck, but the other half of the moronic duo. In any case, Emmitt accused Chuck of pulling another prank on him where he was accused of somehow making him hear a clicking sound that only he could hear, and it followed him everywhere he went. A clicking sound that seemingly none of the other employees heard at the hospital but him.
According to Emmitt, he angrily told Casey that Chuck was paying off all the employees to play along just to mess with him. For Casey, he knew that Chuck was smart enough to do something like that but wasn't able to prove it, unless he did an extensive investigation, which he wasn't going to do. In his mind, it would have wasted time and man hours because he knew Chuck would have covered his bases when it came to protecting himself. Plus, he always had an alibi whenever the prank in question went down and even though Chuck didn't know this, he knew about the two words he always adhered to, which were plausible deniability.
Although the hulking Head of Security of Westside Medical Center was finished with filing Emmitt's report against Chuck, he knew it wasn't the last report Milbarge was ever going to file against the nerd. After dealing with what he deemed the most annoying co-worker, Casey took one last thorough walkthrough of the hospital's 1st floor where he made his way towards the emergency room of his Castle. After he stepped through the sliding doors into a place that goes through the most chaos, which is the emergency room. Casey personally referred to it as "The Trenches" since the medical staff have constantly dug deeper and deeper into the trenches whenever things got increasingly chaotic to the point where so many things can go unpredictably wrong.
However, they proudly continued fighting in saving lives no matter how mentally, emotionally, as well as physically difficult it was within the trenches because that's what they signed up for. In his mind, each of the doctors in Castle exuded a never say die soldier like mentality when it comes to upholding their Hippocratic Oath. Granted, it may not be the same as a soldier's oath to defend the freedoms of every citizen of the United States of America, it came considerably close, Casey thought to himself. Speaking of Casey, as he approached the main hub of the center nurses' station, he heard a commotion coming from exam room #7 located to his left on the other side of the main nurses' station center hub.
Casey reached for and retrieved the radio that was attached to his belt located near his fastened sidearm, which the safety was switched on for now. He pressed the button and calmly placed the radio approximately a few inches away from his mouth. The reason he did that was because he didn't want to alarm anybody in the emergency room and wanted to deescalate rather than escalate the situation without the use of physical altercation.
"Greta," softly grunted Casey. "Tang. What's your twenty?" he inquired, calmly.
After a few seconds of hearing static, Greta and Tang responded.
"Cafeteria, Colonel," answered Greta. "Over."
A second later Tang's voice is heard by Casey. "2nd floor locker room, Colonel. Over."
"Meet me at The Trenches," Casey softly ordered. The commotion that came from exam room #7 became increasingly louder. "Shift's not over. You both are getting overtime," he firmly added. Casey made sure they knew how serious the situation was but at the same time knew he could handle it alone.
Once Casey was able to contact his two subordinates, he waited there for back up to arrive before he made his way to exam room #7. After he waited for at least a minute and half, Tang and Greta finally arrived. Casey silently acknowledged their presence. When the trio made their way to exam room #7, they suddenly saw someone backing up from out of exam room #7. It was Nurse Anna Wu, and she was holding a chart in front of her in a defensive way as if she was protecting herself from what he assumed was from an attack by the individual. As much as Casey knew that Anna could hold her own despite her short stature, he knew she already had several strikes against her when it comes to disciplinary actions that pertained to attitude.
As for the individual in question, Casey and his 2 security subordinates not only took notice but everyone in the emergency room took notice as well. It's at that point, Casey made his larger than life and intimidatingly authoritative presence known by speaking up.
"Anna, everything ok!?" he firmly asked.
"All good, Casey," responded Anna. She continued to exude a defensive stance but not significant enough that would have triggered the individual in question. "He and I just had a misunderstanding, that's all."
Speaking of the individual in question, he emerged out of the exam room #7 and voiced his anger for everyone within earshot of the emergency to hear. As he did, Casey planted himself where he was and then briefly glanced at the two people who are truly earning their paycheck right now. They remained where they stood as Casey called out to the seemingly erratic individual who appeared not only homeless and wearing tattered clothes but looked as if he hadn't shaved or had a haircut in years due to how bushy his hair and beard were. Both were salt colored with a bit of pepper mixed in. Also add the somewhat pungent odor that emanated from where he was standing that he could clearly smell even though there was some significant distance between them.
Casey continued to observe what he assumed was a homeless individual who probably needed medical help or just a handout. The hospital usually handled it by either treating their wounds suffered living out on the streets or provided them with a hot meal before they ended up leaving. In any case, when it came to the homeless man that was presently making an increasingly problematic scene for anything to get done in the emergency room, Casey signaled with both hands to Greta and Tang to make their way around on either side of the main nurses' station hub. Afterwards, he pointed to his eyes with two fingers of his right hand silently telling them to have him focus on the two of them.
Greta and Tang nodded at the orders they were silently given. It didn't take long for the orders they were given to be executed. Both security team members made their way around either side of the main nurses' station hub and eventually got the attention of the homeless man who they had turned the other direction. Beforehand, they were able to extract Anna from where she was located previously and was now out of what could have been a dangerous situation for her. They did it carefully because they didn't know whether the homeless man was armed or not, so they proceeded with caution.
Once Greta and Tang got the full attention of the homeless man, Casey made his move and slowly made his way forward. As he did, he reached for the Taser that was attached to the other side of his belt instead of his sidepiece but decided against it at the last moment because he wanted to handle it in a different way. As Greta and Tang continued to keep the homeless man distracted, Casey was approximately within 5 feet of him when he enveloped and then tightly locked his arms around him. He made sure to immobile the man's arms who was considerably defiant and feisty as he struggled to free himself.
As the homeless man struggled to free himself, Casey suddenly got hit with the back of the man's head. It stunned Casey to the point where he loosened his tight hold then made a surprising move. He quickly spun around and was face to face with Casey. In a matter of seconds, the hospital's Head of Security was head butted in the face again. He then suddenly growled in pain after he got kneed in the groin. It caused Casey to let go of the hold he had on the homeless man who used both palms to forcefully push back. Casey stumbled back a couple feet much to everyone's surprise. It didn't stop there as Casey found himself looking up at the emergency room ceiling lights after he got his legs swept from underneath him.
It most definitely knocked Casey for a loop as he laid there on the cold tile floor that smelled of bleach. After he shook the cobwebs out from getting his bell run, he lifted and turned his head to see that his 2 security team members had the homeless man subdued and down on his knees. As they had him down, the homeless man aggressively lifted his head and locked eyes with Casey. Speaking of Casey, he furrowed his eyebrows as if those homeless man's eyes somehow seemed very familiar to him. At that moment, he was slowly trying to figure out how he recognized them. A few seconds later, his eyes widen and then breathed out the following two words:
"Chuck me."
He then quickly pushed himself into a standing position and ordered his two most reliable security team members to immediately stand down. A confused and perplexed look was expressed on both their faces.
"Colonel?" said Tang, looking confused.
"Are you sure, sir?" questioned Greta, considerably befuddled.
"Stand down," firmly growled Casey.
Greta and Tang complied with their boss's orders. They hesitated at first but let the homeless man after being restrained and slowly backed away from him. After they did, Casey cautiously stepped forward with both hands up in front of him. Everyone in The Trenches of the emergency room stood back and watched what was unfolding before their very eyes. This included Chief Beckman and Head Nurse Alex Forrest who were apparently contacted by one of the nurses in the emergency room. The auburn-haired Chief Administrator and the Head Nurse of Westside Medical Hospital decided to stand back and let the Head of Security handle it himself.
"Sir," grunted Casey, slowly stepping forward. He then stopped with both hands in front of him. "Do you remember me? It's Alex, Alex Coburn."
After Casey shared that name, everyone in the emergency room expressed a quizzical look on their faces including Chief Beckman and Forrest. However, she didn't step in and she, along with Forrest, continued to watch the surprising events unfold.
"Alex?" the man softly uttered. "Is that you?" he asked. The name that the homeless man heard seemed to slowly register mentally with him.
"Yes Sensei, it is."
It was at that point a very confused Greta spoke up and directed a very important question to her boss. "Colonel, who is this guy?"
"And why did you call yourself Alex Coburn?" questioned Tang.
Casey ignored Tang's question. Instead, he took a deep breath, then answered Greta's question for everybody to clearly hear within the emergency room, including Chief Beckman and Forrest. "He's a gunnery sergeant in the Marines."
"Doesn't look like it now," responded Greta.
"Once a marine, always a marine." Casey firmly grunted back. "This man is a highly trained elite sniper. One of the best," he proudly added, pointing at the man in question. "And my former commanding officer. His name is Ty Bennett and I've learned countless lessons that were considered valuable when I served under him." he added, shaking his head. He broke his brief focus that was on Greta and locked eyes back with Bennett. "What happened to you, Sensei?" he asked, with absolute disbelief.
XXX
NOTE: I hope you enjoyed the start of the 4th arc of this story with some familiar reference to the series, but in a completely different role. Heather Chandler as the lead actress and Brody as the lead actor in the project We'll Always Have Omaha. Also, Ty Bennett as a homeless military veteran. Of course, there will be additional characters from the series that will be part of the 4th arc that I hope you'll enjoy reading as they'll be similar or the total opposite of who they were known by the fans. As always, leave your thoughts and leave a review because they're considered a motivation to keep on writing. Also, tip of the hat to NEVR for doing the Beta! A total editing rockstar!