A helicopter took off from a nearby landing pad. Matt remembered seeing such a landing pad at a different hospital in California, so it wasn’t a difficult concept to grasp. He figured it had something to do with Jan and Jon Jon.
As usual, whenever he tried to use distractions as a way to avoid reality, the clock was always the winner. Matt was a most torn man, as seemed to be his norm. He had opportunity here to further their cause in a most impressive way, but his life was like kettle corn: salty-sweet. His life was always salty-sweet. He looked back up at the hospital and saw his dad in the third floor window, the same window he had been looking out of not long ago. His dad gave his son the thumbs-up sign and then he pointed toward the inside of the hospital. It was his way of telling Matt that there was no immediate crisis inside the hospital. That helped.
Not to deny the crowd and justifying it out of obligation to civil tranquility, Matt approached the microphone again. “That helicopter took off to retrieve my family’s last remaining hope, the doctors it will bring back offer our last chance. I need to leave and be with them as this could be their last moments if those doctors fail. But as has been the case since the day I was kidnapped at gunpoint in Palo Alto, I have had to adapt to having two lives. I’ve had to learn to survive in one world and hold onto my other at a distance—for you people, for my country, for everything I love.
“The day I was kidnapped I realized my abductors were going to kill me. I knew my life was going to be lost and I also knew the people that had me were going to hurt my country. So I enlisted myself into the military, the CIA specifically. I was very well read and knew what my role would be. I was going to take a page from the book our enemies use against us, the one entitled, How to be a Fanatic.
“I had made up my mind to sacrifice myself for my country. It was an opportunity that offered me a way to gain access into their organization. As they had kidnapped me, they knew I was not a planted spy, so all I had to do was act like I wanted in.
“Two years later, opportunity allowed me to get America out of the crisis Pablo Manuel put us through. I was in a very tough position then, and it took a great physical and psychological toll on me. When I returned home, I was put back together in the same hospital as any other soldier. Why did I tell you this? Because we are about to lose our way of life, people, and if there are other veteran’s out there, I want them to hear me and take action. One soldier to another, that’s why. We need everyone on our side.”
Matt garnered a look of admonishment with the his next statement, “I risked my life for this place and my family is up there dying because some nut-job took the word of God way out of context by committing all these heinous acts. Now the least you all could do is listen to Robert tell you how to reclaim our country sans the idiots who are running it now. And we’re going to do it based on the two greatest powers we have left: communication and our power and right to purchase freely.
“If we try to have this ‘Revolution Without Wrath’ and they stop us by blocking these freedoms, then the answer will be plain to see who really is in control. And if that happens, only a new American Revolution will cure our woes. And from where I sit right now, our woes are mighty.”
As Matt made his way to the hospital, a throng of reporters mobbed him and out of nowhere, Doug showed up lending a stalwart hand. He began pushing and shoving reporters out of the way and got Matt out of there. Completely lost on all of the frenzied journalist was that the second biggest news story was ushering the biggest one by, and no one even knew Doug was there.
Doug looked back at Robert addressing the crowd and realized he was only the second biggest story for his fifteen minutes of fame. This time around, Doug’s fifteen minutes was a literal one and he couldn’t be happier as he and Matt got into the elevator and its blissful silence. Matt was facing the wall, not wanting to make eye contact. Doug placed his hand on his friends shoulder, “That was amazing Matt, I’m sorry it had to come at a time like this.”
The elevator door opened and Matt stepped off, his small break from the reality looming inside these walls was over.
He had forgotten in all this that he really twisted his ankle and subsequently Doug had to catch him from hitting the deck when he tried to turn up the hall. He looked at Doug with a pained expression. “Thanks, I had forgotten I nearly broke my ankle earlier, I guess the adrenaline will do that.”
Doug reached into his pocket and extracted a travel tube of ibuprofen, “I remember when you gave me four of these during our adventure flight. Now I can return the favor.”
Matt stopped at the water fountain and took them, then proceeded up the hall with a slight limp.
* * *
Scott sat back and watched the television screen in disbelief. He also witnessed his own fifteen minutes of fame go by in that same amount of time, and he was not happy about it at all. At the very end, when she raised her head and looked at Leme and Hurst, she quickly glanced at the cameras and sure as shit, through her smattered red face, she gave a one second glimpse of smarmy.
Scott knew her facial expressions like his own and he purposely gave a look at the end of his interview intended for her. Apparently she had caught it and although she was in the middle of the second greatest story ever told, she took the effort and pulled it off. Apparently she had the anger of his betrayal so much on her mind that she had to let him know, even in the midst of all that? Hell hath no fury . . .
* * *
Jim couldn’t be more proud. In his life he had seen greatness in many forms, and as a West Point instructor, he’d had the privilege of mentoring some great minds, some of who were currently running this country. He watched Matt leave and he had goose bumps; he felt like he’d just watched the birth of a new national figure. Only the man that Matt had referenced in President Kennedy could have matched the kind of charisma Jim just witnessed right now.
It wasn’t just about his charisma, but Jim felt if Matt desired, that alone could launch him into the political arena. There was something else though, what was his draw? Swagger? That was is it. Matt was able to pull off swagger without being condescending. He was able to convey confidence without hubris, and it was contagious. Jim felt very attached to the boy, so he was biased, but he looked into the crowd when Matt was crying. There was seriously not a dry eye in the house and his mentor burden grew at that moment to the point of absurdity.
Chase had hired him to mentor the boy and prepare him for the real world—to place some philosophy in his head and make sure it was screwed on right. Jim never had children of his own; his life had been too chaotic to even entertain the thought of a long-term relationship, let alone kids. But to Jim, watching Matt today was as close to watching his own son’s valedictorian speech as he was ever going to get.
Now of course, this situation with Matt and TJAC was much more than a “getting the kid ready” mentoring project. Jim made the conscious decision to become Matt’s guard until the day he died. Matt was going to need someone with his back that could not be compromised.
Then it struck him. That slick son of a gun; Chase had set him up. He knew that once he got to know Matt that he would take on this role. He knew all along, but somehow, it never clicked for Jim until Matt talked to a nation in a way that very few people could. By touching on the fact he was now a veteran, Matt opened up a whole new demographic. This boy could actually get us back on the right track.
Jim had already packed and left the roof minutes earlier. He made it back to Slate’s tour guide business about the same time the troops showed up. And show up they did: State, Federal, regular Army even. The Anacortes Hospital was on lock down and the crowd and Mr. Leme moved to the park.
* * *
Antonina Krutova was washing dishes and looking into the reflection on the kitchen window in the Oakland hills. She was watching Dancing with the Stars; well, technically she was listening with periodic glances at the reflection in the window. She preferred to wash dishes the old fashion way, even though Igor had purchased o
ne of the nicest contraptions that ever washed a dish. So nice in fact that she had no idea how to use it. Her scientist husband always assumed she was so inclined.
Oftentimes men of such intellect chose women that were more like their mothers than their contemporaries. Antonina knew, of course, that Igor’s interest in her came from the dance floor. Igor’s father was a world-class dancer and had performed all over Ukraine. It was dancing that brought them together. That’s why she never missed her favorite show, even if it’s listening and watching in the reflection.
Antonina always recorded the show and watched each episode many times. Tonight was her third re-watch of this week’s show. After hours of all the horrific news stories, she had had enough and needed a break. After Matt Hurst went into the hospital, the media began the repetition thing and that’s where she got off the train. How can any man be so unlucky as this Matt Hurst?
Only knowing her Igor, a man who she had known only to cry a bit at funerals and nowhere else, it was unusual for her to see a man be able to cry and still have her feel that he was a “real man.” She liked stoic men and loathed men who lacked character or strength. As she watched this Matt Hurst, she never felt for a single moment that he lacked strength. In fact, he seemed to turn weakness into strength as his impassioned speech went on. She would pray for him tonight.
Their house sat in a cul-de-sac and her kitchen window looked down to the end of her driveway and to the end of the street. That’s why she was able to see the odd procession from the beginning. Four cars turned the corner without stopping at the stop sign and were headed straight for her house. They all screeched up and personnel in black windbreakers that read FBI filed out of their respective cars.
If that wasn’t enough of a spectacle, the mother of all spectacles landed in the street in front of their house and before she could call Igor, he was in the kitchen, dressed, with his laptop carry case in his hand.
“Igor, what is going on?”
“Not to worry, my dear, we are in no danger. These men have come to take me to Seattle. Matt Hurst’s family was poisoned by a neurotoxin; apparently that is what’s wrong with them, my dear. I received a text not five minutes ago from Steven and he told me to get ready immediately. Our hypothesis is now going to be tested and made a fact. Or not . . .
Igor looked at his wife, as she was still very beautiful even in her late fifties. She never let her figure fall and looking into her eyes was what an astronaut must feel like looking back on earth and seeing this amazing blue marble. Those things would be enough for any man to fall in love, but that was not why he fell in love with his wife. She thought it was because he fell in love with her on the dance floor and he’d allowed it; why not, it made her happy. Only he knew that he fell in love with Antonina because of her absolute compassion for all things.
When they were dating as teenagers they would walk everywhere—it was their way to slow the world down. Igor remembered the first time he saw it. They were walking down to his parent’s house and in the street they spotted the biggest green caterpillar either had ever seen. Igor remembered having to have it, so he made his way into the street. At the same time, so did a robin. It had the insect on its lunch menu and was now in a race for the large meandering treat. Unbeknownst to the robin, a car was coming and Igor relented, of course.
The bird was not so inclined, and with the single mind of the meal, it threw caution to the wind and grabbed the insect, but it was not able to get out of the way of the car and it was struck. It wasn’t a deathblow and the bird was thrown to the side of the street stunned. Although that scene was sad to watch play out, Antonina’s response was quite shocking.
Igor had always likened it to a person watching their child get hit by a car. It was the same terror, the same absolute loss of composure. She literally broke down over the bird. Of course, he felt guilty because had he not interfered, the bird would have lived, but in his mind, it was just an unfortunate incident. She pleaded with him to try to capture it, but when he did it mustered the strength to fly a short distance and get away.
Igor had never seen anything like this display in his life, and at first he thought the whole thing to be high drama over something as simple as a bird. Time passed though, and the incident was put into the vault, but it was just the first of what would prove to be a lifetime of over empathy for the smallest of things.
Most people would find that an annoying trait, what with all the hysteria that surely went along with it. He guessed he wasn’t most people because that would be number one on the list of things he would miss about her if she were no longer here.
He replied, “I will do my best, you know I will.”
Her eyes were already misting as she wanted to be emotional, but over the years she had learned to not burden him when he was leaving for business. She understood the stress he was under.
“I know you will, Igor, I will pray for them.”
* * *
Matt watched as the team of scientists applied their antidote. Antidote? He would have never guessed in a million years that a word like antidote would be involved in his life. His parents and Doug were in the waiting room. He wanted to be alone with Jan and Jon Jon during this procedure. Apparently the dose had to be delivered in such small quantities that they brought in a special micro-infusion device. Matt couldn’t even tell it was delivering the contents of the syringe, but he was assured it was. Currently Dr. Singh was bringing the former weapons scientists up to speed on every nuance of the case.
It never was lost on Matt just how much could transpire in a single day. In a single day, he had done more then most people would do in a lifetime—as far as heart-stopping action went anyway. Not a few short hours ago he felt the bullet Pablo shot pass through him and take him to the next life. Although the bullet never actually hit him, he thought it did. The blinding light of the laser that came down made him believe he was on the other side. He remembered that he only had one regret as he was leaving this earth: his wife and son.
Dr. Singh said their vitals were slipping fast and if this procedure did not work, they would not survive the night. Matt remembered what it looked like to see someone die this type of death. He had poisoned all of Pablo’s followers and watched them die horrific deaths on the closed circuit monitors that Pablo had installed.
With a heavy sigh of a burden too much to handle, his mind went to a very selfish place. If he watched that here tonight, he was going to take his own life. His parents not being on that ferry now complicated the fact that he would not stay here with the daily remembrance of his wife and son dying that same type of death.
Then it hit him, the thing he kept trying to ignore. God. God had played a role throughout this whole thing. Why did he keep denying it? If his family died tonight, he could do no such thing as kill himself. If he did that, then he would never see them again. It was like he was being held hostage in this game of life and death.
If he took his other idea into play and just checked out into the wilderness, he would have to endure the memories of this for the next forty years. He seriously decided that he would become a daredevil, maybe a rock climber. Eventually that would lead to an early death—whatever it took to not have to be the person who thought about nothing else but tragedy for the rest of his days.
Matt looked out on the team of doctors talking around a computer screen. The Russian one, whose name escaped him, was very optimistic. He said all the right things were in place for his wife and son to come out of this. The toxin fit the right profile and the fact they both had a cold and took an antihistamine prior to them being exposed no doubt saved their lives.
Now it was another game of watching and waiting. He wanted to pity himself so badly. He sat silently and as always, the reminders of his newly appointed piety did not take long. When one felt sorrow for oneself, one took away from God’s plan for all. Matt knew this. He knew it all too well. In light of all this awareness, he felt like a rebel without a cause, because he was so infuriated, eve
n in face of all the evidence, he was angry with God, and his inner child was defiant and smiting.
That’s when a teenage girl was rolled in, her mom unraveled at her side. Matt was eavesdropping, as they were just outside of Jan and Jon’s room. The girl was seventeen. She was at home with her mother and started complaining of a headache. Within minutes it was a 911 call, then the mom doing CPR until the emergency units arrived. She was getting the doctors report currently. It was an AVN, a type of aneurism that is caused by a genetic birth defect in one of the brains arteries and connectors. They can burst at any time, but usually in teenagers around this girl’s age.
Matt actually forgot his problems for a moment, he was glued to this poor kid’s story. Here she was, happily going about life and suddenly God’s plan for her was that she was going to go through this, for whatever reason. In a profound moment of understanding, Mathew Hurst understood that all these doctors with all their innovation meant nothing in the face of our preordained path.
The woman was alone now and their eyes met. They both had the same dilemma. Both of them were in the hands of God. Matt rose from his chair and went to her. Without a word he placed his hands on her shoulder. She burst into tears and he pulled her up to him.
He comforted her for a quite a while. His mother and father came in and were rather confused seeing him with her in his embrace. He motioned for them to be with Jan and Jon. Befuddled, they obeyed, moving into the room with his wife and child. He could tell the Russian doctor wanted to talk to him. He gently let the woman know that the doctors needed him, but he would return if she needed someone to be with. She said she was embarrassed because after everything he’d been through, he shouldn’t have had to deal with her problems, too.
Much to Matt’s chagrin, his autonomous days were over. To this woman, he wasn’t just some guy in the same hospital ward with a similar plight, he was a national celebrity who took time out for her—the complete opposite of what he wanted to be. He extricated himself and headed over to the waiting doctor, Igor something, Matt finally recalled, but the last name was lost on him. This Doctor Igor had a hard, yet gentle face. He was one of those people you expected to have a totally different personality than he ended up having.
Without Wrath (Harbinger of Change Book 3) Page 32