Empty Promises

by Edwin Dasso

  Chip nodded once. “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll expect daily updates.”

  “Of course, sir. Rules of engagement if they do appear to be doing something they shouldn’t?”

  A smirk slinked onto Schanlon’s face. “Well, we’ll just have to talk about what unfortunate accident happens to them in that case.”

  He chuckled as he shooed his security man away with a casual flick of his hand.

  Chapter 21

  That Same Evening, Bass Household

  Jack sat at the kitchen table with Amanda as she did some homework. She stopped, setting her pen aside, then turned her gaze on her father.

  “Dad?”

  Jack looked up from his laptop. “Yeah? Need some help?”

  She shook her head. “No…but I wanted to ask you something.”

  Jack closed his laptop and turned toward her. “Shoot, honey. What do you want to know?”

  “Well…I was wondering if you can tell me what’s up with Hank lately?” She shrugged quickly. “You said he had a bad reaction to a drug he got during that study…but it seems like ever since you and Grandpa George brought him home, he just stays in his room. I’ve even seen him start opening his door, but when he sees me in the hall, he just closes it and stays inside. Don’t you think that’s a little…weird?”

  Jack stared blankly at her, running a finger around the edge of his laptop, nodding slowly. “I understand how it might look like he’s avoiding you…but he’s not really. It’s not his fault—he’s still having some aftereffects from that study drug. Still makes him act strangely so he’s, uh, just trying to keep his distance. You know, play it safe.”

  Amanda’s brow furrowed. Jack smiled feebly in response to her skeptical expression.

  “How long is he going to ‘play it safe’?”

  Jack shrugged quickly. “We don’t know at this point. His addictionologist, George and I are all trying to figure that out.”

  “Well, I feel bad for him. It sucks that he’s having so much trouble just from a stupid drug.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her lower lip. “It’s not fair! They should have warned him.”

  Jack growled softly then quickly stopped when he realized what he was doing. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “I miss him…and I worry about him.”

  Jack put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. “He misses you, too, sweetie—he’s told me that more than once. It’s just that…until he feels more certain that he won’t have any more bad reactions, he’s keeping to himself. Does that make sense?”

  “I guess.”

  Jack flipped his computer open again. Amanda was silent for a couple of minutes.

  “Dad?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Did he fall off the wagon? Is that what’s really going on?” She gazed intently at Jack’s face.

  Jack sighed, starting to answer a few times but stopping.

  “Just be straight with me.”

  He closed his laptop and pushed it away. “Okay—you deserve that. George and I think the drug he got in the study was a powerful narcotic. An exceptionally addictive one. So, yeah, he’s struggling, but, no, he didn’t really ‘fall off the wagon’.”

  “I get it. I just want him to get better, is all.” She smirked. “I haven’t kicked his butt at chess for a while, now.”

  Jack guffawed. “I’ll tell him you said that. It might motivate him to come out of hiding.”

  Chapter 22

  One Week Later, Philadelphia Convention Center

  Jack wandered around the exhibitor hall at the large medical conference, the din of the crowd pounding on his eardrums. He cringed. There were abundant drug and medical appliance vendors in attendance, all claiming to be “the solution” for those suffering from chronic pain. He’d come for a dual purpose—first, to learn if there was anything new he could add to his armamentarium for relieving his hospice patients’ pain. Second, to keep an eye on the people floating around the VA booth. When he’d received a flyer for the conference several weeks prior, he’d been surprised to see the VA listed as a vendor. Surprised, that is, until he’d noticed they were there with Greater American Pain & Spine and Pharmadosh Pharmaceuticals.

  He knew then he needed to attend.

  He sauntered up and down the rows of extravagant healthcare company exhibits, their attractive female envoys giving him inviting smiles as he walked past their bauble-covered tables. He made sure, though, that he was never out of view of the VA/Greater American Pain & Spine/Pharmadosh Pharmaceuticals booth.

  “Why would the VA even agree to be an exhibitor? It’s not like they’re a public company or sell any healthcare products?” he mumbled.

  He stopped at a table and picked up a brochure, glancing furtively over it at the staff milling around at the VA display. His mouth suddenly dropped open, the leaflet falling from his hands.

  “Sara?” he muttered then squinted as he gazed at her. “It is you!” He smiled broadly, scrambling between displays as he rushed toward her. “Sara!” He waved, stumbling as he tripped over a table leg.

  Sara spun toward Jack, her eyes opening wide when she spotted him. She raced toward him, almost knocking him over when she jumped, without breaking stride, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

  “Dr. Jack Bass! It’s so good to see you! What are you doing here?”

  Jack briefly stood frozen, finally wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her close, relishing the warmth of her against him, the flowery fragrance of her hair tickling his nose. His eyes suddenly shot open, and he gently pushed her back.

  “It’s so good to see you, too…but I might ask you the same thing.” He glanced at her name tag. “You work for the VA now?”

  She glanced at it then back at Jack, nodding.

  “Yes. For a couple of months now.”

  Jack smiled. “That’s nice.” He gazed around the hall then turned his eyes back on her, nodding at her nametag. “But since when does the VA do exhibits at medical conferences?”

  Sara frowned as Jack pushed her farther away, breaking the hold she still had around his neck.

  “I don’t really know—my manager just asked me if I would attend.” She shrugged. “Not sure why—my position at the VA has nothing to do with any of this stuff.”

  “What do you do there?”

  “I’m a physician’s assistant in an orthotics clinic. Didn’t Dr. Smithson tell you?” Her hand shot over her mouth, a look of guilt instantly covering her features.

  “What? George knows you work for the VA?”

  Sara smiled awkwardly and nodded.

  “And…how would he know that? You said you’ve only been there a couple of months.” He arched a brow. “It’s been longer than that since we last saw you…”

  She blushed, looking everywhere but at Jack. “We, uh, talked,” she mumbled into her hand.

  “Oh?” He pegged her with an intense stare. “When?”

  She tugged at her collar. “Um…not long ago—I don’t remember exactly when.”

  “May I ask why?”

  Sara’s shoulders sagged, and she blew out a long breath. “Somehow, he learned where I work…and wondered if I could help him look for some information on the VA intranet.”

  Jack stood silently for several seconds. “What information might that be?”

  “A drug study…being performed in conjunction with the VA.” She swept a hand around at the display where she was stationed. “I-I think it was actually a study being conducted by these companies. He might’ve also said something about Hank having been involved…”

  “Sonofabitch!” Jack said louder than he’d intended.

  Several nearby people shot concerned glances his way. As Jack met each of their gazes in turn, they hurriedly looked away.

  “That conniving old fart.”

  Sara touched Jack’s forearm gently. “He’s…he’s just trying to help.”

  “I know his intentions are good, but I
can’t believe he got you involved with this. Hell, he knows what happens to people around me when I stumble into one of my godforsaken hornet nests.” Jack shook his head slowly. “Hell, I was just happy you survived the last one. You’ve already suffered enough adversity in your life—you don’t need more. Not because of me…”

  “It’s okay, Dr. Bass. I don’t mind.”

  Jack backed away a step and shook his head vehemently. “No! It’s not okay, Sara. There are things you don’t know about me…things I never want you to be put in a position to experience.”

  “But…maybe I can help,” she implored, looking raptly up into Jack’s eyes. “I would love an excuse to…see more of you.”

  Jack backed away, holding his hands out in front of him. “Oh, hell no, Sara! Where you lived in Turkey with your father was dangerous, but trust me, it’s nothing compared to being around me during one of my little inadvertent fiascoes.” He absently fingered the gunshot scar on his chest. “Nope. The Grim Reaper has already snatched away too many friends,” he closed his eyes and hung his head, “and women I’ve loved. I can’t—won’t—take the risk of losing another!”

  Jack’s thoughts flashed back to when he’d come home unexpectedly from college, a surprise for his mother on her birthday.

  * * *

  As Jack entered his mom’s house, the sound of her sobbing came from down the hallway in the direction of her bedroom. He’d heard the same thing enough times throughout his childhood to know exactly what was going on. His heart jumped when he heard a loud smack followed by a thud then silence. He rocketed back toward his parents’ bedroom—a journey he’d made countless times as a child when he’d heard similar noises. His jaw dropped as he skidded to a halt in the doorway. His father breathed heavily as he stood over his mother’s unconscious figure, a bloody wooden rolling pin in one hand.

  “No!” Jack yelled as he leaped behind his father, grabbing his shoulder and throwing him away from his mother.

  “You little bastard!” his father said in a drunken lisp as he raised the rolling pin over his head. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “No! Enough!” Jack dove at his father, knocking him to the ground. Jack straddled his father then dropped to sit on his chest, pinning his arms to the floor. Jack glared at him then punched him—hard—in the face.

  His father laughed mockingly and spit blood at Jack. “That all you got, you little pussy?” He squirmed beneath Jack. “You’re still just a jackass!”

  Jack’s mind turned red with rage. He drove his fist into his father’s cheek again. He’d often imagined doing this in years past—every time he’d had to pull the drunken man off Mom so the son-of-a-bitch wouldn’t beat her to death—but Jack had always stopped himself. He’d always been afraid of his father—even after growing to a point where he towered over the man. All those years of suppressed rage now seemed to compress into an instant of frenzied fury. Jack’s fists slammed repeatedly into his father’s face and head.

  “Never again!” Jack screamed. “Never!”

  His father quickly lost consciousness, his head flopping back and forth like a worn-out rag doll as Jack pummeled him. Jack stopped abruptly, his tears dropping onto his father’s face, mingling with the man’s blood to create gory eddies that trickled down the man’s face. Jack snapped his head around to look at his mother. She had not moved, her breathing mere shallow rasps. He hopped from his father over to his mother’s side, kneeling next to her as he dabbed gently at the blood flowing from the gash in her scalp.

  “Mom!”

  She didn’t stir.

  “Shit!” He jumped up and vaulted to the nightstand, snatching up the phone and stabbing in 9-1-1 with a trembling hand.

  That night, Jack had stood vigil over his mother’s hospital bed. His father had been hauled to jail by the police. Still, Jack’s gaze darted to the doorway every time he heard a racket in the hall, fear and foreboding clawing at his mind with every noise.

  He bolted upright in the chair when he noticed her eyes flutter. She opened them slowly, her gaze meandering aimlessly about the room. Her eyes froze when her gaze fell on Jack, a weak smile sidling onto her lips. Her fingers tightened ever so slightly around Jack’s.

  “My little Jack.” She smiled weakly. “I-I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely audible through the oxygen mask she wore.

  “You don’t have anything to be sorry about, Mom. You just rest. That man you married will never touch you again.” He patted her hand. “I promise.”

  She nodded and closed her eyes. There was silence for a couple of minutes.

  “Why, Mom?”

  Her eyes opened to a slit, and her brow creased. “Why, what, Jackie?” She struggled to take another raspy breath.

  “Why did you ever marry him?”

  She slowly closed her eyes. “I’ve told you many times, Jack—to get away from the reservation. There was nothing there for me. I was mixed blood…tarnished…trash that nobody wanted. I never knew who my father was.” A small sob escaped her lips. “My mother killed herself rather than continue facing the shame heaped upon her by her own people.”

  “But…you’re proud of your heritage.” He poked a finger in his chest. “Taught me to be proud.”

  “I am proud to be Ojibwe…but they were not proud of me. Your father was the first person in my life who acted like he wanted me. It felt so good, so…different. He never knew I was half-Indian, though—I never told him, or he never would have taken me for his wife.”

  “That’s why you always swore me to secrecy?”

  She nodded, the movement of her head barely perceptible.

  “He’d have left me, Jack…left us. I couldn’t do that to you.”

  “But we’d have been okay, Mom.”

  “No! We wouldn’t have.” She sobbed then began to cough. “He hated people of color! That is why he always hated you, my little Jack. My skin has always been very light. But when he saw your skin…your eyes, he always swore you could not be his child. That’s when he started beating me…trying to get me to confess you were another man’s child. I was afraid he’d kill both of us if I told him the truth about my heritage.”

  “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “It wasn’t your cross to bear.” She had another fit of coughing, droplets of blood splattering on the inside of the oxygen mask. “I-I’m sorry.” She squeezed his hand again. “I’m sorry you bore the brunt of his hatred.”

  “I still don’t understand why we didn’t just leave.”

  “He probably would have chased us…then killed us. He is an angry, vengeful man…a-and the drinking only made it worse…”

  Jack hung his head and shook it slowly. “How could you ever love him?”

  She turned her head away. “I thought I did at one time, but…I was wrong. I don’t think it’s possible to really love a man like him.” She turned back to Jack, slowly raising her eyes to his. “But I’ve always loved you more than I ever imagined was possible. You are the bright star in a dark sky for me.”

  Her fingers tightened on his then suddenly relaxed. Her head flopped to the side, and the monitor alarms began wailing. Jack’s gaze snapped to the heart monitor over the head of the bed, tears welling in his eyes as he noted the flat line. He jumped from the chair with such force it flew into the wall several feet away.

  “No, no, no!” he cried as he hurdled toward the door. “Help! Please! My mother needs help now!”

  Jack remembered very well how helpless he’d felt as he’d watched the medical team try to revive his mother. He was right there…and could do nothing to save the only woman he’d ever felt love for to that point in his life.

  They’d told him it was a hemorrhage into her brainstem caused by the head trauma. That it wasn’t there when they did the CAT scan on her head. That there was nothing anyone could have done.

  He hadn’t bought their story. That was the night he decided to become a doctor—if he couldn’t save his mo
ther’s life, then he’d try to make up for his failure by saving as many other lives as he could during his lifetime.

  * * *

  Current

  Jack’s eyes suddenly focused intensely on Sara’s, and he grabbed her shoulders.

  “Just keep your distance from George and I! I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt. I-I couldn’t take losing another woman I care for.” He spun and rushed away.

  Chapter 23

  That Evening

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Smithson…i-it just slipped out. And you know Dr. Bass—he misses nothing.”

  Smithson grunted. “Yeah. You can say that again.”

  “Now what do we do?”

  “We? Nothing. You’re out of this. I never should have called you to begin with. Me? I’ll talk with Jack…get him to calm down. He’ll be okay. Then he and I can get back to figuring out what the hell happened to Hank…and if it’s related to the deaths of these other veterans.”

  “But…I can find more information about these VA studies. I know I can help!”

  “No, Sara—”

  “But I care about him—a lot! I’ve cared about him since I first laid eyes on him lying on the floor of that cell when my father’s thugs kidnapped him!”

  “Oh my, Sara! I wish you hadn’t said that.”

  “Why not? He saved my Sasha even though it nearly cost him his life…and when he came back for us, I-I knew…” She swiped at a tear.

  “Knew what?”

  “That he was exactly the type of man I thought he was. A brave and compassionate man.”

  “Sara, just…stop for a minute! Please.”

  He was silent for several seconds.

  “Look, you’re not the first woman to fall in love with Jack. But you don’t understand—he has a certain…history with women.”

  “What? I can’t imagine Jack ever mistreating anyone, let alone a woman,” she challenged.

  “No, no! Nothing like that. Hell, I don’t know many men who have more respect for women.”

  “Then…what?”

  Smithson blew out a long sigh.

  “I think all the women Jack has ever loved—which hasn’t been many—have died. Horribly. I don’t want to go into details—some of them are painful for me, too. Just believe me when I say you getting involved with Jack will only lead to…pain. For both of you. He’s a strong man, but I think when he…died, it pushed his mind beyond a tipping point. H-he’s more fragile than he used to be…”