Rebels & Lies

by Brian Cotton

  Chapter .37

   

  Sullivan walked into the waiting room and scanned it with his eyes. He caught a glimpse of Davie seated next to his Aunt Mary. Upon approach, Mary said nothing. She just looked down at the ground like there was no hope for her sister. When Davie saw his father, the confused little boy’s eyes lit up and he embraced Sullivan with a hug around the neck.

  “What’s going on, Mary?” Sullivan demanded. He moved Davie away from him and back into the chair.

  “She…had another spell.” Mary replied. “She called me over and when I got there, she was passed out on the floor, so I brought her here.”

  “Let me get this straight. You found her passed out?”

  “Yes,” Mary replied.

  “Shit, why won’t she ever listen to me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s refused to let me bring her to the hospital.”

  Sullivan took a seat and placed his head into his palms. He brushed back his hair with both hands and tried to calm down. His mind raced for an explanation. What could it be? Something she ate? When he could no longer take asking himself why, he stood up and walked over to the receptionist’s desk. He demanded answers from her, but she told him they knew nothing right now. As soon as they did, they would call him back. Feeling a sense of defeat, Sullivan turned and walked back over to the chair to sit down. He was met by another bear hug from Davie.

  “Is mommy okay?” Davie asked.

  “I’m sure she is, son.” Sullivan replied. “She’s just a little sick and they are trying to figure out the cause, that’s all.”

  Sullivan leaned back and his right leg began to shake involuntarily. With his arms folded across his chest he tried once again to get calm. What were they doing back there? Did it really take this long to investigate something as simple as a stomach virus? That was what scared him the most: the sheer amount of time they took back there with no answers.

  Doctor Rodgers moved into the waiting room. Once Sullivan saw him, he sprang out of his chair and rushed the doctor. To bystanders it must have looked like he was trying to mug the rich doctor. Rodgers kept his cool and calmly extended his right hand towards Sullivan. The detective didn’t embrace it. Rodgers led the way back to a secluded hallway.

  “How is she, Doc?” Sullivan demanded.

  “I’ll be honest,” Rodgers replied. “It’s not looking good.”

  “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”

  “Did you know about her vomiting spells?”

  “Of course, I’ve been insisting that she come see you, but she’s refused.”

  “Well, there’s something going on inside of her, but I have no idea what it is.”

  “It’s not just a simple stomach virus?” Sullivan asked.

  “It’s…something I’ve never seen before. From the looks of it, though, it’s some kind of poison.”

  “Poison? Are you serious?”

  “Yes, but like I said, I can’t make out exactly what it is.”

  Sullivan stared at his doctor. No expression to be found, no sadness or anger, it just hadn’t sunk in, yet. There was one thing that bothered him about the whole ordeal. With all the advancements in medicine over the past decade, he grew shocked that there could even be a poison out there one could consider new.

  “What’s your prognosis?” Sullivan wondered, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “She’s slipped into a coma,” Rodgers replied. “She’s on life support right now, that’s the only thing keeping her alive.”

  “Is she going to die?”

  “I’m afraid that the agent inside of her has eaten away her intestines and moved into the bloodstream. We can’t stop it.”

  “Doc,” Sullivan pleaded. “Be real with me, please.”

  “Yes, she is going to. We can only keep her on life support for so long. I wish we could keep her plugged in longer so I can identify the agent, but I’d lose my license and probably be imprisoned if we kept her hooked up any longer.”

  Sullivan could now feel warm tears trickle down his cheeks. He took a step back from the doctor then kept himself from falling over. After clearing his throat, he pushed Rodgers out of the way. He opened the door to see Julie, unconscious with tubes that ran up her nose, an IV injected into her right arm. He moved in and touched her forehead. It was so cold. Why was she so cold?

  He sat down on a chair next to the bed. The tears had stopped, sooner than Sullivan thought they would. The memories of the good times had all but faded. All that entered his memory were the rough times of the past few months. He would never know if another job opened up if things would have gotten better between them. Suddenly, he began apologizing for not listening. Sullivan should have left his detective job sooner.

  Why did he take that promotion when it came along? So that he could move his wife and kid into a fancy house? So he could send his son to the best schools in the city? All of a sudden, none of that materialism mattered any longer. His promotion within the department got him all that, but it also caused his wife to grow distant. She never said it, but Sullivan always wondered if she had grown to hate her husband. There would be no way of knowing anymore.

  Now, Julie was on the brink of death, a vegetable unable to hear the words “I love you”, so they never came out. Sullivan stood and kissed his wife one last time on the forehead.

  “You rest in peace, now.” Sullivan said before his exit.

  “It’s your decision, at least for right now.” Rodgers’s voice said once the door opened.

  “What is?” Sullivan demanded.

  “You can make the decision to pull the plug now, before regulations force our hand. At least, it can be yours to make…”

  Sullivan became overcome with grief at what the doctor just told him. It’s your decision. His decision to what, kill his own wife? He turned and walked down the hallway. Without turning to face him, he told the doctor to do it. Sullivan could not bear to be in the same room when they did it. The sight of his unconscious wife gasp for her last breaths that wouldn’t come did not interest him. Right now, he had a very disappointed little boy to console.

  When he reemerged in the waiting room, his facial expressions gave everything away. Mary looked into her brother in law’s eyes for a moment and then quickly looked away. Overcome with grief, she began to weep. Sullivan walked over to his son. He stood and stared at him for a moment. Davie looked back with confusion in his eyes. Little Davie, he was such a great kid. Julie sure had raised him well…

  Sullivan slumped down in the chair next to his son. No words were spoken at first. There really wasn’t much that could be said to make the situation any better. Instead, his mind began to race. He thought about what Rodgers told him. That his wife had been…poisoned?

  The resistance! Of course it was them. This kind of thing would be right up their alley. They must have known that Sullivan was getting closer to them. Shit, he had one of their operatives damn near arrested just last night. They must have tried to poison him. Julie was an accident…it all made sense. Look at what they did to Forte. The resistance tortured him before they shot the poor bastard dead in cold blood. They obviously had no issues with murdering Agents.

  “Is mommy okay?” Davie asked, breaking up Sullivan’s thoughts.

  “Son,” Sullivan searched for the right words. “Mommy is very sick.”

  Davie’s eyes started to water. “How sick?”

  “She fell asleep…the doctors…they can’t get her to wake up again.”

  The sound of Mary crying out caused Sullivan to jump. He then let his own tears flow free again. This time he didn’t try to fight them back. Little Davie started to cry as well. Sullivan pulled his son’s head close to his chest and let the boy cry. He reached up and pulled Mary in, too. He wrapped his arms tight around her with his right arm and held Davie close with his left.

  “I can get her to wake up, Daddy!” Davie cried. He forced his way from hi
s father’s chest. “She always wakes up when I sing to her in the morning. Just let me back there!”

  Davie started to hop off of his lap before Sullivan’s strong hand clamped to Davie’s arm. The son looked to his father and tried to wrestle himself free with no success. The sight caused Mary to cry harder. Sullivan pulled the boy up with all of his strength. Davie wrapped his arms around Sullivan’s neck and squeezed.

  “You can’t wake her up,” Sullivan said. “No matter how hard you try…she’s gone, son.”

  Sullivan rubbed at Davie’s hair while he contemplated his next move. He still had that armor piercing, USR issued round with him having not turned it over, yet. He would have to go and talk to Billy King. King was an old informant who ran an underground gun shop. He would have to know something.

  He moved his son away from him. Davie sat down on the chair, his eyes pointed straight down to the white tile floor. Sullivan stood and hugged Mary. He whispered something in her ear. She shook her head in acknowledgment. Sullivan patted his son on the back before he walked towards the exit.

  “Where’re you going, daddy?” Davie asked.

  “Daddy’s got to go back to work,” Sullivan lied. “You just stay here with your Aunt. I’ll be home soon.”

  “Just stay here, daddy!”

  “Davie, there are things that need to get done. I’ll be home soon, just stay with your Aunt, she’ll take care of you, okay?”

  “Okay,” Davie replied, his head back down. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, son.”