by Don Bruns
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
If you donate your organs, they like to harvest them when they’re fresh. And when the body is still functioning, but there’s no brain activity, the organs are fresh. I never signed the paper to donate my organs. Probably a good idea, considering.
They call it neurologic shock. There’s no brain activity and your brain is swelling from the concussion. As far as I’m concerned, when your brain quits working, you’re dead. And that’s what the doctor told me.
They can drill holes in your head to give the brain room to swell. James would have had a field day with that solution. But I think it was a drug, Mannitol, that takes fluid from the brain so it goes back into your bloodstream, that saved me. That and a bunch of very good doctors. I’ve got to thank the team of Drs. Bob and Pat Gussin, James Kahn, Praveen Malhotra, and Anne Gideon. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be around if it hadn’t been for them.
“You saved us, pally.”
“Yeah. But died in the process.”
James grabbed my arm and squeezed. Very hard. I thought there were tears in his eyes, but this was my buddy James. I’m sure I was mistaken.
“Visiting time is over.” The surly nurse escorted him out. Five minutes at a time. They said they just wanted to keep me alive this time. I appreciated the effort.
“Two weeks. And it seems like two minutes.”
“Hey, you slept most of the time.” Em looked great, fresh, hair hanging down around her shoulders, a light summer dress.
She stroked my cheek. “You’re getting a little shaggy, Skip.”
“When you sleep twenty-four-seven there isn’t much time to shave.” I was sitting in a chair. An hour a day now.
“I kind of like a beard on you.”
“So, you’ve been quiet about current events.”
Em sat on the edge of the hospital bed. “They caught Chen.
He never got out of Miami.”
“You know the thing about Sarah is that she’s a—”
“I know. James told me. She wasn’t with him when the cops took Chen in.”
“You don’t think he killed her?”
“Personally, we don’t think there was time. James is scanning the escort services. He says she’ll show up sooner or later.”
“They know that Chen killed Carol Conroy?”
“Evidence was all over his car. He never got it fixed.”
“And Sandy? Feng? How can they still be walking around?” She reached out and put her hand on mine. “No evidence.
They didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You and I both know that’s bullshit.”
“Can’t prove it, babe. That video card hasn’t turned up. If there’s any evidence on that, it’s disappeared.” She stroked my hand. “You saved their lives.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I did. I did. Didn’t really care about their lives.”
“You saved mine. You saved James.”
“Yeah. Come to think of it—”
Ellen DeGeneres was on the flat-screen television. No sound. I could look out the window and see two stories below. There were three box trucks clustered by a construction site where workmen were building an expansion to the hospital. “The truck’s gone, right?”
“Yeah. James found another one. Not quite as good, but it’s the same model. He’s trying to pull some money together—”
“He’s nuts.”
“He’s your best friend.”
“Other than you.”
The phone rang and I flipped it open. “Yeah.”
“Amigo. I’d be there today, but I’m working two shifts at Cap’n Crab. Got to make some extra money for a new truck.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry I blew up your old one.”
“Could have been me, Skip. I owe you so much, I’ll never, ever be able to pay you back for this one.”
“You know, you showed me how to dispose of a bomb. I just didn’t think I’d ever have to use your example.”
He chuckled. “Called Riley at DOD, pard. He’s not there.”
“Like, not in?”
“Like, doesn’t work there.”
“James, I talked to him. Tried to get him to cancel the codes.”
“Very hush-hush. I don’t know if they downloaded from the computers or not.”
Em smiled at me. Beaming. She’d had that smile since she walked in.
“What about the money? Did Chen have the millions?”
“I get the impression, no. But no one’s talking.” James and I would probably never hear all the details.
“And Synco Systems?”
“Closed. I don’t know what’s going to happen.” I did. They weren’t going to pay the bill. Carol Conroy couldn’t pay the bill, and the best I could hope for with Sarah was to take it out in trade. And with Em in my corner, that wasn’t ever going to happen.
“Hey, James, did you thank J.J.? I mean, he gave us the plan.”
“He did. Cops took the sound card from The Sound Max and they’re going to use it as part of the case against Chen. They’ve got him on explosive charges, attempted murder, kidnapping—”
“But no stealing codes. International espionage or whatever it’s called?”
“No proof.”
“Anyway, thank J.J.”
“Never got a chance, Kemo Sabe. He moved out a couple days after you died.”
“So tell me, James, did the date with Eden ever happen?”
“Number three coming up this weekend. And number three is the magic one, right pally?”
“Good luck, James.”
“Good looks and charm, Skip. That’s all you need.”
I suddenly felt tired. Not sleepy, but like at the end of a long workday, or at the end of a long vacation where you partied just a little too hard. I said good-bye to James and closed my eyes.
“Hey, I’m going to stay awhile. If you want to sleep—”
“Maybe.” I opened my eyes again. “Do I still have a job?” Flowers from Michael were on the desk. I think he bought them in the discount bin at Wal-Mart.
“I think so. Obviously things are a little crazy at Jaystone right now.”
I smiled. I hoped I had a job. I needed the money. I owed Jody Stacy for a smoke detector, GPS unit, and The Sound Max. The cops were keeping that as evidence. Jody apparently had called Em several times. Checking up on me, probably checking up on when he’d be paid, and I’m certain he was checking up on Em. Another reason to bust out of this joint as soon as possible.
“So no one is looking into the fact that secrets were stolen? That the DOD was compromised?” I gazed at her. God, she looked good.
“Oh, I think they’re looking into it every minute. I think the government is scared out of their minds right now. I think, because of you—because of you—” she started crying. “Because of you, Skip Moore, I’m alive.”
“Hey.”
“No. Let me say this. I didn’t make this up, someone said it before me, but I mean this so much. So much.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “To be your friend was all I ever wanted. To be your lover was all I ever dreamed.” She hugged me and hugged me and hugged me, and I hugged her back.
Damn. Now Emily was doing obscure quotes and I had nothing to give her back.
«——THE END——»
