I Remember You

by Mairsile Leabhair

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the press. I am Victoria Montgomery, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Frances Health System. President Trenton is still in surgery, and from the last report I received, ten minutes ago, he is stable, and doing well. His surgeon, Dr. Joyce McMillan, will be out to speak with you, as soon as she’s finished.” Vicky thought how wonderful it was that her best friend could drop everything and fly down here. She knew there would be no time to socialize, because Joyce was a no‒nonsense kind of surgeon, whose only focus was on the patient. Still, she hoped there would be time to introduce her to Aidan. “Now, I will entertain your questions, as it relates to the President’s surgery.”

  “Ms. Montgomery, was it a heart attack?” a reporter asked.

  “Yes,” and anticipating his next question, she added, “You’ll need to wait for his surgeon, to learn the technical aspects of his heart attack.”

  “Why didn’t his primary care physician catch it, before now?”

  “You’ll need to ask them that question.”

  “Ms. Montgomery, how long will he be in the hospital?”

  “I can’t really say, some patients heal quicker than others. But President Trenton is strong, and in good physical shape, so that’s in his favor. Next?”

  “Ms. Montgomery, is it true he was with another woman, at the time of his heart attack, and that she’s here at the hospital?”

  Her crystal blue eyes turned a dark gray, and her cheeks flared an angry red. Aidan thought, Oh yeah, she’s pissed.

  “Sir, what is your name please, and what media do you work for?”

  “Why does that matter?” he rebuffed.

  She replied in a controlled, even tone, “I think that if a person is going to insinuate rumors like that, they should at least give their name first.”

  “Okay, well, my name is Dick Boggs, and I work for the National Chatter newspaper.”

  Just by naming his newspaper, he lost all creditability, not only with Vicky, who figured as much, but also with the other professionals in the room.

  “Thank you, Mr. Boggs. Now, back to your question. I won’t dignify it with an answer.” She gave him an uncompromising look, while the other reporters laughed loudly, and Aidan applauded. She could tell that Vicky was still fuming. Suddenly she had a thought.

  “Ms. Montgomery?”

  Vicky looked up to see Aidan in the back of the room with her hand held up. Instantly, she smiled at her lover. “Yes, the lady in the back?”

  “From my mother’s people in Ireland, would you please relay to him, dea-shláinte, which means, good health.”

  Vicky’s eyes sparkled, “That is so sweet, thank you. I certainly will let the President know.” With the anger gone, and her heart smiling again, she turned her attention back to the media, “We will have another conference in one hour. President Trenton’s surgeon should be able to join us, at that time. Thank you.”

  With the press still clamoring for more questions, Vicky turned, and left the room. She walked back to her office with a million questions of her own, racing through her mind. Where did Aidan come up with that Irish translation? Did she remember something? I can’t wait to find out.

  As promised, the remaining press conferences included Joyce, reporting on the President’s condition, and that was followed by his personal cardiologist, Dr. Tom Shaw, commenting on his diagnose, and rehab after surgery.

  Right after the last press conference, Joyce caught a flight back to New York. As Vicky walked her out to the waiting taxi cab, she laughed, “So, I’ll just keep coming up with something big, like the President’s heart attack, to get your butt down here to work with me.”

  Joyce laughed, “Well, I do love that new hybrid cath lab of yours. And working on the President, you can’t do better than that.”

  “I’m just sorry you missed meeting Aidan, I’m not sure where she’s gotten off to.”

  “I’m sorry too. I’ve got a few questions for her,” Joyce laughed in an ominous way.

  “Oh no you don’t, Joyce McMillan. There will be no grilling of my lover, not this time.” Because Vicky’s mother was so against her lifestyle, she never brought any of her dates home to meet her parents. Instead, she’d introduce them to Joyce, who took it upon herself to question their integrity, on her behalf.

  Joyce laughed again, “Well, I’m just glad it all worked out for you.”

  It was late that night, before Vicky had completed her last task. She was exhausted, from too little sleep the night before, and dealing with the excessive stress of the day. She had seen to it that Mrs. Trenton was taken care of, then check in on the President. Now, she was going to her office, with the intention of texting Aidan to come relieve her stress. She couldn’t wait to hold Aidan in her arms, and feel her inside of her. The thought put a smile on her face. She was still smiling, as she opened her office door, turned on the lights, and noticed with curiosity that the blinds were closed. Then she saw him.

  “Oh my God!” Vicky screamed.

  “Run, Vicky! Get out of here!” Aidan screamed.

  Too late. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and jerked her around

  .

  Chapter 10

  “Shut the fuck up, and get down beside her!” he shoved Vicky towards Aidan, as he walked to the door, and locked it. Aidan was kneeling, with her hands behind her head, her face creased with apprehension. Vicky did as she was told, kneeling beside her lover, on the brink of panicking.

  “Hey, baby, I’m guessing you’re not the one who closed the blinds?” Aidan nervously quipped. Vicky shook her head no, trembling too hard to speak.

  The man wore a long overcoat, where Aidan assumed he had hidden his sub‒machine gun, he was waving around at them. He took the coat off, and slung it on the chair. He was dressed in blue scrubs, with a surgical mask hanging around his neck. Sticking out of the small of his back was a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol. He turned back around, and put the nose of his sub‒machine gun to Aidan’s head and growled, “You, show me your ID, you filthy dyke.”

  She looked past the gun and saw a fifteen inch hunting knife sheathed at his side. In the back of her mind, past the fear and uncertainty, a plan to grab a weapon began to form. As much weaponry as he carried, and the fact that he showed them his face, told her they weren’t getting out of this alive, unless she did something. If she could keep his focus on her, she hoped that Vicky might be spared.

  “I’ll have you know I bathed, just this morning,” Aidan weakly joked, trying to stall for time.

  But the intruder didn’t appreciate her joke, and pressed the muzzle of his gun into the hollow of her cheek. She relented and unclipped her hospital badge, handing it up to him. He didn’t give it a second glance, as he tossed it to the floor, and slapped her hard across the face.

  “Stop!” Vicky screamed, as Aidan’s head swung sharply to the side from the blow.

  “I want to see your driver’s license bitch,” he growled, and unclipped his badge from his shirt, “hospital badges are easily duplicated.”

  She wiped the blood from her split lip, and suddenly realized, she didn’t have a driver’s license. Damn, I should have gone to the DMV like I planned. All she had was her military identification, which would expire in twenty‒four days. He’s not going to like this, she thought.

  With a bead of sweat forming at her temple, Aidan pulled her billfold out of her back pocket. She tried to prepare Vicky for what she knew instinctively, was coming next. Looking deeply into her eyes, as if to reach down to her heart and caress it, she mouthed, I love you, Vicky, then pulled her ID card out, and handed it to the man. “My picture is really bad on there, so‒‒”

  “What’s this? You’re military? You killed my brothers, you bitch!” his anger was so fast and so furious, that Aidan went down without so much as a whimper, when the butt of his gun hit the side of her head.

  “Oh my God, Aidan!” Vicky knelt over her unconscious lover, crying, begging for her to be all right. She rolled he
r motionless body onto her lap, and hugged her tight, rocking her as if she were a sleeping child. Shock and fear became secondary, as her medical training took over. She checked Aidan’s pulse, then lifted each eyelid to see that the pupils dilated equally, from the light. She checked all the vital signs, several times. “Why?” she sobbed, as she quickly untucked her blouse, using it to apply pressure to Aidan’s bleeding wound.

  “Because her kind,” he pointed at her military ID, “killed my comrades in Iraq.”

  “What do you want? Please, maybe I can help you?” Vicky looked up, with pleading eyes.

  “Get this straight. I know who you are, Ms. Montgomery. We’ve been watching you for weeks. But know this, you mean nothing to us. You are still alive because you are a means to an end, nothing more.” The intruder peeked out the window as he talked. Turning back to her, he demanded to know, “Now, where is President Trenton’s room?”

  Oh Jesus, he’s after the President! She continued to rock Aidan, as she nervously asked, “Why would you want him? He’s not the sitting president, anymore. How could hurting him, help your cause?”

  “My name is Abdul Hakrim Muham, and I have come to finish my comrades work.”

  She wondered if he was talking about the deadly drive by shooting, at a Little Rock recruiting station a few years ago. That had also been an American, who claimed he wanted to kill all Americans. That was when the war came home to the city streets of Little Rock.

  “But you’re an employee here, aren’t you? I’ve seen you around, you work in maintenance.”

  The fact that a mere woman would dare challenge him, set Muham off. He flailed his gun in Vicky’s face, screaming at her incoherently. She cringed and covered her lover’s limp body, waiting for the butt of his rifle to hit her next. When the blow didn’t come, she timidly looked up. His back was to her again, as he stared out the window.

  “I’m not going to help you murder the President,” she boldly stated.

  He didn’t bother to turn around, as he threatened in a calm, flat voice, “You will, or you will die.”

  A low groan, instantly brought her attention back to Aidan. She was about to say something to her, but a small shake of Aidan’s head stopped her. She saw Aidan mouth the word 'phone'. After checking to make sure their captor still had his back to her, Vicky slipped the phone from her pocket, and into Aidan's hand.

  Even the slight shaking of her head, had caused a feeling of nausea, but Aidan still managed to roll over, just enough to hide her head and hands, while still on Vicky's lap.

  Quickly turning around, Muham demanded to know, “What did you just do?”

  “I… I was trying to make her more comfortable. She’s hurt. Please let me get her some help.”

  “She is only alive now, to keep you in line, Ms. Montgomery, nothing more. She is a thorn in the side of our plan, and she will pay for her insolence.”

  “You can still walk away from this,” Vicky urged, “They will kill you, you know?”

  He was unfazed, “Luckily, we have another contingency, should I fail in my mission.”

  Aidan felt Vicky tense up, so she patted her on her upper thigh, to remind her that she wasn’t alone. Vicky responded by rubbing Aidan’s back. As Muham turned back to the window, his back to her, she tapped her finger tips on Aidan’s back, hoping she would understand what that meant.

  At the touch of Vicky's fingers, Aidan immediately muted the cell phone, then opened to the address book, and looked for Paul’s number. Sending him a text, she typed in 911. That was all she dared do. Then she hid the phone in her bra, and patted Vicky’s thigh again. Vicky let out a breath, relaxing just a bit, at her lover’s touch.

  “Like I said, I’m not going to help you murder President Trenton, so you might as well give up. Walk away now, and I won’t say a word to anyone.”

  Now it was Aidan’s turn to tense up, and Vicky could feel it. The President!

  Muham looked at his watch, unimpressed with her bravado. It was 8:35 P.M., “Night shift came on at seven, right?”

  She would not answer, but he was correct. She knew that there were not as many people on the night shift, and that would increase his chances of getting to the President. He’s wearing scrubs, so he plans to impersonate a nurse or doctor. But how will he get past Steve?

  Muham placed the sling of his sub machine gun over his shoulder, and pulled the pistol from his waist. He picked up a plastic bag and threw it at Vicky. “Put these on,” he demanded. She looked at the bag, curiously. “Do it!” he screamed, shaking his pistol.

  Aidan squeezed Vicky’s thigh, not wanting to let go, helpless to do anything, but continue to play possum. Vicky moved Aidan off her lap, and laid her gingerly on the floor. Leaning close, she whispered, “I love you, Aidan.”

  Aidan didn’t move, didn’t react, except for the scream in her heart. It was one of the hardest things either of them had ever done. They so desperately wanted to hold onto each other.

  She pulled the set of hospital scrubs from the bag, and thought, He’s going to use me, to get to the President. I have to stop this… but how? She turned toward the bathroom, but he blocked her way. Taking the scrubs from her hands, he threw them on the desk. Looking into his eyes for the first time, her skin prickled, at the hate she saw there. She moved away, turning her back to him, and began undressing. She removed her jacket, then her blouse, letting them fall to the floor, in front of Aidan. Next came the shoes and slacks.

  Feeling completely naked with just a bra and panties on, Vicky had to turn around to reach the scrubs, and saw Muham lick his lips. His eyes slowly made their way down her body. Watching him rape her with his eyes, Vicky flashed back to another time, another man. It was movement from Aidan that brought her out of her torment. “Not now!” she said loudly. Aidan froze in place. Muham, thinking she was talking to him, looked at her with contempt. She grabbed the scrubs, and dressed as quickly as her trembling hands would allow.

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Ms. Montgomery.” He said, as he jabbed an arm through the sleeve of his coat. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time for that…,” he slung his opposite arm through the other sleeve, “right now.” He walked over and grabbed her roughly by the elbow, pushing his pistol into her ribs. “Now, we’re going to walk out this door, and down to his room. You scream, I kill you. You try to run, I kill you. You try to warn the President, and I will fucking kill you!”

  “No! I won’t leave Aidan!” Vicky reached out to her, to hold on to her.

  He walked over and kicked Aidan, hard, in the ribs, satisfied when she didn’t cry out. “Forget that bitch, and move!” He roughly shoved her toward the door, stopping cold, when he heard someone knocking from the other side.

  “Ms. Montgomery? Are you all right?”

  “Paul!” she screamed, and struggled to break free.

  Muham pulled her in close, and lifted his weapon to fire. His focus solely on the door, he didn’t see Aidan coming to her feet. Caught completely by surprise, as she grabbed him from behind, he loosened his hold on Vicky. Aidan used that to her advantage, and pushed herself between him and Vicky. Using tactics she didn't remember learning, she fought to dislodge the gun from his hands. He still managed to fire off a round. Then Aidan grabbed his knife from its sheath and thrust it up and under, slicing into the assassin’s belly. Shocked, he dropped his gun, and fell to the floor.

  She stood over him, as he lay there, holding his bleeding gut. “Who’s the bitch now, you fucking bastard!” Stumbling back, she looked at Vicky, “Are you okay?” Vicky nodded, reaching for her, just as Aidan passed out in her arms, pulling them both to the floor.

  Paul heard the gunshot, and didn’t bother looking for the right key, he kicked in the door. Rushing in, he saw Aidan and Vicky fall to the floor together, next to a man with a knife sticking out of his belly. Paul immediately removed all weapons from Muham’s reach, then focused his attention back on the women.

  Vicky scooped Aidan up into her arms, and immediately
applied pressure to the wound in her arm, “Please, be all right, please,” she cried.

  “Ms. Montgomery?”

  “She’s been shot damn it, call for help!”

  He instantly got on his two way radio, and called a Code Yellow, non-patient medical emergency, to the CEO’s office. He then called a Code Silver, threat of violence with a weapon.

  “Paul! He was going to kill the president!”

  “Oh Christ!” He rapidly dialed Steve Hayden, and filled him in. Hayden immediately had his people close ranks, shielding the President from anyone who came near, regardless of who they were. Lastly, Paul called the police. That was hospital policy.

  Five minutes later, the Crisis Assessment Treatment Team, better known as the CAT Team, arrived at Vicky’s office with a crash cart. A security guard followed them in, and took up a position beside Paul. They watched as the CAT team instantly began working on both Aidan, and the terrorist. Vicky, covered in her lover’s blood, reluctantly moved out of their way, and stood next to Paul.

  “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head no, but she couldn’t stop trembling.

  “Somebody get me a blanket!” he commanded, thinking that she was cold. But it was a different kind of cold. A bitter cold that the soul feels, when its mate has been ripped from its arms.

  “Oh please be all right, Aidan!” Vicky tried to stay with Aidan, but Paul held her back.

  “It’s okay, Victoria. They’re going to put her on the gurney, and take her down to X-ray.”

  “Please Paul, I have to go with her,” she cried.

  “Of course, I’ll escort you myself, but let the nurses do their job first. We need to talk to the police and the Secret Service, while they work on her.”

  She knew he was right, but she didn’t care. She needed to be with Aidan. “Tell them they can find me in X-ray,” she twisted out of his hands, and followed after Aidan.

  Paul grabbed the guard by his shirt, “Stick with her like glue, do not let her out of your sight,” he pointed to Muham, “he might not have come alone.” He wanted to escort her himself, but he needed to be available at the scene of the crime, even though he knew the young guard was not prepared for an attack like this. A hospital security guard could see many things on the job, like suicidal patients, hell bent on electrocuting themselves. Or robberies, fights, even baby snatches, but they weren’t trained, or emotionally armed, to handle something of this magnitude.