6: Triumphs and Trials
“I want a full report from both of you by the end of today, don’t leave any detail out. This case is getting closer attention so the news is already out; we can’t afford any mistakes.”
“Yes sir.”
“Charlie, you are in charge of closing the case out, Leo will help. Save Robert for last, he hasn’t come do yet and when he does he won’t be up to talking, but we still need to de-brief him. Make sure you stay on top of things, the Boss is sending some of his men down to oversee and gather information, and I want this to be professional.
“Yes sir!”
“Oh and guys, congratulations, this was the fastest high priority case yet. Catching Marson was great, his death was regrettable, but considering the circumstances, understandable. Robert’s tip to the Warden resulted in the arrest of his two suspects, the Warden is looking further, but no new names have come up and the two have stated no one else was involved. Robert’s situation is troubling and I don’t see a good outcome, but that is out of our hands. Let’s take what we can. Get going, I will give you an update on Robert whenever I am able to, I’m heading over the hospital right now to meet the family.”
Guy watched the two leave. He sighed. This should be a celebration, but instead he had a headache. How could his best agent go down like this, just when things were going right? He slowly got up, and started out towards his car. He hated meeting the families. He was not good at comforting them, plus his family had treated him like dirt and he only found himself comparing with disdain. When that many people come together they bring all their troubles with them, he preferred to keep his to himself and have others keep theirs to their selves. Work was different, he could put up with it there, after all, he could always retire and leave them be. Can’t be helped, Robert’s family was not allowed to be with their son unattended and seeing as everyone else was busy, it might as well be him. He got in his car and headed to the hospital.
Guy reached the hospital; the family was waiting for him. He had to endure all the greetings, Robert’s Parents Mike and Tabitha, then his brother Ryan with his wife and kids; Elizabeth, Abigail, and Jordan. After all this came the questions, concerns, and a bit of crying (which was still too much for him); “people should learn to control their emotions,” he thought to himself. He explained what he could withholding information he was not authorized to release, the seizure being part of that information, then they headed up to see Robert.
Robert lay in his bed, still unconscious, but peaceful. The left side of his face was bandaged and he had two black eyes, though the right one was starting to fade.
“So he was hit?” Mike asked quietly.
“Well, he took a couple hits as the first didn’t put him down. Thankfully the others with him got to him before he took on more injury.” Guy left out any hints of Robert’s panic attack. The FBI wanted the information withheld for reputation sake, but it would make the family take the matter all the more seriously, considering the first time Robert had one of these panic attacks was in the presence of his parents. This all added to his headache, for he had to make sure all witnesses took an oath not to release any information, and he was starting to get flack from higher up for hiring Robert when he knew of the first instance (though they signed off on it as well). Besides, Robert had held up fine till now. Guy pondered what could have made this occasion different. The scene was more gruesome, the whole family killed (the other big black spot on this case). At least Marson wouldn’t be around to cause any more trouble other than paperwork, which he would have had to do either way.
The family stuck around for a few hours before heading back to the hotel, all of them living out of town. Guy told them he would call whenever Robert came to (after a debriefing of course). At least he wouldn’t have to stick around this time. This was all such a headache. With that last thought Guy headed back to the office.
Robert’s dreaming faded out and he slowly became aware of sounds and a dull pain in and surrounding his head. His left face hurt the most and felt like it was wrapped. He didn’t open his eyes as they hurt, so he tried to take in his surroundings by ear. From the sounds he could tell he was in a hospital, which explained his bound face. He made sure nothing else hurt, and thankfully nothing did. He tried to re-call how he got here. There were so many dreams, all so real, but one stood out the most; begin tied up at SODM, facing Trent Frennur. He knew it was a dream because Frennur was dead, as well as James, but it had felt real. He thought back further, not wishing to dwell on that memory and that cold stare. He remembered entering a house, stooping to check a body, a dead one. He was hit! Must have been the butt of a gun, judging from the wide spread pain on his face. He had gone down easily enough. Then he remembered having his pistol in his dream. He had fired it at Frennur, but somehow he knew he had shot it in real life as well. Had he hit someone? He thought hard, trying to recall scenes, even sounds. He thought he remembered hearing a shot before his. He didn’t have a bullet wound, so it must have been one of the police shooting at Marson. That meant he could have shot at anyone. Going on his dream Trent Frennur had dodged the bullet, so he must assume whoever he shot at did as well. After he shot he must have had the gun wrestled from his grip and been held down. Finally, when he didn’t stop struggling he guessed whoever was holding him down must had hit him to knock him out, as he couldn’t remember anything after that, except strange dreams.
He opened his eyes and took in the hospital room, adjusting to the light coming in through the window. His nurse walked in.
“Awake I see. How are you felling?”
“Not too bad, my face is hurting a little, but that it to be expected I guess.”
“What pain level would you say it is, on a scale of one to ten?”
“I suppose a four. How long have I been out?”
“About five days now. Can I get you anything?”
“Some water would be great for now.”
“I will be back with that.”
The nurse left and he was once again left to himself, at least until the nurse returned with the water. Later in the day the doctor came in to see how he was doing. After talking for a few minutes he left seeming happy about Robert’s condition. As he was leaving Guy and Leo came in. Guy asked the doctor to make sure no one came in while they were there. The doctor looked to protest, but after one glance at Guy he shuffled out. Upon closing the door they asked how he was doing, made some small talk, and then launched into what they came for. Robert made no objections, he would have done the same thing, and he wanted to get some answers. He told them all he remembered, except details on the dream, because he didn’t want the suspicion and prying. Instead he spun the part about seeing a dead body, Marson leaning over to torture him, and then being held down, he also mentioned himself shooting at Marson. Leo recorded the conversation. After they had finished their questioning it was Robert’s turn. He first confirmed his thoughts on what happened, making sure he hadn’t shot anyone. He came close to shooting a cop apparently. He found out that Marson had killed the entire family and he had been shot after hitting Robert and died at the scene. Robert also found out his suspicions back at the prison had been accurate. After everything had been said and done, Guy and Leo rose to leave. Guy warned Robert not to tell anything about the seizure to anyone, or the case on Marson. He was allowed to say he had been hit while on duty. He also warned Robert that the agency was looking into the whole panic attack and things weren’t looking good at the moment. Finally, due to all that was happening, Guy told Robert to take the week off or at least until he heard otherwise. Robert took it as a fair warning, but let it lay for now, first he needed to get out of here. Guy and Leo left, leaving him to wait for his family, who he knew would show up momentarily.
The family entered as families usually do, with much confusion. Robert’s mom was crying, his dad had that pondering look he always had when he was considering some
thing he didn’t like, and his brother just had an honest look of thankfulness, which Robert assumed was to see him awake and okay. Ryan’s family was along for the ride; not having seen Robert much over the years due to his job and how much extra time he spent doing it. The distance in where they all lived played a large difference as well, himself residing in Virginia, and the rest in Colorado. Ryan’s son quickly shed his shyness and started asking questions on his injuries, obviously in awe of them. He didn’t have a problem with this, in fact Robert didn’t mind being around his family, it was just his work kept him from getting home that often. The few times he had he got along fine with everyone, as long as they didn’t start harping on him about what he should be doing with his life. Right now they were just happy to see he was all right and were content to just talk. The question was asked about his side of the story, which amazingly enough (or not so amazing) was pretty close to what Guy told them. He knew his dad’s temperament would shift if he dared mention his panic attack. His dad still didn’t approve of his job, though now for more religious reasons, mainly his staying away from church. As all good things come to an end, so did this one, his dad finally spoke his mind. He seemed to think he had dovetailed it into the conversation of favorite dinner meals, but it really came across bluntly, enough that even Ryan winced.
“Speaking of dinners have you had a spiritual one lately?”
Everyone one went quiet, making the scene more awkward, though dad didn’t seem to notice.
“Dad, I don’t really want to talk about this.”
“Oh come on, there has got to be some good churches in the area, which ones have you found?”
“You already know what I think on this, and I don’t consider communion all that necessary as I don’t require that sort of meditation.”
“Everyone requires especially that sort of meditation, unless they don’t believe in God to begin with.” Mike was starting to show some signs of irritation at Robert’s last remark.
“Dad, I already told you, I believe in God, I believe Christ was more than just a prophet or a good man, I believe he died for my sins, I don’t need anything more than that. I don’t have a family yet and I don’t see the application of all this to my career!”
“Well, maybe you are too wrapped up in your career!”
At this Tabitha jumped in, “that is enough boys, we are here to visit Robert, not argue till the end of time, let’s save this for later.”
Ryan nodded his approval, though the pondering look on his face showed he hadn’t fell far from the apple tree. With that they made some small talk up until they left. By that time Robert had been told he could leave the next day, so he agreed to meet his family for supper the next night.
The next night he ate with his family, who seemed to have passed the awkward conversation of the previous night, all except his dad, who rarely joined in the talk. They passed the time well enough, and then parted ways. Everyone had to get back and Robert was anxious to get to work and find out what was happening. It really was nice to see his family again and he promised he would show up for Christmas this year and stay a couple weeks, he had enough vacation leave to do so, though there was always the possibility of an emergency arriving. Of course, Guy made it sound like his job may be in jeopardy, which explained his growing anxiousness. He saw his family to the airport the next morning and though was told to take a week off, headed in to work; he couldn’t stand to wait. He waved goodbye as they boarded the plane and then headed to his car. He arrived in front of his work half an hour later, took a deep breath, and then headed in.