Chapter 37
Day 33
I wake fairly early with an awful pain in my stomach. Something is coming up my esophagus. I run to the toilet and start vomiting. I immediately think back to the meal I had last evening and can’t imagine what could have made me this sick. I am hugging the toilet, with my cheek on the side of the bowl thanking it for being cool. Derrick comes running into the bathroom and gets on the floor right next to me with a wet wash cloth.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I had a pain in my stomach and then just starting throwing up, I don’t know why.”
Derrick stands up and gets me a small glass of ice cold Pepsi out of the mini-frig in the room. “Here, see if this helps.”
I take a few small sips and say, “I remember when I was a little girl, I would get sick for no reason at all. Sometimes, I would wake up, throw up, and get ready for school. It happened often. I’m sure this is nothing. Do we have any crackers?”
“No we don’t, but I’ll run across the street to the store and grab a sleeve of crackers. I’ll be back in a flash.”
Just before Derrick walks out the door there is a knock. Derrick opens the door and sees Dane outside in the hallway.
“G’day Derrick. Are you and Kobi ready to go get breakfast? We are meeting Taylor and Geoff at 10:00 a.m.”
“No, not really. She is throwing up this morning, so I am going to go across the street for some crackers. Do you want to come?”
“No worries, let’s go.”
Derrick leaves the can of Pepsi by the bedside and heads to the grocery store. I lay my head back down and try really hard to clear my mind and let the Pepsi take effect. It is starting to feel better. I glance at the clock and notice that it has been about two hours since Derrick and Dane left. I must have fallen asleep. Where could they be? A few minutes later, Derrick comes in and has blood all over his shirt.
“What on earth? Derrick, it that your blood? Where’s Dane?”
“Dane is in the hospital. He’s going to be fine, so don’t worry. He was shot in the shoulder. The bullet went straight through the flesh and exited out the back just above the shoulder blade. He is very lucky.”
“Shot!” I yell as I sit up in bed completely forgetting about my nausea. “Start at the beginning. What happened?”
“We walked in the store, and went to the aisle where the crackers were located. We were looking at all the different crackers they had trying to figure out which one would be best, when we heard someone toward the front of the store yelling. We looked at each other and didn’t really give it much thought. The yelling intensified and then we heard a woman scream. We looked down the aisle toward the check-out register and saw a man with a gun. He was waving the gun in the air demanding the clerk to give him all the money in the register. The clerk must have been taking too long because the man grabbed the screaming woman and said that he was going to shoot her if he didn’t hand over all the money right now.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No Honey, I am as serious as a heart attack. Anyway, he had the gun pointed at the lady’s head, right at her temple. She was terrified! Then the man looked around and noticed us looking at him from the back of the store and demanded that we come to the front of the store where he could see us. So, Dane and I walked up toward the front of the store and sat on the floor right in front of the soda cooler. We could hear the sirens coming, so we thought this was all going to be over soon, but that’s when things started getting tense. The man became so irate and started threatening to kill us one by one, starting with the woman he had at gunpoint.”
Derrick takes a swig of Pepsi and continues, “He was furious that someone had called the police and was demanding to know who did it. The clerk told him that there was a panic button behind the register and that he had pushed it earlier because, after all, that’s what the switch is for. Well, the gunman turned the gun on the clerk and fired, hitting the man in the chest. The man went down hard. I jumped up to go over and help the injured man, but the robber pointed the gun at me and told me to sit down and shut up. I did. I could hear the man behind the register moaning and writhing in pain, but I was helpless.”
“You are so lucky he didn’t shoot you right then and there!”
“I know! The police were in front of the store with their guns drawn ordering the gunman to come out with his hands up. Honestly, Kobi, I felt like I was in a movie. It was so surreal. I think the gunman was on drugs or something, because he had this wild, crazy look in his eyes and wasn’t about to surrender, you could just tell. He was yelling back at the cops, but I don’t really know what he was saying. It was mumbo-jumbo. Dane and I looked at each other and couldn’t believe this was happening. I whispered to Dane if he had any ideas about what we could do to take this guy down, and Dane shook his head left to right and whispered, ‘No.’ The gunman looked at me with his gun pointed right at my heart and yelled, ‘If you say another word, I will shoot you. Do you understand?’ I put my lips together and didn’t say another word.
“Everyone was scared, including me. I could hear sniffling and crying, but there was nothing we could do. We were at the mercy of a crazy man. A few seconds later, the phone behind the register rang. The man grabbed a woman off the floor and told her to answer the phone. I knew it was probably the police trying to negotiate the gunman out of the store. She looked at the gunman and told him it was the police and they wanted to talk to him. He was very irrational with them on the phone making demands that were not physically possible. He slammed the phone down on the counter and threw a tantrum.
“I was really surprised that he didn’t shoot one of us because he was so mad. Then he started hitting his head with his hands, one of which had the gun in it. Obviously, he didn’t feel the pain, because a trickle of blood was coming down his forehead, so he must have cut himself with the gun during his fit of frenzy. Kobi, this guy was an idiot, I mean, completely off his rocker. At this point, I didn’t even want to make eye contact with the man, because I thought he would take it as a threatening gesture. So, I just pulled my knees up into my chest and stared at the tops of my shoes.
“There was a young woman in there that really had to go to the hospital. Her daughter was recovering from open heart surgery, and the woman had just gone home for a few hours to get a little sleep. She was frantic because her little girl was still in the Intensive Care Unit and not out of danger yet. She begged him to let her go. She was crying uncontrollably. I could tell that the gunman was getting very annoyed with the woman. I tried to get the woman to be quiet, but by now she was hysterical. She was rocking back and forth crying, ‘Please let me go; I have to get to my little girl, please!’
“The gunman was pacing back and forth, glancing out of the window at the police, getting more agitated with every passing moment. Then, all of a sudden, he reached down and yanked the woman up by her hair and yelled at her to shut up. This situation was about to go from bad to worse. The woman was like a ragdoll--exhausted and defeated. The man looked at her and said that if she didn’t shut up, he would shut her up. He put the gun in her mouth. Dane lunged forward toward the man and grabbed the gun. There was a struggle and then a gunshot. Dane took a hit, but continued to fight with the gunman. He managed to get the gun away from the gunman and render him unconscious, thanks to a large bottle of wine sitting by the register. He knocked the gunman out cold. I jumped up and grabbed some rope off the shelf behind me and tied him up. There was another man in the store who volunteered to go outside and get the police.
“I went over to Dane to see if he was okay and noticed that he had been shot in the shoulder. I grabbed a rag and held it on the wound. That’s when I noticed that the bullet had gone straight through his shoulder. At that moment, I knew Dane was going to be fine. Someone else was behind the register checking on the man that had been shot in the chest. He wasn’t as lucky. He was dead.
r />
“The police entered the store, and I told them that the gunman was on the floor, tied up. They called for an ambulance and a coroner. They took a quick statement from Dane and then escorted him to the ambulance. They took my statement next, because I told them that I had to go tend to my sick wife.”
I grab Derrick and give him the biggest hug I can muster up. I feel terror. It’s really hard to explain the feeling you get when you find out, after the fact, that someone you really love could have been killed. It’s the feeling you get when you almost have a terrible car accident, but at the last moment you manage to swerve the car and avoid the collision. You aren’t scared while it is happening; you are scared after it is over. You’re scared because of what COULD have happened. I was shaking and trembling as I hugged him.
He assures me he is fine, but I can’t stop shaking. Then he handed me the crackers. I just laughed and hugged him again. After all that, he remembered the crackers. I am feeling much better now and decide to get dressed after eating some crackers. Derrick really wants to go to the hospital to visit Dane. While I am getting dressed, Derrick asks me the oddest question.
“You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
“Dane mentioned it when we were looking at the crackers. He mentioned, with a smile, that it might be morning sickness and said, ‘Dane is a nice name.’ I just smiled and keep browsing for crackers.”
“Oh, he’s funny. Dane is a nice name, but I’m not ready to have children yet. You?”
“No, not yet. I really want you to finish Medical School and get settled in your career. I was thinking maybe in a few years, we might have a couple of kids. I’m in no hurry.”
“You always put me first; what about yourself?”
“I don’t have to finish school; you do. I can find a job here, no problem.”
“True. Well, I’m almost ready. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be good to go.” I’m thinking in my head, I don’t think I’m pregnant. Hmmmm.
While I am finishing up, I hear Derrick pick up the phone. “Hey Geoff, it's Derrick. Listen, we are going to be a little late. Something pretty serious happened this morning and Dane is in the hospital. Kobi and I will be downstairs in a few minutes and we’ll tell you all about it.”
Derrick and I leave the room and head downstairs to meet with Taylor, Geoff, and Henderson. We sit down in the lobby, and Derrick tells them everything that happened. Geoff is in a state of shock, I think. He hasn’t said a word and his mouth is open. Of course, we are going to go to the hospital to see Dane and make sure he’s okay. Taylor has the car parked out front and offers to drive us to the hospital. It only takes about five minutes to get there since this is such a small town. I am really surprised they even have a hospital.
We pull into the parking lot, and I am not surprised to see that the hospital
is a simple one story office building with a handful of parking spots in the front. There is an Emergency room though, which is where I am guessing Dane is. We walk into the building and go to the nurse on duty. She directs us to a room down the hall on the left. The five of us walk into the room and see Dane sitting up on the edge of the bed with a sling around his arm.
“The doctor said it was a clean entry and exit wound. I have a few stiches in the front, and a few in the back. There is no damage to the shoulder at all.”
“That’s great news,” Derrick says and sighs with relief.
“Yeah, Doc says that I am gonna be sore for a while, but that’s okay. I saved that Sheila’s life, I think.”
“Yes, you did. He was about to shoot her, I’m sure of it. You are a hero, man.”
“I don’t feel like a hero,” he says with a huge grin on his face.
I walk over to Dane and gently hug his good side and whisper, “I’m glad you’re okay, and no, I’m not pregnant.”
He starts to laugh and says, “I really like the name Dane. You can use it for a boy or a girl.”
Everyone in the room has a good laugh.
Derrick asks, “So when are you going to be released?”
“The Doc said I could leave anytime. There is no reason to keep me overnight, so I can leave now, if that’s okay with you guys. No need to drop me off at the hotel. I’d like to go to the station with you. Can we eat breakfast first though; I’m starving.”
Everyone in the room, including the nurse, breaks out into a gut-busting laugh. Geoff settles the bill with the receptionist and we leave the hospital. There
is a diner just up the road; we’ll stop there for breakfast.
When we arrive at the station, we see that Matthew is already there checking on the employees. One by one, there blood is being checked, and so far the antidote is working—the parasites are dead.
We get finished with the soil samples within a few hours and decide to go pay Mrs. Jones a visit. As we approach the house, she walks out of the front door and sits in her chair on the porch. “Hello, Mrs. Jones, we all say.”
“Hello. Are you all finished?”
“Yes ma’am, we are,” Taylor says. “We have checked 1000 soil samples, and there is no evidence of the parasites. They appear to be dead--all of them. The sheep will be monitored, and their blood will be checked in a few days to make sure the parasites are dead before releasing them back to graze. My team of animal control officers are going to stay in place until everything is back to normal.”
“Good! I’m so glad. When is your friend, Ken, going to come back?”
“I talked to him last night, and he will be out here tomorrow. Is that okay?”
“Oh yes, that’s great. I really appreciate everything you’ve done--all of you.” She glances at me and says, “I hope that the next time you and your husband come to Australia, you will come visit me.”
“Yes ma’am, of course we will. In fact, Derrick and I are planning to move to Darwin in a few months, so we may be seeing you real soon.”
“That’s wonderful. Are you going to be working with the CDC?”
“Yes ma’am, I am. Geoff offered me a job I couldn’t refuse.”
“That’s wonderful.”
I walk over to her, and give her a big hug. “You take care of yourself, Mrs. Jones, and I’ll see you soon.” She returns the hug and we descend down the stairs of the front porch and get into the van. I glance back at her and see her standing on the porch waving as we drive away. I return the wave as we pick up speed and drive down the long driveway that exits her property.
We still need to swing by the hotel and check out before we go to Perth. That shouldn’t take us long at all. Hopefully, we will be on the road soon, because our flight departs at 7:00 p.m. for Los Angeles. It’s 1:00 p. m. right now and the drives takes a couple of hours, so we should have plenty of time.
It’s 3:00 p.m. when we hit the outskirts of Perth, and another half an hour before we get to the hotel. We still have a lot of suitcases to pick up before we go to the airport. The airline wants us to arrive two hours prior to departure, which will allow us time to get all the bags checked and go through security. Just to be safe, Derrick and I are planning to get to the airport around 4:30 p.m. We figure it will take that long for a bellman to unload our bags and help us into the terminal. We have a total of six suitcases and two carry-ons.
Everything is loaded into the van, and we are off to the airport. It’s hard to believe that our adventure has come to an end here in Australia, but we will be back in a few months to start a new one. We really aren’t saying good bye to anyone, we are just saying, see you soon. We pull up to the passenger load and unload zone and motion for a bellman to come help us with our bags. Just when we start to unload the van, Geoff gets a phone call.
“Oh, hi Trevor. How are things in Darwin?” There is a long pause and I see a frown come across Geoff’s face. “Are you serious? When was the email sent?” Another long
pause. “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Geoff, what was that about?” Taylor inquires.
“When the CDC went to the lab facility, where Trevor used to work, they recovered a computer belonging to the doctor responsible for creating the parasite, Dr. Elliot. He was the one who wanted to release it at that business meeting Trevor was supposed to go to. Well, anyway, Trevor wanted us to know that the computer was finally hacked into by our team and they found a lot of e-mails to this doctor in New York. The most disturbing e-mail was the last one sent right before his death, based on Trevor’s timeline. The e-mail simply stated,
“I did it. The parasite has been released. Here’s the formula.”
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About the Author
Jeanie Hood is a retired KC-135 Air Force pilot and has served in the Gulf War, Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. She is originally from Morgan City, LA, but currently resides in O'Fallon, IL. She enjoys travelling with her son and substitute teaching for local schools...
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