Black Friday

CHAPTER 41

Henry Lee sat next to his wife's bed, staring at the tubes connecting her to a half a dozen machines. The biggest tube that came out from under the covers at the foot of the bed held his attention. Yellow and red fluids pumped through it, mixing into a spiral of pink. It nauseated him whenever he let himself think that fluid was actually being pumped out of Hannah.

He watched the tubes because he couldn't quite look directly at her. She was bloated beyond recognition, thin lips shoved apart by more tubes down her throat. Her eyelids fluttered and sometimes he caught her looking for him. Did she know he was here? He grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"That's good." The nurse noticed as she came into the intensive care room. "She's going to be a little uncomfortable as she starts to notice the tube down her throat. We're easing back on the morphine so she'll wake up."

"Uncomfortable?" He didn't like the sound of that. He didn't want her to be in pain. He stood and wrapped Hannah's hand in both of his.

"It's okay." The nurse recognized his angst. "We need her to be a little more awake and alert so when we pull the tube out she'll breathe on her own. Otherwise heart patients want to sleep and let the machine continue to do all the work for them."

"But she'll be in pain?" He wasn't satisfied.

"Uncomfortable." The nurse corrected him. "As soon as we get it out, we'll be able to increase the dose again. It won't take long."

Hannah was staring up at him now, eyes blurred but she looked like she was trying to tell him that she hurt. Though her arms were poked with needles and tubes she was attempting to reach up to her throat, glassy eyes imploring him to help her. It killed him to see her like this.

"She'll be okay," the nurse said. "I'm going to need you to step out of the room while we take the tube out."

He didn't move. He didn't want to leave her. Her eyes kept pleading with him. How could he leave?

The nurse put a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll only be a few minutes. I'll come get you just as soon as we're finished."

He tried to keep his face from wincing or showing his concern. No, it wasn't just concern. Who was he fooling? It was fear…pure and simple. He could not lose this woman. Losing a daughter was one thing, like cutting off one of his arms. But Hannah? That would be like ripping out his own heart. You can survive without an arm. It's tough as hell but you find a way. Without Hannah? No, he'd never be strong enough to survive without her.

"I'll be right here, Hannah. The nurse is going to take good care of you." Then he added as if he needed to hear it out loud, "You're going to be just fine."

He walked out of the room, his knees so weak he had to put his hand up against the wall to steady himself. He made it through the double-wide doors that took him out of the Intensive Coronary Care unit, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. The waiting room was still empty. He dropped into one of the unyielding vinyl chairs.

He glanced around. Still no Dixon. Henry hadn't seen the boy since he left with Henry's cell phone to call his friends. He still couldn't believe that they had found a way to use Dixon, to suck his own grandson into this. My God, they went so far as to seek out and target the boy's friends. And why? Because of Henry's apprehension? Because they wanted to ensure his silence?

He closed his eyes and shook his head. He still couldn't believe it. He wanted to call Allan again. Ask him if he knew. Find out what the hell was going on? How could something that had begun with such honorable intentions turn into a greedy and disgusting grab for power and money?

The boy's absence only made Henry more anxious. He was relieved to have Dixon safe and with him, but now he grew impatient with the boy. Of course, he was concerned about his friends but his grandmother had just come out of major heart surgery. He should be here at her side…at Henry's side.

He absolutely hated to admit that he needed someone to be at his side. For forty years he had worked his way up to establish a successful business, a national success. A Fortune 500 success. Even in retirement he had refused to hand it over, insisting on remaining chairman, casting the deciding vote, always in control and on top of things. Or so he believed until now.

Hannah's emergency surgery had certainly caught him off guard. Just like his daughter's death. He had believed there could be no worse day than that dreadful one in April back in 1995. The difference—Hannah was there with him, by his side.

Right now he didn't care about anything else. Didn't care that their strategy had gone so terribly wrong. Or had it? Is this exactly what they wanted to happen?

Henry was beginning to understand that what he considered patriotism and honor, his so-called business associates appeared to see as only methods to raise profit margins and leverage political power. Henry had made a mistake. He realized that now. Family was what mattered most. Family was the most important thing. Everything else—country, business, even honor, were secondary. The tragic irony was that it was his sense of family that had sent him down this path in the first place. Only he had strayed too far. He'd forgotten what his original mission was, letting his pride and pigheaded stubborn ideals jeopardize everything else. Everything including what family he had left. How the hell could he ever make this right again?

On TV the local channels were still live at Mall of America. A press conference was going on but in the corner of the screen a chase scene from earlier played out. Still no confirmation on how many were dead though the estimate had been put at anywhere from twenty-five to fifty. Hundreds more had been injured.

Henry rubbed at his eyes then rubbed his hands together. His fingers were trembling. He glanced down the hallway. Where the hell was Dixon? They had told him earlier that he could use the phone in the waiting room for local calls. He just needed to dial a 9 first. He grabbed the receiver and punched in the number for his cell phone.

Sometimes a boy needed to be reminded of his obligations. Family needed to stick together. And damn it! He needed Dixon here with him, not off checking on his friends.

The phone rang four, five times before a voice answered that Henry didn't recognize.

"It took you long enough to call."

"Who is this?"

"Never mind that. I'm sure you'll want to talk to your grandson."

There was a muffled sound and then, "Granddad? What's going on?"

Only Dixon sounded muffled, too, as though he were being kept a distance from the phone. Then he heard the boy yell out in pain and this time Henry Lee felt his knees give out completely.