His eyes slowly opened and shut as he was being wheeled into the E.R. There were voices around him but they seemed so distant.
The faces hovering around him seemed to be detached from their necks and were floating in clouds...he was beginning to hallucinate.
The paramedics had done the job of resuscitating him but he still slipped in and out of consciousness.
"Shonda" he kept on muttering as the paramedics and nurses wheeled him in.
He could only think of her and his kids.
He tried to reach for his phone but he couldn't find it..his eyes eventually shut, he went to sleep.
****
Flint woke to the sound of beeping monitors and wires strapped to his sides, a needle in his vein.
He had a nasty headache, he felt dizzy.
A nurse walked into the room.
"how long have I been out" he asked.
The nurse paused midway jotting on her notepad.
"you've been out since your were brought in yesterday evening"
"what's the time now"
"it's 4:35pm" the nurse replied as she moved to checking his venous access device and the IV bag.
"shit" Flint muttered.
The nurse eyed him as he cursed.
"where are my belongings he asked"
"by the side table" the nurse replied pointing.
"we attempted to reach your wife apparently the contact info was all wrong.... said the number didn't exist..... you should fix that just in case.....you never know..." the nurse said as she stood at the door, then she walked out without waiting for a reply from Flint.
Immediately she left, he picked up his phone.
His wife picked on the first ring, almost as though she'd been sitting by the phone expecting his call.
Her panic filled voice floated to his ears.
"where have you been.... you didn't call...text... nothing" she gushed, sniffing. She'd been crying.
"I'm okay baby.... I'm in a hospital"
"oh my god"
"I was in an explosion.... now before you start lamenting, relax, I didn't break anything... I've just got some tubes stuck in my bod, nothing more Shonda I swear" he said, mentally picturing the look on her face at the moment, she'd probably be having a breakdown. He could mentally picture her, shivering in her seat as she took his call.
"I saw the news... two kids died" she said, sniffing between words.
"shit" Flint cursed, closing his eyes and opening them. Just great..... Two more bodies... the chief was right.... more bodies were going to keep turning up.
Casualties in a stupid non existent existing war.
He hadn't even started with his investigation. All he had were zero leads and the coroner's report yet here he was, in a damn hospital with his head all wrapped. He was glad to be alive...it was a close one.
He felt sad for the dead children and their parents.
"which hospital" his wife asked, redirecting his attention from his thoughts.
He could hear the sound of keys jingling and it sounded like she was already stuffing things into a bag. He could hear a zipper....yup, she'd be on her way to him in an instant with an overnight bag and she'd be here till he was discharged.
"listen Shon... I'm okay... I'll be discharged soon... just a mild head injury where i hit my head as I fell"
Shonda was having none of that.
"where is it Flint" she said firmly. Right then, Flint knew there was no way of changing her mind.
"st Augustine's"
"I'll be right there" she said and dropped the call.
Flint let out a breath. At least his wife was doing okay, worrying as usual. Next he called his daughter.
After knowing she and her brother was doing okay, he leaned back on his bed and shut his eyes.
*********
Miguel stood in the presence of the 5 bosses.
He'd followed the Officer from the precinct and waited till he was out of the car before he dialed. He'd used an IED. The dead kids were just casualties to him. In a war, there were always casualties though it wasn't his intention. He was a soldier, he knew this.
Who knew the kids would show up out of nowhere to ruin his plans and that had been unavoidable he didn't know if he would get another chance to detonate it. He prayed for their little souls. It was an accident.
Failure wasn't an option with his bosses, there was no room for that.
He'd had a taste firsthand of what failure meant to his bosses, his face was proof, the events preceding loosing sight of the Hart kids, fresh in his mind.
He'd made the phone call to Flint after the detonation and had watched the series of unfolding events, some quite unfortunate, before he went to the airport, where he caught the first flight back to Britain.
Immediately he'd touched ground, he went straight to report at the arrow, the house the bosses usually used for their meeting purposes, where they already awaited his report.
He dropped the briefcase on the long polished oak conference table in the center of the room and stepped backwards when he went in.
William dragged the briefcase to his side of the table and without a word, pulled out four bundles which he threw to Miguel, who caught it with both hands. Miguel was delighted. Apparently, the bosses were apparently in a good mood. This rarely ever happened.
He'd been paid already and here he was, recieving a fat bonus. He quickly stuffed it in his jacket pocket, completely ignoring the fact that it was displaying a huge bulge on his jacket.
"How did our friend take our gift" Griffith asked, a cloud of smoke above his head. He had a cigarette in his hand.
"he's cooling off in a hospital. I have the location boss ...I await my orders" Miguel said, his hands behind his back.
"stand down Miguel" Barth said as usual with a tab in hand, typing away, he didn't bother to raise his head.
"let him cool off for a while and we'll watch his moves. Keep an eye on him" added Glint.
"the wife and kids? he asked"
"let them be for now" Shaun said
"yes boss" Miguel replied and turned towards the door immediately he saw Shaun flick his wrist in a dismissal gesture.
The five waited till he had shut the door, then they turned to other matters.
**********
Shonda drove her way panic stricken to her husband. She'd been asleep when he left and it worried her sick when he didn't call her throughout yesterday. it was like an unspoken rule between them. They always called each other whenever they were to stay outside longer than usual.
She knew the nature of his job..hell they'd even recieved death threats over and over but it was nothing compared to actually seeing him staring death in the face and narrowly escaping with his head intact, or his body rather because it was a fucking bomb.
She exhaled harshly. It was high time they held a long overdue conversation about this job of his.
She pulled into the parking lot and grabbed the duffel bag she'd packed a few of his things in.
She took a breath to gather herself, before she walked inside and headed to the reception.
She identified herself and was pointed in the direction of Flint's room.
She walked in to find him asleep, the monitors slowly beeping, monitoring his heartbeat.
She sat on the lone chair in the room, and watched the rise and fall of his chest.
She hated to see him like this. This wasn't the first time he'd been admitted for an injury. He'd had a gunshot wound once, bullet scratches, but this one was different. Shonda had absolutely no plans of being a widow at an the age of thirty.
She was of a 5.6, Choco skinned and beautiful.
She had an athlete's build, but that was as a result of the routine exercises she usually ensured she found a way to do everyday, no matter how short the time duration.
Today she dressed in a hat, baggy pants and a tank top, a jacket for cover, where she meticulously concealed the Glock she carried with her.
Being an officer's wife did have it's perks and today, she was going to take full advantage of it.
Her husband had almost been dead meat in an explosion.
She wasn't planning on taking any chances.
Sha sat and watched him until his eyes slowly came into focus.
"how long have you been sitting there" Flint asked, the moment he caught sight of her.
"as long as it took you to come around" she replied, already unloading the contents of the duffel bag she had brought.
Flint watched her unload spare clothes and spare underwear for himself, his shaving kit, and he even caught sight of food, not to mention her own spare clothes and her own little vanity kit.
As he watched, he couldn't help but wonder how those things could cram themselves into the bag she brought....or rather, how she managed to make it fit in.
"start from the beginning baby....how did it happen" she said after she was done unpacking, leaning forward on her seat.