Chapter 14: Memories Of A True Hero

(CURE CORP Building: 40th floor Conference Room)

Date and Time: Tuesday morning, 3 AM

       Secretary of Defense had been increasingly showing signs of agitation. His Assistant Undersecretary Thomas Burns was emotionally stressed out for not being able to contact the nuclear submarine USS Bill Clinton, unaware that the submarine had been destroyed. Even though the one hour time limit given by North Korea to produce Dr. Peters had passed without any missiles launched by North Korea, Secretary Johnson was still determined on destroying North Korea through nuclear weapons. Cure corp personnel and some of Admiral Rivera's military staff were being held hostage by Secretary Johnson. At the same time, there were rumors that the US President was alive in Cairo, this unofficial report further increased the stress and pressure that Sec. Johnson felt. His rage was evident as he threw objects at the walls and yelled and cursed at the personnel working around him. But before he was able to find another way of releasing nuclear missiles towards North Korea, US Army soldiers suddenly barged through the conference room's main doors. Between 30 to 40  soldiers were armed with automatic rifles and quickly disarmed the Federal agents who were protecting Sec. Johnson. The Defense Secretary was furious as he and his Undersecretary were both placed under arrest.

         After the room had been secured by the Army soldiers, in came the US Secretary of State, he was a tall African American man in his fifties. His arm was on a sling with signs of blood that stained the right shoulder part of his dark blue business suit. He was flanked by his personal bodyguards in each side, Wincing and appearing to be in pain from a gunshot wound to his right shoulder, he glanced at the wound site to see if the bleeding was getting worse. Everyone inside the conference room were all silent and tense as the wounded gentleman looked around the room. He then introduces himself as US Secretary of State Jessie Taylor. Recognizing Sec. of Defense Dean Johnson, he quickly walks towards him and announces for everyone to hear that since he outranks Sec. Johnson, he will now be the acting leader of the country until further news can be obtained about the health and status of the US President in Cairo. He then announces that he is suspending Sec. Johnson from his duties as Secretary of Defense pending an investigation of breach of protocol and his plan of unauthorized release of weapons of mass destruction against North Korea. Sec. Johnson objected bitterly but he and his undersecretary were both handcuffed and led out of the office by a few army soldiers.

         After word got out that Secretary of State Jessie Taylor was now in control, Samantha and her group were quickly released by their FBI captors who had kept them confined in the building's security office.
They quickly proceeded to meet Secretary Taylor at the conference room and at the same time, a White House spokesperson was giving a spin coverage in all TV stations stating that the rumor that North Korea was going to launch nuclear missiles had no truth in it. This was reported in the media to prevent nationwide panic, protests,  chaos and fear. The spokes person also reported that there were conflicting reports about the health conditions of the US President. A team of US delegates were on flight to Cairo Egypt to check on the condition of the American President and to ease tensions between the two nations. False reports were also reported in the news that the sinking of a US nuclear submarine, the USS Bill Clinton was due to an  accidental underwater landslide near the Barientsa trench and not from enemy fire as was rumored. All families of the submarine's crew had been informed and that a national day of service was already being prepared.

         Back at Cure corp, it was around dawn when Samantha, Admiral Rivera and his group of military officers were finally able to relax, they had to give detailed reports to federal investigators about the events that unfolded under the Secretary of Defense's watch. They all met with Secretary of State Jessie Taylor and was congratulated for their efforts in stopping Sec. Johnson from launching nuclear weapons at North Korea. He then explained that the reason he was delayed in gaining control of the country was because he had to lay low and stay in hiding after one of his secret service agents shot him at his shoulder during a failed assassination attempt. He was placed under Federal protection and had to get new Federal agents as his bodyguards while his secret service agents were all interrogated and investigated. He also informed Admiral Rivera and Samantha that the North Korean President, "Mai Soon", died an hour ago which cancels the need for a cancer cure. Secretary Taylor then mentioned that due to this recent events with North Korea, that diplomacy now between the two countries was now even  more strained. He said that North Korea's new leader is the son of the recently deceased President,  but that the leadership of North Korea was very unstable with CIA secret reports showing that some of the North Korean  senior military leaders were planning to do  a military, "coup d' etat", and that the Pentagon was now analyzing more potential threats of nuclear missile attacks depending on who takes control of the rogue nation. Their meeting was quickly cut short due to the medical attention needed by Secretary Taylor from  increased bleeding and pain to his wounded right shoulder. Samantha offered her a first class bedroom and office suite where he could stay, rest  and recuperate until the time that he was stable and strong enough to be transferred to a hospital of his choice or even fly back to Washington DC.

              Meanwhile, CIA analyst agent Villes said that now, the Aryan movement will be more desperate and bold in carrying out their plan since their whole mission is starting to unravel. CIA headquarters had just informed him that the Aryan's next move will probably to assassinate Sec. of State Taylor so they can sit their Aryan spy, "St. Peter", who's a cabinet member  in the White House,  as the acting President of the United States thereby gaining power to authorize Martial law in the country. CIA agent Villes called Samantha and Admiral Rivera into a secret meeting and informed them that Secretary Taylor's life is in grave  danger. Samantha quickly asked why Sec. Taylor was not even being considered as a suspect of being, "St. Peter". This drew a sarcastic smile from agent Villes as he explained that an Aryan spy would definitely be Caucasian and that the Aryan organization would never ally themselves with a colored person, specially a black man given the fact that they have similar ideals with their sister organization, "The Ku Klux Klan". Admiral Rivera and Samantha were smart enough not to argue further with CIA agent Villes due to his high  position in the CIA. But before they all parted ways, agent Villes gave Samantha and the Admiral a listening device that connects an audio feed to the CIA headquarters. They were both given a gold ball point pen that has the seal of the office of the President of the United States. Agent Villes told them that since Samantha and Admiral Rivera  both wielded great powers in society and in the military that the highest McVey disciple, "St. Peter", would probably recruit one or both of them in order to establish Martial law therefore achieving total control of the country. He finally instructed them that if they suspect a US cabinet member of being the Aryan spy, to grab the gold pen and click it twice. This will turn on the listening device so that CIA operatives can listen and record their conversation which will lead to the discovery and arrest of the Aryan spy, "St. Peter".

             Once their meeting was over, Admiral Rivera knew that everyone involved in this high tension crisis were all exhausted. He himself tried to hide the  fatigue he felt, but he surely sensed the exhaustion that Samantha felt, they all have not slept for close to twenty four hours. Glancing at Samantha as they were walking back to the elevators, he noticed that she was not only physically tired but also emotionally troubled. He wondered whether it was from her boyfriend whom she was having relationship problems with, or it could be from the recent discovery that in the future, she will be married to a different man than the one she hoped for. Trying not to encroach into her personal life, he faced her as they waited for the elevator doors to open. Just like a father figure, Admiral Rivera gently placed his right hand on Samantha's left shoulder as he sincerely thanked her for all her help, then staring into her eyes, he advised her to go home and get some rest. He said that he was going to stay close to Secretary Taylor due to the assassination threat posed by the Aryan organization. Samantha reassured the Admiral that he could call her on her cell phone anytime if there were any urgent issues or problems that required her attention. She also told the Admiral that he could rely on Betsy who is now the president of the company and or her top legal adviser Mr. Muhammad Khan.

               Just before the elevator doors opened, Admiral Rivera hesitated but then changed his mind and decided to give Samantha a piece of fatherly advice. He told her that since she now knew events that will happen to her in the future, like her being a US senator someday and  who she will end up being married to, that it would be wise for her to not make any personal and or professional  decisions based on her knowledge of her future life. He explained that anticipating future events may alter the course of her life which might lead to drastic or even fatal consequences. Samantha was so tired that she did not understand what was being explained to her as she smiled and stared towards a blank wall. Admiral Rivera noticed her puzzled expression then gives her the example of what happened with Agent Villes. He explained that if only agent Villes played along and pretended not to know anything about the outcome of the North Korean missile crisis, that they would not have had to interrogate him and leave Sec. Johnson alone in attempting to destroy North Korea. And because Admiral Rivera was not there to counter balance Sec. Johnson's decisions in preventing the release of nuclear weapons, Sec. Johnson was able to come close to carrying out his plan but which was thwarted by  the destruction of the nuclear submarine, "USS Bill Clinton", and the deaths of over 150 crew members. Samantha thought for a moment then nodded in agreement. As the elevator doors opened, she steps in as she thank the Admiral for his advice even though she was still not totally sure of what she had to do or how she has to live her life. Samantha pressed the ground floor button as she gave out a long sigh of relief from sheer exhaustion. She couldn't wait to reach the ground floor and pass through the main building's exit doors on her way home.

                 Later that day, Samantha wakes up from a dream, turning around in bed, she hears her cell phone start to ring. She picks up her cell phone from it's charging base as she say's, "Hello?...", a male voice on the other line speaks up, "Hey Sam!...this is Garfield, I just want you to know that Chase is in San Francisco General Hospital due to some serious injuries he sustained during a top secret military training exercise....Can you come and check on him?.....". Samantha quickly pushes herself off the bed, blinking a few times trying to focus her vision as she asks, "What happened?,...Is he Ok?.....Why was I only told now?....". Samantha asks, "I don't know yet....", Garfield answers, "All I know is that he just got out of surgery and is now in the recovery room....I'm sure by the time you get here, the medical staff can give you more information about his health....I can't stay here too long...I've been ordered to report back at the military base....Can you co...". Samantha abruptly hanged up the phone and started moving with haste, picking up the nearest set of clothes and sneakers she could find. With her hair still messy, she quickly changes her clothes then runs out of her room as she hurriedly walks down the stairs. Walking by Maria in passing, Maria notices the worried and frightened expression in Samantha's  face. "What's wrong?...", Maria asks, "Why are you so in a hurry?...". Samantha ignores her and walks into the study room  as she opens a cabinet that had all the keys to all their cars as she fumbles around, "I need the keys to the Ferrari....", Samantha mumbles to herself, "Got to get there fast....". Maria enters the study as she leans by the door and asks, "Aren't you gonna have dinner first?, young lady?.....It's almost seven pm and you haven't eaten all day....". Samantha moving quickly answers, "When dad gets home, tell him I had to go see Chase...he can reach me on my cell.....".

                 In three minutes, she was already entering the freeway driving 80 to 90 miles per hour in her red Ferrari. She grips the steering wheel tight wondering for a minute why her life had suddenly become so stressful. Overtaking a number of cars, she realizes that she has to relax,  slow down before she causes an accident in the freeway. Taking a few deep breaths, she decreases her driving speed to a safer speed limit. Relaxing her grip on the steering wheel, her thoughts starts drifting towards Grey, deciding that once she knows that Chase was stable and safe, her next priority was to go meet up with Grey to straighten out their differences and misunderstanding. She wasn't sure if she had enough time to do it tonight, and if not, definitely by tomorrow.

               After driving for about  twenty minutes, she suddenly started feeling a sense of sadness and grief from the knowledge that she would never end up marrying Grey someday. All types of negative possibilities started creeping into her mind on why their relationship will fail. "Could he or will he end up falling in love with another woman?....Is he cheating on her right now?....Could it be that he could die from a tragic accident, or a health matter....a massive heart attack?....a car accident or mishap?....Will he be a victim of a gruesome crime which will end his life?.....or was it because they just really are not mean't for each other, knowing that Grey wants to have a domesticated stay at home wife who will cater to his every need which she would never agree to....". Her thoughts starts to wandering deeper into the corridors of her mind as she realizes how busy her lifestyle has now been compared to the one she had when she and Grey first dated and fell in love. "But shouldn't he understand that what she was doing was not for her own benefit but it was to help make the world a better and safer place....". Samantha asked herself. She then thought of all the increasing demands placed on her which were requests by Presidents of nations, leaders of the United Nations like to help abolish, "Blood Diamonds", or conflict diamonds were women and children are in slaved by warlords, mostly in African and South American countries. These blood diamonds are used to finance an insurgency or an invading army's war efforts. Then there are requests for her to help end illegal logging and deforestation in different parts of the world. There are numerous requests for her to help end human trafficking, specially in third world countries which is the illegal trade of men, women and children for the purpose of commercial and for sexual exploitation. She realizes that being the only person who has the power to totally cure cancer plays a big role in having the leverage to help end these criminal activities, by offering a cure for cancer to evil leaders, politicians, powerful businessmen and warlords in exchange for the complete cessation of their evil activities, policies and an end to the  harsh treatment of their people.

            Nearing her exit, she gradually merges to the right lane as she slows down in speed. As she reaches the hospital, she was surprised to see numerous police cars. Suddenly a  federal agent jumps in front of her car signalling for her to stop. Pressing on the brakes, the agent in a black suit wearing sunglasses at night came to her window and explained to her that U.S. Secretary of State Taylor has ordered 24 hour security protection for her due to CIA intelligence reports that show her being a high risk target for kidnapping by terrorists both domestic and international. Samantha did not want any protection at first and was resistant as she starts arguing for 15 minutes with several high ranking FBI and Secret Service agents, but due to the unwavering commitment of the government agents, she finally resigns her protest knowing it is useless to resist against the government. Also realizing that she is now famous, she tells herself that she needs to start getting used to having armed men and women following her around for her own protection.

           Samantha enters the hospital with her four new bodyguards, she approaches the hospital's information desk as she asks where she could find Chase. Taking the elevator to the 7th floor, worry and dread  starts to get a hold of her, and the presence of her four bodyguards didn't help matters. Getting off the elevator, she walks quickly to the nearest ward nursing station and asks which room Chase was in. Upon reaching his room, her bodyguards agrees to wait outside as Samantha enters the room quietly. The room was dark except for a night light which helped in guiding her towards Chase. She see's him unconscious in bed wearing a hospital gown, he has several IV tubing lines attached to his arms. Samantha scans through his whole body starting with his face, seeing several  facial bruises and scattered cuts and bruising on his arms. He was covered with a blanket from his waist down and Samantha just wondered how bad his injuries were. Seeing the nasal oxygen tubing in his nose, Samantha felt overwhelmed by the numerous electronic medical machines that occasionally gave out weird beeps and sounds. She wanted to reach out and touch Chase but she was frightened, her hand quivered as her heart raced. Her eyes now watery, she wanted to cry but felt the need to be strong. She decided to  softly call out to Chase, but there was no movement, no answer. Just a steady up and down movement of his friend's  chest. She tried calling out to him again when she suddenly hears a female's voice behind her say, "He's deeply sedated you know...". Samantha turns around wiping her tears as she see's a young female nurse leaning by the wall next to the door with her arms across her chest. "What?...", Samantha asks. The nurse walks towards Samantha and introduces herself as they shake hands. The nurse starts explaining that Chase was deeply sedated from a continuous IV morphine drip. She then checks a few monitors and IV solutions  then smiles and compliments Samantha for having such a very handsome boyfriend in Chase. Samantha hesitates then clarifies to the nurse that she and Chase were just very close friends. The nurse then starts telling Samantha that Chase just came from the recovery room after a four hour back surgery to fix a slipped disc to his spine. She tells Samantha that it would be better for her to just go home and come back the next day since Chase is  in deep sedation. Finally, after the nurse did her vital signs check, she excused herself telling Samantha that she has other patients to check on.

                After the nurse leaves the room, Samantha walks closer to Chase. She gently lays her right hand over his muscular forearm, mapping it's angular shape. She notice's an old seven inch scar to the lateral side of his left arm from a switch blade cut he sustained years ago. She remembers it well, it was when they were still in high school, she remembers how Chase protected her and her classmates from getting assaulted by a group of thugs who wanted to kidnap her and her classmates.

                Her memories took her back on their senior year in high school when one Saturday night, she and her friends decided to go on a night out. Four couples on what was a movie date. Walking back to their cars after the movie had ended, a group of thugs, about a dozen of them approached and surrounded them near a dark alley. The leader of the gang told the four high school men to leave their girlfriends behind and that they wouldn't be harmed. A white van then suddenly stopped across the street as another gang member opened the door scanning around for any  witnesses or signs of the police. Their plan was to kidnap the four high school women and sexually assault them. Everyone was stunned and scared except for Chase. While his classmates were all starting to panic, Chase was already focusing on his combat techniques. He quickly scanned around as the group of thugs surrounded them. inching closer to them, Chase quickly gathered his classmates behind him just like a mother hen gathers her chicks. The gang's leader suddenly calls out instructions for his men to create an exit. He tells the four high school men that they can leave. In a split second, the three high school men quickly ran and left their girlfriends behind as one of them yells, "Don't worry!...we'll call the cops for ya!.....". The women became more scared. The gang's leader gave Chase one more chance to leave, but Chase kept the women closer together behind him as they all backed up on a corner, as he switched into a fighting stance. He spread his feet wide apart to allow for kicking with either his front or back foot. The women behind Chase became more frantic as the thugs came closer.

                   The twelve gang members then started taking out their weapons of choice, some had switch blades, others had brass knuckles, some held metal pipes and others had metal chains. Chase softly whispered to the ladies that he was going to create an opening to their right side, an escape route, but that they had to wait for him to give them the signal to run. He instructed them to run as fast as they can back to the movie house, to call the police and remain inside the theater where it was safe. The theater was still open as a couple more shows were still playing. As their assailants came even closer. Chase did one last visual sweep then without any warning, he suddenly attacked the thugs with power and speed catching his opponents by surprise. Striking with great precision and force, he did a spinning kick hitting three of his enemies on their jaws and faces as they were thrown to the ground as they lay writhing in pain. The nine other thugs quickly ambushed Chase with their deadly weapons as Chase quickly focused on blocking the knife attacks and head blows. Due to the number of his attackers, he allowed blunt weapons to hit him all over his body as he frequently winced in pain. He used a combination of kicks, open and closed hand strikes and blocks which stopped all of the knife attacks and head blows. In less than a minute, he was able to dispose of six more of the gang members as they all squirmed on the ground clutching their respective injured body parts. Chase was now bruised and bleeding from minor cuts, his shirt, torn apart, his pants had several muddy shoe prints from kicks he sustained during the ambush. While waiting for the next wave of attack, he quickly felt around his body for any excessive bleeding which might indicate deep stab wounds.

             With the flow of adrenaline running  in him, he knew that if he was badly hurt that he won't feel the pain just yet. After defeating the majority of his opponents, he started gaining more confidence as he started bouncing on the sidewalk smiling contemptuously and  trying to move  like, "Bruce Lee". The last three thugs who were still standing, realized the amazing martial arts skill of their opponent. They looked at each other, hesitated,  then ran towards the waiting van and made their escape. Just then, three police cars with their sirens on and lights flashing arrived at the scene.

             Samantha smiles as she remembers how she helped the paramedics bandage the seven inch long bloody  deep cut on his forearm. She remembers asking Chase why he never gave the women the signal to ran for help, Chase blushed and told her that he forgot due to the excitement and nervousness he felt. Samantha realized that, that was the very first time she found herself feeling deeply attracted to Chase, and it was not because of his good looks but because of his selfless sacrifice.

              Samantha wipes the traces of tears from her eyes as she stared at her unconscious friend lying on a hospital bed as she reminisced on her memories of a true hero. It's been years since she's been with Chase but she still clearly remembers the safety and security she felt whenever they were together. Even though he didn't make her laugh as much as Grey does, what Chase offered her was total protection and peace of mind. She remembers going out with Chase on late night dinners and she never had to worry about them getting mugged or robbed by thugs. Unlike Grey wherein she always had to have 911 on speed dial whenever they went out on a date.

             After remembering her times with Chase, her memories drifted to a time when she and Grey went for a leisurely walk in broad daylight around Lake Merced park in San Francisco. She remembered how they were suddenly stopped by a  middle aged homeless woman who demanded that they give her ten dollars. Grey trying to act fearless in order to impress Samantha, pointed a finger at the homeless woman warning her to get out of their way. But before Grey could finish his sentence, the homeless schizophrenic woman gave Grey a right upper cut, hitting him on his jaw and knocking him out cold as he laid motionless, sprawled on the ground. Samantha feeling a sense of panic quickly grabbed her cell phone and started dialing 911 to call the police. The homeless schizophrenic woman seeing this started walking away to avoid getting arrested by the police. But as she was walking away, while talking to herself, she suddenly turned around and yelled at Samantha asking why she was hanging out with a cream puff like Grey. She told Samantha that between the two of them, that it was Samantha who was the crazy one for having a boyfriend like Grey. She told Samantha that she was pretty enough that she could do better. Samantha grimaced, shrugged her shoulders  then let out a deep sigh as she stared at her unconscious boyfriend lying on the ground. She hesitates then walks over to the homeless woman pulling out a $20.00 bill and handing it to her. She thanked the disheveled woman for her advice even offering her a place to stay but the homeless woman refused. Samantha then remembered how that night while icing Grey's jaw, how Grey made her solemnly promise three times for her to never tell anyone about the incident that happened that day. Grey was totally humiliated and did not want anyone to know that he was socked by a homeless woman. Unfortunately, three hours earlier, Samantha had already told the story to her family and friends including Betsy who were all laughing at her story. Betsy even e-mailed the thousands of employee who worked for Cure corp about the hilarious incident.

              Wiping off a smile, she focused once again on Chase as she wondered whether she should go home or stay the night by his side. She walked closer to him once more and gently rested the side of her face on top of Chase's chest as she started listening to his heartbeat. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him as if she was wishing him into good health. Never has she seen Chase this badly beaten and injured which increased her worry.

             Realizing that even though she was in love with Grey, she could not deny that there was a part of her that physically and emotionally longed for Chase, ever since  that time in high school when  he risked his life to  save her and her classmates life from those thugs who wanted to kidnap them. After a few moments, Samantha  remembered  that Chase was the man she was going to be married to someday. Her emotions were now being clouded by her feelings for the two men she admired the most. "But could she love two men at the same time?...", she asks herself. "Was it wrong for her to love both men?....but how can she not?.....", she wondered, Even if she wanted to, she could not choose one and deny her feelings for the other. "It was not as simple as turning off a light switch....", she again thought to herself.

         After another half hour of being with Chase, she decided to leave and give Chase the chance to rest. Staring at his badly bruised face, she leans over knowing he was deeply sedated as she  softly whispers to his ears, "Hang in there Chase.....cause we're bound to have a long life ahead of us.....I care for you, and I will love you for the rest of my life.....". She wipes off a tear then gently kisses him on the lips. She then turns around and started walking towards the door, when all of a sudden, Chase's  eyes opened widely. He didn't believe what just happened, specially what he just heard Samantha say. Still feeling groggy, he wondered if he was getting delirious from the effects of the IV morphine being pumped into his body.

         As Samantha drives off from the hospital, her car was now being followed by her four secret service agents who were on two black suv's. While driving, Samantha suddenly had an idea to search for the possible reasons she and Grey would not end up together in the future. With her powerful connections in the intelligence agencies, she decided to request for any secrets or espionage reports the FBI, CIA and NSA had on Grey. After she got back home, she turned on her personal computer and started checking her email. She started downloading  numerous secret information the intelligence agencies had on Grey. And after scrolling down and reading parts of the messages, Samantha was shocked and emotionally hurt at what she read and discovered about Grey's past. (End of Chapter)