Chapter 35
It was nearly Thanksgiving, several weeks after my surgery and my staples and stitches were long gone but not the after effects of what had been major open heart surgery. I was very weak, depressed from both my physical condition and mental status. You could see my face without the bumps, swellings and bruises. I could see out of both eyes and was astonished how much like my Mom I looked. I couldn’t judge how tall I was anymore but the PT torture people had me working on my upper body trying to build back my strength. I could sit up, bend over, and hurl myself out of bed into a wheelchair. I was tortured by phantom pains down my legs that I howled over during the night, waking up Felice, my nurses and half the White House staff.
Dad had bought me a really cool racing chair, light weight, fire engine red with yellow flames. Even better, he brought over a sleek, well fed Blue Heeler cross he’d found outside our house the day after I’d been kidnapped. I was astonished when I recognized her as the dog that had brought me to the boatyard.
“I adopted her, Danny,” Dad said. “She came to me after I lost you. Skinny, starved and scared but she let me touch her, feed her. Every time I thought about you, she was there. Like she was comforting me.”
“What did you name her?”
“Vange.”
I called her over and she put her head on my lap. I stroked her as she stared into my eyes. Hers were blue and brown, her skull bony under my fingers. I put my hand on her collar and she pulled me forward, chuffed as if it was a game she enjoyed. We went down the corridor and back while Dad watched in delight.
“Someone trained her, Danny. I took her to the vet, she’s about five years old, mostly Heeler and in good health. She’s had all her shots and spayed. Knows a dozen commands. She’s yours.”
“Dad.” I wanted to say thanks but couldn’t seem to get the words out.
“Oh, and Dusty likes her.” He walked alongside me as I pushed my chair along, Vange staying on my right. I had already scoped out the entire White House and even those places most staff weren’t allowed entry.
“Where’s Felice?” he asked.
“School. Finals are coming up for Midterms before Thanksgiving.”
“About Thanksgiving. Jason wants to know if you want to spend it here or at home.” His tone was casual.
I froze instantly. The White House was my cocoon and I was afraid to leave it. “They find the Colonel yet?”
“No,” Dad was terse.
“Any more trace of that dude that wants to take me?”
“You ever ‘hear’ him again?”
“No,” I said shortly. Not for lack of trying.
“Then, I guess we’ll celebrate it here.”
We rounded the corner of the family quarters off limits to all but the First Family and Secret Service. I waved to the agents on duty and the Staff. “Hi, Dantan,” they greeted me with smiles and my Dad with respect. “Senator De Rosier.”
“Mary, Tony, Mr. Kenyon.” He was the White House Butler.
“How are you feeling, Danny?”
“Okay,” I popped a wheelie under the portrait of Thomas Jefferson. President Rickover’s Chief of Staff came out of the Briefing Room and looked harried.
“Senator, just the man I was looking for. Is Friday night at 8 pm okay?”
Dad nodded. “I’ll make sure it’s on.”
“Good,” he said. “Blue, I think. Haircut, too.”
“That’s like pulling teeth,” he rolled his eyes.
“Hey, if you’re saying I need a haircut,” I complained, “try being bald.”
Dad gave me a little cuff on the back of the head but carefully. I’d fractured it when Parker had kicked me in the face. I was surprised my face had healed without scarring but Dad had told me that top Plastic Surgeons had worked on it while I’d been unconscious. I rubbed my eyebrow, teasing Dad about wanting a piercing. This time, he didn’t say anything.
“If you want one, Danny, try an ear.”
“Really? Really, I can pierce an ear?”
“No eyebrow, tongue, nipple or other.”
“Naw, Dad. I’m not into pain,” I grinned. “I think I’ve had my lifetime share of it.”
“Where are you off to now?”
I turned in a circle and found the ornate Ormolu clock brought over from France by one of the former Presidents. It still kept good time as long as you wound it. “Felice will be home in a few hours. I think I’ll go hang out at the library and check out the books.”
“You have any therapy planned for this afternoon?”
I did, but I’d been dodging the PT people, I didn’t see the point when my legs were never going to come back. Not until I grew a new spine. Literally. “Jake said something about meeting me in the gym for some arm wrestling but I dunno. He cheats,” I laughed to cover up the depression that thinking about it brought me. Sometimes, I could go almost the whole day without thinking about my legs.
“Make sure you’re back by seven. I have a tailor coming to fit you for a suit.”
“What for?” I asked. “I don’t need a suit. I never go anywhere. Besides, I don’t know him. Is he safe?”
“Yes, he’s been my tailor for years. Thanksgiving is coming up, Dantan,” he smiled. “The President will expect you to dress for it. The Press will be there. We’ve kept you out of the media but they’ve been hounding me and the White House Press Corps since your return. Whether you like it or not, you’ve been a headline. All over the Internet, TV and papers.”
I didn’t say anything. The thought of going back out in public frightened me. I wanted to stay inside my safe little bubble surrounded by Secret Service and Security.
“Danny, you’ve got to return to the world. Don’t you want to go to school, college, pick up your life and go on?” he asked gently. “I’m not going to force you, you can stay home as long as you want but the White House isn’t home. Jason has already served one term and is a year into his second so even he has to leave in three more.”
“When he’s caught, Dad.”
“What if he’s not?”
“Not now, Dad. I can’t deal with this now.” I turned the chair around and pushed off leaving him standing in the hallway staring after me. Vange came with me. I found my way to the massive library and the staff on duty held the door open letting Vange and me in. I hesitated, seeing several strangers in the stacks and Mrs. Compton whispered reassurances.
“It’s okay, Dantan. They are graduate students from Senator D’Arcy’s office. Their papers and passes checked out.”
I nodded and she pointed to a table where lay a stack of hardcovers. “The newest Koontz, Tannenbaum, Woods, Connolly and Feist, Dantan. I set them aside for you. Even before the President saw them.”
“Like he has time to read fiction,” I scoffed and rolled over to the corner. My recliner was waiting, electric with a pivot so I could slide out of the chair and redistribute my weight on different pressure points but I opted for the wheelchair. Decided I needed to use the restroom and instead of retracing my route to Family Quarters, opted to use the semi-public ones just down the hall from the Library.
Three out of the nine stalls were wheelchair accessible. Pushing open the stall door, I maneuvered the chair into position with Vange guarding the entrance. I shut the door and lifted myself up, pulling down my sweats and boxers with one hand, one side at a time. At least I never had to worry about a cold seat, I couldn’t feel it.
I couldn’t feel when I needed to go but I heard when I did. Sometimes, I had to sit on the throne up to a half hour before I had satisfactory results but it was better than diapers or asking for help. I could even manage the washing up part. Luckily, the White House was equipped with and was wheelchair accessible.
I finished, didn’t flush because these where sensor and did it on their own but I did look: only because the visiting nurses and on-call doc checked on my bowel movements every day. I’d been warned that the dreaded constipation could actually kill me, I couldn’t feel it if I developed a blockage. All too common in Paraplegics. It was just another shitty thing I had to deal with.
I washed my hands not looking in the mirror but daydreaming until two other visitors wearing badges entered the washroom. I hurried past them towards the door and the woman held it open for me and the Heeler. She didn’t say anything but smiled.
I didn’t stop until I was back at my chair in the library and Vange settled herself at my feet with a wag of her tail. I started reading and was lost in the world of Dean Koontz as the time flew by.