No Heroes Allowed (student/teacher)

Chapter 12 - Crash

 On Tuesday, I didn’t go to school. I made it a goal to close this case before the week ended. I gathered my coat and turned off my bedroom light and made my way downstairs. The sky was still black when I left and pulled into the offices. I flashed the security guard a smile and went up to my desk on the third floor.

I turned on the desk lamp and booted up my desktop. Other agents sat at their desks and read over paperwork and slept. I sat down and looked over the evidence we had so far. It wasn’t a lot; just the tape from the store and the threats. I pulled camera footage from the street outside the store and saw the suspect walked out of camera range. Not once did the guy show his face to a camera. It made me think. How did he know to cover his face? Did someone tell him?

I still haven’t thought more about Lewis being involved. How could I? I trusted the man with my life. Why would he try and hurt his niece? Zack was going out on a limb and was trying to help. I really appreciated it but he didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.

Just then, an agent burst in. “Turn on the TV! Channel 5!” The TV flipped on and I looked at what was being reported. Someone had set fire to Carly’s house! I stood up and motioned someone to turn the volume up. By this time, all the agents were awake and alert. My heart was beating horribly fast. My palms were sweaty, I felt like crying. No! This wasn’t supposed to happen!

“We do not know the initial cause of the fire,” the news lady spoke. Flames erupted behind her. A shot of Carly and her parents appeared on the screen. My heart stopped. “The firemen are still trying to control the flames. Everyone in the house made it out alive. There were two men in the house, unknown at this time, that were air-lifted to the hospital.”

“Oh my god! Mark!”

The lady continued. “The family is related to FBI’s Director, so you can expect an investigation. The condition of the Lewis family is fine. They are being driven to the hospital to be checked over. As for the two men in the house, we are not sure of their condition. We’ll let you know when we have more. Back to you Dan.”

I grabbed my jacket and left. Agents were going crazy now. Phones were ringing off the hook, people were leaving and coming. All I cared about was getting to the hospital and seeing Mark.

It took my all of three minutes to get there. I parked in the closest spot and jumped out. I ran all the way to the receptionist desk. The lady smiled at me. “How can I help you?”

“Two men were air-lifted here,” I showed her my badge. “They were in a fire. Mark O’Malley, was he one of the men?”

The lady looked at her records and nodded. “Yes, they identified him because of his FBI badge. The other was Howard Wolowitz. They are both in surgery; it’ll be a couple hours hon.”

I nodded and sat down in a plastic chair. The clock slowly ticked away seconds, minutes, hours…

“Alexandra Johnson?”

I looked up. “Yes?”

The doctor smiled at me. He checked his clipboard and spoke. “Mr. O’Malley is fine. He made it out of surgery great. He had some severe burns on his arms and face. His lungs had collapsed and his liver and kidney were failing. He’s awake and asking for you.”

I nodded as a tear slid down my face. “Thank you, so much.”

“You aren’t kin to him, are you?”

I nodded again. “I’m his daughter.”

“Well, he’ll be out of here in a couple of days. Is there anyone you can call?”

“Yeah, I can. Thank you again Doctor.” He smiled at me and patted my shoulder before walking off. “Wait! What about Howard Wolowitz?”

He checked his clipboard again. “Yes, he’s still in surgery. May I ask why they were in the house at the time of the fire?”