She sat with a vacant look on her face, not saying a word. The President let her sit for a few minutes longer before interrupting her thoughts.
“Sarah, as unpleasant and callous as this may sound, I need to keep the government running. I may sound coldhearted but the Department of Homeland Security is critical to this administration and the whole country. I can’t have everything come to a screeching halt. As difficult as it is, the business of security for our nation must go on. Terrorist do not give us time off to grieve.”
“Yes sir. I understand. I will help whomever you appoint as the Director to make the transition as quickly and smoothly as possible. I give you my word,” she said.
“I knew I could count on you, that’s why I would like you to stay on as the Acting Director of Homeland Security. You have my full confidence in your ability to handle the job. I thought you did very well with Karney. You didn’t take any of his bluster and guff. That shows real courage for you to stand up to that windbag,” he said.
“I tried to hold my own without crossing the line,” she said. “Raymond told me…,” she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
“I know. It’s hard. Sarah I am depending on you to hold that department together. I know it will cause a horrible ripple in productivity, but it can’t remain that way for long. Our enemies won’t take a holiday,” he said.
“I agree. I appreciate your confidence in my leadership and I will work to the best of my ability,” she replied.
“That’s all I could ask and I know you will get the job done,” he said, “The announcement will be made after we release the news of Raymond’s death. It will become official at that time,” Sampson said.
“Yes sir. I will say nothing until I am told to do so.”
“Thank you Sarah. I am truly sorry for your loss as well as mine. He was a great friend to both of us.”
Somehow she had managed not to cry all the way back to her office, but once inside, she closed the door and the tears started to flow. She sobbed quietly until she could cry no more. Poor Raymond. He had been so excited about the new challenge he was facing and now he was dead. What a waste of talent and of a good person, she thought.
Angie noticed that a security person was hovering around almost constantly. It was apparent that they were keeping an eye on her. It would have bothered her less if they had tried to be a little less obvious. It was like they were challenging her to do something so they could pounce on her. It was so strange. She had always gotten along with everyone. They had all been patients at one time or another. It was like she had suddenly become the enemy. What the hell was going on around here, she wondered? She realized that General Devin had gone over the deep end and was extremely dangerous.
A break in the treatment of patients and flu shots gave her a moment to put a plan into action. She called the S-4 facility and asked to speak with Dr. Yurris.
“Doctor Yurris.”
“Hi doctor. This is Angie from the infirmary.”
“Hi Angie. How are you?”
“The question is how are you? How are your fingers doing?”
“Sore as all get out but I’m taking the pain pills and they help a great deal. It’s only when I do something stupid that it really hurts. Like eating, sleeping, breathing. That kind of stuff,” she said, laughing.
“Well, I called because you need to come by if you want to save those nails. We need to drain the blood out from under them. If you don’t, not only will you lose them, but they will never grow back right,” she said, exaggerating the seriousness.
“Well, I don’t know. It is hard to find the time to get clear back to the main base,” Lynn said.
“It’s up to you but I think you are creating some potential long term problems, not to mention that it will take longer to heal. I just wanted to make the offer. It’s your call,” she said, trying not to sound like she was begging her to come.
“Maybe I should. How long are you there at the infirmary?”
“I usually leave around 6:00 p.m.,” Angie told her.
“I’ll tell you what. If we are at a breaking point before then, I’ll have someone run me over so you can drill a hole in them. If I don’t make it over, it’s because we were at a critical point and I just couldn’t get away,” Lynn said.
“Whatever. You know where I am. Just be very careful, it wouldn’t take much to really cause you some serious long term damage,” she said nonchalantly.
Nothing was ever easy, Angie thought. She wasn’t sure if anyone was listening in, but considering the attention she was getting, she wasn’t about to take that chance.
The rest of the day seemed to drag by. Other than the security guard and an occasional person dropping in for a flu shot, it was as dull as it could possibly be. It was going on 5:45 p.m. and she decided that Dr. Yurris was not going to show up.
