Ripple Effect

Chapter Fifty: ...little brother to Secretary McCord.

Will

5:24 PM

The first day, Will feared that he might never walk again. The second day, he knew with a calm certainty that he would never walk again. The third day, as each step wrenched at his remaining muscles and took him back to the days on end he had spent hobbling around after Lizzie had insisted he go out for a run with Henry and his Marine friends all in the name of 'male bonding', he hoped that he'd never need to walk again. In fact, not being forced to exercise the muscles that had wasted yet somehow screamed louder than a patient being operated on without anaesthesia would suit him just fine.

The timer hit zero, the treadmill bleeped, and the belt slowed. Will gripped onto the handrails long after the belt had stopped. Each breath came hard, though not quite hard enough to drown out the erratic patter of his heart as it fought to flutter free from his chest. Sweat soaked the cotton of his tee and turned the pale grey as dark as slate, and the material stuck to his chest and back in that oppressive way reminiscent of the stifling days spent operating in little more than a tent whilst the sun baked the air at the height of a Syrian summer. Though to be back there, even with all the bombings and death threats, might be preferable. At least then he was fighting for something greater, fighting to save a life, not just fighting over each step.

The door to the physiotherapy suite whooshed open. The clank of weights, the determined grunts of the other patients and the probing encouragement of the therapists fell silent as two men in black suits strode inside. Their footsteps echoed up off the vinyl flooring as they marched straight towards Will, and their hands dipped inside the inner pockets of their suit jackets.

Will snatched up the towel from the handrail and dabbed his brow dry, whilst the two men came to a stop in front of the treadmill. Each held out his badge. The taller of the two men spoke for both of them. "Dr Adams, I'm Agent Hayes and this is Agent Perez."

Will's gaze flitted over the badges, and then back to the men. "I see that."

"We'd like to ask you a few questions." Agent Hayes tilted his head towards the door, whilst the other patients watched on as though it were a daytime drama, the kind no one would admit to viewing, yet somehow still caught their eye. "Is now a good time?"

***

A table with a glossy walnut veneer stretched the length of the meeting room; it was so long that it left only a narrow channel for people to squeeze past at either end. Will slumped down into one of the sage green chairs on the near side. Although the chair had a thin padding of cushion, the hard surface beneath still bit through and pressed into his ischial tuberosities, yet another reminder of the muscle mass he had lost to weeks of inactivity. He shifted in the seat and tried to get comfortable, but no position was any better than the others.

"Thanks," he murmured when Agent Hayes slid a plastic cup half-filled with water drawn from the dispenser in the corner of the room across the table and towards him. "So, I take it this isn't about that old parking violation."

Agent Hayes held his tie flat to his stomach as he sank down into the chair on the opposite side of the table. He edged himself closer, and the feet of the chair screeched against the floor. With the deep blue darkness of the evening pressing in from outside, the pane of glass behind him reflected each movement. "We'd like to talk to you regarding the attempted assassination of Secretary McCord."

"I like how you just assume that I'm not important enough to warrant poisoning, and the fact that someone did poison me must surely mean that they intended to kill my sister instead." Will took a sip of water, his gaze fixed on Hayes over the brim of the cup.