To Kill a President (2 page)

“Jane! Jane! Please God no!”  The sky was again illuminated with lightning and James managed to spot something moving towards him through the water.

“Help! Please help!”   Whatever it was, was still heading towards him.

“Jane we’re saved, Jane!” Faraday felt the relief all over his body but as the sky lit up again he got a better look at the object.  It was a boat.  It was his boat.

“AAAARGH! Why God!  Why!”   The relief that had swept through him moments earlier was now gone.  As he frantically searched the surface of the water he knew she was gone.  He couldn’t save her.  He began to swim to the shore.  The water beneath him seamed to shine brightly as if there were a million candles beneath the surface, he did not hear any thunder this time.

When he reached the shore he collapsed. All of his strength had gone, Jane was gone too.  His left hand that had been pressed so tightly opened and the blood oozed out of the wounds his nails had inflicted.  The diamond in the centre of the ring was now a deep shade of red.  What Faraday had heard had been true, the moments between asking a woman to marry you and hearing her answer had indeed been the longest of his life.

Chapter Two

Three months had passed since Jane had disappeared.  Her body was never found, she was assumed dead.

The two men arrived at Edinburgh Airport direct from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.  One of the men was well dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and a navy tie.  He was an ageing man but looked remarkably well rested after a long flight.  They had left Dallas at 22:00 the previous night and arrived in Edinburgh at 14:00.  As the two men walked through the airport the older man was disgruntled.

“Hurry along Bobby, we have one hour to make it to Larbert!”  He barked.

Bobby looked considerably younger than his travelling companion.  On a good day he may still pass for a teenager.  Today was not a good day.  He had not managed a minute’s sleep on the plane and was annoyed at having to come all this way for such a ridiculous purpose.  Bobby stopped and grasped his right hip with a grimace.

“It’s playing up today!”  He said in his thick Texan accent.

“I’m sorry Bobby I never thought.  Is it just the hip?”

“It’s everything, knees, hips, my back, my neck I’m falling apart.”

“Have you taken your painkillers?”

“Paracetamol, Ibruprophen, Tramadol....Nothing helps!  The bottle sometimes soothes the pain, but that’s about it!”

“We don’t have time for a drink just now, we can get one on the way back.”

“I forgot about the urgency of the trip.” Bobby added sarcastically.

The men continued through the airport and eventually arrived at a line of taxis waiting for their next fare.  They had brought no luggage with them so they had nothing to put in the taxi.  Bobby began wrestling with his cane and struggled to get into the back of the taxi.  The older man climbed into the front seat and asked that they be taken to Larbert Hospital.

“That’s a long way from here guys, it won’t be cheap!” The driver replied.

The older man nodded. “That’s fine”.  Around an hour later the taxi pulled up outside Larbert Hospital.  They made their way towards the ER entrance when they had entered the building the older man glanced at his watch.  It read 15:15.

“Shit we only have 45 minutes Bobby!”  They hurried through the entrance as fast as Bobby’s legs would allow and made their way towards the entry of the secure wards.

Chapter 3

The flash of light illuminated the surface of the Loch.  Faraday looked above but could not see the light in the sky.  There was no roar of thunder overhead.  As he sat in the canoe he stared at the ring.  He now kept it on a chain around his neck.  He looked at the surface of the Loch and saw that the light was definitely coming from below the water.  It was beautiful and blinding. 

Faraday stood up and dove into the water.  The cold he had felt before was now pleasantly warm.  His glasses stayed in place this time.  He swam towards the bottom of the Loch, he could see everything clearly thanks to the light that was illuminating the water.  As he continued downwards he saw her.

“Jane thank God! Are you okay?”  The water did not seem to be restricting his speech and he suddenly felt as though he could breathe it in as if it were air.  Jane looked cold, her skin was paler than he had ever seen it and her lips were almost blue.

“Why did you leave me Faraday!?” She screamed, her expression was one of anger.  Her pale blue eyes glowered at him.  He could feel the hatred she felt towards him.  She turned quickly as if startled and swam towards the light.  Faraday attempted to follow her but as hard as he kicked he could not move.  He tried to call out for her once again. But this time the water began to choke him. The light evaporated and Faraday was now in complete darkness.  He tried to make his way back to the surface but to no avail.  He tried to scream once more but the water poured into his lungs and the darkness enveloped him.

As he let out a scream and gasped for air he sat up straight in bed.  His skin was drenched with cold sweat.  He coughed and caught site of the time on the large clock on the opposing wall.  It was 15:20. He was back in his room at the hospital.  He felt drowsy and knew that there was almost another hour before his first visitor would arrive.  His father Daniel had come to see him every day at 16:00.  His eyes began to focus on his surroundings and it was then that he realised that he was not alone.  An elderly man was sitting on a chair to the right hand side of the bed.  Beside him sat a much younger man, he was perhaps a year or two younger than Faraday. The young man had short black hair, with piercing blue eyes.  He had a pot belly and huge dark bags under his eyes.  Resting gently between his knees was a black cane with the head of an eagle at the top.

This was not the first time Faraday had awoken to find someone in his room.  He had stopped eating and drinking when he arrived in the hospital.  He was taking Diazepam for the anxiety and required sleeping tablets.  He was also taking anti-depressants as if they were smarties.  He was constantly confused and found it hard to focus on his surroundings.  Just this morning a doctor had come to the room to inform him he had been sectioned for the next month.  Meaning it would be well into October before he got out of this hell hole.

The silence was broken by the elderly man.  “How are you today Mr Faraday?”

Chapter 4

What a stupid fucking question he thought.  Under normal circumstances Faraday would try to suppress his frustration but on this occasion he didn’t feel frustrated, he didn’t feel anything anymore.  He had no emotions.  He felt empty, he was a broken man consumed by guilt and fear.

“I’m fine.” He lied. “Who are you?  I normally see that blonde doctor?”

The young man seemed annoyed by the question, his hand fiddled with the eagle perched on top of his cane.  His tanned skin contrasted with that of the older man sitting to his left.  He looked tired and it was clear he would rather be anywhere but here.  Before the old man could respond Faraday jabbed a finger in the direction of the young stranger. “And who is he?!”

This was too much for the young man to take. “Who am I? Try to show some god damned gratitude boy!”  He yelled in his thick southern American accent.

“Bobby why don’t you just calm down and let me speak to Mr Faraday.”  The old man spoke with authority. Bobby glared and without saying anything bowed his head in defeat.

“Apologies we have come a long way to see you and Bobby did not manage to sleep on the journey, I however had no such problems.” He let out a throaty chuckle that again seemed to annoy Bobby.

“So who are you?” Faraday asked, confused by the odd couple that were sat by his bedside.

“Sorry Mr Faraday, my name is Dr David Lewis and this is my dear friend Bobby Stinson.  We wanted to see how you were doing, you don’t look like yourself.”  The older man spoke with an American accent that he could not place.  He was soft spoken and unlike the doctors Faraday had met in the hospital thus far he seemed caring almost like he understood Faraday’s pain.

“Sorry I don’t understand why have you travelled to see me? How do you mean I don’t look like myself?  Do you even know why I’m in here?”

Dr Lewis closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. Bobby grunted again seemingly annoyed by the question.

“Bobby perhaps it would be better if you waited in the hall?”

Bobby did not argue, he struggled to his feet and hobbled from the room.  He had grown old before his time Faraday thought.  He suddenly felt sympathetic towards Bobby as he watched him struggle with his cane.  As soon as Bobby had left the room Dr Lewis began speaking.

“Yes James I know why you are here.  I’m very sorry about Jane.  She was a wonderful woman.”  The doctor’s eyes were on the verge of releasing tears, which he choked back.

“You knew Jane?” Faraday suddenly felt his emotions returning.

“Yes James, but I am here to talk about you.  What has been going on since the accident?”

“Surely you’ve read my notes they should tell you everything?”

“Ah if it were only that simple.” Dr Lewis gave out a sigh.  “Unfortunately I do not work at this hospital. I work at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.  I was granted permission to see you out of professional courtesy.  So please James tell me what has happened since the incident?”

Faraday did not want to tell his story it held nothing but pain.  “But how did you know I was here?  Why would you come from Dallas?”

“James I was informed of your predicament by an old friend.  Let’s just say I felt compelled to come and see you.  So please I do not have much time what has been going on?”

“Well after the accident I stayed in Inverness.  I was taken into hospital as they were worried I may have hypothermia.  I was only kept in one night and then I booked into a travel lodge.  The police brought in divers to recover Jane’s body.  But they didn’t find her.”  His eyes began to well up with tears. “After a week I came back to Stirling.  I went back up north in August with Jane’s mother.  She was suffering she just wanted to lay her daughter to rest.  Jane’s mother has donated a park bench that sits by the side of the Loch in Jane’s memory.”  As Faraday told his story the tears were streaming down his face.

“I’m very sorry, I did not mean to upset you.  How long have you been in the ward?”

“I don’t know it’s hard to keep track of time in this place.  It’s just making me worse.” Faraday continued weeping. “I miss her so much!  I just wish I could change things!  I want to die!”

“James you can’t think that way, Jane wouldn’t want you.” He was cut off in mid sentence as Faraday screamed.

“I killed her!  It’s me that should be dead not her!  That’s why I took all those fucking pills, next thing I know I’m stuck in here, I’m not even allowed to leave this place!”

“James it is for your own good, you are special we can’t let you harm yourself.  What were you thinking about this morning?”

Faraday stopped crying and looked at the doctor. “How do you know about that?”

“I don’t James that’s why I’m asking.  The nurse told me on the way to your room that you had been sectioned this morning.  What did you do?”  Faraday was taken aback by the way the doctor spoke.  The tone of his voice and the expression on his face made him come across as a very compassionate man.

“What kind of Doctor are you anyway? You’re not like the others?  The only time I see them is when they lie to my parents about watching over me.”

“I’m a Forensic Pathologist.  What happened this morning?”

“A Forensic Pathologist, but isn’t that like autopsies?”

“Yes James.”

“Well you’re a bit early Doc.  They took my lighter away this morning, they even took the laces from my shoes.  Not really many ways of killing myself now.  I don’t seem to be very good at it anyway.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that James.  Would you like to go for a cigarette I have a lighter.  We could see if the smoking room is empty or I noticed a small garden on my way through the ward.”

“Sure.” Cigarettes had become the only joy in Faraday’s life whilst he had been in hospital.  He struggled to walk with the laces missing from his shoes, his feet kept popping out.  They made their way along the corridor to the smoking room and saw that it was full of patients.  They carried on a little further and turned right into a magnolia painted room with a couch and TV on the right hand side.  There was a small table covered in books and board games to the left of the room.  At the far end was a glass door that led into a small garden area.  It was completely enclosed there was no way out.  Faraday had looked for ways to escape the ward on his first day.  As they entered the garden he suddenly felt cold.  It had been a week since he had last been outside.  The doctor pulled out a packet of Maborough Reds and handed one to Faraday he then took one for himself.  Faraday put it to his mouth ready to light it, the doctor went to hand the lighter to him before thinking better of it and lit it for him, he then lit his own.  As Faraday pulled on the cigarette he noticed Bobby struggling towards them with a cigarette of his own.