Chapter-2

By Emess.

msa1810.sav@sympatico.ca
 
 

When Steve got up to talked to his father, Sam went in the kitchen, opened the fridge door and saw the meatloaf. He took it out and put it in the micro-wave, pressed the time then push start. Then he walked to Mark's computer, saw the package and decided to open it, he just wanted to see what kind of books Mark was reading. As he inserted the letter opener in the package, it blew up.

*******************************************
When they heard the explosion, they rushed out of Mark's room to the hallway and saw Sam sitting on the floor, both hands in the air, covered with blood, he had pieces of glass embed in them.

"Steve, get the first-aid kit" Mark said as he examined Sam's hands.

Steve came back with the kit, then dial 911.

"Sam what happened? Mark asked.

"The package blew up, I think that I got myself in trouble again" said Sam.

Steve walk back to the phone and called the police and the bomb expert.

**************************************************
In the motel Paul was watching the TV, when a heard a small 'beep'.

He took a small remote and looked at it "Well it looks like Sloan decided to read his book after all, my God this is fun".

**************************************************

At the hospital, Mark and Jesse were retrieving all the glass pieces. It was mostly in Sam's left hand and face.

"It seems that the charge was just strong enough for the box to explode and the glass to fly out" Mark said, "I was suppose to open that box".

His pager beeped, he checked it and went to the phone and dialed the number.

"Dr Sloan here, what can I do for you?"

"Did you like the book that I've sent you, explosive wasn’t it?" then, 'click'.

Mark slammed the phone down.

Jesse and Sam stared at Mark "Who was it? asked Jesse.

"It's him, it was Paul who sent the package" Mark said angrily.

Steve came in the room "Dad the bomb expert found a small remote, they're trying to find out if it was a receiver, meaning that it was activated at a distance".

"I don’t think so" said Mark, "how did he know somebody was opening the package. I put the box on the computer desk, there's no way Paul could have seen it from any windows".

"You seem sure it's Paul" said Steve.

"Oh it's him alright, I've just received a call asking me how I loved the book, and it's the same voice that called me the other night, asking me if I recognized him?"

"You mean the phone calls you had last night?" asked Steve.

Mark nodded.

"Dad? why didn't you tell me?"

"And tell you what, there was no way I could have known who it was".

Steve looked at his father "Now, the Captain can't refuse me, you'll get the police protection".

Mark didn't argued with that.

"Well, I'm calling a sketch artist, you'll have to describe what he looks like, so we can put a face to the man".

**************************************************

Mark felt dizzy and had to hold on to Steve.

"Dad?" Steve grabbed his father by the arms and helped him to sit down.

Jesse went to Mark and checked him, he was pale. Then he thought of how Mark had been for the past days, "Mark, when was your last meal?"

Mark thought about it "I don't know".

"Last night" said Steve.

"Mark, I think that you only took 2 meals in 3 days" Jesse held his hands in the air, when Mark tried to say something. "Wait, you took a meal the night of the big pile up on the freeway and that was at lunch time. You went home and got to bed immediately. You woke up the next morning and you only had coffee, we were with you here and didn't take a meal. Then you invited Amanda and me for dinner which was last night".

Jesse looked at Steve "Did he have breakfast this morning?"

Steve shook his head.

"And you had no meals today" said Jesse, "Did he have time for one before coming here?"

Steve shook his head again and looked at his dad "And you're angry at me, when I skip one meal".

"And how many hours have you slept in those 3 days?" Jesse kept questioning Mark.

**************************************************

"Alright, alright, with everything that's been going on in the last few days", Mark looked at Sam for help.

But all Sam said "Hey, don't looked at me, I may be your doctor, but I trusted Jesse".

Jesse took Steve aside and said quietly "Look Steve at the rate he is going, he won't last to long".

Steve stared at Jesse "What do you mean?"

"His pulse is rapid, his heart beat is too fast, he' s pale and he doesn’t eat or sleep much, Mark's gonna crash soon if we don't stop him".

Steve looked at his father, then back at Jesse.

"I'll back you up, but you have to tell him Steve?"

"You want dad to stay here for a couples of days?" asked Steve.

Jesse nodded "The sooner, the better. And what a better place than here to keep a police protection on him".

Steve nodded "Yea, you're right"

**************************************************

"Dad, I think it would be better for you if you stay here tonight" said Steve.

"Steve I can't stay here, I've got too many things to do".

"Like what?" asked Steve.

Mark tried to think of something, but couldn’t.

"Dad, there's nothing you can do now, look at yourself, you're tired, confused and you're sick. Please dad, if you don't want to do it for you, do it for me then".

"He's right Mark" Jesse told him.

Sam smiled at Mark "Hey Mark, I'll stay with you and share the room as we use to do".

"So you'll stay?" Steve pleaded.

"Do I have a choice?" lifting his hands, resigned.

Steve left the room, Mark yelled at him "Hey, where are you going?"

"I have to make a phone call, I'll be back".

Jesse got up and talked to a nurse, asking her to prepare a room for Dr. Sloan.

He went to Steve who had just finished his call "I'm putting a police officer at dad's room's door tonight, I'm not taking any chances".

"Do you think this guy will try again?"

"Well so far he doesn't know that dad wasn't injured in the explosion, and I'll be in his room too. Oh and Jesse, pass the word around, dad is not staying here tonight".

"Sure Steve" said Jesse.

**************************************************

Up in the room Jesse was saying "See Mark I've got you the best room available, with 2 beds and one very comfortable chair" at that he look at Steve.

"A nice view and the service is great".

"Oh and this is fun", Jesse said showing them a button on the side of the bed "You press that button and you can get anything you want, food, drinks even nurses if you want to" Jesse was laughing at what he just said "And you..."

"Jesse?" Steve said.

"also have..." Jesse continued without paying attention to Steve.

"Jesse?" Steve repeated again.

"music with..."

Steve grab Jesse by the arm and lead him out "Thank you for the service, Sir" and closed the door behind him.

"He's a funny guy" said Sam laughing.

"Yea, but sometimes he doesn't know when to stop" said Steve.

"OK, lets try the beds first" Mark said, "before taking this room. Oh and Steve you can try that chair if you want".

"Well it seems that everybody is in a good mood tonight" said Steve then looking at them "let's order some food".

They all looked at him and agreed.

**************************************************

After the meal, Steve asked "How do you feel dad?"

"Well I forgot how hungry I was, I'm better now, but sleepy".

"Why don't you lie down for a while".

"If I do that, I'll fall asleep which I don't want to because I'll be awake in the middle of the night".

Mark looked at Sam and asked him how he felt, "Better than you Mark, so what are we going to do now?" asked Sam.

Steve waited for his father to say something, then asked if it was OK if Sam could continue with the story?

"You really want to know everything, don't you?"

"Yes".

Mark decided to lay on the bed anyway.

Sam got up and sat in front of Steve "Let me remember where we left".

Steve looked at Sam "You were just gonna bandage dad’s wound".

"That’s right Steve, I didn’t think you would remember it, anyway...

"Oh my God" said Mark.

I looked at him worried "What, what it is, what wrong Mark".

"The other 2 men we left behind Sam, how are we gonna help them now?"

"Oh Mark, I'm sorry to say this but this is not my priority, right now you are and these two. I don't know how long it's gonna be this quiet, the bombs have stopped and the firing too. We have to use that moment we have now or we'll never get out of here alive. So I started bandaging Mark's injury, "Now how does this feel, is it too tight?"

"No it's OK, as long as I don't take long breath" said Mark, "let me try to stand up now".

As soon as he got up, he felt dizzy, he had to hold on to me for a while. I looked at him with worry "You're OK?"

Mark just nodded, a vary shaky nod.

"OK let me get the most injured one on my back and the other one will have to stand between to two of us, I'll support him on my side and you'll have to do the same on you're side".

Lucky for Mark I was a strong man, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do the same.

What took us 2 hours to get to the injured men before, took almost 6 hours. In the distance we saw the tent with the red cross on them, it was our M.A.S.H. unit. We had to stop often to let Mark rest, he would look at me with an I'm OK sign but I knew that we had better get to camp soon, because Mark's bandage was completely red by now. He was shaking, sweating and he was feverish. So when I saw the tent, I told Mark to stay here and that I would get some help. I left Mark with the other two men and start running to the camp. When I finally reached it, my legs give up on me, other doctors came to me wondering if I was injured and where I was. By the time I got my breath back, our Captain was bending over me. I saw anger in his face but mostly concern. "Where have you been and where is Mark?" he asked.

I explained where he was with the other two soldiers and then passed out.

**************************************************

By now Mark had fallen asleep, Steve got up and gently put a blanket on him and returned to Sam, too fascinated about the story and nodded to Sam to go on.

**************************************************

When I woke up, I was lying on a bed and look around for Mark, when I could not see him, fear passed through me, so I tried to get out of bed, but was stopped by the Captain.

"Where do you think you’re going?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Mark, Sir".

He pointed to a bed in the corner of the tent "He'll be OK, I pulled out the piece of scraps out of his body, as a matter of fact, he had more than one piece in him, nasty injury, had to do some internal surgery, but the worst is yet to come. When they brought him in, he had a bad fever and now we are waiting for it to go down, the sooner the better, or you know what could happen, he'll go into coma".

Then he sat beside my bed and looked at me "Now, I want to know what got through you're minds leaving the camp and going behind enemy lines?"

"Behind enemy lines?" I repeated "The soldier who was with us didn't say anything about that Sir".

He still waited for an answer.

"Well, we tried to save some men that were left behind during an attack".

"And how many have you two saved?" asked the Captain.

"2 Sir, 2 out of 9".

"In God's name, why didn't you two came to me before trying something as crazy as that?"

"Sir, we were sure you would say no to us".

"You damn right I would have said no, I had to call a search when I found out that you 2 were missing, don't you know that are at war. Do you know what you are risking now?"

I just shook my head.

"Court Martial, I had to report the two of you to my superiors, you left camp without permission and you have crossed the enemy line". Raising his hand in the air "Before you ask me why" he said, "I'm an officer of the U.S. Army first and it's my duty, but I'll do my damn best to reverse the charge. Now I want you to rest here and don't try anything foolish again or I'll throw the book at you".

"But Captain, blame me for this not Mark, I'm the one who convinced him to do this, I should be punished".

"Oh I know that Sam, even if you’re a damn good doctor. When you came in this unit, you already had a reputation behind you and not a good one. And I also knew that most of the time, it was Mark that brought you back on the right track. But Mark is a grown man and knew exactly was he was getting himself into, he will have to face the same charges as you".

Then he stood up "Now is that understood Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir".

As soon as the Captain left, I got out of bed and went directly to Mark, I sat on the bed beside him. Then I said "Oh my God Mark, what did I get you in again, I have a knack of getting you in trouble and you always know how to get me out of it, it would be nice if we could switch once in a while.

I put my hand on his forehead and it was still very hot, so I took Mark's hand in mine "Come on man, you can pull through it, you always did" Then I bent my head and close my eyes and prayed.

**************************************************

When Sam had finished, Steve sat there amazed by what he had heard, he looked at his father sleeping "That's quite a story, were you Court Martial?"

"No they dropped the charges against us. The Captain explained to them what we tried to do".

They heard a knock on the door, Steve quickly got to the door and opened it, Jesse was there, he looked inside the room.

"Steve, can I speak to Sam?"

"Jesse, I've told you it's not the time...

"No, no! Steve it's about Mark's back, I just wanted to ask Sam about the injury?"

Steve looked at his dad then at Jesse "Not now, wait till all this is over".

"Steve I know that, I wasn't talking about doing something now, I just wanted to know what kind of injury it was?"

Sam who heard the conversation, got up and went to Jesse "Let's talk outside the room".

Steve waited for Sam and closed the door behind them.

Sam explained to Jesse the kind of injury Mark had and how he got it.

"Didn't they do an x-ray on Mark" asked Jesse.

"They couldn’t, the generators were down," answered Sam "and it happened a lot of time".

"You know" said Jesse, "even if the doctor said that he removed all the pieces of metal, Mark could still have very small pieces left inside".

"I thought about that Jesse" said Sam, "but I really thought it was muscle spasm, as you know in this business, you work under a lot of stress, your standing on your feet all day and the back takes all the punishment".

"Well the only way to know for sure, is to do an x-ray" said Jesse, "We'll have to ask Mark if he would agree to it".

Steve put a hand on Jesse's shoulder "It's gonna have to wait, we'll let him sleep and maybe tomorrow".

**************************************************

The next morning Paul was at a war surplus store, buying the things he needed for his plan and knew that he could get a discount because he was a war veteran.

"What are you gonna do with all that equipment asked the man behind the counter, you're going back to war or what?"

Paul started to laugh "No, I've been asked to do a demonstration of the different equipment we used during the war".

"What war were you in?"

"The Korean war", Paul answered nervously, payed and left.

**************************************************

Mark was still sleeping, undisturbed, but Steve and Sam were up and talking again.

"I never saw dad sleep that much, the dreams didn't wake him up, if he had any".

"Well I guess that when he finally talked about it, a big weight was lifted from his shoulders and when he knew who said those words to him, his dreams stopped" offered Sam.

"His dreams may have stopped" said Steve, "but now we have to find that man, once we got a picture of him".

"Hey, you know what you could do?" said Sam, "once you have a picture of him, you should go see the Korean war veterans assoc., or even the Vietnam war veterans assoc. and ask them if they recognize him?"

"Do you think he was as crazy as the two of you, going to another war?"

"Steve" said Sam, hurt by the remark.

"I'm sorry" Steve said, "I just can't figure out why you 2 went back to another war zone, especially dad, even if you were there as doctors".

"I volunteered" said Mark.

**************************************************

They turn around and looked at Mark, who was still laying in bed but wide awake.

"They needed doctors, so I volunteered", Mark sat in is bed and looked at Steve, "Like I've said before, when you're in a plane you kill and you destroy but you don't see up close the damage you've done, so when they asked me if I would go back, I said yes. I guess, I wanted to repay for what I've caused before".

"I'm sorry dad, I didn't think of that". Steve then looked at Sam "Did you volunteer too Sam?".

"Yes, but not for the same reason as Mark. I went there because I knew that there's always progress in medicine when there is war, new surgical instruments, new methods of operation, it may sound cynical but it's true".

"Oh yes" Mark added, "New ways to patch them up faster so they can send them back faster on the fields to be wound again or killed, I was glad when it was over".

"Mark when was the last time you had those dreams?" asked Sam.

Without even trying to remember Mark said "About 30 years ago".

"What caused it to come back?" Steve asked.

Mark looked at Steve "I remember it like it was yesterday, it was during dinner time and I was watching the news on TV. When they showed news from the Vietnam war, it was a scene that looked exactly what happened to us after the explosion".

Mark lowered his head "Then it all came back" he almost laughed, "It didn't help to know that Steve was over there either".He looked back at Steve "I never told you this but it drove me crazy, knowing you were there. The dreams I could cope with, I've spent many sleepless nights, wondering if you were OK".

"But dad, I wrote to you every month" said Steve.

"Yes, and I still have the letters, but Steve you have to understand that when I fought in WWII, I didn’t saw to much wounded soldiers. In Korea, men were coming in on stretchers with terrible injuries. And with the Vietnam war, the injuries were worse than I had ever seen before, I couldn’t help but being afraid of what could happened to you".

Steve understood his father "I guess you know now what mom went through, when you left a second time".

"Yes I do, but they didn't show this kind of information back then" Mark said. "All they would say to the general public was that we were winning the war, it's only those who lost a son or a father that recieved the bad news".

**************************************************

Later, when the sketch artist put the finishing touch to the drawing and showed it to Mark.

"Yes, that looks like him", said Mark.

Steve took at the picture and asked his dad "Are you sure about it?"

"Steve from what I remember of him, yes it is him".

Showing it to Sam, Steve said "What do you think Sam".

Sam nodded "Yep, certainly looks like him".

OK, "I'll make copies of it and pass it around the department, we're gonna check every war veterans associations, somebody has to recognize him".

"Dad you stay here", then he looked at Sam "try to keep him here, OK?"

"Yes Sir" answered Sam and saluted him.

Steve left with a smile and on his way out, Mark heard Steve say to the officer not to let anybody out of this room.

Mark got out of bed, while changing his clothes "Sam you're gonna help me get out of here".

Sam looked at Mark smiling and made an OK sign with is hand.

**************************************************

In the ship, Paul left all the equipment he had bought "Now all that is missing is Sloan, I'll get a gun and go for the hunt". He went back to the motel and took everything he had so he could trade it for money.

**************************************************

"Officer" said Sam when he opened the door "I' m sorry to bother you but wasn't your father in the Air Force?" then looked at the name on his badge, [Larry Walsh].

"Yes he was" answered Larry, "how did you know?"

"Well, I thought that you looked familiar" and while Larry was distracted quickly grab his gun. "I'm sorry to do this, but could you step inside please?"

Mark waited for them to be in the room then closed the door "Brilliant Sam, I knew you could do it".

"Hey, we haven't survived 2 wars for nothing".

"But how did you know his dad was in the Air Force?" Mark asked.

Sam smiled back "I didn’t, it was a while guess".

Mark shook his head while taking Larry's handcuff and cuffed his hands behind him.

"You can't do that" Larry said, "your son told me not to let any of you out of here".

"Don't worry, he won't be mad at you but at me, I'm used to that" Mark said and as he opened the door, he waved at Sam.

"Mark be careful" said Sam, then turned to Larry" "Now why don't you sit down", still pointing his gun at the officer.

**************************************************

Mark was almost at the stairwell when, "Mark where are you going?" asked Amanda.

"Ssshush" Mark waved at her to be silent.

"Where are you going?" she insisted.

"If you don't shut up, I'll put in the room with Sam and tie you down?"

"I'll scream, if you don't tell me where you're going".

He looked at her and said "I'm going to help Steve".

"Oh, and you think Steve will let you?"

"I didn't say I would help him directly" Mark told her.

"Mark this is crazy, I'm not gonna let you go".

"Amanda, please".

She looked at him, shook her head "I know I'll regret this".

"And I won't, thanks Amanda" said Mark, just as he was opening the door.

"Not without me" Amanda replied.

Mark was gonna say something about it when she had "It's that or nothing".

He thought for a moment then said "OK" then whispered "Woman".

"Hey, I heard that" said Amanda and slapped him in the back.

**************************************************

Steve got a list of the different Veteran Association and passed the list to other officers, leaving Paul's picture at the Assoc. board.

While he was posting the picture on the board, someone came behind him.

"Hey I recognize him".

"Do you know who he is?" asked Steve.

"Yea, his name his Paul, let me think about it, Paul Thompson, crazy guy" he said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's the kind of man that if he doesn't get what he wants right away, goes into a fit. Saw him beat a guy to a pulp because he didn't do it the way Paul wanted it. He didn't have too many friends back then and I'm sure doesn't have more today".

"Do you know were he lives?" asked Steve.

"Sorry I don't, what did he do this time?"

"He threatened a man the other day" said Steve.

"Hey, why don't you talk to Big Joe, he works at a war surplus on Sunset Blvd. he talks to a lot of Veterans, he may be able to help you".

Thanks" said Steve.

**************************************************

When Paul exchanged all he had for money at a pawnshop, he went to buy a gun but had to show is ID. and give a fix address. He argued with the clerk, but he was told "No ID, no gun".

He was getting angry but calmed himself, then bought the gun. Knowing now that the last part of his plan was to get Sloan.

He got in his car and drove to Sloan's house and waited for him. When Mark arrived in his car, Paul noticed that he wasn't alone but drove his car behind Mark's car anyway.

He didn't care if somebody saw him, all he wanted was Sloan.

Paul waited for Mark to get out, then he got out too and stared at him.

When Mark saw him he said "What do you want from me Paul?"

Paul pulled his gun at Mark "You, I've told you that you'll pay one day and that day has arrived. Now get in my car" he looked at Amanda and said "you too".

"Paul", Mark said "she hasn’t done anything to you".

"Yea, you think I'll just let her go like that?" said Paul, "now get in the car or I'll shoot her right now".

Mark agreed and approached Paul's car, as he came close to him, Paul hit Mark on the side of his head with the butt of his gun, Mark fell to the ground.

"Why did you do that?" asked Amanda, as she rushed to Mark.

"To make sure he wouldn't give me trouble in the car, help me get him in the back seat".

**************************************************

At the war surplus store, Steve was showing the picture of Paul to Big Joe.

"Yes I've seen him, he came here this morning and bought some equipment from me".

"What kind?" asked Steve.

"Look around you man, what do you think we sell here?" said Joe, who disliked any law officers.

Steve was losing his patience "What did he actually buy from you?"

"Let me get the invoice" Joe came back with the invoice and showed it to Steve.

"Did he tell you what he was going to do with that?"

"All he said is that it was for a demonstration".

"Can I have a copy of this?" Steve asked.

Joe took the invoice and separated it and gave Steve a copy.

"Thanks" Steve said and left. Once in his car, he took is phone and call the station asking that they checked all other surplus stores and possibly gun stores and report to him.

**************************************************

Jesse knocked at Mark's room and entered "Hey you guys, how are you....hey what's going on here?"

Sam waved at Jesse "Come on in Jesse, it was getting boring here".

"Oh Sam, what did you do and where's Mark?"

"He left, said he had things to do".

"I think I better call Steve" said Jesse, he picked up the phone in the room and dialed Steve's number.

"Det. Sloan here".

"Hi Steve, Jesse here".

"Jesse, I'm busy".

"Well Steve, Hmm I got bad news for you" Jesse tried to say.

When Jesse was silent for a moment, Steve knew what it meant "Oh no Jesse, let me guess". This is one thing Steve didn't want to hear, "I'll be there".

**************************************************

At Mark's house, once they got Mark in the back seat, Paul said to Amanda "Now turn around".

"Why?" she asked nervously.

"Just turn around". When she did, Paul took an handkerchief from his pocket and blindfolded her, then made her sit beside Mark, he entered his car and drove off to the dock yard.

**************************************************

"Sam why did you do that?" Steve asked angrily, "don't you realize what's going on here?"

"Mark wanted to help and he knew he could not do it by staying here" Sam offered.

"There's a man out there who's trying to harm dad or possibly kill him and without consulting me, you just opened the door and said 'Go out there Mark and do your job?' is that it?" Steve came very close of losing his patience. He turned around and noticed that Larry was still there "Go back to the station, I'll talked to you later".

"Yes Sir" said Larry and left.

"You know Sam, I really believe you now, when you said that you always got dad in trouble".

"Steve I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, we have worked together for so many years, that when Mark asked me to help him, I just did it" Sam was really sorry.

Steve didn't know if he should be angry or sorry at Sam. He understood the friendship between the 2 of them, he never had a partner that long. So Sam reacted just by habit and knew that he would never harm his dad.

While he was thinking about that, he tried to reach his father on the phone. He waited a few moments "Come on dad, answer the phone" he said, then closed the phone. Steve turned and looked at Sam again "I've tried home and his personal phone number, but there's no answer".

Then his phone rang "Let's hope it's dad. Sloan here" he listened.

Sam and Jesse saw the disappointment in Steve's face when he answered.

"OK, just a minute" Steve took his pad and wrote the information, "Right, thanks" then closed his phone.

"Well, we got a name on him and an address, is name is Paul Thompson and he lives downtown in a motel. We also know that he went to a gun store and bought a weapon" at that he looked at Sam.

"I'm going there right now" and pointing a finger at Sam, "stay here and I mean it".

Jesse stood up "Steve, I'll keep trying to reach Mark".

Steve nodded and left.

**************************************************

When Paul arrived at the gate, he stopped the car and got out to talk to the guard.

"Hey Jack, I'll go through with my car, there's something I want to get from one of the ship and it's too heavy to carry all the way back here, I'm gonna be there for a while".

Jack waved is hand and opened the gate, Paul went back to his car and drove close to the ship he had decided to used.

**************************************************

When the polices arrived at Paul room, it was empty, so they went through all his papers hoping to find addresses of friends, somebody they could talk to, to find out where he was. They also found lot of bottles of pills. When Steve joined them, he asked if Paul was there, his hopes were crushed when they said no. The only information they had for Steve was the bottles of pills. Steve looked at them and saw the name of a doctor and the prescription.

"Try to locate that doctor for me?" He thanked them and went back to the hospital to see Jesse and ask him about the pills.

**************************************************

"So Jesse what are those pills for?" asked Steve.

"Wow, if that guy takes these pills regularly" said Jesse, "he's a walking drug addict. Steve these are very strong pills".

"But what are they for?"

"Mostly pain killers and some for depression" said Jesse "It's mean that when he's depressed he takes 2 of these and when he is in pain he also takes 2".

Steve just lower is head "When he's high, could he be dangerous?"

Jesse tried to ease the situation "It Depend" Jesse saw that Steve wanted a clear answer," Yes, I would say that he could be dangerous".

Steve shook his head "I hope we'll find him before he finds dad".

"Steve, there's something else" Jesse added," Amanda is missing".

"What do you mean she's missing?"

"Somebody saw her take the stairwell this morning and that was the last time anybody saw her" Jesse was afraid to ask "Do you think she's with Mark?"

"Now we have 3 people missing". Steve took the phone and dialed his Captain, after the conversation he told Jesse "They're gonna send the picture of Paul to different TV stations, asking for someone who recognize him to call the police station".

"But Steve, if Mark knew it could be dangerous, why did he allow Amanda to follow him?"

"Maybe it's not dad's fault, you know how Amanda can be sometimes" Steve said.

Jesse nodded "Yea, right".

**************************************************

In the bottom of the ship, Mark was slowly waking up, his head was pounding, he tried to move his hands when he notice that they were tied together in his back, his knees where against his chess also tied up. He was sitting on the floor against a wall that was cool and damp, it was also dark inside. He groaned, his head was really hurting him.

"Mark are you OK?" asked Amanda.

Mark lifted his head and tried to locate the sound "Amanda, where are you?"

"Here, but I don't know where here is".

"From the sound of your voice" said Mark, "you don't seem too far, can you move?"

"No, I'm tied up" she said.

"After Paul knocked me off, what happened?"

"He asked me to help him to put you in his car, then he blindfolded me".

"Did you hear any sound when he brought us here?" Mark asked.

"I heard the sound of water, I mean the ocean and seagulls".

"So it's prob..." Mark stopped when he heard the sound of someone walking, then the sound became louder as the person got closer, then it stopped.

"Mark, what does he want?" asked Amanda.

They were all of a sudden blinded by lights. And someone yelled "I WANT HIM".

**************************************************

Steve was at the police station talking to his Captain, "I've tried to reach dad, but he doesn't answer his call. And it's been more than 1 hour now".

A sergeant came in the office and told the Captain, that someone is on the phone right now and knew where Paul is.

Steve got out and went to the his desk and took the phone and talked to the person himself, his Captain stood beside him.

"Hello, my name is Lt. Sloan, you said that you know were Paul is right now?"

"Yes" the voice said, "he's at the dock yard for scraps ships, I'm the guard there".

"Do you know what he's doing there?"

"No but I found it strange that he went inside the yard with his car".

"Did you see anybody else in the car?" Steve asked, hoping.

"Yes there were 2 person sitting in the back, a man and a woman".

"Can you described them?"

"Well, I would say that the man had white hair and the woman black".

Steve looked at his Captain and nodded his head.

"Hey look" said the voice, "don't tell him I'm the one who told you, he scare's me".

"We won't" said Steve "but if Paul leaves the yard, can you call us back?"

"I will".

"Thank you very much" added Steve.

Steve just sat there, his Captain put a hand on his shoulder "Don't worried Steve, we'll get them out of there".

Steve nodded "He said that they were at the ship scrapping yard, and it's a big, we gonna need a lot of manpower".

"It also means that we probably gonna have to search every ship in there" said the Captain.

"We could use some search and rescue dogs" offered Larry, who stood close by.

They all looked at him, Steve approached him "That's right Larry, good thinking" and patted him on the shoulder.

"OK guys, let's get to work" the Captain told them, "We have people to save.

**************************************************

"I wanted him" said Paul staying behind the lights, he was wearing a full combat uniform.

"I wanted to repay him for all the kindness he showed me" he added smiling.

"We tried to come back but couldn’t" said Mark.

"No you didn't, you left me to die right there".

Mark was shaking his head "After we left, we were under attack and we lost 6 men, we couldn't go back".

"Lies, all lies" yelled Paul.

Mark couldn’t looked at the lights anymore so he lowered his head.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you" ordered Paul.

"I can't" said Mark.

Paul approached Mark, but stood beside him so he still had the lights in his face. Paul lifted his head by pulling on Mark's hair "Look at me".

Mark lifted his head and tried to look at Paul.

Amanda who was on the right of Mark, saw the blood coming down the side of his face.

"What do you want from him?" she asked.

Paul let go of Mark's head and turned to look at her.

Amanda tried to back away from him, but she too was against the wall.

"I want him to know what pain is" and every time, Paul points an accusing finger at Mark, "I want him to know what it means to be left there to rot, to feel that nobody wants to help you".

He turned back to Mark and said "Mark Sloan, this is your judgment day", and started pacing in front of the light. Pointing his finger at the left wall, he said "How do you plead him" addressing an invincible jury, he waited a moment then shouted GUILTY".

Then he turn to the right and pointed his finger at the right wall "And how do you plead him". Again he shouted "GUILTY" .

During all that time, Mark and Amanda stared at him. Then Amanda looked at Mark, whispering "He's crazy".

Paul turned his back to Mark and addressed an invisible judge, "Judge, what’s the verdict?"

He lowered his head and slowly turned to Mark "I’m Sorry", lifting his arms in the air, "It’s unanimous". Then walked directly in front of Mark, pulled his gun from his belt.

"DON'T" screamed Amanda.

Paul lifted his arm, aimed and fired.

**************************************************

When Steve called Jesse he told him that he knew where they were.

"I want to go with you Steve" said Jesse, "they may need me".

"Alright, I'll pick you up in front of the hospital in 15 min. be ready" said Steve, "and Jesse go to dad's locker and get his hospital jacket, use a pair of gloves to take it and put the jacket in a bag".

**************************************************

Mark had no time to react, when Paul lifted his gun and fired, the bullet hit the wall about an inch off Mark's head.

Amanda stared at Mark, happy he was still alive, but angry at Paul for doing that.

Paul crouched beside Mark and laughed out loud "How does it feel" and looked at him.

"Did I scare you?", he stood up and started pacing again. "You know that when you left me, I was badly injured but you didn't see it. I asked you to take me but you didn't. I pleaded with you but you left me anyway".

He walked towards Amanda, looked at her "Do you know what happened to me after he left?"

Amanda didn't answer Paul.

"I was taken by the North Korean and spent the rest of the war in prison" he took his shirt off, "You see these scars, it's his fault, they tortured me, but it was his fault".

Pointing his finger at Mark again "You gonna suffer as I suffered, this is only the beginning". Paul put his shirt back, "When I'm finished with you, you gonna beg for mercy and I'll leave you there, like you left me to die". He then turned around and left.

"Oh Mark, we have to get out of here" Amanda said.

"I know Amanda, there's nothing we can do".

"But pray for a miracle" finished Amanda.

**************************************************

At the same time in the dock yard, Steve was talking to the guard, asking him if Paul was still there. They were all wearing bullet-proof vests, even Jesse was given one.

"Jesse give the bag to Frank".

Frank took the bag, opened it so his dogs could take the sent of Mark, then he started to walked the dogs towards the ships. Steve and the rest of the officers follow at a distance, with Jesse behind them. They passed beside each ship without the dogs finding a sent, until they came to the last one, there the dogs became very exited. Frank waved at Steve and pointed him to the last ship. Slowly they approached it, listened for any sound but didn't hear any, so Steve waved to the others to follow him. They were going through each section of the ship when they heard voices down bellow.

Jesse waited anxiously outside the ship.

Steve went in front of the group and climbed down the ladder leading to the bottom.

At the same moment, Paul came back. "So are we ready to start?"

Mark didn't answer.

"Don't let me ask the question again", Paul waited but Mark didn't answer him. He took out his gun and approached Mark and stood about two feet from him.

"Leave him alone" yelled Amanda.

When Steve heard Amanda's voice, he jumped the rest of the stairs, landing on his feet with his gun in his hand, other officers followed him down.

"Drop the gun Paul" ordered Steve.

Paul just turned his head and said "He has to be punished for his action".

Mark recognized Steve's voice but couldn't see him, he was still blinded by the lights.

"He tried to save you, and this is how you repay him" said Steve.

Slowly very slowly Paul raised is gun "He left me to die, he doesn't deserve to live".

"I'm gonna tell you one last time Paul, drop your gun?" yelled Steve.

Amanda saw Paul pulling on the trigger and shouted "Noooo".

**************************************************

Jesse was still waiting outside the ship when he heard two gun shots "Oh no". Then raced up the boat, the police officers showed him the way. When he got at the bottom, Steve was kneeling beside Mark, cutting his ropes, an officer was also cutting Amanda's ropes and 2 more officers were dragging Paul away.

**************************************************

"It's OK dad, everything OK now" Steve kept telling his father.

Jesse bended down beside Mark and examined the wound, he then looked at Steve "We have to get Mark to the hospital now if we want to save him".

Steve shouted "Get a chopper here, now".

As soon as Amanda was free, she rushed to Mark and saw where he was shot, blood was gushing out from his right side "Oh God, Mark".

The police officer who freed Amanda, took his radio, called the station and asked for a chopper.

Mark closed his eyes, he was in and out.

"Mark" Jesse shouted, "Come on Mark, you have to stay awake".

Mark tried, but he knew he was in trouble, he tried to put his hand on the wound but Jesse didn't let him.

"No-no Mark, don't touch it", Jesse looked around "I need something to stop the bleeding" he yelled. Since he couldn't find anything, he wiped his hand on himself, then put it on the wound, applying a pressure on it which caused Mark to wince and tried to stop the bleeding.

At the same time, Amanda took his pulse, it was getting weak, very weak.

Steve was in tears "Jesse, I wasn't fast enough, he shot dad".

Mark looked at his son "I won't make it Steve, I don't want to fight anymore, I'm too tired." He then grabbed Steve's arm "This was my last battle and I lost it".

"Don't speak like that dad, you'll make it, you always did. All your life you fought and you always came out of it".

"There was something that I had wanted to give you, it's in my room".

"I don't want to hear it, you will give it to me yourself, now don't give up, fight it". Tears were pouring down his face, "Please dad". Then he stared at Jesse "Do something?", he yelled back.

The last thing Mark heard was the sound of a chopper, then everything was black.

"DAD, NO!" cried Steve.

**************************************************

At the hospital , they were all waiting anxiously for news on Mark's condition.

Amanda, Sam and Steve's Captain were waiting in one corner talking together, while Steve had been pacing the corridor nervously, he looked at his watch "2 hours, he's been there 2 hours".

Sam went to Steve "Steve, Mark's injuries are serious, that bullet caused a lot of damage".

"He's right Steve" Amanda joined them, and put her hands on Steve's arm.

"It's still too long" Steve said.

"Steve listen to me", she made Steve looked at her, "Jesse's doing everything he can and you know how Jesse loves Mark".

Steve started to cry and fell in Amanda's arms, she embraced him.

"Come on Steve, let it out" she said while tears were coming down her face too.

"Now, why don't you sit down" said Sam.

Steve looked at him and shook his head "No I can't, I have to keep moving" and started pacing again.

"Just like Mark would do" said Sam.

**************************************************

Almost 4 hours later, Jesse came to see them, he was exhausted.

Steve rushed to him and stared at Jesse "Well?" he asked.

"That bullet cause a lot of damage" said Jesse, "it broke a rib, puncture his lung, damage his liver and" he stopped to look at Sam and smiled, "and it was stopped miraculously by a small piece of metal".

Sam stared at Jesse, "Oh my God Jesse, you were right. Thank God you didn't remove it before".

Jesse nodded "Well, we have Mark to thank for that, he would have refused anyway.

"What piece of metal?" Amanda asked, still crying.

Steve grabbed Jesse by the shoulders "Jesse, dad's gonna make it, right?"

"Yes Steve, he will but it's gonna take a lot of time".

"Can I see him?"

"He's on sedation", Jesse knew he couldn’t refuse him. "Mark's in intensive care, don't stay too long".

"Thanks Jess" and left right away.

Steve's Captain, who had been waiting by the door, was relieved to hear the news. He joined Amanda, Jesse and Sam.

Amanda who was crying tears of joy this time, still wanted to know "What piece of metal?"

Jesse and Sam took her by the arms and sat with her, explaining the story.

**************************************************

In the intensive care unit, Steve approached his father and stood by the bed. He looked at him lying there. "God dad you really scared me, don't ever say those words to me again.

"I know you went through a lot but never say that this is your last battle and never say that you don't want to fight anymore".

Steve pulled a chair beside his dad's bed, sat down, lowered his head. He closed his eyes and waited for his father to wake up and prayed.

**************************************************

More than a month later.

Steve finally brought his father home from the hospital, he parked his car and quickly got out. He opened the door on his father side "Here dad, let me help you".

"Steve, I don't need your help, I can do it by myself".

"But dad, I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Steve helped his father anyway. When they reached the steps, again Steve offered to help.

"Will you stop that, how old do you think I am?"

Steve opened his mouth to answer, when Mark stopped him "Don't answer?" He just looked at his father and smiled.

When they reached the door, Mark stopped, Steve looked at him "Dad, what wrong?"

"Well, are you gonna open it for me?"

"Yes dad" and he opened the door, then put his hand behind Mark's back.

**************************************************

Once inside, Mark saw a big sign saying WELCOME BACK MARK, then Amanda,

Jesse, Sam and Steve started to applaud him. Mark just stood there not knowing what to say, when Steve gently pushed him in the livingroom.

Mark lifted his hand trying to stop the applaud which didn't do anything, so he had to speak "Folks please, I' m very grateful for everything you've done for me, and I'm happy to see you all here". He was searching for words, all he came up with was "now where are the presents?"

They all laughed, each embracing Mark, happy that everything was back to normal.

**************************************************

When they were all sitting down Jesse said "Hey Sam, why don't you tell Amanda the story when you and Mark spent the night in prison".

She looked at Steve "Hey that was before my time" said Steve.

"Ah Jesse, not that one" said Mark "it's too long".

"Yea, but I love that story, it's funny" said Jesse.

Sam looked at Mark almost waiting for his approval, Mark nodded his head.

"Now Amanda you have to understand that Mark and I we're young".

"And very foolish" added Mark.

Sam smiled back at Mark, then turned to looked at Amanda.

"Anyway it was during the WW2. Our home base was the aircraft carrier Yorktown and we had just received a 2 day pass. So we went on land not knowing what to do first, when Mark decided to visit the local stores. Then we heard 3 navy guys arguing, without letting them know, we approached hoping to hear the rest of the argument.

"I bet you a hundred bucks that you can't do it?" said one of the guy to the other 2.

Mark and I looked at each other".

I guess that we had the same reaction, a hundred bucks was a lot of money back then.

"Hey what's the bet?" I asked them.

They look at us and one said "The Admiral got a house on top of the hill".

We looked in the direction he was pointing, and it was a big house.

"But everywhere the Admiral goes, he always brings his little dog with him".

I look at them and laughed "So that's the bet, you have to kidnap the dog? that's easy".

˜˜

"You took the dog?" asked Amanda.

Jesse started laughing "It's not over yet, listen".

˜˜

"No wait they said, also on the pole outside his house, he's got a flag that he brought back from he's college days".

"It's a dog and a flag then" I asked again.

Again, they shook their heads.

Mark looked at me "Let's forget it Sam".

"But Mark, a hundred bucks" I kept telling him.

˜˜

"Everybody knew that Sam had a reputation back then" said Mark, "that he would try anything, they didn't called him 'Crazy Sam' for nothing".

˜˜

"The Admiral loves to play golf, now if somebody would replace is golf ball with breakable golf balls."

"OK, it's the dog, the flag and the golf balls" I said.

"Yes, you do that and we give you a hundred bucks".

Mark pulled me aside "Sam don't try this, you'll get yourself in trouble and I won't be able to help you out this time".

When the navy guys heard Mark, they did everything to get me to do it, so they offered a hundred bucks to Mark too.

"Mark, you could send the money to your girl friend" I told him.

˜˜

Amanda looked at Steve.

"Yes it's mom, they knew each other back then".

She looked at Mark "Did you do it?"

"Amanda wait" Jesse was exasperated.

˜˜

"Sam we shouldn’t do that", Mark looked at me knowing that I would do it anyway.

"OK" he said, "I don't know why I'm doing this, I guess that just flying a plane is not exiting enough." Then he look at me "Why I'm I helping you?"

"Because you like it as much as I do and you care for me". I knew that if you give Mark a challenge, I could get him involve in it, so we decide on a plan.

"I don't know which one of us was more crazy than the other" said Sam looking at Mark.

"Sam, there's a big difference between you and dad" Steve said, "You did it for the fun of it, while dad did it to get you out of it".

"Hey guys" Jesse said, "can we go on with the story, please".

Sam looked at Jesse "OK Jesse, hmm where were we?"

"You got Mark involved in the bet" said Jesse.

"Oh yea, so as I was saying! The dog and the flag would be easy, the golf ball, now that would be hard to find" I said.

"No wait a minute Sam"said Mark "I know where to find them, we’ll go to the locale hospital and just tell them that we want to play a joke on a friend".

I didn't know what he was talking about but we went there anyway. Mark explained about the joke to a nurse and asked her if it would be possible to do them in a cast plaster. She laughed and said that she would try to make them.

Then he said that he would bring her a real golf ball, to have the exact size of it. She agreed and told us to come back in a couple of hours.

˜˜

"Let's ask if the Admiral his home first" I told Mark.

We were told that the Admiral will be at a party tonight, and that he should leave around 8 PM.

"If he goes to the party" said Mark, "does this mean that the dog goes with him?"

We started laughing at that, "OK, it's the flag, the golf balls and the dog" Mark said, "You take the flag and the dog, while I switch the golf balls".

˜˜

Later that evening, we went back to see the nurse, she greeted us with a smile and showed us the golf balls. They were perfect.

"Who's the joke on?" she asked.

We looked at her for a moment.

"Hey, I swear I won't tell".

"Well if you do" said Mark, "you'll have the entire Navy and the Air Force after you"

She looked at Mark "Cross my heart and hope to die, come on guys who is it for?" she pleaded.

"A man who lives in the big house over the hill" Mark answered.

"Admiral Smith?" she said.

"The man himself" I added.

"Good, I hate him" she said "and don't ask why".

Mark suddenly looked at her "What's your name?"

"Helen".

"Well Helen, would you be interested in helping us?" Mark asked.

˜˜

Around 9.30, "Well, if we want to do this we better do it now" Mark said.

So we walked towards the house, naturally there were guards around the house, but where the pole was, there was only one guard. So Mark distracted him and I went quickly to the pole, lowered the flag and took it, that was easy. Now it was Mark's turn, he had to go inside the house which was more difficult not only because of the guards but mostly because of the valets inside the house.

Mark turned to the nurse "OK Helen, can you keep them busy long enough for me to go in and out of the house?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep them busy" Helen told Mark.

She walked towards the guards and what do you think happened, they all left their post.

We looked at each other and laughing, but Mark said "Keep an eye on them just in case".

Mark walk to the side of the house.

"Hey Mark" said Jesse, did you say that to protect Helen or you and Sam?"

Mark smiled but didn't answer.

˜˜

Now, Mark told his part of the story.

I looked around to make sure that there were no guards left and quietly opened the side door, looked inside and entered the house.

˜˜

Hearing that, Steve was smiling, he really could see his father doing that. He looked at Amanda who was fascinated by the story and Jesse who knew it but was still amazed. They look like 2 kids listening to their father, telling them a wonderful story.

˜˜

Once in, I listened to the voices of the valets, they were in the back. But there was one thing that we forgot to discuss, I hadn't the foggiest idea where he kept his golf equipment.

So I had to open every doors that looked like a closet.

˜˜

They all laugh, Sam was laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes.

"It's funny now, but believe me it wasn't back then" said Mark.

"And I was outside wondering what took Mark so long" said Sam.

˜˜

Anyway every time I would hear someone approaching, I would hide behind the door that I've just check. I don't remember how many doors I've opened but didn't find it on the first floor. Then I climbed the stairs to the second floor and there was 5 doors, you couldn't imagine how much I want to get out of this house. So again one by one I opened the doors, hoping to find that damn golf equipment. When I approached the last door I heard a growl, I stopped dead in my tracks, the dog was in the last room, so I turn around climb down the stairs and left the house. I waved at Sam to come here.

˜˜

Sam who was still laughing said "I went to see him, hoping that he had made the switch, when Mark told me that the dog was upstairs in the room and probably with the golf equipment. "Don't worry" I told him, "I'll get the meat and the sleeping pills".

Then I rushed down the hill got everything and rushed back to Mark "Here, I put the pills in the meat. Hurry up I don't know how long Helen's gonna keep those guys busy.

Then Mark looked at me, "This is the last time I help you".

˜˜

I went back up again and very carefully approached that door, I put the meat in front of it so the dog would get the smell. That stopped him from growling, I opened the door very slowly, talked to him and threw the meat inside. He went to the meat and swallow it in one gulp.

"Nice doggy" I said "good doggy", he then turned around and looked at me so I kept repeating "Nice doggy" and he came to me wagging his tail. "Boy, did I felt relieved after that".

I closed the door behind me and started looking in the room, when finally I saw it. It was in one corner, I went to it and switched the golf balls but when the dog saw that I had the golf balls, he thought that I wanted to play with him and started barking.

"Shush!" I told him but that didn't stop him, so I took a real golf ball and give it to him, he then started playing with it. I went to the door and listen hoping that his barks hadn't attracted any attention, but nobody came.

˜˜

"Oh by the way" said Mark "it wasn't a small dog, it was a Labrador".

˜˜

I was waiting for the dog to fall asleep when he suddenly fell quiet and lied down"that's a good boy" I said and went to him, when I saw that he was sleeping, lifted him and left without a noise.

˜˜

When I saw Mark with the dog "Hey is that the small dog?" I asked Mark.

He just looked at me and said "Hope it is" then asked me to take the dog and to wait for him down the hill.

Mark then walked to get Helen.

When I reached her, she was still talking to the guards "Hey Helen you're coming?"

She looked at me and "Where have you been, do you know how long I've been standing here?"

So one of the guard said "Look honey, you don't have to go out with him".

She stared at him and said "He's my husband" then left with me.

"What took you so long?" she asked me.

So I explain everything that happened as we reached Sam, who was waiting for us.

"OK now, what do we do with the dog?" I asked Sam.

Sam didn't had a chance to answer, when we saw a jeep coming towards us, it stopped and 2 MP got out.

˜˜

Helen told us to stay there and walked towards them.

"Helen! this is not the time" I call after her and look at Sam.

She talked with them for a while, then she came back and quietly said "Don't ask question, just gave them the dog".

I couldn't help but to asked her "What are they gonna do with it?"

Helen look at me "I've told them that he was sick and that you two were helping me bringing it to the vet." She saw that I wasn't convinced, so she asked me "What are you gonna do with the dog now?"

I just lifted my shoulders and stared at Sam "I think that we've won our bet, we did everything that we were suppose to do. But who's gonna believed us?"

Helen smiled at me "Don't worry, they'll now"

I didn't understand what she meant by that but gave them the dog anyway. And that's the end of the story.

˜˜

Amanda stared at Mark "What do you mean, the end of the story. What happened with the golf balls?"

"The next day the Admiral went to play golf with a lot of big brass" said Sam "he offered the first shot to another Admiral. He even offered him one of his golf balls. Well from what we heard, they all thought that Admiral Smith had played a joke on them, they all laughed about it except Smith who tried to find out the culprit, but luckily for us never did".

"Mark, did you see Helen after?" Amanda asked.

"Yes" said Mark.

Sam and Jesse stared back at Mark "You did? When?"

"Hey Sam" Jesse said, "You didn't told me that".

"Sam, do you remember the next day when we went back to the ship?" Mark asked.

"Yea, when they let us out of jail" answered Sam.

Mark nodded "Well, while you were telling everybody your prowess. I was called by the Commander and was told that they want me back on land. So I went back, Helen was waiting with the Admiral".

"What happened?" they all asked at the same time.

Mark scratched his head and smiled "She was the Admiral's daughter".

Steve, Jesse and Amanda couldn't believed it. So Sam had to ask "What happened?"

"He shook my hand and told me that what we did was very daring and because his daughter was involved in this, he will turned his head and forget about it".

"That's it?" Sam asked.

Mark nodded, but he wasn't gonna tell everything that really happened after that.

**************************************************

When everybody left, Mark asked Steve to follow him to his bedroom.

Once in the room, Steve asked "Dad what is it?"

Mark went to his closet, opened the door then slowly kneeled in front of a big wooden chest. There was a padlock on it, Mark pulled on it and opened the chest.

"Hey, it wasn't locked?" asked Steve surprised.

Mark looked at Steve with a smile and said "It was never locked".

"You're joking, right?"

"Steve" Mark said, "It was never locked.

"Ah dad, you don't know how much I wanted to look in that chest but when I saw the padlock I thought that I couldn’t open it. It was really never locked?" not believing his father.

"Nope" said Mark "And I knew I could trust you".

"All those years" said Steve, shaking his head, "Did Carol know?"

"Oh, she knew because, she tried it".

Steve stared back at his father "How did you know?"

"She came to me with the padlock, she thought that she broken it".

"Oh yea, woman are more curious than men" Steve said.

"Right Steve" Mark said, shacking his head. He took a small black box out, stood up and turned to face his son.

Steve remembered his Dad holding that box the other night.

"When I brought this home after the Korean war" said Mark, "your mother asked me if she could see what was inside. So I showed it to her and I told her that one day I would give it to you. She then told me that you would be proud to keep it for me.

Mark turned the box between his fingers and gave it to Steve "I'm sorry it took that long".

Steve looked at his dad and took the box, and opened it. Inside was a Medal of Valor.

Mark sat on the bed.

Steve was still looking at the Medal when he asked "Dad, where did you get this?"

Without looking at Steve Mark said "Instead of a Court Martial, they give us this".

"For saving the lives of those soldiers" finish Steve, he stared at his dad, "I can't keep this, it belongs to you dad".

"I collected a lot of things but this, is not one of them" said Mark.

Steve hesitated "But dad".

"No Steve, I promised your mother, it's your's now please take it".

"OK dad, I will keep it and mom was right, I am proud to keep it and also very proud

of you". Steve opened his arms, Mark looked at Steve got up an embraced his son.

After a moment, Steve looked at him "Dad, can I look in the chest now?"