James Patterson - Roses Are Red

"There's a big difference, though. Dougherty and Connor never hurt a soul in any of the robberies," Cavalierre said. "They weren't killers like this current scum we're dealing with. What the hell do they want?"

I made myself go home around seven that night. I had a home-cooked dinner with Nana and the kids: Shallow-fried chicken, cheese grits, and steamed broccoli. After we did the dishes, Damon, Jannie and I trooped down to the basement for the kids' weekly boxing lesson. The boxing lessons have been going on for a couple of years and aren't really necessary for Damon and Jannie anymore. Damon is a clever ten, Jannie's eight, and they can both defend themselves. But they like the exercise and the camaraderie, and so do I. What happened that night came out of the blue. It was unannounced and totally unexpected. Afterward, once I knew what had happened, I understood why.

Jannie and Damon were fooling around, showing off a little, strutting their stuff. Jannie must have walked into a punch from Damon.

The looping blow struck her squarely in the forehead, just above the left eye. That much I'm certain about. The rest was a blur to me. A complete shock. It was as if I was seeing life as a series of stop-motion photos.

Jannie tilted to the left and she went down in a frightening collapse. She hit the floor hard. Her movements suddenly became jerky, and then her limbs went completely stiff. There was absolutely no warning.

"Jannie!" Damon yelled, aware that he'd hit and hurt his sister, though it was an accident.

I hurried to her side as Jannie's body began to shake and spasm uncontrollably. Soft, gagging moans came from her throat. She obviously couldn't speak. Then her eyes rolled way back until only the whites showed.

Jannie began to choke horribly. I yanked off my belt. I folded it and wedged it into her mouth, to keep her from swallowing her tongue, or possibly lacerating it with a hard bite. My heart was pounding as I held the tightly folded belt in her mouth. I kept telling her, "It's okay, it's okay, Jannie. Everything is okay, baby."

I tried to be as soothing as I possibly could be. I tried not to let her see how scared I was. The violent spasms wouldn't stop. I was pretty sure Jannie was having a seizure.

Everything is okay, baby. Everything is going to be fine.

Two or three horrifying minutes passed like that. Everything wasn't okay, though, not even close; everything was as terrible as it could be, as terrible as it had ever been.

Jannie's lips had turned bluish, and she was drooling. Then she lost control of her bladder and peed on the floor. She still couldn't speak.

I had sent Damon upstairs to call for help. An ambulance arrived less than ten minutes after Jannie's seizure ended. So far, there hadn't been another one. I prayed there wouldn't be.

Two EMT attendants hurried down to the basement where I was still kneeling on the floor beside Jannie. I held one of her hands; Nana held the other. We had propped a pillow from the couch under her head and had covered her with a blanket. This is crazy, I kept thinking. This can't be happening.

"You're okay, sweetie," Nana hummed softly.

Jannie finally looked at her. "No I'm not, Nana."

She was fully conscious now, scared and confused. She was also embarrassed because she'd wet herself. She knew something strange and terrible had happened to her. The EMTs were gentle and reassuring. They checked Jannie's vital signs: Temperature, pulse, and blood pressure. Then one of them inserted an IV in her arm, while the other brought out an intubation box," breathing aid.

My heart was still pounding, racing terribly. I felt as if I might stop breathing too.

I told the EMT workers what had happened," She had violent spasms for about two minutes. Her limbs went stiff as boards. Her eyes rolled back." I told them about the shadow-boxing and the punch that had landed above her left eye.

"It does sound like a seizure," the lead person said. Her green eyes were sympathetic, reassuring. "It could have been the blow she took, even if it was a light hit the angle of attack. We should take her to St. Anthony's."

I nodded agreement, then watched in horror as they strapped my little girl on a stretcher and carried her out to the waiting ambulance. My legs were still unsteady. My whole body was numb and my vision tunneled.

"You have to use the siren," Jannie whispered to the EMT techs as they lifted her into the back of the ambulance van. "Please?"

And they did all the way to St. Anthony's Hospital. I know. 1 rode with Jannie.

Longest ride of my life.

At the hospital, Jannie had an EEC, then she underwent as thorough a neurological exam as they could give her at that time of the day. Her cranial nerves were tested. She was asked to walk a straight line; then to hop on one foot, to determine the presence of any ataxia. She did as she was told, and seemed better now. Still, I watched her as if she might suddenly shatter.

Just as she was finishing the exam, Jannie had a second seizure. It lasted longer and was more violent than the first one. It couldn't have been any worse if it had happened to me. When the attack finally stopped, Jannie was given Valium IV. The hospital staff was right there for her, but their concern was also frightening. A nurse asked me if there had been any symptoms before the seizure, such as blurred vision, headaches, nausea, loss of coordination. I hadn't noticed anything unusual. Neither had Nana.

When she had finished her examination of Jannie, Dr. Bone from the emergency room took me aside. "We'll keep her here overnight for observation, Detective Cross. We'd like to be extra careful."

"Extra careful is good,” I said. I was still shaking a little. I could see it in my hands.

"She might be here longer than that," Dr. Bone then added," We need to do more tests on Jannie. I don't like the fact that there was a second seizure."

"All right. Of course, Doctor. I don't like that there was a second seizure either."

There was a bed available on the fourth floor and Nana and I went up there with Jannie. Hospital policy required that she be taken on a gurney, but I got to push it. She was groggy and unusually quiet in the elevator going up; she didn't ask me any questions until we were alone behind a curtain in the hospital room.

"Okay," she said, then," Tell me the truth, Daddy. You have to tell me everything. The truth."

I took a deep breath. "Well, you probably had what's called a grand mal seizure. Two of them. Sometimes they just happen, sweetheart. Out of the blue, like tonight. Damon's punch might have had something to do with it."

She frowned. "He barely touched me." Jannie stared into my eyes, trying to read me. "Okay,” she said. "That's not so bad, is it? At least I'm still here on planet Earth for now."

"Don't talk like that," I told her. "It isn't funny."

"Okay. I won't scare you," she whispered.

Jannie reached out and took my hand and we held on tight. In a few minutes, she was fast asleep, still holding on to my hand.

No one could figure out what was happening, or why. He just loved that. The feeling of superiority it bred. They were all such dithering fools.

On a numerical scale of 9.9999 out of 10, things were going very well. The Mastermind was certain that he hadn't made a meaningful mistake. He took particular satisfaction in the Falls Church robbery and especially the four puzzling murders.

He relived every moment of the bloody crime as if he had been there instead of lucky Messrs Red, White, Blue, and Ms Green. He visualized the scene at the manager's house, and then the murders at the bank, with such intense pleasure and satisfaction. He recreated it in his mind again and again and never tired of the scenario, especially the killings. The artistry and symbolism of them infused him with confidence in the cleverness of his thinking the rightness of it.