State of Shock

Elizabeth

Detective Elizabeth McReary looked into the hospital room where Stacy slept. For 65 days since the incident, she's been trying to piece together what happened. There were several facts that didn't make sense and pieces still needed to be locked into place. Stacy's parents sat in the room. Her father was in the corner reading a book, and her mother sat on the bed quietly talking. Beth crossed her arms and just looked at the still bruised but living body of Stacy. She was lucky, but just barely.  

The car bomb that was rigged to go off would have torn her to shreds. But instead, the car provided a shield from the explosion that killed the others that were with her. They had figured her to be part of "The Institution." An underground movement of domestic terrorists that recruited at the university campus. Her proximity to the building and the explosion, put her on that list. The other survivors were innocent bystanders, or emergency personnel that made it past the barricade to help those who were injured. The attack not only took out most of the active members of the group, but had also taken out 4 fire trucks, 6 police cars and 2 ambulances, in order to keep emergency services from reaching the building. 

The police had been tracking “The Institution” for about 6 months. They still didn’t know who the ring leader was, or how they managed to pull off such a well-orchestrated attack. They had to have maps, chemicals, access to firearms, and some military know-how to pull off such an attack. From what they could find, most of the members were college students. None with military training, and none with a criminal record. They looked among the dead members to look for a connection. Most of them seemed to be on a suicide mission. They were all kids with majors in everything, from undeclared, to others that were fine arts, English, French, Mass Communication. A few were science majors, math or business, but they had nothing in common. They were all from different parts of the country, did different things on campus, and had seemingly no connection, except they were all active members of “The Institution.” 

Elizabeth knew that the key to all of this lay in a coma. They knew the leader was not among the dead. The cowardly bastard sent a bunch of kids to play out his plan. Why? Why would he send a bunch of kids on a suicide mission? Knowing full well, that none of them would come back alive. What was he hiding? What was he doing? Was there a bigger plan? Who was he? Elizabeth stood there contemplating, thinking that some asshole somewhere was still at large and recruiting more vulnerable kids for whatever he had next. 

Elizabeth was thin and short, just barely over 5’. Most of the other police officers towered over her. She had very long light brown hair that she kept up. But nothing could compare to her brain. She was smart. Very smart. Graduated top of her class in high school and then attended the Police Academy. She was a runner in high school, so the physical and mental were no problem for her. She climbed her way from a meter maid to a detective. She was self-made and nobody questioned her talents or her instincts.

Professor Chris Thatcher came down the hallway and stood next to Elizabeth. He stuck his hands in his pockets and fidgeted with his keys. "Still nothing huh?" Elizabeth continued to look in the window. She remembered her interrogation of the math professor. It was amazing that he even spoke to her after her fierce and judgmental accusations she made toward the man not more than a month earlier. He was in his early 30's, handsome, and more charismatic than she figured a math professor should be. Of course he was tall compared to her, but he barely hit 6'. His glasses were modern, but functional as well. He was completely blind without them. 

After doing some digging, Elizabeth found out that Stacy had a unique friendship with her professor that smelled inappropriate. After grilling the professor for 4 hours, she found that not only was their friendship simply that, but his guidance might have actually saved her life. She still couldn't look him in the face after she accused him of sleeping with a student. 

Chris ran his fingers through his already messed up brown hair. He adjusted his glasses, and cleared his throat. "Find anything new?" He asked. Elizabeth’s face remained thoughtful. Her puzzle was laid out in front of her in a coma. The doctors weren't sure how long she would be under. She had a decent blow to the head, but they were sure that if she woke up, she would survive..... If she woke up. 

"No." Elizabeth said quietly. The missing links in her investigation hinged on a girl in a coma. The lone survivor of a group of kids brainwashed by a criminal mastermind that had managed not only to motivate, but plan an attack. With a bunch of college kids. It was hard enough getting these kids to vote, how the hell did they get motivated enough to attack a 3 story office building? 

Doctor Sarah Roman-James stood next to Elizabeth. "Still nothing. Her parents are pretty worried about her. Anything new on the investigation?" Elizabeth turned to the doctor. Sarah had burn scars of the left side of her face from an accident (if you can call it that) many years prior. She was as tall as Chris and would be a knockout if it weren't for her scars. She had legs that went on forever and bleach blonde hair with spiral curls. 

Elizabeth knew her from a previous case she worked. A man came into the hospital with a stab wound claiming his wife stabbed him. Elizabeth found out that Sarah was trying to run away from her ex-husband. After she stabbed him, she got in the car and she flew around a curve way too fast.  She flew off the road, and a motorist called it in. When Sarah and her ex-husband ended up in the same hospital, Elizabeth started asking questions. Elizabeth found out what happened, she sent the wife-beating son-of-a-b***h to jail. Sarah was thankful to Elizabeth, and thanked her by finishing medical school and becoming one of the top trauma doctors in the hospital within a couple years.

"No, nothing new yet. I'm still waiting on valid tips, but my angles are running dry. Call me if she wakes up." Elizabeth turned down the hallway and left the hospital not bothering to look at either Chris or Sarah. They exchanged glances and watched her leave.