Realization

“Michael! Michael!”
I felt a coursing pain on the side of my head. I sat up, expecting to see Courtney. I was lying on the pavement next to my apartment. No one else was around. Suzuki and Courtney were gone. I immediately scrambled to my feet and stood, trying to keep my balance as I looked around, trying to think. My head kept me from thinking for a moment, but then I remembered what happened. Suzuki hit me, knocking me unconscious. I remember hearing her rev her engine, having turned back into a motorcycle, and based on Courtney’s yelling soon afterwards, she was on the bicycle. Or maybe we both were. It explained how I was now in front of my apartment instead of inside Rimoss pharmaceuticals.
I checked for my phone and found I still had it. I flipped it open, looking for anything recent. There was the long conversation with Suzuki that I had during our invasion of Rimoss. Then after that was one text message. I quickly opened it, my heart racing. It might have been Courtney!
It was.
416 Park Ave. Not much time.
Park Avenue, I knew where that was. I immediately turned and ran down the street, fighting the pounding in my head as I ran. Park Avenue was a couple of blocks away. Courtney must be hiding there. Best guess would be in an alleyway or outside somewhere. Suzuki could track movement with machinery, I’d gathered that much when we entered Rimoss, so she would probably be blind to any place without security cameras or electrical surveillance.
My vision swam and I went down, but caught myself before rising. I wasn’t going to let a little headache stop me. Grunting, I pressed forward, eyes squinted tightly as I flew along the pavement. People moved aside for me, which was good; I would have run through them anyway. Once I reached Maltese Street I looked across the way to Park Avenue, scanning for anyone that looked like Courtney. I relaxed when I saw her. She was sitting next to a mail box, looking down at the pavement and holding her arm.
I paced myself and walked over to her, the throbbing subsiding to a point. Once I got to the mailbox I squatted down in front of Courtney.
“Hey.”
Courtney looked up, startled, then saw me and relaxed.
“Michael!”
“You ok?” I asked.
Courtney removed her hand from her arm and I saw a few road burn marks. Did she jump off Suzuki?!
“How’d that happen?” I asked, sounding calmer than I felt because of how much my head hurt.
“Suzuki kept me with her after dropping you off; she said you weren’t needed anymore. I think she wanted us to be separated, because she didn’t follow me when I jumped off.”
“You jumped?”
Courtney looked embarrassed as she looked to one side. “…or fell off.”
I smiled, happy to see Courtney was alright. I held my arms open and we hugged, then stood up.
“So what now?” Courtney asked.
“I need to sit down, wherever we go,” I said, then made a decision about our next location. “Let’s go to the store; we can get you bandaged up, I can get some pain killer,” I said with my teeth clenched, “and figure out what to do from there.”
“Ok.” Courtney said. She seemed pretty ok aside from the cut arm. She helped me walk to the store. We sat outside the store, waiting for our assorted pain killers to do their job. I’d bought a water for the two of us. We ‘clinked’ our bottles together, being my idea to toast ‘to our well-being’, since we surprisingly made it this far without major injury. Courtney smiled and agreed. After a few minutes of blissful quiet, one of the TVs in the store caught our attention.
“We report to you live with a stunning development at Rimoss Pharmaceutical.”
I couldn’t tell who stood up faster as we turned to the TV.
“Today the CEO and founder of Rimoss Pharmaceutical, thirty-nine year old Ted Kalihart, had allegedly committed suicide in his home on Scots Pine Road. The man was alone and had had no visitors this morning.”
Courtney and I stared at each other. What had Suzuki done?!
“Police report Ted used his pistol that he kept in his desk drawer to end his life, where he sat in front of his computer. We’re not sure if there was anything on this computer he intended to keep hidden, but the authorities are looking into that now.”
We were down the street heading for Scots Pine before we heard the rest.