"It's an acute acceleration of the disease." "Muscle rigidity, whole-body tremors." "It's progressing." "I saw Emma." " How is she?" " Angry." "It's called Lewy body." "He has three to five years." "You need to do something." "Don't you fucking dare to judge my actions." " If you don't get her out, I swear..." " You'll do what?" "Walsh is getting traction with this anti-felon thing." "Apparently she's raised over three million this quarter." "So I'm sure you've seen the polls." "This race is a lot tighter than anyone expected and old Kane is MIA in his support." "This is my advice to you." "Eat shit." "Hey, it's me." "I need you." "Call me." "Why did you come home, Kitty?" "You said I could go after Kane at will." "This isn't about the Mayor." "The vote is scheduled for tomorrow." " Which?" " Lennox Gardens." "This isn't one we can lose." "I'm sure you're feeling the loss of both Ezra and Kitty." "But you can't do it alone." "Mona Fredricks has locked in the majority of the Black Caucus." "We could postpone the vote, give ourselves enough time..." "What part of "I don't want to postpone the fucking vote" do you not understand?" "Alderman Ross." "Mona Fredricks." "I vote nay." "This is bullshit, son of a bitch!" "The vote is suspended!" "Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Kane." "This airport expansion was necessary 22 years age." "Thank you." "God bless you." "Get me an ambulance now!" "Shots fired!" "Shots fired!" "Get an ambulance!" "Get him up!" "Get me an ambulance now!" "Get him off the stage!" "Get these people back!" "Sir, sir, let's go." "Clear the way, people." "At 4:38 this afternoon, in the final minutes of the O'Hare expansion groundbreaking ceremony, an assassination attempt was made after Mayor Kane's remarks at the celebration." "Three shots were fired from a significant distance, one of which struck the Mayors wife, Meredith Kane, in the chest." "Mrs. Kane was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she remains in surgery for life-threatening wounds." "The Mayor himself, though unharmed, is greatly shaken by the unimaginable tragedy." "He is currently at the hospital with his wife, in close contact with doctors, where he will remain in hopes of a successful recovery." "Now, according to the paramedics' report, Mrs. Kane suffered a punctured right lung, with heavy blood loss due to the entrance and exit wounds." "She remains in critical condition, likely will be in surgery throughout the night." "The Mayor and his family ask that their privacy be respected during this difficult time." "Thank you." "One at a time." "One at a time." "The shooter's not been caught." "The Chicago Police Department is pursuing any and all leads as we speak." "Now, as for the target, we have every reason to believe that it was Mayor Kane, not his wife, but this, too, is under investigation." "Who's in charge of City Hall this week if the Mayor's absence persists?" "The City Council has measures in place to keep the government running in a calm and orderly fashion." "As Chairman of the Operations Committee," "I can assure you that Chicago will not succumb to the fears that this heinous crime hopes to inspire." "The Kane family is in our prayers." "The will to stand down a panic is in our hearts." "Thank you." "I'm happy to offer a mild sedative if that would help." "I'm fine." "Boss?" "I've arranged for a private room to function as an office." "Don't call me that." "Unless I am unaware that this is more than just a temporary arrangement." "Yes, sir." "The room is ready." "You gonna show me the way?" " Evening, George." " Ms. O'Neil." "Was wondering where you been." "Vacation." "How's the Mayor?" "He's okay." "I must have dropped my pass in all the pandemonium." " Can I just go up?" " Go right ahead." "Send my best to the big man, you hear?" "Yeah." "Kitty" "I tried texting you." "Yeah, it's been a whirlwind." "I just wanted to know if anything was needed." "Do you have the alarm code to Kane's house to get him a change of clothes?" "That's not my department." "Any leads on who might have done this?" "Look, Kitty, you know I can't keep you in the loop." "Has there been a replacement?" "For the moment, some new kid from Driscoll's office, to help with the transition." "Ian Todd." "Can I ask you a question?" "Were you fired or did you quit?" "I don't know." "Both, I think." "Fuck this thing." "Give it to me on paper, so I can mark it up with this thing." " Yeah." " Remember these?" "And quickly." "We have three hours to lock for print." "Sam, Baine on one." "He doesn't want to wait." "That's tough shit." "Five minutes tops." "We're updating online in ten." "Now or never if you want changes made." "Okay, make that ten, Chuck." "Moretti called, asking for a prelim for tomorrow's front page." "You can reach him on his cell." "Meredith Kane photos from publicity." "And Sports wanna know, are we still running with tomorrows front-page story on the Bulls?" " Yeah, probably not." " Copy's asking for your editorial." "We're three hours to lock for print." " Yeah, no shit, we are." " By the way, you were there." " Can you verify a few eyewitnesses?" " I wasn't there." " Tick-tock, Sam." " You weren't?" "I know." "Yes, I was." "Just stop." "Everybody stop moving." "Look, there are two tasks that trump all others at the moment." "What does Detective Galvez at CPD know, and what does State's Attorney Doyle know?" "Somebody please get back to me." "Thank you." " Yeah." " No news on Mrs. Kane yet, but it seems that Dr. Harris you were onto didn't disappear after all." " What?" " By the looks of it, a recent addition to the hospital directory." "I'm sending you a picture right now." "You find out what time she works tomorrow and get back to me, okay?" "Fuck." "Detective Galvez and his team have determined the locus of the shooter," " But that's it for now." " Where was he?" "In an outlying building, about 700 yards away, well outside the perimeter of security." "Not an amateur." "Not by any stretch." " I'll keep you posted." " Thanks." "And for the mash, too." "Go." "I'll let you know if I need anything." "Yeah." "State's Attorney Doyle just called." "What are you doing here?" "I thought we'd review tomorrow's City Hall schedule, figure out what to cancel." "NO, what are you doing here?" "How, where, who, et cetera?" "And don't simply remind me that you're on loan from some other office, because a kid with your inexperience doesn't land a position like this unless he's fucking somebody, hard, in either sense of the word." "Well, where do I start?" "My first job at 13, so my single mom could go to college before I did?" "My stint at Second City, not because I was all that funny, but terrified of public speaking and determined to overcome it?" "There was a girl to blame for my "Getting Out the Vote" just to get laid." "So, yes," "I've done some fucking along the way, in both senses of the word." "But at the end of the day," "I think I'm here 'cause it was meant to be." "It's a draft of your statement to the press later tonight." "I hate the Oxford comma, incidentally." "Pet peeve." "I presume you know what that is." "Mental note." "I'm indifferent myself, but you won't see one again." "Suddenly why do I find myself missing Kitty?" "She's staying at her parents' house in Winnetka, 1117 Edgewood Lane." "I thought you might want to know that at some point." "And Emma?" "I presume you know where she is, too?" " Yes, sir." " Then why haven't you arranged for her to be here, on furlough to the hospital, in case her mother doesn't make it through the night?" "Right away." "Comb through this for Oxford commas, will you?" "What's an Oxford comma?" "Did you really just ask me that?" "Fuck if I know." "I just heard tomorrows vote on Lennox Gardens is still on the books." "You mean that Kane might actually be more concerned about his wife than his next big power grab?" "Whatever the reason, this is our chance." "The Spirit does move in mysterious ways." "We will have to contend with sympathy votes that may sway in Kane's favor in the wake of tragedy." "Then we'll just have to sway them in our favor by any means necessary." "How so?" "See what funds there are upstairs for a paint job in here." " Sorry?" " You heard me, girl." "It's about time we breathed some new life into this place." "I think we have to be careful with this." "Kane explicitly forbade you from speaking to press at the ceremony, and to lap up the attention that this photo will bring might look to him, and perhaps the public, too, like you're exploiting tragedy." "This is a gift from the gods, Rick." "We'd be crazy not to squeeze it for all it's worth." "This is what, five hours ago?" "I'm still trying to make sense of the fact that it even happened." "Exactly." "You're not ready." "That's why we wait." "Look, the photo's gone viral." "The buzz will do its own work for the time being." "We play hard-to-get with CNN and friends, you come out looking all the more honorable." "Those phones are ringing now." "We wait, they stop, and before we know it, this is yesterday's news." "Now is the moment, not after some polite passage of time." "And by the way, Kane hasn't given us the time of day in nearly two weeks, except to essentially put a gag in Ben's mouth at the O'Hare ceremony." "Look, this thing's a winner, there's no doubt about that, but I don't know." "You're both right." "It could look exploitative on one hand, and it's now or never on the other." "The public will eat this up, as they should." "On the Kane front, we cover ourselves with a visit to the hospital." "Good intentions preempt any apparent designs on publicity." "Not that we don't milk the press gauntlet as long as we're there." "I don't know." "Ben?" "It's late, Rick." "Why don't we sleep on it and get back to you tomorrow?" "Ben." "You did a heroic thing." "Own it." "I suggest you answer that." "Please." "These are nothing." "These..." "R's all right." "I'm here." "Everything's going to be fine." "Should she be given last rites if necessary?" "She never expressed her own wishes one way or another?" "A rare omission for a woman who always made her wishes known." "She was more of a "my will" than a "thy will" kind of person." "Is more of one, rather." "I don't know, maybe it doesn't make a difference either way." "God will not be mocked." "Nor will He be denied a child who returns to Him, however late in the game." "How about I say a prayer?" "Sure." "Do you need anything else beforehand?" "Yeah." "For all of this to just be a bad dream." "I'm afraid there's little I can say that you don't already know about this tragic event, not only in my life, but in the life of Chicago." "An occasion for celebration was turned into one of terror when a bullet clearly intended for me hit my wife instead." "Meredith..." "She was there at my side, as she has always been, and for that, she has paid a terrible, unimaginable price." "Suffice it to say, I couldn't have done this job without her." "Hopefully, I won't have to." "I can't remember the last time was I had to do this." "Forgive me." "Too many thank yous are in order, from the paramedics and surgeons now operating on Meredith, to anyone and everyone hoping or praying on her behalf." "So let me say to one and all, thank you, and let me assure you that the shooter will be found and will be punished." "Good night." "Now, as for the target, we have every reason to believe that it was Mayor Kane, not his wife, but this, too, is under investigation." "Who's in charge at City Hall this week if the Mayor's absence persists?" "The City Council has measures in place to keep the government running in a calm and orderly fashion." "As chairman of the Operations Committee," "I can assure you that Chicago will not succumb to the fears that this heinous crime hopes to inspire." "The Kane family is in our prayers." "The will to stand down a panic is in our hearts." "Sir, is everything okay?" "No, God damn it, everything is not okay!" "I'm just tired, that's all." "Please, forgive the disturbance." "Good night." "Excuse me." "I wanted to leave a note for Mayor Kane." "You are?" "Kitty O'Neil." "I used to work for him." "I'm not asking to see him." "I just want to leave him a note." "I'll see to that if you like." "Kitty O'Neil, my esteemed predecessor." "Ian Todd." "I'm sorry." "I'm either blanking, or I've never heard of you." "I'd be happy to give the Mayor your message, but unscheduled visitors really aren't allowed on the floor at this time." "Just lei him know I stopped by." "Sir, I just wanted to say that..." " No, no, I'm not going." " Ma'am..." "You can tell the warden that." "Fuck the warden and fuck you." " You're hurting me." " Oh, yeah?" "How about now?" "I don't care if you're the Mayor's daughter." "I don't care if your mom is at death's door or you don't want to see her." "Right now, I care about you letting me do my job." "Tom?" "Meredith." "Meredith!" "Meredith!" "Meredith!" "The ballistic trauma caused a severe pulmonary laceration in her right lung, as well as ruptures to a major blood vessel in the thorax." "After several attempts to drain fluid and repair the collapsed right lung, she underwent a partial pneumonectomy in which half of it was removed." "But you're telling me she's alive." "Indeed." "Just that we're keeping a close eye on her, as complications can arise at any moment." "Is it possible to live a normal life with half a lung missing?" "For the most part, yes." "Significant physical therapy will be required in the short term, and she probably won't be climbing any mountains in the long term." "She prefers the metaphorical kind anyway." "Thank you, doctor." "When can I see her?" "Not for several hours, given the anesthesia and surgical impact." "This would be the time for a shower and change of clothes." "Maybe I could just have one quick look." "Back so soon?" "This is a staff parking lot." "You're not allowed to be here." "You want to get the guy at the gate fired, that's your call." "Am I imagining things, or did you call me two weeks ago from Arizona to talk, only to fall off the map again the very next day, and then lo and behold, show up in Chicago like nothing ever happened." "I was on sabbatical." "And don't you have more important matters at the moment?" "Hey, you called me." "We planned to talk, and I called you back, repeatedly." "Sabbatical or exile, Dr. Harris?" "And what suddenly brought it to an end?" "You'd like to know why I called?" "Why I ever saw Kane in the first place?" "I most certainly do." "As would his nearly three million constituents." "I am treating someone else the Mayor cares about deeply." "That's all I'm prepared to say." "Em mats tunny, because Mrs. Kane told me that you were treating her husband for migraines." "Then maybe you should go to intensive care and call bullshit on her, too." "I hear she's out of surgery." "I was just telling them that you weren't seeing anyone." "It's okay." "Long as we're not talking about the campaign." "No, sir." "Good news about Meredith." "Vigilance continues, but, yes, it is." "Listen, we don't want to take up any of your time, but we just couldn't stay away." "If there's anything you need, anything at all, we'll let you know." "I mean, we just wanted to let you know..." "Anything." "Anytime." "Okay." "We'll leave you be." "Yeah." "Thanks for coming." "That was Babe McGantry calling again." "Next." "Spoke with the warden's office at Cook County Jail." "Emma resisted the furlough." "The warden said sedation is an option if you insisted." "No." "Call the car." " Where to?" " Home." " Got to get a change of clothes." " I can do that if you'd like." "Listen to me the first time." "The Lennox Gardens vote is on." "I wanted to make sure you still count for a solid "no."" "It ain't the greatest day to take a stand against the Mayor, you know?" "He can have our sympathy, Reginald." "But he cannot have unchecked power against the Chicago Housing Authority." "I hear you talking, believe me." "That's why I was "no" the other day." "But, man, something heartless this time around." "In you or in him?" "Time is money, Reginald, and knowing you have less of the latter than meets the eye, would a promissory note towards your re-election campaign help our cause here?" "25,000?" "Mrs. Zajac, would you say it's an exaggeration that your husband responded like a hero at the scene of the shooting?" "Ben responded the only way he knows how." "If that makes him a hero, I wouldn't know the difference." "Listen, today we are the hero, all of Chicago." "Despite such a dark hour," "I am confident that we will all forge on together as one." "$25,000?" "Last I checked, your PAC didn't have even half of that in it for your own re-election, let alone someone else's." "You're telling me you're not aware of other sources of revenue after how long you've been working for me?" "Interesting time to break the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy around here." "What's our Plan B if the vote doesn't go our way?" "It's going our way!" "If I have to buy a vote or two to make it so, then welcome to Chicago." "But over my dead body will the Gardens be torn down by this cracker-ass fascist in suspenders after all the shit he's pulled right under our eyes." "Better yet, over his wife's dead body, if only she hadn't made it through the night." "What in God's name happened to you?" "Did Kane have anything to do with you checking out?" "Stand up." "Excuse me?" "Stand up." "Now." "You're not standing here but for my generosity, when I threw you a bone and showed you the ropes." "I don't recall it being so cliché." "What, you got a taste of power the other day, voting proxy in my place?" "Don't let it go to your head." "I'm afraid this is the way it's going to be." "As much as you can't fill the hole you've created." "Mr. Mayor." "Right." "Security and everything." "Do you want me to turn the air on?" "I'm fine." "That shooter might have missed you, boss, and so do I." "Today we vote for the future of Chicago." "Yes, Lennox Gardens is my house, so I do have a vested interest." "But the Chicago Housing Authority is in all our purview, not the Mayor's alone, and in this, we should all have a vested interest." "Some might accuse me of playing the race card." "So be it." "Better that than to fold at a table like this, stacked as it is in one man's favor." "I know this is a hard day to take a stand against a man who's been through something so horrific." "Let it be a stand against the principle, instead, of unprecedented autocracy in the public sphere." "Mayor Kane can have our sympathy, and he certainly does." "But he cannot have such unchecked power as he alone sees fit." "Thought I taught you a lesson." "You have no idea how good it is to see you." "I appreciate the sympathy expressed by Alderman Ross." "And I understand the concern." "But I beg to differ on the principle in question here today." "If the last 24 hours has taught me anything, it's never too late for change" "until it's too late." "That is the principle in question today, change." "Whether we have the wherewithal to make it." "For on my watch, as a young mayor at Lennox Gardens, mistakes were made." "Administrative blunders, bureaucratic mishaps, and the city has paid a price ever since." "Now, I may have had more hair and less girth back then, and t had neither the foresight nor the fortitude" "to know what I know now." "Nothing is irreversible." "Nothing is irreparable, except a willing capitulation to the status quo." "I, too, have a vested interest in Lennox Gardens, because We offers nothing so precious" "as a second chance." "If anyone would care to take a stand against the principle of that, please, be my guest." "Then, motion to vote." "Hear, hear." "Good job." "Well done." "You spent so much time playing by the book, you didn't even think to put a tail on him." "There's a community there, not just a record of administrative blunders and bureaucratic mishaps." "That's all been taken into account." "Not if their only options are relocation to the outskirts or high-end condos they can't afford in the new development." "You want to fix past mistakes?" "Give those who need it most something to come back to, something affordable and safe." "I almost hear an "or else" in there." "Or else they take the problems with them." "For all the horror of the past 24 hours, that's commonplace at Lennox Gardens." "It won't go away with an architectural facelift." "Did you just use my wife for political purposes?" "Didn't you just do the same?" "If you want to make sure this project turns out right, perhaps you should come work for me lo ensure a better outcome." "What?" "I need to fill the vacancy left by Ezra Stone, and you need to part ways with Alderman Ross." "No?" "Admit it." "The only thing he wants to keep intact at Lennox Gardens is the dirty pipeline of money and votes." "You stay where you are, imagining change, or decamp and make it happen." "How do I know this isn't you taking home a trophy on top of winning the vote?" "Only one way to find out." "The offer expires as soon as I walk out the door." "I'm in." "So we meet again." "We do." "I thought I was as good as dead to you at the cemetery." "That's a bad joke." "I'm glad you called." "Could I start you off with a cocktail?" "Cabernet, please." "Actually, Diet Coke's fine." "I drove, so..." "Now you're making me look bad." "I'll have a Jameson's on the rocks." "Thank you." " 30% - 30%" "We can talk off the record, I hope?" "Yeah, by all means." "The shooting." "You know anything that isn't on the front page?" "You could try asking the lead detective or State's Attorney, but they'll barely give me the time of day, so..." "Well, that's 'cause Galvez is completely useless, and Doyle cannot be trusted." "MY turn?" "Yes." "What the hell happened with you?" "Subtle." "Mayor Kane's left-hand woman, one of the sharper minds in town," "I'm not going to waste your time being coy." "Look, you don't get fired or quit unless some major shit goes down." "I can't talk about it." "For now." "Do you know anything about Kane seeing a Dr. Ella Harris?" "What do you mean, romantically?" "Neurologically." "I don't understand." "What are you..." "Are you saying he's sick?" "Or has migraines or a sick loved one." "Depends on who you ask." "Wait a minute." "Back up a second." "You're telling me that you know for a fact that Kane has been seeing a neurologist?" "Maybe." "I can't tell you." "Yes, he has, but that's all I know." "What about you?" " What about me?" " What's next?" "New job?" "Gonna take a vacation?" "I don't know." "I haven't decided yet." "You can't just let me leave here empty-handed." "Says the pot calling the kettle black." " Let's make a deal then." " A deal?" " A deal." " Okay." "You answer one tough question, professional, personal, my choice, and I'll do the same." "Deal?" "Professional." "My choice." "Fine." " Enjoy." " Thanks." "Zajac." "What gives?" "Did you get to know him before the primaries?" "Is he really the shell he seems to be, or is there something there actually worth voting for?" "I don't know." "Excuse me a second." "Okay." "Tom." "Hello, Babe." "What a relief." "She's coming along." "She always was a fighter." "I tried calling, but maybe your new kid didn't get you the message." "I figured it was more about Lennox Gardens than Meredith." "Let's just say it was about both, considering how much it means to her that we carry on in her spirit." "You made the right move at City Hall, at the right time." "I guess we'll be seeing more of each other, at least until Meredith is back on her feet." "I guess we will." "Wait." "Who let him in to see my wife before I do?" "It wasn't my shift." "It..." "Nobody..." "Nobody gets near this room again without my permission." "Your shift or not, it will be your last." "Yes?" "Yes." "I don't bite." "What, now he sends lackeys from the mailroom to do his bidding?" "Not exactly." "I'm filling in as his aide, for good if I can help it, so you might need to get used to me." "And I'm not here to get you to go to the hospital." "I'm not going to the hospital." "I know, yeah." "I'd miss it here, too, even for an hour." "Do you know how many facial muscles it takes to frown?" "Something like 47." "Fascinating." "And only two to smile, so why don't you just admit that I'm the best-looking guy you've seen in two weeks?" "Which, understandably, isn't saying much." "You work for my father?" "I work for the Mayor." "And as long as you keep up this kind of routine, you might as well work for your father." "How so?" "Nothing empowers him more than having big problems and solving them." "Right now, you are one of the biggest." "He threw me under a bus to save his career." "Exactly." "Which has left him with a very big problem, as far as I can see it." "How to win you back." "Good luck." "Look, don't get me wrong." "I'm not suggesting you should let him." "I'm not even suggesting you should forgive him." "God knows I can relate in my own life." "What I'm saying is, if you want to get back at him or make him pay in any way, psychologically, mind you," "I am not suggesting something worse." "You can't do it from the bottom of a glue tube in county jail." "In other words, tell him how I really feel when you get me to go to the hospital." "Truth be told..." "I have a longer game in mind than that." "House arrest." "What?" "Where?" "No, no." "I'm not going home." "Yeah." "You'd rather stick it out in this hellhole instead." "That brick house who protects you, according to the guards, she's up for parole." "She gets out, then what?" "You hurt your dad by getting yourself hurt or worse?" "You should be proud." " What's happening?" " Sir, please step out of the room." "What's happening?" " Is she all right?" " Sir, please step out of the room." "Is she all right?" "Tell Dr. Campbell we're headed for the OR." "Somebody..." "Somebody get the priest." "Don't fool yourself." "Sir?" "You sure you don't want to wait downstairs?" "Just needed to get some air." "Stay." "Run for your life, kid." "Many kinds of business I've come to handle over the years." "Death and dying isn't one of them." "You're not alone." "Oh, yes, he is." "Aren't you' boss?" "I do have what might be some good news, though." "I spoke with the warden and parole board about the possibility of house arrest for Emma." "They seem willing to consider it in light of family circumstance." "I can only imagine what Emma would have to say." "The truth is, she wouldn't have a choice." "But I spoke with her, too." "You did?" "Just to play the good cop." " You being..." " Me being the bad cop." "That's not what I meant." "I've hired Mona Fredricks to replace Ezra Stone." "I'd like you to stay on as well." "You would?" "Past whatever temporary arrangement you've made with Alderman Driscoll." "I'll take care of it." "I'm sure you will." "We shored up residual perforations in the superior lobe, so I wouldn't expect a relapse." "In a few days, when breathing has normalized, she'll be extubated." "Her throat will be sore, and it will take some time for her voice to recover, starring with whispers." "Here." "I'll slip you some iced tea when the nurse is looking the other way." "Don't force it." "You got plenty of time." "What?" "Did you do this to me?" "Meredith..." "No." "No."