Learning to Stand (13 page)

“
They just
arrived.”

“
They?”

“
Captain Mac Clenaghan has
chest wound. Follow me,” the nurse said. “They are being prepped
for surgery.”

Like a man in a trance, John followed the
nurse through the maze of the Emergency room. Nearing the back, he
stopped walking.

“
Her father is with her,”
the nurse said. The nurse pointed toward the bed then left
him.

Alex lay on a hospital bed while a doctor
worked to stabilize her blood pressure. She was intubated. She had
a whole blood and a plasma IV hanging next to the bed. An
anesthesiologist was injecting hypodermic needle full of
medications into her saline IV. Blood, which seemed to rush out of
her, was collected with a series of pads near her abdomen.

Ben sat by her side holding her hand.
Feeling John’s eyes, Ben looked up at him.

The anesthesiologist nodded and an attendant
wheeled Alex from the Emergency room. As they neared the door,
Trece joined the procession. Holding a machine gun, Trece followed
Alex’s gurney to the surgery suite. White Boy came across Emergency
to where they were working on Matthew. John’s eyes followed
Matthew, White Boy and the doctors exit from Emergency.

Coming back to himself, he realized Ben was
standing in front of him.

“
I’m sorry. Did you say
something?” John asked.

“
No,” Ben said. “Is there a
place where we can talk? I’d like to smoke.”

“
Yes, I believe so,” John
said.

Leading the way, John made his way through
the Emergency room and up a flight of stairs to a designated
smoking patio. With the day turning to snow, there were only a few
people around the patio. Ben moved to a quiet corner and lit a
cigarette. Puffing a smoky breath, Ben looked up at John.

“
What do you know?” Ben
asked.

“
Nothing,” John said. “I
received a text from Max.”

“
He’s in the waiting room,”
Ben said. “They needed blood… from both of us.”

“
And her
parents?”

“
In town, but detained. They
should be here within the hour.”

John nodded then looked away. He wasn’t sure
what question to ask.

“
They were attacked by the
Boy Scout,” Ben said.

“
The Boy Scout…”

John’s mouth formed the words but he wasn’t
really there. John was lost in rage and futility about a man he
hated with all his mind and soul. He should have killed the Boy
Scout. He would have if Alex hadn’t begged him not to.

“
He shot Matthew – hollow
point round through his body armor. Somehow, the bullet missed his
heart and most of his vital organs. It’s a miracle. They have a
mess to clean up, but he should make a full recovery. Erin is in
the waiting room with Max. Colin’s on spring break. They were
having lunch with Max when this happened.”

“
And Alex?” John pushed the
Boy Scout out of his mind.

“
There are a couple videos
of the fight. Civilians with iPhones. Alex used her clothing to
care for Matthew. She fought the Boy Scout in her tank top. The
bright blue fairy tattoo is visible in every video and photo.
Anyone who knows the story knows the Fey fought some man in
Denver.”

John scowled at the implications.

“
The video is currently
playing on every television station, CNN and all over the Internet.
Alex told the people to stay back. They were Homeland Security. You
can imagine Homeland Security agents are big news.”

“
And?”

“
What do you want to know,
John? I can tell you she beat the snot out of the guy. Again. I can
tell you he tried to rape her. Again. I can tell you her injuries.
What do you need?”

“
Injuries,” John
said.

“
Her left forearm is broken.
She has extensive bruising to her liver, spleen, and intestines.
They believe she’ll recover with no disability.”

Ben stopped talking. His eyes searched
John’s face.

“
And Simon? Our
baby?”

Ben blew out a smoky breath.

“
She lost the baby. And...”
Ben stopped talking, not sure how to say what was next. “She is
having an emergency hysterectomy.”

“
She
hemorrhaged?”

“
She fell apart inside. If
the paramedics hadn’t been there when it happened? She wouldn’t
have survived.”

John’s heart stopped for a moment at the
‘if.’ He nodded his comprehension.

“
I spoke with Max. When she
found out she was pregnant, the doctor said her uterus didn’t have
adequate blood flow. Parts of the organ had atrophied. Her OB
believed the blood flow was never quite right after she was
wounded. The doc checked with the doctors in Germany and was told
that every effort was made to keep Alex’s reproductive
organs.”

“
Why?” John
asked.

“
I’m not sure. As you know,
Raz and I were not allowed to see her after she had her first
surgery. Patrick wasn’t allowed to come to Germany. We don’t know
who made those decisions.”

“
Her OB wanted her to have a
hysterectomy,” John said. He felt the cold truth flush through him.
“That’s why she’s been so upset.”

“
Only Max knows this. She
didn’t tell Raz and it wasn’t in the file he hacked. And I only
knew she was pregnant because Claire was certain the last time we
had dinner.”

“
Her doctor wanted her to
have a hysterectomy and she didn’t tell me?” John’s voice dropped
to a whisper. “Why?”

“
Max said she’s convinced
you will divorce her.”

“
Divorce Alex? Me? Never,”
John’s eyes became slits of rage. “This is more of Rebecca’s
bullshit.”

“
Probably,” Ben
said.

The men stood silently contemplating Alex’s
mother.

“
She will be in surgery for
a few hours, John. As soon as they complete the hysterectomy, and
stop her bleeding, they plan to run CatScans, PetScans and MRIs to
check her organs, her hip, and, well, everything. By the end of the
day, we’ll have a better idea of where she is
physically.”

“
Alex won’t stay in the
hospital,” John said. “She’ll want out as soon as she’s awake. Plus
there’s no way to keep her safe here. We could barely keep her safe
at Walter Reed.”

“
The basement’s done at your
house?”

“
Heat, water and
everything,” John said.

“
Sounds luxurious. Raz and I
will look at moving her there.”

“
I thought Raz was on a
plane to Washington DC,” John said.

“
So did he,” Ben said.
“Joseph Walter has stepped in to run the men.”

“
Joseph? I thought that was
impossible.”

“
So did he.” Ben smiled at
his repetition of words. “You’d be surprised at the leverage bought
about by denying a president and a street fight video plastered all
over the Internet.”

John smiled.

“
What about your class?” Ben
asked.

“
Bollocks the class,” John
said. “I will speak with my senior attending and test out of the
class. I should have tested out in the first place. It’s fairly
pedestrian.”

“
Would you like me to care
of your class?”

Raising an eyebrow, John looked over at Ben.
Nothing like having a super spy in your corner.

“
No, but thank you,” John
said. “And the Boy Scout?”

“
He is also in the Emergency
Room. He’s… injured. The Denver Police are reviewing the video
tapes to see if charges will be filed.”

“
IF?”

“
And against whom. He’s in
bad shape – broken jaw, lacerated genitals, fractured ribs, couple
spinous processes, burst spleen and... The list is extensive. We
can add mental illness as he says she attacked him out of the
blue.”

“
And the video?
Satellite?”

“
It’s been less than an
hour, John.”

Ben nodded his head toward the edge of the
patio. John turned to see Troy come across the smoking area.

“
I thought I might find you
here,” Troy said. “How ya doing?”

John’s eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed.
He tried to remember a time Troy had spoken to him. Ever.

“
Why?”

“
I think it would be very
hard,” Troy said.

“
You were assigned the
husband detail?”

Troy laughed and looked at Ben. Ben nodded
to encourage Troy.

“
Listen Mooch.”

John’s face soured. Alex’s friends started
calling him the Mooch when he was in college. It didn’t matter that
he made some money now. Once the Mooch, always the Mooch.

“
Sorry. Slipped out,” Troy
said. “Bad habits die hard.”

John shrugged.

“
I’m not any good at
emotional stuff,” Troy said. “I figured you might need a break. The
men are working on getting the data. I thought we could go for a
run while Alex is in surgery.”

“
Don’t want me to see the
video?” John asked.

“
No flies on you,” Troy
said.

“
Did you get that expression
from Alex?” John asked.

“
She got that expression from
me
,” Troy
laughed. “Ben, have you called her parents?”

“
I have,” he said. “They
will be here in an hour.”

“
Great. More press,” Troy
said.

“
The video is going to bring
an international response,” Ben said. “You’d be amazed at how many
people know Alex. Do you know where Raz is?”

“
He’s with Joseph,” Troy
said.

Ben nodded.

“
Come on, John. Let’s go for
a run. Have you run along the Platte?”

“
Of course,” John
said.

“
I haven’t run there yet,”
Troy said. “Do you have your stuff here?”

“
In the car.”

“
Great. We can run, get
something to eat and be back to the hospital before Alex is out of
surgery.”

“
I’ll miss the
video?”

“
And the press,” Troy said.
“Hate to have the husband all over CNN.”

“
John Kelly all over CNN
would definitely bring a different kind of international response,”
Ben said lighting another cigarette.

John smiled at Ben’s attempt at humor.

“
Come on,” Troy
said.

F

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Three hours later

Wednesday afternoon

March
26
–
3:20 P.M. MDT

Denver Health, Denver, CO

“
Hi,” Raz
whispered.

“
Boy Scout,” Alex
said.

She opened and closed her eyes. Raz moved to
sit on the edge of her bed.

“
He’s gone,” he replied.
“Before you ask, Matthew is out of surgery. The doctors believe he
will make a full recovery.”

He smiled at her. She frowned.

“
You hurt me,” she
said.

“
Yes, I did,” he said. “I
won’t insult you with excuses. I will regret it for the rest of my
life.”

“
I wish I knew why,” she
said. “It’s so very confusing.”

“
I know,” he said. “I think
it’s confusing too.”

“
Aren’t you supposed to be
in Washington?”

“
Joseph is leading the group
until you are up and around. He has assessed each of us and offered
us a tentative contract.”

Alex closed her eyes. She was
hallucinating.

“
I thought I heard you say
Joseph?”

“
Yep,” Raz nodded. “The
President wants us to find Cee Cee Joiner. Colonel Gordon put
Joseph on the table as the way to make it happen. The Fort
acquiesced to the Commander and Chief.”

“
Joseph who? Which
Joseph?”

“
Joseph Walter. Major Joseph
Walter. In fact, you’re now a Lieutenant Colonel.”

“
Now I know I’m
hallucinating,” she said.

“
Did you really
quit?”

“
Yep,” Alex said. “I’m a
civilian. I haven’t ever been one. No more vaults, no more guns, no
more assholes, just lunch with the girls and… whatever else
civilians do...”

Alex faded out. Her eyes closed then popped
open again.

“
Shop! Yep, shopping. Time
to spend the inheritance. I only have one pair of non-military
shoes. Sami has at least three hundred. I have to catch up. So you
see, I’m not a Lieutenant Colonel. I’m a housewife. A rich doctor’s
wife.”

“
Uh huh,” Raz
said.

Her brown eyes drifted across his face. She
saw his sorrow and remorse. Her soul ached to tell him everything
like she had for the last six years. But she didn’t trust him. When
she sighed, he cupped her face with his hand.

“
I‘m sorry. I took you for
granted. In my own desire to prove myself, I acted as if you were
inferior… wrong… Knowing better, I trampled on your feelings, your
kindness and our…” His eyes caressed her face before he added,
“Friendship.”