by Margaret Kay
“You did this?” He demanded.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “I used the remainder of the sutures I had and expended the antiseptic as well. Knowing I probably didn’t kill all the germs with the sparse sanitizing I could do, I left the wounds unbandaged so I could watch for signs of infection.”
“You’re a doctor?” He asked.
“No, a nurse, but we have no doctor and these two would have died had I done nothing. They were both bleeding profusely when they arrived. I did my best,” she insisted firmly and unapologetic.
A pang of remorse hit Doc, square in the chest. Of course, she had. She was obviously in way over her head. “And you did save them. I can strengthen your sutures and apply a proper level of antiseptic and then bandage the wounds. Will you assist?”
She nodded and moved in close as he opened his medical pack. He handed her a set of gloves and donned his. He found her to be a good assistant, knew the names of the instruments he asked for, handed them to him correctly, and jumped in when needed to help tie off or cut threads. She was a competent nurse but shouldn’t have been the doctor in this village.
When finished, Doc took both boys vitals. They were both weak, very weak. He hated to admit it, but Sister Elizabeth was correct. Moving these two would kill them. Hell, just carrying them out of the cave would probably do it.
Cooper stuck his head into the room. “Doc, we’re ready to move. Do you have these two stabilized?”
Doc gazed into Sister Elizabeth’s ocean blue eyes. He saw a fire in them.
“They’re too weak to move. You know that,” she pled. “Go, I’ll stay with them.”
“Our mission is to get everyone out,” Doc said.
“What does it matter if you kill them in the process?” Elizabeth demanded. “Come back for us in three days. If they make it, they’ll be strong enough by then.”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind, Sister,” Cooper said.
“She’s right, Coop. We’ll kill them if we move them now.” Doc considered it for a long moment. “Come back to get us in three days. They’ll be ready to be moved by then.”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Cooper insisted.
“And make sure someone empties those buckets of piss and shit. I can’t stand the smell,” Doc added.
“Doc, you’re sure they can’t be moved?”
“Coop, you need to move, you have incoming,” Madison’s voice came through their comms. “I’m calling in an airstrike, but I doubt we’ll get them all.”
“Roger, Xena.” His eyes refocused on Doc. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, get everyone to safety. We’ll hunker down and get these two strong enough to be moved.”
Cooper nodded. “Stay on comms and we’ll coordinate time off to save your batteries. Stay safe. We’ll be back. I promise.”
Doc nodded and then watched him leave, already regretting his decision to remain behind. His eyes met the young Sister’s. She should have been scared shitless, but she looked defiant. “You just might have gotten us both killed.”
“Thank you,” she said in a small voice, “for staying to help. You are a skilled doctor. These boys have a better chance of survival with you here.”
Bravo
The seven remaining members of Shepherd Security led the civilians out of the village and to the LZ. Madison called in the air strike. Missiles hit three of the four trucks, loaded with Al-Shabaab members. The explosion stunned the women and children that were evacuating. Many cried out and hit the ground when the Earth shook violently as the deafening concussion echoed through the canyon.
The fourth vehicle sped around the carnage and continued towards the village. After conducting a very brief search, and finding it vacant, the truck loaded with the fighters took the only other road out, the one the Shepherd Security personnel were on with the refugees, mostly women and children.
“You’ve got one truck with about a dozen heat signatures heading your way. Move your asses to the LZ!” Madison’s voice came through the men’s comms.
“Roger that, Xena,” Cooper said. They were trying. Many of the civilians were injured or were young children that weren’t capable of moving too quickly. “What’s their ETA?”
“At your current speed, it’s going to be close.”
“Understood,” Cooper said. “Keep me apprised of their twenty.”
“Roger Coop,” Madison replied.
Two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters came into view, swiftly getting closer. The rotors kicked up the loose sandy dirt floor of the canyon and swirled it through the dry, hot air. Both birds landed. The men didn’t waste a second. They hustled the civilians aboard, lifting those who needed assistance.
Sister Bernice John stopped in front of Jackson as she was about to climb in. Recognition washed over her features. “Jackson?” She shouted.
He smiled and nodded. “We’ll catch up on board. We have to move, Sister!”
“Of course,” she said and climbed in, assisted by her son-in-law.
“The hostiles are on the other side of that rise to your west,” Madison announced. “I launched a second Hellfire. ETA two minutes. Keep your heads down.”
Cooper and Lambchop took up cover positions, weapons aimed at the hill, in case the hostiles moved in faster than the drone. Over his shoulder, Cooper saw the last of the civilians climb onto the choppers.
The truck crested the rise. The incoming force fired at the first sight of them. Gunfire struck the helicopters, which were sitting ducks on the ground. Then the missile hit the truck. It exploded in a rolling fireball that sent debris a hundred feet in all directions as the earsplitting blast reverberated between the hills, shaking the ground.
Cooper and Lambchop climbed aboard taking up gunner positions with Mother and the Undertaker on their chopper. Cooper viewed the other bird. Jackson, the Birdman, and Garcia covered the doors on it. The birds flew out of Al-Shabaab territory, swiftly retreating further into the safety of Ethiopia before banking and heading towards Camp Lemonnier.
“The team is clear,” Madison said. “Doc, are you safe at your twenty?”
“Safe enough,” Doc replied. His eyes flickered to the young Sister. “We need to figure out a schedule to be off comms and save my battery power.”
“Roger that, Doc. Go ahead and signoff now. We’ll start out with a top of the hour rotation. Al-Shabaab is still trying to figure out what the hell hit them. I’m sure they believe the village is vacant. You’re safe for a little while, but I’ll be watching.”
“Keep a good eye out, Xena. I’ll be back online at the top of the hour.”
Doc turned the comms off, knowing he was now cut off from his team. If Madison saw any threat, she would not be able to alert him. His gut twisted. Remaining here was one of the stupidest things he’d ever done. He took a seat on the narrow, hard cot beside the Sister. Then he opened his pack and removed two protein bars. He handed one to her.
She gave him a slight smile and took it. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice. “Dear Lord, our provider, thank you for the salvation of rescue these men brought. And thank you for this sustenance for my body. I especially thank you, Father, for this doctor who brought it, who will help heal these children, in Your name, Amen.”
Doc had opened his packaging and took a bite of his bar when she’d started speaking her blessing. He paused, watched, and listened, giving her the respect of her faith. He then watched as she tore the packaging on her protein bar open. She devoured it like she hadn’t eaten in weeks, before he even took another bite.
“What’s your name?” She asked after she had finished eating.
“Doc.”
“No, your real name, what your mother named you.”
“Alexander Williams, but I go by Doc.”
“Alexander,” she announced like she had just named him. She smiled pleasantly. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Elizabeth Shaw.” She reached her right hand to him.
“It’s nice to meet you to
o, Sister Elizabeth.” He shook her hand.
“Just Elizabeth is fine.” She glanced around nervously. “Way back here in this cavern we should be safe.” Though she knew they were not. Not as long as they remained. She knew the violence in this region, the war, the lack of respect for human life.
Doc didn’t like that it was as though she could sense his feelings and thoughts. That was exactly what he’d been telling himself. “I’ve got a couple motion detectors on me. I’m going to wire the fake wall and a second location within the main cave. You stay here and I’ll be right back.”
He came to his feet and wove his way through the narrow passageway and back to the main cave. He mounted his motion detectors and then extinguished six of the eight low wattage lamps. He carried the last two with him back to the chamber where Sister Elizabeth and their two patients waited. Then he sat up the rugged computer tablet that would monitor the motion detectors on the foot of one of the metal tables where the smallest of the two boys laid.
“What about power for it?” She asked, coming to her feet and coming in close to inspect the equipment.
“It’s self-contained. The monitoring equipment draws very little power when idle. It only eats the juice when activated.”
“And that can’t power your other communication device?”
Doc smiled. She was a curious girl. Of course, he already knew that, a nurse performing surgery. This wisp of a girl was both curious and tenacious. He shook his head at that thought. “No, a different type of power is used. How old are you, anyway?”
She raised her chin into the air and stood a little taller. “I’m twenty-four years old. Why does that matter?”
Doc’s lips ticked up into a grin. Jesus, she was a child. “It doesn’t. It’s just that you look like you’re about fifteen. I was just wondering how old you were.”
His words annoyed her. “I’m old enough,” she said with an edge to her voice unbecoming a Sister. “I’ve been here three years.”
“And what have you learned in the three years you’ve been here?” Doc asked as he continued configuring his equipment.
“The people of this region are strong and resilient. They want to survive and live free of conflict and tyranny.”
“They’re living in the wrong part of the world for that,” Doc remarked cynically.
“Most of the militia, warlords, and pirates steer clear of us so the women and children who seek refuge with us are safe.” She paused and chuckled. “They fear repercussions in their afterlives if they harm a Sister. They may not believe in the same God, but they respect that we are women of faith. But Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, they’re different. They are ruthless and radical.”
“Yes, they are,” Doc agreed, his tone dead serious. “If you Sisters hadn’t hid, you’d all be dead or someone’s concubine.”
“Probably dead,” she agreed.
With this admission, Doc saw her armor crumble. She knew she was in deep shit here; knew how close it had been, probably even knew how dangerous it was for them to remain for the next three days. “But you hid, and you survived.” He’d throw her that bone.
“Yes,” she confirmed with pride. “I just prayed they wouldn’t burn our village to the ground as they did the others. We would have been overcome by the smoke and no doubt would have all perished in the cave.”
Doc nodded. They’d been damned lucky. “Well, the others are all safe now. It’s just the four of us we need to worry about for the next three days, or as soon as these two heal up enough for transport.”
Elizabeth nodded wearily. The exhaustion of the past few days were overtaking her now that she was safe, well, sort of safe. She yawned deeply. “I haven’t slept much. Do you mind if I?” She pointed to the cot.
“Sure,” he said. “I’ve got them. Get some sleep.”
She grabbed one of the lighter weight blankets and balled it up to use as a pillow as she reclined on the cot. This man’s presence did bring her a feeling of safety and security. Knowing he would watch over her patients, she drifted off into a deep slumber almost immediately.
Elizabeth’s calm state didn’t last long. She soon found herself shivering, awake and in a near-frenzied state. She gasped for air while mentally telling herself to calm down and relax. She was safe.
“Shh, it’s okay,” Doc said, soothingly. He took hold of her wrist and took her pulse. It was racing. He knelt beside the cot. “Take slow, deep breaths.”
She did as she was told. “I’m not sure how I can be cold as this cave is hotter than Hades, but I’m shivering.”
“How long had you been awake?”
“I don’t know, thirty or so hours.”
Doc’s lips twisted into a smirk. “You were running on adrenalin, hyping you up, until you went to sleep. You’re just crashing now. It’s a common response. Just keep breathing slowly and you’ll be fine.” He sat her hand back to the cot and moved away. Great, he had a third patient, just what he needed.
The two Black Hawk helicopters sat down in the darkness beside a hangar at Camp Lemonnier. All the Sisters and civilians, except for Sister Bernice John, were turned over to base personnel, who led them to temporary quarters where they would receive medical evaluations, meals, and bunks. Sister Bernice John would catch up with them later.
After introductions all around, including hugs of thanks from Angel’s mom to each man, she and Jackson enabled a video chat with Angel, back at HQ. Angel held a sleeping baby Sammy up for his grandmother to see how big he had gotten.
“I wish I was there with you,” Angel said. “Mom, when the team returns, can you come with them?”
“Oh, my Angel, I wish I could. The people we serve need us more than ever now. You are safe and healthy.” She paused and smiled at Jackson. “Your husband and his coworkers see to that. My heart is at peace that you are in the very best place you can be in. Praise God that He delivered you to this man.” She embraced Jackson.
“I worry about you, Mom,” Angel said.
“God provides, Angel. Sister Elizabeth had a divine inspiration to prepare the cave we hid in. God saw to it that your husband and his group came to our rescue. I have faith, my child, and where there is faith, there is no fear.”
That same old knot twisted in Angel’s gut. She believed, but not as devoutly or as fully as her mother. She couldn’t say if it was God or luck that enabled her mom and the others to survive, though she would prefer to believe it was God. Having been through her own moments of terror, Angel knew how much faith played a part in getting through a horrific ordeal. “You are an inspiration, Mother,” Angel said. “I love you and I am so relieved that you are okay.”
“I love you, my child,” the Sister said with tears in her eyes. “I love that precious grandchild of mine.” Her gaze then shifted to Jackson, who sat beside her. “And I love you, Ethan Jackson. You have proved yourself time and again to be the best man for my daughter.” She embraced him and cried tears of relief, of joy, of love.
“I don’t like it any more than you do, Big Bear,” Cooper said, cell phone to his ear. He stood near the Lakota helicopter on the very busy flight line. He nodded at the Undertaker and Lambchop, who approached, gear in hand under the bright artificial lights.
“Then why did you leave a man behind? And a Sister?” Shepherd barked.
“There were two little boys in critical condition that couldn’t be moved. We’re monitoring that village and all the players in the area very closely. No one will even fart in that sector without us knowing. Razor, Mother, and Jax will take shifts in Ops with Xena. The Undertaker, Lambchop and I are getting ready to deploy closer to that village with a flight team at the ready whenever Doc notifies us those kids are okay to transport, or he’s in trouble. Base personnel have friends over the border in Ethiopia. We’ll wait there. We’re not leaving Doc uncovered.”
“I still don’t like it,” Shepherd remarked harshly. “But I trust Doc’s medical assessment of those kids. Cover his six and keep me posted.”
“Shepherd busting your balls?” Lambchop asked.
“He doesn’t like that we left a man behind. If we hadn’t needed every single one of us at the LZ with the civilians, I’d have stayed.”