Learning to Stand

by Claudia Hall Christian

  “I TOLD you,” Trece said. “You stink Alex.”

  John had been so focused on the ground he’d walked right past Trece and White Boy.

  “Sorry.” Alex wrinkled her nose.

  “What IS that?” John asked.

  “Fire smoke, bombs, mercury,” she said.

  “And GARBAGE! I told her you were going to spurn her because of the stench. But she wouldn’t listen to me.”

  John kissed Alex’s lips. With his mouth in her ear, he whispered that he loved her. He was glad she was safe. She kissed him then whispered how much she missed him in the dark. When they broke off, Trece was still talking.

  “I’d think a woman would want to smell good for her husband but that’s how it is. Once you’re stuck with them, they let themselves go. I mean…”

  Pulling her to him, he whispered ‘stuck’ in her ear. She giggled then whispered, ‘Twenty-eight days.’ He whispered, ‘Twenty-seven.’ She whispered that she loved him. He flushed, as he always did, with delight and passion. They kissed.

  “I’ve got to cover my eyes around you guys,” he said.

  “How is Raz?” Alex’s face pinched with worry.

  “Really well, actually,” John said. “It’s amazing to everyone, but he’s going to be walking as soon as he’s out of anesthesia.”

  “That’s very good news.” Alex sighed with relief.

  “You’ve a new cast.” John reviewed the gauze and aluminum contraption encasing her left arm tucked into a blue sling. “Why the surgical cast?”

  “I had surgery.”

  “You did?!”

  “I re-broke my arm in one of the blasts. They said my ulna was ‘scored’ from last fall’s adventures,” she said. “I’d probably have had to get surgery anyway.”

  “But no infection?” John asked.

  “No sign of infection. Thank God.”

  Alex and John shared a look of relief. Alex had antibiotic resistant sepsis last fall. After four months of infection, she kicked the infection using a Chinese treatment her acupuncturist found.

  “Shouldn’t you be out?” John asked. He stepped over to read her chart.

  “They did locals and a spinal. Anything for a YouTube star.”

  “But no shower?” Laughing, John looked up from her chart.

  “No time. I’m still on the Joiner case,” Alex said. “I’m hoping for a real cast in a few days.”

  “Not until the wound heals.”

  “Lifestyle issues.”

  John shook his head at the logic needed to keep her health intact.

  “The docs told the MPs I needed time to come out of anesthesia. We have an hour or so.”

  “Really?” He dropped the chart to hold her again.

  “White Boy went out for a snack,” Alex said.

  White Boy held up two bags from McDonald’s. John sputtered.

  “I’m almost a vascular surgeon! I can’t eat fat laden food here! At the hospital! Where I’m hoping to get a placement! Holy Crap, Alex, what are you thinking?”

  Alex smiled her crooked smile. Her smile made him laughed at himself.

  “Can you stand her stench?” White Boy asked. “The docs said she can’t get the cast wet.”

  John nodded.

  “We secured a little patio upstairs. It’s pretty nice. White Boy and I will guard the doors so you guys can have some alone time.”

  John’s mouth fell open in surprise. He hadn’t thought he would get time alone with Alex.

  “Alone? Really?”

  “She’s famous, Mooch,” Trece said.

  Shaking her head, Alex furrowed her brow at Trece.

  “Sorry, man, bad habit,” Trece said. “I can change. I will change. I’ll be better than I was before. Better...”

  “Stronger, Faster,” Alex, John and White Boy joined Trece in his usual saying.

  Walking down the hall toward the elevator, they laughed.

  “How ‘bout them Texas Rangers?” Trece asked.

  “They are impressive,” John said as they stepped onto the elevator

  “Those good ole boys get the job done. I told Alex. I said, ‘Alex...”

  The elevator doors closed.

  F

  CHAPTER Twenty-eight

  Three hours later

  Sunday afternoon

  March 30– 3:35 P.M. MDT

  Buckley Air Force Base Jail

  Alex rubbed her sunburned nose. Caught up in John’s presence, she hadn’t realized she was getting so much sun. In the small capsule of time, she soaked up every morsel of her lunch and husband.

  Of course, the MPs caught up with her and she was whisked back to a quiet corner of the Buckley jail. Trece and White Boy stood with their backs against the bars of her cell. With a Trece and White Boy wall to the world, she sat on the bed in her cell.

  At least Trece wasn’t talking.

  She debated whether to celebrate the quiet with a nap or work on the pocket computer her Sergeant had smuggled her. Her arm throbbed. No pain meds in jail. Thanks to Bestat, her abdomen felt whole and strong.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to force herself into sleep.

  The moment her eyes closed, her mind filled with sadness. Simon. The boys in the tunnel. Raz. Forcing the sadness away, her mind jumped to the puzzle of Cee Cee Joiner. She shook her head. No Joiner. With a will of their own, her eyes drooped. And her mind wondered about the betrayer.

  Crap. Even exhausted, she couldn’t sleep.

  Turning on her handheld computer, she read Larry’s report on her resignation from Homeland Security. She saw an email from Troy at Raz’s bedside. The Joiner witnesses, Buddy Lopez, his daughter, and Krystal Joiner, were on route to talk to her. Everything was on track.

  That is, if she ever got out of this cell.

  “Very interesting,” she heard an English accented man’s voice. “But Her Majesty is not interested in local police or politics. This order? You will notice the signature. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t really track Denver Police issues. Personally, I doubt she cares.“

  “Yes sir.”

  “Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service is taking custody of this witness and Robert Powell. I will take custody of him when he’s ambulatory. I will take custody of my witness today.”

  “We need to confirm...”

  “Do what you must,” the voice said. “I will wait with my witness.”

  Trece and White Boy stiffened on guard as the British intruder approached.

  “Da nuit Alex. Look at these guys! You do like the beef,” the man said in Irish Gaelic. Switching to English, he said, “Don’t worry gents. I’m an old friend.”

  “And that means what to me?” Trece snarled.

  “I’m not going to kill The Fey.”

  Alex went to the bars.

  “Lieutenant Colonel, do you know this man?” White Boy asked.

  “I can’t see him,” she said.

  White Boy shifted to his left leg so she could peek between the men. In the dim light, she saw a medium sized blue eyed man.

  “I knew you weren’t dead,” she laughed. “I just knew it.”

  “You see!” the man said. Laughing, he added, “I’m hard to kill.”

  Trece did something she’d never seen him do. He took out a pocket computer then asked the man for his thumb print. The man puzzled for a moment at Trece then gave him his thumb. Trece watched the screen then nodded. He stepped aside.

  “Fancy guards you have Alex,” the man said.

  “Captain Ramirez? Captain Blanco? I’d like to introduce you to the illustrious James Kelly,” Alex said. “You know him as James Bond.”

  “THIS is James Bond?” Trece almost giggled with glee.

  “He is.”

  FFFFFF

  June 2002

  Prague, Czech Republic

  “I have him!” Alex squealed into her cell phone. She was imitating her basic training bunkmate Cathy Sue’s heavy Texas accent. “He’s so handsome and very big. You don’t
think he’ll be too big for me.”

  “Good work, Alex,” Charlie O’Brien said.

  She had purchased a week of sex with James Bond from two Czech mobsters. A thousand dollars bought a week for one British Secret Intelligence Service Agent named James Kelly. Now she had to make his freedom a reality.

  “Well, you say that,” she continued. “You know how much I love James Bond.”

  Alex had just finished scrubbing away the filth which covered his body. The last seven months of captivity had taken a strong, vibrant man to skin and bones. At least he hadn’t been tortured. She left him soaking in a fresh bath while she checked in.

  “You have five days,” Charlie said.

  “That’s the great thing,” Alex said. “He looks exactly like him. Yeah, totally hot.”

  “You’re grossing me out,” Charlie said laughing. “The room has audio surveillance.”

  “I thought so too!”

  “Remember, they are hoping to gain a hostage, not lose one.”

  “He does!” Alex said. “I’m going to have myself a good time.”

  “Get out if it gets bad.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said. Hearing the agent groan, she added, “Got to go! My man is ready for me.”

  Helping him to sit on the commode, she pushed up her left sleeve and pointed to her blue fairy tattoo. The agent ran his fingers over the blue lines while she dried him with a towel. As if he was working something out, his eyes looked away then searched her face.

  Smiling, Alex winked at the agent. His eyebrows furrowed in a silent ‘what?’ She began her audio porno performance.

  “Oh... oh… oh. Yeah that’s it. You’re so big. Oh don’t hurt me.”

  Surprised, the man’s mouth dropped open.

  Alex gave him a toothbrush then helped him stand to spit in the sink. When he was clean and feeling more human under her gentle care, Alex screamed a fake climax, flushed a condom down the toilet and left the wrapper in the trash. The agent clapped his hands in quiet appreciation for her performance. She curtsied then helped him to the bed.

  The simple activity of moving from the bathroom to the bed used what little strength the agent gained from the warm bath. He collapsed in the bed and fell fast asleep. Alex set up an antibiotic IV, a catheter, and kept him comfortable with pain medications. The agent would not move from the bed for three days.

  Changing into a T-shirt and jeans, Alex retrieved her psychology texts from her suitcase. She hoped to spend the next few days studying for her Ph.D. exams while the agent recovered. Propping her legs on a coffee table, she settled in with her books. Near midnight, she checked the agent and gave him more pain medications. After another round of fake sex, she fell asleep on the couch.

  The days passed. Alex woke at dawn, showered and studied while the agent slept. Every couple of hours, she continued her audio sexual performance. Alex assured anyone listening of the agent’s sexual prowess.

  By the evening of the forth day, Alex needed to get the agent moving. They would escape the hotel and meet up with the team tomorrow evening. She stopped the agent’s pain meds around noon but he hadn’t woken. She was going to have to wake him.

  Reaching to touch his shoulder, the agent grabbed her arm and flipped her under him. He pressed his forearm across her throat.

  “Good morning,” she whispered.

  His eyes gleamed with fear and fever. He closed and opened his eyes then shook his head as if to wake up. Seeing her for the first time, he raised an eyebrow then shifted to the bed.

  “Sorry.”

  She shrugged. “How are you feeling?”

  “Worse… and better at the same time. Is that possible?”

  “I’ve heard it before.”

  “Will you help me to the toilet?”

  She nodded. She unhooked his IV and removed the catheter. The agent sighed with relief. The agent stood, weaved, and then dropped to the bed.

  Alex smiled and held her hands out to him. She pulled him to standing. With her arm under his shoulder, she helped him to the toilet then left him in a warm bath while she got his liquid food and medications ready.

  He came from the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

  Alex pointed to the ceiling then her ears signaling the audio surveillance. Nodding, the agent drank the Ensure and water she had set out for him.

  “Clothing?” he asked.

  She pointed to a pair of soft cotton sweats and an old soft T-shirt. She turned her back so he could dress. He touched her shoulder then pointed to the couch. She picked up another nutrition drink, as well as his meds, and sat next to him on the couch. He slipped his arm around her shoulders.

  “When do we leave?” he asked in her ear.

  “Tomorrow night,” she said. “You need to eat as much as you can keep down. Will you eat?”

  She gave him the nutrition drink and a packet of raw almonds. She handed him some pain and antibiotic pills. They sat in silence while he ate. He washed the pills down with another bottle of water. He rubbed his stomach as if he was going to burst.

  “We estimated you would need five days to be ready to travel. You need to rest and eat.”

  “I’ve been here a long time.”

  “Seven months,” she said. “We’ve been looking for you for two months.”

  “How?” he asked.

  “I paid a thousand dollars for your sexual services for a week.”

  “And am I worth it?”

  She laughed and began another audio sex performance. Smiling, he grunted in response.

  “I need a favor,” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Would you… I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, could you hold me?”

  “Of course.”

  Standing, she led him to the bed. Stepping out of her jeans, she slipped between the sheets and held an arm to him. He lay with his head on her chest and his arms around her waist. In her kind arms, his pain and despair came forward. With a heavy breath, he began to weep. She stroked his hair and shoulders until well after he fell asleep. She drifted off to sleep with him lying against her shoulder.

  She woke around midnight to find him watching her. She smiled and retrieved more food and medication. He drank the nutrition drink, took his meds then made a wobbly trip to the restroom. He was sound asleep when she went through another round of audio sex.

  Waking at dawn, she moved from the bed and he opened his eyes. He watched her walk to the bathroom. His eyes remained on her while she dressed in her jeans and T-shirt. He watched her pull pieces of a handgun from the lining of her suitcase. With quick practiced motions, she assembled the handgun. She was screwing a silencer onto her 9 MM Glock when there was a brush against a connecting door.

  Alex began an audio sex performance to cover the sound of her cocking the gun. With her gun in her left hand, she flipped open the lock to the adjoining door with her right. While continuing her performance, she opened the door to a mocking Jesse.

  He carried a large duffle bag into the room and took her suitcase to the other room. Before closing the door, he held his hands out in a ‘show me’ gesture.

  Alex screamed her Texas orgasm.

  Shaking his head, Jesse closed the door. Alex flipped the lock and set her handgun down. While the agent watched, she retrieved more food and medications from the duffle bag. She brought the food to the bed.

  “What is your name?” he propped himself against the headboard.

  “It’s better if you don’t know. People call me ‘Fey.’ That works.”

  He nodded.

  “Promise me,” he said. “If I don’t make it, promise me that you’ll remember me.”

  “Oh, I’ll remember you.”

  He laughed at her tone.

  “Sleep,” she said.

  “Would you mind? Please… don’t leave me. I cannot take being alone.”

  “You must eat.”

  She gave him another nutrition drink and his medication. He ate then mad
e a less wobbly way to the bathroom. Settling back in bed, he held the covers for her. When she lay down next to him, he shifted to his side and kissed her lips.

  “Please don’t,” she said.

  She pressed him away from her with the palm of her hand.

  “Married?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Happily?”

  “Very.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” he said. He stroked her face. “I’d marry you too.”

  “Sleep,” she said. “We move tonight.”

  “Stay with me?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  He was already asleep. She got up to get her books. Leaning against the headboard, she moved his head to her lap. She woke him at noon for more food and meds. He seemed to want to chat, but his eyes sagged within moments of eating. She took the empty nutrition drink from his hand then settled in to study. When the day moved to evening, she woke him by getting out of bed.

  “We need to get going,” she whispered.

  While he showered, she worked to get ready. Taking the parachute from the duffle bag, she laid out his body armor, jeans and long sleeved shirt then helped him dress. He was almost dressed when there was a tap on the door.

  “It’s time to go,” she whispered.

  She pulled a parachute from the bag. He held his arms out so she could strap the chute onto his back. He buckled it tight. She put on her own parachute and tightened the straps.

  “What are we doing?” he asked in her ear.

  Taking his hand, she led him to the window. The ancient building clung to the edge of a deep tree lined canyon. In the cover of twilight, they would jump from their tenth floor balcony then parachute down the canyon to where her team was waiting for them. Alex saw a flash of light, Tommy’s signal, designating that the team could see her. Using American Sign Language, she told Tommy they were on their way.

  “We jump to meet the team,” she said in his ear. “You jump first. I’ll free fall. Follow me to the team. We’re still at least two days to safety. Can you do this?”

  “I’ll make it.”

  “We’ll split up when we reach the team,” she said. “You’ll stay with the team while I continue by rail. I’ll travel with one of the team to cover for you.”