by KaLyn Cooper
“She is to me,” Alex admitted.
“Do you know what happened to her?”
“I was told an RPG, a rocket-propelled grenade, impacted near her side of a car. I was told she has a head injury and that she was here. That’s it,” Alex explained.
“You were told more than I was. Who is she? Everyone on the plane called her Lady Hawk and that’s what she’s registered here as, but that’s obviously not her name.” The doctor hesitated then continued. “It helps a patient recover more quickly when they are referred to by their given name. We have the nurses talk to the patients constantly as though they were awake. It also helps them remember more.”
“She’s Navy Lieutenant Commander Katlin Callahan. She’s temporarily assigned to Homeland Security. One of the best in the world at what she does. You must be, too. That’s why you’re here.” He tore his eyes from her and glanced up at the tired doctor who stood a little taller at the compliment. His gaze led to where Alex’s hand held Katlin’s, his thumb rubbing over the back in a very gentle manner.
“Please, doctor, tell me what you know,” Alex said in a quiet voice.
“She has a TBI, a moderate closed traumatic brain injury, which means that her brain has swollen inside her skull with no external punctures or skull fragments inside. That’s good. The medic who was there—”
“Nita,” Alex interrupted. “Lady Harrier, they probably called her.”
“Yes, Lady Harrier, was very good. She really knows a lot for a medic. Is she a Physician’s Assistant or something?”
Alex shook his head. “No. She’s actually a doctor, of sorts. Long story.”
“I’d like to hear the rest of that story sometime.” Dr. Tobias continued, “The hospital plane they were on had the latest in imaging equipment, so she began treatment immediately. I was really surprised when she was able to send x-rays to me while I was flying here. She did a great job.”
“I’ll thank her when I see her,” Alex said.
“That gave her, did you say her name is Katlin?”
“Yes, Katlin Callahan.”
“It gave Katlin a much better chance of recovery,” the doctor said. Alex’s eyes flew up to his. “But we’ve got a long way to go.”
In that professional doctor’s voice that Alex had come to hate while in Marine Special Operations, Dr. Tobias began a speech that sounded like he’d given it hundreds of times before. “Head injuries can be classified into mild, moderate, and severe categories. The Department of Defense uses the three criteria of the Glasgow Coma Scale; resuscitation, duration of post-traumatic amnesia, and loss of consciousness. Katlin is at Moderate. We have to closely monitor her intracranial pressure and control all her body functions to keep it within tolerance. It’s a delicate balance of heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.” Doctor Tobias looked at Alex with that ‘are you still with me?’ face.
“I understand.” He had understood everything so far. Alex just hoped it didn’t get too much more complicated.
“Lady Harrier did an amazing job under her circumstances. She was able to keep a good oxygen flow and position her head for optimal cerebral blood flow through the vessels in her neck. So far, Katlin hasn’t had any seizures, which is wonderful. She is a very healthy young woman and that will help in her recovery.”
“Is she in a coma?” Alex asked tentatively.
“Yes, a chemically-induced one with sedatives, analgesics, and paralytic agents. The body is incredible. Give it what it needs to work, along with time, and it will often heal itself. Keeping her still will help it work faster and lessen the chance of a secondary injury. Any movement of the brain could cause additional damage. I’ll be looking for hemorrhaging blood vessels and seek to control bleeding.”
“She’s going to be okay then?” Alex said with hope in his voice.
“No, she will never be the same,” Dr. Tobias said, regret in his voice.
A spear drove straight through Alex’s soul. His Kat would never be the same woman he’d fallen in love with. How bad was she going to be?
The doctor continued, “A TBI causes cognitive deficits that can include impaired attention, disrupted insight, judgment, and thought. She will have reduced processing speed, distractibility, and deficits in executive functions such as abstract reasoning, planning, problem-solving, and multitasking. Always, there is memory loss. People who have suffered a TBI may also have difficulty with understanding or producing spoken or written language, or with more subtle aspects of communication such as body language.”
Alex was crushed. But he controlled his voice as he asked, “When will we know the extent of the damage?”
“When we wake her up. But that won’t be until her cerebral swelling is significantly reduced. We are a long way from there,” the doctor explained.
“What can I do for her? How can I help her?” Alex’s throat was so tight he could hardly speak, but he had to know the answers. “What do you need to do your job better?”
“What I need is sleep right now. I’ve been on my feet for nineteen hours.” Dr. Tobias gave him a small grin.
“Did they give you a room at the BOQ? Would you rather stay in a house nearby? We have several safe houses in D.C..” Alex’s offer didn’t seem to register with the doctor. He just looked at Alex and glanced at his business card again. Sudden enlightenment hit the exhausted doctor.
“Actually, I live in D.C. As the Army’s Chief of Neurology, I was greeting the new neuro residents at Fort Hood when I was ordered to come here. I could use a ride home though.”
“Done. Now, what can I do for Kat?” Alex asked again.
“Well, her husband said he’d be back tonight to be with her…” the doctor started but Alex interrupted.
“He’s not her husband,” Alex snapped. “He’s her boss.”
“Where’s her husband?” The doctor innocently asked.
“Arlington National Cemetery.” Alex wasn’t going to lie.
“Oh, and how are you related to her?” The doctor’s question was a good one.
“She’s my…friend….my business partner….and my fiancée.” Alex didn’t want to add ‘my lover’ because that wasn’t any of the doctor’s business.
“Your partner, in the same line of work?” The doctor seemed to think that they were both undercover federal agents.
“Something like that. If I told you, it would be one more piece of knowledge that could get you killed,” Alex lied, remembering Katlin’s line to the Marine Lieutenant Colonel during the bomb threat on Black Swan.
“Spend time with her, talk to her as if she were awake. Let her know that she is now safe. When we start to bring her out of the coma, she might think she’s still back in the bombed car and thrash around. We want to bring her up slowly and gently. But we are weeks away from that.”
“Doctor Tobias, is there anything you need to do your job better? I want her to have the best care available. We have resources.” Alex left it at that.
“Walter Reed is the best place for her right now. We wrote the book on shock wave head trauma and update it with every patient who returns from the war. Katlin’s scars tell me she’s seen a lot of action.”
“We all have, sir, and as you know, not all the scars are on the outside.” That was all Alex would say.
The attending nurse broke into the men’s conversation. “Doctor, she’s getting over-stimulated. Perhaps the young man would like to come back in an hour or two. We usually only allow ten minutes.”
“We should go, Alex,” Doctor Tobias said, laying a hand on Alex’s arm. His rock-hard muscles lying just beneath his pressed dress shirt automatically flexed. The doctor immediately noticed and removed his hand.
Alex bent down and kissed Katlin on the lips, but she did not respond. He whispered to her, “Come back to me, Kat.” He slowly released her fingers. Rolling his lips in, he felt the greasy lip balm they used to keep her lips from drying out. As he walked away, he took slow deep breaths, re-grouping his thoughts.
&n
bsp; “If you are ready to leave now, I can give you a ride home or I can send a car for you later,” Alex offered.
Dr. Tobias stopped in the hallway. “Let me grab my bag and I’ll meet you at the main hospital entrance. What are you driving?”
“A black Mercedes SUV with the gray Guardian logo on the side.” He’d had the D.C. office bring him a vehicle so he could head straight to the hospital.
The doc raised one eyebrow. “You obviously work for a better branch of government than I do.”
Alex chuckled. “I own the company. Well, Kat and I do. I only work for the government when it suits me. I’ll meet you out front in just a few minutes.” Alex left to get the car.
During the ride to Dr. Tobias’ College Park home, Alex spoke very little, silently trying to process everything he’d seen and learned.
Dr. Tobias finally broke the silence. “I know it’s a lot to absorb and digest and I apologize for my abrupt bedside manner. Treating a patient, sight unseen while she’s traveling at five-hundred miles an hour, forty-thousand feet in the air, was a new experience and not exactly a welcome one. More than once, I was given the ‘need to know’ line. You told me more in ten minutes than I learned since I boarded a jet in Texas.”
“Homeland Security is very secretive, and Katlin is one of their best-kept secrets.” It was the truth. “They are very protective of everything and everyone connected to them.”
Changing the subject, Alex asked, “May I see her anytime, even outside normal visiting hours? Dr. Tobias, please understand, my schedule has unusual hours sometimes and I often have to travel with very little notice.”
“Certainly. I’ll make that happen tomorrow. She needs to make connections even while she’s unconscious. The brain continues to work and process information from other senses even though the eyes are closed and the body is resting. Talking to her and holding her hand are important. You probably didn’t notice but her heart rate increased when you entered the room. She smelled you. It increased even more as you spoke to me. You missed it, but it spiked when you kissed her. She knew you were there.”
His words gave Alex hope. Kat had known he was there. “Is that what the nurse meant when she said Kat was becoming over-stimulated?”
“Yes. A prolonged increase in heart rate can cause an imbalance in the Cushing’s triad—heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration—which can raise intracranial pressure. We want to stay away from that right now,” the doctor explained. He then asked, “Does she have a roommate or a best friend?”
“That would be me,” Alex said quietly. “She’s also very close to her team. I’m not sure if they’re available right now. The Agency put them on lockdown. I was hoping Nita was going to stay with her at the hospital, and Tori was injured in the same accident.”
“Do you mean Victoria Denton?”
Alex had to think a minute. He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard her last name. It would soon change to Hernandez if Marcus ever got around to proposing. “Yes. I believe so.”
“I examined her for a concussion, which she has, by the way.” Dr. Tobias gave him the next few driving directions. “She’s in for overnight observation, which basically means the nurses have to wake her up every hour and check her memory. She’s scheduled for a follow-up tomorrow with the plastic surgeon. Depending on how well she does tonight and her test results, I’d planned to release her to light duty sometime in the afternoon. I could allow her to go visit Lieutenant Commander Callahan before she leaves.”
Alex smiled. “I’m sure they’d both like that.”
“In that case, I’ll leave permission for her to visit when it’s convenient.” The doctor was quiet for a moment before he asked, “Is Katlin’s family nearby?”
“Her parents are dead but her brother lives in the area.” Alex wondered if anyone had contacted Daniel, but then remembered that he was married to Nita. Of course, she would call and tell him…if she could. He wondered if she too was sequestered.
Thinking about family, Alex added, “Her uncle is a Monsignor at the Pentagon. I’ll call him. There is another person, Top Cooper, who should be on the visiting list. He’s known her since she was four years old.”
“What about this guy who claimed to be her husband? What’s his story?” Dr. Tobias asked. “Her heart rate was sky high the whole time he was in the room. The nurse asked him to leave.”
Anger rose like an erupting volcano from deep within Alex. Jack had upset her, putting her in danger. Tamping down his hatred, he managed to say, “Jack is her boss but wants to be a lot more.”
“Do you think she subconsciously blames him for her condition?” The doctor brought up a good question, but Alex didn’t think that was the reason her heart rate increased.
“No, she hates the man on a personal level. I don’t know the whole story but it’s ugly. You should try to keep him away from her.” He debated before telling the doctor more, then decided he needed to know. “Her lawyer has a restraining order already written but Katlin had put it on hold since he’d been keeping his distance.”
“Her boss mentioned that her life may be in danger and he didn’t want anyone visiting her without notifying him first.”
Alex sneered. “Jack probably didn’t want me visiting her.”
“Is there a chance that someone is trying to kill her?”
“I really don’t know for sure, but I intend to put a bodyguard on her,” if nothing more than to keep Jack away he thought to himself. “Someone tried to kill her whole team a few years ago but I think they eliminated that threat. You should keep her registered under L. Hawk or even change her name every few days. I suggest a passcode for visitors. Her hospitalization should be top-secret.” He could only hope that would be enough to keep her safe.
“I’ll take care of it,” the tired doctor said, dialing his cell phone. “What do you want as the passcode?”
“Smith Mountain Lake. I’ll tell everyone who should have it.” Alex pulled into the driveway of a two-story white colonial. “Thank you, Dr. Tobias.” He pulled out another business card.
“I already have your card,” the doctor said.
“Not one of these,” Alex said, handing him a different card with his cell phone number and emergency numbers on it. “Call me anytime. Don’t hesitate. Put me in your speed dial. Things happen fast and we can react very quickly. If there is anything that you need to take care of her, it’s yours for the asking.”
As the doctor got out of the SUV, Alex looked at the house again and asked, “Doctor, do you have a security system for your home?”
“No, are you going to try to sell me one?” he asked, looking at the Guardian Security card.
“Information is dangerous, and it can get you killed. You, sir, have a lot of information.” Alex hoped the man took his warning to heart.
The doctor looked at his house, then back to Alex. “Do you think I need one?”
“Definitely. I’ll send over a crew within an hour. No charge. I know all too well about military salaries.”
“I can’t do that.” The doctor shook his head. “Governmental rules. I’ll pay you for the system.”
“If anything happened to you or your family because of Kat, she’d never forgive herself or me,” Alex admitted. “Expect several men in Guardian uniforms with guns within an hour. If you haven’t been to the range lately, I’ll take you to our private range. You do have a gun, don’t you?”
A look of fright passed over the doctor’s face as he began to realize his situation. With hesitation, the doctor said, “Yes, but do you really think it’s that serious?”
“Yes, as serious as Kat’s head injury. My men will be here within an hour. Call me if you need anything.” Alex backed out of the driveway and headed to the D.C. Center, already talking with the manager on duty.
Alex had a mental list, and next up was assuring the right man was making Kat’s medical decisions since she couldn’t.
“Barry, does Katlin have a living will?” Alex asked his
CFO and high school friend.
“Well, hello to you too, Alex. Thank you, I’m fine,” the man in Miami replied jokingly. Then, as though Alex’s request caught up with him, he became serious. “Yes, why the fuck do you want to know?”
“Kat has a brain injury and is in a chemically-induced coma at Walter Reed ICU.” Alex barely got the explanation out through the construction in his throat.
“Fuck me. How bad is it?” The concern in Barry’s voice was too pronounced to be ignored. Katlin was his friend, too. He was her personal attorney as well as the lawyer for their company.
“Bad. I just left the hospital and had a long talk with her neurologist.” Alex swallowed hard. “Are you her designated executor? You might have to start making serious decisions in the next few days.”
There was a hesitation before Barry answered, “No, Alex, you’re her executor.”
Surprised, Alex asked, “When did she decide that?”
“She signed the paperwork the night we had supper at the University Club. That’s why you couldn’t sign as a witness.”
That shook Alex even more. Katlin had entrusted her life to him only days after they met in the Miami apartment. “What do I need to do?”
“I’ll fax a copy to the hospital and one to Guardian in D.C. If they give you any problems, I’ll fly up and we’ll see them in court.” Barry let out a heavy breath. “Are you expecting problems?”
“Only from her boss.” There was going to be blowback once Jack realized that Alex had control over what happened—and didn’t happen—to Katlin.
“Did you know that Katlin had me draw up a restraining order against Jack about two years ago? She told me to hang on to it until she needed it,” Barry said in his best attorney’s voice.
“Yeah. She told me about it.” And threatened to sign it every time Jack pissed her off. Alex drove into the underground parking garage at Guardian Security D.C. Center. “Thanks for taking care of us. I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”
“You’d better. My secretary is already faxing documents. Please tell me her fucking boss is not on the approved list for visitors.” The smile in Barry’s voice was obvious.