Goodbye Sky Harbor

by Mathis, Philip Brian

  “Wow kid, you got some serious imagination.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “Well so am I.” Rey replied. Creed’s overall fear stood firm there in the room. However, Rey’s constant reassurance was beginning to calm him down for a moment. Even though he couldn’t imagine such a small statured woman thwarting the colonel, the intensity behind Rey’s encouragement was momentarily fighting off his fears.

  “Look, I think you’ve been probably overworked these pasts few hours so I’m going to let you get some sleep now. But I’ll see you in the morning. Okay?”

  “Yeah okay.”

  “And I promise you, I won’t leave your side through any of this, alright?”

  Creed nodded as the captain made her way to the door. She turned back around before opening the door and offering a warming smile. The Captain’s smile reminded him of Genesis and even his own mother. It helped Creed for a moment want to trust the petite Army nurse. Creed softly reciprocated the warm gesture. He smiled his saddest smile ever as Capt. Romano decided to finally vanish, shutting the door behind her. Creed laid back on the bed and closed his eyes for just a moment. In any other normal instance, it would’ve taken him a little while to fall asleep. Especially with all the racing thoughts crowding all around his head. However, Creed was so exhausted that night, that there was really nothing left in the poor kid. Within seconds Creed’s body shut down and he was fast asleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Creed opened his eyes and immediately noticed an unsettling grogginess. It was as if the air in the room turned into an unforgiving fog littering the atmosphere, making it almost impossible to see. Creed could barely open his eyes. The feeling was like waking up after surgery, as if the anesthesia was just starting to wear off. While he struggled to lift his eye brows, he could eventually tell there were two other people in the room with him; he could hear them talking discreetly amongst themselves. Creed rested his eyes for a moment while he tried to listen in on their conversation. It all felt like a dream, and Creed couldn’t make it out of the fog to realize what was going on around him. He figured the sensation would fade the more he tried to wake up, whatever this was. Creed eventually lifted his eye lids one more time, as wide as he could, but the groggy sensation wasn’t fading at all. Even though he couldn’t shake the feeling at all, he was able to identify certain factors each time he opened his eyes. On his third attempt, Creed noticed that he wasn’t in the same room that he had fallen asleep in. This room was bigger, and there were glass windows encasing the entire area.

  “Wha-t is…go- ing on?” Creed attempted.

  “Hey there kiddo. Just relax right now, okay?”

  Another distinction Creed was able to identify. He recognized the colonel’s voice, but he still couldn’t quite make out his face, or the other figure in the room for that matter. He figured it was probably Col. Mitchell.

  “Wh-y ca-n’t I spe-ak?”

  “Creed, you just lie still okay? We’ll get started in just a moment.” Col. Posey assured.

  Just then Creed attempted to move his arms but quickly realized his arms were strapped down to the rails of the bed. These eerie developments were beginning to really freak Creed out. He looked over and could just barely make out that his wrists were cuffed. After another minute of resting his eyes, Creed shot his head around and cased the room. He noticed the large glass above five feet of concrete that made up the room. As the blur began to clear a little, the teen noticed a few mobile trays with medical supplies on them, catty corner to the bed. Right behind that was a long counter with drawers and cabinets.

  “He-y, w-hy am I, wh-y are my arms –”

  “Hey Creed, do me a favor and don’t speak or move too much, okay?”

  A few seconds after Col. Posey spoke, Creed could hear the door open and slam shut. The next voice he heard made his momentary anxiety disappear.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Capt. Romano snapped.

  “It’s about time you got here.”

  “I didn’t agree to this Colonel.”

  “Agree to what?”

  “Why is he tied down?”

  Col. Posey stood there peeved at the captain’s tone. He slowly turned towards the other figure in the room that Creed still couldn’t make out. “Mitchell, can you excuse us for a second?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Creed peered over at the chaos unfolding in the room. He still couldn’t open his eyes all the way but was easily able to make out the captain’s small frame. As soon as Col. Mitchell exited the room, Col. Posey became abhorrent.

  “How dare you Captain?”

  “Excuse me? This boy was going to give you what you wanted, the last bit of trust he was willing to extend, and you just crushed it. Do you understand that?”

  “Before you go any further let me remind you who you’re speaking to.”

  “You said that we were only getting a few vials of blood, and that was it.”

  “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”

  Capt. Romano peered over at Creed’s lifeless body and flung her arms in sheer frustration. “This is not right.”

  “Look around you Captain; I oversee this entire operation here. I must protect all that lies within these walls, including the military and civilian populations. Now you’ve seen what this young man is capable of. I don’t have to remind you what he could do to all of us if he really wanted to. I wasn’t about to create a liability by letting him just waltz around in here.”

  “He was going to give you what you wanted Colonel. There’s no need for the straps.” Rey declared.

  “In all my years that I’ve been doing this; the one thing I’ve learned, is to never trust another human being. Those straps are to protect us. That, along with a diazepam drip, should help make this go rather smoothly.”

  “You drugged him too?”

  “Just enough.”

  “This is insane.”

  “Don’t worry Captain; we’re not going to hurt him. This is only a measure to protect us. I would think someone in your shoes would understand, and possibly even appreciate.”

  Capt. Romano began pacing around the room in complete exasperation. She knew this was out of line, but feared the possible repercussions if she rebelled at this stage. The colonel was merely taking precautions, even if they were Ill-advised precautions, she thought. The captain felt like excusing herself for a moment to compose her emotions, but at the same time she knew there was no way in hell she could leave the colonel alone with the boy again.

  “Well Captain? Why don’t you start getting me some blood? Get this over with.”

  “Can I see-ee…my par-ents?” Creed expelled.

  “As soon as we’re done. I promise you.”

  Rey began moving towards the medical equipment on the counters by the wall. A single tear started falling down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away while she prepared the needle, placing them on the medical tray.

  “I’ll be right back.” The colonel announced. Capt. Romano placed a pair of medical gloves on her hands, refusing to give the colonel any type of acknowledgment. Once she heard the door close, Rey promptly leaned over the bed.

  “I’m sorry about this Creed, please forgive me. I didn’t know this was going to happen. I swear I had no idea the colonel was going to pull this bullshit. But I’m going to be here with you. I won’t leave your side, and I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, okay?”

  Creed weakly nodded. Rey pulled out a needle and placed it carefully on the tray. She pulled up the sleeve on Creed’s right arm and placed the tourniquet slowly around his arm. Before the captain could begin her search for a vein, Col. Posey re-emerged back inside the room.

  “I brought you some help.”

  “Help? I don’t need any help Colonel, I’ve drawn blood before.”

  “I understand that Captain, but I’m going to be busy in the hangar, this way you won’t have to stop what you’re doing to transport the kid’s blood to me.”

&n
bsp; Rey briefly glanced towards the door and saw Sgt. Hope Dominguez standing there. Hope was part of the small detachment of medical personnel stationed at Sky Harbor. Unlike Capt. Romano, Hope wasn’t sent to Phoenix right away. Sgt. Dominguez was ordered to stay with the accompaniment at Luke Air Force Base to make sure everything and everyone were transferred successfully. Her and a couple others were the last to leave the base. At the time the war broke out, Hope was only twenty three. The young sergeant had originally joined the services at nineteen, and Luke Air Force Base ended up being her first and only assignment upon graduating from basic training. The sergeant hailed from the Bronx, New York. She was the first person in her entire family to join the U.S. military. Hope’s parents had moved to the states from Venezuela. Her father was an international soccer legend that had been recruited by the New York City MLS team, and her mother was an inspiring chef with dreams to open a restaurant there in the city. Hope excelled in school and during basic training. For that reason, along with a shortage of personnel, she rose up the ranks quickly during her first three years in the service.

  “Captain.” Hope greeted.

  “Sergeant.”

  Although Rey and Hope had worked on the same team during the outbreak of the war, they weren’t very close on a personal level. Capt. Romano thought the sergeant was young and naive, and Hope was on her own personal pursuit to do whatever it took to climb the ranking ladder.

  “Alright you two, I’ll be in the back hangar if you need me. Just get Hope here to bring me out the vials as soon as possible.”

  “How many vials do you want Colonel?”

  “Let’s start with five Captain. Does that sound good?”

  “Yes sir.” Rey responded hesitantly

  Col. Posey shut the door while Hope grabbed a pair of latex gloves and pulled up a chair next to the bed. Rey looked down and quickly found a vein in Creed’s arm.

  “Alright Creed, I’m going to start. You ready?”

  Creed nodded weakly before Rey finally inserted the needle into his arm. With The colonel finally gone, and chaotic atmosphere dissipating in the room for a moment, Creed was able to finally relax his eyes. He felt that he could rest with Rey looking after him. Rey wondered if it would be worth it to start a conversation with Sgt. Dominguez to kill time. Rey wondered if she was to explain the situation to Hope, the young sergeant would have any type of empathy towards the situation, or Creed for that matter. Rey’s thoughts then moved to the colonel bringing Sgt. Dominguez in. Transporting blood is not a task for a sergeant. In most situations a commanding officer would usually pick from a handful of half-twit privates. Does the colonel not trust me? That’s probably why he brought Dominguez, Rey thought to herself. If at any point she was to desist, he’d likely just replace her with Hope.

  It had taken five minutes for Rey to fill all five vials of blood. She marked them with Creed’s name and placed the vials in a small hazmat bag before promptly handing it over to the sergeant. Sgt. Dominguez quickly grabbed it and left the room in an apparent hurry. Capt. Romano took a deep breath and peered down at Creed who still had his eyes shut. Rey figured she’d clean up her work space while awaiting the colonel’s orders to release the kid back to his parents.

  “Is she gone?”

  Capt. Romano immediately jumped in her seat. She was taken by surprise by the sound of Creed’s voice, figuring he had passed out.

  “Oh my God, you scared me. Don’t do that.”

  Creed had his eyes opened and was staring over at the frightened captain. The pair both smiled at each other.

  “Punk.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Well, how are you feeling?”

  “I feel dru-nk to, to be honest.”

  “And how would you know how that feels like young man?”

  “I ha-have way cool…. cool-er friends than you.” Creed replied.

  Rey shook her head.

  “So, were you awake this whole time?”

  “I think I-I was ou-t. Are we…. are we done?”

  “Yeah, I believe so, the sergeant just left to bring your blood to the colonel. I imagine he wants to get started injecting his men as soon as he can.”

  “Oh good.” Creed just then straightened his head and rested his eyes again while Rey caught a glimpse of a blue and black mark on his neck. She furrowed her brows and leaned over the bed.

  “Wait a minute.”

  “What?”

  “Hold on.”

  “What’s going on….?”

  “Creed I have to move your head to the side okay?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Rey softly moved Creed’s head further to the right and quickly noticed a blood bruise forming right there on his neck. She pushed down the collar of his shirt and noticed two more, just above his sternum. Capt. Romano began inspecting other parts of Creed’s body and identified a couple more on his upper arms. “Oh my god.”

  “What is…what is it?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Capt. Romano walked over towards the counters and pulled out another vial. She moved quickly back to the bed. “Creed, did you recently fall or bump your neck recently?”

  “No.”

  “What about your chest?”

  “No.”

  “Look, you have a few blood bruises on your body. Usually these types of bruises are caused by a vessel rupturing, which typically only happens after a fall or something. I’ve never seen these many bruises at the same time. I’m just going to take a small sample for the lab, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Rey quickly threw on another pair of latex gloves. She tightened another tourniquet around Creed’s arms and inserted a small needle in his arm. Rey filled the vial with only a fourth of his blood. She released the tourniquet and then placed the vial on the table. Rey threw away her gloves and then picked up the vial of blood. As Capt. Romano was preparing to leave Creed and head towards the lab, Sergeant Hope opened the door and entered the room.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Something happened, I have to run to the lab.”

  “What happened?”

  “It’s nothing yet, that’s why I have to go.”

  “How long are you going to be? Col. Posey requested another five vials.”

  “Five more?”

  “Yeah.”

  Rey appeared confused. Maybe what Creed was afraid of was true. Now she felt conflicted on leaving him there with Sgt. Dominguez. “The colonel’s going to have to wait. The patient is developing blood bruises on his body.”

  “Blood bruises?”

  “We can’t get any more blood until I can figure what’s going on here.”

  “Well, what am I going to tell the colonel?”

  “Don’t tell him anything, I shouldn’t take long at all.”

  Sgt. Dominguez glanced over inauspiciously while the Captain turned towards the bed.

  “Creed, I’m going to be right back. Figure out what the hell is going on, okay?”

  Creed once again quietly nodded. Capt. Romano swiftly left the room leaving Hope to stand there awkwardly, not too sure what to do with herself. She looked over at Creed who had closed his eyes the second after Rey had left the room. Hope peered out into the hallway to see if anyone was coming. She then locked the door and walked over towards the bed.

  “Hey kid, you sleeping?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  Back at the lab, Capt. Romano placed a drop of Creed’s blood onto a small little disk, before inserting the disk underneath the objective lens of the lab’s microscope. Rey then turned the light of the microscope on and adjusted the brightness before peering into the ocular lens. After adjusting the mechanical stage and fiddling with the fine and coarse adjustment, the captain gasped. She was unsure as to what she was looking at specifically. This particularly unique situation was garnering more questions for Rey than it was answers.

  “Fuck.” Rey muttered to herself. She turned to her laptop and made a few notes before printing
out a single sheet of paper. Rey stood up from her seat and grabbed the paper off the printer and finally exited the lab. She headed down the long corridor towards the back door of the airport. The captain was eventually able to locate Col. Mitchell, who was opening the back door from the outside at that very same moment.

  “Captain why aren’t you with the boy?”

  “Where’s Col. Posey, I need to talk with him?” Rey demanded.

  “I’m not sure. I thought he was with you. I was just coming to see him myself.”

  Rey’s brows furrowed once more as she looked up at the colonel with arduous suspicion. This entire situation was starting to feel like an unpreventable quandary with no end in sight. “Alright, well if you see him, let him know I need to speak with him immediately.”

  “I will.”

  Capt. Romano weakly saluted the colonel before turning and heading back towards the room they were holding Creed at. By the time she finally reached the hallway and turned the corner, Rey peered through the window and noticed Col. Posey and Sgt. Dominguez both surrounding Creed. The captain, without hesitation, barreled through the door with a sudden sense of urgency.

  “Colonel stop what you’re doing. I need to show you something.”

  Rey noticed Sgt. Dominguez taking more blood from the young teen while Posey stood over her in total complacency.

  “Ah, Captain. The sergeant here was just getting me some more blood like I asked. Where were you Captain?” The colonel asked.

  “I instructed the sergeant to wait for me.”

  “And why is that Captain?”

  “Sir, you need to take a look at this.” Capt. Romano held a sheet of paper out towards the colonel while she made her way to the bed.

  “What is this?” Col. Posey inquired as he looked over the piece of paper Rey had just handed him. Sergeant Dominguez placed the last vial she had previously collected on the tray and backed away from Creed. Rey leaned over the bed and noticed Creed’s eyes were half opened. She pulled down part of his shirt where there were massive blood bruises all down his shoulder and chest. Rey slightly moved Creed’s head to the side where she noticed the bruise on his neck doubled in size and looked worse.