KILTED DESIRE - Sands of Betrayal

by A. B. McKINLEY

  “Mom, what’s wrong?” said Madison, who desperately tried to help her mother.

  Katie continued to cry. She scared her daughters. She wouldn’t answer them and refused to get up off the floor. Madison quickly called her grandma. Within a few minutes, Katie’s parent’s arrived and managed to get Katie off the floor and onto the couch, but she still hadn’t spoken. She was in shock. Her father took the girls out while her mother stayed and tried to get her to tell her what happened.

  Eventually, Katie told her mother that Scott was blown up by a car bomb. When her mother asked her for the details, she said she didn’t know any. She said that after she heard Tom say Scott was the victim of a car bomb, her brain just shut down and she didn’t hear anything else.

  Tom tried to call back a few times, but there was no answer. He kept trying and finally, Katie picked up the phone and handed it to her mom.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Hello, Katie?” Tom asked.

  “No. This is her mother. This is a not a good time. She can’t talk right now. Who is this?”

  “This is Tom Schultz in Baghdad. I’m afraid I just gave Katie some bad news about Scott. I’m glad you are there with her.”

  “Yes, I’m here. She said he was blown up by a car bomb, but that’s all she said. What else can you tell us? Was he killed?”

  “No. He is alive. I didn’t get the chance to tell her everything. He is hurt very badly and is in a coma, but he does have a chance. I spoke with his doctor and he said they’ve done all they can, for right now. It’s now just a waiting game.”

  “Thank you for calling back. I’ll let her know. I can’t get her to talk at the moment. She is very upset, but maybe this news will give her some hope.”

  “She has my number. You or she can call me any time you want. Also, the doctor said she could call him too. He’s an American doctor, so she doesn’t have to worry about understanding the language. I have his number if you want it.”

  “Yes, that would be good. I’ll take it.”

  Katie’s mother wrote the number down and thanked Tom again for getting back in touch. She put the cell phone down and looked closely into Katie’s eyes, holding her shoulders.

  “He’s alive, Katie! He’s in a coma, but he’s alive! I even have a number for his doctor. You can call and speak directly with him to get the details. Now, you must pull yourself together. He’s going to need you.”

  “He’s alive? Really? How bad is he hurt?” she questioned, clinging to the glimmer of hope. When she’d heard Tom say “sorry” and that Scott was the victim of a car bomb, she assumed he was dead and everything after that was a blur.

  “He’s in a coma, but Tom said he has a chance. Katie, you need to talk to his doctor, now, to find out more details. Here’s the number. Come on, you can do this,” she said, as she handed Katie the piece of paper.

  “Dr. Hamilton, that doesn’t sound like a local doctor.” Katie said, as she dialed.

  “Tom said he is an American doctor. Maybe he’s in a military hospital or something.”

  Katie’s hands shook as the phone rang.

  “This is Dr. Hamilton.”

  “Hello, Dr. Hamilton. My name is Katie Johnson. Tom Schultz gave me your number. He just called and told me my fiancé is injured from a car bomb and that you are his doctor.”

  “Hello, Katie. I presume we are talking about Mr. Maclaren.”

  “Yes, Scott. How is he?” Katie asked, nervously awaiting his response.

  “I’m not sure how much information Mr. Schultz gave you.”

  “All I know is, he was hurt by a car bomb and he’s in a coma.” Katie was trying her best to stay calm. She was shaking terribly and her voice was breaking up. Her mom held her hand tightly while she spoke with the doctor.

  “Yes. That is correct. He is currently in a coma and has suffered a major head trauma and a probable skull fracture. As with any brain injury there’s a lot of swelling at the moment. We will know more when the swelling in his brain goes down. He also has fractures to his lower tibia, his radius, two ribs and his clavicle. We have a cast on the limb fractures, but the ribs and collarbone will have to heal on their own. He also has first degree burns to many areas on the left side of his body. Considering what happened to him, the burns don’t appear to be too bad. As I told Tom, we’ve treated and bandaged the affected burned areas and I don’t see any problems or long-term scarring from them. There are numerous cuts and lacerations to his face and neck from flying glass, but again, we’ve treated those as well, and those will not cause any further problems. The major injury right now, that concerns me, is his brain injury.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening. Is he going to wake up? I have to come and be with him. So what do you think about his brain injury? In your opinion, Dr. Hamilton, do you think he’ll be okay?” she was confused, in shock and not able to sort out all the information she was handed.

  “I honestly can’t answer that, Katie. There is one very positive thing right now. He is breathing on his own and that is a good thing at this point. We don’t have him on any type of life support or anything, but with brain injuries like this, we just don’t know. For now, we have done all we can. Katie, I don’t want to mislead you. He is in critical condition. We are looking at about a 50/50 recovery rate right at the moment. I would like to see some form of movement or signs of brain activity in the next couple of days for me to be more optimistic about his outcome.”

  “What can I do, Dr. Hamilton?”

  “Like I mentioned earlier to Mr. Schultz, all we can do now is wait and hope he comes out of the coma. I did tell him that it could be beneficial for Scott to hear familiar voices to try and draw him back to consciousness. We’re just going to have to be patient and hope the swelling starts to go down, soon. We have very limited resources here! I don’t have any way to do a CAT scan or an MRI, so I must wait for the swelling to subside before I can see anything on an x-ray. I can tell you, he would be much better off in a more modern facility, but I believe it would be extremely dangerous to move him at this time.”

  “This is terrible. I wish we could just transfer him here, but I don’t want to if you think it would be dangerous to move him.”

  “I believe that’s the case at the moment, but it’s still very early. Hopefully, we’ll see some encouraging signs soon.”

  “Okay, thank you,” she said, as silent tears rolled down her face. She wanted to be with him and decided she would call Tom to find out how she could get there.

  “Katie, rest assured, I will call you if there is any change in his condition and please, feel free to call me anytime you like. My apartment is on the hospital grounds, so I’m never far away. I work most days and I am here at least twelve hour shifts.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Hamilton. I really appreciate everything.”

  “You are welcome, Katie. Take care.”

  Katie turned to her mother who wrapped her arms around Katie and allowed her to cry on her shoulder. In one phone call, her life had fallen apart. They had counted the days until being together forever. They were to start their lives together and now it might not happen. She might have already lost him. What made it even worse was that she let him leave for the Middle East on bad terms. If Scott never woke up, his last moments with her were terrible! She treated him so coldly. The tears continued to fall. She had never felt such pain in her heart before. This was by far the worst moment of her life.

  Chapter 18

  It was just before noon the following morning when Tom and Britney left the hotel and headed for the hospital. They had not turned in until nearly 6:00 a.m., so they were tired, but wanted to check on Scott.

  As they drove to the hospital Tom’s phone rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, Tom. This is Katie Johnson,” she said rapidly, with tension in her voice.

  “Katie, how are you doing? Have you been able to sleep yet?”

  “No, I can’t sleep, Tom. My mom is staying here wit
h me, but I can’t relax.”

  “Have you or your mom spoken with Dr. Hamilton?”

  “Yes, I spoke to him. He was very nice and he explained all the details of Scott’s condition.”

  “That’s good. He seemed like a good guy when I met him. I believe he will keep us informed about what’s happening with Scott.”

  “Yes, he told me the same thing.”

  “We’re on our way to the hospital now to see if there’s any change. I’ll call after our visit and give you an update.”

  “Thanks, Tom. Oh, and what did you mean by we’re on the way to the hospital?” she questioned. She believed she knew exactly who else would be going.

  “Britney and I are on our way to the hospital. She is very worried about Scott and the Doc said it could help to have familiar voices in the room with him.”

  Katie hated the idea of her being there when Tom visited him. It was Britney that caused the trouble between them and made them part on bad terms. But, she remembered the doctor saying familiar voices could help, so she tried to let it go for now.

  “Okay, Tom. I’m just glad there’s going to be someone there with him until I can get there.”

  “What do you mean until you can get here?”

  “That’s why I called you, Tom. I want to come to Baghdad and see Scott. What do I need to do to get there?”

  “Katie, that is not a good idea. It is very complicated just to get here. Plus, you would need protection and I am low on guards at the moment. You would have to have protection! Katie, to be perfectly honest, Scott would be very angry if you came here. You know he would do anything to keep you safe and away from a place like this. He would not be happy if you were in danger.”

  “But Tom, don’t you understand why I need to be there?”

  “Of course I do Katie, but let’s give it a little time and see what happens. You never know, he could wake up later today.”

  “I have to do something, Tom! This is killing me just sitting here.”

  “I completely understand. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you, but please just give it some time before you do something like fly over here. It’s way too dangerous.”

  “I don’t care about the danger, Tom. I have to see him.”

  “Can I talk to her, Tom?” said Britney, from the back seat.

  “Britney wants to talk to you, Katie. Is that okay?” He was hesitant to interrupt their conversation, when she was set on coming over to be with Scott.

  “Sure,” she paused; Katie didn’t really want to speak with her. But, she knew Britney was going to see Scott in the hospital. Until Katie could work out a way to be with him, she was a link to him. Katie needed to somehow let him know she was thinking of him, especially now, after their fight.

  “I’m so sorry, Katie. How are you doing?” Britney asked. She actually sounded genuine.

  “I’m doing okay, considering,” she said plainly.

  “Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Yes, actually there is. When you get to the hospital, you can tell Scott how much I love him. Please tell him I miss him and that he needs to wake up and come home.”

  “I can do that. Is it okay if I hold his hand when I talk to him?”

  What a bitch, Katie thought. Even now, she’s trying to get her hands on him.

  “Yes, Britney, I suppose that would be fine, until I can get there. He would then know there are people with him.”

  “Okay, I’ll do that.”

  “Can I speak to Tom again, please?” Katie asked.

  “Oh, sure. Take care, Katie. Talk to you soon,” she said, as she handed the phone back to Tom.

  “Hello, Katie.”

  “Tom, will you do me a big favor? Please make sure she’s not left in the room alone with Scott. I just don’t trust her.”

  “Okay,” Tom replied. He wasn’t really sure why she asked him to do this and he certainly wasn’t going to ask, with Britney sitting behind him.

  “Do you know anything more about what happened? Tom, why on earth was he attacked?”

  “I don’t know, Katie. The police are looking into the incident, but I doubt they’ll ever find out who is responsible. It could have been random. But, more likely he was probably targeted because he is a Westerner and they watched where he parked his car. I just don’t understand why he didn’t see the device. I know he always performed checks before he started a car. I’ve seen this type of bomb before and there was no way he could have missed it.”

  “Okay, Tom. I really should go now,” she said, breaking into tears again. She knew he would have been distracted because of their fight. She felt physically sick. In her mind, she was responsible for his coma, just as if she’d placed the bomb there herself.

  “Katie, I’ll call you back as soon as we get an update from the hospital,” Tom said, hearing her sobbing in the background.

  “Okay. Thanks, Tom,” she managed to say as the tears continued to fall.

  When they arrived at the hospital there was no sign of Dr. Hamilton. A nurse showed them into Scott’s room where they sat and waited. Tom warned Britney that he looked very bad, but she could never have been fully prepared for quite how bad. She struggled to hold back the tears and pulled up a chair to the side of his bed. She reached for and held onto his hand, talking softly to him. She hoped he would wake up now. They directed their conversation to Scott for almost an hour. Britney wished that maybe something they said would get through to him. Dr. Hamilton walked into the room and said hello to Tom and Britney, then read over Scott’s chart.

  “Any news, Doc?” asked Tom.

  “No change at the moment. All of his vital signs seem strong, but no reports yet of any movement.”

  “Okay,” said Tom and Britney, almost simultaneously.

  “How long have you both been here?” asked the doctor.

  “Just over an hour,” said Tom.

  “Since you’ve been here have you noticed any movement, maybe an eyelid flickering or a finger moving?”

  “I haven’t. What about you? You were holding his hand,” Tom said to Britney.

  “I didn’t notice anything at all. I’m sorry,” she said, looking sadly at the doctor.

  “It’s fine. It’s still very early. You need to understand that his body, especially his brain, has suffered a major trauma, so at the moment they have shut down. Hopefully, we will start to see some form of recovery soon.”

  “How optimistic are you really, Dr. Hamilton?” asked Britney.

  “I’m sorry we haven’t been formally introduced. You’re not Katie, are you?” he asked.

  “No, I am not Katie. My name is Britney Parnell. Scott is my bodyguard over here, so I’ve gotten quite close to him.”

  “Okay Britney. Like I told Tom and Katie, with this kind of brain injury it is very hard to say what might happen. At the moment, I’m on the fence, but I’d like to see some movement or signs of life from him showing that he’s fighting, within the next 48 hours or so.”

  “So it would help, when we’re here, if we talked to him and watched for any little signs, like his fingers moving?” she asked.

  “Yes, that would be great. I don’t have enough staff for someone to sit and watch him all day. I have nurses checking in every two hours or so, but having someone here at other times watching for signs would be very helpful.”

  “I would be happy to stay, Tom, if you need to go. I can work on my laptop tonight at the hotel to catch up. I’ll still need to go into the office. But I do think he will wake up soon,” Britney said optimistically.

  “No, I can’t leave you here alone. We will stay for a while and we can come back as often as time allows.”

  “Okay,” she said disappointed.

  “Well, I need to go and check on other patients. If you aren’t here when I get back, I’ll call you and let you know if there has been any change,” said the doctor, as he walked towards the door.

  “Thanks, Doc,” said Tom.

  “Yes, thank y
ou Dr. Hamilton,” Britney added.

  They stayed for another hour, but there was no change in Scott’s condition and it was time to leave for the hotel. Tom had many guards he needed to check on and other work to do and Britney needed to catch up on some work on her laptop.

  Later that evening, at the hotel, the mood was somber. They sat quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. Tom checked in with his people and Britney completed a number of papers for work while they both prayed to hear some positive news from the hospital, soon.

  The suite was very quiet. Both were startled when Tom’s phone started to ring.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Tom, it’s Katie. Is there any news yet?”

  “No, not yet, Katie. Nothing has changed through the night or while we were at the hospital today. We spoke with Dr. Hamilton and he said we need to be patient. I did try to call you when we were leaving Scott’s room, but there was no answer. I figured you may have fallen asleep.”

  “I actually did fall asleep for a few hours, although I am exhausted and don’t feel like I’ve slept at all.”

  “It’s understandable. Britney and I have been back at the hotel for about three hours now and we haven’t heard anything from the Doc yet. He said he’d be making rounds until 11:00 p.m. though, so you could call him if you like, to find out the latest news.”

  “Okay, that’s a good idea, Tom. I just wanted to check with you first.”

  “Tom, can I talk to her again? It’s important,” Britney interrupted.

  “Britney says she needs to talk to you, Katie.”

  “Okay, put her on.”

  “Katie I have an idea. Can you make a recording of you talking to Scott on your computer and email it to me? I could take my laptop in to the hospital and leave it playing by Scott’s bedside so he can hear your voice when we’re not there.”

  Katie was pleasantly surprised. This was a great idea and she was annoyed for not thinking of it herself.

  “That’s a good idea! I’ll get started right away. Thanks, Britney, I appreciate you thinking of it.”

  “No problem, Katie. He’s kept me safe since I’ve been here and I just want to help.”