Learning to Stand (54 page)

“
Yes,” he said.
“Pro.”

“
I have a Celox A, John,”
Emily said.

“
Won’t help us.” John
pointed to the swelling below Troy’s wound. “The artery is ripped
under this puncture. We’ll have to operate.”

“
Here?” Emily
asked.

“
We can’t move him. It’ll
have to be here. Erin? Can you get my bag? It’s next to the door in
our bedroom upstairs.” John flipped over Troy’s dog tags. “Vince?
There’s plasma, blood, and saline in the meat compartment of the
basement refrigerator. Would you be a mate and get it for me? Bring
all of it. Thanks. Eoin? Can you bring the whipped cream from
downstairs?

“
The entire stash?” Eoin
asked.

“
Everything,” John said.
“Em, we need to do this here. Would you mind assisting? I’ve never…
never operated alone.”

“
I’ll get dressed,” Emily
said

“
Joseph?” John asked.
Looking up, he saw Joseph and Nancy watching from the hallway.
“Alex has some sensitive documents on the table in the carriage
house. Would you mind taking care of those?”

Joseph ran out the backdoor.

“
Troy,” John said. “I need
you to stay very still. Until we get some fluids in you, you’re
only losing blood.”

“
I want to die.”

“
Alex would want you to
live,” John said. “She’s waiting for you in the carriage
house.”

“
Alex is alive?”

“
Alex is most definitely
alive.”

“
You’re lying to
me.”

“
I would never lie about
whether Alex was living or dead,” John said. “Never. Now, will you
lay still for me?”

“
I’ll do it,” Troy
said.

Erin ran down the stairs with John’s bag.
Opening his bag, he made a cocktail of medications to put Troy
asleep.

“
This is for pain,” John
said. He injected the medications into Troy’s arm. Pointing to the
plastic wrapped whipped cream, he asked Eoin, “Can you cut those
open for me?”

Eoin cut open the whipped cream. John yanked
the mask off the air bag and placed it over Troy’s mouth. One at a
time, he released the nitrous oxide propellant under the mask until
Troy’s head fell to the side.

“
Helene, I need a lot of
clean towels. Lots and lots. You’ll find them in the basement next
to the laundry. You can go see Alex when you’re done. Cian? Can you
wake Samantha? She’s in with Raz.”

“
Why Samantha?” Cian
asked.

“
I’m going to need a
solicitor,” John said. “Chris, would you mind assisting us? I’ll
need you to dress. Clean your hands and arms – scrub them with lots
of soap and warm water.”

White Boy nodded and went downstairs to get
dressed. Vince arrived with the saline, plasma and blood. John
asked Vince to warm them under warm water. Emily returned wearing
jeans and a white T-shirt. She pulled a cloth gown from her
doctor’s bag.

“
John, you need to scrub. I
set out everything for you in the bathroom on this level. While you
scrub, I’ll set up the IVs.”

John went into the bathroom next to the
kitchen. Emily had set a nail brush and antiseptic soap on the
counter for him. Scrubbing his hands and forearms, he allowed his
mind to wander.

He was terrified. He’d never operated alone
before. Never. Not this complicated of a case. Not in a kitchen.
Not while kneeling on the floor! Fuck. No anesthesiologist, no
lasers, no nurses, no attending physician, and barely enough
blood.

“
Let’s make an impossible
surgery a tad more unfeasible,” he thought to himself.

What had Da said? No one survives an
assassin’s cut. Yeah, fuck you Da. I hope you’re rotting in
hell.

John exhaled and stared at himself in the
mirror. He was Troy’s only hope in surviving. He made a tight
bandage for his tooth-cut finger.

“
Get a hold of yourself John
Kelly,” he said to himself in the mirror.

“
Lord, help me to be a
blessing to this patient.” John whispered the prayer he said before
every surgery. Exhaling again, he repeated the prayer for good
measure then went out to the kitchen.

Emily put a shower cap over his hair then
helped him into a sterile gown. They helped each other with gloves
then sterile gloves. Emily helped White Boy with sterile
gloves.

“
We’ll put him way under. I
need you to keep him breathing,” John said to White Boy. He gave
him an air pump bag and mask. “Use this bag. It’s a lot of work.
Can you do that?”

“
I can do it,” White Boy
said.

“
If I say so, you’ll have to
give him more nitrous oxide. I believe I have enough meds to keep
him under, but we may run out. Nitrous gets us half way there. Half
way is better than none.”

“
I’ll help,” Vince said.
“We’ll count together and trade off.”

“
Clean up first,” John
said.

Vince jogged to the bathroom.

“
Mattie, can you take a
blood pressure?”

“
I have done it before,”
Matthew said.

“
I need you to keep track of
the blood pressure in his leg. I need to hear his pressure every
fifteen minutes. Oh, and when I ask for it. But I need you to clean
up first?”

“
Of course.”

Matthew jumped into action.

“
No wait.” John shook his
head. “You’re too injured to do it. Can you show Larry how to take
the pressure? You can keep the time. But Larry needs to scrub
up.”

“
Consider it done,” Matthew
said.

Vince arrived with the warmed saline and
blood. Emily hooked them to her IVs. Looking around for a place to
hang them, Erin took them from Emily’s hands.

“
I’ll hold them,” Erin
said.

“
Make sure you clean up,”
John said.

“
I did,” Erin
said.

“
Perfect. We need to move
him back.”

Samantha took one shoulder and Eoin took the
other. They pulled Troy to the center of the kitchen floor. On his
knees, John leaned over Troy’s right leg to make the first
incision.

Fuck, there isn’t enough light.

“
Anyone have a head torch?”
John asked.

“
All of our gear in the
carriage house,” Matthew said.

“
Amie, honey, don’t you have
a head lamp?” Emily asked her daughter.

Amelia had been standing with Samantha, Raz,
Eoin, his girlfriend and the Marine, Margaret Peaches.

“
Yes, Momma,” Amelia said.
“I use it to read in bed. Should I bring it?”

“
That would be lovely. Thank
you Amelia,” John said.

Cian came from the basement with a pillow
for John’s knees. He helped John kneel on the pillow then offered
one to Emily. Amelia reappeared from the basement.

“
Put it on his head,” Emily
said.

Amelia nodded then carefully put the lamp
over the shower cap on John’s head.

“
Would you mind pointing it?
Yes, down a bit more,” John said. “That’s perfect. Thank you,
Amelia.”

“
Amelia?” Nancy called from
the basement door. “Why don’t you come with me? I was going making
some hot chocolate.”

“
Momma?” Amelia
asked.

“
Go ahead, honey. Nancy
makes great hot chocolate,” Emily said.

Amelia ran to the basement stairs.

Finishing his review of Troy’s wound, John
sat back on his heels. He closed his eyes and allowed a plan to
form in his mind.

“
Glasses, please,” John
said.

Emily gave him the magnifying glasses he
used for surgery. Looking like Mr. Magoo, John took a breath.

Emily had swabbed the area of Troy’s wound
with a Betadine swab stick. She left a Betadine antiseptic pad on
the towels she set under his leg. John swiped the area with the
antiseptic wipe.

“
Ready doctor?” Emily
asked.

F

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

“
Yes, doctor,” John
said.

From first incision to close, Troy’s wound
absorbed John’s entire focus. He didn’t notice the paramedics run
through the house, and then assist under Emily’s instruction. At
some point, Troy was hooked up to monitors for his heart and blood
pressure. John didn’t hear Samantha arguing with the Denver Police.
He didn’t notice when they took Alex, and Max of course, to the
hospital.

He only heard Larry’s leg pressure updates
and the steady count for the air bag.

“
Do you see anything else?”
John asked Emily.

“
No, I think that’s
it.”

“
Do we have our
instruments?”

“
Yes, John. Would you like
me to close?” Emily asked.

“
I’ve got it.”

He began the work of putting Troy’s leg back
together. Troy would never know about the delicate stitching along
his artery. He wouldn’t understand the way the stitches held his
muscle and tissue together so they could heal. But he would
certainly complain if it looked bad. Tying the last stitch, John
leaned back on his heals and pushed off his magnifying glasses.

Looking up, he blushed. He was surrounded by
a crowd of people from Denver Policemen and paramedics to Alex’s
entire team, everyone watched in silent fascination.

“
When can we move him,
doctor?” the paramedic asked.

“
If you’re very careful, you
can take him on a stretcher. Do NOT move his leg. These guys will
help.”

The paramedics hooked Troy up to oxygen and
slipped a back board under him. Matthew, Vince, Joseph, and Larry
lifted Troy to the stretcher. They carried the stretcher through
the house and down the stairs.

When John turned, White Boy was crying into
his gloved hands. John hugged the huge man.

“
That’s the coolest thing
I’ve done. Ever. In my entire life.”

John patted the giant man’s back. He was
taking off his sterile gown and gloves when the Denver Police moved
to speak with him. Samantha stepped between him and the police.

Yes, Dr. Drayson would be available for
questioning. Yes, Dr. Drayson was happy to cooperate with the
police. He was going to get cleaned up then go to his wife. Of
course, he will be available this afternoon. Sam’s smile and strong
presence worked wonders on the police. She and John would go to the
downtown Denver Police station for questioning around 1 P.M. that
afternoon. She walked the police to the door then hugged John.

“
Alex told me about this
file,” Samantha said. She held John Kelly’s intelligence file. “I
had a chance to skim it before the police arrived. I didn’t know
about… you.”

Sam’s baby blue eyes scanned his face. She
hugged him again.

“
We need to talk. Alex taped
her review of the journal on something she calls the map phone.
What is that?”

“
It’s a phone and video
message line the intelligence center set up so soldiers can call in
map issues,” John said.

“
Well, Raz is downloading a
copy right now. The video cam shows the entire interaction between
her and that woman.”

“
Really?”

“
There’s a lot of yellow
pencil tapping and humming… like an hour… of humming and yellow
pencil tapping. She plays with her Magic 8 ball for another half
hour.”

Samantha wrinkled her nose at John. He
smiled at her sarcasm.

“
And
the
conversation with the assassin is there as well. She felt like
reviewing the small journal needed to be documented.”

“
You’re one lucky sod,”
James said.

“
Why don’t you get cleaned
up? We can go see Alex, get some breakfast, and talk,” Samantha
said. “This kind of thing takes some time, maybe six months, to
clear up, but I think you should be all right. The woman is very
clear on the tape. She was going to kill, Alex.”

“
Can you recommend a
solicitor for me?”

“
I thought I was your
attorney.” Samantha batted her lovely eyes as if she was offended.
“I was even going to give you a family discount.”

“
But you don’t have time for
this. Your Senator is running for office.”

“
Well, that’s a weird
thing.” Sam’s face flushed with emotion. “The Senator called me
last night and apologized for taking so much of my time. He’s
decided to withdraw from the race. He gave me six months pay. I…
I’m free. For the first time in a long, long time, I’m free to do
what I like. I’m moving home. As soon as I can pack, I’m moving
home.”

Sam’s eyes welled with tears. Her hands bat
at her tears.

“
Alex didn’t say anything to
you, did she?” Samantha asked.

“
No. Why?”

“
The Senator was at the
party for Troy’s father. He called me while he was waiting in the
line to get in. He barked orders for about fifteen minutes then
hung up on me. I mean thirty-five items I was supposed to do first
thing today. When he left the party, he was withdrawing from the
race.”

John worked to keep his face neutral.

“
Yes, that’s what I thought
too,” she said with a shrug. “So I have lots of time now. And
money. I’d love to represent you. Does that work for
you?”