Scars Of Defiance (22 page)

“Sierra almost died crossing the first time due to thin ice.
But I’m thinking you knew the ice was too thin, didn’t you?”

“Crossing the border is risky even in the best of circumstances.
She simply had to go, ready or not. If she had died, we wouldn’t be having this
conversation right now. ”

“That’s where you and I differ on opinions. My intention is
to get her safely across the border, alive. I believe yours is to just throw
her across the border and away from Reginald’s reach.”

“Well, it’s clear you don’t understand the intensity of the
situation, or else you would see things like I do.’

“Clive, what are your long-term goals for this
organization?”

“Is this an interview?”

“I’m just wondering what your objective is. Are you trying
to remove Reginald? Are you trying to reinstate the monarchy? Or are you trying
to place yourself in the hot seat?”

“Our short-term objective is to get Sierra Montgomery out of
the palace. Our long-term would be to keep her out.”

“What have you got against her?”

“She’s a Montgomery.”

“And?”

“The last thing anyone wants, save Reginald, is a two-headed
indestructible monster. Her presence will undoubtedly elevate Reginald far
above any level he’s imagined. Many people of this country are vacillating
between sides. If Reginald keeps Sierra, we lose those people.”

“Are you going to kill her?”

“I’ve thought about it. There are certainly plenty of people
in place who could take her out, but it would expose our presence in the
palace. I’m sure Reginald is oblivious to it at this point, and I don’t see the
need to change that just yet, not when you’ve concocted such a grand illusion.
No, I want to run with your plan, once again. But know this, if it fails and
she is not transported across the border, or if she is brought back, then yes
we will kill her.”

The door opened and a small boy entered. Clive put out his
arms to the boy, who climbed up on his lap. Without breaking stride, he said to
Dr. Roth, “Sierra Montgomery is a dangerous force and must be removed at any
cost. All our lives depend on it, even my son’s.” Clive squeezed the boy on his
lap, and Dr. Roth assumed him to be his son. “If there is any hope to be had
for our futures, Sierra must disappear, one way or another.”

“Do you have any men at the border?”

“We might.”

“Well, I may need their help in order to get across it.”

“I’ll see what I can do. For now, you’ll be dropped off at
the palace. We will find a matching car with understudies to drive it away from
the palace. Your car will be loaded with the bodies and will burn gloriously.
All you have to do is report the escape of the two prisoners, and we will take
care of the rest. This way, you can remain in your simple station.”

“What is your real long-term objective?”

“Now, Doctor, we really don’t like to put too many pots on
to boil or else they all might burn. We focus on small, attainable goals that
help further our cause.”

“Fine. You don’t want to tell me, or you really don’t know.
I’ll be going then.” Dr. Roth stood and walked to the door.

*****

The next morning, Victor escorted Sierra to Paul. “You can
have ten minutes alone or one hour supervised.”

“One hour.”

“Fine.” Victor left the room, but a guard stepped in and
closed the door.

Paul sat at an odd angle with his shoulder resting against
the wall. His head hung in defeat, and Sierra felt such empathy for him that it
brought tears to her eyes. She knew this pose since she had done it herself
several times. He had been whipped, and his back must be too sore to lie back.
Couple it with his broken ribs, and he couldn’t lie on his sides or stomach
either. The only other option was to prop himself up against the wall.

“Paul?” she half whispered and walked slowly to him.

He lifted his head enough to see her, and one side of his
face tried to smile. “I’m so sorry, Sara.”

“For what?”

“I should have had more pity for your injuries when I found
you. I should have tried harder to understand the kind of pain you must have
been in.”

“How could you have known? It is truly something you have to
experience first-hand. Besides, you have no complaints from me on how you cared
for me.”

She watched as his eyes watered. She sat down in front of
him, pulling his head to her shoulder. “We’re going to get through this, Paul,
and be stronger because of it. Has Dr. Roth been in yet to help you?”

“He treated me yesterday.”

“I’ll get him to give you a pain killer. For what it’s
worth, you probably won’t be beaten today.”

“Really? But I was looking forward to it.”

She looked him in the eye to see his full smile. She laughed
a bit. “Don’t let them think you are enjoying this or they’ll step it up a
notch.” She looked over her shoulder at the guard, who watched with a grimace
on his face. “There was a press conference yesterday announcing me as Victor’s
new wife. Reginald loved being able to announce his son had married a
Montgomery. It sickened me.”

“Go along with it. Don’t cause waves.”

“As hard as it is to do so, that’s what I’m doing.” She
kissed his cheek.

The rest of their hour went by too quickly, and she didn’t
want to leave. Dr. Roth came in as her hour ended. The guard ushered her out of
the room and closed the door, leaving only Dr. Roth and Paul in the room.

Dr. Roth checked Paul’s wounds and gave him medication.
“Tonight, after dinner is served you need to start coughing like your throat is
closing in. The guards will either call for me, or bring you to me. Either way
works. Just try to be convincing with it, alright?”

“Then what?”

“You’ll follow my lead.”

“Alright.”

*****

Sierra entered the infirmary before dinner. “You wanted to
see me?”

“Sit down Sierra.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Tonight is the night,” Dr. Roth whispered.

“We’re escaping tonight?” she asked excitedly.

“No, but the ball will start rolling in that direction. Things
are going to look scary to you, and it’s okay to panic and overreact. It will
help validate the situation all the more to Reginald.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I really can’t talk about it. Just stick close to Reginald
and Victor. You’ll know when it happens.”

“Why does this scare me more than the first time?”

Dr. Roth walked away from her thinking,
the first time
will have been a walk in the park compared to this, and you should be scared
.

*****

“Hey! Go get the doctor! The prisoner is chocking or …
something.” The guard looked back into the room to see Paul holding his throat
and coughing terribly. Paul tried to get up and walk but staggered and fell to
the ground. “Hurry up! His face is turning blue!”

Dr. Roth came running down the hall with his emergency bag.
“What’s going on?”

“Don’t know. He just started coughing and gagging.”

Dr. Roth entered the cell and knelt beside Paul. Paul
reached for Dr. Roth with one hand, his other one clasping his neck. Dr. Roth
saw the fear in Paul’s eyes and watched as he tried to gasp and plead with him.
He reached in his bag, pulled out a syringe, and injected it into his arm.
Immediately Paul’s eyes closed and his body went limp. “I need help getting him
up. Carry his legs. We need to take him to the exam room.”

The guard picked up Paul’s legs while Dr. Roth grabbed him
under his arms. Together they hauled him down the hallway and put him up on the
exam table.

“Grab that cart and bring it here,” he ordered the guard. He
took Paul’s blood pressure and lifted his eyelids. Paul’s eyes were rolled back
in his head. He gave another shot into Paul’s arm and listened to his lungs for
breath sounds. The guard looked on, concerned.

“Should I get Rawlings?”

“Call up for him, but I need you to stay here.”

*****

Reginald sat at the large dining table with his family. It
was new to him to think about family, to think about those who lived before him
and those yet to come. Sierra and Victor would now produce an heir, securing
Reginald Rawlings’s legacy in the history books. Gaining the favor he needed
with the influential population and with countries abroad, he would go on to
become the strongest ruler ever.

Pride filled his bosom, and a smile crept over his face.

A servant entered the room and spoke in a low voice to
Reginald. “Sir, you have an urgent call from the infirmary. There’s a problem
with the prisoner.”

Reginald pushed his chair back so abruptly that it startled
everyone. He exited the door and took the call. “I don’t know what happened,
but he’s dying, sir,” the guard said on the other end of the line. Reginald
caught Victor’s eye at the door and motioned for him to come immediately. No
one, including Sierra, missed the urgent tone of the unspoken words.

It only took about thirty seconds for Victor and Reginald to
get to the exam room. “You better keep him alive, Doctor,” Victor snarled as
they entered.

“I’m doing my best.” Dr. Roth injected a third dose of
epinephrine into his vein and began CPR. He instructed the guard to squeeze the
air bag every so often; minute after minute ticked by with no pulse.

“Paul!” Sierra and her ever-present guard had followed them
down to the infirmary to find Dr. Roth performing CPR on Paul. She panicked.
Was this part of the plan? It looked all too real. She tried to rush into the
room, but the father/son duo caught her and held her back. “Dr. Roth, what’s
happening?” she half yelled, half cried.

“Get her out of here!” Dr. Roth ordered to her guard.

The guard peeled her away from Victor and Reginald and
dragged her upstairs. Dr. Roth could hear her screaming all the way. If nothing
else, her agony was genuine. Reginald couldn’t possibly think this was a
set-up. Now, if only Paul would respond to the medication and come back.

“Is he dead?” Victor asked in what seemed like an irritated
voice.

Dr. Roth still performed chest compressions, and the guard
pumped air into Paul’s lungs. This charade had gone on for seven minutes now.
If he couldn’t revive Paul very soon, he could suffer brain damage or not wake
up at all.

Paul began coughing violently. Dr. Roth reached up and
removed the mask and turned Paul’s head to the side in time for him to vomit
over the edge of the bed. The guard stepped out of the way, and Victor let out
a disgusted grunt.

“It’s common for CPR victims to vomit because of all the air
that’s been forced into the stomach,” Dr. Roth informed them.

“Is he going to make it?” Victor asked.

“It’s too early to tell. He’ll need to stay here over
night,” Dr. Roth informed Reginald. He worked methodically to insert an IV into
Paul’s arm to administer another dose of medicine.

“What happened?” Reginald asked.

“Allergic reaction. His throat closed off.”

 “Bring Sierra back down so she can see he’s alive,”
Reginald said to Victor.

Dr. Roth heard her voice echoing down the hall a few minutes
later and watched as Sierra entered and limped over to Paul. He was still
unconscious. “What happened, Dr. Roth?” she asked through her teary eyes as she
pressed one of Paul’s limp hands to her mouth.

The door to the exam room shut, and the three of them were
now alone. Dr. Roth grabbed her shoulders and guided her to a chair. He sat
beside her and took one of her hands into his. He spoke to her in a solemn
voice. “He reacted differently to the drug than I predicted. I’m so very sorry.
He is breathing on his own, and that says a lot. We will have to wait for him
to wake up. Then we’ll move forward with the plan.”

“He’s going to be so angry with you.” She half laughed
through her choked sob.

“Yes, he will. Especially because I think I broke another
one of his ribs.” He smiled at her and handed her a small sack. “Wear this
clothing tomorrow morning when you come to see him. You’d better go now so we
don’t raise any suspicions.”

*****

“Oh, Doc, what the hell?” Paul muttered as he woke after
midnight.

Dr. Roth walked over to the bedside. “You know, I worried
you might not be able to pull off a convincing enough gag attack, but you did
pretty good. You could be an actor.”

“I don’t remember … where am I?”

“We’re still in the palace. I’m going to wheel you into the
x-ray room and check out your ribs. Try to relax.”

“I feel like I’ve been run over by a train.”

“That’s quite a common feeling after having CPR performed on
you.”

“CPR?!”

Dr. Roth unlocked the breaks on the bed and wheeled him into
the adjoining room. “I drugged you, Paul, and accidently killed you. But don’t
worry, I brought you back. No harm, except for the possibility of a broken rib
or two from the chest compressions.” He moved Paul directly under the x-ray
machine and placed the film canister under Paul. He stepped behind the wall and
took the shot. After repeating the procedure two more times, he wheeled Paul
back to the exam room.

Dr. Roth jammed the developed films up in the lighted board,
“Yeah, two more cracked ribs. Sorry about that, Paul. Let’s get those taped
up.” The painful process of sitting up and wrapping tape took an hour, after
which Paul’s bed was raised up to a near sitting position for better comfort.
After taking a stiff dose of pain killer, Paul dozed off till morning.

Before breakfast, Sierra rushed down to the infirmary to
check on Paul. Her personal guard saluted General Steinman, who stood outside
the infirmary door.

“Good morning, Mrs. Rawlings,” the general said.

“Ugh. Don’t call me that. I would like to see Paul. I assume
he’s inside, unless you have another high-profile prisoner you’re guarding.”