Left Behind
Part 1 of 2
She closed her eyes and tried to calm what was left of her nerves. The musty smell of the small cell she had been forced to call home for the last three months made her nauseas. Her captures had grown nervous and she sensed that something had changed. Maybe this would be her chance; a chance to finally escape the nightmare that seemed to never end.
The sounds around her grew louder. She could hear and feel the explosions closing in on her. "What if I can't get out?" she thought before pushing those fears to the back of her mind. "No, I'm not giving up."
Minutes seemed like an eternity. Before she knew it, a familiar sound penetrated through her. Her heart began to beat so rapidly that she had to calm herself by taking slow deep breaths. After what seemed like an all out war, the sounds stopped and everything around her grew quiet. Her heart sank as the fear of being left behind again crept into her brain. "Please," she thought to herself. "Oh please find me."
Then, out of nowhere she heard a voice yell out. "Move away from the door," he said. "I'm going to shoot the lock."
Caitlin did as instructed. She backed away to the opposite corner of the room. Within seconds, the door flew open and her rescuer stood before her, staring at her in disbelief.
Hawke couldn't help but notice how pale and frail she seemed to be. The sparkle was gone from her eyes and she looked through him as though she didn't know who he was.
"Caitlin?" Hawke asked as he moved towards her and wrapped her up in his arms. "Oh my God, I thought you were dead. I had no idea you were the one they were holding captive."
She felt herself trembling in his arms. She couldn't speak. All these months she'd felt they had left her behind and wondered why they never returned for her. She wanted so badly to ask him what had happened but she couldn't seem to find her voice. Exhaustion overtook her and her legs began to buckle.
She went limp as Hawke quickly picked her up and carried her out of the building that had been her prison for all those months. Seeing them, Dom jumped out of Airwolf and ran over to them.
"Caitlin?" he asked. "How can this be?"
String shook his head. "I don't know but we need to get her out of here. She needs medical help."
"Yeah," replied Dom as he helped Hawke put her inside Airwolf.
The two flew silent for a long time as they both couldn't stop staring at the unconscious form of their friend.
Dom finally spoke up. "String….."
"I know," he replied softly. "How the hell could we have been so wrong Dom? We left her in that hellhole for three months. If Michael hadn't gotten a tip that they were holding some American, she'd still be there and we'd never have known it."
"We have her now," replied Dom. "String, we didn't know."
"We should have," he replied coldly. "We have no idea what she's been through the past three months. It's our fault."
"No String," replied Dom. "How could we have known? We saw her plane go down. It exploded before crashing into the ocean."
"We shouldn't have stopped searching," he replied. "We gave up on her."
Once at the clinic, the doctors rushed Caitlin into one of the examination rooms. Still in disbelief, Dom and Hawke waited out in the hall and were quickly greeted by Michael.
"I had no idea the American they had captured was Caitlin," he told them. "We got lucky with that tip."
"It never should have happened in the first place," Hawke replied, his anger growing. "How could we have made such a huge mistake? Three months! I can't even fathom how she must have felt all that time waiting for us to come and get her."
"Beating yourselves up over it isn't going to help her now," Michael insisted. "You got her back. Maybe it took three months but she's here now and she's okay."
"Is she?" Hawke asked sarcastically. "She sure didn't look okay."
"She will be," said the doctor who overheard the conversation as he came out of the examination room. "But it will take some time."
"What's her condition?" asked Michael.
"I won't sugar coat it," he told them. "There are signs that she was tortured and that she put up quite a fight. She's slightly anemic and underweight. But, with time, physically she should be fine. It's her mental state the concerns me. I'm going to bring in a specialist to speak with her. I can't get her to talk to me."
Hawke sighed deeply. "When can we see her?"
"We're moving her to a room and I just gave her a sedative to relax," he replied. "I would like for you to wait a couple of hours before visiting. Maybe with a little rest, she'll be okay with company."
The guilt that had washed over him was becoming unbearable for Hawke. "I need some air," he said as he quickly headed towards the nearest exit.
Michael watched in disbelief. "He shouldn't blame himself for this," he said. "All signs pointed to the fact that she was dead. There was no way he could have known."
Dom sighed. "I realize that. But, he still can't get over the fact that we left her there," he replied. "He's grieved for three months. I think he just needs time to process it all. We both do."
"It's understandable," Michael said with a frown. "But, he can't afford retreat this time. She's going to need him more than ever now."
"She'll need her family too," replied Dom. "I'm going to go and call them. I'm just not sure what to say."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Outside the clinic, Hawke leaned against the building trying to take in the fresh air and rid the feeling of nausea that was consuming him. His mind jumped back to that horrible day three months earlier. Michael had asked them to go and rescue an American diplomat and his family. Caitlin flew in with Airwolf as an escort to pick up the group of six. All had seemed to be going well until they were overrun by seven enemy planes. Hawke managed to get them all but one, the one that took down Caitlin's plane in a single shot. The sight of the fire engulfed plane had been etched in his brain. When it went down into the ocean, he had felt a sense of loss that tore his soul apart.
Afterwards, Hawke had hidden out in the cabin for two months. Her face, her smile and everything else about her ran through his mind in every waking hour. He loved her. He knew it although he never told her so. He never wanted to forget her and didn't know how he would move on. But little by little Dom had convinced him to do just that. Now, here he was standing outside the clinic with her alive inside and all he wanted to do was run.
The urge to go back to the cabin was strong and he gave into it. "I can't help her now," he thought. "She must hate me for leaving her there all that time."