Kelly grew concerned at the noticeable change in his behaviour. "It's ok. Don't try to think right now Mr. Murdock. You need to keep your strength. You're extremely weak."
"Mister Murdock?" he whispered to himself in puzzlement, drawing a blank as to his identity. "That's...that's my name?" he asked expectantly, his mind a complete clutter.
Kelly was at a lost for word until the ambulance sirens were heard blaring in the distance. "The ambulance's here," she signed with relief and went to meet the paramedics at the door, leaving Murdock alone to cudgel his brains as to the events of the past hours.
Kelly filled the medics in on Murdock's present condition and delivered Hannibal's textbook speech about the wounded man dropping from exhaustion on her doorstep. Seeing how she held the answers to questions bound to be asked by the attending physicians, the medics didn't see any objection as to her accompanying the patient to the hospital.
Murdock slept throughout the ride with Kelly keeping a vigil by his side. The sheen of heavy perspiration covering the pinched face was a reason for concern, but she nevertheless found herself gazing lovingly at this fine-looking man with the mesmerizing brown eyes and handsome features. Was she getting emotionally involved with this stranger? She was aware of the dangers of sliding down that road, whether animal or human. As a doctor, she was allowed to show concern but emotions were proscribed. However, for the first time in her career, she found it hard to remain impassive.
While orderlies wheeled the patient into the emergency room, the medical team grilled Kelly with details regarding the shooting and queried her on the patient's medical history, to which the flustered vet could not provide any answer. Once the onslaught of questions over, an emotionally- drained Kelly chose to wait for surgery to be over before returning home where she expected the A-Team to be anxiously awaiting news on their friend's condition.
Time stood still as Kelly searched the reason behind her deep feelings for Murdock. Literally, in a blink of eye, he had managed to steal the key to her heart, a feat at which a few men had been successful and yet, this handsome, helpless stranger had achieved it without even trying.
"Are you Doctor Stevens?" The question broke her train of thoughts and jolted her back to reality. "Yes I am." She sprung up from the couch and searched the man's eyes for a hint as to the answer of her next question. "How is Mister Murdock?"
"He's in a critical but stable condition right now. He's still not out of the woods. He has a long road ahead of him but thanks to your quick intervention, I expect he'll make a full recovery."
"Oh thank God," she heaved out with relief, putting a hand over her heart, hoping to slow its erratic beat.
"Does this man have any next of kin that we can contact?"
Kelly shook her head. "I don't know, doctor. As I told the nurse before, the man just crumbled from exhaustion on my doorstep. He was barely breathing and extremely weak from the blood lost. He was out the whole time I was treating him. Except for a brief moment before the ambulance arrived, he regained consciousness and I noticed then that he didn't seem to remember who he was."
"Well, he didn't suffer any concussion that could explain the amnesia. But you did mention he was in cardiac arrest for nearly five minutes? There could be brain damage from oxygen deprivation."
Kelly's teary eyes dropped in total despair. She bit her upper lip to refrain it from trembling. Why was she expressing such grief for a man she hardly knew?
"I don't have to tell you that the next twenty-four hours will be critical. We'll monitor his vitals at regular intervals and watch for any sign of brain damage. Right now his EEG is showing irregular wave patterns and we're hoping they will stabilize to a normal rhythm."
"But if they don't, that means that he...." Kelly's voice faltered, choking in mid sentence at the thought of that likely possibility. She found a bit of solace in the fact that the damage couldn't possibly be as extensive as expected for she recalled that, aside from an noticeable amnesia, Murdock's speech was coherent upon briefly regaining consciousness, and therefore could rule out aphasia or worse: vegetative state. Hannibal did say that Murdock was in cardiac arrest for nearly five minutes in the van, but could he have miscalculated?
Sensing her distress, the doctor placed a comforting hand on her shoulders and flashed her a sympathetic smile, "We'll do everything humanly possible for him. Go home now and we'll be in touch as to his progress, whether good or bad."
"Thank you Doctor. I do need to tend to my other patients," she tittered light-heartedly at the irony behind her comment. With a heavy heart, she turned toward the exit, but stopped and turned to cast one last look at the doctor's retreating back, hesitating as to whether she should have asked to see Murdock in the ICU. She shook her head and judged it best to go on her way. Decker nearly knocked her off balance as he and his second Crane brushed passed the petite brunette on their way to the nurses' station. Recalling what Hannibal had told her about their running from the military police, she considered sticking around to gather as much information as she could to report to the rest of the A-Team. She padded up to the desk and hid behind a corner to lend an ear to the conversation.
"We don't have anyone named Templeton Peck here, Colonel," Kelly heard the nurse respond.
"Do you have any shooting victims that came in the last few hours?"
At that moment, Murdock's doctor walked up to the desk. "Colonel Decker, perhaps Doctor Simmons would be able to answer your questions."
"What's going on?" the confused doctor asked.
"I'm Colonel Decker. I was just asking your nurse here if any shooting victims had been administered to this hospital in the last few hours."
"We've only had one," Doctor Simmons answered warily.
"What's his name?"
"I'm sorry Colonel, that's privileged information," the doctor answered indignantly, as if insulted that Decker would even consider his infringing on hospital rules.
Miffed at the doctor's rudeness defying his authority, Decker took a step forward to stand inches from the doctor's nose. Staring in the white of his eyes, he hissed with a commanding tone, "Listen doctor, you may be harbouring a fugitive from justice here. I demand to know the patient's name."
"Okay, okay!" Simmons capitulated, though with much reluctance. "I was told his name's H.M. Murdock and that's all the information we could gain from the woman who checked him in."
"Wait a minute, a woman? What was her name?"
"Doctor Kelly Stevens. She's a doctor in veterinarian medicine. She found Mister Murdock on her doorstep when he collapsed from exhaustion, she said."
"Is she still here?"
"I spoke to her less than two minutes ago. I told her to go home, though she might still be around here."
"Point her to me." Kelly stealthily snuck inside a utility room while Decker and Crane threaded on the doctor's heel to the waiting room. "She must have gone home."
"What does she look like?"
"Petite brunette, short hair, blue eyes." The doctor barely ended her depiction of the girl that Decker and Crane were dashing outside to catch their quarry. When they failed to spot a woman that remotely fitted the description, they returned inside where Decker instructed Crane to get one of his MPs to stand guard by Murdock's room.
"But why, Sir? Murdock isn't part of the A-Team as far as we know."
"That's where you're wrong, Crane. I have a strong hunch that he is very much a member of the team and that his buddies bust him out of the hospital every once in a while. I can't prove it but this situation here might be the bait I've been yearning for so long," Decker revelled in a tasty victory he saw within his reach.
When the coast was clear, Kelly crept out of her hideout, quickened the pace to the sliding doors, hurried down to her car and drove away into the night.
When she arrived at her home, she ran up to the door and unlocked it. She jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulders.
"Sorry," Hannibal apologized.
"You scared the daylights outta me," she gasped, a hand over her heart thumping out of her chest. "Hurry, come inside."
"What's wrong? How's Murdock?"
"He's in the intensive care unit and still in critical condition. They don't know the full extent of his injuries at the moment. The next twenty-four hours will tell."
"Are you referring to possible brain damage?" Face asked worriedly, his face recoiling in dread at Kelly's dismal expression.
"He briefly regained consciousness when you guys left. He appeared disoriented and confused as to who you were and what his name was. But his speech was articulate so we can safely rule out any major impairment, save for a partial amnesia."
"Well that's encouraging news," Tawnia sighed with relief.
"There's more. While I was there, your friend Decker and his men swarmed the hospital looking for you."
"We knew he would."
"He knows that the patient is Murdock and when he asked the doctor who brought him to the hospital, he gave him my description. I jumped into my car and drove on. I don't believe I was followed. I assume there'll be a guard at your friend's room. If I go back to the hospital and try to enquire about Murdock's condition, they're going to know it's me and..."
"We know. We're sorry we got you into this in the first place, but you were our only hope of saving Murdock's life," Hannibal explained with a tinge of remorse.
"Don't apologize. I'd do it again if I had to. I was glad to help and I want to continue if I can. Besides, that Colonel Decker knows who I am now and no doubt he'll be looking for me. I can continue playing dumb and stick to the story. "
"Decker must suspect that Murdock is part of the team. Our secret weapon has been exposed," Face implied.
"Not necessarily. We shouldn't jump the gun. There's no solid evidence to link us to Murdock. He's been known to fly the coop once in a while, but who's to say he escapes to meet with us or that we're the ones who actually bust him out," Hannibal reasoned, glancing from one face to another to gauge the reaction.
"That's true," Face acknowledged, somewhat relieved. "Same goes for Kelly I suppose."
"But if she goes back to the hospital..." B.A. started only to have Hannibal interject.
"She's merely a Good Samaritan who wishes to check on a stranger's condition. It's likely that Decker will use every trick in the book to nail her into revealing she's been in contact with us, but," he turned to Kelly, "if she remains cool and plays her role right, she should do fine. Can you do that, sweetie?"
"Sure I can, but does this Colonel Decker have the authority to arrest me if he thinks I'm lying?"
"He might bring you in for questioning but if you stick to our story, he won't have anything on you. Therefore he'll have to let you go for lack of evidence."
Kelly nodded her understanding of the situation. "May I ask you a question, though?"
"Shoot!"
"Hannibal," B.A. scolded, "Bad choice of word, man!"
"Sorry."
"You mentioned about Murdock flying the coop and you breaking him out. What did you mean by that?"
Embarrassed Hannibal looked up at Face, equally ill-at-ease with the question.
"Murdock's address is the Veteran Hospital Psychiatric Ward and has been for the past ten years. The Vietnam war left many men psychologically scarred and some like Murdock lost it to a point where they had to be institutionalized. His mental health's improved since and his crazy antics are a defence mechanism to help him cope with everyday nuisance that might shake his psyche and cause a relapse."
"At first glance he didn't strike me as a man who lost his marbles, if you allow me the expression."
"Like I said he's doing a lot better now, hence the reason why we bust him outta of the VA whenever we need a good pilot on our missions. He's been known to get us out of jams, so he's not completely wacko as one might say." Hannibal turned to B.A. who was visibly struggling with his inner feelings.
"Yeah, guess the crazy fool ain't so nut after all. He just freaks me out when he starts talking to people that don't exist or see things that ain't there."
"Speaking of which, I expect once Murdock's condition improves, if it does, they'll transfer him back to the VA. It'll be a challenge trying to get to see him, as I suspect he'll be kept under twenty-four-hour surveillance," Face remarked forlornly to the team.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Hannibal stated with some annoyance that implied he wished not to consider that possibility.
"And Decker knows I'm with you guys, so if I try to see Murdock, Decker will put two and two together," Tawnia asserted. "Kelly on the other hand is still in the clear. The story is that Murdock collapsed on her doorstep. She doesn't know much of anything else about the man."
Silence ensued as inquisitive eyes darted from one face to the other seeking a miracle solution to this predicament. Finally, Kelly spoke up, "Guys, I'll do it. I'll go visit with him. But you'll need to take heed when you come to see me because your friend Decker is likely to keep a tight watch on my place."
"We're past masters on the art of avoiding Decker's traps and our unit always sticks together regardless of the odds. But with a wounded man in our midst it kinda throws a wrench in our escape plans. We couldn't leave Murdock to his fate and that's why Decker was able to catch up with us this time around."
"I'll go to the hospital in the morning to see how he's doing and I'll find a way to contact you afterwards."
"No! Let US contact YOU. Otherwise we'll risk jeopardizing all we've been fighting against," Hannibal counselled. "We'll be in touch but in our own way."
Once Kelly acquiesced to Hannibal's request, the team reiterated their gratitude toward the caring veterinarian and left. They climbed aboard the van and drove away to scour for a remote shelter where they could hide from Decker and his men until the morning.
Bright and early the next day, Kelly made the trip to the hospital to fulfill her promise to her new friends. Her throat constricted at the sight of the stone-faced MP stoically guarding the entrance of the ICU. Her step faltered as she approached the door but composed herself to follow through. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Mister Murdock."
"Sorry lady, no one's allowed in without proper authorization," the MP coldly informed.
"Oh, I see," the chastened woman replied. "Well where can I gain proper authorization?"
"Colonel Decker, ma'am."
"Where...where can I find this... Colonel Decker?" she stuttered nervously in spite of herself.
"Propably at the nurses' station."
"Thank you." Kelly traced back her steps and took a turn left. With an unsteady gait, she made her way to the nurses' station to enquire about the man she so desperately wanted to avoid at all cost.
One deep sigh later, Kelly stepped up to the head nurse to express her wish to visit with the patient with whom she felt a deep connexion. The smock-clad lady picked up the phone and dialed. "Colonel Decker, sir, someone here is asking to see Mister Murdock." With a piercing eye, she gave the anxious brunette a quick but thorough once-over while listening to Decker's instructions. "Okay, will do." She hung up and directed Kelly to the waiting room. "Colonel Decker will be right with you."
"Thank you," Kelly answered bashfully before turning toward the waiting room where all would hopefully play out according to plan. Hannibal's well-crafted scenario was already unfolding in her mind, setting the stage for her grand performance as the innocent bystander.
"Well, well little lady," Decker taunted. "I was told you wanted to visit with H.M. Murdock?"
"That's...that's right," Kelly gulped at the daunting figure before her.
"What do you know of that man?" he asked suspiciously.
"Nothing other than his name."
"Why do you want to see him then? He's a stranger, isn't he?" he proceeded to probe deeper, hoping to shatter the tough armour she appeared to have erected around herself. Decker sensed she knew more than she let on, but he had to find her Achilles' heel if he was to compel her to remove the veil.
"Yes he is, but I did save his life and I feel a certain responsibility."
"Doctors are not supposed to get emotionally involved with their patients."
"This is different."
"How so?" Decker countered.
Decker's insolence was a pick slowly hewing away at her resilience to carry out her role. Swiftly she picked up the chipped ice of her armour and patched up the damaged shell with a deep, resolute sigh. "Colonel please, I want to make sure he's alright, that's all. Right now I don't rightly care about the man's past, present or future, I merely wish to check up on him."
Seconds passed as Decker scanned the assertive woman from head to toe. It was obvious he was standing in the presence of a formidable adversary. Her delicate, almost frail appearance and apparent gullibility didn't fool him. He needed to approach her with caution and cut her some slack in order to reap his reward later.
"You may go," he conceded, knowing his good deed would undeniably earn him the woman's respect and arguably, a confession of guilt in having willingly harboured fugitives, his most sought-after quarry: the A-Team.
Decker escorted her to the entrance of the ICU to usher her into the room where Murdock slept soundly. The dimlit room was quiet, save for the constant rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, which oddly enough, proved to be a sweet melody to Kelly's ears. Albeit alone to visit with the patient, she was aware that prying ears were sharply focused and therefore held her tongue in revealing anything that might otherwise be used against her.
"Hey there, stranger," she whispered sweetly with a warm fetching smile. "I'm glad to see you're still among us. I don't know if you have any family or friends out there," she affected with a knowing grin hidden from Decker she sensed was listening by the door, "but I'm sure they must be worried sick about you."
"He doesn't have anyone. His only family is the personnel at the Veteran Hospital Psych Ward," Decker informed upon entering the room.
Without unfastening her eyes from the patient, she addressed the nuisance calmly and solemnly, "When he came to me he was grievously injured and near death from an infected gunshot wound. Would you know who did this to him?"
"I was hoping you could tell me."
"I told you I don't know anything other than his name."
"You said he collapsed on your doorstep and was unconscious the whole time you were treating him. So how would you know his name if he didn't tell you himself?"
"I did mention that he briefly regained consciousness before the ambulance arrived. I was able to question him on that."
"You also said that he was confused about who he was. Possible amnesia?" A malevolent grin crept upon his lips as he sensed that the woman was crumbling before him. "Look Doctor Stevens, why don't you make this easy on yourself and level with me."
Incensed at the remark, she swung around angrily and glowered at the man who stood defiantly and undisturbed by her glaring annoyance. Quite the contrary, he was rather enjoying his triumph at having shaken the foundation of her confidence. "Colonel Decker with all due respect I am a bit annoyed at your insinuation that I might be privy to some secret information that this man holds. I told you I don't know anything," she spewed out between teeth clenched in suppressed fury. "Please, I'm just here to see if this man's going to be alright."
"According to his doctor, he will be."
Kelly's anger melted into a cheering laugh. "That's good."
"As soon as he gains enough strength they'll be transferring him back to the VA hospital."
"So there's no brain damage?"
"Apparently not, but he does have amnesia and therefore he couldn't tell us his name." Decker delighted in Kelly's reaction to the diagnosis. She was getting entangled into his deftly-knitted trap with the lie she carried on her conscience, and he wondered how she would manage to wriggle herself out of this ambush.
Surprisingly, the moth broke free of the web with an unrehearsed explanation that Decker couldn't refute. His face hardened at the content mug staring back at him, and he left the room a beaten man...for now.
He sought Crane out to instruct him to put a tail on Dr. Stevens the minute she left the premises. "She knows more than she lets on. I'm convinced she will lead us to the A-Team," he crowed maliciously.
Back in Murdock's room, Kelly tentatively reached for the patient's hand, hesitating as to whether it would be proper behaviour to cradle it into her own, seeing as he was a total stranger. She delicately placed the hand in her palm and stared at it for a while before gently squeezing it, hoping to elicit a response out of him. Sadly none came. She then lifted her eyes to gaze at the patient' face, taking in the fine features that were so puzzlingly endearing to her. Her loving smile gradually changed into a deep concerned frown at the ashen complexion and sunken cheeks that were ominous signs of a deteriorating condition , thus contradicting Decker's earlier prognosis. Was she dramatizing the circumstances or was her medical instincts inkling her of a dire fate for the man with whom she was intensely infatuated?
She delicately brushed a hand against his cheeks that still felt warm to the touch. She glanced up at the monitor and observed a slight elevated temperature. The vital readings weren't as encouraging as she originally thought. She dropped Murdock's hand and hurried out of the room to the nurses' station.
"Excuse me, is Doctor Simmons around by any chance? I need to speak to him regarding the patient in ICU room 2."
"Mister Murdock? Something wrong?" the nurse asked suspiciously.
"I'm concerned about his vitals."
"He's still critical but stable at the moment. He hasn't regained consciousness and until he does there's no way of anticipating which way it will go,"
Kelly's eyes widened in shock at the disturbing news. "But I was told he was going to be fine."
"I don't know who told you that. His condition has somewhat improved in the last twenty-four hours, but there's a battery of tests we need to conduct before we can issue a firm prognosis. Right now it's touch-and-go."
"Thank you." Kelly's face scrunched up as anger began simmering beneath the surface. She scanned the room in search of her prey. Once in her crosshairs, she marched up to him and seethed, "You lied to me!"
"I beg your pardon?" Decker answered nonchalantly.
"You said that Murdock was going to be alright but that's not what I was told."
"I guess I merely wanted to gauge your reaction, Doctor Stevens," he taunted. "You seem to be very attached to this man, as though you've known him for quite some time. I believe you know more than you care to admit."
"Why are you are doing this to me?" she lashed out, exasperated. "I told you before I'm just an innocent bystander who saved a man's life. Get off my case!" she huffed.
"I can't Miss Stevens. Not until I can safely rule out any involvement you might have with the A-Team."
"A-Team, A-Team, A-Team, I never heard of the A-Team! I don't know who they are!" she ferociously denied, her outburst having no impact on the Colonel's bearing who displayed no sign of unrelenting.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Dr. Simmons walking up to the nurses' station with a medical chart in hand. She strode up to him to ask the dreaded question. "Doctor Simmons. Remember me? Kelly Stevens?"
"Of course Doctor Stevens. You're here to see Mister Murdock?"
"I've been to see him already," she said, motioning to Decker standing a few feet away, "Colonel Decker gave me permission to visit with him. Tell me doctor, the truth...is he going to be alright?"
"We won't know the extent of the damage until he regains consciousness."
"Notwithstanding possible brain impairment, is he gaining any strength from the blood transfusion? Were you able to drain the infection? I just came to see him, his complexion looked ashen and drawn, and his temperature was a bit high."
"I can assure you that he's making some progress. I had his medical record transferred from Veteran Hospital in order to outline the right course of treatment for him without risking any fatal drug interaction. He has been prescribed medication, hence the reason why it's taking a bit longer for his vitals to stabilize to a normal level. We're proceeding with caution in this case." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He's in good hands, don't worry. We're checking up on his condition every thirty minutes seeing as he's still listed on the critical list."
"So there's still a possibility he might not make it?" Kelly queried worriedly.
"Right now, I'd say it's sixty-forty," Dr. Simmons informed dismally.
"Thank you, doctor. I'll try to come and see him later."
"I could ask Colonel Decker to grant you permanent access to his room?"
"I'd appreciate that. Thank you."
Kelly cast one last longing glance in direction of Murdock's room and left the hospital. The woeful woman walked over to her car and drove away. In her rear-view mirror, she could see a car tailing her and figured it was one of Decker's men.
"Kelly, what have you gotten yourself into, girl? You've always lived a plain and staid life. Why is this happening to you? I don't know how much more I can take," she sighed heavily, her heart aching for a man who's part of a gang of fugitives from justice that she easily befriended. "This isn't like you."