Shattered Ghost King

Chapter 4 – Hidden Talents

The next day William and Jake caught a 0600 ride with an ambulance crew stationed at the air field. William usually thought of himself as outgoing, but Jake was in whole other league. He really shouldn't be so surprised, after all he had William telling him his life story and that he was queer after about the first week he nursed him. Of course he never told him his deepest secret. Jake started with the ambulance crew sling slang so thick that William only knew one out of every ten words. Slang was discouraged in the hospital so he never learned much.

Once they arrived at the air field they checked in with the duty clerk. Jake was here to request a radio operator position. His had an appointment with the lead radio operator at 0900 and commander at 1400. Soon he was in deep conversation with clerk. This conversation was better, it was only about half slang. Jake casually pointed a thumb at William and said, "My Bedpan Commando here is looking after a fly boy from a kite crash. Do you know Nico Angle?"

"Him, yeah," Said the clerk with an odd mix of wariness and grimness. "He was a damn good dit jockey, but not exactly one of the mates. I heard he was a basket case. It would have been better if he bought the farm like the rest."

Basket case was one slang term William knew; it meant either losing all limbs, a sustained coma, or permanently unresponsive. A fierce determination flowed through him at the thought of this man so casually writing him off. He took a breath to regain his calm and answered as casually as possible. "He might be, but I have some hope for him." He could sense the clerk was uneasy about Nico and he wondered why.

"Well, I can get you his pin-ups." The clerk replied as he turned back to his work.

"Thanks we'll bring them to him." Jake answered. As they started to leave he told Will pin-ups were slang for personal items.

Soon it became routine to be referred to as he Jake's Bedpan Commando, slang for medical corps, and it felt like they had talked to a least half the base. William had soon become desensitized to the negative attitude about Nico and bored trying to follow slang heavy conversations. After lunch in the Mess Jake took him to the mechanics shop. There he asked for Leo Valdez, a smirking short skinny man, maybe an Italian, who was able to take a break to talk with them.

Jake began, "William here is treating Nico Angle and he is in bad shape. It will help him recover if we can learn more about him and his crew. Can you help us?"

Leo looked stunned for a moment, "I heard he was terminal. You think he can recover?" Leo asked hopefully. William already liked him when he didn't use the usual slang 'basket case' to refer to Nico.

"I'm sorry to tell you, his injuries are severe. He has severely burned hands, a leg injury, hearing loss, but the head injury is the worse. He can speak, well at least call out in his sleep and appears unable to see. We cannot communicate with him. " Leo gasped and covered his mouth in horror.

William rushed on in an effort to assure his friend, "I still hope to reach him. I've been using Morse code to contact. I only had one response and he asked about his crew. Now I can't get a response. I hope some personal information might help me reach him."

"You're his doctor? Are you a child protégé or something?" He asked doubtfully.

"No, I'm just a nurse." William admitted. "I'm the only one that believes he is alert. I have to convince the doctors before they write him off completely."

"You really think he can be recover?" Leo asked anxiously.

"Yes, his first question was about his crew. Not where am I? Or what happened? Nobody with permanent brain damage is that alert. He is just having trouble communication and possibly wanting to talk since he learned they did not survive." William answered with as much assurance as he could manage.

"Alright, I'll help you as much as I can. I've known Nico since he's been stationed here, about two years. He is hard to get to know and even harder to like, but he is fiercely loyal and grimly determined. He actually flew a damage kite, um bomber, in for a landing one mission." Leo smiled at the thought, "Jason Grace was his pilot and his best friend. His loss is would deeply affect him."

"I was afraid of something like that." William responded thinking of Nico's burned hand from trying to save him. "Can you recall something Jason might have said to him that would help me reach him?"

"I only know that Jason would not want him to give up just because he was gone. He would tell him to fight like the vile bastard he knew him to be," that drew a sad smile from Leo, "Also, I think you need to talk to Piper."

"Who is Piper?" William asked.

"Jason's widow. She is still here working as a radio operator." Leo replied.

"Wouldn't it be tactless to talk to her, so soon after losing Jason?" William lamented.

"Nah, she cares about Nico, too. If anyone could talk to him she can. She has a gift." Leo confirmed.

"I think it would help him to hear from you." The nurse hoped renewing their friendship would help.

"Sure, come back after my shift for a letter. Can you write me and let me know how he is. He is too fine a dit boy to lose." Leo looked solemn and William got the feeling being serious showed how important this was to him. He seemed more like the joker type.

"I'd be glad to keep you informed." He affirmed.

Right after Jake's visit with the commander the clerk handed William a small duffle bag. "What is this?"

"It is Nico Angle's gear and his few personal items. I try to get those back to the crewman, but it didn't seem like he'd know." The clerk explained.

They had about two hours before another ambulance crew was due to return to their hospital. It was time to visit Piper Grace. She was a stunning beauty with tanned skin, dark straight hair, and keen multi-colored eyes.

After they explained the situation she was astounded, "Nico? Really can it be that he is able to recover? I thought they were all gone. Oh, the poor boy, first Percy, now Jason."

"Who is Percy?" William asked.

"He was Nico's closest friend ever. He was his instructor when he joined in Canada. They were so close. Nico was on his crew when only he, Percy and Luke survived a mission. Then Percy passed away two days later. It was devastatingly for him." She stopped talking seemingly caught up in her own tragedy as well as Nico's.

"I'm sorry, I know this is hard to talk about now. Just, I don't want this to be the end for Nico. Can you help us to reach him?" William asked with his unique ability to convey sincere compassion.

She looked up, took a shaky breath and nodded. Then her sad face turned stoic and she gritted her teeth. "I need to visit him. I know I can reach him. Besides I have a letter from Jason to deliver. He left it with me in case he… could not… say goodbye."

William was quick to offer, "I can deliver it to him."

She was adamant, "No! It has to be me. It-it is too personal for anyone else."

"When can you visit? He needs to respond as soon as possible," He warned.

"It'll take about a week to get my shift covered and get clearance."

"Please, make it five days if you can. Can you give me something to take with me? Maybe something just from you?"

"Yeah, that is a good idea. Can you wait?" She had a slight sparkle of hope in her multi-colored eyes.

"We are leaving at 1600. We'll stop by before we leave." Jake answered.

After they returned to the hospital and Jake was comfortable situated they started to compare notes.

"So, what do you think William?" Jake asked as William pulled up a chair.

"It sounds like he is depressed, but I can't rule out complications for his lack of response. He sounds hard to get to know even before the injuries." William mused.

"Yeah that was my read too. Also, I think Piper was hiding something from us." Jake was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"What do you mean?" He asked wondering what in the world Jake meant that would make him smile.

"Reading between Pipers words it sounds like Percy was more than a friend. I think you found a fellow queer." Now Jake was practically laughing at the shocked look on William's face.

"No!" He was stunned.

"Yeah, it also seems that Leo knows it too. When we got the note from him, I mentioned Percy's name and he gave me a strange look." Jake smirked.

"What? How in the hell can you tell that?" William asked astounded.

"Look, I just can read people, just like Leo can read engines. I don't know how, but you can trust me."

"Is he, too?" William asked curiously.

"He is harder to predict. Maybe he is just a two beer queer. Oh sorry I mean easy when he's drunk" Jake corrected.

"What about Jason?" William could not believe this.

"Definitely not. In a way I think that is why they were close friends."

"Wow, remind me to ask you to interview prospective dates for me."

"I am so not going there." Jake laughed.

William's mind was spinning with revelations as he reported for his first night shift of the week. At least he had some personnel information to work with. Almost too much, truth be told. It was going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Slang Dictionary~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bedpan Commando - Medical corpsman

Basket Case – permanently unresponsive, losing all limbs, or a sustained coma

Bought the farm - Killed or missing

Dit Jockey – Radio Operator

Fly Boy – Aircrew/Pilot

Kite - Aircraft

Mess - Cafeteria

Pin-ups – Personal belongings

Two Beer Queer - A man who can't handle his liquor. Implies that he's ready to perform homosexual favors after his second beer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Dictionary~~~~~~~~~~~~~~