Chapter 6: Healing wounds

Murdock held Kami in a compassionate embrace until exhaustion hit her and she finally fell asleep. He laid her carefully back against the pillow and rose up from beside her on the bed. Kami stirred at the sudden movement, uttering "no, no," under her breath a few times, but settled down again when Murdock gently stroked the side of her face.

He walked over to the window, staring out into the shadows of the night and wiped away his tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. He couldn't bear to see Kami this way and was even more frustrated that he couldn't do anything to help. It wasn't just her shoulder wound that was going to take time to heal, but also the demons inside her head. After all, this was now the second serious attack she had suffered at the hands of Harry Sykes.

He shook himself vigorously, knowing this wasn't the time to start falling apart. He grabbed a chair and sat down by the side of her bed. There was a lot of hustle and bustle going on outside as it looked like the staff were changing shifts. He knew he was going to get kicked out sooner or later, but he was prepared to sit by Kami's side for as long as she needed him to be there.

He wasn't sure exactly how long he had sat there – probably a good hour or so. The evening nurse came in every now and then to check on Kami, looking slightly irritated to see Murdock sitting there. But once Murdock flashed his deep brown eyes at her beseechingly, she relented and said he could stay for one more hour. She told him that her x-ray results had shown there was no tendon damage to her shoulder, so there was no reason why she couldn't go home tomorrow.

Murdock uttered his thanks and settled back in the chair. Eventually he closed his eyes and started to doze off. He was awakened, rather abruptly by a soft voice calling his name.

"Murdock, it's Teresa," the voice said. Murdock stood up immediately and gave her a hug.

"How is she?" she whispered, seeing that Kami was asleep.

"She's hanging on in there," said Murdock, quietly. "The x-ray showed no tendon damage, but she's obviously in a lot of pain and discomfort."

Teresa, placed a small bag down by the cabinet next to the bed. "I've bought some things for her, but I'll leave them here for now."

"She'll appreciate that," said Murdock. He offered Teresa his chair so she could sit down next to Kami.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"Face brought me," she replied. "He's going to try and scam his way in! We weren't sure if the MPs were still hanging around."

Just as Teresa finished her sentence, Face came shuffling into the room. He had on a white doctor's jacket with a fake orderly's ID badge pinned to it. A black curly wig covered his blonde hair and he donned a matching oversized moustache. Murdock couldn't help grinning in amusement when he saw him.

"Is this your idea of being discreet, Face?" said Murdock, tweaking Face's moustache in a playful gesture. "Don't worry, buddy, all the MPs have gone."

Face flicked Murdock's hand away in mild frustration and took off the wig and moustache. He looked over to where Kami lay and immediately he became serious when he saw how frail and beaten up she looked.

"He did a good job on her, didn't he?" said Face, his voice thick with resentment.

Murdock nodded in agreement, not being able to find any words to justify the situation. Teresa also looked sickened, her eyes filling up with tears as she thought of the pain and suffering her dear friend must be going through.

Kami began to stir when she heard voices around her. Teresa got up and took her hand, and Face rushed to her side. It took a few seconds for Kami to register what was going on, but she managed to smile when she saw the two anxious faces staring down at her.

"How you doing honey?" asked Face, softly.

"All the better for seeing you, handsome," Kami replied in a sleepy voice.

She turned to Teresa, who was still grasping her hand firmly. "You okay, Tez?" Kami asked her.

Teresa chuckled. "I should be asking you that," she remarked.

Murdock came over to join them and they talked quietly to each other. Face and Teresa were glad to hear that her shoulder injury wasn't serious and that she would be coming home tomorrow.

After about half an hour the night nurse came back into the room.

"I must ask you all to leave now," she said. "Miss Wilson really needs to get some sleep."

Murdock didn't look too pleased, but Kami urged him to go home and get some rest.

"I'll be okay, HM," she whispered. "Thanks for all you've done for me." Kami was almost asleep before she had finished her sentence.

"I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow," he said, bending over to give her a quick peck on the forehead. Kami smiled warmly back at him, her eyelids drooping shut.

"Okay," she replied, before drifting off to sleep.

Murdock turned to the nurse. "What's the best time to come back in tomorrow?" he asked her.

"Come in about 10am," she answered. "Doctor does his rounds between 10.00 and 11am, so he will discharge her then."

Teresa, Face and Murdock reluctantly left the room. Murdock looked back and at least got some comfort from the fact that at last she looked peaceful in her sleep.

Teresa had driven over with her daughter, Sofia, to Kami's house to pack her overnight bag and had left her car there. Sofia had stayed with the rest of the team whilst her and Face visited Kami at the hospital, taking Kami's car.

Face drove them back to Kami's. When they got back to the house, Murdock updated Hannibal and BA with everything that had happened. Hannibal felt a bit uncomfortable with the fact that the MPs had been sniffing round.

"I think we better post sentry duty," he said to Face. "Just in case we get some unwanted visitors. BA, you drive back with Teresa and Sofia and stay with them tonight. Just a precaution in case Sykes tries to pull any more little stunts."

BA nodded back solemnly. He went to gather his things together whilst Teresa and Sofia said their good-byes.

"Thanks for looking after Kami," she said gratefully to the team, as they walked out with her to the car. "I take it her Craig knows what has happened."

Hannibal nodded. "Yes, I spoke to him in London. He wanted to get the next flight back but I managed to persuade him to stay put for the time being."

Teresa gave everyone a hug and then got into the car with Sofia. The team waved as BA drove off into the night. Hannibal, Face and Murdock walked back to the house.

"I'll take first watch," said Hannibal. "Face, you're up in 4 hours."

"What about me, Colonel?" asked Murdock.

"I think you better get some rest, Captain," replied Hannibal "You look all done-in. Let's pick this up again tomorrow."