Chapter 11
Dr. Carlson breezed into the room a few hours later. She smiled at Audrey, but her brown eyes held an expression that neither Jack nor Doyle could read. "I hear we had a little incident earlier, eh?" she asked briskly. Doyle and Jack nodded silently. Dr. Carlson glanced at Audrey, who was running her thumb over the white gauze and adhesive tape that covered the scratched, chafed area on her right forearm. "Don't even think about pulling those dressings off, Audrey," Dr. Carlson said. Her tone was light and teasing, but it held an underlying note of sternness. Audrey nodded in understanding. "Good. Thank you," Dr. Carlson added. "Now, let's talk about a plan." She pulled up a chair and sat down next to Audrey's bed, taking the young woman's hand in hers. "It goes without saying that we can't just let Audrey go around clawing at her arms and scratching them raw," she said dryly. "So, I think I've got an idea."
"I'd like to hear it," Jack said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
"Cover-up work," Dr. Carlson told him. "I have a doctor friend that is an excellent plastic surgeon. I'd like to get him to work on Audrey. He'd use plastic surgery and skin grafts to cover up that tattoo, and he'd probably agree to cover this, too," she added, indicating the thick, ugly scar on Audrey's left wrist.
"I like that idea," Jack agreed. He glanced at Audrey. "Do you understand what Dr. Carlson is saying, Audie?" Audrey nodded.
"What do you think, Audrey?" Dr. Carlson asked gently. "Would you be willing to let my friend work with you? He'd be able to get rid of some of those ugly scars. Would you like that?"
Audrey nodded again. "Yes," she said quietly.
Dr. Carlson smiled. "All right, then." She got to her feet. "I'll get in touch with my friend, and see what he can do." She left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.
-o-o-o-o-
At seven o'clock the next morning, Jack was greeted by a knock at Audrey's door. Quickly, he crossed the room and opened the door. "Audrey's still sleeping," he said quietly, "but come in."
Dr. Carlson stepped into the room, followed by a doctor that Jack didn't recognize. He was tall, with thick black hair, and he had a mustache and a short, close-cropped beard. "This is the doctor that I talked to you about, Jack," Dr. Carlson explained, closing the door behind them. "This is Dr. Alex Kane. Alex, this is Agent Jack Bauer."
"Nice to meet you, Agent Bauer," Dr. Kane said, holding out his hand for Jack to shake.
Jack returned the gesture. "Please, call me Jack. Agent Bauer's too formal, and anyone here will tell you that I'm not one for formality."
"All right, Jack it is," Dr. Kane said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Jack."
"Have a seat," Dr. Carlson offered, pulling up three chairs and sitting down in one. Jack and Dr. Kane took the other two.
Dr. Kane glanced at Audrey. "Is it all right if I wake her up?" he asked apologetically. "I apologize for the relatively early visit, but I have to be at my clinic by nine, and I wanted an hour or two to meet you and talk."
Jack nodded. "Yes, that's fine. I should probably be the one to wake her up, though," he added quickly.
Dr. Kane nodded. "Of course."
Jack got to his feet, and crossed the room to stand next to Audrey's bed. He smoothed a wayward strand of hair off of her forehead, and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, Audie. Are you awake?" He waited a few seconds as Audrey's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," he said with a smile as she regarded him sleepily. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty. Rise and shine. Time to wake up. There's someone here to see you." Audrey groggily opened her eyes the rest of the way and sleepily scanned the room. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she caught sight of Dr. Kane, and she shrank back against the pillows.
"Relax, Audrey," Dr. Carlson spoke up. "This is my friend, the one that I told you about yesterday. It's all right. He's not going to hurt you. He's going to see what he can do to help you."
Dr. Kane stepped closer to the bed. "Hi there, Audrey," he said kindly, holding out his hand for her to shake. Audrey flinched, shrinking away from the offered hand. "Easy," Dr. Kane said calmly. "It's all right." Gradually, Audrey realized that this new stranger wasn't going to strike her. She relaxed slightly, and shyly reached to return the handshake. Dr. Kane smiled. "Nice to meet you, Audrey. I'm Dr. Alex Kane. I'm a friend of Dr. Carlson's. I'm a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Carlson called me in to take a look at you. I'm going to try to see how I can help you, all right?" Audrey nodded once. "Okay, then, let's see here. Is it okay if I unwrap this dressing?" he asked Dr. Carlson. She nodded. Dr. Kane took Audrey's hand in his, and began to remove the layers of gauze bandages from her arm. In moments, all of the wrappings lay in a wadded ball on the bed, and everyone in the room got a glimpse of the raw area on Audrey's inner arm. It was red, irritated, and ugly, and lines of black stitching ran across it. "Yuck," Dr. Kane commented. "This is a mess. Jesus, Audrey, what did you use? An ice pick?"
"Should have," she said hoarsely. "No, I used my fingernails."
Dr. Kane's eyebrows arched. "You've got some sharp fingernails, my dear." He examined the wound. "I should be able to fix this, and your wrist as well." He met Audrey's gaze. "I'm going to fix this for you, Audrey. I'm going to do a little surgery, and we'll fix this up as good as new. Okay?" She nodded silently. Dr. Kane sat back in his chair. "I'll use a combination of skin grafts and plastic surgery. I'll take healthy skin from somewhere on your body—probably your side or your leg—and graft it with the skin on your arm and your wrist to cover the tattoo and the scar. You follow me so far?" Audrey nodded again. "Is this whole idea okay with you, Audrey?" Dr. Kane added gently. "If not, you can say so. We don't have to do this. No one's making you. We just think that it would be easier to patch up some of the scars. We don't want you clawing all of your skin off, after all," he added wryly. "But if you don't want to go through with the surgery, I can try to think up something else. Tell me the truth. Is this okay with you?"
Audrey nodded. "Yes."
Dr. Kane nodded. "All right, then. I'll pull my team together, and we'll get to work on a plan." He started to say something else, but then changed his mind. There were a few seconds of silence, and then he spoke. "Jack, I... ah... I couldn't help noticing your hand."
Self-consciously, Jack allowed his good right hand to cover the gnarled, burned, scarred skin on his left hand. "Yeah."
Dr. Kane hesitated. "If you'd like, I could work on it. Nothing major, just try to even out and minimize some of the scarring."
Jack glanced at his hand. "I... I'd like that. Thank you."
Dr. Kane nodded again. "You're welcome." He got to his feet. "I need to head on over to my clinic and get the day started there. I'll talk with my team, and we'll start putting together a plan. I'll be in touch with you."
"Thank you," Jack said quietly, speaking to both Dr. Carlson and Dr. Kane. "Thank you for helping Audrey, and thanks for offering to help me."
"You're quite welcome." Dr. Kane smiled. "I'll be back later." He left the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
4
