Thanks for the reviews, I cant believe the story is going on this long, but hey as long as some of you are enjoying it. Am trying to get it finished before next week if I can. Hope you enjoy this bit...E :)
Chapter 21:
It was cramped inside the landrover. Luc and Liam were sitting in the back of it across from Liam's mates Danno and Razor. There were two other staff members from the Camp in the landrover with them. Luc really didnt like the confined space, it was making him anxious, he chatted to Liam to try to take his mind off it.
"Are you looking forward to becoming an uncle Liam?" Luc asked.
"Yeah, it'll be cool. Although I'm not sure how good I'll be with the baby when its very small, I'm not sure I'll know how to hold it properly and all that" replied Liam.
"It's ok, Eddie and I will show you all that. It'll be good fun when the baby gets older and we can play football with him or her" replied Luc.
"We'll have to keep up the McKee family tradition of bringing him or her to see a Leeds United match. Dad brought me and Eddie to a few matches when we were kids. We'd go to the match and get fish and chips on the way home. We both loved going as kids" replied Liam with a sadness to his voice.
"That'll be great. I've never been to a proper football match myself. I'm sure Eddie would love to go to one again too. That's definately a tradition we can continue" replied Luc smiling.
"Are you sure Leeds United will still have a team in a few years time?" interrupted Liam's mate Danno sarcastically.
"Course they will, they'll be back up the league by then" replied Liam with conviction.
"Dont mind Danno, he's a Man Utd fan. He looks down his nose at all the other Northern teams" Liam explained to Luc.
Luc was amused at the banter that went on between Liam and his mates. He was glad that it seemed like Liam had some good friends that he could rely on.
They were almost half way back to camp when they heard gunfire outside the landrover. Liam told Luc and the others to get down and a second later there was a massive explosion.
Luc blacked out. A few minutes later he came to. He felt like he was deaf and his vision was blurred. He gradually regained his senses and started to feel an excruciating pain coming from his thigh. He looked down and saw a large piece of jagged metal sticking out of his leg, he pulled it out and blood started pouring from the wound. He ripped off the bottom of his t-shirt and tied it round the wound. He saw another jagged piece of metal sticking out of his chest, it was sticking out of his jacket. He put his hand in under the jacket but there was no blood. He pulled the piece of metal off his jacket and put his hand inside the jacket pocket. He took out the ring box and there was a massive gash in it. Wow, he thought, I think the ring box just saved my life.
He straightened himself up and looked around. Liam was lying partially on top of him, he gently got out from under Liam and checked on him. Liam was unconscious and badly injured. He had wounds to the stomach and chest and he was bleeding heavily. The others in what was left of the back of the landrover were starting to come round and were crying out.
Suddenly, there was a blast of light as a soldier opened the back doors of the landrover. "We need some help in here" screamed Luc. The two staff members who were seated nearest the back doors were only slightly injured and got out of the landrover. Some soldiers climed into the back of the landrover and started checking Razor and Danno.
"Are they still breathing?" asked Luc.
"This one is, the other one isnt" replied one of the soldiers. Razor, who had been sitting opposite Liam was dead but Danno who had been sitting opposite Luc was still alive. The front of the landrover had taken the brunt of the explosion.
"We need to get them out of here" cried Luc desperately. The soldiers hurriedly lifted all 3 of them out of the landrover after Luc had climbed out. Luc could hear shots being fired in the distance.
"What's going on?" asked Luc in a panic.
"That's some of our mates going after our attackers" replied one of the soldiers. Luc turned his attention to Liam and Danno, they were both badly wounded. He checked Danno and instructed one of the soldiers with him how to look after some of Danno's wounds.
Luc went back to Liam. He needed to stop some of the bleeding from his wounds. He went back into the landrover and retrieved the bag he had with him and took out the souvenir towel he'd bought. He tore it into strips and began tying the strips around Liam's leg and arm injuries to stop them bleeding.
"We need to get these two to hospital now!" Luc shouted at the soldiers beside him.
"There's a helicopter on its way, it'll be here in 5 minutes" replied one of the soldiers.
Luc tried his best to stop the blood coming out of Liam's injuries. "Come on Liam, stay with me" he shouted at him over and over again.
Finally, the helicopter arrived and a medic came over to help Luc with Liam. "He needs fluids now" instructed Luc. The medic attached a drip to Liam's arm. They loaded Liam onto a stretcher and brought him to the waiting helicopter. Danno was already in the helicopter. Luc climbed into the helicopter and accompanied them back to base, desperately trying to keep them alive with the help of the medics.
Chapter 22:
Liam and Danno were rushed into theatre the minute they got back to the camp hospital. Karl was operating on Danno, Luc knew he would be in good hands. Luc quickly got scrubbed up and joined Karen in the operating theatre to set to work on Liam's injuries.
Luc assessed Liam's injuries. He managed to clamp the source of the bleeding from Liam's chest so that he could leave that to be repaired later as the stomach injury was more severe. Luc went about repairing the stomach wound. He instructed Karen to give Liam some of their trial drug.
Luc repaired the stomach wounds as best he could and then went back to the chest wound. Luc was halfway through repairing the chest wound when Liam flatlined.
"Give him adrenaline and get me the defibrillator now" cried Luc. Karen injected the adrenaline into Liam's arm. Luc shocked Liam and his heart restarted.
"Liam, dont scare me like that!" Luc cried. Luc continued repairing Liam's chest wound. Liam survived the surgery to Luc's relief. He was transferred to the intensive care ward in the hospital.
Luc breathed a sigh of relief but knew that the next 24 hrs would be critical. Karen came over to Luc.
"That was good work you did in there, but I think we need to look after you now" she said to Luc. He had forgotten about his own injury. Karen took Luc into one of the treatment rooms and cleaned and dressed his leg injury for him.
"Are you going to call Eddie and tell her about Liam?" Karen asked.
"I'm not sure if I should, it's still touch and go with him. It wouldn't be good to upset her in her condition. I think I'll see how he is in a few hours and then tell her" replied Luc.
"I think she'd like to know. What if she hears about the attack on the news?" asked Karen.
"Maybe you're right. I'll call her" replied Luc.
Luc went to the doctors office and took a deep breath before dialing Eddie's mobile number. She picked up after the fourth ring.
"Hello" said Eddie.
"Hi Eddie, it's Luc" he replied.
"Hey sweetheart, this is a nice surprise. You weren't supposed to call me until tomorrow" she replied happily.
"Eddie, something's happened" Luc replied seriously.
"What's wrong? Is it Liam?" she asked worried.
"We were on the way back from the green zone when our landrover was blown up. Liam was badly injured but he's still alive. I've just finished working on him in theatre" replied Luc sadly.
"Oh, my god!" cried Eddie. Luc could hear her crying on the other end of the line.
"Sweetheart, I want you to know that he's fighting as hard as he can and we'll do everything possible for him, I promise" replied Luc.
"Please Luc, I can't loose him, he's all I've got" Eddie sobbed.
"I know, sweetheart, I know. I'll do everything I can, I promise" replied Luc.
"Promise me you'll keep him alive?" Eddie asked sobbing.
"I promise" replied Luc in a heartfelt tone.
"Thank you" Eddie sobbed.
"I'm going to go back to his bedside now. Try not to worry. I love you" replied Luc.
"I love you too. Call me as soon as there's any news, ok?" Eddie asked.
"I will. Bye sweetheart" Luc replied.
"Bye sweetheart" replied Eddie and then she was gone off the line. Luc went back to Liam's bedside and sat down beside him in a chair.
A few hours later Luc was woken up by someone calling his name. He'd fallen asleep in the chair beside Liam. Luc looked at Liam, he was conscious.
"Liam!" Luc exclaimed.
"Luc, I'm not going to make it, I know I'm not" Liam whispered.
"Course you are" replied Luc smiling.
"Promise me you'll look after Eddie and the baby and tell them I love them" Liam whispered.
"You'll be able to tell them yourself" replied Luc. Just then the monitors attached to Liam started blaring, he crashed.
Nurses and doctors came running towards Liam's bed as Luc performed CPR on him. They tried desperately to bring Liam back but it was all in vain. Twenty minutes later the doctor on duty called it. "Time of death 5.31 pm" the doctor said solemly.
"No, no, no, it cant be! We have to keep trying" cried Luc.
"I'm sorry. It's too late. He's gone" replied the doctor. Luc collapsed into the chair sobbing, he was inconsolable.
An hour later Luc made the worst telephone call of his life. He had to tell the woman he loved that he'd broken his promise to her and that her brother was dead, despite all his efforts to save him. Needless to say, Eddie was devastated and dropped the phone the minute he told her. Luc wearily went back to his tent and dropped down onto his bed exhausted and devastated. He fell asleep.