A few months after the Murdock family had come back to Topanga Beach, on an early April morning, the rest of the team paid them a visit. They had called the pilot after they had managed to get rid of the Military Police once again, coming back from a mission in Virginia, and since they had felt like taking some time off, they had settled for visiting Murdock and his family for a week.
On the third day, before Face, B. A. and Hannibal had gone for a stroll in the town, B. A. had asked – or ordered, to be more precisely – the pilot to clean the van. It was a sunny day and Murdock was humming to himself, happy in his task. It had taken him an hour to carefully wash and polish the outside of B. A.'s van that was parked around the next corner, and now he had turned his attentions to the inside.
"Now this is where I sit," Murdock explained to Stella who had begged for helping him cleaning the van. The little girl bounced on her toes, excited that she was allowed to give a helping hand of real importance. Dressed in her favorite clothes – a pair of jeans, a blue t-shirt with piglet on the front, a red-checkered blouse resembling her father's shirt, a pair of black tennis shoes, a dark blue jeans jacket, and a navy ball cap –, she resembled a female child version of the pilot. She took off her jeans jacket and asked her father to put it on his seat before she rolled up her sleeves to the elbows.
"And Face sits here," Murdock continued when he had folded up the jacket and had put it on his seat. He wiped his cloth over the seat before helping his daughter climb on the passenger's seat.
"Now you sit where the Colonel sits," he added. Carefully, Stella wiped her cloth over the passenger's seat and the dashboard before she leaned in close to take an interested look at the steering wheel, the rear-view mirror, and the driver's seat.
"No, little star." He tapped her shoulder to make the little girl look at him and shook his index finger at her. "Sorry but you can't sit there. The big guy sits there."
Murdock picked up the girl again, hugged her and kissed her cheek.
"He don't let anyone else sit there," he whispered in her ear, making her giggle. "So you'll have to make do with sitting in the Colonel's seat. OK." He stroke the girl's head as he put her back on the seat. Murdock started to sing to himself as he went back to cleaning Face's seat while Stella concentrated on wiping the dash board and the inside of the passenger's door. When the task was finished and the sun was setting, Murdock picked up a tired little girl and her jacket on his arms and returned to the house to find the front door closed. So he turned his attention to the window that was left ajar and cleared his throat. He was in the mood for the occasional Knock, knock joke.
"Knock, knock!" he called.
"Who's there?" Belinda asked from inside.
"GI," came Murdock's reply, his voice indicating one of his trademark grins.
"GI who?" Belinda wondered, smiling broadly, too.
"Gee, I wish you'd open the door so I can kiss my sweet darlin'," the pilot said.
"Well?" Belinda asked when she had opened the door and hugged and kissed her husband and daughter. "All fine?"
"All fine. The van's spotless. The big guy's gonna be pleased," Murdock said, and Stella nodded affirmatively, pushing her cap back on her head as if to say, "Didn't we do great?". The pilot's wife smiled and placed two plates with sandwiches for her husband and her daughter on the table, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Stella and a spicy meatloaf and ketchup sandwich for the pilot. For herself, she had fixed a ham and cheese sandwich. The family sat down to have dinner when there was a knock on the door and Hannibal, Face and B. A. came back from their stroll in town. Quickly, Belinda went to fix some more sandwiches so the team mates could join them.
"Sorry, guys. We're just having cold dinner tonight," she said. "Hope you like it."
"Doesn't matter," Hannibal said. "Sandwiches are just fine."
"Nice place you have here," Face said.
"Yeah, Topanga Beach is nice to live at," Murdock agreed. Hannibal and B. A. muttered their agreements even if B. A.'s expression told a rather different story since the Sergeant had grown up in the metropolis of Chicago. So he was used to the rush of a big city, just like Face was who had spent his life in Los Angeles. But considering the team had been to worse places during their missions, he agreed with Face about the town – it sure was nice. Yet, it was still strange to see Murdock sitting on the couch in the living-room after dinner, hugging his daughter in her pink pajamas with matching non-skid socks before carefully brushing and braiding her hair when she came in to climb on his lap and kiss him goodnight. But then again, "strange" was a very elastic term when it came to Murdock. Hugging the little girl tight once again and kissing her forehead, the pilot seemed to radiate waves of simple and pure love for his daughter in a way none of his teammates ever could have imagined.
"Now, off to bed with you, little star," the pilot ordered softly and watched the little girl saying goodnight to the team mates and her mother, too, before walking up the stairs to her bed room. Belinda followed her to tuck her in. Some time later, she came back and said, "Handsome Captain, we need a special bedtime story here."
"Sorry, guys. Time to make a little girl happy," Murdock said, leaving the couch and going to tell his daughter another of her favorite bedtime stories of a run-around mongrel dog named Billy and his adventures. Interested, the rest of the team followed him to listen, too. When the story had ended with the dog becoming friends with a young farm horse, they crept back into the living-room to join Belinda who had stayed to watch the news.
"Is it always like that?" Face wondered. Belinda nodded, a loving smile spreading on her face.
"You know, guys, Stella loves her Daddy's bedtime stories. He's a helluva storyteller," Belinda explained, "Sometimes when he's not around, she'll settle for me telling her one. But mostly, she prefers his. And then, she'd refuse to go to bed without. Then, the only thing I can do is to let her stay up until she's too tired to keep her eyes open. But as luck would have it, this only happens once in a blue moon. She sure has a mind of her own. And a strong will, too." She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Not much of a surprise, considering the father," Hannibal said with a grin. It was still strange to the team leader what a good father the pilot was making. As if he had been the head of a family for all his life. And somehow, Hannibal was proud of his Captain.
"You see, I love our little sunshine," Belinda said.
"I can imagine that," Face answered. "She's really a lovely little lady. And Murdock makes a real good father as far as I can see." Hannibal and B. A. nodded in agreement before the sergeant cleared his throat and looked at Belinda.
"And how you doin', little sister?" he asked, taking her hand into his and patting it gently.
"Could be better, of course. But altogether I'm quite good, thanks," the pilot's wife said. B. A. nodded as if he had expected this. He gave her one of his rare smiles and a wink.
"Don't you worry, little sister. You gonna get a new kidney soon," the sergeant said in a low voice when Murdock came into the living room.
"Thanks, B. A.," Belinda answered, smiling.
"Yeah, thanks, big guy," Murdock spoke up and sat down between his wife and his team mate, disconnecting their hands, putting his arm around Belinda and giving B. A. an inquisitive glance.
A few hours later, when the family and the team mates had gone to sleep and the house was quiet except for Tabby's occasional purring in her sleep, Belinda found herself thinking about what B. A. had said. She couldn't see what he was driving at.
"Sweet darlin', don't you worry. The big guy's right. You're gonna get a new kidney soon," Murdock said, hugging her and soothingly striking her head and her back.
"You really think so? With such a rare blood type, I mean?"
"Special blood for special people," the pilot answered with a smile, kissing the tip of her nose. "After all, I know just two other people with the same blood type – except for myself, I mean. That's B. A, and that's you."
"Oh," Belinda said indifferently. The pilot stared off into the darkness until, of a sudden, an idea dawned to him. He wasn't sure if he had understood his team mate right, but B. A.'s words had suggested that the Sergeant was thinking about donating his kidney for Belinda – just like he had offered to donate blood for Murdock when the pilot had been seriously wounded once. During some other mission, when B. A. had been shot, Murdock had donated his blood to save the sergeant. B. A. hadn't liked the thought of having Murdock's blood in his veins but he had given in.
When the sun had risen, Murdock went into the kitchen to cook breakfast. While he was cooking fried eggs sunny side up with toast and bacon for his team mates, his wife and himself and a bowl of porridge with pieces of banana for Stella, B. A. came into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
"Say, big guy, what were you talking about yesterday?" Murdock asked, putting a glass of milk and a plate with six eggs and ten slices of crispy bacon in front of the sergeant. Then, he put a second plate with six eggs, five slices of crispy bacon and two slices of brown toast in front of his own chair and sat down.
"You love this woman, ain't choo, man?" B. A. asked back, locking his eyes with Murdock's.
"Sure I do," the pilot said.
"Then listen to me, fool. You gave me blood to save me once, and now I'd like to save your sweet darlin'. Face said that you, her and me share AB negative. And my kidneys work just fine."
"Must be the milk, I guess," Murdock remarked, unable to hide a grin. "Have you told the Colonel yet?"
B. A. shook his head, muttering, "Maybe we'd better tell Belinda first – see if she'd take the kidney at all."
"Can't imagine she won't," the pilot supposed. "She's always bushed on dialysis days." He sighed, remembering the numerous times he had to help her to bed. Sometimes, he even had to carry her upstairs when her blood pressure was so low she couldn't stand on her feet. Those were the nights he really hated – not just because he had to give his wife a hand in everything but also because he had to explain Stella why her mother was dead tired three times a week. The pilot hoped that the little girl understood but he wasn't sure. Most of those nights he had spent awake, holding Belinda in his arms and trying to comfort her as good as he could. But every time he had felt her shaking or heard her weeping in her sleep, he had cursed inwardly for being unable to keep her from suffering. Now, sitting on the chair facing B. A. who sipped his milk, he hoped that Belinda would accept the gift so she would get her health back and wouldn't have to face these awful moments anymore.
When Murdock and B. A. had finished their breakfast, Hannibal and Face came into the kitchen. Belinda and Stella followed suit.
"Morning, everybody," Hannibal said cheerfully. "Did you sleep good?" Belinda, Face, Murdock and B. A. nodded their agreements while Murdock continued cooking breakfast. He put one plate with five eggs and five slices of crispy bacon in front of Face, another one with six eggs and nine slices of crispy bacon in front of Hannibal and a third with two eggs, three slices of crispy bacon and two slices of brown toast with butter in front of Belinda. He kissed his wife's cheek and put the bowl of porridge next to his empty plate.
"To all a good meal," Murdock said before taking Stella on his lap, kissing her temple, handing her a spoon so she could eat the porridge, and wrapping his arms around his daughter.
When breakfast was finished, Belinda started to do the dishes. To her surprise, B. A. still sat on his chair, looking at her. Tabby had crept onto his lap.
"Belinda?" he said, softly striking the cat's fur. Purring, Tabby stood up on her hind paws and put her front paws against B.A.'s golden chains.
"Yep?" the pilot's wife answered.
"Just wanna say I ain't kiddin' about that you gonna get a new kidney soon," the Sergeant said.
"But from where?" Belinda wondered. "AB negative is bloody rare stuff." She chuckled humorlessly about her own joke.
"Tell me about it." B. A. gave a soft little laugh himself. "Murdock and I are both AB negative, too. He told me you're always bushed after the treatment. And since my kidneys work just fine, I can spare one."
"And you'd really do that for me?" Belinda asked, her eyes wide with fascination. She sat down next to the sergeant andblinked rapidly to stop the tears she felt in the corners of her eyes.
"Sure." Carefully, B. A. took Belinda's left hand into his and patted it gently. Then, he turned it around to touch the jagged scar on her wrist and the stitches from the dialysis needles along her forearm. Belinda looked at the jewelery covering B.A.'s strong wrists and fingers.
"Now, I'd like to know if you'd accept my offer," B. A. added.
"If you're really willing to give, I'd be happy to accept it," Belinda replied, blinking again when a tear started rolling down her cheek. Slowly, a broad grin appeared on B. A.'s face, showing his white teeth.
"Thank you, B. A., thank you, I owe you big," Belinda whispered, getting up and hugging the Sergeant.
"You don't owe me," B. A. said, softly wiping her cheek with his palm and returning the hug. "I'm happy to help. Let me do this for your family. The crazy foo' saved my life once when I was shot during a mission. I know he loves you, little sister, he really does. And I think the little angel needs her mother and father both every day. So I don't see why you'd suffer on this kidney stuff when I can help."
"Crazy foo'?" Belinda wondered. "Why do you call him that?"
"Well, he is crazy," B. A. said. "And most of the times he talks jibber jabber."
"He talks crazy talk. About things or persons that don't exist," the Sergeant added, noticing her confusion. He blinked slowly before asking "He never did this when you were with him?" Belinda shook her head.
"He must love you more than I thought," B. A. said before he ran his hand over Tabby again and gave Belinda a final smile before he gently put the cat off his lap and left for the living room to join his team mates.
Belinda sat down at the table again when the Sergeant had left. B. A. was right, and she was thankful he had made the offer. It was a wonderful thought that she would have her health back without having to wait for years to get a new kidney.
But on the other hand, she wasn't sure how B. A. would be able to go to a hospital for the surgical procedure – being wanted by the government. But then she remembered that Murdock had said once that the Colonel always found a way – sometimes his plan would be really weird but successful all the way.
"Well?" the pilot said when the burly Sergeant sat down on the couch.
"She said yes," B. A. said. "She'll do it."
"Who'll do what? What's going on?" the con man wondered, his gaze shifting between the pilot and the Sergeant. In a few sentences, B. A. explained his offer.
"You really wanna do that?" Hannibal asked, furrowing his brows. B. A. nodded, holding the Colonel's gaze.
"That's very noble of you, Sergeant," Hannibal added. "I think it's time to pay Bad Rock another visit." His faded blue Bombardier's eyes twinkled when he remembered the incident in the little Californian town where he had met Dr. Maggie Sullivan. The local medical woman had successfully transferred Murdock's blood to B. A. Hannibal had liked Dr. Sullivan a lot, and he was glad about the chance to see her again. He picked up the phone and dialed her number, hoping that the line wasn't bugged. Luckily, it wasn't anymore. When he told her why he was calling, Dr. Sullivan asked him to come by as soon as possible since the preparation would take a couple of days. She promised to give room in her house to the Murdock family so she could take care of Belinda and to get a couple of rooms for the team members at Bad Rock's brand-new motor inn at her expenses.
"Thank you, Doc," Hannibal said.
"Don't mention it. That's the least I can do for you guys. The town had been lost if it hadn't been for you," Dr. Sullivan answered before ending the call. Hannibal, B. A., Murdock, Belinda and Stella climbed into the van and set off to Bad Rock. The little girl sat on Murdock's lap, clutching her teddy bear and cuddling close against her father. Face had offered to stay behind to keep an eye on the house in Topanga Beach and on Tabby.
It took hardly half an hour to get to Bad Rock.
"Wouldn't have thought to see this place again," Murdock sighed when they crossed Bad Rock city limits. The small array of houses on either side of the broad and unpaved main road reminded Belinda of the modern version of a Wild West miner's town. The van's wheels brought up clouds of dust.
"Bad memories?" Belinda wondered, glancing at her husband.
"No, it was kinda fun here," Murdock answered, blinking. The ghost of a smile touched the corners of his mouth. It was a smile that looked rather odd compared to his usual goofy grin.
Dr. Sullivan stepped out of her house and waved a hand when she saw the black van pulling up next to her porch.
"Hi, gentlemen," she said when the passengers climbed out.
"Hi, Doc," the team mates responded in unison, like kids greeting their teacher.
"Dr. Maggie Sullivan, meet Belinda Josephine Murdock," Hannibal said, putting his hand on Belinda's shoulder.
"The woman who needs the kidney?" the medical woman asked. Hannibal nodded and put his other hand on B. A.'s shoulder.
"And here's the donor," the team leader explained. "I want you to do the transplantation, Doc."
"Bring them in, then," Dr. Sullivan said, leading the way into her surgery rooms. She lead the pilot's wife to a hospital bed on wheels before she handed her a hospital gown. The team mates except for Murdock left the room when Belinda changed. The pilot held his wife's hand when the medical woman drained some blood from Belinda's veins to check the blood values and checked her blood pressure. Then, Dr. Sullivan called B. A. in to examinate him, too. Watching the scene, Murdock decided that he couldn't do anything for his wife right now. But there was a little girl with his eyes and her mother's pretty tanned face who needed some company in the meantime. Stella had waited with Hannibal in Dr. Sullivan's office, sitting on the couch and playing with her teddy bear.
"Daddy, where's Mommy gone?", Stella asked when the pilot sat down next to her.
"She'll be fine. We're here to give her a new kidney. I told you about Mommy's kidneys, now, did I?"
"Yep, Mommy ill," the little girl said to express that she had understood.
"And we're here to heal her," the pilot answered, smiling brightly and running his hand over her hair. "The doctor woman will help her."
"Promise, Daddy?"
"Promise, little star." The pilot was glad that his daughter obviously had understood his explanations better than he had expected.
"Yahoo!" Stella dropped the teddy bear and climbed on her father's lap before she gave him an enthusiastic hug and kissed his jaw. Murdock wrapped his arms around the little girl's delicate body and hugged her back until she squirmed to escape his grip. She hopped back on her place to hug her teddy bear. The sight made Hannibal and Murdock grin.
After a few days of examination, Belinda and B. A. were prepared for the surgical procedure. During the night before the operation, Murdock found himself unable to sleep. So he crept downstairs into Dr. Sullivan's surgery rooms where B. A. and Belinda were spending the night because the procedure was to be done early in the morning. The pilot sat down on the edge of his wife's bed who lay on the side, her head resting on her hand, her heels pulled up to her buttocks. A curtain was pulled shut between the beds to separate them. Murdock kissed his wife's cheek and gently ran his hand over the curves of her hip and her waist.
"I love you, sweet darlin'," he whispered, softly nudging her ear with the tip of his nose. Belinda took a deep breath and turned on her back but didn't wake up. Murdock caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead.
"Sleep well, sweet darlin'," he whispered before he turned to leave the room.
"Sleep well, big guy," he added in the direction of the other bed before he went back to bed. Stella sat up in her bed when he crept underneath the covers.
"Daddy?" she whispered.
"I'm here," the pilot answered, sitting up, too. "Wanna come to me?" At once, the girl left her bed to lie down next to him. She snuggled into his arms, kissed his cheek and put her head on his chest.
"Good night, Daddy," she whispered before she took a deep breath and fell asleep. Murdock ran his hand over her head and kissed her forehead.
It was 6 o'clock in the next morning when Dr. Sullivan went into her surgical rooms. The team mates and Stella waited in the medical woman's office until she came in around noontime to announce that the surgical procedure was done and seemed to have been successful.
"Your wife has awaken, Mr. Murdock. You can go see her now if you wish. I'll take care of your little girl if you don't mind," she said to Murdock who was fidgeting with the collar of his shirt while doing his best to sit patiently on the couch but failing.
"Thank you, Doc." The pilot beamed at the medical woman before he kissed Stella's forehead, told her to stay in the office, and rushed into the surgery rooms to look after Belinda. He took her hand, kissing the knuckles.
"How do you feel, sweet darlin'?" the pilot asked in a hush voice.
"Tired," Belinda answered, managing a smile. "Tired but good."
"I thought so. You look a lot better," Murdock said, bending down to caress her cheeks and her hair and to kiss her lips, the tip of her nose, and her eyelids when she closed her eyes to get some sleep. The pilot pulled up a chair to stay at Belinda's side until she had fallen asleep.
"Sleep well, sweet darlin'," he whispered before he softly took his wife's hand to kiss the palm and turned his attentions towards B. A. who had awaken, too.
"Hey, big guy," the pilot said, cautiously touching the muscular upper arm. "Welcome back to the world."
"Hey, crazy foo'," B. A. mumbled. Murdock could tell from the way the words were slurred that the anesthesia was still working on the Sergeant. B. A. turned his head a bit to take a better look at Murdock who beamed at him like a five-year-old on Christmas Morning. Slowly, the Sergeant blinked. It took him a few minutes to raise a hand so the team mates could hi-five. Murdock winced when B. A.'s big hand hit his palm hard enough to make the pilot worry about the bones in his hand for a moment. He drew in a sharp breath and carefully flexed his fingers, glad that the muscular Sergeant was still too weak to give him a full-strength hi-five.
"How's your sweet darlin'?" B. A. wondered, glancing in the direction of the other hospital bed. "And where's the little angel?"
"Both are fine. Dr. Sullivan said the surgery was successful," Murdock informed him, gently squeezing B. A.'s hand. "Belinda's sleeping now, and Stella's in the office with the doc and the Colonel. How do you feel, big guy?"
"I'm okay," B. A. lied, returning the squeeze. The surgery had exhausted the Sergeant, more than anything else in his life so far. But damn if he'd admit that.
B. A. closed his eyes, trying to ignore his mother's voice in his head that had spoken up suddenly in the way she had done so often when he had been a kid.
"Scooter!" the Sergeant heard his mother shout. "Did I raise you to lie to your friend, young man? Did I? Like hell I did! Now go say you're sorry, Scooter! Right now, you hear me!"
"Sorry, man. I ain't tellin' the truth," B. A. said, blinking rapidly. "I ain't feelin' okay." He let out a deep sigh.
"Want me to get the Doc?" the pilot asked. The Sergeant nodded slowly. Calling Dr. Sullivan on top of his lungs, Murdock hurried back into the office to tell her about B. A. not feeling well.
Dr. Sullivan checked on B. A.'s pulse and blood pressure before injecting him some medication and checking on him again. Then, she checked on Belinda, too, and much to Murdock's relief, his wife's condition turned out to be steady.