Chapter Twenty-One

"We were starting to worry, Trapper," said Ernie as she gave Trapper a warm hug.

After giving her a quick peck, he smiled. "Why would you worry?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because Doug Manning's a smart man and just might know more than Albert thinks he knows."

"Well, if that's true, we'll know soon. I don't think he'll want us getting too close."

"Doc, if you'll come with me, I'll show you to your room," said Delgado. As Ernie and Gonzo fell in line behind Trapper, Delgado continued, "It's right next to the room where we've installed all the medical equipment. I'm sure you'll want to check it over and find places for the equipment we brought with us. And you'll need to make sure you have everything you think you'll need, because once we're on our way, we won't be able to get anything else."

Trapper did no more than duck his head inside his room. He was more anxious to see the medical suite. Stepping inside the stateroom, he turned all the way around as he observed the room. "It's a big room. More room than I thought we'd have on a ship."

Delgado smiled and bowed his head, assuming the standard military 'at ease' position. "When we mention a cat, people automatically think about a cramped vessel with a net between the hulls. This configuration allows us some easy mobility moving off and on, and she glides over the water. She's fast, and she's maneuverable." He headed for the door. "I'll leave you medical types to look over the room. Let us know if anything isn't right, and we'll get it handled."

"When do we leave?" asked Gonzo.

"When we have a direction to go. Albert's working on it."

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Leah arrived in a wheelchair on the deck where exercise equipment had been set up. There wasn't much. As far as the doctor knew, there wasn't much she could do. And looking at her now, he wasn't sure she would even be able to get out of the chair. She was bent, her upper body curled down toward her lap. Her arms where oddly skewed in her lap as if they were haphazardly placed there. Her head was bowed and cocked to one side, and her eyes were closed as if the movement of the chair made her ill.

When the chair came to a stop, Leah opened her eyes and looked up at the doctor before she looked over the deck moving only her eyes. "Are we expecting someone else?" she said faintly.

"No, of course not," answered the doctor.

"Then who's going to use all this equipment? I can't even get out of this chair by myself, thanks to Manning...and you."

"You'll have help." The doctor motioned for two men who had been standing near a bulkhead to come forward. One lifted Leah out of the chair and placed her in a contraption that resembled a chair, but had weights behind and below her. They strapped her arms down at the wrists and elbows and her legs at the ankles and just above and below her knee.

"Now, Leah. The straps are not to tie you down as much as they will prevent you from injuring your joints. We'll try this without any weight at all, and when you're comfortable just running the cables, we'll add a little weight."

Leah simply stared at him.

Leaning forward, the doctor spoke at her ear. "Leah, it would be very easy for you to just disappear over the rail here. I would never do that, but these men work for Manning, and they're certainly strong enough to lift you over the rail. Remember, they lifted you out of the chair as if you weighed nothing."

"How much do I weigh right now, Doc? I'll bet it's close to nothing."

The doctor moved away and reached for the lead patches from an EKG machine. Unbuttoning her blouse, he began pressing the patches on the appropriate areas of her skin.

She tensed and glanced up at the man who had placed her in the infernal machine. "So much for modesty, huh Doc."

"Don't worry about him. He's a nurse. He's seen it all. I'm hooking you up to a heart monitor, Leah. I want to make sure you're not putting undue strain on your heart while you exercise." He placed the last of the patches on her , and then stepped back. "Now, we begin. We'll start with your right arm and move clockwise to your right leg, your left leg and then your left arm. All I want you to do is try to raise them. Don't worry about raising them straight up. The machine will do that for you. This will just help work your muscles."

She held her breath for a moment. How much should she show them? She had come out in a heap like yesterday's dirty laundry. If she lifted too much or if she made it look too easy, they'd know she wasn't as broken as she'd let on.

"Leah, this isn't as daunting as it seems. Just try," coaxed the doctor. "I need to be able to say something positive to Manning. He's losing his patience."

Studying her right hand, she asked, "So where are we?"

Noting her concentration on her right arm, the doctor straightened up and clasped his hands in front of him. "I really have no idea. I've seen nothing but water for the last few days. And sun. It's a good thing we're not on a sailboat. There's been no wind to speak of." He smiled when he saw the cable begin to move. "That's good, Leah. Now, try your right leg."

By the time Leah's exercise session was over, she was honestly tired. Still, she asked for the guitar once she was settled back in her bed. She held it against her and let her hand rest on the strings for awhile before she raised her left hand and wrapped her fingers around the neck. For the next half hour, she worked on making her fingers form a C chord.

The doctor watched from the porthole of her room, smiled and shook his head as he left for Manning's stateroom. He didn't have to knock. Manning was waiting for him with the door opened.

"Ah, Doctor. You seemed to be pleased with her today, but I saw nothing to be pleased about."

"Oh, but there was plenty to be pleased about, Mr. Manning. She was able to move the cables and do it in a fairly controlled manner. I expect she'll be able to do it more easily tomorrow and the next day. The day after that, we'll had a pound or two. You see, it's not that she's weak, though she is certainly weaker than she was before you took her. She still has fairly decent muscle tone. It's the muscle memory we have to engage. Once we do that, things will go quickly."

"And what about her mind?"

"I believe it's time for Mr. Hansen to install the computer in her room. She's moved to some fairly technical medical books. It seems her mind is thirsty. Until she has control over her fingers, Mr. Hansen can type for her. But there's good news there as well. Mr. Hansen brought a guitar with him, and he's left it with her. As I understand it, she was a fairly accomplished guitar player. She's already trying to play."

Manning had been standing with his back to the doctor, looking over the ocean through a forward window in his stateroom with his hands clasped behind his back. Now he turned and faced the doctor. "And what can you do to speed all this up?"

Looking away, the doctor inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly. "I don't have to remind you of where she's been...on the brink of death, if you'll remember. She's already made remarkable progress."

Taking a step toward the doctor, wearing an almost pompous smile, Manning said with just a hint of fondness in his voice. "She was a beautiful, intelligent, elegant woman. She will be accompanying me. She can be nothing less. Do you hear me, Doctor?"

Clenching his teeth, the doctor said nothing. When Manning waved him away, he was glad to leave the stateroom. He headed for his own room, sat down at his desk and began to write, adding details to the timeline for his departure from the ship. At some point, he would be able to give his extractors the location of the ship, something he had not been able to determine as yet. He folded the small piece of paper into ever smaller folds. The note would leave the ship undetected with the next load of bio-hazardous medical waste.

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After dinner with the crew, Trapper wandered out to the stern of the ship and leaned on the taffrail as he followed the wake with his eyes until it eventually blended into the water left behind. They were moving in a direction radioed from the mainland that would take them somewhere someone felt was close. Someone felt...but didn't know. What if it was a wild goose chase? He covered his mouth with his hand, and then drew it back and forth across his beard. He'd cropped it a little closer than usual, the way she liked it as if he would be seeing her soon. And maybe he was, but would she be in any shape to take notice of his beard? Would she be in any shape to move on as if nothing happened? Certainly not. Would she still want to spend the rest of her life with him? His forearms move to the top of the rail as he lowered his head down between them. That was it, wasn't it? He could feel it in his bones. Life after this...life ever after with her was slipping from him with each passing day.