Chapter 21

Two hours later they had Nate in his bed and he had passed out. Eliot had called his doctor friend to come and take a look at him as he was not looking at all well. His skin was clammy, he was sweating profusely and his breathing was shallow and you could hear that he was struggling. Sophie sat by his bedside while Eliot paced up and down waiting for his friend to arrive.

The doctor arrived and Eliot filled him in as they walked into Nate's room.

"Did you not get the part where stress and activity are to be avoided especially in the first week?" He said moving Sophie out the way. "Can I have some privacy with my patient please?" He said as he opened up Nate's shirt to start his examination.

The team trooped out of the room and Eliot closed the door. They were scared, all of them. Sophie chastised herself telling herself that they should never have let Nate do this, not so soon and not against the doctors instructions. But Nate was Nate and he would have done it anyway she reasoned. But they could have tied him to the bed, they could have forced him to wait.

In the room the doctor checked Nate over his face darkening as he listened to the man's respiration and heartbeat. As he pressed on Nate's chest he stirred and opened his eyes looking into the doctors eyes with no recognition.

"Who are you?" Nate said between gritted teeth.

"Your doctor."

"Oh."

"Tell me do you have a death wish?" He said as he took out his sonar machine to check what was happening to Nate internally.

"No." Nate said starting to get his senses back.

"Well you could have fooled me."

Then they were silent as the doctor completed his examination.

"So what is the prognosis?" Nate asked as the doctor sat back to look at him.

"Your heart is taking strain, your lungs are taking strain, I have no idea if you are bleeding internally, but you very well could be and if you do not cease and desist with all this stress and activity you are going to kill yourself."

"Ah."

"Mr Ford, I do not know what all this is about, and I don't really care. I was hired by Eliot to take care of you and if you are not going to follow my orders I cannot do that, do you understand?"

"Yes I understand." Nate said squeezing his eyes shut against the pain that shot through his chest. "Look doctor I have to do this thing, if I don't do this then I am a dead man anyway, and more importantly they could be in mortal danger too. So to answer your question, no I do not have a death wish, I just want to get through this ok."

"Well you are not going to get through it alive if you carry on like this."

"Just give me something to keep me together for the next three days, then I promise you I will not do anything for the next however long you order me not to."

"I won't have to order you too you will be dead."

"Can you help me?" Nate asked. "I have to do this."

The doctor looked at the man and had to admire him. He was facing death, was in pain and still he wanted to continue instead of retreating to his bed. To the safety his team offered, letting them do the heavy lifting and perhaps being in danger due to it. He had been in the forces long enough to have run into men like him. Eliot was one of them. He sighed heavily and then took out a number of pills from his bag.

"Ok, these will quell the pain and this will reduce the swelling." He said handing Nate the pills. They might hold you together long enough to finish what you started, whatever it is, but Mr Ford, I can't guarantee your survival if you go ahead." Then he pulled out a syringe and injected Nate with something. "This will knock you out for about eight hours, I assume that is not a problem? It will at least give you a little recovery time."

"I understand." Nate said gratefully. "You can't tell them."

"Technically Eliot is my employer." The doctor said not liking this new stipulation.

"I know but they will stop me from doing what must be done. Doctor it is their lives at stake as well as mine, I have to do this."

The doctor met Nate's eyes and saw the determination in them to save his team, and to get whatever he needed to do done no matter what anybody, least of all him said. He nodded to Nate and packed up his equipment.

"I won't tell them the full extent, but I will not lie to them fully either. They must know the risks, well at least what they could be." The doctor said softly. "I do hope you make it through this."

"Thanks doctor." Nate said then put his head back and closed his eyes. He could do nothing further and the drug the doctor had administered was starting to take effect pulling him into sleep.

The doctor sat looking at the sleeping man, or rather unconscious man. Eliot was right he was a stubborn son-of-a-bitch, but then so was Eliot. He would honour the man's wishes though, he felt he owed it to him, he was after all is actual patient.

"Doctor?" Sophie asked as he stepped out of the room and closed the door and he could see the pure raw fear in them.

"Yes, his heart and lungs were taking some strain, I do not believe there is any internal bleeding though. He just needs rest, at least for the next 24 hours, no activity at all. I gave him a sedative which will keep him asleep for about eight hours. I also left some pills for both pain and to help reduce the swelling from the contusions, I also need to give you some of these heart pills too in case there are any cardiac problems."

"Cardiac problems, like a heart attack?" Sophie asked.

"Yes exactly like that, but it is not likely, he just needs to rest for the next day or so and he should be feeling a lot better." The doctor lied. He had given them the heads up and that was all he would do out of respect to his patients wishes.

"Thanks again doc." Eliot said shaking the man's hand and walking out with him. "You sure about this?" He asked feeling his friend was holding something back.

"Eliot I am not sure about anything, but he is a fighter and as stubborn as you are." The doctor said then turned and walked to his car. "Good luck." He said then drove away leaving a concerned Eliot watching him leave.