Part Forty-One

Mac's Room
Base Hospital
Memphis NAS
2000 Local

"You want to run that by me again?"

That single sentence, delivered in a low, intense tone, caused the doctor to take an nervous step backwards. Harm leaned against the wall by the head of the bed and tried not to smile. Mac in Mt. Vesuvius mode (when not directed at him), was pretty damn amusing. He'd chosen his place with care. Mac couldn't see him, while he had a good view of the hapless young man. Harm wondered briefly if the doctor had been given any warning of what was awaiting him or if the senior staff had simply put the bell in his hands and shoved him in the door.

The encounter hadn't begun well. The doctor had started off with the annoyingly cheerful We're-All-In-This-Together gamut. That stratagem inevitably involved something awful and for all their talk of 'we', Harm had yet to find any medical personnel willing to share in the fun. Mac met this maneuver with silence. A dicey defense in the hands of amateurs, when wielded by an expert - especially of the feminine gender - it was devastating in its simplicity. The young man had then attempted to regain control with that old standby, 'Dr. God and the I'll Tell You What's Best For You chorus.' He hadn't gotten more than halfway through his opening stanza before he took a Semper Fi between the eyes. Harm listened as Mac pointed out the errors in the doctor's thoughts as well as his thinking process. The Commander reflected that inside every Marine, there must be a little drill instructor just itching to get out. When the Marine in question was a litigating attorney, the combination could be lethal.

Harm chuckled to himself, jarheads were notoriously unimpressed by deity wanna-bes. After all, according to the Marine Hymn, the Corps already had an arrangement with God to provide security for Heaven. Clearly at a loss, the young man finally hit on the notion of talking to Mac as a person and not a case. She rewarded him by being remarkably civil - until he'd gotten to the part about the diet...

The young man gulped and clutched his clipboard a little tighter, "I said that you have to adher to a restricted diet until the stomach lining has healed. No spices, no salt, no caffeine, nothing acidic... " He nervously held out a sheet of paper, "Here's a list of what you can eat."

Mac grabbed the list and quickly scanned it, then she turned it over and looked at the back. Glaring at the doctor, she said, "There's nothing on here."

Startled, he took the sheet back and then laughed weakly, "Oh I see, you were joking." He studiously avoided looking at Mac's face, "See? You can have bread, hard or soft-boiled eggs, rice, certain soups, oatmeal... " Some latent survival instinct surged to the fore and he dropped the list on the bed while fumbling with his pager. Mumbling about 'on-call' and 'emergencies', he backed up until he hit the wall, wrestled frantically with the doorknob and fled.

Harm couldn't help himself, he started to laugh. Pushing off the wall, he all but fell into the chair. Wiping his eyes, he managed to focus on Mac. She was glaring at him balefully. "You think this is amusing?" She picked up the sheet and waved it at him. "Look at this list! How am I supposed to survive on this?"

Her outrage set him off again, it took a couple of minutes to regain control. He caught his breath and held up his hands, "C'mon Mac, I'm sure it's not as bad as all that. You'll just have to eat healthy for a couple of weeks." He shook a finger at her, "I always knew your eating habits would get you in trouble one day." She stared at him, mouth open in disbelief. Harm continued to smile, "Close your mouth and calm down, Colonel. You know you need to keep stress to a minimum, too"

Mac shut her mouth with a snap and then her eyes narrowed. Harm's own eyes widened fractionally as he mentally reviewed what he'd just said. 'Oh dammit!' He gave himself a kick while putting on an innocent expression. She pointed an accusatory finger, "You knew!"

"Who, me?" Harm used his most charming tone, "Now Mac, don't you think I'd have said something to you if I already knew?" He gave her his best grin.

She stared at him for a long moment while she considered his words and then said blandly, "Not in a million years."

He stared back and then grinned more widely, "Damn straight. My momma didn't raise no fools."

Mac couldn't help herself, she started to smile. This entire conversation had awakened her sense of the ridiculous. She leaned back into the pillows and gazed at the ceiling for a moment before looking at Harm, "I hope you'll appreciate the irony of surviving a militia shootout only to be taken out by a caffeine-deprived female."

Harm chuckled, "I'll take my chances, thank you. Besides, I run faster than you."

"Faster than a speeding bullet?" Mac said, smiling sweetly.

"And able to leap tall stacks of the UCMJ in a single bound," Harm responded smugly. He noticed her stifling a yawn and turned serious, "Mac, go ahead and sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"I'm turning into Rip Van Winkle, I've slept so much," Mac grumbled, she didn't seem to have any stamina at all. "Are you planning to spend the night in those chairs? You'll be shaped like a question mark by morning." She paused for a moment and then said with a sly smile, "Of course, we'll finally be able to see eye-to-eye..."

Harm groaned, "Now I know you're feeling better, that was awful. Go to sleep before I put in a request for hazard pay." He stood up, leaned over the bedrail and began straightening the covers, pulling them up around her.

Mac looked at him in amusement, "What, no bedtime story?"

He turned swiftly towards her and gave her a quick kiss, pulling back to smile at the look on her face, "Nope, just a goodnight kiss." He adopted a stern look, "Lights out, Colonel. Sleep."

Mac grumbled a bit more for form's sake, but she really was very tired. Most of her reluctance to sleep stemmed from the nightmares she knew were lurking. Still, whatever trepidation she was feeling was overshadowed by the fact her body had had enough. Sleep was coming, no matter what.

Mac's Room
Base Hospital
Memphis NAS
0800 Local

Gunny Walters tapped on the door and quietly entered the room. Both officers were still asleep. He walked over and touched Harm lightly on the shoulder. The Commander jumped as his eyes snapped open. After looking at Mac, he turned bleary eyes to the Gunny.

Walters smiled, "You two stay up too late, sir?"

Harm yawned, rubbing a hand across his face, "That would have been more enjoyable." He inclined his head towards Mac, "Nightmares."

Gunny lost his smile as he looked over at the Colonel. "I guess she's entitled," he said softly. He looked back at Harm and held out the bag he was carrying, "The Admiral wasn't very far behind me. You should have time to get changed." Harm grimaced and yawned one more time before levering himself out of the chair. Grabbing the bag, he staggered towards the bathroom. Walters sat down to wait. Ten minutes later, Harm emerged looking a little more cognizant. His gaze immediately went to Mac as he walked over to the Gunny. Walters had stood up upon hearing the bathroom door open.

Harm glanced at the Gunny, "Still quiet?"

Walters nodded and then looked at him curiously, "How often are they happening?"

Harm scrubbed a hand through his hair, "Twice, so far. Takes her a while to drop back off. I thought about asking the nurse to give her something but who knows if it would stop the nightmares. I'd hate to have her caught in one and not be able to wake up." The two men turned when the door opened, revealing a nurse carrying a breakfast tray. "She's still asleep," Harm protested quietly.

"And she can go right back to sleep after her breakfast," the nurse answered. She placed the tray on the nightstand and started towards Mac to wake her up.

"Wait," Harm hurried over, putting out a hand. The nurse looked at him in exasperation. "Look, Lieutenant... ," he peered at her nametag, "... Michaels, the Colonel's been having nightmares and she doesn't know you. You wake her up suddenly and she's liable to react... ummm... strongly."

The Lieutenant crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow, "Commander, I don't tell you how to prosecute cases, please don't tell me how to do my job." She glanced over at Mac and said confidently, "I can handle it. Please move out of the way."

Harm shrugged and went to stand next to Walters. They turned when the door opened again and popped to attention as the Admiral entered the room. A moment later, there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, followed by a crash. Harm winced and closed his eyes while AJ let out a startled bellow, "Colonel MacKenzie! Stand Down!"

Harm turned to see a somewhat disoriented Mac sitting up and staring at AJ in bewilderment. Gunny Walters was already at the side of Lt. Michaels who was sitting on the floor amid the remains of Mac's breakfast. She had one hand to the side of her face, her expression somewhere between shock and outrage. He opened his mouth to say something to Chegwidden when he was interrupted by an amused voice from the doorway.

"Wow, am I in time for Round Two?"

Harm turned back to see Ellie Perez standing in the doorway. He glanced at AJ and seeing the scowl starting to form, hurried to introduce her. "Admiral, this is Dr. Ellie Perez. She's the psychiatrist on staff here. Ellie, this is Admiral AJ Chegwidden, the Naval Judge Advocate General and our CO."

Ellie smiled and shook AJ's hand, "A pleasure, sir. Bobby's told me a lot about you." She looked past him and waved to Mac, "Good morning, Sarah. I was hoping you'd be awake." Finally, she looked over at Lt. Michaels who had climbed to her feet with the Gunny's help. "My goodness Alice, didn't anyone tell you not to startle someone just back from combat?" From the look on her face, Harm suspected Ellie had a good idea of what Lt. Michaels' attitude had been.

The Lieutenant looked indignant and Harm decided there was little love lost between the two women. "Women aren't allowed in combat!" Michaels huffed, "How was I to know she was violent? She should be in restraints!"

Ellie's voice turned icy, "That 'she' is a Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corps, so I suggest you address her accordingly. Whether or not someone is 'allowed' scarcely matters if they find themselves in a combat situation as the Colonel did. Had you read the case a little more thoroughly, you'd have known that." She glanced at Harm, "And I suspect you were warned to be careful." She raised an eyebrow, "I think the Colonel will need another breakfast tray. Why don't you have Lt. Jung bring it while you have that bruise looked at? Oh, and send an orderly in to clean this up, please." Ellie turned towards the Admiral and Harm, effectively dismissing the irritated Lieutenant, "Would you gentlemen mind waiting outside for a minute while I talk to the Colonel?" She looked over at Walters, "You too, Gunnery Sergeant."

The three men looked at each other and then AJ turned and left the room. Harm and the Gunny followed quietly behind. Chegwidden led them a little ways down the hallway and then turned around and folded his arms across his chest, "What the hell just happened in there? That was Captain Perez's wife, wasn't it?"

Harm nodded, "Yes sir. Sir, what happened really wasn't Mac's fault." He glanced at Walters and then continued, "Mac had a pretty rough night. Nightmares. The last one was around five this morning, it took almost an hour before she managed to drop off again. Lt. Michaels came in with Mac's breakfast and insisted on waking her up. I warned the Lieutenant that she probably wouldn't react well to being awakened suddenly and Michaels pretty much told me to mind my own business."

AJ glared at him, "So you stood back and waited for the Colonel to clobber her. Goddammit Rabb! What were you thinking? I don't care how annoyingly arrogant that nurse was, that was a helluva thing to do to Mac. You think she's going to enjoy the guilt from striking a junior officer on top of everything else?"

Harm's eyebrows rose, he hadn't considered that aspect of it. Oh hell...

Chegwidden watched as Rabb became noticeably chagrined and decided to let him off the hook. Gruffly, he motioned to the two men, "Go. You can make this up to the Colonel by finding the Acme Assassination Gang. I'll work things out with Mac... and the hospital."

Harm opened his mouth to say something and then thought the better of it. He and Gunny came to attention and at the Admiral's dismissal, pivoted and left.