Josta
I don't own the A-team and I'm sure Murdock in particular should be grateful. This story contains graphic torture and a near-death experience, so be warned. I don't have a beta-reader so there may be linguistic mistakes in this story (as a matter of fact I'm sure there are) but I hope that won't stop you from reading it…..
I am no doctor and the only thing I know about medicine is that you can take an aspirin when you've got a headache. All medical actions in this story are therefore totally, completely and utterly non-sense.
The Vietnamese sentence means: Leave me alone, I won't tell you anything.
The doctor is a pretty brunette. Four men, who wanted to search her house for refugees, just left after not finding the four wanted men or their black Van. They've told her one of the men is wounded, told her what they look like and warned her. If she sees them, she must contact them immediately because the men are dangerous and wanted by the law.
When she sees the black Van on her drive she gets scared, takes a gun out of the glove-compartment of her car and calls her dog. When Hannibal gets out she takes aim at him. The dog doesn't react and wags his tail. He yawns. She watches the dog uncertainly and looks back at Hannibal. She doesn't think he looks very dangerous and what's more important; the dog doesn't mind his approach. She lowers the gun.
"I'm sorry, but I just had unwanted visitors and was afraid of a reoccurring event. My name is Kelly Stevens, what can I do for you?"
Hannibal introduces the four of them.
"Hannibal Smith, Templeton 'Face' Peck en BA Baracus. Our friend got shot and on top of that nearly beaten to death. We don't have time to take him to the hospital because he's in a very bad way. I wonder if the doctor can help us?"
He looks at her beseechingly.
"That's me. Bring him in, I'll do my best."
Face en BA pick up the gurney and walk to the house. A trail of blood drops marks their path. Murdock is still unconscious and has a grayish tint. He shudders, his teeth chatter, he is panting for breath and a trace of blood runs from the corner of his mouth. Kelly runs ahead to show them the way to her consulting room. They lift him on the table and turn him, ever so careful, on his side. She rapidly performs an examination.
"The gunshot-wounds first! The bullets went right through, I suppose as a result from the short distance they were fired from. There's a box of first aid dressings in the closet over there. Can you take it out please?"
She puts a dressing on the wound to stop the bleeding and checks his pulse. She worriedly shakes her head and looks at Hannibal.
"He is in severe shock. We need a donor fast or he won't survive!"
BA steps forward. Murdock and he share the same, pretty unique, blood type.
She beckons Face to hold the bandage in its place en gets BA ready for transfusion.
"I have to stitch him up first to prevent him from losing all the blood we're giving him. I could use some help with that for there isn't enough time to wait for the anesthesia to work. He needs to be held down firmly."
Hannibal holds Murdock down by the shoulders and sets her mind at ease.
"That should be no problem. I once removed a bullet from his shoulder without anesthesia. He can handle it."
She administers a heavy sedation and starts stitching. Hannibal has to strain to keep Murdock still because he's shaking heavily due to shock. Murdock moans weekly but gives no further reaction.
"Luckily his long isn't punctured. I wouldn't be able to do much for him if it was."
Hannibal is happy about this, but is suspicious anyway.
"If his long isn't punctured then where's all that blood out of his mouth coming from?"
She quickly, but professionally, examines Murdocks face.
"He's been hit pretty hard; his cheekbone and eye-socket are broken and he's bit his tongue."
She checks his eyes too.
"He's got a heavy concussion too. Do you have any idea who did all this to him?"
"Four men. One older man, his two sons and another man."
"That sounds like my uninvited guests of earlier today; the fourth was an Indian. They warned me about you, I was told to let them know if I saw you."
Hannibal looks at her questioningly.
"Are you….?"
"No, people who can do such things should be imprisoned themselves."
The stitching is ready and she lubricates a disinfectant on the stitches. The wounds in his chest are covered with bandages and they turn him over on his belly. Shocked, and a little desperate, she looks at the bloody mess which has to become a decent back again.
"Oh, my God, look at that! What kind of animals are they to be able to do things like that?" She sighs. "We'll give him blood first now, after that I'll stitch this too."
BA donates about a liter blood. Under normal circumstances that's too much, but he doesn't care because Murdock, more than once, returned the favor. He doesn't admit it of course; imagine they might think he cares about 'that crazy fool'….. But he can't wait to lay his hands on the men who tortured Murdock. He'd love to make 'em pay!
Kelly tries to let him rest, but he refuses to let Murdock out of his sight until he's sure he's taken good care of and will be al right. Kelly now goes on with treating Murdock. His pulse, thanks to BA's donation, is nearing normal, but there's still a lot to do. She cleans his back as good as possible, stitches the deepest cuts and lubricates his back with the same disinfectant she used on his chest. After that's done she bandages his back. At last she treats his face and the deep cuts in his arms.
"All he needs now is rest. I'll lead the way, if you carry him."
She leads them to the guestroom and they carefully put him down on his side. A pillow is put against his stomach so he won't roll over on his chest. He's still unconscious, but his breathing seems to be easier and he doesn't look as pale as he did anymore. They carefully tug him in because he still feels very cold.
"Someone has to stay with him until he's stable," Kelly says.
Hannibal sits down in the cane chair besides the bed and prepares himself for a long wake.
"It's possible the medication I gave him causes hallucinations when he comes round. If that happens you have to warn me immediately because in his condition stress can be fatal."
"Face, you stand guard outside! If those men get back here I don't want to be taken by surprise. I do expect them because they know about Murdock's condition. If they don't find him at the cabin when they get back, they'll go looking for him and this practice is a good place to start. We're shorthanded as it is, since BA got visited by a vampire."
The mild joke's intended to hide his relief that Murdock will be al right, though for a while it looked like they'd gone through their last adventure together. Face heads outside but Kelly calls him back.
"Take Homer with you, he's got a good nose for trouble."
And so Face stands guard with the German shepherd by his side.
A few hours later Murdock returns to the land of the living. Hannibal is lost in thought and is startled by a soft moan.
"Welcome back, captain!"
Murdock looks bewildered at him. Who is that man? He doesn't recognize him! Due to the concussion he's very confused. He only remembers the torture he endured. When they start over he's going to crack; he's sure of that. Cold perspiration forms and he'd want to scream, but he'd rather bite off his tongue. He won't show weakness because that's what they use against you and he won't betray his unit. Ever!
"Dê mäc tôi dùng co chòng tôi. Tao nói vói ai diêu gì không tu do ý chí!" He whispers hoarsely. Mortal fear and desperation contend for the mastery. Hannibal tries to calm him down by putting his hand on his shoulder, but Murdock only panics. He tries to get away but rolls over on his chest in the process. He moans but still tries to flee. Hannibal is shocked to see Murdock thinks he's back in Vietnam. That mortal fear in his eyes….. Just like back in Da Nang where he was tortured by the VC for information. Murdock told them nothing and isn't willing to now, but he's desperate because he can't flee or defend himself. He pants fearfully and gets really upset. Hannibal holds him down firmly and calls out to Kelly.
She and BA come running.
"It's going the wrong way! He's going crazy!"
BA looks worried at Murdock.
"What's going on?" he asks.
"He doesn't recognize me and thinks he's back in Vietnam. He is terrified. If we can't get him to calm down I fear the worst."
Kelly runs to her medicine cabinet and takes out a small, brown bottle.
"This should do it. Do you know his weight? Too much can be fatal."
"140 pounds, I guess that's about right."
Murdock is completely deranged and is in a shellshock-like state; the kind of shock soldiers in a war can get in when they've been in a shelling. His senses are keen but he's unable to move. This increases his fear because he can't flee which prevents the shock from lessening…..
Kelly injects the struggling Murdock with the tranquilizer.
"Now all we can do is wait."
The tranquilizer immediately works and Murdock sinks into a deep, dreamless sleep.
"BA, stay with him, I'll get Face."
Outside Hannibal quickly informs Face.
"Have you noticed anything at all?"
"The grass has grown about one millimeter, that's all."
"Come inside with me, I'll trust the dog to warn us. Murdock isn't doing very well. His nerves are shaken. We have to decide what to do now."
Once inside they go straight to BA to see how Murdock is doing. He seems calm, though shaky but his breathing is very irregular and even in his sleep he's moaning. This worries Hannibal but Kelly says it's quite normal because he's gravely injured and in a lot of pain. The painkillers she's got aren't strong enough to kill the pain completely. Logically Hannibal worries about Murdock's mental state too. He's endured a lot and it's an, until now, unanswered question if his psyche suffered irreparable damage.
It's Faces turn to sit with Murdock when he awakes again, bathing in sweat some time later. He looks around bewildered, wondering where he is. He sees Face and smiles faintly.
"Hi, Faceman," he whispers hoarsely.
"Hi, buddy. How do you feel?"
"Terrible, but I'll live…..What happened?"
Face tells him. Murdock doesn't remember much of it, but the things he does remember, he's got to tell.
"Hannibal….. Where's Hannibal…?" he asks softly.
"He's around, I'll get him." Face runs out of the room.
"Hannibal!"
Hannibal is startled, he fears something is wrong but Face quickly reassures him.
"He's awake and wants to see you."
"How is he doing?"
"He's in a lot of pain but he says he'll live. You know how he is, don't you?"
"Yes, I do," Hannibal grins relieved.
Together they go to see Murdock. He is very pale but tries to keep up appearances so not to worry them. "Welcome back again, captain. How are you doing? Can you manage?"
"Yeah….. I'll be okay."
He won't admit it takes everything he's got to stay conscious. If he doesn't succeed anymore they'll notice soon enough. Hannibal pretends not to see Murdock's predicament. Although the room is comfortably warm, Murdock's still feels very cold…..
"You asked for me? Want to tell me what happened?"
Murdock has to dig deep to remember and he's sweating profusely. It strains him too much and the effort it takes makes him groan. But when Hannibal tells him it can wait until he's slept some more he carefully shakes his head.
"No, now," he pants. "Have to….. tell….. after that….. I can sleep."
The information he's got is far too important, it can't wait.
By fits and starts he tells his story. His voice quivers when he tells them the things they planned with Mrs. Baracus and of his fear not being able to get away to warn the others when he heard the car approaching. Fear which gave him enough strength to go on and hide, albeit without realizing the trail he left could be followed by a blind man.
"That was your luck," Hannibal says. "You wouldn't have made it otherwise. You came very close to dying."
Murdock is exhausted after he's finished and closes his eyes. His breathing is difficult due to the burning pain in his chest. He shifts carefully and groans but he is relieved he was able to inform the others.
"Sleep now, captain, we'll find them," Hannibal promises.
"You bet, fool, and then we'll make 'em pay."
While thinking he's answering them, Murdock falls asleep.
Tiptoeing, so not to wake him again, they leave the room.