OOOO
Ch 5
When Cathy came to, she was not able to see where she was, nor
was she able to move. She smelled the odor of disinfectant in
the air and surmised that she must be in a hospital bed. She
also noted that she was not able to move her right hand, which
was covered by something warm and soft, another hand. Feeling
the rough texture of a Marine Corps ring, Cathy guessed that it must
be Mac's.
"Mac?" she uttered, quietly. Mac's head shot off the edge of the
bed, where she had been dozing.
"Hey there, sleepyhead!" she greeted Cathy,"We've all been
waiting for you to wake up."
"Mac," Cathy asked," why can't I see?"
Mac held back the hand that Cathy started to raise to her face,
telling her, "Your eyes are just bandaged, sweetheart. They'll be
fine, but the doctor wants to leave the bandages on a little longer,
to make sure that they don't get infected."
"Why can't I move my legs?"
"They're in a plaster cast."
"My other arm too?"
Mac nodded in reply as Doctor Mark walked through the door and
commented," So I hear that my favorite patient is finally
awake."
As he checked Catriona out, Mac went to phone Harm at JAG, to
give him the good news.
OOOO
That evening, the room was packed with well-wishers from JAG,
who had all come to see 'The Sleeping Beauty.'
"You did a pretty good job, keeping us on the edge of our seats like
that," The Admiral joked.
"How long have I been out of it?" Cathy asked.
"Nearly seven weeks now," Harm told her.
Just then, Doctor Mark returned, announcing to the group,
"I hate to be the one to disrupt the party, but I'm going to
need to see my patient for a moment."
As the JAG staff filed out of the room, Dr. Mark asked Catriona, "How
about we take those bandages off and see how your eyes are doing?"
Cathy readily agreed, but asked, "Can Harm and Mac stay?"
"Sure," Dr. Mark told her, turning out the lights, then removing a
pair of scissors from his coat pocket, proceeded to snip away the
bandages covering Cathy's eyes. As they fell away, Cathy
opened and shut her eyes a couple of times, then stared
straight ahead.
After giving her eyes a minute to adjust, Dr, Mark
asked her, "Anything?" Cathy just shook her head. Harm and Mac
stood anxiously in the corner of the room.
"Not even shadows?"
"No nothing."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry at all, just yet," Dr. Mark insisted, "Your eyes
are just going to need a bit more time. Your whole body
has been working overtime to repair itself. Your eyesight
wasn't so high priority, so your eyes will just need a bit more
time. They'll heal with time Catriona. "
After a second, he continued, "But I think that tomorrow, we'll be
able to take the casts of you right leg and your arm."
Cathy just nodded, laying her head down on the pillow and
closing her eyes.
OOOO
At the end of the week, Cathy was discharged from the hospital
and Harm and Mac wheeled her out to the hospital pick-up area,
where Bud Roberts had brought the car around to. Harriet opened the
hospital entrance door and Harm pushed Cathy up to the car, as Mac
opened the car door. Harm carefully lifted Cathy into his arms and she
put her arms around his neck, tensing a little.
"It's okay," he told her, "I've got you."
At this, she relaxed and Mac smiled as she pulled Harm closer,
A breeze blowing across them, ruffling Cathy's long blond curls. Her
clear blue eyes reflected a peace that Mac hadn't seen in
the girl since before they had left Nigeria.
On the journey home Catriona sat in between Mac and Harriet in
the back seat, as Harm sat in the front with Bud, who was
driving. Cathy kept trying to keep her eyes open, much to Mac
and Harriet's amusement, but finally gave in, slumping against
Mac's shoulder. Mac then put an arm around her, rubbing the
temple of her head, as it rested against her collar bone.
Once they had gotten home to Mac's place, Catriona insisted that Harm
and Mac do nothing for her, but contented herself to crawl around on
the floor, since the considerable pain in her hips and legs, not to
mention a bulky cast, prevented her from straightening out her legs and standing.
Harm and Mac watched in amazed silence as Cathy moved about the apartment, memorizing where each object stood, how far the coffee table was from the kitchen, where the bedroom was from the front door.
At that moment, Harm's cell phone rang and he answered it, to find that his
Mother was on the other end of the line.
"Hi Mom! You're not in D.C., are you?" he asked her
"Yes darling, I just got in. Frank is on his way to an
important conference in L.A., but he dropped me off at The
Hilton, before he left to catch his next flight."
"But you weren't supposed to be in until next Wednesday. You
didn't cut your vacation cruise short, did you?"
"Now Harmon Rabb, Jr., it's already bad enough that you didn't
tell me that Cathy was in the hospital until a week ago, but
now you're refusing my help when I'm volunteering it..."
"No Mom, I just didn't expect you for another three days is all
...And about me delaying telling you about Cathy, I just didn't want
to ruin your cruise. It isn't every day that a woman gets taken on a
second honeymoon. Besides, I wasn't able to contact the ship for two
weeks. I did intend to let you know sooner..."
"It's alright darling, I understand. Now, I'm just going to get unpacked, then I'll be right round."
"Alright Mom, we'll see you in a little while," Harm replied,
hanging up.
A week before, after finally reaching Frank and Trish, they had
broken the news to Trish that Cathy was in the hospital, but had told
her nothing about how she had sustained her injuries. She had
agreed, only too glad to help, when Harm and Mac had asked
her if she could come to D.C. to help take care of Cathy during the
day, while they were working. They had told her that it
would only be for a week or so, until one of them could get some more
time off, but Trish insisted that she would remain as long as she was
needed.
Now, as the doorbell rang, Mac stood up from the couch, where
she had continued to watch Cathy move around the apartment.
Mac greeted Trish, but stepped outside and closed the door
behind her as she prepared to tell her what had happened to
Cathy.
OOOO