Thank you Becky! This one is for you too.
Long Ago and Far Away
Chapter 5 – Harm's Way
Julie watched as he swallowed the medications she gave him, "Very good, Mr. Wright. You're doing much better today." She looked up and saw Magnum crossing the room. "You have a visitor this morning, I'll take Mia outside and you can join her when you two are finished."
"Are you okay?" Thomas asked, noticing the livid bruises on Rick's arms. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing."
"Hey, are you alright?"
"Fine; I'm fine, okay," Rick replied angrily. "Just leave me alone, quit bugging me."
"How about a game of chess?" Magnum laid a travel game set on the table.
Rick stood up and began to pace. "I don't know how to play chess."
"Yes you do," Magnum laughed, "you win the chess tournament every year."
"I do?"
"Come on Rick, sit down will you," Magnum cajoled. "You're wearing me out just watching you."
"I'm fine. I don't want to sit." He continued to pace, "You got a cigarette?"
"Rick, you quit smoking."
"I did?" He looked confused. "Do you want one?"
"I don't smoke cigarettes." Magnum grinned at him. "You can cut the act now, it's just us."
"What are you talking about?"
"Stop acting like you're going nuts, okay, it's getting on my nerves."
"I'm not nuts, you're the one that's nuts."
"Look Rick," Magnum began nervously, "I appreciate your help on this case but maybe you should get out of here."
"I'm not leaving Wendy."
"Wendy is dead, Rick."
"I know that Thomas!" He glared furiously at Magnum, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I'm staying right here!"
"Hey, calm down." Thomas stood up and Rick backed away from him.
"It might be a good idea if you come back tomorrow." said Julie, stepping between the two men. "Mr. Wright has been a little agitated today."
"No kidding." Magnum stared worriedly at his friend. "Would it be possible for me to talk to Dr. Harrison?"
"I'm sorry, Dr. Harrison has a meeting at the hospital this morning and he has therapy sessions scheduled for the entire afternoon."
"I just need to talk to him for a couple of minutes."
"You might be able to catch him at the hospital but after that his schedule is full. I can make an appointment for you tomorrow if you'd like."
"No, that's okay. I'll try to catch him at the hospital." Magnum took a step toward Rick, who retreated again. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay Rick?"
Rick didn't answer and Thomas left, promising himself that he'd do whatever it took to get Rick out of Manoa Palms.
He had no luck in catching up with Dr. Harrison at the hospital and his conversation with Dr. Collins didn't improve his mood. Collins had declined to removed Rick from Manoa since his behavior had gone from merely avoiding his friends to almost attacking them. He didn't agree to transferring Rick to a different facility either, insisting that Rick would be better off staying in the care of Dr. Harrison, who had initiated a treatment regime.
His day went further downhill when TC called, raging because he'd gone to see Rick and had also witnessed the uncharacteristic fury in their young friend.
"I told you! I told you something bad would happen to him in there," TC yelled and Thomas winced, holding the phone out as TC continued to yell. "But you never listen, you just use everybody to get what you want and never caring 'bout the consequences!"
"I tried to get him to leave TC, but he didn't want to."
"He's in that place 'cause he was helpin' you!" Whenever TC really got angry, his southern accent became more noticeable and it was in full drawl now. "Now you better get him outta there or so help me I'm gonna tear your arms off an beat ya over your thick skull with 'em!"
"Calm down, TC." Magnum said, feeling like he was trapped in some B-grade horror movie. "I talked to Dr. Collins and he said it's not unusual for someone like Rick to start behaving like this during the first stage of treatment. He said it will pass."
"What did Dr. Harrison say?" TC asked, calming a little. "Did he agree?"
"I didn't get to talk to Dr. Harrison yet …"
"Isn't Harrison the one treatin' Orville?"
"Yes, and Dr. Collins said he thinks Dr. Harrison is doing a fine job."
"Fine job? I'll tell ya fine job! Fine job is what ya got Orville inta over there!"
Magnum held the phone away from his ear again. "Would you calm down, I think I'm going deaf."
"You're gonna be dead if Orville don't get better!"
"I'm going to talk to Dr. Harrison in the morning. Rick will be fine, just give me a couple of days. I promise."
"Two days, an if he aint any better, I'm taking it out on you!"
Julie kept a close watch on Rick as he paced on the deck. Every little sound seemed to startle him and he glared distrustfully at anyone who came near. He didn't stray too far from Mia, she seemed to be the only reason he stayed outside.
When Julie came to take Mia back inside for lunch, Rick followed silently.
"Are you going to eat lunch with us?" she asked.
Rick moved the chair so that his back was to the wall, eyes darting rapidly around the room. "Yes."
Julie smiled, "That's good. When you're upset it affects Mia and you don't want to do anything to hurt her, do you?
"No." Rick grudgingly accepted the tray from Marcus.
Lunch was quiet. Rick ate everything, even accepting a bowl of ice cream.
He accompanied them out into the garden, taking a seat close to Mia. When Julie left, he was telling Mia about fishing off Koana Point.
At ten minutes to three, Marcus went out to get Rick for his appointment. Rick didn't like being taken back inside, he punched Marcus, splitting the aide's lip.
Marcus laughed, grabbed Rick in a bear hug and carried him, kicking and cursing into the doctor's office.
Dr. Harrison didn't seem at all surprised by Rick's attitude. He sat at his desk, leaning back in the chair, watching as Rick was dropped into the chair.
Rick calmed somewhat, sparing a furious glare at Marcus before turning his attention to the psychiatrist.
"Still having trouble controlling that temper are we?"
"I don't like being bullied."
"Marcus? A bully?" Dr. Harrison laughed. "He's as gentle as a kitten," Harrison was no longer amused, "as long as you behave." He opened the file and read it for several minutes before speaking again. "Why do your friends call you Rick?"
"It's what I prefer."
"You don't like the name your parents gave you?"
"It's a family name; I prefer to be called Rick."
"How did you come to choose that over say, 'Bill'?"
"You have my military files," Rick snapped. "So why are you asking me when it's right there in front of you?"
Dr. Harrison smiled, "You refused treatment at a military facility when you returned to the States, why?"
"I didn't need 'treatment'," Rick was trying hard not to lose his temper, "I'm not crazy."
"I don't think you're crazy, Mr. Wright."
Something in the way Harrison said his name made Rick shudder.
"Do you dream about the war?"
"Sometimes."
"You dream about the men in your unit."
"Mostly about the teams we picked up."
"Are these bad dreams?"
"I see all the men that I couldn't save over there. They blame me for their deaths." Rick said.
"You feel guilty about surviving while they didn't?"
"I guess you could say that."
"Do you think that they deserved to live more than you do?" he asked.
"Sometimes I wonder why I lived and so many good men died."
"You don't think you are a good man?"
"I was afraid over there."
"War is a scary thing, I'm sure everyone was afraid."
Rick ducked his head. "Not Thomas."
"Thomas?"
"My friend Thomas Magnum. He and Theodore were the bravest guys I know." Rick looked up. "They weren't afraid of anything."
"You were a door gunner, that took a lot of courage."
"I was just a gunner, Theodore was a pilot and Thomas was a SEAL ... they were never scared."
"What did you do when you were afraid?"
"I pretended I wasn't."
"You were awarded a Distinguished Service Medal."
"I was hit when we were picking up a unit at a hot LZ."
"LZ?"
"Landing Zone. There were a lot of VC … Viet Cong firing on us. A round came through the panel and caught me in the side but I kept laying down cover fire. I had to keep Charlie's head down so the unit could get on."
"Were you afraid then?"
"I was terrified that I was gonna screw up and that they would die because of me."
"But they didn't."
"Most of them made it. I saw Doug Streeter take a hit in the guts. We had to dust off before anyone could get to him. I saw his face when we left him there. He hated me, I know he did."
"It wasn't your fault you had to leave him."
"I should have saved him; he died because of me."
"You would have died, what good would have that been?"
Rick's expression turned cold and he tilted his head, looking at the doctor through narrowed eyes. "I should have saved him." His voiced was harsh and low.
"If you had done a better job of laying down cover fire, someone could have gotten to him?"
"Yes!"
"So you were remiss in your duty. Perhaps you should have been removed as door gunner and sent back to the States."
Rick didn't say anything, just glared at the psychiatrist.
"Did you deliberately do a poor job of protecting the men in hopes that you would be dismissed? Did you purposely let these men die in hopes of saving yourself?"
Rick was out of his chair in an instant but Marcus was quicker, grabbing the former marine in a choke hold with Rick's hands just inches from the doctor's neck.
"Perhaps we should continue this at your next session, Mr. Wright." Harrison had a satisfied smile. "Marcus will take you back to your room."
The aide seemed to take delight in keeping a tight grip on Rick as he guided him out of the doctor's office.
When the pair was gone Harrison got up and crossed to a cabinet where he removed a video tape from the recorder, he labeled the tape and stored it in the cabinet along with several others.
