Keeper of the Truth

Disclaimer: I do not own The A-Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A-Team.

Chapter 28

"Doc Richter needs you in Murdock's room, Donna," Jackson said, grimacing and looking back over his shoulder. "He said you were the only other person Murdock trusts. He wants me to take over here in case any phone calls come in for him."

I guess I won't have to invent an excuse to see H. M. after all.

Disguising her worry over what she might find, Dani eased herself from behind the desk and allowed the muscular blonde orderly to take her seat. "Any idea what he wants me to do?"

Jackson shrugged. "Don't know. He had all he could do to try to calm Murdock down after I came in the room."

Giving him one more quizzical glance, Dani walked briskly to the room and knocked.

"Doctor Richter? It's Nurse Sullivan. I'm coming in." Producing the master key that unlocked every room on the ward, she slipped it in the lock and opened the door.

"Nhận được sạch . . . nhận được sạch . . . giúp tôi để có được sạch sẽ . . . " Murdock ranted those words with such agitated anxiety that Dani froze. She wished one of them knew the language . . . was it Vietnamese or Chinese or what? . . . so they could relieve his torment.

She quickly entered and locked the door behind her before turning to get a good look at her fiance and his doctor.

Richter didn't look up at her as he spoke in a quiet voice to Murdock. "You're back at the hospital now, Captain. You're back at the VA." The doctor sucked in a pained breath as his patient gripped his arm. He repeated his assurances even as Murdock dug his fingers into the fleshy part of his forearm and pulled him closer. His brown eyes frantically searched the face of his therapist.

Dani drew closer, mesmerized by the scene, horrified by the ugly bruise and swelling along the pilot's jaw. She managed to ask, "Do you want me to get something to sedate him, Doctor?" She didn't want to use that kind of measure and was relieved when the doctor waved the question off with his free hand.

"I think I know what he wants and I have an idea of how to help him but he can't be heavily sedated when we do it." Richter glanced up at her and added, "Get a wheelchair and bring it here."

"Nhận được sạch . . . nhận được sạch . . . giúp tôi để có được sạch sẽ . . . " Murdock whimpered and released the hold he had. Donna saw the long scratches on the undersides of his forearms as he raised his hands.

"Doctor . . . " she breathed. "Look."

Richter quickly reached to restrain the pilot's arms and then relaxed a little as Murdock scrubbed at his face furiously, his whimper changing to harsh short gasps.

"I thought he was going to . . . " the doctor's voice faltered.

Dani finished the thought. "I know. I did, too."

"Giúp tôi để có được sạch sẽ . . . " the pilot rasped, his voice partly muffled by his hands.

Richter leaned close but not so close that his patient could punch him in the face. "Speak in English, Murdock."

Dani left the room, her mind barely processing the fact that if Murdock heard her voice, he didn't recognize her.

By the time she came back to the room with a wheelchair left by the nurses' station, Murdock was wiping his hands repeatedly on the bed sheets over his chest.

"Help me," he babbled. "The blood . . . it's ev'rywhere . . . "

"I know, Murdock. I know and we're going to help you but you have to calm down," Richter murmured in a soothing voice as he assisted his patient to sit up on the side of the bed. The action made a difference. Murdock seemed to be quieter but not any more aware of reality.

Dani helped Richter transfer the pilot to the chair and strap him in to avoid any attempt to escape. As she fastened the restraints around his wrists, she gazed into Murdock's brown eyes and saw only desperation and pain. When Richter wasn't looking, she gently stroked the top of her fiance's hand. There was no response.

He doesn't know who I am.

She wanted to kneel beside the chair and hold him in her arms, to tell him how much she loved him and beg him to return to the world she was in.

But Richter wanted her to open the door so he could wheel Murdock into the hallway.

No one knows for sure about H. M. and me. I can't let them know until he wants them to know. How long will it take for him to remember me again? And will he?

She tried to push those heartbreaking thoughts away. If she dwelt on them she would start to cry.

"I'll need your assistance, Nurse," Richter said as he beckoned her to follow them.

Halfway down the hallway, the doctor stopped in front of a room and motioned for her to open the door.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Hydrotherapy, Doctor?" she asked as she did what he ordered. "Wasn't that technique phased out years ago?"

"Not exactly hydrotherapy, Nurse Sullivan." He wheeled Murdock into the room and knelt in front of the chair to look into the pilot's eyes. "We're going to give you a nice warm bath and get you clean. Would you like that, Murdock?"

"Like that . . . " he repeated, his voice a hollow echo.

Dani suddenly understood what Richter was trying to do. If he could convince Murdock that they were bathing him to wash away the blood from wherever he thought it came from, maybe it would stabilize him and help his memory return.

What a clever idea. But what if it doesn't work?

Richter nodded for Dani to start running the water. "Keep it a little on the warm side. Not too hot though."

"Should I put in some bubble bath, Doctor?" If the situation wasn't so serious she might have smirked at the suggestion.

The therapist smiled grimly, busy undoing the restraints keeping the pilot in the chair. "Why not? Let's make his surroundings as different from his war experiences as possible." As soon as the last strap was unbuckled, he murmured to his patient, "You need to get undressed before we can let you soak in the tub. Do you need someone to help or can you do it yourself?"

Dani poured in a capful of bubble bath and watched as bubbles formed on the surface of the water. The air above the water carried the scent of eucalyptus and mint.

Good thing it isn't coconut or tropical flowers.

Before Murdock could answer, there was a light rap on the door. "Doctor Richter? You have a phone call." Jackson opened the door just enough to poke his head in.

Richter mumbled a curse word and stood. "Take over for me, Jackson. Help Sullivan with Murdock while I'm gone."

He glanced at his patient for a second, shook his head and left Jackson and Dani alone with the unresponsive pilot.

"I'll help you get Murdock ready for his bath." Scrutinizing the man in the wheelchair, he snorted. "Not much help he's going to be."

Dani wanted to punch the orderly for that insensitive statement.

But what good would it do?

Sighing, she turned off the tap and focused on removing Murdock's T-shirt, letting Jackson take the rest of the patient's clothes off.

She bit her lower lip to hold back tears when they finally got Murdock into the warm aromatic bubble bath and still got no response.

How am I going to reach you, H.M.? Please . . . please come back to me.

oooooo

Richter strode to the desk, the anger he had squelched rising up again.

As soon as his hand curled around the receiver, he knew he must regain control over his temper or the phone call would get ugly very quickly.

"Richter here," he forced out.

Smith had better have good answers for my questions.

"Doctor Richter. This is Templeton Peck, Murdock's friend. How is he?"

"Where's Smith?" the doctor growled, then took a deep breath, realizing he didn't need to snap at this man who only followed his leader's orders.

As did Murdock, and look what happened.

"The Colonel has a concussion and a mild fever from an infected gunshot wound. He asked me to call you."

I bet he does.

Richter was not very sympathetic except for the part about the gunshot wound. He wondered how serious it was. Then he realized the team likely saw worse during their tour of duty in Nam. Smith was not his patient but anything related to the team would concern Murdock, too.

"Does he need a doctor to look at it?"

He could hear the A-team leader in the background. "I'll talk to him . . . "

"Sit still, Colonel." That was a gruff voice that he assumed was Baracus.

"No, I got this, Hannibal." Peck must have covered the receiver slightly because his response was muffled, then, "I can try to answer any questions you have, Doc. But first I want to know how Murdock is."

"In about the same condition as when your leader decided to abandon him here." He hadn't meant to be so harsh but he was angry he could not speak directly to Smith. "What exactly did Smith have Murdock do to lead up to this episode? If I'm expected to work with him to get him back to his mental state before this latest fiasco . . . "

"I can't tell you everything because I don't know everything that my buddy thought he saw or heard." Peck paused and sighed. "He was our inside man for a mission. He was seriously influenced by some brainwashing tapes that tried to convince him to abandon everything and everybody he knew to join a cult."

"Brainwashing? What the hell was Smith thinking by making Murdock the inside man?" He knew Murdock had some CIA training which might help him fight that kind of technique. There were parts of his file that were still restricted. But the man was not the same as when he was working for the Agency. Richter was certain of that. Maybe he was more vulnerable to brainwashing now.

"I guess Murdock seemed the best choice for the job." Richter heard a hint of the Lieutenant's lingering disagreement over that and sympathized with him.

This is his best friend. He wouldn't have placed him in a situation that would damage him like this. This is Smith's fault.

"When we came to extract him he had made the decision to join the group. Then he found out that the whole thing was constructed on a lie."

Richter frowned. "I don't understand."

"The leader of the group, the one with the words that convinced him to join them, had been murdered months ago. Three men were making a profit from the money and property new members gave to the cult by pretending he was still alive." Peck paused again. "Murdock seems to have formed close attachments to a kid who was there and . . . does this make sense? . . . and to the dead leader's voice on the tapes."

"Well, what did the leader promise on those tapes?" Richter couldn't explain the attachment to the kid but he might know why Murdock bought into the things the leader said.

"Peace, Doctor. Peace and an end to all of the nightmares and flashbacks from Nam." With an evident strain in his tone, Peck added, "Something we couldn't provide him."

oooooo

nhận được sạch . . . giúp tôi để có được sạch sẽ (get clean . . . help me to get clean) Vietnamese