Of Gallantry, Guilt and Grace
Chapter 2
An hour later, Terry was showered and wearing Kit's pants and blouse. The redhead was sitting with her when Doc Kaiser came out of the OR. Terry stood and looked at him apprehensively.
"He's alive," said Kaiser. "The bullet did a lot of chest damage."
Kit swore under her breath.
"Will he be all right?" asked Terry.
"I can't say yet," sighed Kaiser. "There's a problem. He's lost way too much blood."
"So, transfuse him," said Terry, not understanding what the problem was.
"I don't have his type," was the curt reply.
"What type is he?" asked Terry.
"AB negative."
Terry snorted. "Figures." She looked hard at Kaiser. "Can you do a direct transfusion?"
"In an emergency," replied the doctor.
"I would say this qualifies, wouldn't you?" Terry grinned humorlessly. "Hook us up, Doc. I'm AB negative." She turned to Kit, "Go find Craig. He is too."
An hour later, Terry was lying on a gurney beside and above Actor's gurney, a line between her arm and his and red blood flowing from her to him. She wished he would wake up or even make any kind of movement. He seemed to have tubes running everywhere. His right elbow was splinted with the large bore metal needle taped in place, the lifesaving blood infusing into a big vein. Another intravenous was in his forearm. A thumb-sized chest tube was in his right chest, seemingly sucking out as much blood as she was putting in him. The tube disappeared over the edge of the gurney and down to the glass suction bottles below. Oxygen tubing was in his nose. Another tube went up into his bladder. Electrodes were attached to his chest and a faint beeping of his heart rate could be heard from the portable monitor at his head.
A nurse came in and pumped up the blood pressure cuff on his left arm, her stethoscope on the inside of his elbow. "His blood pressure is still low, but it isn't getting any worse." She checked the dressing and the chest tube and catheter. "How are you doing?" she asked Terry.
"Fine," said the girl quietly.
"Can I get you anything?"
Just him alive and well. "No. Thank you."
The nurse nodded. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes," she said.
As the nurse walked out, Doc Kaiser walked in.
"I just spoke with Kit. She can't find your brother or his men."
Terry sighed. "Could you have her call Chris in London and see if Kelly is around? He's the same blood type."
"I can do that," the doctor said. "In the meantime, I need to unhook you."
"Doesn't he need more blood now?" asked Terry.
"Yes, but I can't take anymore from you. It would weaken you too much."
Terry looked down at Actor. He was still, pasty gray and unconscious on the bed. Terry came to a decision. Kaiser moved the foot of her gurney over to get up to her arm. She casually brought her right knee up and retrieved the knife from her boot. Laying her arm across her chest, she flicked the knife open with a snick. Kaiser stared at it and then her in surprise.
"Sorry, Doc," she apologized. "Until Craig or Kelly gets here or I pass out, we keep going."
"Do you have any idea what you are doing?"
"Yes," said Terry, resignedly. "You can have me thrown in the stockade later."
"You could both die," warned Kaiser.
"Both of us are made of strong stuff, Doc," said the girl, "I'm willing to take that chance."
Kaiser looked at the two and wondered at the kind of loyalty he had seen between them. "Put the knife away. Someone might see it. I'll tell Kit to find your brothers."
"Thank you," said Terry quietly.
A half hour later, Craig entered the room. He looked at both people connected by a tube and shook his head. "Hammond came to Brandonshire and I had to debrief. I didn't think it would take that long. Kelly is at the base hospital getting two pints taken out of him. They'll send it by ambulance here. Now, will you unhook?"
Terry nodded. "As long as you promise to hook up in my place."
"That's what I'm here for," said Garrison reassuringly. "I don't want him to die either."
Major Kaiser walked in and stepped around the Lieutenant to look sternly at the girl. "Now will you quit?"
"Now I will quit," answered Terry.
GGG
An hour had passed by the time the large-bore needle was removed from Garrison's arm. It had taken awhile to get a new intravenous line set up between his and Actor's arm. Craig was willing to give his second more blood, but Major Kaiser ordered him to stop. Unlike his sister, the Lieutenant obeyed the order from a superior. It made him wonder how Terry had talked the doctor into allowing her to give so much of her own blood. It never entered his mind the girl would pull a knife on an American officer.
Garrison looked at his confidence man and couldn't tell any difference in the man's pasty gray color. He wondered if everything he and his sister had pumped into the man had just run right out through the chest tube. Kaiser seemed satisfied for now, so Craig went along with it.
He was escorted into the hall and handed a glass of orange juice which he was instructed to drink in its entirety. A nurse led him down the hall to the room Actor would be placed in. Craig stopped in the doorway, with his glass of orange liquid, and eyed his sister. Terry was sitting on a metal straight chair, contemplating the quarter-full glass of the same juice that was in his hand. She looked wiped out, but her color had not had time yet to drain away.
Terry looked up at Craig. "He any better?" she asked.
Garrison shrugged. "I don't know. I couldn't see any change."
Terry lifted her glass almost to her lips and hesitated before choking down the last of the liquid. "I don't think I will ever be able to stand orange juice again after this," she said with a grimace.
"Why?" asked Craig.
"This is my third glass. They seem to think I need to drink a lot of it." She set the empty glass on the bedside table.
"How much blood did you give him?" asked Craig in wonder.
"Too much," admitted the girl. "Probably twice as much as you did."
Garrison looked sharply at her. "I'll take you back to the Mansion with me."
That earned him a sharp look. "I'm not leaving. Doc can't guarantee he won't . . . die. If heaven forbid that happens, he is not going to die alone. Otherwise, I am not leaving until I know for sure he's going to be all right. And I'll fight you to do it if I have to."
Craig looked at her. Right now, he could probably push her over with one finger. Even so, he would not force her. "Okay, Sis," he said quietly. "But if you reach a point you want to go back to the Mansion, call and we'll come get you."
She nodded, the fight going out of her. The sound of the metal gurney wheels coming down the hall grew louder. Craig looked behind him and nodded at Terry. The girl stood up and blinked hard a couple times, sucking in a deep breath to steady herself. When the lightheadedness passed, she followed her brother a short way down the hall to watch two orderlies and a nurse move the gurney with Actor and all the paraphernalia attached to him into the room.
The door was closed for about ten minutes. When it opened again, the orderlies moved the empty gurney out and down the hall. Terry walked back into the room. After finishing checking Actor's blood pressure, the nurse looked up. Terry walked around to stand at the opposite side of the bed.
"Janet," said Terry, "Can you give me some kind of report on him? I'm staying."
"I figured you would," said the nurse.
Craig stood in the doorway, leaning against the jamb and watched the two women start at Actor's head and work their way down checking wounds and tubes and wires. He had never had the opportunity, or misfortune, of watching Terry work when she was a nurse. He was impressed with his younger sister. As exhausted and weak as she was, she worked with the nurse, Janet, like a professional. He guessed she really was a professional. Too bad Jake had screwed that up for her too.
Janet moved past Craig in the doorway and nodded to him. He stepped inside the room and hesitated, not knowing if it was okay to get closer for fear of disrupting any of the tubes and lines. Terry sat on the chair. The loss of blood was catching up with her stamina.
"You sure you don't want to go back to the Mansion and rest a little bit?" he asked. "I'll stay with him."
Terry shook her head and looked up at him. "Not that I don't appreciate the offer, but I need to stay. You're good at some medical things," she said," But . . ." She pointed to the monitor box that showed Actor's heartbeat bouncing with little blip noises across the screen. "Do you understand that well enough to know when the manure is about to hit the fan?" He shook his head. "Do you know how to milk a chest tube?" Again, Craig shook his head in frustration. "I do. So, for now, I'm his intensive care nurse. They just don't have the staff to do one on one with him. And leaving him for even fifteen-minute intervals could have bad consequences, shall we say."
"But how long can you go on?" asked Garrison in concern for his sister.
She smiled. "Craig, you know the answer to that. We're Garrisons. We do what we have to do for as long as we have to do it. And longer if necessary."
Craig nodded in understanding. He felt helpless. Maybe if he got some sleep, when he came back, he could persuade Terry to at least take a nap. Maybe Actor would be awake by then. And maybe the sun would rise in the west.
"Look, I'm going back. I'll come back in the morning. If he gets worse or anything happens, call me," said Garrison.
Terry tacked on a smile. "I will." She wasn't about to tell Craig if Actor got worse, it would probably be permanent, and a twenty-minute drive wouldn't be quick enough.
With a last look at the Italian's face, Craig turned and left the room. Terry waited until she was sure he wasn't coming back in and reached a hand over to rest atop Actor's near one.
She spoke softly in Italian. "Vittorio, you've come this far. Don't give up now. Keep fighting, tesoro."
There was no response. She went back to checking the monitor, the intravenouses, the tubes, and watching his face for any sign of response.
GGGGG
Garrison managed a couple hours of sleep, but that was all. He looked at his clock and saw it was only two o'clock in the morning. He was worried and knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep well until he knew Actor was going to be okay. He was going to have to borrow gas rations from Terry with this driving back and forth to Archbury. Trying to be quiet he dressed, turned the light out and slipped out into the hall.
"Goin' to check on Actor?"
Craig turned to see a figure lounging in the doorway to Chief's room.
"Yes," Garrison admitted.
The Indian nodded. "If you need anything call." There was a pause. "Terry's car has a full tank."
"Thanks."
Chief straightened and went back into his room.
GGG
Craig let himself into the hospital room. It was a testimony to his sister's physical and mental state that her head did not raise from where it lay on the bed at his entrance. He stepped closer to the bed. It was a wonder that Terry could sleep in the awkward, twisted position she was in. Though her face rested on the back of one hand, the other hand was tightly clutching the con man's limp one.
The opposite side of the bed was a map of wires, tubes and lines. The small monitor was tucked into a corner, showing the steady heartbeat of the unconscious man on the bed. Craig carefully stepped closer, not wanting to disturb his sister, but needing to be nearer to the man on the bed. With fine caution, Garrison eased himself into a spot beside the bed, not touching anything that was attached to Actor.
He had never seen the Italian that awful shade of pale gray he was now. Craig studied the face of the man. The features were slack, no quirky grin, no open bright eyes showing humor. In some ways he looked younger than he was, and at the same time he appeared significantly older. Garrison did something he would never do if the con man were aware. He laid his hand atop Actor's and gave a light squeeze. There was no response. The strong hand that numerous times had gripped his wrist with a steely strength to haul him up into the back of a truck or out of a ditch, was soft and limp.
There was no chair available, so Garrison carefully eased a hip onto the bed beside the con man's leg. The slight movement of the mattress had Terry's head shooting up, eyes going to Actor's face, then darting to her brother.
"Sorry," apologized Craig in a whisper.
Terry shook her head. "What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't sleep," said Garrison, not sure he wanted to admit to his sister his feelings for the man on the bed. "He responded any to you?"
"No," said Terry unable to hide the disappointment that gave her.
Craig took in the pale countenance and dark eyes of the young woman. "You look like shit, Sister. That was a hell of a chance you took giving that much blood."
"It kept him alive until you got here," she said defiantly.
"I'm sorry," apologized her brother. I should have stayed instead of letting Major Kaiser send us away.
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing," she said wryly. "It's okay. I'm fine. Hopefully he will be too."
"You look like you need to be in a hospital bed too,"
Terry looked at her brother and with a wicked sense of humor, decided she should shock him a little more. "Well, if he didn't take up the entire bed, and it would give the nursing staff heart failure, I'd slip in on this side."
Craig figured two could play this game. "I can watch the door if you think you can fit."
Terry couldn't help but laugh. It made Craig feel better seeing his sister still had a sense of humor. She straightened, never letting go of her hold on Actor's hand. She caught sight of her brother's hand doing the same and sobered.
"He kinda grows on you, you know?"
Craig nodded, deliberately leaving his hand resting atop the older man's. His voice was quiet as he shared his feelings with his sibling. "I never realized when I first laid eyes on him in Alcatraz that I could possibly come to depend on him as much as I have. I think he had plans from the start of becoming second-in-command and sharing charge. I don't think either one of us thought it would evolve into a friendship. I never had the luxury of an older brother, someone I could depend on. We didn't even have Dad."
"And when we did have Dad, we couldn't wait for him to leave," added Terry.
Craig studied the still face of his friend. And Actor had become a friend. "I don't know what kind of family he had."
Terry decided it was safe to share some of the confidence man's past. "You know about his brother, Marco. His sister died young of some illness. He was on his own when he was sixteen." She smiled warmly at Actor. "I think we Garrisons may have become the family he was missing."
Garrison smiled. He looked back at his sister. "Can you sleep like that?"
"I guess I was," said the girl.
"I'll stay for a couple hours. Try and get some rest."
Terry nodded and resumed her twisted position, head on the bed, hand over the con man's.
A young night nurse came in at four o'clock and firmly pointed out two of them could not be in the room with the patient. The siblings looked at each other. Terry nodded for Craig to go.
"I'm okay," she said. "Come back during visiting hours." There were no set visiting hours.
Craig nodded. "I'll see you later."
The nurse turned on Terry. "You're a civilian. I don't know how you got in here, but you have no business being in this room. This man is in critical condition and you might touch a tube or wire and hurt him."
Terry tried to stifle her anger, but only managed to force it down a tiny bit. "Well, it's like this. One, I'm not a civilian. Two, I am fully aware of his condition. He got in this condition taking a bullet that was meant for me. And, three, if you want to get in a pissing contest with me over who has been a registered nurse longer, you or me, then go right ahead. I guarantee the answer isn't you. Now you can't be the only nurse on this unit tonight, so I suggest you find someone else to take this patient and you get the hell out before I throw you out."
"I will call Col. Gallagher about this," huffed the younger woman.
"Go ahead," said Terry, amicably, "but Joe isn't going to be very happy to be woke up at this hour after he gave orders that I can stay."
"Joe?" asked the nurse cautiously.
"Yes, Joe," replied Terry. "You know, Lt. Col. Joseph Gallagher. He and his sister, Kit, taught me to fly. We're a very loyal group where we're from."
The nurse grabbed her clipboard and stormed out of the room. Five minutes later, Cheryl, another nurse, came in with a grin.
"Vital signs are on the chart," said Terry indicating the chart hanging from the foot of the bed.
Cheryl's grin got bigger. "Wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that one."
"I wasn't very nice."
"Good for you." The nurse picked up the chart. "Want coffee?"
"Might as well. I'm not getting much sleep. Thanks."
"I'll be right back," chuckling to herself, Cheryl left the room.
Terry looked at the unchanged features of the man in the bed. "Good thing you weren't awake. You wouldn't have been happy with me."