R is for Refusal
Charlie wants more data to help Don with his current drug investigation and he gets hurt on a raid with Don. Don thought he should have refused Charlie's request to go with him. He was to be blamed for Charlie being hurt. He refuses treatment until he is sure that Charlie was alright.
Don cradled his left arm tightly against his stomach. His face was impassive. He was in pain but he bore it stoically. He didn't want his father to get all claustrophobic on him, but his father saw through his facade.
His father was staring at him, willing him to go and get it checked out. Don as adamant. He wanted Charlie to wake up first, and then he will see to himself.
Alan knew Don and how he behaved. He was stubborn. He blamed himself for Charlie being hurt. Alan knew it was not Don's fault even though Don would not enlighten him on what had happened.
Don must have forgotten that David couldn't keep anything from Alan. The "father" look worked just as well on him as it did Don and Charlie. When David had shown up at his door, Alan had insisted that David tell him what really happened. Alan knew Charlie was hurt, but he also knew Don had been hit with a baseball bat. By the look of it, the bat could have done some damage to his arm or shoulder.
"Don, will you please go and have that arm looked at? I will stay here with Charlie."
"No, Dad. I want to see Charlie wake up before I go." Don looked towards Charlie who had his head bandaged and was still unconscious. He looked like he was in a deep sleep.
He didn't care about the pain in his arm; all he cared about was Charlie. He wanted Charlie to wake up.
Details of the raid played back in his head as he sat at Charlie's bedside. He shouldn't have let Charlie go with him on the raid. He shouldn't have given in to his request. He kept on repeating it in his head, he shouldn't have. He should had been firm with his decisions and refused him his request. He should have refused…..
He knew in his mind he was punishing himself. Charlie got hurt because he was helping him. Charlie wanted to see that his numbers were correct and Don had finally agreed to let him come along since they all believed this would be a non eventful raid. He made Charlie sit in the SUV while they raided the house, but all they had found were the soldiers and not the general.
They were young men led into a life of crime by their greed for money. It was such a pity since peddling drugs meant big time jail. Those kids would have no idea what was being done to young people in jail. Oh, they would so suffer for it. It was too late. He would have said it served them right, but they were somebody's kids. It was not right that they were led into this.
He could see it reflected in his team's faces too, such pity for these young people. He looked at them, these young men, all cuffed and heads hanging. He pursed his lips, shook his head and wordlessly, he left it for his team to clean up. He just wanted to get out. It stifled him to be there.
He went to where he parked his SUV with Charlie sitting inside, waiting for him. As he was walking, he saw Charlie was outside and not inside. He was not obeying orders.
He needed to have a talk with Charlie. Charlie had to learn to listen to Don and obey his orders especially if he accompanied him in the field. Working in the office, Charlie could have his freedom. But, if he wanted to go with Don on fieldwork, he had to listen.
A man was walking casually swinging his bat on the side where Charlie was. By the way he was dressed; he looked like he had just come from baseball practice.
Don wanted to get away from the scene quickly. He ran across the road to meet up with Charlie. The man walking by thought Don was onto him.
He was actually going to cross the road to the house the FBI was raiding. He saw Don running towards him, and he saw lots of FBI trucks parked near his house where he conducted his business, so he panicked.
All he saw was a man wearing a FBI vest and running towards him when Don was actually running towards Charlie.
"Charlie!" one shout from Don was all it took.
Charlie looked up at Don's voice, and at the same moment, a man came at him and swung a bat toward his head. Charlie was caught unaware. He tried to turn, but he was still hit on the side. He fell beside the SUV and hit his head on the curb by the side of the road.
Don ran the last yard and jumped the man, who was obviously a real baseball player. He swung his bat at Don. Don was ready for him and he went into defense mode by swinging his left hand to cover his head. The bat hit his left land with such force that the pain radiated all the way to his shoulder.
Don rammed his head at the man who had momentarily lost the use of this bat after hitting at Don.
He dropped the bat and pushed Don, and then he ran away.
Don didn't want to chase because Charlie was lying on the road.
He dropped down and slowly turned Charlie towards him. He sat there holding Charlie. He wanted to use his Kevlar to cover him, but he could not undo it on his own, so he just sat there by the roadside and held on tightly to him.
"Oh God,…Charlie…Charlie.." He quickly used his right hand and pulled out his cell, called 911 and then called David.
"David, Charlie was attacked by a man wielding a baseball bat. He ran away. Put an APB on…." Don described the man and said he was obviously coming from baseball practice and he didn't know why he attacked Charlie.
David asked how was Charlie, and Don said he had called 911, and he will be in the hospital with him. He gave him further details and told him to call his father.
In a short while, Colby and David came as the ambulance's sirens were heard. They both got hold of the situation, and David noticed that Don was holding on to his arm. The Paramedics came running, and Don moved aside for them to check Charlie.
"Don, you got hit too?"
"Yea he came at me with the bat. I don't think it's broken, but it still hurts like someone hit me with a bat."
"Are you sure it's not broken then?" Colby asked.
"Yes." Don wriggled his fingers to show them, "How's he?" he asked the Paramedic who was checking Charlie's head.
'We'll transport him first. It doesn't look too bad. We'll do a proper check in the ambulance. Are you coming?"
"Yes." Don turned to David, "Hey,do me a favor please. Can you get my SUV back home, and get my father to the hospital?
Later inside the ambulance, "Sir please sit here. We need room to work on the patient."
Don was sitting next to Charlie, and he moved further still cradling his left arm with his right.
He hissed when the paramedic named Koenig slightly bumped into him. He looked at Don for a brief while but then turned his attention to Charlie.
Charlie was the patient that needed attention. His head wound was bleeding slightly. Keonig checked his eyes, while the other paramedic was busy with the pressure cuffs.
"Concussion?"
Keonig answered the other paramedic, "Doesn't look like it. Just knocked out I think, but it's better we take precaution."
In a softer voice, 'The other bloke looked worse. He's in pain, but he wouldn't let me touch him. Sim, you try. I'll take care of this one."
"I'm Ok, just a bruised arm, and your patient is Charlie. I'm Don."
"Sorry, I'm Keonig and this is Sim. He's good with broken appendages. Why don't you let him have a look at your arm."
"No, thanks, I'm Ok."
"Come now, you don't want us to be reprimanded, do you? If you faint from a broken arm, we'll be in big trouble. They might take our license away."
While Keonig was talking, Sim was getting bandages and painkillers ready, he went to Don.
"Come just let me bandage it. I know you want to follow your brother. He's your brother, isn't he?"
Don nodded, "How's he?"
"Just knocked out and the cut is slightly bleeding. We've stopped it, but it's better for the doctor to tell you the details. You'd better let us check your arm. It could be just a bad sprain. We can bandage it for you and give you a couple of painkillers, just some Tylenol, nothing stronger, until the doctor checked you out."
Sim waited for Don to make up his mind, "Come, please, we'll be arriving soon, and if you don't do something with that arm, any movement will be painful from the way you are holding it. You might drop with the pain, and then you won't see your brother."
Don inched nearer to Sim. Sim took away his right arm and helped him out of his Kevlar carefully, but it got snagged on his left hand, and Don hissed in sudden flare of pain.
Sim slowly ran his hand over the arm and down to the wrist " I don't think the big bone's broken but I can't confirm. It might be some small broken bones. I am going to cut your sleeves and check your arm."
Don suffered in silence. The probing was excruciating. He knew something was wrong, for when the man hit him, he definitely heard a crack.
"Hey, I think you may have a cracked bone, but I 'm not sure. I will put a small splint and bandage it. You will need to be X-rayed, alright?"\
Don nodded.
The ambulance stopped. The doors opened, and when Charlie was pushed to the emergency room, Don had to be helped down from the ambulance.
"Guys, be quick, we have a call, some car crash, we have to go." The driver called out.
"In a moment, we need to see these guys checked in first."
Charlie was promptly pushed away with Keonig following to tell the emergency doctor about his condition.
Sim helped Don to the waiting room chair and handed him his Kevlar. Don told him it will be alright. He'll let the doctor know about his injury.
Sims said, "Make sure you do that, sorry but we gotta run. K O!" Sims called out to his friend, Keonig but known as K.O.
Presently Keonig came running back with the empty stretcher, and Sim helped him push it out and load it and off they went.
Don sat and waited. Nobody came for him, and after a while he stood. The door opened, and Charlie was pushed out. Don leaned against the door, "How's he, Doc?"
"We need to get him to x-rayed and you're?"
"I'm his brother, and I came with him."
"You're also injured? Nurse!" called the emergency doctor.
"No, it's alright just a sprain, I've got it checked. I'll wait for Charlie.'
'I'll wait for Charlie, and if anything happens to him, I'll never live with myself.' Don thought as he sat on the chair and waited.
The doctor said it might be sometime before Charlie woke up, and from what he could see in the X-ray, it was just a bump on the head, no concussion, but that would only be confirmed when Charlie is awake and coherent.
The doctor too advised him to get his arm looked at. From the way he cradled it, it was obviously hurting him.
"Come to room 5, and let me have a look at it." the Doctor went near to Don but Don turned away, "Thank you Doctor. In a little while, I'm Ok as long as I don't move it much."
"Alright then, but don't delay. If it's broken it needs to be looked at immediately. Why don't you come with me now?" The doctor looked at Alan for help, but even after Alan talked to Don, he still refused to go.
Don didn't care, he just wanted Charlie to wake up and say he was alright.
They had been sitting there for an hour facing each other while Charlie slept on. There was a small knock on the door.
It was David who peeped in, "Don?"
Don nodded and slowly stood up, still cradling his bandaged arm and went outside.
"You saw the doctor about that or you didn't? " he asked pointing to Don's arm.
"No yet, OK, what have you got?"
"Let's sit somewhere and talk."
Don knew that David was making it easy for him because of his arm. He sighed and followed David into the waiting room.
"OK, let's have it." Don didn't want to waste any time. He wanted to be in the room when Charlie woke up.
tbc