Thank you for all the kind reviews! I am so, so sorry I left you all with a such a cliff hanger from the last chapter for the past few weeks. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Thank you so much to ColHogan, who has graciously loaned out her OC, Dr. Michael Prust. I really hope I do him justice. So please, please, please read and review. I would appreciate it so much!
Kinch and Newkirk were in stunned silence for a moment, unable to process what Wilson had just told them. Despite all that they had done to get him back to camp, the colonel could still die. That was all it took for Kinch to snap out of it, knowing what he had to do.
Kinch turned and took off for the radio room, Newkirk hot on his heels. "What's on your mind?"
As he put the headphones on and began to crank the radio, Kinch looked over at the Englishman. "I'm calling Prust. I just hope he is near his office and can get away."
"Good idea. I'll let Wilson know what you're up to."
As soon as Newkirk left to inform the medic, Kinch began to get a response from the good doctor.
"This is White Rabbit, Papa Bear. What can I help you with?" Dr. Michael Prust answered, surprised to be hearing from Hogan and his men at the late hour. He was catching up on some paperwork before he headed home when the call on the radio came in.
"White Rabbit, we are going to need you quickly. Papa Bear has been involved in a car accident. Our medic says that he is bleeding internally. He is not qualified to operate and we need help fast."
Prust was silent for a split second before replying, "Okay, I'm coming. Can you make an area sterile before I get there?"
Wilson came around the corner and heard what Prust had requested. "We're working on it, tell him. We do need an anesthetic to give the Colonel and some antibiotics, so he would need to bring those. We just need him here soon."
Just as Kinch was about to tell the doctor what the medic had just said, he heard in his earpiece, "I heard him Papa Bear. I will bring what I will need. Will you be meeting me?"
"Yes, we'll send someone to meet you at the normal coordinates."
"Roger Papa Bear. I'll be there in less than a half hour. White Rabbit out."
Kinch took his headset off, took a deep breath wiping his hand over his face. He sighed deeply before turning around, startled to see Newkirk, LeBeau and Carter standing behind him. He looked at each man before relaying Prust's message, I'll go," he said standing.
Before he could say anything else, a hand rested on his shoulder. He turned towards Carter. "Kinch, I can go. You and Newkirk have been through a hell of a lot tonight. We all have. But it might be best if you are here in camp, in case anything happens."
"He is right, mon ami," LeBeau said, standing on Kinch's other side. Newkirk didn't say anything, he just stood in support of the others. Kinch looked at the men he was proud to call his friends before looking at Carter.
"Okay, go ahead. We'll stay here. Just be careful."
"I will, I promise." Carter turned and hurriedly headed to change into his blacks. He came back a few minutes later ready to go.
"You remember the coordinates, right?" Newkirk asked, handing him a flashlight.
"Yes, I remember," he said, heading to the ladder. He had gone up only a rung or two when he heard someone come behind him. He glanced back to see Kinch standing there, a grim look on his face.
"Please be careful. We need you to come back with Prust in one piece."
"Don't worry, I will, I promise," Carter assured him with a small smile. He didn't say anything else but turned and finished climbing the ladder out into the cold dark night.
Kinch headed back down the tunnel, worry threatening to overtake him. He went back to his little spot in the radio room and sat dwn. While talking Carter, he became consciously aware that his hands had begun to shake uncontrollably. The incidences of the past hour where starting to take their toll on him; putting his head into his hands he began taking deep breaths. Images were haunting him of Hogan's body in the car, horrid, vivid images burned into his memory forever The next feeling that came over him was one he had not had in a long time. He jumped up and ran for the closest private tunnel where he could be sick in peace.
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Wilson corralled Newkirk and LeBeau in the tunnel and asked them to sit with Hogan while he got the make sift operating room ready in the next branch of the tunnel for Prust when he arrived.
LeBeau stepped behind the curtain uncertainly, Newkirk ahead of him. He was not sure if he was ready to see his beloved colonel in the condition he was in.
Hogan was lying on the cot in the center of the room, a sheet carefully drawn up to his chest. His clothing laying in shreds on the floor, removed while the medic worked on the Colonel. The colonel looked pale, bruises beginning to form on his face, arms and chest from the accident. The many cuts along his arms and face caused the colonel to be almost unrecognizable.
Newkirk was standing to the right of the colonel when he noticed his friend was not next to him. He looked back to see LeBeau standing near the entrance to the room, his eyes wide and his mouth open forming an "O".
"Louis, you okay mate?"
"Oh mon Dieu! Le Colonel! Comment est mal cela?" LeBeau exclaimed staying rooted at the spot he was in. Newkirk crossed the room and put both his hands on the little Frenchman's shoulders and shook him a little. "LeBeau! Speak bloody English. I don't understand French."
LeBeau shook his head in surprise and glanced at Newkirk. "I'm sorry Pierre. I asked how bad it was. How bad is the Colonel?"
Newkirk took a step back, glancing back at Colonel Hogan. He looked back at his friend as he said, "It's bad, really bad and he needs surgery. That's why we needed Prust. Wilson's not qualified to do serious surgery."
LeBeau took a step toward the colonel, processing what he was hearing and seeing. "He could die Pierre."
Newkirk took a deep breath before replying, "Yeah, he could. But we can't think like that. Wilson got him breathing again, and Prust is on his way. We just have to pray that he is going to be alright."
LeBeau nodded briefly before sitting in the chair nearest the unconscious man. Newkirk followed suit and sat next to his friend. Both, unknowingly to each other, began praying that the life of their commanding officer be spared.
Intense pain in his stomach was one thing that hit Hogan as blackness began to fade away. He opened his eyes and saw brown, all around him. Where am I? he thought, trying to turn his head to look around. He had to stop quickly as piercing pain struck him in his chest and his head. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.
Once it had ebbed away some, he opened his eyes to a slit. I'm in a one of the tunnels. How did I get here?
Hearing voices, he glanced over to see Newkirk and LeBeau sitting next to him. He wanted to say something to them, but blackness began to overtake him again, pulling him back into unconsciousness.
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Carter stole stealthily through the woods, making his way to the rendezvous spot. He had already had to hide from several patrols as he neared the road. He stopped and hid, waiting for the signal he knew would be coming. He checked his watch and realized he had only left camp 10 minutes prior. As he settled down to wait, grateful the rain had stopped, his mind raced to the scene in the tunnel.
Watching Newkirk, Kinch and Wilson rush Colonel Hogan to the first aid room in the tunnels and been unnerving for the young demolitions expert. Hearing Kinch yelling to Wilson that the Colonel couldn't breathe had been the worst thing for him. He felt like he couldn't breathe himself.
Carter sighed before looking skyward. Please God, please save him. He is a good man, and he is a good commanding officer, God. He looks out for us all. Please don't take him from us.
A tear slid down his face as he continued to wait for the good doctor.
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After putting his radio away, Michael Prust said a small prayer before gathering what he needed, knowing it was bad if Kinch was calling him in. As he drove along the deserted road, he continued to pray that the leader of the Underground would hold on until he could get there.
Stashing his car at a the barn of a local underground agent, he walked the last half mile to the rendezvous spot. As he approached, he flashed his light in a pattern, another light answering his.
He saw a black clad figure come out of the brush, wiping his hands and the back of his pants off.
"Dr. Prust, is that you?" a timid voice asked.
"Yes, it's me."
"I'll lead the way back to camp," Carter replied, taking one of the bags Prust was carrying as they began the trip back to the camp.
"How was the Colonel when you left?" Michael asked, following behind the sergeant.
"I don't really know. When they brought him down the tunnel he was having trouble breathing. Wilson took care of that. But that's all I know. I'm sorry."
"Hey, Its okay. I'm going to do all I can for him."
"I know sir. Its just hard because he's someone I look up to. He's a friend. I just hope he'll be okay," Carter said, ducking as the searchlights of camp came into view.
"I promise, I will do all I can and you know he's a fighter."
Carter didn't reply as he motioned for Prust to duck. As soon as the light went around, he opened the door to the tunnel entrance. "Sir, if you would go ahead and climb down and I'll send the bags down after the light goes around."
"Okay," Prust replied, climbing down the ladder. A moment later, his bags followed. He grabbed them, but waited until Carter had secured the door and climbed down next to him. Andrew lead the doctor down the tunnel to the radio room. There they found Kinch sitting and monitoring the radio. He looked up when he heard movement and stood up quickly.
"Glad you made it back safely. Doctor, I'm glad you could make it so quickly," Kinch said, grabbing a bag Prust was carrying.
"Anything for Papa Bear and his men. Where is he?"
"This way," Kinch said, walking toward the first aid room, Prust and Carter following close behind him. Wilson met them outside the room.
"Doctor Prust, thank you so much for coming. I have the sterile room all ready."
Prust handed Wilson his bag before saying, "I am glad to be of assistance. Let me check him out first, then we can move him so I can operate."
"Sounds good," Wilson said, pulling the curtain aside. Prust, Wilson, Kinch and Carter entered the room. LeBeau and Newkirk looked up, startled by the group entering. They stood up and moved the chairs they had been occupying.
"He hasn't woken up at all," Newkirk said, standing back so Prust could set his bags down.
"Thanks for sitting with him guys. I know how hard it was on you," Wilson said, helping to open the bags that Prust had brought with him.
Michael searched for his stethoscope as he said, "I know you all are worried about him, believe me, I am too, but for right now, I just need Wilson in here. If you all could wait outside I believe it would be for the best while I examine him."
"Whatever you say Doctor," Kinch said, ushering the other three out of the room, as Newkirk started to open his mouth in protest. As soon as the curtain fell back into place, the experienced doctor began to examine the Underground leader.