ggg

There was a sharp snap and light flooded the room around him. He felt hands under his arms and back and the odd weightlessness as they shifted him off the floor and on to the bed.

"Take it easy Captain."

It was hard to get used to hearing the new rank. They held the ceremony in the hospital. Before he'd even been in good enough shape to sit up they pinned the captain's bars on him, saluted and left. That was his payment for getting his men killed, a set of gold bars.

"Get away from me. Leave me alone." He shoved at the hands around him but they wouldn't go away. They never did.

"You can't keep doing this Captain Garrison. You have to remember to keep the lights on. And until we fit you with that leg you have to use the crutches." The nurse shook her head as she unpinned the folded trouser leg.

This one was the stubborn kind. Most of them she worked with felt sorry for themselves and had to be enticed back onto their feet. This was one of the ones that wouldn't admit that there was anything wrong, that thought that he was whole and strong. He got up every morning and struggled into his uniform and waited for the days orders. This was the hardest kind to deal with.

The wound in the stump was bleeding again. He must have come right down on it. That was going to set him back another two weeks at least.

"Ginny, get the tray. We're going to have to rewrap this. And Dr. Van Pelt left orders," she called after her coworker, "draw up that shot. Let's put this fine fellow to sleep for a while."

"No!" But the orderlies were there, and they were ready.

They pinned him to the bed and someone grabbed his arm and stretched it out while the nurse delivered the medication that would send him into a stupor. In his weakened state it didn't take long. Within seconds he was drifting and they took over…doing what they wanted with him, without his help, without his permission. They stripped him out of his uniform and shoved his arms into one of the hospital gowns. Flipping him onto his face one of the orderlies knotted the garment in back before pulling him back over so he could breathe. Garrison's thoughts scrambled in his mind and he frowned as he tried to straighten them out, pin them down. They'd done this before and he'd gotten out of it…

"No you don't, Captain." She'd seen that look before and had worked long enough to know what it probably meant. "Get that posey jacket off the cart. We're not taking anymore chances with this one."

Until he came to his senses again they'd have to control him, keep him from doing himself any more harm. She watched the orderlies' force the patient's arms into the heavy cotton vest and helped support him when they pulled him up to fasten it across his back. She waited as they dropped down on either side of the bed and used the metal snaps to secure the straps down under the frame where they would be out of the Captain's reach. He strained forward and tried to sit up and when that failed he reached to the strap on his left and gave it a firm jerk, testing it.

"You see? You might as well just lay back and enjoy the accommodations."

It took her twenty minutes to get the dressing changed and back in the shape she wanted. It still hurt like hell when the pressure of the bandages came off but he lay still and silent through the ordeal, passive under her hands. Let her think that damn shot had done it's job.

She straightened from her work and pulled the blankets back up over her patient. It looked like he'd finally surrendered to the drugs and drifted off to sleep. At least they wouldn't have to post an orderly in his room tonight. Poor guy, she thought. If he could just turn some of that defiant energy into getting better… But it was too soon... He'd come around though. Most of them did in the end. She patted the sweat off his face with a towel and flipped the light on the bedside table off and left the room to attend to other duties on the ward. She'd talk to the doctor about getting Captain Garrison out of this private room tomorrow. He was spending too much time by himself. They'd pair him up with one of the other fellas that was a little further along in his recovery, someone who could get through to him.

g

The hinges in the door had a slight squeak and he heard the nurse's steps fade off down the hallway. Counting slowly to a hundred he waited and listened. By the time he chanced opening his eyes they were fully adapted to the darkened room…but it was never really dark here, just like it was never really quiet. There was always light from the hall seeping in around the door. It was enough to show him that he was alone in the room, they hadn't posted a guard inside with him this time.

Reaching to the strap on his left he gave it a firm tug. He tried the one on his right. They were both attached securely somewhere under the bed, and the metal snaps grated on the frame making too much noise. He turned onto his side as he pulled against the strap where it attached to the jacket they'd trussed him up in. He strained against it and then brought his arm forward with a jerk. He tried it again and again and after several minutes was rewarded by the soft sound of fabric tearing.

Several minutes more and he was sitting on the side of the bed. He couldn't get the jacket off, that was OK, he'd figured it out. He'd get under the bed and get the strap that tethered him to it unhooked and get away.

They were out there somewhere… and they were hurt. He had to get to them.

When he stood up he had to clutch the side of the bed to keep his balance. The drugs, he thought, they must have gotten to him after all. He waited until the room stopped pitching under foot. When he stepped away from the support of the bed the world lurched and he couldn't bring his hands up fast enough to stop his forehead from dashing against the floor as he fell.

He could feel the vibration of running feet heading his way, and the room filled with light again. He tried to shove back under the bed but he was stunned and slow and they grabbed him before he could get away…