A Rock and Hard Place
CH 6

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He picked up the phone his hand shaking slightly, "Hello?" He asked in the tone of a question.

"Tem, I have good news and bad news….your Colonel is alive but its shaky, I'm afraid there's still a chance he won't make it…and if he does…there's a good chance he'll be paralyzed…"

Face did not give any response through his facial expression. "What do you do now?"

"Well, this isn't a hospital Tem…if you want to transport him out of town, there's a chance he wont make the trip at all…my advice as a doctor is to give him more time…if he wakes up, we'll know for sure where the paralysis may be…if he doesn't wake up…you may want to consider other options."

Face swallowed the lump in his throat. "Other options?"

"If he doesn't wake up, he'll need constant care, some coma patients are out of years, and the brain may never come out of it at all. The choice is up to you."

"No, it's up to us. I'll get back with you soon, and hey…thanks."

Face hung up the phone slowly.

"Well?" Murdock practically screamed from the back seat.

"Its shaky Murdock, he's barely alive. Doc said he may be paralyzed but we won't know until he wakes up…if he wakes up at all."

"What do you mean IF?" BA also almost screamed.

Face sighed. "Relax, both of you, look we can't go back yet…its too hot…all we can do now is hope the Colonel wakes up…"

It was silent for a few moments as the three thought about what this could mean.

"Face man, I don't want to be the one to say this again…but if he dies…"

"Look…I don't know what we'll do okay?…" Face finished.

"No, I mean if he dies…do we really want to be running away from Decker while he lays there alone…or do we want to be with him?"

BA looked over at his two friends. "Say the word, and we're there."

Face sat straight up in the seat, rubbing his temples. The two men looked intently at their newfound leader, and he could feel their eyes piercing him and knew their hearts were aching just like his. Funny how he always found himself between a rock and hard place.

"We can't. The Colonel was willing to die so we wouldn't get caught…we'll just have to wait…if we try, and don't make it, then we'll never see the Colonel...we'll pull in the next town for the night…give the Doc more time."

Murdock flopped back in his chair. "I want to see him Face."

Face looked back. " And I Don't? Look Murdock, stop acting like a little kid, I'm not the Colonel, I'm not the Dad you always wanted…I'm just me…the Colonel wouldn't want us to get caught…lets just give it more time…trust me." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I just…I'm hurting too, you know that…but my job is to keep us safe, I know you understand that …I need you guys to trust me…at least for now."

They nodded in agreement. And it was silent the rest of the ride that night.

When they arrived at their room, each went into their separate bedrooms…at least for now.

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