Overseas trips and life have kept me away from this story for way too long. I'm sorry for anyone who has been looking for updates. I hope you enjoy
Kat sat at the desk, diligently filling out patient records. The young woman at the large oak receptionist's desk was the only one in the waiting room. She was caught completely off guard when a light tenor voice came out of nowhere.
'Look at the doctor's pet, hard at work."
Kat looked up to see a young man with dark skin and black hair standing in front of the desk. Although the comment had an insulting tone, the young man was smiling and his brown eyes were full of good humor.
"Hey Blake," she greeted warmly before returning to her work. "I'll talk to you in just a sec. I want to get these files organized."
"Stop!" Blake leaned forward and put his hands over the files. "You're making the people who actually have to work here look bad."
Kat put her pen down and looked up at the young man with a smile.
"Have to be here?" she asked. "I seem to remember you staying an extra two hours past your shift the last couple of times to see your favorite patients."
"Only cause I had to," Blake grumbled.
'Right," Kat answered, rolling her eyes.
The clinic where the aspiring doctors were working at had been a project set up by the administrate staff of the medical department. The Hope Clinic served two purposes. It was an opportunity for young doctors to gain first hand experience before pursuing their medical careers. Blake, for example, was in his first year of residency, but he was required to put in at least three hundred hours of volunteer work at Hope before his residency was done. The second service was to provide reduced or free services to those who couldn't afford more expensive care.
"I'll tell you one thing," Blake yawned loudly. "I won't be staying an extra two hours today. In a half an hour, I'm out of here. Three hours of sleep is not good for the body."
'That's right," Kat remembered. "Last night with the accident…"
Blake stretched out his arms and stifled another yawn. "I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my life. "Let me tell you Kat, your father is something else."
Kat shifted uneasily. Blake apparently didn't notice.
"When the rest of us were dead on our feet, he kept going. I swore we were going to loose one of the kids. He had lost so much blood. Doctor Macintyre never gave up on him. He operated on him for more than two hours. That little boy is alive today because of him."
"Doctor Saunders!" The bellowing voice made both of the young people jump.
Charles Winchester walked into the room. He glared at Blake.
"Last time I checked, you were not getting credit for flirting with the interns."
Kat and Blake turned red.
"Listen Sir, I was…." Blake stuttered.
"Don't make excuses, apologize."
"Sorry Sir," Blake answered sheepishly. Kat looked down to hide her smirk . Blake was a hard worker and a great surgeon. He was a great guy, but sometimes his ego did get a little big. Charles was the only one willing to knock him down a few notches.
"Now instead of wasting time, Mrs. Wanten is waiting in room 12. She asked especially for you."
A look of horror spread over the young man's face.
"Come on Doctor Winchester, you know that she has a…that she wants to…"
"Maybe if you could use some of that charm on the patients instead of interrupting Ms. Macintyre from her work; you wouldn't have such a problem with the patients."
"Come on Doctor, I'm all for women's rights and everything by this woman takes it step to far. I'm afraid she's going to come after me with her…. Alright, alright, I'm going!"
Charles lost his glare as soon as the young doctor had disappeared.
"You don't have to be so rough on him," Kat stated. "He was up late this morning working on patients."
"That doesn't make a difference," Charles answered, still watching the swinging door. He turned his attention back to the young woman.
"Kat, I would like you to assist me with one of my patients."
"Professor, you know that I'm not allowed to go into the rooms with patients."
"And that's stopped you before?" Charles asked, raising his eyebrows.
Kat blushed and looked down at the paper. She had often broken that rule and visited with the patients. Most of the doctors had pretended not to see anything; some even allowed her input on treatments for simple diagnoses.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to enhance your education Ms. Macintyre, and as your professor, I insist you take it."
"I'm coming," Kat answered. She got up and followed the professor through the door. They walked past the waiting room where Blake was attempting to examine the infamous Mrs. Wanten. The woman's screaming could be heard through the door. Kat wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Charles cringe.
Charles stopped walking when he got to the last examination room. The door was only open a crack. He put his hand on the doorway.
"Brace yourself Kat," he told her, before opening the door.
"Hello Debbie," Charles greeted fondly. Kat followed him inside and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the patient.
The woman had her blonde hair pulled off her face. She was wearing a blue tank top and denim shorts and her bare feet were hanging over the edge the examination table. Her choice was of hairstyle and clothing made her skin quite revealing, other than the large black sunglasses that covered up most of her skin. Varying degrees of charred skin covered her hands and feet. She was missing her big toe on her left foot, and the rest of the toes were so charred, they resembled burn cigarette butts.
Kat fought the urge to throw-up.
Charles walked up and gently grabbed hold of the woman's hands.
"My dear, you are looking much better today than last week."
The woman smiled, or at least as much of a smile as her face would allow.
"Thank you Doctor," she stated.
Charles turned to look at Kat.
"Debbie, this Kathy Macintyre. She is currently studying to become a doctor and has shown some interesting in using her talents in Vietnam."
Debbie smiled sadly.
"How old are you my dear?" she asked.
"I'll be twenty-one in a few weeks," she answered, glaring at Charles..
"The same age I was," Debbie answered, shaking her head. She looked at Kat kindly. "Do you know how I ended up looking like this?"
Kat shook her head.
"I was a nurse in Vietnam about a year ago now," Debbie stated. "I was stationed at an aid station on the front lines. Apparently an order from HQ had been sent out, ordering for all medical units to pull out. Out communication systems were done so we never heard the message.
Fighter jets began flying over our heads and bombs began dropping everywhere. Trees, the compound, anything that would burn caught on fire. All of a sudden my body was burning. I had never felt such pain in my life. I screamed out, but I'm sure no one heard me. There was excruciating pain in my eyes and the world went black."
Debbie started to shake. In an uncharacteristic move, Charles put a hand on her shoulder.
"While I was running around screaming aimlessly, somebody picked me up and threw me over their shoulder. Along the way I must have blacked out. The next thing I know, I'm waking up inside a MASH."
Debbie seemed unable to continue, so Charles picked up the story for her.
"It was Napalm Kat. The US Military, in all its genius, dropped a chemical weapon on its own troops."
Debbie pulled off her sunglasses and turned to look at Kat. The aspiring doctor let out a huge gasp.
Debbie's eyes had been completely burned away. Dead, black skin made almost perfectly framed her eyes. The pigmentation in the pupils had turned a sickly gray and puss almost completely covering both eyes gave them a glossy look.
Kat knew she couldn't hold it down anymore. She turned and ran out of the examination room and out the back door into the late afternoon sun. She didn't stop running until she reached the parking lot, allowing her body to slide down until she hit the ground. The tears began to flow freely as she pulled hugged her knees close to her body. As hard as she tried, she could not fight the mental images of the poor nurse.
She didn't know how long she sat there crying. After a while, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
'Kat, I'm sorry," a familiar voice stated.
"You did that on purpose," she sobbed, without lifting her head.
"Yes," Charles stated simply. "But I thought it was necessary."
:"How did you know?"
"I've heard you talking about it at the clinic and before classes quite often," Charles stated.
Kat lifted up head.
"Did my father tell you do it?" she asked.
"No, I did this on my own, although I was thinking about him when I asked Debbie to come into the office today.
"Can there be anything done for her?" Kat asked. "Does she have to go through the rest of life looking like that?"
"Skin grafts will help some and I will help her get glass eyes, but she will never regain her vision and most of the scars will be permanent."
Kat shuddered.
"I'm going to be an awful doctor," Kat stated sadly.
"Why is that?" Charles asked, surprised.
"I ran like a coward out of there," Kat answered. "One look at her and I almost threw up."
Charles knelt down next to her, forcing her to look him straight in the eye.
" I would be more concerned if that sight hadn't been made you run out of that room."
Kat still didn't look convinced.
"Do you know how many times I saw BJ and Hawkeye turn green at less appalling sights? Yes, even I have found myself close to loosing my lunch on several occasions in Korea."
"But you battled through them, you still operated.."
"Yes," Charles answered sadly. "We grew accustomed to seeing them, but we relived the horror afterwards in our nightmares."
"And my father?" she asked.
"You will have to ask him," Charles stated. "I never worked with your father in Korea."
Kat's face clouded over again.
"Fat chance of him telling me," she stated angrily
Charles sighed and stood up.
"Kat, I would like you to go home early tonight. I would like you tell your father what you saw tonight."
'Yes Sir," she answered, "but I don't know what its going to accomplish.
"Hold on right there!" A loud voice growled. Charles and Kat turned suddenly to see a man walking towards them. The gun pointed in his left hand was pointed straight at Charles.
"Flagg?" Charles asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"Following orders Winchester. We know about you and your friends. Your plot to bring down the US government and hand it to the soviets has been discovered!"
Charles would have found the reemergence of Flagg and his accusations after fifteen years amusing, if hadn't been the gun in his hand.
"Colonel Flagg, why don't you put down the gun and we can talk," he stated, stepping front of Kat who looked completely shell shocked.
"And give you communist pig the chance to catch me off guard, I don't think so," Flagg answered.
The man walked forward until he was only a few feet away from Charles. Flagg looked different from the last time Charles had seen him. There were traces of gray and he had a somewhat more haggard look. . Flagg also looked at if he had lost about twenty pounds.
"Charles, what is going…."
"Stay there Kat!" Charles ordered, not daring to do anything that would set off the clearly crazed man.
"Kat?" Flagg asked in contemplation. "Kat?" He pulled a flipbook out of his pocket. "Ahh, Kathy Macintyre the only surviving daughter of Trapper John Xavier Macintyre."
Kat looked between Charles and Flagg.
"How do you know who…"
Flagg turned the gun from Charles to Kat. The young woman froze.
"Don't lie to me girl! I know your father and the pigs he calls friends. Tell me their plans to bring down the US government!"
"What are you talking about?" Kat asked.
Flagg moved closer until he was within a few inches of her. The gun pointed straight at her chest.
"They have trained you well I see. If I hadn't known better I would say you were telling the truth. But I know better!"
Charles had had enough.
"Good God man! Whatever madness you are talking about, she had nothing to do with it. Put that gun down."
Flagg turned to look at Charles again and smiled.
"You men are good, I will give you that. But I think that I might know how to break you," Flagg stated, looking particularly at Kat. "Alright, you see that car parked over there?" he motioned towards a beat-up old blue station wagon parked at the end of the parking lot.
They book nodded their heads.
"Girl, can you drive?"
Kat nodded her head once again.
"You will get into the driver's seat. Winchester, you will get into the backseat. Best not to try any funny business." He waved his gun to emphasis his point.
Charles thought about trying to resist, then thought better about it. He looked at Kat. Her face had grown pale and Charles noticed her shoulders begin to shake.
"Do what he says," he stated.
"But…" Kat protested. She shut her mouth when she noticed Charles pleading look. On shaky feet, she followed him towards the car. Flagg kept the gun within the corner of her eye.
Charles mind was racing. He knew Flagg was crazy, but now he was really putting Kat's life in danger too. How the hell were they going to get out of this mess?
"NOOO!!!!" Erin screamed, as she saw the car pull of the parking lot. She took of at a dead sprint after the moving station wagon, but she was too late. A few seconds later, the vehicle was already out of view.
The teen didn't think twice she turned around past Trapper's car and ran inside the waiting room.
"Help!" She screamed, "Is somebody in here?"
The door to the waiting room flew open and Blake came running inside.
"What's wrong?" he asked the distraught girl. His eyes were full of concern and hesitation. It wasn't everyday that some strange kid came sprinting into the clinic. Erin was so winded that it took her a few seconds to catch her breath.
"I think somebody just kidnapped Charles and Kat!"