Chapter 13

Nelson slammed down the phone in a rage. No, he wasn't mad at Agent Gordon, in fact, he was grateful for the news that the man had revealed. Nelson was livid at Admiral Johnson and his total disregard for Lee's well-being. How dare he withhold such important information?

Will had already reported Lee had a rough night, waking several times from nightmares. Each time Chip was able to calm him down and stay by his side until Lee feelback to sleep. The two young officers were now having breakfast while Jamie shared a meal in the admiral's cabin. When they were all finished, the plan was for Chip to change the bandage on Lee'sfeet and withany luckleave the bedside for ashort meeting with the admiral and doctor. In the meantime, Harry repeated what he'd learned from the ONI agent.

"Sparks is making a copy of the CD Gordon found. He played a short piece of it for me. At least now we can understand why Lee has been terrified being around you and me. What I heard was diabolical."

"Was it just the two of us?"

"No, Gordon said there were numerous voices but the message was the same, they hated Lee and wished him great harm if not outright death. Very chilling."

Jamie pushed his plate away. "You're thinking of playing it for Lee, aren't you? Can we explain away the threatening words he heard?"

"I only listened to a small portion but I remember the conversations mine was taken from. I want you to listen to it and try to reconstruct what your true words were. We can show Decker twisted things around, maybe break through his conditioning. Sparks will bring the recording to me as soon as he's finished."

"You mentioned the crew. Isn't Chip's voice on the tape? Shouldn't Lee be pushing him away, too?"

"You forgetting Chip was TAD at Pearl."

At the doctor's confused look Nelson continued. "From the brief conversations I heard, whoever taped us was at our recent baseball outing. It makes sense, since it would be the easiest time to record so many of the crew."

"I think we should listen to the entire recording and select some of the milder sections for Lee to hear at first. I don't think he's up to anything too hateful right now."

"I'll follow your recommendation, you're the doctor. We need to give Chip time to convince Lee to see us."

"I doubt we'll be able to get past the threshold."

Sparks delivered the CD simultaneously with Chip calling from Sick Bay.

"Sorry, Lee won't let me out of his sight. Best I can do is an open-door hallway meeting."

"We'll be there in five minutes, I have news for you."

The three officers stood outside Lee's room speaking in a low volume. Nelson had just appraised Chip about the recording when Sparks brought another piece of unsettling news.

"Detective Benner contacted Agent Gordon. Schmidt is dead. It was supposed to be a suicide by hanging but Brennan is suspicious. Looks like Decker has someone inside the police."

"Is there any word on Decker's whereabouts?"

"He's most likely out of the country, even Europe by now. The police have been checking train stations and airports but even by car he could have gotten quite a distance away."

"I doubt very much he was staying where we found Lee. I think they moved to throw us off the track. Why else would we suddenly pick up Lee's signal? The fact he wanted us to find Lee has me worried."

Jamie seemed to know what Chip was concerned about.

"You're afraid he's been programmed like the last time when he tried to kill Harry."

"It would explain not killing him and letting us locate him."

"I'm not an expert, Chip, but it seems to me Decker wouldn't go through all the trouble of driving Lee to the edge if he's been programmed to destroy Seaview or assassinate the admiral. Decker has made the task almost impossible for Lee."

"Chip, you told me Schmidt said Decker wanted revenge. How better than to drive his enemy mad, terrified of everyone around him? You saw how he first reacted when he woke up."

"But, Admiral, I was able to calm him and more or less talk him down whenever he experienced a flashback or nightmare."

Jamie stood lost in thought, and then said, "Decker did not know about Chip. Don't you remember, Admiral, acouple of the junior officers kidded O'Brien about being the XO and getting the 'stare' down pat. If whoever was taping us overheard that, he might've assumed Frank was the XO. Even if he knew about Chip, he could have figured he was no longer a member of the crew."

Chip nodded in satisfaction. "So I'm upsetting their plans. They didn't count on having someone Lee would unfailingly trust by his side to lean on, to protect him."

"I want to play part of the CD and explain what really was said. But we need to be closer to him. Talk to him, Chip. See if he will agree to us being in the room. We can still stay at a distance, but I believe he needs to see our faces."

"I'll try, sir. Maybe after lunch. He's getting antsy right now. I've been away from him too long, I need to return."

Chip closed the door and walked over to his friend's bedside with a smile on his face.

"See, back safe and sound. The doc said you can get out of bed tomorrow and sit in the chair for a while. You can walk around a little if the infection continues to improve. How does that sound?"

Lee's answer was a big smile, the first one Chip has seen for a while. "You should take a short nap, you look tired."

The amber eyes were already closing before Chip could finish the sentence.

Chip was mentally exhausted; he had used every ounce of persuasion to convince Lee it was safe to allow the admiral and the doctor into the room. Finally, in desperation he had the master of arms bring him a side arm.

"See, I have a gun. I can protect you. I won't need to use it, but if it makes you feel safe, I'll wear it while they are in the room. I won't let them come close. Now, will you allow them to speak to you?"

What kind of lies do they want to tell me? Will they claim I'm insane, and imagined everything that happened to me? I'll let them in, but on my terms.

There were a couple minutes of silence as Lee looked around the room, his eyes going to the door and the bed several times. Finally, he nudged Chip towards the door and when the blonde reached it, he turned around.

If they try and rush us, Chip will have enough time to shoot. He might only get one, but that would even the odds.

"Now what?"

The skipper motioned to come forward a little then held up both hands - stop! He looked around the room again, nodded and pointed to Chip's feet.

It took a moment then the puzzled look vanished. "Got it, they can come in but no further then where I'm standing. Is that it, Lee?"

Receiving a quick nod of the head, Chip carefully marked the spot in his mind. He did not want to take the chance of scaring Lee. A quick phone call to Jamie and the meeting was set for 30 minutes.

At the appointed time, both men appeared at the door. Nelson knocked and waited. Chip was standing next to Lee's bed.

"You want me to open the door, Lee?"

An air casted arm reached around his back, answering Chip's question. He called out permission to enter. As the door opened, Chip could feel Lee trembling. When the two officers entered the room, shutting the door behind them, Lee's breathing quickened, almost to the point of hyperventilating. Chip feared a panic attack would follow.

"Please stop right there,' he said quickly, pointing at Nelson and Jamieson. He turned slightly and bent over to speak softly. "It's going to be all right. You're safe. No one is going to hurt you. You know, I have a gun and they don't. Take a couple deep breaths and relax. When you're ready, let them come a little closer. Not until then. You're in charge, don't forget that."

Nelson and Jamie wisely stood still keeping their hands in plain sight not making a sound. Lee's breathing slowed but his eyes remained filled with terror. Chip could only guess what courage it took his friend to motion the men forward. A few steps more and he threw up the stop signal.

Jamie spoke first.

"You're looking better, Captain. Are you in any pain?"

A fast shake of the head, Lee's eyes never losing sight of their hands.

"Good, good. I want to discuss your inability to speak. Yesterday when Chip asked you to cough, you were able to make a sound, which showed no damage to the vocal cords. Without a laryngeal examination, I can't be 100% positive, but it seems you were suffering from aphonia, a muteness caused by a great emotional distress. You might call it a hysterical muteness. We can talk more about it later, I just want to let you know I am sure there's no permanent damage and you will regain your voice."

Immediately Lee started shaking his head and made several circles with a hand by his head.

"No, Captain. Not saying you're crazy. You have acute psychological trauma. What Decker put you through could definitely be called that."

Lee seemed to accept Jamie's exclamation and calmed down. The nonthreatening tone of voice and no movement on the part of either men helped allay some of his fears a little. The trembling stopped and he removed his arm from Chip's back. He did however keep his eyes trained on the visitors, shifting back and forth, and alert to any danger.

Harry cleared his throat, unsure on how to approach the subject.

"You were subject to terrible things, people playing with your mind. I know Decker played tapes during his sessions. They were nothing but lies, bits and pieces of conversations spliced together to make you believe the worst. You've got to believe me, son." His voice faltered a bit, his feelings scraping along with Lee on the edge of this nightmare. "Try to remember all the good times with the people on those recordings. Think on how many occasions the doctor saved your life. Can't you recall when Kowalski risked his own life rescuing you from that giant octopus? Does that sound like something a person would do who wants you dead? I have a copy of a CD that was found in the room where you were rescued. I'm going to play some of it for you - and try to explain how it was manipulated and taken out of context."

Nelson quickly set up a CD player and a pair of speakers on a table by the door. With a deep breath, he switched it on.

"It was a big mistake having him as captain. I have to get rid of him before he destroyseverything."

"Lee, I remember very well when I said this. But I wasn't talking about you."

He got no further than those few sentences. Upon hearing those words again, Lee violently reacted. He grabbed at Chip, trying to remove the sidearm at the same time attempting to get out of bed and further away from Nelson and Jamie. He had to stop the voices, stop them before the burning began. He couldn't survive being tossed into that inferno again, not with his enemies right in front of him. Who knew what fiendish plots they had in store for him? He was a fool to have allowed them to get so close, now he would suffer for it.

Somewhere someone was yelling to turn off the damn recording.

Why wasn't Chip shooting at them, driving them out of room? No, no Chip was pushing his hands away from the gun, trying to hold him down. Hearing his friend's calm voice telling him he was safe, no one was going to harm them, did nothing to help. He only knew if he didn't believe what the voices were saying the intense burning pain would soon start. He couldn't endure that again. Decker had promised if that happened again there would be no stopping it. He had to believe the voices and that meant he was in grave danger. Why couldn't Chip see that? Why wasn't he helping him? He continued to struggle with his friend until he felt the prick of the needle. The blanket of sleep overcame him as he realized once again that all was lost.

Chip kept speaking to Lee until the sedative took hold. He prayed he hadn't lost Lee's trust by allowing Jamie to medicate him. The situation had grown out of control. Why had he allowed the admiral to play that accursed CD? He, more than anyone, should have known how Lee would respond, having witnessed the nightmares.

"You might as well check Lee out now that he's asleep. How long will he be out?"

"Based on past experience, probably 6 to 7 hours. Long enough for you to get out of here and unwind. Go take a tour of the boat, there's no reason for you to hang around."

"No, I want to be able to truthfully say I saw what you did when Lee wakes up. I'll stay out of your way, but I'm not leaving until you're done."

"Very well. Admiral, would you please call in a corpsman. You needn't stay, I will report back to you as soon as possible."

Some hours later as Lee started to stir, Chip stood at his side wanting Lee to be reassured of his safety. Minutes later the amber eyes opened and glazed at him. Chip worried he had destroyed his friend's faith in him. Lee looked around the room, apparently to check out the place. He shifted his body, testing if he was free from any forms of restraints. Apparently satisfied, he looked at Chip again, his face reflecting his puzzlement.

"You've been asleep for about seven hours. I'm sorry I allowed Jamie to sedate you, but it was the only thing to do short of strapping you down. Can you understand that?" Not getting any response, he continued. "I stayed with you while Jamie checked you over. You need to listen closely and I'll tell you exactly what happened. The bandages on your feet were changed, and Jamie was pleased how well they were healing. You can start walking if you want to, but it's best to stay off them as much as possible until the infection is cured.

"The catheter is gone, which I'm sure you're happy about. He did the standard vital checks. To be safe your ribs were x-rayed again and rewrapped. The only invasive procedure was drawing a couple vials of blood. With John's help you had a sponge bath and as you can tell, you're now in a set of scrubs. They're easier because of the casts. Nothing else was done to you; no one else was in the room. Do you believe me?"

Lee continued to stare, barely blinking. Chip was afraid Lee was retreating into his own private world, away from the nightmarish events of the past week.

"It was stupid to play the recording but we never expected you to react so strongly. The admiral wanted to show you how his words were manipulated. I heard the CD; you can't really believe Admiral Nelson would say things like that about you. I know how he feels towards you; you're like a son to him."

Lee finally blinked then turned his head away.

"Okay, no more about this right now. Would you like me to raise the bed to a sitting position or maybe try walking a little?"

With no response, Chip tried another tactic. He started reading out loud the reports he had gathered earlier in the day. He read the results of training drills commenting how, while the scores were very good, they had slipped a second or two, sure that that would be rectified as soon as he got back to duty. O'Brien just didn't have the experience with the silent glare. Chip stopped talking when Lee's body shifted. He had been peacefully listening, Chip was sure of it, but now something upset him. Then it dawned on him. He mentioned a crewmember by name. If he kept it impersonal Lee was unaffected. Chip continued the update, careful to avoid mentioning any names.

Finished, he closed the laptop. It was then Lee finally turned towards him with a small nod. Chip smile back. After disposing of the laptop, he helped Lee out of bed steadying him as he first stood up on shaky legs. He took a few steps with Chip right by his side but soon steadied. A lap around the room with a long stop by the large window to check out the empty hallway proved to be enough for him. He sat down in the chair that Chip had been using. After making sure Lee was comfortable Chip placed the laptop in front of Lee and put in a DVD.

"Before dinner gets here, I thought you might like to see a video about real Navy life." Pressing the play button, the opening credits for McHale's Navy appeared on the screen.

The next morning Lee appeared to have recovered from the day before fiasco. By the time breakfast was served he had already taken a short stroll around the room and sat up in the chair waiting for his food. Since the swelling had gone down in Lee's fingers Jamieson had ordered breakfast sandwiches cut into half for easy handling. Lee was delighted to be able to feed himself. As soon as Chip tasted it, he happily ate some of the food. The use of straws for the OJ and coffee allowed Lee to regain more control of his actions.

"I think from now on we'll stick some napkins into your cast," Chip commented as he cleaned egg off fingers and the edge of the air casts. "I've got another surprise to you."

The always-thinking XO set up the laptop on the table and adjusted the height. Next he placed the pencil, eraser side down, between the ring and middle finger of Lee's right hand.

"Now you can ask or answer questions. I'll try to phrase mine so you can type yes or no. First, do you need anything for pain?"

NO

"Are you comfortable in the chair?"

YES

It was Lee's turn. He punched out a word.

SEAVIEW

"How did I know that would be your first question? The boat's fine. The crew was asking about you, hoping you're feeling better."

NO LYING

"If you mean the guys are lying, you're very wrong. Every man on this boat is concerned about you." Seeing Lee getting worked up, Chip wisely changed the subject. He was glad he had stopped himself from commenting that O'Brien was doing a good job, remembering how Lee reacted to the use of names yesterday.

"Is there anything special you want for dinner? Lunch is hotdogs and steak fries and an extra thick chocolate milkshake."

Lee still was not replying. Chip tried kidding around with him, attempting to divert his attention away from his thoughts about the crew's imaginary plans against him.

"Look, I know you're never hungry but take pity on your favorite roommate. Think about my stomach. I have been forced to eat whatever they've been sending, not allowing me seconds or even extra potatoes and gravy. I'm sure they're even sneaking extra vegetables on my plate. Can't you tell I'm wasting away?"

Lee grinned and shook his head at the hound dog expression on his friend's face.

Mission accomplished, Chip thought to himself.

It took a while but finally FRIED CHICKEN appeared on the screen.

"That's what I'm talking about! And we can have some fresh made biscuits with plenty of honey, corn on the cob dripping with butter. What about dessert, the most important part of a meal?" He knew he was laying it on a bit thick but it was so important to see the smile on his friend's face. He'd gladly play the fool all day long for that sight.

YOU ARE NUTS. And after a thoughtful pause... BROWNIES.