Almost done... hang in there just a tad bit longer for me...

Chapter 10

It was a solid day's drive to Thunder Mountain. After several uncomfortably difficult stops for personal reasons the party of injured and ready to return people finally made it. Much to Jeremiah's own personal satisfaction and at his request… not wrecked. Marcus had at first fought the loose steering on the pre-power steering designed military issue Rover. He had let out a few colorful terms while fussing with and getting the hang of the steering of the vehicle; eventually he had made it to the reinforced steel structure of the former base once called NORAD, or what they knew it as today Thunder Mountain. Jeremiah was too feverish and incoherent by the time they rolled into the mountain to celebrate with Marcus. He merely rolled his head to the right and grunted holding his sides tightly as another round of coughs burst forth from his lips. His eyes fluttered open only slightly as they passed through the dimly lit corridor towards the motor pool reception area.

As the vehicle came to a stop Marcus jumped out of the Rover and shouted for a two medic units. Erin and Lee both stepped forward looking confused and then Erin spotted Jeremiah as he opened the door and struggled to take a step out of the Rover only to fall flat on his face. Lee then heard Kurdy as he fought to lift an unknown female from the back of the Rover with his two bandaged and bleeding arms. Marcus zipped around the front of the truck and grasped his friend under the arms pulling him to a sitting position against Marcus's chest.

Jeremiah laid his head in the pocket of Marcus's shoulder and opened his fever bright eyes. He closed them again as he began to cough forcefully again all the while trying to hold himself together. He could feel the material from his oversized flannel shirt digging into the sliced, raw skin of his back where he had been beaten mercilessly. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to push the pain from his body, and out of his head only to succumb to the bitterness of tormented agony.

"GOD… Marcus it hurts." He struggled against the cough that felt as if it was tearing him apart from his feet to his head and then exploding from his parched, cracked lips.

The medic team swooped in almost instantly assessing the damage to his back and the rest of his body. He was then placed on a stretcher on his side to protect the injuries to his back and dislocated shoulder. Marcus watched as a second crew tried to separate Kurdy from the unconscious, frighteningly sallow Rita. Kurdy stayed by her side wiping her sweat soaked face with his fingers.

"Come on baby. You have to stay with me…" Kurdy's words caught Lee off guard as he was trying to examine her leg which had taken the worst of the lacerations from the hateful edge of a sadist's knife.

"This is the end of the line Kurdy." Lee stated as he stopped Kurdy from going into the clean room where they would try and fix the major damage brought on by Roger.

"Take care of her..." Kurdy whispered to nobody as he stood uncomfortably outside of the room as he was approached by a young woman in white.

"Kurdy?" The preoccupied man turned his attention to the woman beside him wearing a lab coat.

"Yeah?" He responded looking down at her bright blue eyes.

She was young. She looked almost too young to be at Thunder Mountain wearing a lab coat. Her blue eyes twinkled beneath the black rims of her glasses. Her lemon blond hair hung on either side of her soft tanned face in tight braids. She smiled when she approached the tall dark skinned man.

"My name is Casey and I was told by Marcus that you have some cuts that need to be taken care of." She smiled as she placed a small hand on his arm.

"I'm fine." Kurdy answered shortly not even breaking eye contact with the door. Behind it was a group of people working on Rita and another working on Jeremiah.

"Kurdy, it's going to be a little bit before we know anything about Rita or Jeremiah. Why don't you let me look at your arms?" She smiled warmly at the man who was trying to avoid anything that might prevent him from finding out what was going on with his friends.

"Kurdy." Marcus's voice echoed in his ear as Casey looked on standing behind Kurdy waiting.

"What?" Kurdy responded curtly still watching the door.

"I sent Casey to clean up your cuts before they get infected. Why are you sill standing here and still bleeding through old strips of gauze?" The taller man asked.

Kurdy looked down at his right and then his left arms where two slices had left him loosing blood all the way back to Thunder Mountain. He watched the deep crimson liquid ooze from and through the once white strips of cloth leaving a snaking path down his forearm and across his clothing.

"Marcus… I…"

"Kurdy you are to go with Casey now. It's probably going to be a while before we know anything about Rita or Jeremiah." Marcus stated.

"Not quite a while." A young male in a white lab coat, carrying a metal clipboard while a stethoscope hung limply around his neck stated as he closed the door behind him.

Marcus and Kurdy both turned and looked back at the man who was walking out of the closed hospital clean room area. He looked down at his clipboard as he finished pulling the door shut behind him. He glanced up at Marcus and Kurdy. Erin had walked in the door at the same time. He glanced up at Erin and smiled and then looked back down at the report in front of him.

"Well Greg, lets have it." Marcus responded with a sigh as the young man in the white lab coat stopped in front of the trio and the other medical personnel.

"Uh look Jeremiah is gonna be fine. He has what sounds like pneumonia starting to set in his lungs but we've caught it early enough that he'll be able to fight it off. Of course there is the dislocated shoulder which fortunately was already set for us. The field work done by Clear Water Creek was well done. His back is a mess of lacerations and bruises. He's pretty fortunate to be in the condition he's in. It's obvious he went through a lot. He had some really good care before making it back here to the mountain. There's no sign of infection and he should be back on his feet in a week or two." The young healer stated. "That is providing we can keep him off of his feet long enough to get well."

The comment elicited a smile from all but Kurdy who glanced nervously at the floor and then back up at Greg. The young medic looked over at Kurdy as his own smile faded from his face. He soon realized the other person in the clean room still had a very anxious and nervous party waiting for answers.

"Kurdy, she lost a lot of blood; she's a fighter. It's too early to call. She's hooked up to an IV and they are setting her up with blood to try and replace what she lost. The cut on her leg is pretty deep. There was a bit of damage done to the muscles there but nothing some therapy won't help. We'll let you know as soon as we know something. Just don't lose hope right now. If you're religious she'll need prayer and lots of it. Just don't give up on her yet." Greg offered.

Kurdy bit down on his bottom lip as Casey walked to his side again. She looked up at him from her lower stature her eyes glowed peacefully as he looked down at her. She took him by the arm. Gently she laid her hand on the small of his back and motioned forward.

"Kurdy… let me get you cleaned up and then I'll bring you right back. I promise it won't take long and if anything happens, we'll be right around the corner here." She offered a gentle smile as Kurdy let out a concerned sigh looking up at Marcus.

"Kurdy, if you don't go now, I'll have you dragged there." Marcus stated.

Kurdy let his arms fall and then looked down at the young blond in to the side of him letting her lead him to his fate. He was pretty certain that there was going to be a needle shoved into his arm to fix the damage done by his brutal attacker. There was going to be a needle involved with an inoculation the mountain had started to use again. Now he was letting himself be cruelly attacked by a beautiful petite blue eyed, blond with a soft smile. She was going to do what Roger couldn't and that was to make him cry with just a needle and some stitches.

--

"Almost done..." Casey's voice was soft and gentle but the needle she wielded hurt worst than the razor sharp blade that had sliced his bicep like warm butter.

Kurdy hissed through his teeth as Erin stared back at him biting her lower lip in an effort to not laugh at the brute ready to drop from the small three inch needle that had dipped into his skin again. The sharp tip pierced the tiny flap of skin with some effort. The dark blue almost black stiff threads of the sutures passed through his ebony skin like thread through soft material. Kurdy continued to bite his own lip as he closed his eyes to the sharp, unpleasant pain in his right arm. He grabbed Erin's hand once again holding it tightly in his. He could feel Casey finish pulling the thread like material through his skin and then expertly tie it off at the ends. She then gingerly snipped the tip off of the stiff string. She took a slice of gauze and covered the wound carefully. She then wrapped another length of gauze around his arm and secured it in place with two pieces of surgical tape.

Gently she winked at Kurdy and asked… "You need a sucker for being so good for me?" She offered a grin to try and ease the discomfort Kurdy showed in his face.

Erin let out a snicker and then instantly bit her lip again while covering her mouth with her other hand. She struggled to hold her laughter in only to lose it completely when Kurdy shot her a death look. He stood up rapidly from the table only to find the world start spinning. He threw his arms out to grab at the table holding the items for the medic. The blackness swirled and danced around him and then sent him crashing to the floor along with the contents of the table he had grabbed.

"Kurdy… Kurdy can you hear me?" Erin's voice sounded concerned as the pungent smell of ammonia burned through his nostrils jarring him back to reality. Kurdy could feel his eyes begin to water as he lay on the cold hard surface of the floor. His eyes started to open as Casey began to push the overpowering white stick back up under his nose again. Instinctively Kurdy raised his arms smacking away the hand assaulting him with the foul smelling object. He rose up slowly, feeling Erin's arm around his broad shoulders.

"What… the hell…" Kurdy looked at the two light haired women watching, waiting for him come back from the sudden loss of consciousness.

"I've not seen anyone drop like that in a long time." Casey shared with a concerned smile on her face. "And don't worry. I gave you your tetanus shot while you were out."

"Tetanus shot… right." Kurdy looked confused. "Where's the sucker?" He asked slyly bringing laughter from both women.

--

Kurdy walked slowly out of the room towards where Marcus continued to lean against a wall. He started to straighten up as he watched the big man approach. He walked slower than Marcus had expected from someone who had just gotten cleaned up and checked out. Marcus cocked his head to the right and raised an eyebrow as he watched the man continue towards him. He also noted Erin biting her lip as she guided Kurdy towards him.

"Is everything okay here?" Marcus inquired as he watched Erin guide Kurdy to a chair.

"He had a little… run in with a needle." She replied softly.

"Did he…"

"…passed out." Erin finished Marcus's thought.

"I heard that." Kurdy grumbled as he rested his head in his hands.

Marcus let an amused smile pass across his lips momentarily as he watched one of the toughest men he knew behave as if he had taken on Daniel's army all by himself. He watched Kurdy slowly rub the sore spot on his arm covered by a small band-aid. He also noted the clean gauze wrapping the spot just under the band-aid. Marcus furrowed his brow as he turned to Erin.

"Did he need stitches?" Marcus asked continuing to watch Kurdy.

"Both cuts were pretty deep. He has ten in one arm and twenty-five in the other." She whispered.

"I heard that too." Kurdy complained.

"She didn't say anything about a loss of hearing I gather." Marcus pointed out.

Erin laughed as the door to the clean room opened again. This time Kurdy jumped to his feet as Greg emerged again.

"They're taking Jeremiah to a room to get some rest. You can see him in a moment." He said with a smile.

"What about Rita." Kurdy asked impatiently.

Greg looked at the floor for a moment before responding. "It's going to be a long road for her. She made it through repair on her leg. We put a couple of sutures in her stomach where she had a pretty good laceration. We also covered the one on her neck. The loss of blood was a whole lot more difficult than we anticipated. In the old world something like blood transfusions were no big deal. Today… for us it's like brain surgery. Were watching for infection, shock, her body just not accepting the blood we have given her. There are just too many things for me to say she's gonna be okay for sure. Give'em a few more minutes to get her set up in her room. She's resting so you'll be able to see her soon too. It's a long road for us all. Remember, we're not doctors we've just read a lot and studied a lot. We're learning too. We're gonna take care of her, I promise. We're gonna do our very best to take care of her and get her and Jeremiah through this."

Kurdy sank down into his chair and laid his head in his hands again. He struggled against giving up on everything. She had to pull through. She was strong. Her eyes were so bright and clear. She knew how to laugh and have a good time. She was so smart and caring. She had overcome too much to die here at the mountain.

"Kurdy." Casey called from a room to the right.

Kurdy looked up at Marcus and Erin who were caught up in conversation with Greg. He wrinkled his eyebrows as he looked over at the blond motioning him towards her. He was almost afraid to go anywhere near her since the last time resulted in him waking up on the floor. He slowly stood up and walked towards her. She waited outside of a different room. Her eyes were warm and her face had a pleasant expression on it as he got closer.

"She just woke up and wants to see you." Casey said quietly.

"Rita's awake?" Kurdy sighed excitedly as he ran his hand over his head.

Casey nodded her head as she asked him to follow her.

--

The two walked into the dimly lit room. Kurdy took in a deep breath as he noted the IV tube sending a flow of liquid into her arm. He watched the monitor as he registered a continuous beep and a pattern dancing across the screen. There was a tube sending breathing oxygen into her nose. Her long right leg as elevated with the help of pillows. He could see the clean gauze just above her knee where she had been so violently cut. She had a small piece of gauze over the cut on her neck. Her face had a few small bruises and cuts that had been delved out to her by the same man.

Kurdy reached out to her only to hesitate as she began to stir. He then finished extending his arm as he sat himself on the edge of the bed. He ran his long, ebony colored finger across the ivory skin of her cheek bringing her glittering emerald green eyes back to life. A slow smile spread across her face. Her eyes lit up yet continued to look exhausted.

"Kurdy…" her voice was soft and sounded tired.

"Yeah… I'm here." He smiled softly making eyes contact with her. "How are you felling?"

"Better." She smiled softly her eyes closing again as sleep threatened to overtake her. She soon opened her eyes again and reached up to touch Kurdy's face. She ran her long fingers across his face. She smiled as she ran her fingers along her cheek bones and over his freshly groomed beard.

Kurdy slowly ran his own fingers across her face and was soon leaning over to touch her lips to his own. The feeling of tiny explosions running through his body as he felt the warmth of her lips on his. He kissed her gently and slowly drinking in the undisturbed moment he had with her knowing… hoping she would be ok.

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