A bit more of Harry in hospital ...
It was business as usual on Saturday, with the depleted team putting in several hours work despite it being the weekend.
Ruth arrived first and quickly settled herself at her station, headphones in place and concentrating on the chatter recorded overnight. She soon slipped the headphones off when Lucas strode onto the grid. She was anxious to ask how Harry was doing. Lucas assured her that he was coping as well as could be expected, and quietly relayed Harry's opinion of Simon Glen, circumspectly passing on the message to watch her step. "Apparently he wouldn't be averse to sending you, me or anyone else off to the back of beyond, regardless of the situation here."
Ruth was genuinely outraged. "He wouldn't dare. He's just here as caretaker ... surely he wouldn't?"
"That's not what Harry thinks. And you're the one who commented just yesterday about his reputation."
"I know, but … he …" Now the thought had her quite gobsmacked. "Okay. I'll be careful. But I can't make any promises. I won't just sit back and say nothing if I think - "
"Ruth, we just have to suck it up and hold out as long as we can. If it comes to a head, then we'll all be in the same boat. You know that we all want Harry back and in charge."
Ruth looked like she was going to challenge Lucas, but backed off. The last thing Harry needed was for his team to lose their heads with each other.
Around nine-thirty, Simon put in a brief attention-grabbing appearance, issuing orders to the whole team.
He instructed Tariq to conduct a complete audit of the grid's firewalls to make sure there was no way that Nightingale could use back doors to access MI5's computer network. Tariq looked offended at the thought he hadn't covered all those bases several times over, but he had taken Harry's warning to heart and didn't argue.
Lucas was sent off on a mission to meet with several assets who had links to China. They were all known to Simon who gave him the names and a rundown on their backgrounds. It was obvious Simon was a show-off who enjoyed having the upper hand.
Ruth was to continue using the audio intercepts to identify the shipping employee, and was told to expand the search, to cross-match company employees with international travel patterns. Simon had opened his mouth as if he were going to demand something else of her, but closed it again, narrowing his eyes with a slight look of contempt. There was obviously something about Ruth that unsettled him. Then he disappeared to Whitehall, sweeping out the door with a smug expression that told of exhilaration at his new found status.
The team set about their tasks with determination, but a melancholy atmosphere hung over them, and each was hoping for Harry's speedy return.
"Bloody hell! … I feel like I must be a hundred years old!"
The nurse had insisted a walk was necessary: Common practice, Sir Harry. All patients must get up and moving the first day after heart surgery. His response of Not bloody likely! was met with a stern face from both the nurse and Ruth.
So Harry was now shuffling along the corridor, inch by inch, Ruth close by his side. The drip was hanging from a pole on wheels which provided a degree of support, as he gripped it tightly with one hand and grimaced."They don't tell you about this bit, do they? ... Or the delightful uniform." He clearly didn't have a high opinion of the white compression stockings that were visible at the end of each leg of his blue flannelette pyjamas.
"Would you rather swollen legs and a blood clot?"
He answered her with a dirty look.
Stopping at the end of the corridor, they stood together and looked out the window. An ambulance idled at the emergency entrance, and a pattern of blue and white lights glanced off the rain covered bitumen in the car park. Then with a loud exhaling of breath, Harry turned and took a step back toward his room. "I'm not entirely sure I'm going to make it back again, but I'll give it a damn good try. This is not going to beat me."
"We'll both try." Ruth smiled at him and took his free hand, something she realised was fast becoming a habit, then changed the subject. "So, what's for dinner?"
"I think it's what at any other time I'd describe as swill. But right now, I'm feeling hungry enough I'm prepared to eat just about anything."
Ruth laughed. His sense of humour hasn't disappeared. That's something.
After Harry had finished eating what he'd referred to as swill, he and Ruth sat quietly. By unspoken agreement, they were taking it in turns asking questions. Harry was mainly concerned with the situation at Thames House, and Ruth tried to steer him in a different direction, but Harry was particularly inquisitive about Simon Glen. "What about the JIC? It's not like I particularly enjoy the meetings, they can be as painful as pulling teeth sometimes, but I don't want him creating a damn mess that I have to clean up."
"Harry, he's not a complete idiot, I'm sure he knows how it all works."
"He's a pompous so-and-so. I don't know why on earth the DG thought he'd be suitable for the position."
"Yes, well. We don't exactly have much choice at the moment do we?" Ruth raised her eyebrows at him. "So you'd better do as you're told, hadn't you?"
There was a pause in the conversation, until Harry mentioned something that had been worrying him. "Ruth … about Scarlet … I'm told you've been feeding her. I'm embarrassed to say she looks after herself so often, I completely forgot about her. I'm sorry, I didn't even think to ask - "
"It's alright Harry. She's doing fine. A little quiet maybe, but she's okay. I'm sure she'll be happier when you're home though."
"Yes, I'm sure you're right. Thank you all the same."
Just then, the night shift nurse arrived to take a look at the wound on Harry's chest, and replace the dressing. Ruth moved to get up, but Harry stopped her. "It's alright, Ruth. Stay." She sat down again, looking uncertainly at him.
The nurse carefully peeled back the absorbent gauze, revealing a long wound down the centre of Harry's chest, sealed with surgical staples. The skin surrounding it was violet, quite dark at the edges, the residue of iodine applied during the operation. And there was bruising, the result of his sternum being opened and then wired back together. After cleaning the wound with saline solution and replacing the dressing, the nurse checked the monitor lines and the progress of the drip.
"Not a pretty sight is it?" Harry said to Ruth who was trying not to look too closely.
"No, well, I've not seen that before … er, a wound like that I mean. It's a bit of a shock I guess. I would have thought that these days they'd just make a small incision, keyhole surgery or something."
"It's not that easy with some procedures, I'm afraid," said the nurse. "It can be quite confronting when you first see the wound, and there will probably be quite a scar. But it's all looking good, and you should be right to have the catheter removed tomorrow. Save you from dragging that drip pole around with you everywhere." She smiled at Harry. "Ring the bell if you need anything."
More chapters are ready and waiting.