so been away for a while. I realize that it is a short one. ************
Face was out for the count by the time the guys had gotten him changed and completely dry so Hannibal decided it best to allow him to rest, asking BA to carry the sleeping Lieutenant into his room. Once he was situated in bed, Murdock volunteered to set with him but the Colonel refused this offer. "BA, do you mind setting with Face for a while, Murdock and I need to talk." The big man quickly nodded his agreement and settled into the chair beside the bed.
Hannibal placed his hand on the Captain's back as he went out the door, prodding Murdock along with him. They wandered onto the porch where Hannibal found two chairs and faced them towards each other. There they set, Murdock nervous and worried, Hannibal determined to get his guys on track, cigar in mouth and cool blue eyes staring his Captain down.
"You can explain to me what happened out there in a few minutes, Murdock. First, I want to make this clear. We do not need any feelings of guilt interfering with what we need to do here. We all know you would never knowingly put Face in danger. So, can it with this guilty act and let's concentrate on the problem at hand. We just have to learn how to deal with this change, Captain, and we all have to do it together. There's going to be mistakes,
we just have to adjust and learn by them."
Murdock was setting, hat in hand, eyes downcast. When Hannibal finished speaking he simply raised his head,
replaced his hat, adjusted it, and nodded. "I know, Hannibal, I should have just been watching more carefully. I got too comfortable, I wanted to give him that space and he was happy. I let my guard down."
"And as I just said, you will adjust the next time. Stay closer, watch more carefully. You got him here and we got him warm, he's not running a fever, not coughing, and he's sleeping peacefully. He's okay. We'll just use this as a teaching tool.".
Relaxing, Murdock told Hannibal the full account of what happened, chuckling when he came to the part about the shallowness of the water and having to tell Face to stand up. Hannibal grinned at this, picturing the scene.
Together they walked back inside, finding Face setting up in bed, wide awake, and a loudly snoring BA sound asleep in the chair next to him.
"Can't the bear sleep somewhere else, Hannibal?". The Colonel grinned, relishing the familiar whine he heard in the kid's voice.
And then he laughed when BA woke up, hearing Face's plea, and growled at the smaller man who quickly cowered away from the familiar noise, almost backing off of the bed had Murdock not been there to catch him.
They were going to get through this after all, nothing can take the A-team down, not even blindness.