Disclaimer – You recognise it, I don't own it.
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It was about eleven at night that John knocked on the door of the Infirmary.
"Hey Doc." The door was opened by the grinning guard.
"Coffee, black, two sugars." John handed over the mug with a small smile.
"You always get us right." The guard smirked, "Thought no one would learn to tell me and my twin apart. You wouldn't believe the number of times, someone's given me his coffee."
"Cream, no sugar." John stated, "You're you, Lonnie."
"And you're you, Doc… You know, I'm glad we found you and not someone else… You've really adapted well here."
"Thanks." John sighed, leaning back against the door-jam, cradling his own mug, "I do miss the sky though."
"The sky?" Lonnie frowned.
"Yeah. I haven't seen the sky or clouds or the sun since you found me."
Lonnie paused for a long moment.
"No. You haven't." Lonnie realized, "Didn't think about that."
Lonnie drank some more coffee. Then he glanced up and down the hall.
"Come on." Lonnie said, tilting his head, "Follow me… Just don't tell anyone I did this. I should really get permission. But it's late."
John followed Lonnie down the corridor. They didn't go too far. Less than a hundred meters by John's guess. Then they entered a room.
"Go on." Lonnie nodded at a wooden shuttered window, "There's not much to see, but…"
John forced himself to walk not run. He couldn't seem too eager. Couldn't let it be known how desperate he was for this.
He slowly opened the shutters. Looked out.
It was dark. No moon. But the stars shone brightly. John could pick out a few constellations. He breathed in the cool night air.
For a moment he revelled in the idea that he was free and safe and far, far away from Cobra.
Then he refocused back on the then and there.
His eyes scanned the surroundings. The building was an old stone fortress. An outer wall could just be seen in the darkness. John could just about make out three guards on the wall.
There were no guards at the gate and none between the fortress and the wall.
John could see the mechanic bay just inside the wall. And the aircraft hanger just outside.
However what he couldn't tell was exactly where he was.
For what felt like only a few minutes, John stood just enjoying the view and the vicarious freedom it gave him.
"Doc?" Lonnie called out softly, "We have to head back. It's been half an hour."
"Sorry." John smiled, "Got a bit carried away."
"That's alright." Lonnie grinned, "But you need your sleep. Off to bed, Doc."
"Thanks." John nodded at him, "For everything."
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The next day was Alan's sixth visit to the infirmary.
"It's healed." John sighed as he removed the cast, "Faster than I expected, but it's healed."
"You can't lie?" Alan suggested, "I quite enjoy these visits. It's a break and someplace to relax."
"No. I can't." John shook his head, "As much as I would like too. They'd find out."
"Hey, just hang on in there." Alan shook him lightly, "You just need to hang on in there."
"That's what you said a month and a half ago." John countered, "I've been here two months. I'm losing it."
"No. You're not." Alan was firm, "You're tough. I can see that. Just hang in there, Little John."
"If I remember correctly," John frowned, "Little John was a tall man. And I am not."
"Then I'll just have to find something else to call you, John." Alan smirked, "You're my friend."
"You could just keep calling me John."
"Nah. I nickname all my friends. You just hang in here, Johnny."
"Don't call me that."
"Okay. Johnny-boy?"
"No."
"I'll find something." Alan chirped.
As Alan was led away, John felt more alone that he had the whole time he'd been a prisoner so far.
He knew the loneliness was his main enemy. His main issue.
If he was too lonely, he would start to connect with his enemy. Eventually he might start empathising with them. Then succumbing to Stockholm's Syndrome.
He had to keep his Oath.
He had to.
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Two days later John was woken up at about three in the morning, by shouting.
He was up and out of his bedroom, without thinking. It was doubtful that it was a rescue. But there was a chance. It was unlikely, if it were a rescue, that they would shoot a guy in boxers and a t-shirt… He'd learnt to sleep at least partly decent, just in case of emergency calls.
John emerged into the infirmary. He found Lieutenant Saini directing a small group of men to place a stretcher on a bed.
"Fix her." Lieutenant Saini pointed at the figure.
John ran for the gurney in the diagnostic room.
"Put her on that." John instructed. He hadn't seen much, but he could tell the figure was female.
As she was transferred, he looked around the group.
"You and you." He pointed at two of them, "Change into scrubs. You're assisting."
"What?" The Lieutenant frowned.
"I need assistants." John pointed out, "They're the cleanest people here. If you want her to live, I need help. Stop arguing. She doesn't have much time."
John effectively bullied the two men into their scrubs as he changed himself. He directed their scrubbing up, even as he did himself, then pushed the gurney into the operating room.
It took him longer than he was happy with to set up the anaesthesia and equipment. But if he was going to perform surgery, he was going to do it right!
"What happened to her?" John demanded, as he started to cut her out of her clothes.
"Her tank got hit with a mortar bomb." One shrugged, "Completely trashed it. We got her out before it exploded."
"Shrapnel. Great." John muttered.
"Thought you would have realized, Doc." The other added, "Given the mess."
"I was hoping." John retorted, "Okay, I have no idea how long this will take. Or what sort of mess we're going to have here. So just do as I say."
One step at a time. One thing at a time.
First things first.
"I need five units of O Negative blood." John hit the intercom, "No arguments. Now!"
He turned to the table.
"Our first job is to get her stable." John declared, "I'll need clamps, sutures and forceps. Welcome to your crash course in emergency surgery boys."
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Nearly thirteen hours later, John came out of the theatre.
"What took so long?" The Lieutenant jumped to his feet, from where he was sitting on a chair.
"I am not an experienced trauma surgeon." John retorted, exhaustion causing him to snap slightly, "My job always was to keep people alive until a trauma specialist could fix them properly. Plus I don't have practised trauma nurses. I was switching out my assistants every two hours. To keep them sharp. I haven't had more than four hours sleep in the last twenty four. And haven't eaten since last night. I know nothing about her. So I was having to play it safe. She was leaking blood like it was going out of fashion. And I don't know her blood type. So I've basically used all of the stocks of O Neg. I had to check for shrapnel everywhere. I think I got it. But I had to check for new pieces. Then remove what I found. There were damaged arteries to repair and veins. But I couldn't damage nerves. She was damn lucky to survive as long as it took to get to me… Who the hell is she?"
"An enemy of Cobra." Saini declared, "She's to be transported to Cobra Commander today."
"No way." John fired back, "You move her and you'll be presenting the Commander with a corpse. I'll need at least two weeks before I can be sure that she won't die."
"You have one." Saini stated, "And if she dies then, I'll kill ten of the prisoners."
"I'll do it." John sighed, "I need to shower. And sleep. And eat. Not necessarily in that order."
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After his shower, John found a plate of food waiting for him. Along with Nash.
"Do you need any help?" John asked grabbing a chip off his plate.
"No, Doc. Just wanted to look at her."
"Who is she?"
"There's an American unit. Dedicated to opposing the might that is Cobra. She's one of them. I don't know her name. But she's a tank jockey."
"So you've seen her before?"
"Just in a training video. Orientation video. Don't remember her name. She wasn't given much time. They concentrated on the really dangerous ones."
"Who are they?"
"The Red-Haired She Demon and her pet ninja the Black Monkey." Nash shrugged, "She prefers a crossbow. He favours an Uzi. Then there's the big black guy who can wave a Browning around like it's a hand-gun. And the Indian guy with the eagle and a tomahawk."
"Sounds like a scary group." John breathed softly, "Will they be looking for her? Following you back to base?"
"No. They attacked an outgoing shipment. Pure chance they found us. No way they followed us back. They were all scattered. And no one saw us rescue her from her tank, before it exploded. Don't worry, Doc. We're safe here. They won't find us."
"Oh… That's good." John hoped his disappointment didn't show on his face.
"Don't worry, Doc." Nash grinned, "Cobra is mighty. Cobra is powerful. Cobra will be victorious. And when that happens, you'll be well looked after."
"I will?" John frowned, "Why?"
"Because you've looked after us." Nash smiled, "You're a good doc. You've helped us. You're one of us, Doc. I think you were always meant to be. After all, we could have found anyone out there. But we found you. The best doc around. We can see that. You've fitted in great. You're one of us."
"Thanks."
John picked up his bacon sandwich and tore through it ravenously. He was trying not to think about what Nash had said. What it implied.
Everything came back to his Oath.
He had to keep his Oath.
It was important.
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Please Review.
Please also note, I am not a doctor. I don't know how long medical procedures take. But John was working on an unknown patient, with untrained staff, performing a procedure he has never done before. He also had to compress a lot of the pre-surgery steps into this time. Such as X-rays. So if I say it took that long… Then it took that long. Capisce?
I would like to thank my followers and reviewers. Thank you.
Msmhtp – You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed.
IzzyDelta – I have a puppy. A spaniel. Your puppy-dog eyes are no where near the power of his… But I will take the e-cookies.
Hjohn302 – Actually I think John's enjoying the deception on some level.
YYHfan-KB – Everything is interesting. If you look at it from the right angle. Just sometimes it's Chinese Interesting.
Johnsarmylady – Don't worry. I know I'm posting quite fast. As long as you enjoyed it, that's all that matters.
photo100 – I'm not sure. But thank you.
The Owl Mage – Don't worry. John's "Bad Day" is coming soon.
GabrielsDoubt – Still a good film. But Alan-A-Dale is a minstrel. If you've ever watched the Disney Cartoon version of Robin Hood, he's the Rooster.
Once again thank you.