Author: Sam

Story: I Spy With My Little G.I.: 8 of 17

Series: The War Within

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. samwise_baggins@yahoo.co.uk

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

Radar walked into Post-Op, still clutching the envelope. Father Mulcahy was talking softly to an unconscious soldier in one corner near the far tent door; the patient had a bandaged head, but looked fairly healthy otherwise. At the next bed over stood Doctor Standish and Nurse Kealani Kellye, observing another unconscious patient. This one was bandaged across his chest and abdomen and had a glass I.V. bottle of blood hanging on a metal stand next to him, the I.V. tubing bright red with the continuous flow of life-giving plasma. Closer at hand, Trapper and Hawkeye were checking on a surgical patient they’d had a bit of trouble with earlier in the OR. Realizing that the doctors wouldn’t appreciate being interrupted at the moment, Radar slipped back out to hunt down the two Majors instead; he passed Klinger who was on his way into the ward.

Dressed in a trim, very white, nurse’s uniform and field nurse’s cap, the dark-skinned Corpsman smiled as he carried in a tray of newly shipped bandaging. He went about his duties, the heels he wore clicking firmly across the ground. Dark eyes took in the quiet surrounds, the peaceful scene in a time of war. Max Klinger registered that not even the stranger at the other end of Post-Op noted his odd manner of dress. 'Great, this will never get me out of the Army if no one pays attention!' He frowned darkly as he put the tray on a nearby supply prep table.

Finishing his prayer for Sergeant Mathius, Father Mulcahy started to turn towards the unconscious surgical patient, Private Travers, behind him. He stopped short when he saw that Mathius’ eyes were open. “My Son?” He leaned over to check on the man’s condition.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Proving just how accurate Radar’s assumption about his health had been, the head-injured patient suddenly swung out of his bunk, ignoring the dizziness, and grabbed for the priest beside him. In the same swift motion, he drew his Ka-Bar from under his pillow.

At the feel of the blade against his stomach, Father Mulcahy froze, eyes widening. His lips started moving silently, trying to keep his body pliant. He didn’t want to cause the soldier to do anything even rasher than threatening a priest for apparently no reason. Softly, Father Mulcahy asked, “How can I help you, My Son?”

Emil turned at the sound of the Father’s surprisingly calm voice. The doctor had known the priest for a lifetime and could detect the nuances many would not have. He heard strain in the gentle tones, something that shouldn’t have been there if the situation was normal.

Beside Doctor Standish, Nurse Kellye gasped.

Holding up a hand, not interrupting the priest’s attempts at calming the man, Emil signaled the nurse to move away. For his part, he remained between Mathius and Travers on the next bed. The doctor kept his hands in plain sight so the patient wouldn’t start panicking further.

Kellye’s movements drew the eye of Hawkeye, who’d always thought she was cute. He slapped Trapper on the chest with the back of his hand and started moving towards the distant end of the tent, anxiously watching the scene play out before them. Just as worried and horrified by the attack on their gentle priest, Trapper stayed in close pursuit, though he spaced himself a bit from Hawkeye in order to make it easier to capture the man eventually… if he didn’t run out the tent flap nearest him. Father continued to softly question Mathius, keeping as relaxed as he could in the circumstances.

For his part, the patient merely eyed the nurse as she backed around the bed and slightly away, out of harm’s way. The soldier then turned his attention to the doctor simply standing there with hands out from his sides… a young teen by the looks of him. Mathius determined that Emil would be an easier hostage to deal with, most likely being young and scared, so suddenly pushed the priest away from him and grabbed the doctor, spinning the petite man around.

As the Ka-Bar dug into Emil’s stomach, Father’s unbalanced momentum sent him careening into the surgical patient’s bed. He accidentally knocked over the I.V. stand, sending the glass bottle of blood shattering on the ground. Plasma splattered over both of the patients, the doctor, and the priest, even getting on Nurse Kellye at her greater distance. She ignored the blood and continued backing away from the scene. The two distant surgeons took advantage of the confusion to rush closer, but had to draw up short at the sight of Emil with a seven-inch blade at his waist.

“Damn!” Trapper looked over at Hawkeye, edging closer every second that passed. Turning his eyes back to the tableau nearby, the surgeon called out “Calm down, Mathius. Tell us what you need and we’ll work on it, just let the boy go.”

Hawkeye didn’t care how corny his friend’s words sounded, as long as they did the trick. He’d tease him later over a triple-martini, his treat. “Mathius, we need to get blood for that patient. Let us help him… you don’t want him to die, do you?” He slid a step closer. “Klinger, A-Positive blood, now.” He kept his voice reasonable and calm, despite the urgency… never taking his eyes from the far end of Post-Op.

While Sergeant Mathius kept his Ka-Bar pressed into the doctor’s abdomen and his attention on the two approaching surgeons, Nurse Kellye took the opportunity to slip out, unnoticed. Klinger ran from the room, trying not to twist an ankle in those heels; at least by now he’d learned to run on the balls of his feet to spare the chance of injury or breakage. The scent of fresh blood filling his senses, Father Mulcahy was still leaning against the blood-soaked bed watching his childhood friend being threatened by a man who wasn’t giving any reasons for his actions. In fact, Mathius never answered any of their queries.

The stalemate could have been broken when Kellye returned with Private Igor Straminsky and Sergeant Zelmo Zale, two enlisted men who were on guard duty that day, however the soldier with the Ka-Bar seemed aware that they were entering the door behind him. He spoke for the first time in a panicked growl. “Drop your weapons and back off. I swear I’ll gut this kid!”

Hawkeye signaled the men to back off, though neither relinquished their guns. “What do you want? We can help you… you want out of the military? Back to the front lines? What?” Pierce had seen all kinds of reasons behind people going off the deep end; he just hoped it’d be something easily workable this time.

“I want…”

Emil softly spoke, interrupting the man’s demands. “They might take you a bit more seriously if you were to hold the knife to my neck instead of my stomach. It’s not much of a threat to a bunch of surgeons to eviscerate me; they can simply put everything back together.”

Father Mulcahy’s eyes widened in horror. “Emil, no…” He couldn’t understand why his friend was telling this man how to hurt him more easily. It was as insane as the attack.

Mathius acted before anyone could rethink the situation. He kept hold of Doctor Standish’s oversized uniform jacket. In one smooth motion, the patient moved the large survival blade towards his prisoner’s throat.

At that moment, Emil seemed to pass out, sliding down to the floor and out of the patient’s grasp.

It took a moment for everyone to realize that the doctor had purposefully slid out of his oversized jacket while the knife was being switched. In that instant of realization, Sergeant Zale lunged, tackling the soldier to the floor and knocking the knife away. It skittered to the priest’s feet and he quickly retrieved the hateful object, holding it well out of danger’s reach. A second later, everyone else leapt to action as well.

Igor raised his gun and pointed it at Mathius, as Hawkeye yelled for medical help. Trapper managed to leap over the bed in his way and get to the fallen soldier with the head injury, checking the wound as Zale held the struggling man down. Nurse Kellye rushed to Emil’s side, as did Father Mulcahy, but the surgeon kept reassuring them that the patients were worse off than he was. Captain Pierce made it to the bed-ridden Travers, checking his condition since he’d gone so long without his blood transfusion. At that moment Klinger rushed back into the ward with the required blood, to Hawkeye’s relief.