Chapter 33

When they reached the city gates, Scarlet thought she was going to weep for joy. They rode up to the posted guards who stared at Gavin with Harlan sitting across the front of his hyperia like they’d finally seen a miracle. Falling all over themselves, they opened the huge metal doors and stood back, their heads bowed in respect. Gavin reached behind his saddle and tossed a canvas bag to Gypsy. With a sadistic grin, she caught it, rode over to a wooden pike sticking up out of the ground and removed the bag’s grisly contents. Pulling Sulla’s decomposing head from the bag, Gypsy slammed it down onto the pike as both a symbol of triumph and a warning to anyone else planning to kidnap the general’s wife. Scarlet found the whole thing barbarically gruesome, she even saw Harlan crinkle her nose as they passed.

They rode through the city toward the clinic at a leisurely pace. It would seem to anyone watching that Gavin was gloating, showing off, but Scarlet knew different. Not only had the ride back exhausted what little strength Harlan had left, but Gavin’s back was deteriorating again and he was miserable. But, despite his pain, he dismounted gracefully and carried Harlan into the clinic to a waiting Doctor Krull.

Scarlet gave Krull a quick summary of all that Harlan had been through, but halfway through her rambling story he touched her arm and said, “You’re very tired, Doctor Jonson. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep? I’ll take care of Harlan.”

Without another word, Scarlet stepped out to the reception desk and headed toward the front doors where Desmond was waiting for her. He had told her that he was so exhausted that if he dismounted he wasn’t sure if he would be able to get back on so he elected just to stay put and wait for her. As her hand pushed on the exterior door to freedom one of the field medics who’d been helping Krull intercepted her. “I’m sorry, Doctor Jonson, but the general has gone into room one and will only see you,” he said.

* * * *

Harlan lay back on the bed while Krull examined her. She watched as he ran the handheld scanner up and down her lower leg, occasionally glancing back at the wall monitor that displayed an internal picture of all the damage. With his free hand he was methodically writing notes in her chart that was laid out on the free standing tray. Gypsy came into the room, ducked under Krull’s arm and climbed on the edge of Harlan’s bed, scowling at the picture on the monitor. Krull glared at the intrusion. “Stop moving the bed. You are disrupting the signal.”

As was her daughter’s usual reaction to his admonishments she ignored him and turned toward Harlan. “I’m no doctor but that looks pretty damn awful.” She grinned. “At least you look happily medicated.”

Harlan stroked Gypsy’s forearm and nodded. “I’m not in any pain. Just really tired. Where’s Gavin?”

Gypsy looked down, shrugged and stiffened, her hands finding a loose thread on the bottom of her tunic that she began wrapping around her index finger. A sure sign that they were approaching an uncomfortable subject. Harlan sighed and placed her hands on Gypsy’s to still the nervous laboring of her fingers. Gypsy frowned deeply and looked back up at her.

“Oh, Mom. He’ll kill me for this. But his back is really, really bad. He’s been a total wreck, forcing Doctor Jonson to give him huge quantities of pain meds. She even had to put him in hibernation because he couldn’t ride anymore without stopping to vomit. I saw his back myself, it was black and purple and the swelling was so bad you could barely see the vertebrae. I think he’s in pretty bad shape from the ride home because I heard a medic tell Doctor Jonson that he’s waiting for her in room one.”

The corners of Harlan’s mouth twitched into a painful line and her eyes squished shut as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Waving Krull away from her, she said, “Get me a brace and some crutches.”

Gypsy and Krull exchanged glances. “Harlan, I don’t need to tell you how important it is for you to stay immobile. I will check on your husband.”

“No. I don’t need you to tell me anything. I’ve been moving around since I got this damn injury and a few more minutes of mobility is not going to make a shit of difference. Gavin is not going to listen to anyone but me because I still have the element of guilt to hold over his head. Now get me the damn brace and crutches before he weasels anymore pain medication out of Scarlet.”

* * * *

Warily Scarlet came into room one and closed the door behind her.

“Lock it,” Gavin ordered.

Turning back toward the door she twisted the metal latch and threw her hands up. She resented his attempt to guard his injury. He was in a medical facility for heaven’s sake. No one was going to judge him here.

Gavin was lying on the exam table on his belly, his back so purple and swollen she almost ordered him to stay overnight. Too bad he’d never agree. She ran a filthy hand across the drying sweat on her forehead. “What do you want me to do for you?” she asked.

“Put me in hibernation again,” he said. He sounded grim and harsh, the agony twisting his voice into something she barely recognized.

“I can’t do that, General,” she said. “It’s too soon.”

“Give me some fucking pain meds then,” he barked.

Scarlet went over to the sink and washed her hands carefully. She was so tired she thought she was going to pass out. Someone tried the room’s handle, then, finding it locked, knocked several times.

“Open up,” Harlan said through the door.

Gavin twisted on the table and gritted his teeth from the sudden pain. “Don’t let her in!”

“Scarlet?” Harlan said with the no-nonsense tone of a suspicious parent. “Open this door right now. I don’t care what Gavin says. This is my clinic and if I have to hobble down the hall to my office for the key I’m really going to be pissed.”

Scarlet shrugged at Gavin like she was helpless in this matter and quickly went to the door and let Harlan in. Harlan limped in with a lightweight, hinged brace on her leg, followed by Krull. They both froze when they saw Gavin’s back.

Gavin glared at Scarlet but she just grinned at him. Take that, you fucking asshole. Now your wife knows all about your dirty little secret.

Harlan approached Gavin and he laid back on the table in a gesture of surrender. “Holy crap,” Harlan gasped as she gingerly touched the swollen areas. “How long has he been like this?” she asked, looking toward Scarlet.

“He started having problems five minutes after we left the empire,” Scarlet said.

“Stop fucking exaggerating,” Gavin said.

“I’m sure she’s right because that’s what everyone else has been telling me,” Harlan said to Gavin.

Harlan turned to Krull. “Is there anything we can do here?”

Krull shook his head and moved over to Gavin. He pointed at two vertebra that were bruised so badly they were colored red and black. “These are ruptured. It will require surgery. It’s a very intricate procedure and should only be attempted by a specialist. The Kirillian medical tender has an orthopedic surgeon on staff. I know him and he’s the best.”

“I’m not going on any Kirillian medical tender,” Gavin grumbled.

“Stop talking,” Harlan said to him. “This has gone on long enough. You’re going to have surgery, Gavin, or you’ll lose the ability to walk, among other things.” She glanced down at his groin for emphasis.

Gavin brooded silently.

“Can you make an appointment for him?” Harlan asked Krull.

“I’d be happy to,” he replied. “I’ll make one for you as well. I can do preliminary repairs to your leg here. But since the tender will be making the trip for him you may as well have the surgeon restructure your leg on the same pass. By the time he’s finished your leg won’t show any signs of ever having been injured.”

“When all of you are done chatting, can someone please give me something for my fucking back?” Gavin roared.

Krull gently touched the puffy tissue around the damaged disks. “We’ll have to drain this fluid before we give him an anti-inflammatory.” After washing his hands and putting on gloves, he came over with an empty syringe and uncapped the needle.

“What the fuck is he going to do with that?” Gavin tried to turn over but the pain stopped him and he laid still. As Krull inserted the needle into Gavin’s back he went rigid, ground his teeth together, and promptly passed out.

Krull continued to pull a huge vial of serosanguineous fluid from the vertebral pockets. Harlan frowned and shook her head.

Scarlet shook her head in unison then headed for the door. “You both don’t need me here for this. I’m going home to pass out.”

Harlan looked up as if she’d forgotten Scarlet was in the room. “Thanks, Scarlet, thanks for everything. I’m sorry you got stuck taking care of him. He can be a difficult patient under the best of circumstances and I am truly grateful.”

Scarlet smiled at her. She opened the door and paused, staring down at Gavin. Tilting her head to the side, she said, “I like him so much better like this. Can’t we keep him passed out until the surgery?”

Harlan grinned and rubbed the back of her neck. “I wish.”