Chapter 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Get back in the bed,” Caroline yelled. Her raised voice caught the attention of the nurse at the station outside Wolf’s room.

“Are we all okay in there?” the nurse asked.

Caroline smiled, “Yep, all good.”

“I can’t let him do this on his own,” Wolf replied. He stood on his injured foot.

“Ow, dammit!” He winced in pain and hobbled back to the bed.

“You see,” Caroline said, “you can’t put any weight on it. There is nothing you can do. Even the great Wolf Steele needs two working legs.”

“If I had known you were going to nag me to death, I wouldn’t have let you be here,” he said, only half-smiling.

“If you hadn’t called me here, you would have had much more to deal with than nagging, I assure you,” she replied, sans any smile at all.

Wolf again tried to take a step and almost fell, momentarily losing balance before hobbling back to the bed on his good leg.

“It doesn’t feel broken,” Wolf said. “It’s just badly sprained and hurts like hell.”

“Oh, so you’re a doctor now?” Caroline replied.

“He’s right,” said a doctor entering the room. Dr. McLaughlin had examined Wolf within minutes of his arrival at the hospital.

“I just got the MRI results back,” he said. “The good news is, your ankle isn’t broken. The bad news is, I haven’t seen a sprain this bad in the last 15 years. You’re going to need to stay off that ankle, keep it iced and elevated for four days and allow the swelling to go down.”

“Doc, I’m a U.S. Navy Seal,” Wolf replied. “I have a buddy that needs me tonight. Can’t you patch me up temporarily?”

Dr. McLaughlin shook his head, “You aren’t walking anywhere. The only help you will be giving anyone over the next few days is advice. You put pressure on that ankle tonight and you’re going to make it much worse. You start putting too much pressure on it and you may have a permanent limp. No. I’m going to fix you up in a heavy bandage and splint and get you a set of crutches. They are going to be your new best friends for the next week.”

“Damn!” exclaimed Wolf.

“What’s your pain level like?” McLaughlin asked.

“It’s bad, Doc,” Caroline interjected.

“I’ll get you a high-level dose of acetaminophen,” McLaughlin said.

“No offense, Doc,” Wolf objected. “I’m a SEAL. I eat acetaminophen like M&M’s. I have a tolerance to it. This really hurts. I need something stronger.”

McLaughlin looked at Wolf and scratched his head, “Okay, I’ll give you some Oxycodone, but you be careful with that stuff, you hear? Do not exceed the recommended dose?”

“No problem, Doc,” he said. “When can I go home?”

“We’re going to get one of the interns in here to wrap that for you,” he said. “I’ll order the medication and start the discharge papers. You’ll be out of here in an hour or two.”

“Good deal,” Wolf said.

McLaughlin left the room and Caroline flipped on the television set. She turned to the local news station.

“I let him down,” Wolf said.

“Who? Bootstrap?” Caroline replied. “That isn’t true. It’s not even close to true. If you had not gotten into that ring, Trevor would have never found out anything about Orfali’s whereabouts.”

“It’s killing me, Caroline,” he replied. “I can’t help him and I can’t call help for him. He’s out there with a single retired SEAL going up against a dozen or more men. There has to be something I can do.”

Caroline touched his face. Her heart went out to him. She knew how this was making him feel. Still, she needed to be steadfast. He was simply too hurt to walk and if he couldn’t walk, he couldn’t help Trevor in the field.

Wolf fell silent, deep in thought. She touched his shoulder lightly. He reached up and placed his hand on hers. She wrapped her other arm around his massive chest and leaned in, kissing his neck. His head turned and he kissed her. The kiss was long and deep. Caroline felt the passion but also the desperation, the pain he suffered.

A young man of perhaps thirty-five walked into the room pushing a cart. On the cart was a supply of tape, bandages and splints.

“I’m here to tape up your ankle,” he said. “I’m Dr. Robinson. I’m one of the interns here.”

The doctor began to go about his duties. As he began to apply bandages Wolf noticed the tattoo on his upper arm, just below the short sleeve of his scrubs.

“1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment,” Wolf said. “Army?”

Robinson nodded, “Yep?”

“Afghanistan?” Wolf said.

Robinson nodded again, “Two tours. I was a field medic.”

“A field medic? You see action?”

He nodded, “I was at the battles of Kamdesh and Wanat.”

Wolf raised his eyebrows and whistled. The Battle of Kamdesh was October 3, 2009. Three-hundred Taliban soldiers attacked the American Combat Post Keating. Eight American soldiers died. Nine U.S. soldiers died in heavy fighting at Wanat in 2008.

Wolf leaned back a little as he watched Dr. Robinson begin to work. And then it hit him… an idea.

“Yes,” he said aloud.

“What is it?” Caroline asked.

He smiled at Caroline and looked back down at the young doctor, “Set me up with a field dressing and splint.”

Dr. Robinson looked up, his eyes wide open, “What?”

“Listen carefully. I have a buddy out there whose life is in imminent danger. I want you to pretend you’re back at Wanat and the enemy is descending on us and you need to get me to safety. And safety, Dr. Robinson, is three hundred yards away. How would you fix me up to move?”

“I can’t…” he began.

“Do it, soldier!” he demanded. “Listen, I have friends who will die tonight if I can’t get to them. I hate to put this on you… but it is on you. I need to be mobile. I need you to help me.”

Dr. Robinson paused. He looked at Wolf for a moment and sighed, “This will get me fired,” he said.

“I won’t let it come to that, I promise,” Wolf replied. “Can you do it?”

He sighed, looking back through the door to the ER. He turned back to Wolf and nodded. “It’s gonna hurt like hell when you walk, but yeah, I can get you mobile.”

“Then do it.”

Dr. Robinson nodded, “Damn. Okay then, here we go.”

Wolf reached into his pocket, and turned to Caroline, “Sweetheart, I have another idea. I need my cell phone.”