| Subject: The Dragonslayer, Chapters 15 & 16 |
Author:
Jaron
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Date Posted: 19:38:40 12/17/01 Mon
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "The Dragonslayer" on 16:44:37 12/16/01 Sun
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 15
When he felt only thin air and nothing else beneath this foot, Michael tried to stop
what he knew would probably be a fatal fall. His attempt to regain his balance and
stay in the wildly tilting helicopter failed. With his hands cuffed behind him, it was
impossible for him to grab on to anything to stop his fall.
Nikita saw Michael struggling to stop himself from falling. She screamed his name
and started running. Budrevich finally lost control of the helicopter and it spiraled
downward to crash with a huge explosion in the forest behind the lake. The
explosion came as an afterthought to the Section operatives who watched in horror as
their team leader plunged downward. As one, they started running toward the area
where they knew Michael would fall. Each one entertained the idea they somehow if
they could get underneath him, they could break Michael’s fall.
As if in slow motion, Michael felt himself falling and he felt a lifetime of regret for all
the things he would lose....Rene, Grace and Nikita. He thought he heard himself
praying and that surprised him. But then, the time was gone and he prepared himself
to die.
Nikita and the team member’s mad dash to break Michael’s fall was doomed. They
watched hopelessly from the shore of the lake as Michael hit the water in the middle
of the small lake. He entered the water hard, landing on his left shoulder. His team
saw him go under immediately. Nikita and Carson started pulling off their boots and
kevlar vests, even as they saw Michael surface, his mouth wide open gasping for air.
They dove into the water and starting swimming to him as he gulped what air he
could before sinking once again into the cool, blue water of the lake. Michael was no
where in sight when they reached the place where they had last seen him.
Both started diving beneath the surface of the water in an attempt to find Michael.
Finally, there was a whoop and a cheer from the shore as Carson surfaced with the
limp form of Michael. He started swimming strongly for the shore, yelling at Nikita to
follow him. She cried out when she saw that Carson had Michael and followed him to
the edge of the lake. Several team members waded into the lake to help Carson and
Nikita pull Michael up on to the bank.
“He’s not breathing!” Nikita shouted breathlessly as she bent over Michael. Henley,
the youngest member of the team, was busy unlocking the handcuffs with a key he
had found on the body of one of Tillman’s men. As he freed one hand from the cuffs,
he gently rolled Michael onto his back and, in tandem with Nikita, started CPR. He
started the chest compressions as Nikita cleared Michael’s airway, wiped blood from
his face, pinched his nose closed and cupped her mouth over his to blow air into his
lungs.
For an agonizing three minutes, they worked on Michael. Finally, Michael’s chest
spasmed and he began to cough, water spewing out of his mouth with each cough.
Henley turned Michael on his side to allow his coughing to push the water out of his
lungs.
Nikita sat back on the ground exhausted and distraught. Michael was breathing on
his own, but he was still unconscious. Porter, he team’s medic, pushed his way
through to Michael and slipped a backboard under him as Henley rolled Michael onto
his back on the backboard. Porter pulled an oxygen mask and a portable bottle of
oxygen from his medical kit. Soon, with the mask over Michael’s nose and mouth and
the valve turned to full oxygen, Porter began his examination of Michael. He wiped
away the blood from Michael’s face and bandaged the cut over his right eye.
He’s going to need stitches to close that cut,” he said to himself as he ran his fingers
over Michael’s head, checking for more injuries. “Another lump, probably has a
concussion, maybe even a hairline fracture of the skull.” His fingers continued their
examination down Michael’s neck and shoulders. He stopped when he felt the
unnatural contours in Michael’s shoulder and arm which elicited a moan from his still
unconscious patient. “Hmmmm, dislocated shoulder,” Porter looked up and into
Carson’s eyes.
“You’re going to have to help me. I’ve got to fix this now, before the joint starts go
swell. You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” he asked. Carson nodded and leaned
forward to help Porter manipulate Michael’s shoulder and arm. With a few minutes,
Porter felt and heard the arm bone slide back into place in the socket. “Good thing he
was out for that. It would have hurt like a son-of-a-bitch!” Porter looked up and
smiled, but quickly saw that no one else on the team was in a smiling mood. He
wiped the smile off of his lips and continued his examination.
When Porter was through, he had put a cervical collar on Michael and had strapped
his head to the back board as well as the rest of his body. He was fairly certain that
Michael had several broken or cracked ribs, a broken arm and some internal injuries,
but he was mostly concerned about the head injury. Michael was still unconscious
and all efforts to wake him had failed.
Two of Michael’s team bent and picked up the backboard and started toward the
Suburban. Nikita had taken a hold on Michael’s hand and stayed with him.
“Carson,” she called to the big man with the long blond ponytail, “Call the plane, tell
them we are on our way. I want the transport ready to take off as soon as we get
there!”
“Yes, Sir,” Carson responded, deferring to Nikita, who had been accepted as a
temporary replacement as team leader by the rest of Michael’s team.
As Nikita settled herself beside Michael inside of the Suburban, she wondered what
she would say to Grace. She had promised Grace she would bring Michael back safe.
She looked over at Michael and felt a tear run down her cheek.
“Wake up, Michael, please wake up.” I can’t lose you now....
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 16
The black Suburban raced along the narrow country road. Fortunately, there were no
county sheriff’s deputies in the vicinity to give chase to the speeding vehicle.
Inside, Nikita still held Michael’s hand and the team members looked anxiously at
each other and then glanced at their fallen leader. Each member felt a certain sense
of pride at being on Michael’s team and each had, uncharacteristically for them, sent
up a prayer that he would survive his current ordeal. Carson, who had been on
Michael’s team longer than any of the others, had finally had enough of the gloom
and doom that seemed to permeate the inside of the Suburban. “Michael will be okay,
he’s not going to let a small thing like falling out of a helicopter get him down for too
long. Don’t you all know that he is indestructible?”
Several team members laughed and they started telling stories about their own
experiences with Michael, about stories that they had heard from others who had
worked with Michael. The whole atmosphere seemed to change from one of
apprehension to one of hopeful concern. Nikita listened to the stories they had to tell
and watched Michael’s face for any sign of consciousness. He had been out too long,
she knew. She looked up at Porter who was checking Michael’s vital signs. Her
unasked questions clearly stated in her eyes. Porter looked at her and said softly,
“He’s stable. If we can get him to Medical soon, I think he will be okay.”
Nikita smiled and called to Carson. “You heard the man! Call transport and tell them
to rev up the engines, we will be at the base in 15 minutes.” Carson did as he was
told.
“Nikita, Walter says all is in readiness. They are ready to take off as soon as we get
there. It’s a four hour flight home.” Carson let out a sigh of relief.
“Wait a minute! Did you say Walter? He is supposed to be escorting Grace and Rene
to their new home. What is he doing on the transport?” Nikita asked.
“He said he was held up. It seems as though Grace told him she and Rene were
staying put until they knew Michael was safe. As we speak, she is holding Walter’s
gun on him and waiting for our arrival.” He smiled, the mental image of Grace getting
the better of Walter, their weapons master, a sight he would have liked to see.
Nikita smiled also, but for another reason. She bent low over Michael, gently
whispered in his ear. “Did you hear that, Michael? Rene and Grace are waiting for you.
You aren’t going to disappoint them and leave us, are you? You can’t leave, you
know that, don’t you? We would never forgive you. So fight! Fight, dammit! You
can’t disappoint those of us who love you!” She kissed his cheek and brushed the
hair back from his face. There was a slight tremor in his features as if he was trying
to make some response to her demand, but his eyes remained closed and he made no
further movement. Nikita settled back to wait, his hand still held tightly in her own as
she thought about how Grace and Rene would take this latest attack on their family.
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