| Subject: The Dragonslayer, Chapter 35 to End |
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Jaron
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Date Posted: 19:34:23 12/18/01 Tue
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "The Dragonslayer" on 16:44:37 12/16/01 Sun
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 35
Michael came back to consciousness slowly, sensing the small group of people
around his hospital bed. “Wake up, Daddy. I know you’re in there.” He felt Rene’s
hand on his face as the small hand lifted up one of his eyelids. “Come on, I saw you
move. Wake up!” His son’s voice was commanding and he figured that he had better
open his eyes and face the group. The first thing he saw was Rene bending over him,
his son’s eyes shone with love and a touch of humor. Rene planted a kiss on his
cheek. “Welcome back, Daddy!” Michael smiled into his son’s green eyes and then
looked around to see who else was there to greet his return to consciousness. Lined
up next to each other in wheelchairs were Nikita and Carson, each grinning from ear
to ear.
Nikita was the first to speak. The words fairly burst from her lips, “So, Michael, just
how hungry were you?” She dissolved in laughter that was echoed by the others
clustered around him. Grace was there, and Walter, Birkoff, even Madeline and
Operations, all grinning at him.
“Would someone please let me in on the joke?” he asked. The last thing he
remembered was getting up to go see Carson and Nikita, and then being knocked
out. Michael just wanted someone to tell him what happened and why his head ached
so badly.
“Daddy,” Finally Rene could not stand to see his father’s confusion any longer. “You
got run over by a big lunch cart. Don’t you remember?” Another round of laughter at
his expense erupted. “Don’t laugh at my Daddy!!” Rene shouted, laying his head on
Michael’s shoulder as if to shield him from further attacks on his father’s dignity.
“Operations,” Michael said slowly and deliberately, looking at each face in the crowd
around him, “Do I still have a license to cancel?”
“Oh, come on, Michael. You have to admit this is pretty funny.” Operations said.
Michael was amazed and his faced showed it. He had never known Ops to have a
sense of humor. Madeline came to his rescue.
“Michael needs his rest so he can heal, regardless of how he was injured. Michael
thought to himself that this was the first time he was glad to see her Mona Lisa smile.
His head fell back on the pillow and he closed his eyes.
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. “I’m sorry you were hurt, Michael. I’m just glad
to see you are okay. A hand touched his arm, and he heard Rene whisper in his ear.
“It’s Nikita, Daddy, and she really does look sorry to have laughed at you. And now
that I know you are okay, Uncle Walter and Grace are taking me to get ice cream. Is
that all right?” Michael opened his eyes and touched Rene’s face. “That sounds like
fun. Have an extra scoop for me.” Rene scrambled off the bed and left Michael’s
room walking between Grace and Walter.
Michael let his gaze slide around the room and found that only Nikita was left at his
bedside. He settled his eyes on her and let them drink their fill of her. She took his
hand and smiled back at him. “I am sorry to have laughed at you, Michael, but it was
just too priceless that after all you have been through to have been waylaid by a lunch
cart.” Her grin threatened to explode into laughter again.
Michael could not allow that. “Nikita, allow me a little bit of dignity, please!” His
wonderful eyes beseeched her cooperation and she controlled her glee in deference to
his plea. His eyes grew serious.
“Have you talked to Carson about his knee? How is he taking it?” Michael took all
humor out of the air with his questions. Nikita looked up at him from her wheelchair
with tears in her eyes.
“He seems resigned to the fact that he won’t be going out on combat missions
anymore. Other than that, he won’t talk about the future. He just says that he is
ready for whatever happens. Oh, Michael, can’t you do something?” Tears rolled
down her face and Michael was lost in her eyes. He would do whatever he could for
Carson. He began to plan his strategy, all the while comforted by the slim hand that
held onto his hand.
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 36
The time had come to tell Michael about the proposition that I had been offered by
Operations and Madeline. I hoped he was sufficiently recovered to understand my
decision. I had a feeling that, at first, he wouldn’t understand my choice and he
might even oppose what I had decided without talking to him first. I did hope that he
would come to understand it, but if he chose not to accept my decision, that was just
too bad. I was trying to do what was best for Rene and what was best for Rene
would, I thought, be best for Michael as well.
Michael’s encounter with the evil lunch cart had left both his ego and his body
bruised. He had reinjured his shoulder and had had to go through the painful process
of having the dislocated upper arm bone eased back into place in the shoulder joint.
His contact with the hard tile floor had also resulted in another concussion, a mild
one, but it would still add time on to his recovery. Operations was not happy about it,
but as I told him, he would just have to get over it. I was continually amazed at just
how much Operations, and Madeline, were taking from me. I kept thinking that one
of these days that one of them would just explode at me, considering the way I talked
to them. I had an inkling that their patience with me had a lot to do with Michael and
Rene. My son had Operations wrapped around his little finger, as he had almost
everyone else in Section. Madeline was the lone holdout. She liked him and deferred
to him, but I sensed that she tolerated the both of us for Michael’s sake. There was
something indefinable about the relationship between them, and one day, I would
find out what it was. The question was, did I really want to know?
I had left Rene with his “Uncle” Walter again, who was showing a delighted Rene the
nooks, crannies and dark corners of Walter’s workspace. The talk that Michael and I
had to have required privacy. As I neared Michael’s room, I heard voices, so I slowed
down and waited for whoever was speaking with Michael to leave. I got close to the
doorway and stopped. It was Operations, and they were talking about Carson.
Michael was extolling Carson’s qualities, urging Operations to have Carson retrained.
“He’s too good an operative to lose,” Michael was saying. “We need someone with
his strength of character. He can be trained in some other area where he can be
useful. Please consider what I have said before you decide something you can’t undo.
I think he can be useful in other areas besides combat and infiltration missions.”
I heard the urgency in Michael’s voice. Operations had remained silent while Michael
talked. When Michael finally ended his plea, Operations spoke.
“You’re a little late, Michael. Carson has already been taken care of. You’ll have to
find someone new for your team.”
I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but I felt no qualms about doing it when someone I
cared about was the topic. Michael was angry. His voice shook as he almost
shouted, “You canceled him? Why didn’t you tell me! He was on my team. I should
have been consulted before you killed him!”
I must have gasped at Michael’s last statement because Operations was suddenly
aware of my presence outside the door. Now I understood that sometimes he could
be really cruel. He was going to tell Michael about the agreement we had come to
earlier, and he must have thought Michael’s outburst over Carson reason for humor.
“I didn’t take care of Carson, Grace did. Grace, I know you are out there, come in
here and tell Michael how you took care of our problem with Carson. Michael, meet
our newest recruit.” I could hear the grin in his voice. He was enjoying Michael’s
anguish.
I stepped into the room and said quickly to Michael as I grabbed his hand, “Michael,
Carson is okay. He isn’t dead, he wasn’t canceled as you call it. He is going to be my
chief of security.” Michael’s eyes bored through me.
“Grace, what have you agreed to?” He was beginning to look frightened. So I began
to explain.
“Yesterday, when I went to talk to Madeline, both she and Operations were waiting for
me. They had already made plans and they presented me with a proposition. I don’t
think I ever told you what I did to work my way through college and graduate school,
but it was included in my background information when Madeline checked me out
when she learned you and I were friends. I spent six years working at a rehab center.
I started out as an aide, but had advanced through hard work and my determination
to do a good job and help the patients that were assigned to me. I enjoyed the work
and almost chose to stay with the rehab center instead of becoming a librarian, but
my first love won out. When Madeline saw this, she filed the information away for
future use.” I watched Michael digest all that I was telling him and saw understanding
dawn in his eyes. He nodded at me to continue.
“She decided to use it when Operations told her to find something which would put
Rene and me in close proximity to Section and would provide an opportunity to put us
under a blanket of Section security. He didn’t forget his promise to Rene to not
separate the two of you.” I looked over at Operations who was smiling his sly smile
and went on with my explanation. “Madeline told me that she had been planning to
separate Medical into two sections for a while. As need had demanded more space in
Medical for treatment areas, she had decided to procure an offsite facility to handle
the rehabilitation of injured operatives. A site was obtained and the conversion
began. She just needed someone to supervise and run the facility. That was when
she thought of me.” Operations interrupted me, and so I let him finish the story.
“Michael, it was the best we could do. Rene and Grace are going to need protection
and this facility will have to have security to keep out the curious, as well as to watch
the patients. We don’t want any operatives going AWOL, do we? This seemed to
meet several needs. The rehab center is in a secluded area and it’s less than an hour
from here. You’ll be able to visit Rene and Grace between missions and we can free
up space here in Medical by sending some of the recuperating operatives to Grace.
She did an admirable job with you when you were injured the last time, and she can
do the same with those we send to her.” He grinned, “of course, she made some
demands of her own.”
“Carson.” Michael said. “Good job, Grace! What demands, besides Carson, did you
make?” He was smiling at me now. I was relieved he wasn’t angry with me for
making a deal with the devil and his mistress, and proceeded to tell him what I had
wrung out of Operations and Madeline.
***********
Two weeks later found Rene, Carson and I moving into a spacious house on the
grounds of Crestwood Hospital. It was a former mental institution that sprawled
across a green lawn and backed up to a beautiful lake. The hospital itself was a one
level facility that had been converted into a state of the art rehabilitation center where
perhaps I could save a few Section operatives from cancellation. I shuddered to think
about the shadow of that threat hanging over Michael, Nikita and the others, but
there was little I could do to change Section. I chose to do what I could. I would fight
the battles when they arose and would try to save as many lives as I could. For as
long as I was allowed, I would keep Michael and Rene together.
And for now, that was enough. The Dragonslayer was our first patient, and he and
his son finally had a home with each other.
The End
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