Heroes Never Die (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Stephanie was admitted to the Princess Grace Hospital in London.  Dr. Sami and Nadia stayed by her side.  The door to Stephanie’s room swung open, and she saw a nurse trying to skirt around two armed guards who were posted at the door.  Then she came in to take Stephanie’s vitals.

“Hello, my name is Linda, and I’m the charge nurse today.  I see that your name is Sultana Jahan Aara,” Linda said as she read her chart.  “How are you feeling?”

“The sultana does not speak English,” Dr. Sami answered for her.  “I am her attending physician.  I will answer your questions.”

“Then will you please let the sultana know that I need to take her vitals?”  Linda instinctively reached for the corner of the veil to lift it over Stephanie’s head so she could put a thermometer into her mouth.

“No!” Dr. Sami yelled.  “Her veil is not to be lifted.  I will check her temperature.”

“Look, doctor, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with a woman who refuses to remove her veil.  It makes my job more difficult when the patient won’t cooperate.  Please explain that I only want to help her get better.”

“I will take her vitals,” Sami insisted.

Linda gave up and handed him the thermometer.  “I’ll be back to chart it.”  Linda headed toward the door.  Just then Dr. Bobby Young, a physician specializing in orthopedic surgery caused by trauma, came into the room.  Stephanie noticed his limp right away.  That’s just great.  He can’t take care of his own injury, and he’s going to treat my arm?

Linda handed the medical chart to Dr. Young.  As soon as he opened it, Stephanie saw a puzzled look come over his face.  “This chart doesn’t tell me a thing,” he complained, needing to see the patient’s history.  “You didn’t even enter the patient’s temperature.”

“Then you try,” she challenged, her accent as crisp as her uniform.

“How much longer must we wait?” Dr. Sami spoke up, half crazed with anger.  “Sultana Jahan Aara is very ill.”

“What the bloody hell?” Dr. Young mumbled as he looked up from the chart.  He approached Dr. Sami and as he came closer, Stephanie could see his eyes filling with compassion and she wondered if the veil made her look as pathetic as she felt.

“I’m Dr. Bobby Young.  What can I do for you?”

“I am Dr. Sami Adham,” he said as though he were superior to his much younger colleague.  “And this is my patient, Sultana Jahan Aara.  I believe she has septic shock, probably brought on by an infection in her broken arm.

Stephanie’s heart raced with alarm when she heard septic shock.  Without immediate treatment, she could die.  Dr. Young ripped her veil up over her head to examine her.  Frightened, she just stared at him.  His jaw dropped when he saw her.  The cuts and bruises that still marred her face must have surprised him.

“No!” Sami yelled as he quickly jerked the veil back over her.  “You are forbidden to see her face.”

“How am I supposed to treat her if I cannot examine her?”

“I will examine.  You will prescribe.”

“That’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.  Doesn’t she understand
that I only want to help?”

“The sultana is a high-ranking member of the Saudi royal family.  She does not wish to be humiliated
, and you must respect her wishes.”

“All right then
, what is her white blood cell count and platelet count?”

“The palace does not have a lab to run blood work.  I gave her an initial loading of penicillin and an IV to replace her fluids.  She seems to be responding.”

“Then sepsis is doubtful.  When did she break her arm?  Did you bring x-rays?”

“About four days ago,” Sami replied.  “I am not the doctor who treated her, so I do not know the results of her initial evaluation, nor do I have the x-rays.  Since she has been under my care, she has not been able to move her fingers.”

“May I at least examine her arm?” Dr. Young requested.

Without answering, Sami lifted the sleeve on her abayah, and then he waved his hand to invite Dr. Young to look.  Stephanie felt him taking her pulse on the inside of her left wrist.  Then he held her arm and began to rotate it from side to side.  She cried out
in pain, and he stopped.  “How did she injure her arm?” Dr. Young asked.

“She fell,” Sami replied.

“How many times?” Dr. Young scoffed as he lowered her sleeve.  Stephanie’s eyes jumped on Sami.  She could see that he didn’t appreciate the sarcasm.  And for just a moment, she thought Dr. Young might be on her side, and she wanted to break down and tell him everything that was happening, but she had to remain silent.  Then she saw him looking directly at her even though he couldn’t see her face.  “The pulse in your wrist indicates lack of blood flow.”

“She cannot understand you,” Sami reprimanded.

Stephanie looked directly at Dr. Young.  He refused to turn away from her, as though he could see her face, as though she were a real person.  “Then tell her I’m committed to giving her the best care possible.  Tell her she most likely has acute compartment syndrome, but I’ll know better after I remove her cast and take more x-rays.  Tell her she is going to need emergency surgery to relieve the pressure so the blood flow can return to her hand.  And finally, tell her she’s in very good hands.”  Stephanie wanted to cry.  It was the first shred of respect she had received since Brian had left.

Dr. Young turned to leave.  Then he stopped and turned back to Sami.  “By the way, why is it necessary to post armed guards at the door?”

“Like I said, Sultana Jahan Aara is a member of the Saudi royal household.  Since the murder of King Hamid, the royal household has been receiving an alarming number of death threats.  The guards will only shoot if the sultana’s life is threatened.”

“And is she family?” Dr. Young asked as he nodded toward Nadia.

“Her name is Nadia.  She is here to attend the sultana’s personal needs.  She will be at her side at all times.”

“I’ll be at the nurse’s station charting orders.  Don’t be alarmed at the number of personnel coming in and out of here.  They will be following my instructions.  I’ll be back shortly to remove the cast.  Then we’ll ta
ke her to X-ray in a wheelchair.  Any questions?”

“I insist upon observing all procedures,” Dr. Sami said.

“Is that a question or a demand?”  Stephanie bit her lip to keep from laughing.  Then Dr. Young left the room.

Later, after Dr. Young had remove
d Stephanie’s cast with a small electrical saw, Sami and Nadia helped her into a wheelchair.  Sami pushed her down the long hallway to X-ray, and Stephanie could hear boots pounding on the wooden floor behind her.  The guards were close behind.  Sami wheeled Stephanie inside of the X-ray room and helped her onto the steel table, and then he stood at her side.

Dr. Young walked in a moment later.  “No one is permitted in X-ray except the patient.  I’m sure you understand the dangers of being exposed to radiation.”

Stephanie could sense Sami’s apprehension.  She watched as he scanned the room to look for another exit.  Her eyes followed after him as he walked over to the dressing room and opened the door.  She could see the inside of the dressing room.  The dressing room had no windows or doors, making an escape impossible.  Sami returned to her side.  He leaned over the table and whispered in her ear.  “If you breathe even one word, I will strangle you.”

Tears welled up in
Stephanie’s eyes.  She watched as Sami joined the guards outside the door.  She was just as trapped as before.

“This won’t take long,” Dr. Young told Sami as he closed the thick steel door.  Then he turned his attention to Stephanie.  “Do you speak English?” he asked as he covered her body with a steel apron.  Stephanie didn’t answer.  Dr. Young rambled on.

“I like my patients to feel comfortable with me, so I usually try to tell them a little something about myself.”  He gently maneuvered her arm into position for the first picture.  “Is there anything you would like to know about me?”

Stephanie was too afraid to speak.  She watched as he rolled the camera suspended on tracks from the ceiling over her arm.  “Hold your arm just like that and I’ll snap the picture.”  He limped over to a small darkened booth to shield himself from the radiation.  She heard the camera clicking.  He returned to her side a moment later.  “Now that wasn’t so bad,
was it?  Only three more to go.”

“Perhaps you are wondering why I walk with a limp?  It’s an interesting story, my limp.  That is
, if you care to hear it?”  Dr. Young went through the same procedure of positioning her arm for the next picture, talking nonstop.  “Until recently, I was doing my duty in the British Royal Medical Corps.  On one particular day the fighting was unusually intense, and my unit had to go into the field to recover the injured.  Bombs and bullets were flying everywhere, and I took a hit to my leg.  Don’t move and I’ll snap another picture.  Smile please.”

Stephanie wasn’t humored in the least.  His story was only causing her to worry about Brian and her dad.  She wanted to tell him to shut up, but she didn’t dare speak.

Dr. Young continued where he left off.  “The enemy suddenly advanced and cut us off.  We were trapped, and I was bleeding to death.  My buddy found me and stopped the bleeding.  When the fighting let up, he helped me back to camp.  After that, I was sent home to recover.”  Stephanie’s body stiffened with pain every time he moved her arm, but she still refused to speak.  “Hold still now, just one more to go.”

“I owe my life to my buddy,” he said as soon as he returned to her side.  “We used to bunk together.  He wasn’t too bad a chap
, for a bloody American, that is.  Brian, Brian was his name.  And he used to keep a picture of his wife right beside his bunk.”  Stephanie jerked her head toward his voice.  He had finally struck a nerve.  “So tell me, Stephanie, how the bloody hell did you wind up in a mess like this?”

At that, Stephanie sat up and ripped her veil up over her head.  Joyful tears of desperation streamed down her face.  “You know Brian?  You saw him?  How is he?  Tell me!”

“He’s a lot better off than you are right now.  We don’t have much time.  Quick, tell me what’s going on.”

“I was set up,” she cried, her voice trembling with a mixture of intense fear and relief.  “And if I don’t escape, I’ll never see Brian again.  You have to help me.”

“The guards will kill you if you try to escape,” he warned.

“Please,” she begged, desperately latching onto his arm.  “I would rather die than go back there.”

Stephanie gasped when she heard Sami pounding on the steel door.  “What’s taking so long in there?”

Dr. Young yanked Stephanie’s veil down over her terror-stricken face.  “Just one more picture,” he called.  As he limped away to snap the last picture, Stephanie grabbed his hand and refused to let go.  He firmly clasped her hand with his other hand.  “I don’t know how yet, but I promise, I’m going to get you out of here.  Just be ready to run when I say run.”

Dr. Young hurried to snap the last picture.  Then he swung open the steel door and invited Sami to come inside.  Sami walked past him and aggressively approached Stephanie.  She turned away from his fierce stare.  “I would appreciate your assistance evaluating her x-rays,” Dr. Young called to him as he clipped the x-ray film to the board, as though he were trying to sidetrack him from Stephanie.  Then we need to prep her for surgery.”

Stephanie could hear them talking, but she wasn’t interested in what they said.  For the first time in weeks, she felt a flicker of hope.  She wasn’t sure how or when, but that didn’t matter.  All that mattered
was that she was finally going home.

***

For over a week, Stephanie watched Dr. Young as he made his routine visits, hoping that he would somehow clue her that he had devised a plan for her to escape.  But every visit was the same.  The hope she felt began to turn to despair.  What was I thinking?  Dr. Young won’t put his life in danger to help me.  And I can’t escape with armed guards watching my every move.  God Almighty – please help me!  Then she wondered if God even cared.

Dr. Young limped into Stephanie’s room to check on her progress.  She watched him, expecting to see a faint glimmer of hope, but his countenance remained the same.

“The sultana feels well enough to travel,” Sami barked.  “She would like to be released today.”

“That sounds like a reasonable request,” Dr. Young agreed.  “May I examine her arm?”

Stephanie felt waves of panic rushing through her insides.  Dr. Young was going to release her to return to Saudi Arabia.  Tears began to well up in her eyes.  She had to find a way to escape, even if Dr. Young refused to help, even if she died trying.

Dr. Young held her cast in one hand and her fingers in his other.  Her body began to tremble.  She wanted to cry out to him.  Have you forgotten your promise?  But she was not allowed to speak.  He rotated her arm from side to side to test for mobility, and as he did, he squeezed her fingers.  She drew back, suddenly alert.  He had examined her arm every day for the past week, and he had never squeezed her fingers.  Was he sending her a subtle signal?

Dr. Young looked toward Sami.  “Her arm is doing even better than I expected.  I don’t see a problem with releasing her today, but just to be safe, I want to take one more set of x-rays to make certain the bone is still in place.  If the pictures look good, I’ll sign her release papers and you will be free to leave.”