Hold Me: Delos Series, 5B1 (7 page)

His voice was rough with emotion as Callie straightened, her hands still entwined in his. “I love you, Callie. I’m gonna be fine, so wipe that frown away, okay?” She tasted of peppermint, and her light, feminine scent was a welcome change to the odor of bleach used to clean the floors nightly.

Callie pulled up a chair and then released the rail, pushing it down carefully so as not to jolt him. She sat down, facing him. “How are you really doing? Are you in pain, Beau?”

He rolled his head just a bit. “Nah, just gripping pain where they cut into me. The drain on my right side makes any movement painful, even breathing. The nurse asked me about the level of pain and I lied. I found out if I give it a number above five, they twirl that button on the IV and it knocks me out for three or four hours at a time, which I hate.” He squeezed her damp, cool fingers. “I want my head screwed on straight, Callie, so now I lie and tell them it’s a three. That way, the opiate doesn’t knock me on my butt and I’m conscious longer. I’d rather be awake and alert, despite the pain.”

“I understand.” Callie anxiously looked at the dressing across the lower third of his torso. Beau wasn’t wearing any shirt, his dark-haired chest beautiful to her. He had all kinds of monitors taped on his chest. “How is your breathing?” she asked.

“They say my oxygen level and lung volume are improving by the hour, so that’s good news. They make me breathe hourly into that contraption on my rolling tray over there. It helps me expand my lungs, and that’s important. They’ve gotten me up four times a day to walk since I got here.”

He took in another careful breath through the cannula that fitted into his nostrils, feeding him a hundred percent pure oxygen. It was an effort to breathe sometimes, and less oxygen meant less energy. He struggled to do as the nurses asked, because that damn drainage tube made every breath feel like a knife slicing into his side.

“You look so tired,” she whispered, enclosing his roughened hand within hers.

“I’ll bounce back. It’s hard to keep a good man down. Don’t you know that?” he teased, his voice hoarse.

“Can I get you some water, Beau? Anything?”

He closed his eyes, giving her a slight smile. “No . . . I’m okay. Everything I’ve ever wanted is sitting right here next to me . . .” and as she watched, he drifted off to sleep.

Callie swallowed hard, watching Beau sleep. The nurse in charge of the ward had warned her and her grandpa that he was still coming out of the shock and trauma, that the surgery had been long and hard on him. She slowly rose, placing his one arm on the bed, being careful not to touch the large dressing on the side of his ribs. She saw bruises on his face and wondered how he’d gotten them. There were scratches along his one arm. He looked pasty, and his gray eyes had been dark with what she realized now was pain.

Leaning down, she slowly raised the rail so he wouldn’t accidentally roll over and fall out of bed. Although, Callie doubted Beau would because that wound dressing looked ominous to her.

“He’s sleeping again,” the nurse said, coming up beside her. “They sleep a lot right after surgery. It’s like a roller coaster of wake and sleep for them the first couple of days afterward.”

Callie recognized Nurse Evans, an Army captain and RN. “Is he okay? He just suddenly dropped off.”

Nodding, Evans looked at all the equipment surrounding the head of the bed and checked all the monitors. “Yes. As long as his blood pressure is steady,” she motioned to one instrument, “and it is, he’s doing well. But I think he’s in more pain than he’s admitting,” she said, adjusting the opiate on the IV. “What Sergeant Gardner doesn’t realize is that the more pain he’s in, the slower he’ll heal. Since you’re his fiancée, you might talk him into sleeping more now, not less.” Satisfied, she patted Callie’s shoulder. “He’s black ops. Those guys are always on the go. They hate being tied to a bed for any reason.”

“Can my grandpa come in now to see him?”

“Sure, it’s still visiting hours.” The nurse pulled over another chair. “You can both sit here with him if you want. Even though he’s sleeping, he’ll be aware of your presence.”

“How can that be?”

Evans looked at the monitors once more. “Because before you arrived, his blood pressure was higher than normal. Now, it’s within normal limits. And it’s staying there. You’re good for him, Ms. McKinley.”

Grateful for the nurse’s information, she said, “I’ll go get my grandpa. How long can we stay?”

“An hour. Then we close it down because the men here need to be fed.”

“Is there any way I can talk to his doctor?”

“He’ll be making rounds tomorrow morning beginning at 0600, but visitors aren’t allowed in until 1000, when he’s finished. He’ll see you at that time. I understand the patient’s parents are arriving tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“That will do him good, too.” She smiled a little. “When family and loved ones can visit, these men get better faster. There’s less depression, too. It’s a huge morale boost for them.”

Callie touched Beau’s hand. “He feels chilly.”

“I’ll get one of my orderlies to bring him in another two blankets. It’s normal, so don’t worry. Keep holding his hand and I’ll let Mr. McKinley know you’d like to have him come in.”

“Thank you,” Callie said, giving her a grateful look. So much of her anxiety and fear were dissolving as she sat there holding Beau’s hand, warming it between her own. Soon, a male orderly brought two more blankets, and together they gently placed them around Beau, leaving the dressing over the wound undisturbed. Her grandfather was right behind him, his face unreadable. He was wearing a black Stetson, a white, long-sleeved shirt, a black leather vest, well-worn Levi’s, and his ancient boots. He took off his hat as he approached.

“Well,” he murmured, coming and sitting down next to her, “he looks a lot better than I thought he would. He’s young. He’ll bounce back fast,” he added, scanning Beau’s sleeping features.

“He looks awful,” Callie whispered, giving Graham a quick look.

“He’s been through a lot,” he told her gently. “Getting shot, nearly dying, changes you. I’m sure he’s happy to see you, though. Was he conscious when you came in?”

Nodding, she said, “We had a few minutes together. He was so happy to see me.”

“Just as much as you were to see him. I betcha it was hard to keep your hands off him.”

Laughing softly, Callie said, “I did get to kiss him. That’s all I wanted to do, Grandpa. I needed to tell him I love him so much.”

Graham slid his hand across her shoulders. “And he loves you.”

“I was so worried before he went back to Afghanistan. I had a horrible feeling about it . . .” and she chewed on her lower lip for a moment.

Patting her shoulder, he said, “That was woman’s intuition. When I had to go over to Iraq, Maisy went crazy with worry. She had a dream the night before I got wounded. It came true. Luckily, it wasn’t anything like the wound that Beau got.”

“Military people and their families go through so much hell.”

“Yeah, they do.”

Shaking her head, she asked, “Did you find out anything about Beau’s prognosis?”

Graham roused himself. “Yes, I snagged his surgeon by sheer luck. He said if there aren’t complications, he’ll be out of here in about a week. Beau has been here two days. He said they make him get up and walk around because the exercise is key to his bouncing back. Then, they want to keep him here until the wound is closed. They’ll take out that drain the day before he leaves. And he’ll be released to go home. There’s a VA hospital down in Dunmore, south of Black Mountain where his folks live. It’s about forty minutes away from their home, so they’ll send him home and he’ll have a doc assigned to him at the VA hospital to follow his progress.”

“I want to go with him, Grandpa. I mean . . . if Beau’s parents don’t mind.”

“I don’t think they will. They’re due in here later this evening. I was on the phone with Mr. Gardner out there while you were in here with Beau.”

“And you gave him directions to that hotel we’re at near the medical center?”

“Yep, sure did. He called me from a pay phone,” Graham said. “They don’t own a cell phone.”

“Beau said they aren’t in the computer age. That’s okay. There are days when I wish we didn’t have cell phones, but mostly I like them because I can talk to Beau and see his face on Skype. That means so much to me.”

“I’m sure it meant a lot to him, too.”

She placed her hand on her grandfather’s arm. “Thanks for coming with me. You really know how to cut through military tape. And you’re great at finding places!”

“Once a sniper, always a sniper,” he teased gruffly, squeezing her hand. He watched Beau sleeping, observing how his chest rose and fell. “He’s breathing easier since that nurse gave him more of his IV meds. Right now, he needs to sleep a lot. And he will.”

“Visiting hours are at ten tomorrow morning.”

Graham nodded. “Yes, and I think we should go soon, honey. Cletus and Amber will be arriving pretty soon at our hotel and I’d like us to be there to greet them. I’m sure they’re worn out and stressed to the max because of all that’s happened to Beau. We’ll shepherd them around because the D.C. area is a nightmare to drive in.”

*

Callie had a
hotel room with a door between it and her grandfather’s room. It was near evening when someone knocked at her main door. Hurrying to it, she opened it up. A huge man in coveralls and a worn brown felt hat stood there. He had a fuzzy black beard and kind blue eyes. Beside him was a woman about three inches shorter, her light brown hair hanging straight to her shoulders, her gray eyes showing stress and exhaustion. She was wearing a blue calico dress that hung on her lean body and fell to her slender ankles, and a pair of simple brown leather shoes.

“Hi, I’m Callie McKinley,” she said to the couple.

“We’re Cletus and Amber Gardner,” he rumbled. He brought his arm around his wife. “It’s right nice to meet you, Callie,” and he smiled wearily. “I’m sorry we didn’t arrive on time. D.C. traffic is all snarled up.”

“Don’t worry,” Callie murmured, “and please, come in.” She stood aside, giving them a warm look of hello.

Luckily, her room was a suite and had a comfy couch and three other chairs in the outer area. Callie shut the door and turned.

“Have you gotten your room yet?

Cletus removed his hat and held it in his long, thick fingers, allowing it to hang at his side. “No, not yet. I wanted to make sure we were at the right place.”

“The clerk downstairs said the room was being held in our name,” Amber volunteered. She had a large red and white knit purse with a canvas strap hanging over her shoulder.

“Okay, that’s great. Please sit down and relax a bit. The bathroom is over there if you need it. I’m going to go next door and get my grandpa. I’ll be right back. Just make yourselves at home, please.”

Callie saw how stressed they were and hesitated. “We just got back from seeing Beau for the first time.” She saw Amber halt, fear in her gray eyes. “And he’s fine,” she added quickly. “He was awake for about five minutes and then dropped off to sleep. The doctors said he’d sleep a lot at first.”

Amber squeezed her hands. “Our boy is fine? Really?”

“Yes, he’s doing well, Nurse Evans said. Beau knows you’re arriving tonight and that you’ll see him tomorrow at ten a.m., when visitor’s hours begin.” She saw Amber’s face crumple and huge tears well up in her eyes. Her husband squeezed his wife’s shoulders to comfort her.

“See? I told you Beau was as tough as a mean ole mule.” He grinned over at Callie. “That’s the best news you could’ve given us, Ms. McKinley.”

“Call me Callie, please. Let me get my grandpa and we’ll be right back!”

*

April 6

Callie and Graham
stood back the next morning as they walked in and pointed out Beau to his parents at the hospital. She stood there watching Beau’s mother, now wearing a bright red and yellow calico dress, lean down and carefully kiss her son on the left side of his unshaven cheek. Beau looked a lot like his mother down to the gray eyes they shared. She saw Cletus, who had also changed clothes, dressed in what she thought might be his best Sunday church clothes, stand back, tears in his eyes as his wife carefully touched Beau’s face. Tears burned in her eyes, too, and she looked up at Graham, who was smiling faintly.