Learning to Stand (41 page)

“
Takes a while to set up
operations, I guess,” Alex said. “We only got him out because Tommy
knew the tribe that held him. When Tommy was in high school, he
built a clean water facility in the region. He lived with the tribe
during the summers. I wonder if that’s the water Joiner
polluted.”

“
God, Tommy would be
pissed,” Joseph said. “Tommy was...”

“
A wonderful friend,” Alex
said. “I miss him.”

“
Me too,” Joseph said. “Back
to Joiner.”

“
There’s not much more to
add,” Alex said. “We have four boys poisoned with Mercury; a
mercury spill in the Amazonas Basin killed thousands of children;
and we have greedy Joiner in the middle of everything.”

“
And a dead Special Forces
team,” Troy said.

“
Ok, I need to lie down,”
Alex said. “Joseph, Charlene is on her way here. She wants us to
come and get her at Buckley. She specifically asked for Nancy. I’m
happy to take care of the kids...”

“
Why don’t you lie down, and
I’ll sort something out,” Joseph said.

“
I asked Trece to find
someone to open Charlene’s home,” Alex said.

“
Great,” Joseph replied. “Go
lay down.”

Alex collected her pad of paper and
laptop.

“
You can leave the paper,
Troy,” Alex said. “We’ll add things as they come up.”

“
I’ll walk you back,” Troy
said.

Alex nodded.

“
It’s snowing again,” Trece
said. “Did you know November, March and April are the snowiest
months in Colorado?”

“
I didn’t,” Alex said. “I’m
going to lie down for a while. Troy wants to walk with
me.”

“
Ok, we’ll escort you to
your boudoir, ma’am,” Trece said.

“
Boudoir?”

“
Sounds fancy,” Trece
said.

Troy laughed.

“
Hey Alex, did you remember
you promised to go with me to...”

“
Oh crap, your father’s
party. When is it?” Alex asked.

“
Tomorrow,” Troy
said.

“
We have so much going on,
Troy,” Alex said. “Would you...”

“
Please Alex, please. I
can’t do it myself,” Troy said.

“
All right. I think it’s on
John’s schedule. The General is coming,” Alex said.

“
Thanks,” Troy
said.

Alex turned to go up the stairs to her room.
She heard Trece follow her.

“
I’ll be all right in my
room,” she said.

“
Yes sir,” Trece
said.

He continued to follow her.

“
Trece?”

“
You’ll be fine because I’m
going to watch,” Trece said. “Plus you have a doctor’s appointment
in a bit.”

“
Won’t you be bored?” Alex
asked. They turned the corner to the third floor.

“
Nah,” Trece said. “It’s
nice to have some alone time. These guys are all right but they
talk all the time. It’s so noisy. I can barely hear myself think
sometimes.”

Alex opened her mouth to say something but
decided against it.

“
See you in a bit, Andy,”
Alex said.

“
Sir.”

FFFFF

Two hours later

Monday evening
March 31 – 5:15 P.M. MDT

Anschutz Medical Center

“
Your doctor is very cute,”
Helene said in rapid Parisian French. “Do you think John will set
me up?”

“
When would you have time?”
Alex asked. “You take your exams in a month.”

“
I have a month. No parents.
Just a lenient and loving...”

“
Fairy
godmother.”

“
Sister,” Helene
laughed.

“
Mrs. Drayson? They will see
you now,” the nurse said. “You may bring your guard.”

Alex, Helene and White Boy walked through
the orthopedic surgeon’s office.

“
Mrs. Drayson? Who calls you
Mrs. Drayson?” Helene continued in French.

“
John works a rotation here.
He’s hoping to get a placement in their OR,” Alex said in
French.

“
Why does John work at so
many hospitals?” Helene asked.

“
Money,” Alex said. “He can
make extra money for the house and medical bills and expensive real
estate in Paris.”

“
But you have the trust. Why
not spend your inheritance?”

“
We don’t spend it,” Alex
said. “Plus this keeps him busy while I’m working. Like your Maman
and her dresses.”

“
Hmm… I am not going to be a
spy,” Helene said. “Too much work.”

Alex laughed.

“
Here he comes!” Helene
whispered.

The orthopedic surgeon came in to check
Alex’s arm. The surgical wound was healing. He usually didn’t put a
cast on until the wound had time to completely close. Alex was sure
she was going to be stuck with this aluminum and ace bandage
contraption.

“
Drayson. That’s an unusual
name,” the surgeon said. “I know a doctor John Drayson.”

“
He’s my husband,” Alex said
in English.

“
Great guy. I heard he was
married to some bad ass Army lady.”

“
That’s Alex,” Helene said
in English.

Glancing at Helene, Alex laughed.

“
Did you really helicopter
to the hospital?” the doctor asked.

“
Which time?” Alex
asked.

“
You were in a fight with
some guy at the taco place.”

“
Unfortunately, yes,” Alex
said.

“
You need a
cast.”

“
I really need a cast,” Alex
said. “I broke the last fiberglass cast I had. This thing is not
going to work.”

“
Right,” the doctor said.
“Listen if John will keep an eye on the infection, I’ll order a
cast. But you have to come back Friday. We’ll change the cast every
five days or so until the wound is clear.”

“
He was supposed to be
here,” Alex shrugged.

“
Who was?” John asked as he
came into the room. He kissed Alex hello and nodded to Helene and
White Boy.

“
Will you keep an eye on
this? She wants a cast,” the orthopedist turned to speak only to
John. “I’d rather she have the limited activity the bandages
mandate...”

“
She won’t stay immobile.
That’s not the life she leads.”

Alex rolled her eyes at the men. Every time
John arrived, her doctors ignored her.

“
That’s rude,” Helene said
in French.

“
Happen every time,” Alex
replied in French. “They’d rather talk to each other.”

“
I wish I had somebody to
talk to the doctors,” White Boy said in French. “I hate talking to
those fuckers.”

“
He speaks French!?!” Helene
squealed.

Alex laughed.

“
Except John. He’s a great
guy,” White Boy continued in French. “You think John would talk to
my doctors?”

“
Probably.” Alex looked at
White Boy.

“
I thought you liked G.I.
Joe,” White Boy said to Helene.

“
Hrmpft,” Helene
said.

“
I know that look. My
ex-wife makes that look when I say something she thinks is stupid,”
White Boy said. “Sorry.”

“
What is going on with you
and Larry?” Alex asked.

“
He is impossible.” Helene
switched to Irish Gaelic.

“
How is he impossible?” Alex
asked in Irish Gaelic.

“
He acts like I don’t exist
then… Ugh, I can’t explain it.”

“
I think he’s crazy about
you,” White Boy said in Irish Gaelic.

“
UH!” Helene said in
English. “He’s speaks Gaelic too!?”

“
He’d better,” Alex replied
in English.

“
Spanish?”

White Boy nodded.

“
Italian?”

White Boy shrugged.

“
Hmmm,” Helene furrowed her
brow.

“
Love? I’m sorry to
interrupt,” John said in English. “The nurse will cast your arm
now.”

“
Oh great,” Alex said. “You
had quite the conference.”

“
We discussed your next hip
surgery,” John said.

“
My WHAT?”

“
See! Men are impossible,”
Helene said in French.

Alex laughed.

“
We’ll talk later,” John
leaned in to kiss her again. “I’ll see you tonight. I have to
finish up.”

She waved goodbye to John then did her best
to be patient through the casting process. If it wasn’t for
Helene’s bright chatter, Alex would have given up mid-way. But now
her sore throbbing arm was encased in a shiny, brand new, purple
fiberglass cast.

“
Where to next?” White Boy
asked.

“
Buckley, I think,” Alex
said. “I need to be there to pick up Charlene.”

“
Ok,” White Boy
said.

“
Would you mind pretending
you can’t hear us for a while?” Alex asked in Arabic.

“
Yes sir.”

They were escorted from the doctor’s office.
Alex stopped to make an appointment for Friday then they went out
to their car. Because most of the Anschutz security were ex-Army,
they had been able to park next to the building rather than patient
parking.

“
What did you say to him?”
Helene asked in French.

“
I asked him to take us to
Buckley,” Alex said in French.

“
You said that in English,”
Helene said. “The other thing… in the other language.”

“
Arabic,” Alex said. “I told
him we would sit back here and talk.”

“
Oh,” Helene
said.

Helene scooted into the back of the SUV.
Alex sat next to her.

“
I’m so glad you’re here,”
Alex said. “I never feel like I spend enough time with
you.”

“
I brought my Magic 8 ball,”
Helene said. She pulled the ball out of her backpack. “Do you
remember this?”

Alex took the black orb from her. She turned
it over in her hand then nodded.

“
It’s familiar, but I don’t
know why,” Alex said.

“
Your head is so scrambled!
You carried this with you.” Helene laughed. “I begged you for this
specific one. You left if with Maman for my sixteenth birthday. You
know, the day you were shot.”

“
I can see why I don’t
remember,” Alex said. “Let’s ask it a question.”

“
Sometimes it doesn’t work,”
Helene said. “You modified the answers. I don’t know how, but they
are so much more fun than the usual ones.”

Alex nodded.

“
First question?” Helene
asked.

“
Do you love Larry?” Alex
asked.

“
You cannot ask that!?”
Helene squealed.

“
I remember our rules? Do
you?”

“
You have to turn it over
after the question – no matter what the question is,” Helene said.
“But...”

“
Turn it or forfeit your
turn and your chance to ask a question for me!”

“
Hmm....”

Helene turned over the Magic 8 ball. Alex
and Helene peered into the Magic 8 ball.

“
DON’T BE A DUMBASS” The
ball said.

Alex laughed.

“
One of Jesse’s favorite
sayings,” Alex said. “So you’re in love with Larry?”

“
Best of three,” Helene
said.

She turned the Magic 8 ball over. They
peered into the little window as the white die floated to the
top.

“
YES”

“
That’s an original one,”
Alex said. “I left a couple I think.”

“
No, only that one,” Helene
said. “One more time.”

Helene turned the Magic 8 ball over. They
peered at the window one last time.

“
DOES SHIT
STINK?”

“
Hrmpft,” Helene
said.

Alex laughed. Disgusted, Helene stuffed the
Magic 8 ball into her bag.

“
What’s wrong with loving
someone?” Alex asked.

“
He doesn’t like me, Alex.
He treats me like I’m strange,” Helene said. “Plus you don’t like
him at all. Why would I have a relationship with someone you don’t
like at all?”

“
Oh honey,” Alex said. “I
don’t dislike him. He’s just very young.”

“
Why should I be with
someone so young?”

“
Because you love him and
you’re young. Why not enjoy it? You don’t have to marry him. Just
have a few laughs.”

“
You married John right
away,” Helene said.

“
That was different,” Alex
said. “I had this overpowering feeling that I had to marry him,
make him my world, and stay with him forever.”

“
How could you be so
certain?”

“
Good question,” Alex said.
“I haven’t been very certain about things lately.”

“
You will be again. I know
it.” Helene hugged Alex.

“
We’re here,” White Boy
said. “I need IDs.”