Chapter 8: Emergency

“WHAT?” was the overwhelming sentiment of the moment.

Sergeant Thomas simply shook his head and said, “All I know is that the girl, the daughter of their chief, is sick and the American medic wants some help, and right away.”

“Shit!” muttered Travis. He immediately got to his feet and said, “Lars, let’s go.”

He was just the first of many. Practically the entire conference table stood and headed towards was being called ‘the bunkhouse’, where the Vikings were being kept. Travis was the first out the door, but only by seconds, with Doctor Cooper close behind.

When they got to the bunkhouse they were let right in, only to find the room in an uproar. A medic was kneeling next to a cot with Torvald’s daughter, Helga, and was trying to help her, but Torvald was yelling and trying to push him away. Meanwhile, several other men were yelling and waving their arms around, trying to push away the American soldiers crowding around. Helga was laying on the cot, bent double, retching on the floor, and calling out, “Doris! Doris!”

Lars immediately got in front of Torvald and said, “Stoðva! Stoðva! Torvald, hvat er wranger? Hvat er wranger?” {"Stop! Stop! Torvald, what is wrong? What is wrong?"}

“Komdu honum frá Helga! Hann snertir Helga!” {"Get him away from Helga! He touched Helga!"}

“Hann er ... læknir! Læknir! Læknir!” {"He is ... healer! Healer! Healer!"}

“What’s he saying?” demanded Colonel Bellingham.

“Stay calm, Colonel. Lars has gotten surprisingly good at talking to the Vikings. Let’s see what he can do,” said Travis.

Major Smythe and Lieutenant Colonel Fowler agreed with that and Bellingham nodded in understanding. “Fine. It’s just a bit unusual not knowing what they’re saying. What’s læknir?”

There was some more conversation in Old Norse, and the Vikings began to calm down. Lars motioned for the soldiers to back away and the temperature dropped a bit. He looked up from where he was kneeling next to the medic and said, “Helga is sick, and Torvald didn’t understand when the medic tried to check her out. I had to explain that he is a healer, a doctor. That’s what læknir means, a healer. They don’t have different words for doctors and nurses.”

He spoke to Helga again, and the girl weakly said, “Doris! Doris!” Then she groaned and began crying.

Doctor Cooper came closer and knelt next to the others. He tapped his chest and said, “Læknir, Læknir.” He looked up and said, “Go find Lieutenant Goodhew and get her here. She wants Doris, let’s get her!” To Helga he said, “Doris is coming.”

“Doris kemur,” said Lars, and the room calmed even further.

Colonel Bellingham quietly asked his American counterpart, “Who is Doris and how is she involved?”

Fowler smiled broadly. “When the medical team showed up, they ordered everybody to get cleaned up, and some of the troops took the Viking men to the showers. When it was time for the Viking women and children, they had a nurse do it. You know, men with the men, women with the women.” Bellingham nodded in understanding. “So, Helga, the girl, she’s pretty feisty, she says, ‘No!’, and knocks Lieutenant Goodhew to the ground. The Lieutenant, she pops back up and punches Helga right in the face and then drags her off to the showers.”

“Good Lord!”

Fowler laughed. “You had to see it to believe it! The Vikings were laughing as much as anybody else. Ever since, Lieutenant Goodhew has been a favorite of the Viking women. Female bonding, I guess.”

Doris Goodhew came rushing in, wearing a mix of camo pants and a Guinness Stout t-shirt, with unlaced boots on her feet. She raced to Helga’s cot and the girl reached out to take her hand. “What’s wrong?” asked Doris. “I was told there’s a problem and I was needed.”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” said the medic. “She was crying and doubled over here on her cot when I was called in, but her father - I think Torvald is her father - won’t let us examine her.”

Lars looked up at Torvald. “Torvald!” He began pointing at Torvald and Helga. “Faðir? Dóttir?”

“Helga dóttir!”

Lars nodded. To the others he said, “It’s very close to modern English and the other Germanic languages. Father, fadir, vater, mother, modir, mutter, daughter, dottir, son, sohn. It’s pretty easy to figure out.”

Doris said, “Tell him we need to examine Helga, find out what is wrong.”

“See what I can do.” He looked at Torvald and Helga, pointing at the medic, Doris, and Doctor Cooper. “ Læknir, læknir, læknir. Lata oss fylgjagð!” {"Healer, healer, healer. Let us help!"}

Torvald nodded and Doctor Cooper immediately touched her forehead. “She’s burning up! See if you can get the girl to stretch out.”

Lars didn’t have the words to say stretch out, but Doris turned Helga onto her back and tried to get her to lay out flat. Helga continued to cry and hold her stomach, and when Doctor Cooper tried to touch her stomach, Torvald protested.

“Torvald! Kalm niðr! Kalm niðr! Lata oss fylgjagð!” {"Torvald! Calm down! Calm down! Let us help!"}, said Lars. “ Treystu okkur. Treystu okkur.” {"Trust us. Trust us."}

“Traust?” {Trust?"}

“Traust!” {Trust!"}

Torvald nodded and allowed the doctor to touch his daughter. Cooper immediately reached out and gently probed Helga’s torso. Almost immediately Helga gasped and cried out and tried to squeeze the life out of Lieutenant Goodhew’s fingers. Cooper nodded and said, “This girl’s got a hot appendix. We’re going to have do an emergency appendectomy.” Behind him, the medic nodded agreement, as did the nurse.

“Can we do that here? Or do we have to fly her out?” asked Bellingham.

Cooper waved it off. “We’ll be fine here. It’s surgery, but it’s pretty simple. We need to do it soon, though. We wait around, it might just rupture and then she’s in worse condition.” He turned to Lars and said, “Can you explain this?”

“I’ll try.” He turned to Torvald and said, “ Helga er sótt, mjök sótt. Hon þurfur fylgjagð. Traust! Traust! Treystu okkur! “ {"Helga is sick, very sick. She needs help. Trust! Trust! Trust us!"}

Torvald was on the verge of arguing when Helga cried out and clutched her stomach again. He simply said, “Já.”

Cooper took over then, saying, “We need to get this girl over to the hospital. Let’s just carry her over on the cot; it’ll be faster that way.”

The medic stood and waved a couple of guys over. “Tiny, Watts, give me a hand here. We’re going to the hospital.” Two large Rangers hopped over the barricade and grabbed the ends of the cot, lifting it easily.

Torvald moved to follow them, but one of the Rangers stopped him. Lars stopped them, saying to Travis, “We should let him come. He can see what is going on, so he can see we aren’t going to hurt her.”

Doris said, “He should come. He’s her father.”

Travis glanced at the others but nodded. He went to Torvald and said, “Trust! Come!”

“Traust! Koma!” interpreted Lars. Torvald followed the doctor and his daughter to the medical tent, followed by everybody else.

Once they got there, Cooper said, “Unless you are a doctor or nurse, go back to your meeting or whatever. We’ll let you know how it goes.”

What followed next would have been amusing if the entire situation wasn’t so serious. Lars and Travis were selected to stick with Torvald, since Lars was the only one who could speak to him, and Travis was probably the only one who could control him if the shit hit the fan. As Doris stayed with Helga, Lars, Travis, and Torvald were directed to a different room, where a nurse showed them how to wash up. Torvald found this very strange and mysterious, especially when he was ordered out of his clothing, a mix of Army Battle Dress Uniform items and his wool and fur overcoat. He put on a set of scrubs, and then was instructed on properly washing his hands by the ‘monkey see, monkey do’ method. Finally, a face mask was placed on him, covering his beard, mouth, and nose, and he was gloved up.

The three were led to the operating room, where Torvald was even more astonished. Doris Goodhew was sitting next to Helga, who was now lying on a table. She was still holding the girl’s hand. Helga was no longer dressed but was naked and covered by sterile sheets. An IV had been inserted into her left arm, and several bags of fluid were hanging on a rack. Lars was immediately struck by just how beautiful the young woman was. He had thought her pretty before, but he now realized that was an understatement. Once the bruising around her eye faded, she would be incredible. “Good! You’re here. I need to change. Torvald!” She crooked her finger and summoned Helga’s father over. She stood and pushed him onto the seat, and then put his gloved hand into Helga’s hand. “We’ve taken X-rays, typed her blood, and even did a quick ultrasound. It’s a definite hot appendix, but it hasn’t burst. That’s very good.”

“Now what?” asked Lars. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to watch surgery without tossing his cookies or passing out. “You have to cut her open?”

“Not precisely. We do it laparoscopically nowadays. It’s safer and the recovery time is less than half what it would be with a big zipper,” said Cooper.

Doris pressed Helga’s hand into her father’s. “I need to gown up. You stay with Helga. Back in a few.” Lars translated and the nurse went to the gowning area.

Lars turned back to Helga and smiled. “Þú eru mjök fagr.”

Torvald growled out his displeasure, which made Helga giggle and Lars wink back.

“What did you just say to her?” asked Travis.

“I said she was very pretty,” said Lars.

“In front of her father? You’re an idiot! What’s the word in Old Norse for idiot?”

“Hálfviti. It means halfwit. Screw you, Travis.”

Travis turned to Torvald and said, “Torvald!” When the Viking looked at him, Travis pointed at Lars and said, “Hálfviti.” Torvald grunted and nodded.

A different nurse took a hypodermic needle and inserted it into a drug hub on the IV. “This is Versed. We use it to calm people down before the anesthesia. Helga is going to start getting sleepy, which is a good thing.”

Torvald held his daughter’s hand as they looked around the operating room in amazement. Lars tried to tell them what was going on, but he didn’t have a knowledge of medical terms, and there were very few medical terms in Old Norse. The best he could pass along was that Helga and Torvald should stay calm, and that Helga was going to be fine. For her part, Helga’s eyes began to lose focus and her eyelids began to droop. Nothing else happened until Lieutenant Goodhew returned, now dressed ready for surgery. “Ready to go, Lieutenant?” asked Doctor Cooper.

“Ready, sir. Time for some anesthesia?”

“Time for some anesthesia,” he agreed.

She turned to Helga and pulled down her face mask. “Helga. Stay calm.”

“Halda ró sinni,” translated Lars.

Doris repeated that, or at least tried to, and added, “You’ll be safe.”

“Þú verður öruggur.”

“Now, breathe normally.” She mimed placing the gas mask over her face and then moved to place it over Helga’s.

“Andaðu eðlilega,” said Lars.

Doris nodded to the anesthesiologist, who began the gas flowing. Then she placed the mask over Helga’s face as Lars continued to tell the girl to breathe. After a few moments, Helga’s eyes fluttered and closed. The nurse let go of Helga’s hand and moved to assist in the surgery.

The sterile sheets were moved to allow a portion of Helga’s abdomen to be exposed, and Lars was pushed to calm Torvald down. He became even more concerned when Doctor Cooper took his scalpel and made a small incision. Both Lars and Travis held his hands and told him to stay calm. Two more incisions were made, and then the laparoscopic instruments were inserted. Torvald marveled as he watched on a magic screen what was happening inside his daughter.

Cooper said, “Anybody here ever have an appendectomy? Keep this guy calm!”

The Ranger medic, who had tagged along for the operation, laughed, and stood up. He came around to Torvald and pulled up his shirt. He pointed at his own almost invisible scars and then pointed to Helga. “Tell him she’ll be fine. She’ll be in bed for a few days and then be just fine.” Lars translated as best he could.

Eventually the operation was over. Cooper removed the instruments, and the team proceeded to close the incisions. Torvald stared as the doctor sewed his daughter’s abdomen with a needle and thread. Finished, Cooper pulled the three men to the side. He pulled off his mask and smiled. “Everything went great. Helga will be fine. She’s going to recovery until she wakes up, and then we’ll keep her here a day or two.”

Lars translated, and Torvald sagged in relief. He said something and Lars translated. “He wants to stay with her.”

Cooper shrugged and replied, “She’s going to be asleep for a while. Several hours.”

Lars translated, and Torvald shook his head and pointed back at Helga. “He doesn’t care. He wants to stay with her.”

Cooper shrugged again. “Fine by me. Give me a chance to change and I’ll take you.” Fifteen minutes later he led the small group into a room where Helga was lying in a bed, lightly covered with a sheet. She was sleeping.

Torvald looked around and found a chair, which he positioned next to his daughter, and sat down next to her. He took her hand and leaned back, to begin talking to her quietly. Lars and Travis watched for a moment, and Travis said, “I’ll get you a chair. Stick with Torvald. I’ll let the others know what’s going on.”

“Sounds like a plan,” commented Lars.

Lars faded out after an hour of sitting with Torvald, as Travis wandered in and out, occasionally with an officer or doctor. Torvald also fell asleep, still holding his daughter’s hand. They all woke early the next morning when Lieutenant Goodhew and another female nurse came in. “Wakey, wakey!” she said brightly. “Time to wake up!”

Torvald looked around in confusion and then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Hvat er um?” {"What is going on?"}

Lars stretched and shook himself awake. He gave Torvald a look of confusion and shrugged, then turned to the nurses. “He wants to know what is happening.”

The second nurse said, “We need to get Helga moving around. She needs to start moving.”

“She just had surgery!” he protested.

Doris smiled and answered, “With this type of surgery, laparoscopic surgery, healing is much faster. Gentle and careful movement is very helpful to the healing and should begin almost immediately.”

“Huh.”

“Tell her father we are going to help her stand up and move around, so he needs to give us some privacy,” added the first nurse.

Lars eyes popped open at the implication. He turned to Torvald and tried to translate this to him. He also told Helga, who rather forcefully ordered her father out of the room.

Torvald gave his daughter an acerbic look and stood. He said something that caused Helga to stick her tongue out at him, and he stomped out, followed by a grinning Lars. Lars caught up to him and said, “ Torvald, þat er dagmál.” {"Torvald, it is breakfast time."}

Torvald rolled his eyes and nodded, and they headed back to the bunkhouse. He asked, “Þú elskar Helga?” {"You like Helga?"}

Lars looked back at Torvald and replied, “Ek líta hverr.” {"I like everybody."}

Torvald said something in response that Lars roughly translated as ‘Give me a fucking break!’ and Lars simply nodded and said, “Ja, ek líta Helga.” Then he shrugged and asked, “ Líkar henni við mig?” {"Does she like me?"} Torvald’s response was even ruder, and Lars laughed loudly at it.

As soon as they walked into the Viking’s holding area there was a loud outcry and several people rushed up to him. The major question was, “ Hvernig er Helga?” {"How is Helga?"} Torvald spent several minutes telling the others what he had seen, and Lars could barely keep up with the torrent of Old Norse.

A couple of medics came over to Lars and asked the same question. “She looked good to me. Lieutenant Goodhew and another nurse came in early this morning and wanted to get her up on her feet. It seemed kind of early to me, but they said they knew what they were doing,” he replied.

Surprisingly, the two medics nodded. “That’s standard protocol in the case of laparoscopic surgery,” said the first.

The second agreed, saying, “Last year my dad had his gall bladder removed, and they had him walking that evening. She can probably come back here in a day or two. She’ll be a bit sore and have to take it easy, but hey, it’s better than a big zipper.” He made a cutting motion across his right side.

“What happens with you guys?” Lars asked. When they looked at him curiously, he added, “I mean, you’re medics, right? If you’re out in the field and you have to do an appendectomy, what do you do?”

They both shrugged. The first one said, “Well, it is real surgery, so our first choice would be to try and medevac the patient out. Otherwise, we have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

“The old-fashioned way?”

The second guy smiled and answered, “We give the patient a stick to bite on and then use a rusty knife.” He made a sawing motion across his midsection and added a few choice sounds.

“Remind me not to get sick around you guys.”

They just laughed and Lars went over to the dining area and got in line for breakfast. Torvald came up to him with a couple of Viking women in tow. He pointed at them and introduced them. “ Þessi er Una Bergdisdottir ok Ásdis Hreinsdóttir. Þeir eru vinar ór Helga.” {"This is Una Bergdisdottir and Ásdis Hreinsdóttir. They are friends of Helga."} Una was just a few years older than Helga and was pregnant; Asdis was older, perhaps in her early thirties. Both women were quite pretty, though the hard life of living in medieval Norway had aged them.