Chapter 52

Flashback – Jack – In the HIND 24 headed to Moscow

Hells bells! I was shocked when I listened to Banzai. He hated hospitals with an unrivaled passion and for him to suggest the best thing was to get him to a hospital ASAP – well it was all I could do to hide my shock!

After making sure Elena was safely secured in her seat, I sat back beside Masha, strapped myself in and whispered, "Honey, Banzai is in worse shape than he's sharing with us."

Masha looked concerned and asked, "Jack, how do you know that?"

I continued my whispers, "He told me he needed to get to a hospital as soon as possible. Banzai hates hospitals so for him to want to get to one..."

Masha finished my sentence, " ... means that he's wounded worse than he is showing. Jack I should really attend to his wounds."

I need to keep Masha from doing something crazy like Elena did so I complain, "Masha, Banzai is resting right now. If you try to treat him it's going to agitate him and will make him worse."

I worry like hell about Banzai but finally something good happens...

Flashback – Ben – In the HIND 24 headed to Moscow

Shit! I knew that Jack and Masha were whispering about me - yeah I made a big fucking mistake when I told Jack I needed to get to a hospital. I simply meant it was because we had no equipment here to fix the problem with my broken rib, But Nooo, he misunderstood and thought that I was in more trouble than I was.

I kept an eye on both of them because the last thing I wanted was Masha getting out of her seat.

Then I heard a familiar voice that swore, "Tвойу мат! Why am I restrained on this gurney?"

Yes Tatiana was finally awake. I got ready to answer her when Masha interrupted, "Tatiana, it is good you are awake because Ben has been seriously injured."

Son of a bitch, this was the last thing I needed! I complained and tried to deflect the situation, "Like hell I am - I'm right as rain. Tatiana honey, it's good you're finally awake."

Tatiana questioned, "Where is Elena and why isn't she taking care of Ben? I thought she was his personal nurse!" The last statement was made with such sarcasm I wondered how much trouble I was in.

I sure as hell didn't want Masha interrupting again so I attempted to settle things down, "Elena is currently unconscious. She got out of her seat as the helicopter was attacked and the pilot's evasive action threw her against the cabin wall and knocked her out."

I hoped I was out of the woods until Tatiana questioned, "Ben, what was she going to examine on you?"

I decided to tell the truth, "It's nothing honey, I have a couple broken ribs."

Unfortunately Masha couldn't keep her fucking mouth shut and added, "Tatiana, since then Ben has done something and he now has blood coming out of his mouth."

I could tell Tatiana was pissed off when she swore, "Tвойу мат! Someone release the straps on this gurney so I can get up and take care of Ben."

I gave excellent excuses, "Sorry Tatiana, I'm not getting out of my straps and Masha might be pregnant so she can't get out of hers..."

Flashback – Tatiana – In the HIND 24 headed to Moscow

What in the hell has been going on? Ever since Masha took me to the hospital I don't remember much, other than!!! Now I know, those idiot 'pretend' nurses at the hospital over-medicated me with a very strong analgesic, probably morphine. I don't know how long I've been over-medicated, however a whole lifetime of situations have transpired since then and I needed to take care of several of them. My curiosity was very active about Masha possibly being pregnant, but my curiosity could wait. I had other fish in the barrel to shoot.

I slipped my hand into my medical pouch, pulled out my knife and began to slice the straps holding me to this gurney. Ben watched and of course complained, "Tatiana, what the hell are you doing? It's not safe to move around in this cabin."

I finished releasing myself and stated, "Ben I am needed and just as you will not ignore your duty, I can not ignore mine! I am a nurse and there are injured people that need my care. Now, how long has Elena been unconscious?"

Ben looked at his watched and replied, "Damn, it's been over fifteen minutes."

That information helped me to prioritize my patients so I indicated my course of action, "Ben, you simply have a punctured lung from one of your broken ribs, something that I can easily deal with and I will do that after I perform a physical assessment of Elena since she could have a subdural hematoma."

I quickly moved to Elena, pull out my flashlight from my medical pouch and checked her pupils. I was very thankful when they were both equal and reactive since the chance of her having a brain injury were now much less. Her pulse was fine, her respiration rate was normal, and she did have a huge bump and cut on her head. I questioned the pilot, "Do you have any vodka?"

He took a bit too long to answer and obviously lied, "Of course not."

I crawled to where I was immediately behind the pilot and threatened, "I know that was a lie. Now, I need the vodka you have to treat a patient so you will give it to me or I will make sure this entire helicopter is searched for contraband when we land."

My threat provided adequate motivation as he relented and handed a mostly full bottle to me. I went back to Elena, took a 4x4 gauze pad out of my medical pouch, opened the vodka, poured some on the pad and began to dab at Elena's head wound. The application of the astringent and the pain associated with it provided the results I hoped for as Elena began to move and complained, "What happened to my head?"

With her awake, I completed the neurological assessment on her and was satisfied: While she most likely had a concussion, she didn't have indications of any other brain injuries.

Now I turned my attention to Ben. I began to move toward him and he complained, "Tatiana, I am fine - you are correct that one of my ribs punctured a lung but there's nothing we can do about on the helicopter because we don't have the correct equipment. So get your ass back into a seat and strap yourself in."

I did not care for the tone of his voice or his belief that he could command me or my actions (plus I was in substantial pain from the wounds on my back which made me very cranky). I glared at him and ordered, "Ben Blaine! What makes you think you have the right to command me? Yes I am your girlfriend but you fired me as your personal nurse so I no longer have to listen to your childish directions concerning nursing care."

Then Jack said something that obviously irritated Ben...

Jack laughed and declared, "I never thought I would see Banzai wearing the old ball and chain."

This was a term I had never before heard but from Jack's tone of voice and Ben's response I was sure it was derogatory. I looked at Masha and questioned, "Masha do you understand this term?"

Masha's eye's flashed with anger as she replied, "The first time I heard it was after I had a similar encounter with Jack where Ben said virtually the same thing about Jack. However, I have no idea what it means and have not had computer access to research the term."

Ben continued in an agitated state and swore at Jack, "You old fart - you just wait because I'm going to kick your ass for saying that..."

I moved to Ben, took his hand and tried to calm him, "Ben, you must not become agitated."

He complained, "Well if you don't listen to me because you're not my personal nurse, then I sure as hell don't have to listen to you when you're acting like a nurse."

He did have a point however he forgot one thing so I gently reminded him, "Yes, I am not your personal nurse. However I do believe I am still your girlfriend. So please Ben, calm yourself for your girlfriend."

This ploy worked perfectly as Ben calmed down but did continue to glare at Jack whose continued smirk seemed to irritate Ben. I directed Masha with some hand signals; she punched Jack in the arm and ordered, "Jack, Reynolds stop agitating Ben." Her action prompted a minor disagreement between Jack and Masha which I chose to ignore because I needed to treat Ben.

I removed Ben's shirt and marveled at his level of fitness - even after being essentially bedridden for several weeks. I immediately ascertained which rib had punctured Ben's lung. I listened to his breathing using my stethoscope and diagnosed the problem as a small hole in his lung. Once again I questioned the pilot, "Do you have any duct tape?"

He replied, "No we do not, however we do have strapping tape - do not tell me you need it also?"

I thought for a moment and decided because of his reluctance I needed to give him a choice so I answered, "You have a choice: You can give me the strapping tape so I can treat Ben Blaine's punctured lung or you can land at the closest hospital."

The pilot reluctantly gave me his strapping tape. Elena was now alert enough so she questioned, "Tatiana what are you going to do with that?"

I looked at her and requested, "If you feel sufficiently stable on your feet, I could use your assistance."

Elena unbuckled her seat belt, came over by Ben and I said, "We are going to use the strapping tape to stretch and hopefully permanently expand Ben's chest cavity. If we are successful in doing this, then we will attempt to remove the rib from his lung and also keep it from continuing to damage his lung."

Then I instructed, "We need to roll Ben on his non-affected side."

Elena helped me roll him and I was amazed when Ben didn't even make a noise because the pain had to be intense. I took off a long piece of strapping tape, placed it at the edge of the broken rib and commanded Ben, "Take as deep of a breath as you can." He took a deep breath. I watched his eyes and knew he experienced extreme pain. I then pulled the strapping tape down toward the middle of his back as hard as I could and pressed it against his skin. He let out the breath and began to cough, his sputum was tinged with blood.

We rolled Ben onto his back, I stroked his head and said, "Ben, the next one will be better because we don't have to roll you, but we will let you rest for a few minutes first."

The color slowly came back to his cheeks and he actually joked, "Well, let's get this torture by strapping tape over with."

I took another piece of strapping tape, placed the edge of it on the other side of the offending rib and once again commanded, "Take as deep a breath as you can."

Ben did an excellent job and I again pulled on the strapping tape with all my strength. I could see the rib move away from Ben's lung and then I pressed the tape against his skin. I also took my stethoscope and listened to Ben's lungs - they sounded markedly better.

Ben's next question bothered me...

Flashback – Jens – At the military hospital

I was very upset about the whole incident with Robert and Megs (who was supposed to be my BFF) and blubbered to my nurse Katie, "You don't understand. I hate Robert, he's a pervert and just wants to put his hands on me."

Katie continued hugging me and told me, "Jennifer, being a ballerina you know that Robert will have to touch your crotch when he performs a bicycle lift¹."