“Sean, your gamble paid off. I have to confess that I didn’t hold out that much hope.”
“Sir, we owe it all to one person and she is in intensive care right now.”
Carl frowned. “Just what is her status?”
Sean looked across the island paradise.
“Luis offered her everything that we offered her and then a whole lot more, yet she chose to remain loyal to us. She saved the life of at least one agent in the process. As a result she is now lying in hospital with a life-threatening wound. Her status should be a fucking heroine and she deserves everything we can do for her.”
Carl nodded. “See she gets it.”
“She has to survive first.”
Carl nodded. “All things considered, a good job has been done today.”
“Yeah, then why do I feel like a real bastard?”
“Sean, we’ve worked together for many years. Sometimes casualties are an occupational hazard.”
“Yeah, but she was dragged in against her will and we used her.”
“Did she have a choice?”
“Sure.”
“Did she sign a waiver?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Then she knew what she was doing. She could have given us the intelligence and we could have done it without her.”
“Maybe. But many more would have died, on both sides.”
“Then let’s go with what we have. If she pulls through, she gets everything she deserves. If she doesn’t, then the least we can do is honour her name and give her the best funeral we can.”
“Fucking big deal,” Sean said.
Carl smiled. “Sean, go home. You’ve done all you can. Take a well earned rest.”
Sean nodded. The exhibits officers had everything in hand. The prisoners had been removed and there was a specialist IT forensic crew going through everything, like computer records and paperwork.
“I’ll go check on Michelle. Then I’ll go home.”
“Is there anyone with her at the hospital?”
“Yeah, Ryan Hobbs. He’s the guy who killed the woman who shot her, and then managed to get her to the medic in time. To be honest, I think he’s too fond of her for his own good.”
“Hobbs? Is he the ex-cop with the bad leg?”
“Yeah. He’s a good man. I want to keep him on the team. He’s proved he’s up to the job.”
“I don’t have a problem with that, but just see he gets the necessary treatment on his leg.”
“Okay,” Sean said and took a last look at the island.
“Sean.”
“Yeah?”
“Well done. You got him,” Carl said.
“Yeah, we did,” he said and for the first time in weeks he managed to smile. He left orders for the whole island to be blown up.
“I want nothing left for Mendoza’s heirs to just walk back in and start up again,” he said.
Sean took the helicopter back and went to the naval hospital. He found Ryan sitting in the sun outside.
“Hey Ryan, how’s our girl doin’?”
“Who knows? She went under the knife several hours ago and no one has come out.”
“I spoke to a Dr Harrison, just so he’d be aware of her, ah, peculiar circumstances,” Sean said.
“Yeah, I met him. He told me that for the moment, saving her life was the main priority.”
“Are you okay?”
“Shit. I don’t know. I mean, one minute she’s there, then she’s looking at me with this frown and her dress is turning red. It’ll haunt me for a very long time. I should have been quicker. If my leg was up to it, I would have been,” the younger man said, obviously distressed.
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You did what you could. If you had been a few seconds later, she could be dead.”
Sean could see that Ryan was feeling responsible and no matter what he said to the man, he knew that the only thing that would cheer him up would be the news that she was out of danger.
“Do you want to go and get some rest?” Sean asked, knowing what the answer would be.
“No thanks. I’ll just wait here and see what happens.”
“Okay. You have my cell phone number, so call me as soon as you get any news.”
Sean returned home, much to his wife’s relief. They spent some time just being together and grateful for the successful conclusion of an operation, for a change.
Meanwhile, Ryan went to the hospital cafeteria and grabbed a quick meal and a coffee. He was surprised to find it was only three pm. Michelle had been in surgery for over five hours so he was getting more and more nervous. He had been forced to stand back and watch and medical personnel came and went into the unit, so he felt completely helpless.
He took a short walk around the grounds, just to try to break his mental tie to what was going on. His leg hurt abominably, but he had to keep moving, otherwise he knew it would seize up solid. He tried to analyse his feelings. Did he just feel responsible for her predicament? Or was there something deeper?
His mind was having difficulty focussing on the realities of life. He did feel responsible, but he was also aware that he had been relatively powerless to alter what had actually happened. On one hand he was able to see that he was behaving and reacting irrationally and on the other, he kept seeing her smile. He was unable to think much beyond the warm feeling that the smile gave him.
He knew she was not a genetically-born girl and yet he found he didn’t care. To him she was as feminine as any girl he had ever met and he didn’t actually want any other girl – he found he wanted her.
This desire was not necessarily in any sexual sense, but on an emotional level. He wanted to protect and care for her, as much as he wanted her to be free from fear and the stress of being alone.
He sat in the waiting room and picked up a four-month old magazine.
“Agent Hobbs?”
He spun round. It was Dr Harrison. He was still wearing his gown and there was blood on it. He looked very tired.
“Doc?”
“Your colleague. She is out of danger. Her lower intestine was a mess, but I think we’ve managed a pretty fair patch up job,” he said, with a weak smile.
“Is she conscious?”
“Not for a while. Look, my colleague took the opportunity to undertake a little extra surgery.”
“Extra?”
The doctor sat in the chair opposite Ryan.
“Your friend, she is a remarkable individual. Your boss explained a little of her background and we took the opportunity to remove certain, ah, unnecessary appendages. It seemed appropriate, somehow, to undertake an operation that she would be having soon in any case. Actually, the gunshot wound was quite simple to deal with, so the bulk of the operation was the SRS procedure, including a vaginoplasty.”
“SRS? You actually did an SRS operation on her?”
“Your boss asked us specially. And only if the opportunity presented itself. It did, so we did.”
“So, the gunshot wound wasn’t that serious?”
“We had no way of knowing. Once I got in there, I was able to deal with that and my colleague was able to do the rest. Don’t get the idea that the gunshot wound wasn’t serious, it was. If you hadn’t got her to the medic as quickly as you did and then to here, then she’d be in a body bag. But as it turns out, you saved her life and we took the opportunity to make it a little better.”
Ryan felt inordinately pleased and he grinned like a fool.
“If you want, go and see her. But don’t expect her to come round for some time. She came out of the anaesthetic, but slipped back to sleep. She’s on pain control and has so many antibiotics she may be away with the fairies for quite a while, as she has experienced major trauma.”
But he was talking to fresh air, as Ryan was half way to her room. There was a nurse just checking the drips and monitors as he arrived. She smiled at him and pointed to a chair beside the bed.
Michelle was on her back, with several drips and a urinary catheter attached. Her face was very pale, and Ryan thought she still looked beautiful. Her blonde hair was forming a natural halo around her head, so she did look very angelic.