by Marian Stack
“That was nice of her. I like her, she seemed very pleasant and respectful. Sis I hope you get a chance to stay in touch with her. Apart from the reason we were here I would visit this area again.” Then with his simple statement completed he moved his attention back to his laptop and his business.
It was Blair’s turn to look out the small perfectly round window and watch the small town of Carterville disappear into the sea of trees.
It was Blair who didn’t feel jubilation about flying away from this mountain never to gaze upon the face of her new infatuation.
And it really was Blair that wanted to scream out to land this helicopter so she could snatch Turtle and go back to the cave, and continue to remain in her trust.
Chapter Twelve - Friends and Foes
Hamlet of Sandy River
As the ambulance approached the small multi-use medical facility in the picturesque hamlet of Sandy River, Turtle could not seem to stop thinking about Susan, Sky and the other woman that got caught up in this disaster.
Her reasoning for switching worries was for her emotional benefit.
She had rapidly come to this conclusion just shortly after the ambulance doors closed and the EMT touched her arm for reassurance, and with the phantom feeling of the pressure from Megan’s index finger lingering on her forehead, that her original life had sharply come back into full view, and that the past nine days was a multi-level adventure that she will never be able to forget or duplicate.
“How are you feeling, Miss Dove?” The more senior EMT woman stated as she checked the line of IV fluids, which seem to gently sway from side to side as the vehicle travelled down the harden and well-travelled dirt road to the medical facility.
Turtle offered a smile and then answered, even though she would rather have just remained quiet, but knowing what she knew she chose to state, “It’s hard to put into words. However if you are asking about my injuries, I have always been a good healer, and the fact that I’m back here. All seems to be good.”
Several things surprised Turtle as the gate style rear doors were opened once the vehicle had stopped, the local news reporter was the first to yell out, “How did you survive the most catastrophic disaster this mountain has seen in centuries? Did you really run the Gauntlet? Did you run into any of the ex-cons that escaped the mudslide? Seeming that we are both locals and have lived on this mountain our entire lives, it’s only fair that you give me an exclusive.” The reporter aggressively shouted then boorishly pushed a hand held recorder towards the stunned patient half sitting up on the gurney.
Although Turtle was stunned by the rapid succession of the questions, she was once again surprised when she heard the very distinct booming voice of the Chief of Police from Carterville. She had been completely unaware that her ambulance was escorted by the Chief herself, not understanding that she had suddenly turned into a local hero.
“Ok that’s enough of that.” The Chief suddenly appeared from behind the reporter when he was shouting out his onslaught of questions that not only put an immediate stop to his queries, but his harassment towards, in her eyes, a local hero. “Step back and allow the medical staff to do their job. Miss Dove requires immediate attention not harassment from the local rag… Harry,” The Chief interjected her influential tone of voice, “you should be ashamed of yourself. There will be plenty of time for interviews. Now step back.” The Chief somewhat admired the young man’s bravado, mainly because she had known him for his entire life because even though she lived in Carterville she was born and raised in Sandy River, which was located just a few miles down a country highway.
The other and more welcoming surprise was that as she was pulled out and the crisscross metal frame was released allowing all four wheels to rest on the ground did she feel the touch and then hear the voice of her friend Sky Grayson. “Welcome back Turtle.” Sky whispered her quiet relief allowing her tears to spill from her weeping eyes.
Sky at first was very apprehensive about reaching to give her friend and boss a hug. Because when she first laid eyes on her she was shocked to notice that her face looked badly swollen and bruised, and if her face looked this bad what other injuries had she sustained. “Oh Turtle.” Sky spoke her few words of affection after observing the dreadful sight of her friends battered and bruised condition.
“Sky, don’t worry about me. This looks worse than it is. I was so worried about you and Susan. Are you ok? Where is Susan?” Turtle knew that many tears would begin to fall from her happy eyes, now that she was finally was able to release them. “Did you get injured in anyway? What about the others? There were so many women…I should have been there to help.” Her voice trailed off knowing that everything that happened was an uncontrolled event, but her personality remained guilt ridden for not being where she should have been and the errors that she believed she committed.
“Turtle let’s get you inside and have the doctor look you over and then once you are ready to receive visitors we will talk then.” Sky gently spoke.
Turtle grabbed Sky’s hand and meekly inquired, “Sky, you have avoided talking about Susan, is she…?”
“She’s alive. She took the worst of the collision with the mountain, but she is alive, and has been waiting for you. She was the only one that never lost faith that you would survive your mountain. And if I may say Turtle you are quite the woman.” Sky for the first time let slip her affection towards this amazing woman.
“We actually did pretty well until the end. It seemed that rescue came just in the nick of time.” Turtle offered a silly grin of relief.
Then suddenly and without warning the gurney was pushed towards the hand held open door, then straight down a small hallway and right into another room that was obviously used as an examination and treatment room. Then as rapidly as the gurney started it abruptly stopped, with a nurse that Turtle did not immediately recognise hurriedly entered the room. Turtle remained completely silent and felt somewhat nervous as she watched the nurse complete her inventory inspection of the supplies needed for whatever procedure was required, and then remaining in the complete silence the nurse left of the room. As Turtle lay on the uncomfortable gurney looking around the room, anticipating another silent intruder to enter, she was startled and then surprise to see the familiar face of the local doctor and sometimes veterinarian Donna Carter entered the room.
“Well…well, look who I have in my examination room… the newly appointed local hero.” Donna teased her long-time friend.
And then as quickly as the teasing began Donna rapidly changed her tune. “Oh Turtle you look like you ended up on the wrong side of a fight. Can you first start by telling me where you hurt the most?” Her voice was filled with sympathy for her friend but also concern regarding the obvious discomfort her patient should be experiencing.
“Well now that you have asked and my mind doesn’t have to be with another, I seem to hurt everywhere. I know I took two good whacks to the head. The first collision struck during our escape from the water, while we were attempting to survive the Gauntlet, not to mention it was a pretty good smack to the back of the head.” She moved her head to the left to illustrate the location, “right about here, but as you can tell, if I move my dirty hair, the cut was sealed with the new magic glue that you told Susan about. And then during the altercation with a very aggressive hiker is when I got my bell rung again, but as luck would have it the log seemed to have stuck my shoulder more. I guess I’m more of a lover than a fighter.” She completed her hurt inventory as Donna placed her hand on Turtle’s shoulder for reassurance and to indicate she heard Turtles’ little joke.
“Did you lose consciousness, either time?” Donna required this medical knowledge.
“Yes, the second time but not the first. That is a more difficult question for me to answer, you could ask Bla…” Turtle stopped her sentence in mid word. It was a sensitive topic for her to discuss as her memory remained active regarding the past nine days of a newly grown love that now seemed to have vanished as qui
ckly as it was ignited, not to mention that her new love had just departed the area, never to return.
Noticing the sudden verbal stop and the forlorn look on Turtle’s face, “Well, let us begin by removing these.” Donna expressed as she observed Turtles’ expression and then decided to change the direction of the examination and centre her thoughts on removing the dirty, torn and definitely much larger clothing than she would normally wear.
It was only when she began to have her clothing removed did she realize the degree of the injuries that she sustained during the violent altercation with the intruder.
As she was assisted by the extremely quiet nurse, who re-entered the room by request from the doctor, did she realize that with every movement of her body another ache seemed to appear. Noticing the winching and the controlled internal pain sensors, the nurse suggested that her clothing be cut off. Agreeing to the less intrusive procedure Turtle was laid back down on the gurney and with distinct non-sexual movements the large scissors began to cut off her clothing, with each item placed into several large brown paper bags.
Only as Turtle lay on the gurney completely exposed with the cool air of the room encasing her body with simulation, did she find her mind fighting off the unwanted visions of the night when she and Blair enjoyed a night of passion which turned into a horrific night of violence and death. As she fought to exterminate the violence from her mind she was instantly brought back into the moment with the voice of another person she did not recognize.
“Excuse me. Miss Dove.” A woman’s voice emerged from behind the hanging curtain that had been pulled closed to cover the small individual section of the three bed examination room.
As she only presented her head around the beige curtain, “My name is Sergeant Dooley and I have been requested by the Rynthorp Correctional Facility to photograph your injuries, as this remains an open investigation regarding the two escapees. Do I have your permission to do so or do you want a lawyer present?”
Turtle’s mind went blank, as she stared at the Halloween scene of a free floating head that seemed attached to the curtain.
“I will be her legal counsel, so to speak. “The voice of Chief English filled the room that startled both women to the point that Sergeant Dooley slightly yelped.
“Chief, I…” Turtle again was unable to form a complete sentence.
“That’s okay kiddo, this is just a formality with cases such as these. You know when the higher-ups get involved everything is by ‘their book’.” And then it was only at that moment did the Chief realize that her friend had no clue what had happened. “Of course, you don’t know what has been going on around here, do you?”
The Chief had now walked over to the gurney and placed her hand on Turtle’s shoulder, but then rapidly removed the friendly gesture as she had noticed that even that slight touch caused her friend to winch in pain.
“Well let’s get these pictures done, so the treatment that you require can begin and then once you are rested, you and I will have to have a long talk about why so many here believe you are now a local hero.”
Stunned by everything that was closing in on her she remained determined to talk with her best friend next. “Chief I am more than willing to talk with you in length about these past nine days but my next stop has to be with Susan. I know she is here in this building and I need to see her.” Turtle could not only stop her tears from streaming down her face, tears she had no intentions of stopping.
“Ok Sweetie.” The Chief turned away for a fleeting moment and with the back side of her hand wiped her own tears from her eyes.
Then with clear respect-filled movements the Chief began to expose Turtle’s naked body first by lifting the sheet that covered her legs, then her torso and so on.
As the photographs were taken both the Chief and the Sergeant were amazed at the clear bruising and trauma this body endured. And then when it came time to photographing the neck area the Sergeant took special notice of the strangulation marks, ensuring that she shot every possible angle.
Suddenly all three bodies, which were in full concentration mode jerked at the sound of the Doctor re-entering the room, “Are we just about done here? My patient now requires my full attention.” Her voice expressed unprofessional annoyance. She always understood the legal enforcement hierarchy, nevertheless it always annoyed her.
It was nearly eight thirty at night before everything was said and done. All legal and medical procedures were completed and now it was Turtles’ turn to take command of her desires and that was to visit with her friend.
“Yes I understand that rest is required but either you wheel me down the hallway or I will get up out of this bed and find my friend on my own.” Turtle’s words of defiance were strong and clear.
Sky suddenly appeared in the doorway of the private room they had moved Turtle into, a mere sixty or so feet away from the last room in the hospital that contained her dear friend. “I’ll take her to visit our friend,” then looking down, “Honey, Susan has been climbing the walls trying to get to you. She knew you were here but she remains in traction and can’t get out of bed.”
“Traction, how badly did she get hurt? Turtle questioned as she moved her hands to grab the larger wheels on the chair attempting to over push Sky’s slow methodical walk into a faster gear. “Faster it is.” Sky understood the need for top immediate speed.
As the wheelchair broke the threshold Turtle did the exact opposite as to what the doctor’s orders were. She jumped from the moving wheelchair and hurried to the bedside of her cherished friend and fell into a state of uncontrolled tears of joy and disbelief. “Can I hug you?” Turtle tearfully questioned.
“You better give me a hug.” Susan responded with her arms out stretched. “I can’t believe you are alive! Turtle honey, no one has ever survived The Gauntlet. But I knew if anyone had the skills to beat that part of the river, it was you.”
As the two women remained locked in their embrace, Susan noticed slight difference in her long-time friends’ posture, but then immediately released the funny thought, coming to the conclusion that anyone would look a little different after a nine day adventure in the wilderness with a unqualified companion. Then suddenly Susan released her grip on her friend and questioned, “What about the VIP guest, what was her name, Miss Blair F…” Turtle interjected, “Foster, Miss Blair Foster.”
Susan immediately noticed the soft loving longing tone to her friends’ voice as she expelled out the guests name, and instinctually concluded that there was more to this story than her friend was willing to divulge at this time. “And she is okay?”
“Earth to Turtle… and our guest, is she ok? Was she hurt?” Susan switched her voice back into her normal business authoritarian level.
Hearing the voice Turtle slowly came back to the present. “Yes, sorry, yes she was not hurt. Well not badly hurt. Nine days in the wilderness… well I’m sure she received a few bumps and bruises, which will leave a few scars. Her brother and fiancée were there when we arrived from being air lifted from the old hunters’ cabin and transported to Carterville and now I’m quite sure she is very happy to be back at home away from the mayhem.”
“What do you mean by mayhem? Turtle honey what happened on our mountain?” Susan questioned her friend but knew that the answers to those two questions would have to be answered at a different time and head space. “Sweetie now that I know you are safe, I think it’s time for you to get some rest. You look like you are about to fall over.”
“Yes, I agree.” Sky had remained in the outer limits of the room allowing this reunion to unfold.
Offering one last kiss and hug, Turtle along with Sky’s assistance sat back onto the well-used seat of the wheel chair and allowed her friend to wheel her back to her room, at her pace.
“I know you need to rest but do you need anything?” Sky questioned.
“No thank-you, I think I just need to sleep now.” Her voice seemed void of strength.
Then without permission to
remain, Sky moved the only chair in the room, as close to the side of the bed as possible and stated, “Yes I agree and I will remain right here, just in case you will need anything.
“Thank-you Sky.” Turtle slightly adjusted her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.
She needed rest from her own confused heart break. It seemed that every time either of her friends voiced the loving gesture of her name followed by the endearing word, ‘honey’, all she heard was the memory of Blair’s voice, and all she wanted to feel was Blair’s loving embrace.
The City of Rynthorp
Shortly after the helicopter landed on the private Rynthorp hospital landing pad, Blair was rushed into the recently opened well-equipped brand new multi-million dollar facility, appropriately named ‘The Foster Family Trauma Center’.
As the team of doctors and nurses worked on Blair’s medical needs, she remained in an unusually quiet and somber mood. Although she would normally have enjoyed her needs being met by a young team of professionals and did so often, but this time it felt strange having every part of her naked body being touched probed and examined. She couldn’t seem to put her finger on why she felt oddly uneasy regarding all the attention, attention she would normally be craving or demanding.
As one of the doctors raised her arm for further diagnostic examination, she immediately noticed the broken chipped and badly manicured nails, attached to a bruised scratched and child-like dirty hand that squealed back at her principles. And then without warning her mind seemed to plummet back to the night in the cabin and what that demented woman wanted and did do to her, and before she knew what she was doing, she began to scream for her brother placing all in the room in total shock and bewilderment.
“Get the fuck out of this room. I want my brother Joe Foster in here now! You know that family with the money that is plastered all over this effing hospital, and I want an effing cell phone that works… now!”
