“What…you do?” Georgie asked quietly, head still down.
“Screamed my head off! I just wailed like it was the end of the world. I think my father came running from the parking lot; that’s how bad it was. The best part was Dr Kopel’s reaction. The man pulled up a chair and started screaming with me!” Chuckling at the memory, she rubbed Georgie’s arm again. “In time, I learned to handle the dental thing, but I will give the man credit. He very effectively halted my tirade. And like a good clinician, he took the time to explain things to me in a way a child would understand. And the best part? He offered me a doll too, but I just shook my head no. So, he opens a drawer and pulls out a teeny little fire truck! Can you believe that?”
Finally Georgie began to smile, lifting her head but still not willing to make eye contact. She asked quietly, “Still got it?”
“Actually I do. It now resides in my jewelry box, but after admiring some of those small display boxes you have, I think I’ll get one and put it on display.”
“Aide-mémoire! First…successful negotiation!”
Tyler let out a genuine laugh. “You’re right. I’ve never thought of it that way.”
“I could study…technique, yours. Maybe use…next board meeting?”
“You know that’s a great idea. As a matter of fact I could patent the idea and teach it all over the country.”
“Oooh, DVD course…infomercial. Every insomniac…clamoring, order the Marsh Method!”
“Oh that’s good, the Marsh Method! Should we head inside and give it a try?”
“Try…trying to coax me?”
“Yes, yes I am. And you’re stalling. Please tell me why?”
Georgie was silent again but she hadn’t retreated, not completely. Reaching over, Tyler rubbed soothing circles on her arm, explaining gently, “The anxiety is normal. Feeling scared is normal. It might be new for a big bad rescue pilot but it is normal for the rest of us. I myself have been the queen of screaming scared all my life.”
“Not me.”
“I know,” Tyler said, admitting it as much to herself as Georgie. “But it’s a natural state everyone has to face at some point in their lives. Everyone grows up differently, which explains why a pair of twins can grow up in the same house with the same family and friends and still turn out such opposites.” Tyler was about to add the fact that Georgie had grown up instantly, the day her aunt and mother died, but stopped herself, not knowing how Zoe’s indiscretion at revealing this would be met. Instead, she offered encouragement. “Will it help if I go with you? Maybe the speech therapist can teach me some techniques that could be helpful.”
“More than…Marsh Method?”
Tyler laughed again. “I’m not sure my brand of negotiation would be appreciated here!”
Finally, Georgie smiled. “Okay,” she said, pulling on her gloves and climbing from the Land Rover.
Tyler fetched Maggie from the rear cargo area. Finding Georgie standing motionless by the passenger door, she offered her hand. Hesitantly Georgie accepted, allowing Tyler to lead her and Maggie into the VA Clinic.
“You’re more stubborn than the marines I get in here and they invented stubborn!”
Georgie crossed her arms over her chest.
“Let me try,” Tyler volunteered, hoping to defuse the tension building between the very frustrated therapist and her boss. Tyler moved closer to the whiteboard where Georgie had been tasked to explain a basic idea. In this case the theory of flight. With marker in hand, Georgie had begun the basic lesson she had delivered umpteen times before her injury. The only problem, every time she turned from her audience of two, Tyler and Katherine her therapist, she would forget what she was saying. She had just started to make progress when Katherine started throwing curveballs, like questions or off-topic comments to push her harder. Georgie began shutting down. As both the neurologist and Marnie had explained, Georgie’s ultimate safe reaction was to shut herself off. And now that she had, she was behaving like a spoiled child, unwilling to take her medicine.
“Georgie, we’re not picking on you,” Tyler explained gently. “Please listen carefully. No matter how vigilant we are, there will always be people who will interrupt you or ask questions at the wrong time. You don’t have to answer those questions or even acknowledge anyone. I promise!” she added, finally making eye contact. When Georgie nodded, she gave her arm an encouraging squeeze before resuming her seat.
“Okay, Major,” said Katherine. Georgie’s longtime therapist cut an athletic build in her air force uniform. A thin woman, she looked to be in her sixties, with premature gray that could very well be the result of working with difficult clients. “Please begin.”
It took more than a minute before Georgie could actually lift her head and start her lecture again. “Let’s begin by introducing the four forces at work in creating flight.” Turning to the board, she drew a basic profile of an aircraft wing. Then four arrows. “Forward propulsion, or thrust…”
“Which one is a drag?” Katherine asked jokingly.
Georgie, still facing the whiteboard, stood frozen.
Tyler watched as her hands repeatedly balled and relaxed in a habitual manner she recognized from Marnie’s anxious pen clicking OCD. She was about to stand and join Georgie again when the therapist gave her a silent hold signal.
Georgie finally returned to her diagram. “In opposition to thrust,” she added, turning to face her audience and making eye contact, “we have drag. In order to…” Suddenly unsure of the word she made a hand motion of taking off.
“Fly?” Katherine offered.
“Yes!” she answered enthusiastically, as if her student had just made an intricate connection. “Yes, thrust must overcome drag. But we do that every time we get in our automobiles. Yet we never get off the ground.”
“At least not when you’re doing it right!” Tyler gave her an encouraging smile, which she noted almost derailed Georgie’s attention. She made a mental note that too much encouragement was almost as bad as none at all.
“All right, class,” Georgie said, calling for their attention. It was easy to imagine a time when she had delivered this lecture without a second thought. “If we can overcome drag and achieve momentum with thrust, why aren’t we in—the—air?” When neither of her acting students answered, Georgie faltered for a moment before adding the up arrow. “Lift! We need lift but just as thrust must overcome drag, lift has her own…nemesis. Her name is weight! And just like thrust overcoming drag, we need lift to overcome weight in order to…” She made the hand signal again before connecting with the word and finally adding, “…fly.”
Tyler and Katherine clapped furiously, jumping to their feet. Tyler had to admit she was overwhelmed with pride. It had been a long session with challenge after challenge. She now had a much better understanding of how difficult complex exchanges could be for her boss. Every time she was forced to change her focus, such as addressing Tyler and the therapist, to writing on the board, she’d lose her thread. The resulting frustration had been building and building, and Tyler had half expected her to lose her temper. She had actually hoped it would happen, if only so Katherine could witness the cognitive transformation. Fascinated by the interplay of injury and brain chemistry, she was hopeful for Georgie’s continued improvement.
As she was gathering up their coats and bags, Maggie nuzzled up against her leg. Tyler looked up to see several young people also in air force athletic gear stroll in. One, spotting Georgie, stood formally, barking, “ATTENTION!” Immediately all the others followed suit, lining up in formation. “Morning Major!”
“At ease!” Georgie ordered, offering her hand to the speaker. “Staff Sergeant Feynman, Axelrod. How is the new leg working out?”
While Tyler watched the exchange with the dog at her side, Katherine slipped up beside her. “Watch this,” she suggested quietly, tipping her head toward Georgie and the airmen.
“So, tell us Staff Sergeant, is it the chick magnet I keep hearing about?”
The young airman laughed so hard he couldn’t answer but his buddy, standing beside him, slapped him on the back.
“The Major’s on to you!”
“And what about you Mr. Winowski, come up with a good pickup line to go with that limp?”
While the young man she was chastising looked forlorn, his buddies howled, agreeing that the Major had nailed it!
“Ah come on ma’am! A guy’s gotta try!”
“Yes you do, mister, and do not stop. Women in the greater Buffalo area would weep, bereft of your charm!”
“Yeah what she said!” Winowski said with pride, as if Georgie had just defended his honor in some indescribable way.
“Good morning Corporal Gianni,” she offered pleasantly, as she made her way down the line, “how is your mother? Are you two all set for your trip to Italy over the Christmas break?”
As Georgie made her way through the group, she took her time to greet each and every one by name, referencing their injuries without embarrassment, instinctively knowing if and how each person would react.
Tyler wasn’t sure which shocked her more, Georgie’s detailed knowledge of these young people, the jovial response she received, or just how much they respected her. These were the very people, the young veterans, she and her family cared most about helping and here was her new boss, clearly a hero in their eyes. Speaking quietly to the therapist, she noted, “You would never know it was the same woman who was having a temper tantrum two minutes ago.”
“It’s quite remarkable how she can push herself with this group. Loyalty is a stressor that pushes her into this mode. It won’t last long and it exhausts her mentally and emotionally but she does it whenever her men are here.”
“Her men? I thought they all died?”
“Men and women from her unit,” Katherine explained. Tipping her head to Maggie, who was sitting pressed against Tyler’s leg, she added, “That dog has taught me more about therapy than most doctors. See how laid-back she is right now? She gets like that whenever Georgie’s in command mode. Totally calm and unconcerned, like she hasn’t a care in the world, but watch as you leave. Georgie will start to deflate and the dog will move in to take up the slack.”
Sure enough, as they left the center and headed to the SUV, Maggie moved close to Georgie’s side. When Tyler opened the rear door for the dog, she refused to move until Georgie took a deep, relaxing breath and nodded. Maggie leaped in without further fuss while Georgie climbed into the passenger seat.
Tyler started the Land Rover. Stopping her, Georgie placed her hand over hers. “Lunch?”
“Okay…” Tyler hadn’t planned for lunch, nor had she been briefed on the when, where and what usually attached to everything in Georgie’s well-orchestrated life.
“Down Route Five…On the lake. We can sit…outside.”
“Okay…” she began tentatively, before remembering that she had better results when she was up front with her boss. “You do remember it’s December. In Buffalo? I’m not sure I can sit out in the cold and wind for five minutes much less for an entire meal.”
“Oh…” She pointed her thumb toward the backseat.
“You’re right, it’s too cold to leave her in the truck. I’m sure we can bring her inside.”
Georgie’s look ranged between wide-eyed to skeptical but she nodded, then tabbed through the SUV’s navigation unit and set the destination for an already-stored address. Tyler decided that was a good sign. Wherever they were going, Georgie had been there before and in her truck, which meant someone had driven her there.
It took just a short ten minutes on Route Five before Tyler pulled up to The Dock at the Bay. The historic wayside hotel had long been converted to a restaurant. Tyler knew the place and had driven past it a thousand times but had never bothered to stop and check it out. “I’ve always wanted to try this place. Let me grab Maggie.”
At the front door, Georgie hesitated again.
“It’s all right. I have her registration and she has her Buffalo Service Dog tag on her collar. I checked!” she added at the skeptical look.
They weren’t two steps in the door when someone stopped them but not with the challenge Georgie was so worried about. “Ms. DiNamico! Oh how lovely to see you, and you’ve brought someone new with you,” the older woman gushed, turning her attention to Tyler. “Welcome to The Dock at the Bay. Let me show you to your table. Somewhere near the window?” she asked, looking to Georgie. At her nonverbal approval, they were led to a table farthest from the main door and with a view of the patio and the beach.
Outside the December day looked frigid and ice gray. Tyler shivered at the sight. Surprising her, Georgie began rubbing brisk circles on her back.
When Georgie stopped her impromptu back-warming session, it was to take off her own winter coat. Slipping into her seat, she gave the dog a hand signal, then pointed under the table. Tyler was surprised again when Maggie settled down on the floor between them. Tyler knew Maggie would have her head on Georgie’s feet just like she did in every meeting. Slumping her rear end on Tyler’s feet was new but somehow heartwarming. Looking down, she realized the dog’s legs and massive paws were in the aisle.
“They know,” Georgie offered as if that was explanation enough.
Tyler was about to ask what she was referring to when the proverbial light went on. Georgie would share only the information she was sure you needed to hear. Which meant the staff already knew enough to watch their step around the dog. She would still warn whoever approached but she was beginning to connect with Georgie’s communication style. “You did really well with the men and women from your unit. Have you known them for a long time?”
Georgie, who had been reading the menu, placed her index finger on the place she had left off. Tyler had seen her do it in a report whenever a question came up. “No. Marnie gives…the list. I memorize it,” she answered, before returning her attention to the menu.
Determined to get a full explanation, Tyler pressed again, “Please tell me how that works?”
Again Georgie put her finger on the menu and before looking up, read off, “Dock burger with sautéed mushroom and cheddar cheese.” She then closed the menu and turned her entire attention to Tyler. “I remember some…no details. Details are important…to them.”
“So?”
“So…Marnie gets…personnel…overlapping appointments. I memorize it…before going. I have one…Boatyard too.”
“Why?” Tyler asked. The effort involved for someone with a head injury had to be significant. She watched as her boss’s attention seemed to drift out the window. Tyler now knew better and waited patiently.
“Do not see…missing leg. You see a man…missing leg. Do not know…young woman…limps…”
“But you notice she does,” Tyler said, finishing the sentiment.
Georgie nodded, and tapping her index finger against her temple, said, “Nothing to see. No aha moment. For most, this,” she tapped again, “synonymous with…mental health issue.” She let out a little exasperated huff. “Tired…people call me crazy. My men do not…need me, but need to know…they matter.”
Making a mental note to ask Marnie for this list, she turned her attention to the other issue raised. “So you’re aware of the accusation. The crazy accusation, I mean.”
She nodded, again taking time to consider her answer. “Lou thinks can…” She shook her head. “Bean counter…no leader. No imagination.”
“What about you? Have you thought about taking over?”
“Assumed I would. In my…since…fuck!” she swore in frustration. Staring out the window again, she finally turned back to Tyler, explaining, “Marnie needs to lead. Lou in charge? A fire sale: the boatyard, my patents, everything, just to…days on a Florida beach…drinking…little umbrellas. Our employees…unemployed!”
Tyler wanted to argue but what could she say to defend Lou Phipps? Oh no, he wouldn’t? Of course he would. Lou was the type of man who wanted the most expedient path to the
fastest profits. She had read every proposal Georgie had written and all the feedback and meeting minutes that followed until a new product was introduced or scrapped. She had been shocked to see how many of those ideas did not make it past inception. Whenever the question of seed money or capital purchases had come up, Lou had waded in hot and heavy, determined to stop whatever Georgie proposed. Even when there had been no capital outlay, Lou would challenge the man hours or the design time estimates, or any other aspect he could bite into. And he won more often than Tyler thought was right. From what she had read, DME was sitting on over a dozen stalled and very viable projects because Lou Phipps had worked nonstop to make them go away. No wonder Georgie wanted to divide the company into three new entities.
“In the new company organization chart you showed me. The bio company would be yours. The boatyard would operate as its own entity, and I assume with Lori Phipps at the helm?” When Georgie nodded, she continued, “That leaves DME and the new parent corporation. Let me guess, you want Marnie to head that new parent company and give the old DME to Lou.”
“Very good, Dr Marsh…Please tell…why?”
“One, it would make him president, which he dearly wants. Two, it would take him out of your face, which I’m sure would please you as much as me. You would literally be working for different companies which also means he would be out of the loop both with new business and as company finances go. Wouldn’t it put him in a position to control the existing patents? Aren’t you worried about that?”
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