The Great Thirst Boxed Set

by Mary C. Findley

  “Yeah, I was worried too, let me tell you. But people on Naddy’s dig told me that a couple of years back, some medical group decided, with all the archaeologists and tourists – can you believe Pakistan has tourism? Anyway, they decided that they ought to take advantage of what they call medical tourism in Pakistan.

  “People want to find cheaper ways to get medical care, so they go to other countries. Besides that, they just want good care when they are traveling and have an emergency. So they built this state of the art facility, just outside of Harappa, and it was only finished last year. It’s amazing. Aside from most of the people speaking Urdu, and the nurses wearing head coverings, it’s like being in the states. Thank God it’s here.”

  “I agree, we need to be very thankful. Can you tell me more about this healing you mentioned?”

  David and Cindee appeared and stood back by the waiting room doorway.

  “I will, Dad. I’ll send you text or an email, later. But I might be getting some news right now, so I’ll call you back when I know more.” He hung up the phone. David and Cindee came the rest of the way in and sat down with him.

  “How’s Naddy? And is there any news about Jiggly?” Keith asked.

  “Something weird’s happening, Keith,” Cindee said, hesitating before speaking. “All of a sudden they’re saying Naddy, Jiggly, and Talia’s cases are being taken over. We heard something about a care co-ordinator. Poor Sophie. They took her away from Naddy’s recovery room and kind of herded us all together in a conference room. They said they won’t be able to give us any information until the care co-ordinator doctor arrives. But they sure asked us a bunch of questions.”

  “It felt like an interrogation,” David said. “But before long they realized Cindee and I are not relatives, and not even listed as responsible parties for anybody, so they told us we had to leave. Before all this, it seemed like they were willing to talk to any of us, and it was just care issues. Now, they want to know how the injuries occurred, our locations … they want to know too much, it seems to me.”

  “So you think someone’s figured out something about the real reason we’re here?” Keith asked. “Well, I’m a responsible party, and maybe I can do something to help Sophie, plus learn what this is all about.”

  David and Cindee guided him to the conference room they had been ejected from and Keith flagged down someone traversing the hall. That person, unfortunately, spoke no language any of them could manage to communicate in. He left but returned with the interpreter Keith had spoken to the doctor through.

  “Mr. Bradley, I was instructed to find you. Why did you leave the surgical waiting room?” Her manner was far less warm than before. Caution, even suspicion, clouded her expression. “Please come with me.”

  She pulled him into the conference room. Sophie sat huddled at the end of the table. The rest of it was filled with people who stared at her with open hostility.

  “Please excuse the interruption,” the interpreter said, keeping her head down and gesturing for Keith to sit across from her next to Sophie. He sat and sneaked a hand under the table to catch hold of Sophie’s. She barely reacted.

  “Doctor Ramin has been avoiding our questions,” the man at the far end of the table said. “Perhaps now we can get some answers. You are Mr. Bradley, the science expert on this expedition? You are the husband of the injured woman, Natalia Ramin Bradley?”

  Keith forced himself not to react to the accusation that Sophie would dodge questions. “Yes, I’m Keith Bradley. I’m not sure expedition is the right word for what we came here to do. I’m just a high school science teacher. My wife teaches Literature. She and I have a website to share and exchange academic information about historical and scientific discoveries. A Pakistani educator contacted us about some parallel research she’d been doing and wanted us to see her findings. That’s all we’re here for.”

  “The Doctors Ramin have permits for archaeological research at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. But when your team arrived, they disappeared from Faisalabad, and we have no record that they ever officially checked in at the Harappa site. Can you explain that?”

  “Yeah, I can explain that. We tried to check in at the hotel we booked and somebody started shooting up the place. We had to get out of there fast, and make sure those gunmen didn’t follow us. Our friends took us home with them.”

  Several people at the table exchanged uncomfortable glances. The man squared his shoulders.

  “We do our best to protect visitors to our country. We regret it when incidents occur that might cause them anxiety. But we cannot prevent further mishaps if we are not informed of changes of itinerary or if visitors do not at least make some effort to communicate with us. It is most unfortunate when visitors become ill or suffer injury, but travel companions must understand that we are here to help. Sometimes unfortunate incidents can be avoided with proper assistance. All we ask is to be kept apprised when travel plans change.”

  Keith stared at him, and at the other people. The mood of the room had changed from hostile to something suspiciously like we’re just trying to cover our tails. Could they just be trying to figure out how to avoid blame for all these injured people? Keith gave Sophie’s hand another squeeze.

  “We’re just waiting for our care coordinator for Dr. Ramin, my wife, and our associate to arrive, then, right?” he asked. “Now that this meeting is over?”

  Sophie dug her nails into his palm. Keith didn’t change his expression. They waited. Finally, the man at the head of the table jerked upright.

  “Yes. The meeting is concluded. We do ask, since this hospital is a part of our national reputation, to be kept advised of any care-related issues while the patients remain here, before there is any further action taken. Let me repeat my assurances that we are only here to help.”

  Chapter Sixty-four – Holding Hands

  Keith kept Sophie’s hand in his and led her away from the room as quickly as possible. They stopped by Naddy’s room. Keith could see from the doorway that he was awake but very groggy. The staff, seeming nervous, asked with great deference that only one visitor go in at a time.

  “Let’s just pray real quick, before you go in,” Keith said. He did so. Sophie sniffled and didn’t add anything. “You gonna be okay?” he asked her.

  She patted his hand. “I will be now. Thank you. Thank you.”

  “God gave me the right words at the right time, I guess. That’s all that happened. But anybody else tries to take you away from him, you call me. Don’t budge. Just call me.”

  “I will.” Sophie patted his face this time. “God bless you.”

  Keith returned to the waiting room outside the surgical unit working on Talia. David and Cindee sat stiffly, holding hands, but they jumped up when they saw him.

  “What happened? Where’s Sophie? Are they going to arrest us?” Cindee asked.

  “Nobody’s getting arrested,” Keith replied. He described the meeting.

  “I don’t understand,” David said. “It almost sounds as if they are reacting to someone asserting control over these cases from outside the hospital. Worry about their national reputation? What brought that on?”

  “You think that’s what it is?” Keith asked. “Who could it be? We haven’t contacted the US consulate – is there one in Pakistan? – We didn’t complain about the care, or anything. I was telling my dad how great this hospital is, and what a blessing it is to have it right here.”

  “Yes, but this is still so strange,” David muttered. “Well, God gave you a wise response, to be sure. I still want to know if we can get any news about Jiggly.”

  “Do you mind if we go check, Keith? We’ll just do that, and wave at Sophie, and come back as soon as we can.”

  “Go right ahead. I’m going to lean my head back against that wall and shut my eyes for a minute.” They prayed together and Cindee and David departed.

  Keith dozed in the chair but started awake to find himself alone except for a tall, forbidding-looking woman. He rubbed hi
s eyes.

  “Doctor Ewing?” Keith rubbed his eyes again, and struggled to his feet. His neck seized up but he managed to maintain eye contact while trying to rub life back into it. “What are you doing in Pakistan?”

  “As long as you are surrounded by invalids, the work for the Testaments cannot continue,” Dr. Ewing replied, crossing her arms. “So, this being my area of expertise, I have tasked myself with making sure they spend as little time as invalids as possible.”

  She held up a long, bony finger, ticking off a list. “One. Dr. Ramin is being moved out of intensive care as we speak. Two. That Italian fellow whose name I shall not attempt to pronounce is in stable condition. His arm could not be saved, and his sepsis was quite severe. It will take some time for him to heal and for the infection to clear up. He will most likely recover, though. I will see to the needed rehabilitation as soon as he is physically able to begin.

  “Three. Mrs. Bradley is out of surgery, needing only some minor repair to her spleen along with treatment of a concussion and quite a number of hairline fractures. She is stable and expected to make a full recovery. You’ll be able to see her as soon as we finish here, though it may be some time before she awakens.”

  “Thank you …” Keith said uncertainly. Dr. Ewing hardly paused.

  “I am arranging a medical transport to fly all of you back to Precious Treasure Campground as soon as there is no danger of setbacks for the patients. I will, as I said, personally oversee the recovery of the convalescents so that you will not be hindered when it is time to set off on the next leg of your journey.

  “The new tablets have all been accounted for and are already on their way to experts for study, along with the artifacts. Initial feeling is that you and that young woman with the disturbingly green hair were correct – the Pipali artifacts are very likely to contain the keys being sought to unlock the coded messages. Your theory was applied to the work on the Ugarit tablets before the latest batch had even been received, and there are already promising breakthroughs.

  “I know you have not had time to keep abreast of the latest news back home, so, with apologies for keeping you from your wife’s side, I will give you a briefing, with the emphasis on brevity. Sam has completed his inspection of the school and Brad Shannon is assisting with filing the paperwork to reopen for classes after repairs. There may be a slight delay, though, because, while the damage was not that extensive, the explosive device contained radioactive materials.”

  “Radioactive? A dirty bomb?”

  “Yes, but the amount of radioactivity was small. Not dangerous to anyone’s health. Still, as a precaution, Sam thought it best to get rid of anything likely to absorb radiation. Since the bomb was placed close to the Bible as Literature classroom, that included the students’ study materials from your class.”

  “Of course. So now we know why they did that. Did my dad tell you about my grandfather’s Bible?”

  “I haven’t heard anything about it.”

  “Grandma woke up and found a pile of dust on her bedside table. My dad has it in a freezer bag. I want to get it analyzed as soon as I can.”

  “I’d heard that there were traces of radiation after they scanned the Bibles,” Dr. Ewing said. “Not dangerous, everyone said. You think this effect will be cumulative, though? More Bibles will disintegrate?”

  “I know that if it’s not already cumulative, they’re going to keep sneaking in small doses of radiation until they can make that happen, if it’s possible,” Keith replied. “Or at least they’re going to make us afraid of our own Bibles and study materials because they’ve been irradiated. They already succeeded at the school.

  “They would’ve been happy if I’d been arrested over accusations that I was the bomber, or if the school got plowed under and the kids were scattered away from our influence. If more people got sicker, or even died, from radiation exposure when they worked with a ton of scanned manuscripts, that would have furthered their agenda, too, I guess.”

  “Who is they, and what is this agenda? Is it this reporter you called me about? Is she really that serious a threat? There’s disagreement among the Guardians about that. Who can do what you said she claimed was her goal – to remove all access to the Scriptures and send us into spiritual withdrawal?”

  Keith gave her his own tick-off list of events since they had landed in Faisalabad. Her eyes grew wider with each event. He finished off with the interrogation-style interview he had gone through with Sophie.

  “They pulled Dr. Ramin away from her husband because of that? They withheld care information? Then I’m to blame for that. I may be retired, but I do still have power in the medical community, so I moved to protect you. I intended to prevent mismanagement. I had no idea that would be the reaction.”

  “Maybe somebody stirred the pot, by making them paranoid about your motives. It sounded like they were more scared than angry.”

  “I am going to urge the Guardians to take these incidents more seriously,” Dr. Ewing said. “Someone certainly seems to be trying to stop this work you and your wife are doing. We are going to have to consider somehow making a wall of protection around you.”

  Dr. Ewing took a step toward Keith. He started to back up, but he was already supporting himself against a wall. She leaned in and kissed Keith’s cheek.

  “What you are doing is extraordinary,” she said. “Keep doing it.”

  With that, she turned and left the waiting room, but called out from the doorway. “But for now, go and see your wife.”

  Keith slipped into the recovery room and sat beside Talia’s bed. She looked even more fragile than before.

  “Where’s my Warrior Angel?” he whispered. “Should I get Dan in here so you can kick his butt again? I didn’t even believe him when he first told that story. But I’d love to see you go warrior again. I need to see a little of that fire, Talia. Just so I know you’re going to be okay.”

  She didn’t stir, even when he held her hand and rubbed it, trailing up her bruised arm very gently. Her left arm was in a cast. They had told him it was mostly precautionary, like the boot she was going to have to wear on her right foot for a couple of weeks. He could read the report Dr. Ewing had written on Talia’s case … or at least the parts that weren’t illegible because of her handwriting or the medical jargon. Talia’d had something like a concussion all over her body, was what it amounted to, partly from the explosion and partly from the knocking around trying to get to the surface. Lots of hurts in lots of places, but all of them expected to heal quickly.

  Jiggly. Keith wanted to go see about him, but he didn’t want to leave. Dr. Ewing had said they couldn’t save his arm. How would he deal with that? Talia had said something about him saving her life. How could he have done that when he was more dead than alive? But her saying that was good enough for Keith.

  “Whatever it takes, we’ll take care of Jiggly.”

  Talia’s eyes fluttered open. “How is Jiggly?” she asked.

  Keith got up and kissed her forehead. “Dr. Ewing came all the way here to make sure I’m not held up by a bunch of invalids,” he began, forcing a smile.

  “Dr. Ewing! I had a dream that she was standing over my bed, saying, ‘We’ll have you up and around in no time.’ I wanted to salute.”

  “I bet it wasn’t a dream.” Keith chuckled. “She really is here, and she scared the whole hospital into submission.”

  “I believe it,” Talia said. “Ow. It hurts to laugh. Don’t make me laugh.”

  “Okay.” Keith took a deep breath. “You asked about Jiggly. So I’ll tell you. They had to take his arm, and his infection is really bad, but Dr. Ewing thinks he’s going to make it.”

  “They took his arm?” Tears ran down Talia’s cheeks. “When I was fighting underwater, a whirlpool started to drag me down, but I found something to grab onto. It was Jiggly’s arm. That’s how he saved me, Keith.”

  “Don’t cry, please,” Keith soothed, wiping away her tears and caressing her hair. “Like I said,
God does everything for His glory. Everything. Because of Jiggly’s arm, you lived. And because of you, he lived.”

  Talia nodded slowly. Her eyes drifted shut. Keith tiptoed out into the hall and found David and Cindee waiting there.

  “She was awake for a minute or so,” he said. “She thought she dreamed about Dr. Ewing. Oh, maybe you guys didn’t hear about her.”

  “We heard,” Cindee said. “We met her. She even apologized for the interrogation stuff. But she still scared me.”

  “I will have nightmares about her. She is a woman of great power,” David said. “I am glad she uses it for good.”

  “I told Talia about Jiggly. Have you two seen him? Any more news?”

  “He’s next door, there.” Cindee pointed. “David went in for a second.”

  “He’s awake, but he didn’t want to talk,” David said. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through. The first thing that went through my mind when I was shot was, Am I going to lose my arm? And now it’s happened to him. I didn’t know what to say. I tried to pray but it sounded so hollow.”

  Keith went into Jiggly’s room and found him staring at the ceiling. He looked so sick, and so beaten.

  “If you came to read the Bible to me, or say more lame prayers like Sharon, forget it,” Jiggly said in a hoarse, weak voice.

  “I didn’t,” Keith said. “I came to thank you for saving Talia’s life.”

  “What? I didn’t save her life.” Jiggly clearly tried to snarl, but it came out more of a wheeze.

  “When she was drowning, she got hold of your arm and pulled herself out.”

  “Oh.” Jiggly seemed to consider that. Talking clearly cost him a lot of effort, but between wheezing breaths and long pauses he managed to make a speech. “Well, I wasn’t using it, so I guess it was okay for her to. Huh. Life’s funny, isn’t it? Now how can I be all bitter, when I hear something like that? How many times do we use that expression – ‘I’d give my right arm for …’ whatever? Well, truth is, I would have said that about Talia. I would have done that for her, to save the Warrior Angel. So I guess that makes it okay?”