Canyon of the Sphinx (15 page)

The man leading the charge
stopped long enough to ask directions from a frightened nurse. Marcus, roused
from a deep sleep by the sounds of marching boots, woke up just about the time
they entered the ward.

The doctor was a tall, thin man
who immediately identified himself to Marcus. Colonel Mark Braddox didn’t waste
any time with pleasantries; he turned right to Kathlyn, lying in a drug-induced
sleep, and bent over to examine her. Marcus was about to follow the doctor but
a familiar face caught his attention.

Tony was standing in the doorway.

“My God,” he held a weary hand
out to the Marine. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Tony smiled his toothy grin,
shaking Marcus’ hand warmly. The two had a genuine like for each other and had
been through many adventures together. It had forged a strong bond. Tony was
one of the very few people Marcus actually considered a friend.

“I got a call from the top – and
I do mean the top,” the Marine said. “Next thing I know, I’m on a plane to
Texas. Next thing I know after that, I’m on a transport to Mexico City. And
here I am.”

Marcus felt a lot better with
Tony there. The two of them thought very much alike and he felt as if a weight
had been lifted off his considerable shoulders. He wouldn’t have to worry about
anything now but Kathlyn; Tony would take care of the rest.

 “I can’t tell you how glad I am
that you’re here,” he was sincerely touched. His gaze moved to his wife, sorrow
etched on his face. “She’s not doing too hot. We need to get her out of here.”

Tony looked at Kathlyn. She
looked like she was on Death’s doorstop and his stomach did a strange lurch.
“Jesus,” he breathed. He almost commented on how awful she looked, but he bit
his tongue. Marcus didn’t need to hear that. “Dr. Braddox comes from the top,
straight out of Bethesda. He’s a trauma surgeon. If anyone can pull her
through, he can.”

“You know the guy?”

“Only by reputation. Leeves would
only send the best, you know that. And the President has a message for you – he
wants me to tell you that if you need anything else, no request is too great.
He’ll be offended if you don’t ask.”

“He told you that?”

Tony nodded slowly, confidently.
“He called on the plane ride down here. Told me that himself. In fact, Leeves
was the one who had me pulled out of Egypt so that I could help coordinate
this. He thought you’d feel better if someone you knew was here to help handle
things.”

Marcus was so relieved that tears
stung his eyes. It wasn’t the first time the President had intervened to help
Kathlyn out.  He’d done it when they’d gotten into trouble in Iraq a couple of
years ago. Seems the man was forever bailing Kathlyn out when she needed it,
but it was a good connection to have.

 By this time, Debra Jo, Mark,
Larry, Andy and Otis were clustered around behind him, watching the doctor
discuss Kathlyn’s condition in fluent Spanish with the Mexican doctors. The
medics were changing out her I.V. fluids, pumping her up with supplies they had
brought with them. Kathlyn was becoming lucid with their attention, her green
eyes lolling open and struggling to focus.

She didn’t recognize the doctor
inspecting the I.V. line into her right wrist and she instinctively recoiled. Braddox
felt her movement and looked at her, smiling gently.

“Dr. Trent,” he said calmly. “My
name is Mark Braddox. I’m a doctor in the Marine Corp. I’ve come to help you.”

By this time, Marcus was by her
side. Due to the fever and narcotics, Kathlyn’s mind hadn’t been quite right
and he wanted to make sure she remained calm

.“Sweetheart,” he said softly.
“The Marines have come to take you to a real hospital. They’re going to get you
out of here.”

She blinked at her husband,
slowly understanding him. “We’re going home?”

He didn’t want to get into a big
explanation. She didn’t understand much the last couple of days. “Yes, I
promise. We’re getting out of here and going home.”

Kathlyn’s eyes were enormous in
her pale, gray face. She struggled to sit up as if to get up and walk out, but
gentle hands pushed her back down.

“We’ll help you out, Dr. Trent,”
Braddox said. “You just relax and let us do the work, okay?”

She nodded her head but Marcus
could see the confusion in her eyes. She looked at her husband. “I want to go
home.”

“We are, sweetheart, I promise.
Hey, look who else is here.”

Marcus turned to look at Tony,
who stepped forward and smiled at his favorite archaeologist. He was absolutely
sick inside at the sight of her, ghostly pale and ill. But his pleasant
expression was enough to cause Kathlyn to smile in return, something she’d not
done in days.

 “Tony?” she reached out to him
and he took her hand, holding it tight. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged good-naturedly. “Do
you think I could really stay away? Heck, I managed to keep you out of harm’s
way for the past four years and the second you’re out of my sight, something
happens. What the heck is up with that?”

“Sorry,” she murmured.

He let go of her warm, clammy
hand. “Don’t worry about it. But now I’m here and everything is going to be all
right, okay? No more accidents. We’re going to get you home in one piece.”

“You’re the best, Tony.”

With the husband and Master
Sergeant Bubalo keeping Dr. Trent’s attention, Braddox moved to the leg. The
bandages were clean and well-dressed. He could see they had done a good job of
taking care of her needs, at least to the best of their capabilities. The thin,
older Mexican doctor who had rarely left Kathlyn’s side was present as Braddox
cut away the dressing to gain a better look at the wound.

It was an oozing mess. “What have
you been giving her for his?” he asked the clinic’s doctor.

“Penicillin,” the man replied.
“It is the only antibiotic we have.”

Braddox looked at one of the
medics. “Hang a lactated ringer’s injection and get a bolus of Cephalosporin
into her I.V. right now.  And add 500 ml of Dopamine Hydrochloride to the mix;
I don’t like her blood pressure reading.  She’s verging on endotoxic
septicemia.”

The medic moved on his orders.
Braddox lifted his hands to examine the leg more closely but a soft, female
hand touched his wrist.

“Please don’t touch it,” Kathlyn
whispered. “Even the air hitting it is agony. Please… just don’t touch it.”

Braddox smiled. “I won’t touch
the wound, I promise, but I would like to be able to examine your leg a bit. Is
that okay?”

She just turned her head, tears
forming. Braddox glanced at Marcus, who looked like he was going to cry
himself. He proceeded to very gently examine the wound and the surrounding
tissue. By the time he was finished, the Marines had brought in a transport
stretcher and were awaiting orders.

 Braddox passed a glance at
Kathlyn before motioning to Marcus. Tony followed into their private little
conference a few feet away from the bed.

“I can see how much pain she’s
in,” Braddox whispered. “But we’ve got to move her. I’m going to have to sedate
her so she won’t feel anything.”

Marcus signed heavily. “Do what
you’ve got to do.” His gaze lingered on the doctor. “What can you tell about
the leg? Do you think… is she going to keep it?”

Braddox put on his best
bedside-manner expression. “If we can get that infection under control, she can
keep it. But I have to be honest with you; the fever is weakening her entire
system. It’s not just the leg I’m worried about right now.”

Marcus visibly blanched. “What
are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if we don’t get
her under control in the next several hours, her organs are going to start
shutting down and we’re going to lose her. But I think we got here in time…
I’ll do my damn best, you can believe it.”

Marcus felt better and worse at
the same time. “What hospital are you taking her to?”

Braddox lifted an eyebrow. “No
offense to the Mexican medical system, but I’m taking her back to the States.
Dallas. It’ll take us about six hours with plane transfers and all, but I think
your wife can make it. Besides, my ex-wife is a surgeon out of Baylor
University Hospital and has agreed to devote all of her time to her case. Dr.
Trent will be in excellent hands.” He could read the panic, the uncertainty, on
Marcus’ face and his manner softened. “Trust me, Dr. Burton. We’ll do our best
to pull your wife through.”

 Braddox went back to his
patient. Marcus stood there, his hand on his chest as if holding his heart in.
Tony put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 “She’ll be okay,” he said
quietly. “You have to believe that. They’ll do everything they can.”

Marcus watched as they slipped a
sedative into her I.V. drip. He held her hand until she drifted off to sleep,
praying harder than he ever had in his whole life that she would make it.

***

The Air Atlantic flight was quiet
for the most part. It was the middle of the night over the great black waters
of the Atlantic Ocean as the jumbo jet glided en route to John F. Kennedy
International Airport from a stopover in Athens. The flight itself had
originated in the heated city of Cairo.

Jensen sat at a window seat,
tucked far back in the plane’s fuselage. The cabin was virtually silent except
for occasional snoring. Even the flight attendants were still. The flight
wasn’t particularly crowded and she had three seats to herself. For a while,
she had stretched out to sleep. But sleep would not come, so she sat up
straight and gazed at the moon-lit night beyond the window. It was clear and
crisp outside, a beautiful cloudless evening.

The AirPhone was on the seatback
in front of her. She stared at it a long time before finally picking it up and
using the international operator to connect the call. At two dollars and seventy-five
cents a minute, the call would be expensive.

A male voice answered. Jensen
tone was low she would not disturb those sleeping around her.

“Hi,” she whispered. “It’s me.”

The man on the other end was
silent for a moment. “Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Good. How are you?”

“Fine. What are you doing?”

“Working.”

“Oh.” Jensen fell quiet. “I
really miss you.”

The man sighed. “Well, I’m kinda
busy right now.”

Since the sentimental tactic
hadn’t worked, Jensen hardened. “Don’t give me that. You’d better talk to me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly that. There are some
problems that we need to discuss.”

The man’s demeanor hardened and
his voice turned cold. “I have no problems, dude. Any problems you have are all
yours. I told you to leave me out of this.”

She gripped the phone so hard that
her knuckles turned white. “You’re already in it. You have a huge part in this
so you can’t back out even if you want to. I swear to God, I’ll ruin you. Do
you hear me?”

“I’ve heard it before. But you
can’t ruin me without ruining yourself, so shut the hell up. This is your crazy
deal, not mine.”

Jensen struggled with her anger.
Her gaze moved to the cold world outside the cabin window, thinking on the
perfect, orderly plans that had abruptly gone awry. She hated disorder. It
unsettled her.

“It’s not crazy. It was set up
very well. Only Kathlyn Trent has gone off and gotten herself injured and her
husband had to rush right out and be with her. They’re in Mexico somewhere and
not where they should be, which is in Egypt.”

“I don’t want to hear this,” the
man told her.

“Too damn bad. Why the hell he
had to go to Mexico is beyond me. She’s going to live or die whether or not he
goes there. If he’d only just stayed another day or two, I would have had him.”

“But he’s gone. You can’t do
anything. So what?”

“So what?” she almost shouted. But
a guy from across the aisle looked over at her and she lowered her voice. “It
means that I’ve started this thing in motion but a key component has pulled
out. I can’t do this if Burton and Trent aren’t around, or at least Burton.”

“Well, then, you’ll have to
figure something else out, won’t you?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Look,
asshole, don’t get smart with me. You’re in it and now I need your help. I need
to figure what else to do to make this all fall back in line again. Nothing is
going as planned.”

The man sighed heavily into the
phone. “I’m not helping you, dude. Do what you want, but leave me out of it.
You can’t hurt me without hurting yourself, so don’t call me anymore. It’s
done.”

“Mike, if you say anything to
anyone about this, I swear I’ll make it so you never say anything again. Ever.”

He hung up on her. Jensen was so
furious that she was seeing stars. Her blood pressure was soaring, her heart
thumping in her head. She had to calm down and figure this all out. She was a
smart girl; she could to it. She’d come this far and wasn’t about to turn back.