CHAPTER 6: REUNION
Adrian Palmer, dressed in a surgical mask and gown, burst through the operating room doors, almost knocking down the two nurses and doctor's assistant who were on their way out. The doctor's assistant all but fell down as Adrian bumped into him. The assistant, however, managed to maintain his balance, sidestepped, stood up straight and saluted.
"General," the assistant said.
Adrian was too focused on Doc and managed a half salute back to the assistant. "Doc!"
Doc, who had just finished up the stitch job on his patient, looked up. He was dressed in a surgical cap, goggles, mask, gown, and gloves, and was covered nearly from head to toe in spattered blood.
"Doc, is it true? Could it be?" Adrian asked as he stood next to Doc and looked down at the patient.
Doc didn't answer, but just looked at Adrian.
Adrian could tell that his best friend in life was smiling under his surgical mask. Adrian could always tell because as Doc aged, the crows' feet around his eyes grew larger with each smile, and Doc smiled almost all of the time, even after all they had gone through together.
"Doc, are you just going to stand there smiling at me? I need an answer. Is it true what Kylee told me?"
Doc giggled and said, "I ran the DNA test as soon as he came in, and ?"
Adrian was anxious. He needed an answer now. "And what, Doc? You had better tell me! You may be twice my size, but I'll take you down!"
Doc laughed with his deep voice and paused just a little longer to make Adrian squirm. "Anyway, as I was saying before you threatened me, I ran the DNA test, and it's confirmed. My patient, here, is none other than ?"
Doc had to stop. As he spoke, his voice cracked as emotion crept in. He cleared his throat and continued in a solemn tone, "Adrian, he's Jake ? your son."
The tears began to roll from Adrian's eyes. He jumped up and hugged Doc, getting blood all over his surgical gown. "I can't believe it. How did they get here and why?"
"I don't know," said Doc, pushing Adrian away. "I should have known it was your son when the special ops unit brought him in."
"Why do you say that?" asked Adrian, as he moved a little closer in order to get a better look at the son he had missed for twenty-five years.
"Well, look at him. He's just as ugly as you are."
Adrian turned around and laughed, giving Doc a little shove. "This is a miracle. Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes, he's going to be just fine. He was lucky. The plasma blast, for some reason, didn't penetrate his stomach, but he came in with a three-and-a-half-inch diameter hole in his flesh and muscle. He also lost a lot of blood. We managed to find a match in our minuscule supply of blood and gave him a transfusion."
Adrian looked at the wound that Jake had suffered. "How did you manage to cover the wound so well?"
Doc walked across the room and pulled a drape away to reveal the exposed body of one of Adrian's soldiers. The soldier had a three-and-half-inch diameter hole cut into his stomach. "This is Lieutenant Comoasa."
"No, not Como. He was such a good leader and had such potential. How did he die?"
Doc, saddened by the death of the young officer they had all gotten to know quite well, walked over to Lieutenant Comoasa's body and turned him on his side. "Kylee told me that as they were loading Jake and his friend into the medical transport, Como was shot in the back of the head by a wounded Gnol."
Adrian shook and bowed his head. "I think I should be the one to tell his father, and he should be honored with a proper military burial."
"I agree," said Doc as he laid the lieutenant's body back down gently and covered him with a sheet. "Anyway, Como wasn't going to make it, and Jake was in critical condition. As soon as they arrived at the base, I decided to graft a piece of Como's skin and muscle into Jake's missing flesh and muscle."
"Wow, you can do that?"
Doc gave Adrian an annoyed look. "Hey, I can do a lot of things you can't do, SIR."
Adrian ignored Doc's sarcasm and walked back to Jake, who was sleeping soundly. He gently brushed the left side of Jake's head with his gloved hand. "I still can't believe it. I never thought I would see him again. I have thought about him every day for nearly twenty-five years. And, look ? we are finally reunited again on another planet. There's definitely someone watching out for us, Doc."
"You can say that again," said Doc as he moved to the right side of Adrian. "Listen, Adrian, the nurses will be in here soon to take Jake to his recovery room. I think we should let him rest. I definitely need some rest too. That procedure took nearly thirteen hours, and I'm exhausted. I need to get some sleep before I figure out how to help his friend."
Adrian looked up at Doc. "How is his friend doing? What was on his name badge again? Skip, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I think so. He's in critical condition right now. He lost way too much blood even to be alive, but he's still fighting. His left leg from just above the knee down was missing when he came in, and he had a broken rib in his left side that slightly punctured his lung. I fixed that already, but I've got to do some more research to figure out how I'm going to fix his leg. I had to remove the rest of his left leg because of infection."
Adrian gave Doc a puzzled look. "What do you mean more research? How are you going to fix his leg?"
Doc smiled and said, "Oh, that's a surprise. Sean and I have been working on something that I think will amaze you."