JC: Ed Biggers
Part 6: Doyen
Chapter 10
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

As the pair strode down the hall of the hospital, staff and patients 
moved out of the way as though afraid to be noticed. The red robed 
Druid moved with the motion and grace of a warrior. Her eyes 
watched every entryway seeking out danger. On the other hand, the 
black robed Druid seemed to swagger down the hall like a cowboy.

Ed glanced to his right taking in the room numbers on the door. 
There were so many doors and behind each door were patients 
recovering from wounds. He finally found the door he was seeking 
and came to a stop. The Druid beside him paused and entered the 
room. 

Ed waited knowing that the patient wasn't there. His companion 
came out of the room and said, "He's over in physical therapy. 
Should we wait for him here?"

"No," answered Ed, "let's go see how our man is doing."

His companion shrugged her shoulders letting him make the 
decisions as she said, "Lead the way."

Ed strolled through the labyrinth to the physical therapy room 
without difficulty. His companion marched beside him taking note 
of the reactions of the people around them. A red robed Druid 
walking through a military hospital was not a good sign as far as 
most of the patients were concerned. Red robed Druids showed up 
when things were going south. The only positive note was that 
things would typically improve as a result of their presence.

Reaching the door, Ed stopped and held out a hand to stop his 
companion from entering the room. At the door, he watched the 
man struggling to walk between two parallel bars. He was having 
difficulty using the artificial leg that was attached below his stump. 
The expression on his face was a cross between intense 
concentration and anger. Ed wondered what was the source of the 
anger. Was he angry about not being able to master the artificial 
leg or at the fact that he needed it?

After five minutes, his physical therapy came to an end. As the 
man settled into a wheel chair, Ed entered the room and asked, 
"Captain Jones?"

The man looked up and saw the two Druids watching him. 
Frowning, he asked, "What do you want?"

Ed smiled at the reaction of the man. It was exactly what he had 
predicted. He said, "I'm Ed Biggers. My companion is Penny 
Vinter."

"So what," asked Captain Jones. He pointed to Penny and said, 
"You're too late. They already got me."

Ed leaned against the doorframe and said, "I take it you didn't 
apply to the Druid College."

Confused by the question, Captain Jones looked over at Ed and 
asked, "Why in the name of hell would I do that?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that an application came in with 
your name on it along with your school and military records," 
replied Ed.

"I didn't send you that."

"Everything on your application was true except for your 
signature," commented Ed.

"Well, I didn't fill it out," replied Captain Jones wanting to end the 
discussion.

Ed walked over to the parallel bars and examined them for a 
minute. Glancing over at the physical therapist and an aide, Ed 
took note of their presence and was amused at the confused 
expressions on their faces. He turned to face the man in his 
wheelchair. Looking directly at the Captain, he asked, "I wonder 
why General Grey went to so much trouble."

At the mention of General Grey, Penny started and turned to face 
Ed. There wasn't any reason for a black robe Druid to know the 
general. She asked, "How do you know about General Grey?"

Ed shrugged and looked over at the soldier. The Captain paled at 
the mention of the name. He spun his wheelchair and tried to head 
for the door, but Penny was alert enough to block his exit before he 
reached it. She looked down at the Captain and asked, "How do 
you know General Grey?"

The Captain answered, "It's classified."

The therapist, a muscular young man, moved in to support the 
Captain. Before he was able to take two steps, Ed had interposed 
his body between the Captain and the therapist. He turned his back 
to ignore the therapist, an action that confused the bigger man for a 
moment. The therapist growled, "Leave the Captain alone."

Penny glanced over at the therapist with an expression that 
suggested there were other things the man could do that might be 
stupider, but he'd really have to search for a long time. Her look 
had the desired effect on the therapist. The aide stood to the side 
wondering what was going on. 

Ed was quiet for a moment as he examined the Captain. He said, 
"Let me guess. You were wounded while on a mission directed by 
the good General."

The reaction of the Captain told Ed everything he needed to know. 
He had touched on the truth. The mission that had resulted in the 
man's injuries had been run under the direction of the General and 
had gone bad. Could it be that the General felt guilty?

Penny asked, "Ed, you seem to know a lot about General Grey. Do 
you mind telling me about it?"

"I was present when he was promoted from Colonel to General. 
That was my first and last visit to the White House," replied Ed as 
he watched the Captain's reaction. The man didn't seem to react to 
that announcement, but Penny did. 

Ed paced a moment and then said, "Penny. I imagine that General 
Grey has heard that we are here. He'll be showing up soon. Would 
you delay his arrival for about ten minutes?"

His request was met with laughter as she answered, "Only ten 
minutes? I can give you an hour."

As far as the man in the wheelchair was concerned, the assumption 
that the General would come to the hospital because these two 
Druids were present seemed pretty egotistical on their part. Captain 
Jones said, "He's not coming."

After Penny left the room, the therapist approached Ed now that he 
felt the odds were even. Ed went to the door and closed it to give 
them a little more privacy. Without even looking at the man, Ed 
said, "Reconsider that."

"I can tear you a new asshole before you take three steps. What do 
you think you can do to me?" The big man made fists and took 
another step towards Ed. The problem was that it was impossible 
to intimidate someone when they kept their back to you. 

"Not much, I suppose. I can get an IRS audit started, an FBI 
investigation initiated, and begin a half dozen other things that are 
even more unpleasant. However, I'd rather have you accept that I'm 
not here to harm the good Captain."

Turning to Captain Jones, he asked, "What identification could I 
show you that would allow you to answer my questions?"

Captain Jones laughed at the question and answered, "Just about 
every alphabet soup government agency."

Ed pulled out his wallet and started showing the Ids from the 
various government agencies with which he consulted. He asked, 
"Is that enough?"

"What, you don't have DIA?" answered the Captain putting as 
much irony in his voice as he could muster. He was convinced that 
no one could possess so many badges from so many agencies. No 
one worked for the IRS, FBI, and CIA. 

"No, Penny is the one affiliated with the NSA, DIA, Army, and 
CIA," answered Ed in the offhand manner of someone that knew 
more than others.

"You're blowing smoke up my ass. Now get out of here before I 
call an MP," countered the Captain. 

The therapist had seen the badges and had been impressed to the 
point where Ed's previous threat only seemed more realistic. He 
backed up and glanced over at the aide while shrugging his 
shoulders. 

Ed leaned against the parallel beams and examined the man in the 
wheel chair. Shaking his head, he thought about what the General 
had gone through to set up this meeting. It went far beyond what 
he could consider normal even for General Grey. The man wanted 
something from Ed and was using the Captain to get it.

He said, "Before you do that, let me ask you one question. General 
Grey went to a lot of trouble to make sure that you and I met. He 
knows that I'm the only Druid at the school that could have spotted 
the fake admission. Why does he want you and me to meet?"

"He wants you to kill me," replied the Captain.

There was a ring of truth in the answer that testified to the fact that 
the Captain actually believed it was a real possibility. The Captain 
didn't know that a Druid would never act like a hit man, but the 
General knew better. The actual explanation had to be something 
very different. Ed thought it would be funny if the reason was the 
exact opposite. Wouldn't it be a real kicker if the General wanted 
Ed to save the Captain?

"So why would he want me to kill you?"

"He's the whole reason I'm here," answered the Captain, "and it is 
going to take a lot to convince me that he expected me to live long 
enough to make it here."

From the hall came the yell, "Stand down, men. If Penny doesn't 
want me to pass, then you're not going to be able to get me past 
her."

Ed chuckled at the disturbance and said, "Better start talking fast 
before she lets him in."

The man in the wheelchair had heard the outburst in the hall. If the 
General wasn't going to force his way past Penny, then these 
Druids were much more powerful than they appeared. He re-
evaluated his initial reaction to the identification that Ed had 
shown him. 

"He sent my unit on a mission and I was the only one that made it 
back. We didn't complete the mission. There was no way to 
complete the mission. They dropped us off right in the middle of 
the enemy," answered Captain Jones with more than a little 
bitterness. Half of the men in his unit were dead before their 
parachutes hit the ground.

"And you think they did it intentionally," commented Ed.

"You bet your Druid ass," replied Captain Jones. "No one could 
have blown it that bad."

"Is your career in the Army over?" 

"What do you care?" snapped the Captain. 

"I don't actually care," replied Ed with a grin at the knowledge that 
his answer would probably shock the soldier. He added, "Let's just 
say that I was curious."

"Penny, let me in there. Now!"

At the exclamation from the hallway, Ed commented, "Sounds to 
me like the General is getting impatient."

The Captain stared at the door in surprise that the General hadn't 
already entered the room. No one ever stood between the General 
and what he wanted. It was a demonstration of real power that she 
had stopped him. He didn't know what it meant when the General 
started negotiating with her. He said, "I don't understand why he 
hasn't had her removed by now."

Ed laughed at the comment and said, "The Druids live by two 
rules. If it harms none, then do it. Protect the weak from the strong. 
We expect the rest of the world to live by one rule."

"What's that?"

"Don't fuck with a Druid," replied Ed, "and the General is well 
aware of that one."

It sounded like the kind of thing that a military unit would adopt as 
a motto and the Captain, despite his sour mood, couldn't help but 
chuckle. He had heard a little bit about Druids over the past six 
years and knew that they had the ears of important people, but he 
didn't know just how cocky they were. Although he felt miserable, 
he couldn't help but admire that kind of attitude.

Ed called out, "Penny, let him in."

General Grey walked into the room as if he controlled everything 
around him. The effect was ruined by the grin on Penny's face. She 
had enjoyed taking the intelligence officer down a notch or two. 

Ed said, "You went to a lot of trouble to get me here. Do you want 
to explain why?"

"Haven't you figured it out by now?"

"I figure you feel a little guilty about the last mission on which you 
sent this man and want me to help him get his emotional legs under 
him at the same time that he gets his fake leg under him," 
answered Ed.

"So are you going to accept him in the college?" asked the 
General.

"No," answered Ed, "he already has a degree."

The answer took the General by surprise. It had never dawned on 
him that the Druids would reject the Captain. He said, "Oh, I 
thought…"

"You thought wrong," interrupted Ed. 

The Captain had watched the exchange with interest. When the 
Druid had suggested that the General felt guilty, he was tempted to 
burst out laughing. That didn't go with the reputation held by the 
man. That his admission had been rejected almost hurt as much as 
the wound that took his leg. 

"So, I guess I wasted your time," said the General with a funny 
expression on his face.

"Yes," answered Ed. He looked over at the Captain for a minute 
trying to assess his character. The guy sitting in the wheelchair had 
been damaged and the damage went beyond his legs. 

"Sorry about that," replied the General, "I guess I had better leave 
now."

"Is Captain Jones a good man?" asked Ed.

"Yes, he is," answered the General. After a significant pause, he 
added, "Followed orders and executed his missions to the best of 
his ability."

"I didn't ask if he was a good soldier. I asked if he was a good 
man."

The General went to the door and turned to look at Ed. Staring the 
Druid straight in the eye, he said, "I wouldn't have tried to help him 
if he wasn't."

Ed turned to Penny and said, "Get the Captain transferred to the 
Infirmary of the Druid College. I can use an assistant for the next 
few months." 

General Grey turned and stared at Ed, surprised by the action. 
Penny smiled, enjoying the looks on the faces of the military men 
in the room. Captain Jones wondered if he had any choice in the 
matter. 

"He's still in the military."

"Transfer him to military intelligence," countered Ed, "and assign 
him to me for further training. I know that you can do that."

The General stared at Ed wondering if the Druid was actually 
going to train Captain Jones. He asked, "Will he return to duty?"

"I doubt it," replied Ed as he looked over at the soldier. The man 
had been in one battle too many.

Captain Jones asked, "Don't I have a choice in what happens to 
me?"

"Yes, you do. You can stay here and get healed physically. You 
can come with me and become a whole person again," answered 
Ed in a matter of fact voice.

Bitterly, the man retorted, "If you haven't noticed, I'm missing a 
leg."

"That won't keep you from being a whole person," answered 
Penny. She lifted her robe to reveal an artificial leg before turning 
to make arrangements for the man to be transferred to the Druid 
College. If the man was smart, there wasn't any way that he was 
going to turn down the offer to work with Ed.

Everyone in the room, with the exception of Ed, watched her leave 
in stunned silence. Ed was merely surprised. Everyone else was 
shocked by the casualness with which she had showed her artificial 
leg. The General turned to Ed and asked, "Did you know about her 
leg?"

"No. She's a whole person. The body doesn't matter that much," 
replied Ed as he turned to the Captain to see the effects of his 
words on the man.

"I'll go."

The General left on hearing the Captain agree to the transfer. He 
was surprised by the way that things had ended. Dealing with 
Druids was always a surprise and Ed was probably the most 
difficult of them. He served the truth and, in the intelligence 
business, truth was a pretty slippery thing. 

The physical therapist and the aide looked at each other. The aide 
shrugged his shoulders. The physical therapist said, "I think you 
should take him to his room now."

Ed watched as the aide wheeled Captain Jones out of the room. He 
turned to the therapist and said, "Don't feel bad. You did 
everything you could to protect him. He wasn't ever in danger."

The man watched Ed leave and shook his head. He had been 
working in the hospital for a couple of years and this episode had 
gone beyond anything that he had seen. It would make interesting 
conversation over coffee with his co-workers. 

Ed pulled into the parking lot of the Druid College. As always, the 
lot was nearly empty of cars. Turning off the motor, he noticed 
Laura exiting the administration building while pushing an empty 
wheelchair. Turning to his passenger, he said, "We are expected."

Captain Jones watched the woman in a green robe guide the 
wheelchair towards the car. She didn't look strong enough to deal 
with a cripple. That would just make it harder for him since he 
wouldn't be able to use her for support while learning how to walk 
on his leg. 

Ed got out of the car and opened the door for the Captain. As he 
held open the door, he thought that it was time for the Captain to 
get used to doing things for himself. Of course, there were going to 
be a lot of things that the Captain was going to have to learn how 
to do. When Laura arrived, Ed asked, "You ready to deal with this 
guy?"

Laura looked at the Captain, taking in the uniform and bitter 
expression on his face. She smiled as she considered what would 
be required to take that expression off his face. She asked, "Can I 
assume that he falls under the first year protocol?"

"Of course," replied Ed with a matching smile on his face at the 
idea.

The Captain looked from the man to the woman wondering what 
they had decided and decided that he didn't trust their smiles. 
Laura positioned the wheelchair and, as she pointed to places on 
the chair, said, "Put your right hand here and your left hand there. 
When you are ready, pull your body up with a rotating motion 
while pivoting on your good leg. You'll just fly into the chair with 
hardly any effort."

He looked at her in disbelief, but did as she instructed. He lifted 
and twisted, finding himself suddenly in the chair. Surprised, he 
said, "That was easy."

"Where's your leg?" asked Laura.

"In some hospital trash bin, I imagine," answered the Captain, the 
sarcasm in his voice was very difficult to miss.

"I wasn't referring to that leg. I meant the one they gave you at the 
hospital," rebuked Laura. 

Ed answered, "It's in the trunk."

Captain Jones sat in the wheelchair sulking. He was not used to so 
much activity since entering the hospital and was exhausted from 
the trip. Hearing a noise behind Laura, he shifted to see what was 
making the noise. Shocked, he shouted, "There's a bear."

Without turning, Laura said, "Hi Fluffy. Where's Sid?"

The bear snorted and peaked around Laura at the man in the 
wheelchair. From the other side of the car, Sid answered, "Ah, I 
wondered what Fluffy was curious about."

The Captain turned his head and examined the green robed Druid. 
He hoped that the man would get control over the bear. It was 
making him nervous with the way it smelled the wheelchair. If the 
bear decided to attack him, he was virtually helpless to defend 
himself. 

Ed smiled and stepped out of the way by going to the trunk of the 
car. Opening it, he removed the artificial leg and the suitcase that 
represented the possessions of the Captain. After getting the 
attention of Sid, he tossed the suitcase over to the man. Sid caught 
it and asked, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Feed it to Fluffy," answered Ed with a smile. 

Sid grinned, Fluffy growled, Laura adopted a small smile, and 
Captain Jones stared at the bear open mouthed not knowing 
whether to believe them or not. Laura spun the wheelchair around 
and headed to the building. Sid followed her while Fluffy returned 
to the woods. Ed followed behind carrying the artificial leg over 
his shoulder as if it were a rifle.

It didn't take them long to reach the infirmary. Once there, Laura 
took charge and got him out of the wheelchair and into the bed. 
Once he was there, she said, "Remove your clothes. I need to give 
you a thorough physical exam."

The Captain stared at her for a moment and then decided to do as 
she asked. If she wasn't going to hand him a robe, then he was 
more than happy to embarrass her with his full naked glory. It 
didn't take him long to remove his shirt, shoe, and sock. When it 
came time to remove his pants and underwear, he had to struggle, 
but Laura just stood to the side waiting patiently. 

Once naked, the Captain smiled at Laura with defiance hoping that 
she would react in some fashion. Instead, she just gathered his 
clothes together and handed them to Ed. Once his possessions had 
been removed from the room, she proceeded to give him the most 
thorough examination that he had ever experienced. 

After a few minutes into the exam, the Captain tried to get some 
reaction out of her concerning his nudity. He asked, "Do you like 
what you see?"

"Not really," replied Laura as she poked and prodded his back, "I 
see a lot of small scars, you have areas of tissue damage from 
being in bed so much, and there's a lot of asymmetric muscle 
development. Your stump is not healing as well as it should. Many 
of the stresses that you have placed on your joints could result in 
arthritis in the next few years. Open your mouth."

The Captain was shocked at the brutal honesty of her assessment 
of his health. Until his recent injury, he had been a very fit soldier 
in a crack special operations unit. He opened his mouth in dismay 
while he listened her continue her assessment of his health. 

"Your teeth are in pretty good shape, although I would suggest 
getting them straightened. The gums are healthy, but you have a 
tendency to bite the inside of your mouth. I imagine that is an 
involuntary reaction to pain. A lot of people do that."

For more than an hour she went over his body with total focus on 
her work. She talked about her observations as she worked feeling 
that if he asked, then he deserved to know. By the time she had 
finished, Captain Jones was seriously depressed. The only thing 
that she had remarked on in a positive manner was the fact that he 
could still get an erection.

Disappointed that she hadn't reacted to his erection, he asked, 
"When do I get dressed?"

"You don't. You are here in first year protocol. That means no 
clothes," replied Laura with a smile.

"What!"

"Calm down," replied Laura. "Are you hungry?"

"What do you mean that means no clothes?" asked the soldier 
wanting to clarify what she had said.

Laura ignored his question and asked, "Would you get in the 
wheelchair?"

"What do you mean that means no clothes?"

Laura stepped back and answered, "I thought that would be pretty 
obvious. You don't get to wear clothes until you are taken off the 
first year protocol."

"What do you mean I don't get to wear clothes?" asked the Captain 
in a voice that now bordered on hysterical. 

"Your clothes have all been locked up. Now if you don't mind, I'm 
very hungry. If you want to eat, you are going to have to get into 
your wheelchair so that we can go to the dining room."

"I can't go into a room full of people naked!"

"Why not?" asked Laura. She added, "You won't be the only one 
there in that state."

Captain Jones stared at Laura in total shock. Her comment 
explained why she hadn't reacted to his nakedness in any 
discernable manner. There was no way that he could go in public 
exposing the deformity caused by his injury. People would stare at 
him like some sort of circus freak. He couldn't take that. The 
thought occurred to him that there would be women present.

"I'm not going out there naked," shouted the man from his bed.

Laura smiled and went over to the phone. Once her call had been 
put through, she said, "Ling. I have a patient who won't get in his 
wheelchair. Would you mind coming down here and convincing 
him that it would be in his best interest?"

Looking over at the Captain, she smiled and said, "Sure, you can 
bring Betsy."

Hanging up, she turned to face the soldier for a moment. With a 
smile, she asked, "Are you sure that you don't want to get in that 
wheelchair?"

"Positive."

It was a few minutes later that Betsy entered the room performing 
a summersault, landing with perfect ease. She had just learned how 
to perform them and was practicing every chance that she had. 
Spotting Laura, she ran over to the woman and said, "Hello. 
Where's the guy I get to put in a wheelchair?"

Even as Laura answered, Betsy was on her way to the bed. She 
stopped once she got there. Reaching out a finger, she touched his 
stump and asked, "Does that hurt?"

Shocked at having a three-year-old girl looking at his naked body, 
Captain Jones stared at her unable to say a word. Her actions and 
lack of disgust at his injury affected him more than his nakedness. 
Before he got himself together enough to answer, she was gone. 
Trying to keep track of her was like trying to watch a fly in flight. 

"He doesn't talk much, does he?" asked Betsy when she settled 
next to Laura.

Laura laughed and answered, "I think he's a little surprised by you. 
Where's your mother?"

"She's coming," answered Betsy as she returned to the bed. She 
flitted around the bed checking the man lying there. 

Captain Jones was getting dizzy trying to keep up with the 
movements of the little girl. He had seen hyperactive children in 
the past, but this was an extreme that defied physics. No one could 
move that fast. He said, "Whoa. Stop moving little girl."

"I'm Betsy, not little girl. You're Captain Jones, aren't you? Daddy 
Ed said that he brought someone back from his trip to the military 
hospital. You're him, aren't you? He didn't say anything about you 
not having a leg. Were you born that way or did you lose it? I bet 
you lost it and that was why you were in the hospital. So how did 
you lose it?"

Betsy came to a sudden stop and looked at him waiting for an 
answer. The soldier answered, "Bad guys shot it off."

"You couldn't dodge the bullet? Momma Ling thinks I can dodge 
bullets, but she won't let me find out," replied Betsy as though it 
were only proper that her mother should allow someone to shoot at 
her so that she could dodge the bullets.

Ling entered the room and paused for a fraction of a second to look 
at the man in bed. Walking over to the bed, she took his hand, 
twisted a finger, and levered him into the wheelchair. He was 
unable to resist her actions; the pain was just too much. Finished, 
Ling said, "Laura, that's how you do it."

Betsy stamped her foot and said, "You said that I could do that. I 
was just waiting for you to show up."

Reaching down to run a hand through her daughter's hair, Ling 
answered, "Daddy Leroy is waiting for us in the dining room."

Betsy shot out of the room, her irritation forgotten for the moment. 
Ling laughed as the girl disappeared around the corner. Captain 
Jones sat in his chair wondering exactly how he managed to get 
into it. 

Ling turned to the Captain as she said, "Sorry about that. I'm Ling 
and that little bundle of energy is my daughter, Betsy. You're 
invited to join us at our table."

Laura went over to the wheelchair and, as she started to push it, 
said, "Off to dinner."

"They put me in a fucking madhouse," groaned Captain Jones.


