Axel had come with his diagram of the sub, wanting to verify the position of all the men. She kept going over and over it in her head, wondering if she could have seen something differently, if she could have done something differently, but it was just so hard to remember.
As she lay here, fighting the frustration, she could hear footsteps, multiple heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. And she knew the navy was coming to her. She froze in the bed, wondering if she could pretend to be asleep. When the door was pushed open, she knew there was no hope of that either. Two men, both MPs, stepped forward, and another man followed them. A colonel but she didn’t know which one. She saluted from the bed.
“I understand that you were a part of this submarine mess,” he said, his voice clear and hard. “I have some questions for you.”
“If, when you say, I was part of it, you mean that I was there as assigned and attacked at the same time as the others were killed, then, yes, that is correct, sir,” she said, her voice clear and her diction concise. “However, if you are implying that I was part of the murder of my fellow crew members,” she said, “then that is an absolute and clear no.”
“In that case, you won’t mind us asking you some questions, will you?” he said smoothly.
In the same tone she responded, “Of course not, sir. Please proceed.”
And there followed one of the most grueling hour-long sessions that she’d ever endured. And it only broke off when the doctor stepped into the room.
“That’s enough,” he said. “She’s exhausted. And look at her. She’s clearly traumatized, and now she’s looking feverish again from all this,” he said. He walked over, checked her temperature and pulse, glaring at the colonel. “I can’t have a decline in her healing,” he snapped. “She was very seriously injured. If she should have a setback, she’s at risk …” and, with that, he let his voice trail off.
The colonel shrugged. “If she’s a traitor to our country, her death won’t matter anyway,” he said, as he shot her a hard glance. “If you’re lying, it will be much worse for you.”
“I’m not lying,” she said with some heat but desperate to not degenerate into a weeping female. “My record stands for itself. I’m not prone to fits of hysteria or imagination. Someone else did this. You need to find him.”
“And why should we, when you look good for this from where I stand.” And, with that, he turned and the three men walked out.
She laid here, gasping for breath, feeling the heat overwhelming her. “I don’t feel so good,” she whispered. And almost instantly, her lunch came up and out of her mouth. She was shuddering and shaking by the time everything in her stomach had emptied. She hadn’t even managed to lean over, so it was all over her and the sheets and blankets on her bed.
The doctor swore lightly at her side even as he called for a nurse to help clean her up. “This is exactly why I don’t like anybody being questioned too early,” he said. “That’s just ridiculous.”
The nurse arrived and took charge. Trying to follow the woma’s requests as she wiped and mopped up her face before shifting to changing her bedding.
“I don’t think he really cared,” she said when she could wishing her stomach would calm down. It was roiling even now. “It’s pretty obvious he thinks I’m guilty. He wants me to confess, whether it’s the truth or not.”
“If you had something to do with it,” the doctor said, “then I’m sorry for your soul. But, if I had to decide, considering only your wounds,” he said, “they need to find another suspect.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” she said. “I don’t think he’s even bothering to look at actual facts like that.”
The doctor stopped momentarily and then nodded. “I may need to send him the x-rays of your injuries then.”
“What good would that do?” she asked.
“It might help him to understand how you got hurt.”
“I don’t think he cares,” she said. “Somebody else is trying to help me prove my innocence, and I did a diagram of the submarine with all the bodies and where they found them,” she said. “The trouble is, I blacked out after I got up into the HVAC shaft,” she said. “So I’m not even sure it’s possible for me confirm or deny where he found the bodies.”
The doctor looked casually over at the side table, where she had the large piece of paper. “Come on. Even this adds to your stress, and that is the last thing you need to be doing.”
“But I can’t just lie here, doing nothing,” she whispered. “You saw the colonel. I’ll get court-martialed for the murder of eleven of my fellow crew members,” she said. “Not to mention the sinking of a really expensive sub. But I didn’t do it.”
“Then we have to trust in the process,” he said. “Help is out there. We just have to make sure that you get it.”
“I’m glad you believe me,” she said. “Obviously nobody else does.”
“Hey, I saw your leg,” he said. “You weren’t doing any moving with that.”
“I’m pretty sure they think I did everything before that happened,” she said.
“But you couldn’t have,” he said. “The gunshot that shattered your leg so badly came earlier than the other two bullets.”
She stopped and stared at him. “It did?”
He nodded. “Yes. The bullet holes clearly occurred at least an hour apart.”
She continued to stare at him. “Maybe you could tell him that too,” she said hopefully.
“That’s what I was wondering,” he said. “Obviously they’re under a delusion as to what your role was in all this. Any of those bullet wounds would have incapacitated you. It’s a wonder the blood loss alone didn’t kill you.”
Just then the colonel slammed back into the room. “You’re the one I’ve been looking for.” He glared at her as if she were the one responsible for keeping the doctor from him.
“Good, I was about to track you down. She couldn’t have done what you think she did. Her injuries wouldn’t allow for it.” He held up the x-rays and showed the colonel exactly what had happened, what the damage to her system had been at the time.
The colonel huffed and asked a few questions, obviously not ready to listen. He pointed at the file. “I want an independent medical team to look this over. I can’t have her getting away with treason because you think she couldn’t have done this.” He snorted at that.
Her doctor stiffened. “Of course. That is your prerogative.” He glared at the colonel. “In the meantime, you’re adding to my patient’s stress. So I’m asking you to leave now.”
The two men stood glaring at each other before the colonel spun stiffly on his heels and left, his temper obviously brewing as he slammed the door behind him.
“He does have it in for you,” the doctor said thoughtfully. “I wonder why?”
“I’m an easy answer. He’s looking to close this and to get a few more accolades to decorate his uniform. He doesn’t care about getting to the truth or catching the real traitor.”