Hinesville: The Hospital (Part 5)

Part 4
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1955336-Hinesville-Vivs-interrogat...




Sullivan walked into the ER, looking for anyone in charge. He stopped a nurse who was running by, “The officers, are they here yet?”

“No, sir, you can wait right there, they’ll be landing soon.”  The nurse gathered some items from a bin next to him.         

Sullivan waited impatiently where the nurse told him to. The conversation with Ben and Nate, the one they offered off the record, played in his mind. They knew, with their connections, this wasn’t going to be pretty when the two returned, but Sullivan never expected this. Now he realized why Vivian had asked him to call in the missing persons report. Nate had called him and appraised him of their condition, after they left in the helicopters, and Sullivan knew it was going to get ugly until someone answered for this.

He paced as they all ran around the trauma area, gathering needed equipment. Nurses on phones shouting orders and the conditions of Vivian and Cooper to the ER staff, all the info coming from the flight doctor. A doctor ran into trauma, one of the nurses on the phone waved him over, and he took the phone. He began to take notes and also began to shout orders for equipment.

Sullivan stopped another nurse, now beside himself with anger. "The two officers?"

"One of them is about to land now," She said and grabbed some latex gloves, before heading out of the door to meet whomever was landing.

Sullivan could hear the chopper approaching as he stepped outside of the ER for just a moment.  The “thub-thub” of the rotors getting louder, and then deafening as it landed on the big “H” about a hundred yards from the hospital, the rotor wash blowing around his clothing. 

A team of nurses and doctors ran to meet the chopper holding Cooper. They removed him from the Helicopter, and immediately continued what the flight doctors and nurses had started. They continued to assess him as he was wheeled in, they knew he was going to need surgery, they just didn’t know how extensive it would be.

Cooper tossed his head around as he was wheeled into the ER trauma unit, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of Vivian. His eyes finally rested on Capt. Sullivan.

“Viv?” Cooper muttered to the Captain as the nurses finished cutting away his clothing.

“She's landing now Coop,” Sullivan responded as he heard Vivian's chopper fly over.

“Sir, you’re going to have to wait by the wall and be quiet,” one of the trauma nurses told Sullivan as she continued working on Cooper.

“I’m not hearing breath sounds on the right side,” Another nurse announced and a doctor came around to check.

“Detective, I need you to take a deep breath,” the doctor announced with his stethoscope on Cooper’s chest. While the nurses continued to work on other injuries.
Cooper attempted to take a breath, but it was too painful, “I-I can’t.” The ER staff could see him visibly wince. A portable x-ray machine was wheeled over to his bed and the tech loaded everything in, as the nurses and doctors stood back for the machine to take it’s photos. The images were immediately loaded on to a computer about two feet from Cooper, and one of the doctors stepped over to look at the figure.

“His lung is collapsing,” the doctor announced and began to demand the items needed to relieve the pressure on his lung. “Prep him for surgery, I can feel broken ribs, and it appears he has a punctured lung.”

Sullivan turned to see Vivian come crashing through the swinging doors. The flight doctor was on the stretcher with her, straddling her legs as he worked on her. More trauma nurses and doctors joined him as the remainder of her clothing was cut off to further assess her injuries.

A nurse drew the curtain as they continued to work.

She tossed her head, the oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose, to see Cooper being wheeled out, headed to surgery.

Everyone worked feverishly on Vivian. The ER staff assured the flight crew they had everything they needed and would get her into surgery. The flight personnel pulled back one by one to let the ER staff take over.

Sullivan stopped a flight doctor as Mason ran in the trauma area. “What’s the word doc?” Sullivan asked the man as he pulled his gloves off and tossed them in the trash.

“She has broken ribs, a concussion, possibly a ruptured spleen, and from the looks of her left wrist, I’d say it’s fractured, and that’s just what we can see now,” he told them and stepped out to go smoke.

Vivian spent less time in the ER, her injuries were a bit more serious and would require extensive surgical intervention.

“Vivian, we’ll all be here waiting for y’all. You hear me?” Mason told her, and he saw a tear escape Viv’s eye as she passed.

The trauma nurse on her stretcher looked up at Mason, “She heard detective.”

Ben and Nate came running in just as Vivian was being wheeled through the doors beyond, on her way to trauma surgery.

“I saw Viv, and I’m telling you now, this is bullshit! Now, tell me what’s wrong.” Mason was seething as he turned to Sullivan while the nurses tried to return the ER to its normal state of chaos.

“They are both going into surgery.” Sullivan was pissed the men knew it, as he hiss out his response, “Cooper has a punctured lung and Vivian’s spleen might have ruptured, among other things.” Ben and Nate were stunned as they listened to Sullivan go into detail about the two officer’s injuries. This was extreme even for the group that conducted this interrogation and it was reflected in the slow pacing they did in the trauma area.

Ben and Nate noticed their supervisor walking in, Special Agent in Charge Chad Watson.

“They’re in fucking surgery,” Ben barked at his boss. “What the fuck?”

A trauma nurse walked over to Sullivan and handed him a piece of paper, “Guys, this is the code to the ER door, you can use it to come and go as you please, but can y’all please take it outside?”

The group walked just outside the ER doors, and gathered around SAC Watson, knowing that any answer he gave would never satisfy any of them.

“Now, you tell us who it is that fucking did this!” Nate yelled unable to contain the temper he had held in check for so long.

“Calm down, you guys,” SAC Watson tried to settle the men, but that was a mistake.

“Did you just fucking tell us to calm down?” Ben was dumbfounded. “This should have never happened. Did you see them?” Ben glared at his supervisor completely taken aback. “This is Viv and Coop we are talking about! They fucking bust their asses helping us out!”

"You don't think I fucking know that!" Watson barked back at the men. "I'm fucking pissed, too!"

Nate was livid and meant every word of what he was about to say. “I’m telling you now, and I think I speak for everyone else standing here, I will kill any of those fuckers if I ever see them again.”

“And you being in prison would help nothing.” Watson was beginning to regain his composure.

“Oh, no, we wouldn’t end up in prison. Those are people who would never be reported missing and bodies that would never be found.” Mason was almost crazed from the anger, and he meant every word of what he said.

Ben turned to Sullivan, “It’s a good thing you called in that missing persons on them,” he turned back to SAC Watson, “this would be hard to explain.”

The four, without the answers they wanted, then walked inside for the arduous task of waiting on the surgeons.



Mason, sitting in the surgical waiting area, was simmering in his anger. Only twice in his life, after all the crap she dealt with, did he see her cry; when her husband died, and after Mrs. Cook and her crap.

Sullivan walked over and sat next to him, “Mase, she’s going to be okay.” Sullivan sat back in his chair. “She has to be.”

“How long was she gone?” Mason glanced over at him, wondering how long these crap heads had her.

“Officially, 48 hours, unofficially almost 72,” Sullivan rubbed the back of his neck. “This should not be happening.”

“Does anyone have any idea who did this?” Mason looked to Sullivan, and motioned to Ben and Nate, “Did they say anything?”

“If they know, they didn’t tell me.” Sullivan leaned forward on his elbows. “Let me know if you hear anything?”

“You got it Cap, you do the same.” Mason watched him as he stood up. He nodded and patted Mason on the back. Sullivan paced on the outside edge of the waiting area.

Ben walked over and sat next to Mason, knowing how much this was effecting him. “Mase, I know you and Viv grew up together, and that you want to rip apart whoever did this, but know that we are after the same thing.”

“I know that Ben.” Mason adjusted himself in the chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

Ben looked over to see Nate and Sullivan talking on the other end of the room. He couldn’t quite hear what they were saying but he could imagine

“What’re you thinking about?” Ben was trying desperately to do anything to make the time go by a little faster.


“Did she ever tell you about Ms. Cook?”

Ben shook his head. “No, I don’t know anything about Ms. Cook. I know she had it really bad for a while, being in foster care.”

“If she ever tells you this story, please act stupid,” Mason implored Ben. He knew she didn’t like people to know much about her past, which was difficult being in law enforcement. Most of the people she knew had access to her Child Welfare file.

Ben readily agreed not to mention anything and listened to Mason as he began to recount the incident.

“Me and Vivian were ten years old…”



Vivian staggered down the street toward Mason’s house, he was a classmate and a friend, at who’s house she was a frequent guest. Billy, who was five, was in worse shape than her. She held his hand as they walked down the sidewalk in tattered clothes, battered and bruised. Vivian had a gash above her right eye, a busted lip, and her left eye was swollen shut.

Her and Billy looked like zombies walking toward Mason’s house. People walked by them staring, but never offered to help. Finally, Vivian could see Mason lying in his yard, tossing his football in the air and catching it. The two, still hand in hand, slowly walked up to Mason. As her and Billy passed the hedges on the edge of Mason’s yard, Vivian could see Mason’s mom working in the flower beds while he played.

Mason finally sat up and saw Vivian standing on the sidewalk silently. His smile melted into a look of shock and fear.

“Mom,” ten year old Mason called out to her.

“Yes, dear,” his mom, Olivia, responded as she continued working. She turned to look at him and saw Vivian and Billy. “Oh, my God, what happened?” Mrs. Baker dropped her gardening tools, and pulled off her gloves as she ran over to the two.

Billy immediately started crying, and she picked him up, holding him close to her.

“Y’all come here,” Mrs. Baker told them and brought them to the steps of the house. She turned to her son, and calmly stated,  “Mason, go inside and call your dad.” Mrs. Baker tried to sooth Billy as she rocked him, sitting on the top step. “It’s okay, baby.”

Mason ran in the house and dialed his father. “Dad, we need you at home!”

Charles Baker knew instantly, by the tone of his son’s voice that something serious was going on. “What is it Mason?”

“I don’t know, something’s wrong with Vivian.” The panic was evident in Mason’s voice.

Mason heard the siren turn on, “I’m on my way.”

He dropped the phone and ran back outside, “Mom, dad’s on the way.”

Vivian sat quietly on the steps of the Baker house, seeming to be in a trance.

“Vivian, you okay?” Mason watched as she turned to look at him, but she didn’t respond.

They could hear the sirens coming. Charles had called the PD in town and they were responding, too. Charles screeched to a halt in front of his house and jumped out of his sheriff’s unit.

Vivian saw him, immediately started crying, and walked to him.

Charles was turning red from rage, looking at the two children on his steps. “An ambulance is on the way.”

“I think they both need one.” She watched as he picked up Vivian and held her.

“You’re the police right?” Vivian sniveled out, her face buried in his neck.

“Yes, baby,” Charles rubbed her back as he tried to sooth her.

“Can you protect us?” Vivian begged him starting to tremble.

“Yes, yes, I will.” He was never more sure of anything in his life.

Billy and Vivian and started screaming, a scream of terror, that Sgt. Baker had never heard in his ten years of law enforcement. Vivian held on tighter to his neck as if determined never to let go.

Charles turned to see the foster mother of the two approaching. Two city units slid up on the street in front of his house at the same time.

“Please, don’t let her hurt us anymore.” Vivian plead with him.

“Arrest her!” He began to yell at the officers, “Officer Sullivan, fucking arrest her, before I hurt her.”

Officer Guy Sullivan, knowing Sgt. Baker, immediately grabbed the woman and put her in handcuffs.

Charles turned his focus back to Vivian as an ambulance pulled in front of the house. The medics began checking the kids and they were transported to the hospital.

Charles went to the hospital to check on the two children, and all of the necessary people were called.

The Bakers agreed to keep the two for a few days, but they would have kept them forever, it just wasn’t meant to be.


                                                         
“…the son-of-a-bitch foster parents, would strap them down to a chair, and beat the ever livin’ hell out of ‘em,” Mason explained. “The reason I’m telling you this is, me and Viv have known each other since we were like five, and twice in my life I have seen her cry because of injury or sadness. Hell, as a kid, I cried more than she did. Mrs. Cook was once, when Jake, her husband, died was the other.” Mason thought about all the tragedy in her life and shook his head trying to remove those images from his memory. “When they were taking her to surgery just now, she was crying.”

Ben now understood why Mason was so angry, and it made him angrier, too. He remembered when Jake died, and how much that tore Vivian up. Ben was lost in his thoughts when they all noticed a doctor walking up.

“Capt. Sullivan?”

Sullivan stood up and met the surgeon near the doorway.

“You’re listed as one of Cooper’s emergency contacts, he’s out of surgery, and is doing fine, we had to put pins in his ribs to keep the broken ribs straight,” the doctor began to explained. “He will need about ten to twelve weeks to recover, but he will be fine.”

“Vivian?” Nate asked impatiently.

“She was a little more complicated,” the doctor explained as they stepped to the side near the wall. “Dr. Taggert is handling that and will probably be in surgery much longer.” The doctor answered a few more questions and then left to do his post-surgical report.

“Look, I’ll go wait with Cooper. Nate why don’t you come with me and Ben and Mason can wait on Viv,” Sullivan told the group, taking charge of the situation.

They all agreed to the arrangement, and Mason turned to Sullivan and responded,  “I promise you someone will let you know once we hear anything about Viv.”

“We would appreciate that,” Sullivan and Nate turned to walk over to recovery and wait for Cooper to be given a room.

Ben and Mason were left to their thoughts as they waited to hear word on Vivian. They paced and mulled, thinking at one point time had actually stopped.

“Mason,” Charles Baker called out as he approached the men.

“Dad,” Mason said almost relieved. “Coop is out of  surgery, but Viv is still in there, and it’s just a waiting game at this point.”

“I came as soon as I heard.” Charles pulled his son aside to find out the particulars of their conditions.

“I had inside info, so I knew exactly where to go,” Mason admitted. “I tried to call you.”

“Don’t worry about it son, I get it, and I got your message.” Charles understood where his son’s thoughts were.

“If you don’t mind, me and Ben are going to step out, I need to call Kelly real quick, and I think Ben wants to call Sherri,” Mason sighed and seemed to be exhaling for the first time since arriving at the hospital.

“Send one of the uniform guys in, that way if something happens, I’ll send them running to get you two.” Charles stepped closer to the surgical waiting room.

“One of the uniforms?”

“Go check the lobby,” Charles chuckled, thinking of the scene as he walked in.

Mason and Ben walked to the lobby and saw hundreds of officers from all over the area, and now knew why his dad was chuckling.

“How are they?” Detective Lane Sanchez questioned the pair. He had worked with Vivian in Hinesville before transferring to Savannah.

“Cooper is out of surgery…” Mason explained all the details about what was going on. “If you wouldn’t mind, we have to call our wives, can you spread the word?”

“You got it Mason, but I’m going to get the word out and follow y’all back up there. ”

“Good, you need to be up there, you’re still one of Viv’s emergency contacts.” Mason told him.

Lane nodded, turned and began talking to the officers, additionally asking them not to release any information to the press. Everyone in the lobby then sent texts out to all the officers they knew.

Mason looked around for anyone he knew from Hinesville, and spotted Davy.

“Can you go up there with my Dad, he’s in the surgical waiting room?”

“Sure, what do you need?” Davy was surprised that’s all Mason wanted.

“Me and Ben are going outside to call our wives, come get us if you hear anything about Viv.”

“You got it.” Davy immediately ran to the surgical waiting room.

Both men stepped just outside the front doors,  despite the heat, and called their wives. There were more officers gathered outside, and the local media had flocked to the hospital.

Both men quickly called their wives and explained the situation.

Mason looked around at the sea of officers and media when Kelly answered, “Kel, Viv is in surgery, and the prognosis is good, but why don’t you come up here.”

“Mase, how bad is it?” Kelly began crying thinking of her friend.

“It’s bad Kel,” Mason started to cry himself, but held it together. “Be careful getting here okay?”

“Me and Sherri are going to drive in together, her in-laws are in so they’re going to watch the kids.” Kelly grabbed her purse. “I’ll see you soon.”

Ben had much of the same conversation with Sherri, and she assured him they would take it slow and careful on the way to Savannah.

Ben hung up saw Chad walking up, turned to Mason and rolled his eyes.

“Ben.” Ben could see Chad had stopped walking about 10 yards away and motioned for him to come over.

Ben nudged Mason. “Wait for me.”

“You got it.” Mason looked around the area, and could see media trucks setting up as far as the parking lot would allow him. Some of the trucks were from as far away as Atlanta, and North Carolina.

“What is it?”

“I’m going to tell you something that you have to keep between you and me.” Chad shifted his stance and looked around at the crowd.

“Okay,” Ben agreed, knowing that if he need to talk to the poker crew he would.

“What Cooper and Vivian went through was an interview of sorts.” Chad watched Ben for a reaction, and then glanced around again.

“Clarify that for me.”

Chad thought for a moment, wondering how to word what he was thinking. “There are some unnamed federal agencies that are going to be recruiting them, agencies that don’t exist on paper.” He glanced around at the crowd and beyond yet again. “I’m not supposed to be telling this to anyone, but I know you and Nate.”

“I know what you’re talking about, some of my buddies went through similar stuff just before leaving the military, but this,” Ben waved his hand toward the building. “Vivian has been in surgery for two hours. Two fucking hours, and she’s not done yet. This was beyond anything they have clearance for.”

“I know all of this, that’s why I have a few calls in explaining their condition to people who might actually be able to do something.” Chad glanced around again. “This is bullshit.”

Ben nodded, wondering how Chad had learned this information, “Others have seen this?” Ben questioned wondering how that was possible.

“There’s already a video circulating in higher federal agencies.” Chad moved away from a group that had started to form near him and Ben. "I’m going to have a copy in my possession within the hour."

Ben walked with Chad to a large grassy area, away from the larger group. “How long have you known this?”

“Since this morning, right after you got your call and left, someone else called me, and I did some questioning.”

Ben hadn’t found out from the agency who took them, he found out through his “sources”, who had been working on locating the two since they were taken.

“Can you get me a copy?” Ben tentatively waited for a response.

Chad nodded and continued to glance around. “I’ll burn you a DVD, it’s coming to me via e-mail.” Chad watched Ben, knowing the agent wanted to go back and keep vigil on his friend. “I’m just going to tell you what I’ve heard, but there are already several federal agencies that liked what they saw from the two detectives.” 

Ben nodded and knew what that meant for them. “Thank you, sir.” Ben wanted to end this conversation, he needed to talk to his contacts. “I appreciate you telling me this, but there’s no reason they should have gone this far.”

“I agree, and that was taken up with the man who called me.” Chad turned to look around the area, making sure no one was, too, close to their conversation.

Ben agreed not to tell anyone, and returned to their vigil spot to hear any news on Vivian with Mason and Lane.

Vivian came out of surgery better than expected. They didn't need to remove her spleen, and she was stable, but they had to keep an eye on her. Both officers were severely dehydrated, and, due to this and the extent of their injuries, spent several days in ICU.

Kelly and Sherri showed up at the hospital, and went upstairs immediately.

“Mase,” Kelly called out when she found him on the third-floor ICU unit waiting room.

“Kel,” Mason was relieved to see her, and stepped over to hold her.

Ben walked over to meet Sherri and gave her a hug as the ladies listened to Mason explain what was going on.

“Viv, just got out of surgery, and is better than expected. Her spleen was lacerated, but they didn’t have to remove it.” Mason went on to give the ladies a rundown of Vivian’s condition. “Ladies,” Mason took a deep breath, “you need to prepare yourselves. Coop is bad but Viv is worse. I know it’s going to be tough, but try to keep it together if you go in there. She really needs us right now, and we don’t need to be standing around her blubbering right now.”

“Mason’s right,” Ben interjected as he held Sherri, “as hard as it will be, we need to be as strong as we can for them right now.”

“Ben, y’all go ahead and go first,” Mason nodded to him and Sherri. He wanted to prepare Kelly better.

Ben nodded and turned to Sherri, “I can’t stress enough how we have to be strong.”

Sherri nodded wondering if she should go in, looked up at Ben, and stepped to the door.

Mason turned to Kelly, and shook his head. “Kel,” he shook his head again and cried a little.

Kelly turned a little pale, “It’s that bad?”

Mason nodded and wiped his face, “You may not recognize her.” Mason glanced around and then turned back to Kelly, “She has every kind of tube, but a breathing tube.”

Kelly nodded and began to think about how Vivian would be. She sat in a chair just outside ICU thinking about her oldest and dearest friend. It seemed like an eternity before Ben texted Mason.

Mason stepped over to Kelly and put his hand on her shoulder. Kelly turned to Mason and saw him nod. She stood up and walked to the door, “Ben and Sherri went out the other doors.” The couple walked in and Mason stepped over to Vivian’s room. Kelly stopped at the door and mentally prepared herself. She then stepped in. Mason could see her set her jaw, but was unprepared for the anger in her posture.  Kelly stepped over and gently took Vivian’s right hand in hers.

“Viv, I’ll be here as long as you need me,” Kelly sat in a chair next to the bed. Kelly could feel Vivian lightly squeeze her hand. Kelly lifted the sheet lightly to look at Vivian’s leg. Every inch of Vivian was covered in bruises, at least what they could see.

Mason and Kelly stayed with Vivian for about 15 minutes when Mason turned to Kelly, “Some of the others want to come in, so we need to leave.”

“Viv, I’ll be back later okay. Some of the others want to come visit.” Kelly could feel her squeeze her hand, it was light but it was there.

Mason and Kelly walked out and were met by Ben and Sherri, Captain Sullivan, Nate, and Lane. Sherri and Kelly stepped to the side and hugged, and began to speak of what was going on. The men discussed what had happened when the ladies stepped up.

“When you get these bastards, you better tell us,” Kelly insisted as tears streamed down her face. “These aren’t tears of sadness, they’re tears of rage and we want our shot, too.”

Sherri nodded in agreement, and the women glared at the men.

“Not a problem,” Captain Sullivan told them with all the seriousness of a judge.

Cooper was released from ICU a few days later, but Vivian was touch and go for a week. She required further recovery time and wouldn’t leave the hospital until two weeks after Cooper.

Their friends stood vigil over their fallen buddies for weeks, but the two were released later to complete their recovery at home.



Part 6                                                  
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1955695-Hinesville-The-meet-Part-6...