Page 41 - Archangel

bloody bukavu revisited

Rather than torches and singing, this time they were greeted by only
Dr. Collins, Ndara’s retired Special Forces medic Sergeant Ngetti who
had served with Kenyatta for years, and a pastor from the Operation
Moses coordinating committee who pronounced, “Their return to us is
a miracle!” Anguishing over the decision to share via radio, or postpone
sharing the knowledge of Layla’s death with Sean, he chose the former as
Collins would have done for Skye out of compassion.
Sean and the Reverend were shocked by the normally virile MacIain’s
and Kenyatta’s appearances. Sergeant Ngetti was also visibly shaken by
the condition of the bullet-ridden and leaking bateau. Tying it off with
little faith it would ever float again, he answered Sean’s shocked request
for assistance with Ndara who had lost more blood than either captain
realized. The bullet had pierced and plowed to within a millimeter of the
skull. Any intent of Dr. Collins to chastise even Skye disappeared as his
seemingly invincible Scottish American friend himself required assistance
to regain his balance on land.
With MacIain responding to the Northern Irishman’s voice for the first
time, Sean implored “Come with us, Skye. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but you
made it, you daft rogue.” Sean placed both boat captains in wheel chairs
so they didn’t pitch off the dock before reaching the clinic. In seating Skye,
Dr. Collins retracted a bloody hand in shock, asking, “What the hell did
you do to yourself, Highlander?”
Short of breath, Skye guessed, “Not sure when. Think a small piece of
shrapnel blew off the cleat and nicked my side.”
Applying pressure to the wound, the PFW doctor shot back, “More than
a bloody nick, lad.”
MacIain looked up at Sean with haunted eyes and shared, “Sorry we
failed to rescue Layla, but we were hours late. We’ve lost our angel, Sean.”
Collins quickly changed the subject to share, “All of the refugees she
saved are fed, resting and sorting out their miraculous survival, thanks
to Layla.”
Grabbing Sean’s wrist like a vice, Skye queried, “And her son, Sean?
Did he come through okay?
Gently escaping his grip, he said, “The same, Skye. Presently asleep, and
in good health, considering. A new popular African cartoon cast on his

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