Prisoner in Time (Time travel) (17 page)

Instantly, Geoff turned back to the column and hurried back in line. Looking over his shoulder, he observed the sergeant with curiosity.

“Keep a-movin’. You’re falling too far behind,” Sgt Cooper ordered to David in a hushed, yet forceful tone. “We all cain’t tolerate stragglers on this here patrol… too dangerous, ya here?”

“Yes Sir,” David replied through gritted teeth. “I’m doing my best, but I’m losing a lot of blood. I feel the onset of shock developing. If I move much faster, I’m afraid I might collapse.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but it don’t matter none. If you don’t keep up, we all ‘ill have to leave ya behind,” he responded, raising his hand to his holstered pistol.

David’s eyes shifted to the weapon, then back to the sergeant’s eyes. He could see determination in them. With a slow deliberate nod, he responded:

“Understood.”

Suddenly, a low volume laugh sounded further up the line. Sgt. Cooper turned back to the column of men, searching for the offending soldier. Before hurrying off, he glared back at David in warning, then raced toward the front of the line.

David took a deep breath and exhaled. Holding his wound even tighter, he began to walk once more. Within several steps, he quickened his pace. In seconds, he caught up to the column and held his position next to Geoff.

Looking over at David, Geoff instinctively felt offended by the presence of someone he disliked. As he observed David’s appearance, he could see the ashen color on his face and the beads of sweat that rolled from his brow. His eyes glanced down toward David’s hand and noticed the caked blood that clung to his fingers. Looking up, he could see the terrible pain David was suffering and for a moment, forgot his feelings of contempt.

“Bad?” Geoff asked, sympathetically.

“At this pace, yes,” David nodded.

Geoff swallowed hard. Aside from seeing the death of his brother the day before, he had never seen another person in that kind of distress and the sight of it disturbed him deeply.

“They won’t let you rest?” Geoff asked, incredulously.

David winced in pain, then shook his head. “Uh uh. If I fall too far behind, he’ll shoot me.”

Geoff’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Man, that’s bullshit,” he responded in an angry whisper. “
They
shot
you
. They should cut you some slack.”

“I’m guessing they will once we’re clear of enemy territory, but until then…” David responded cryptically.

Geoff scanned nervously for the sergeant. He could see him halfway up the line. As he watched, he heard the sound of exhaling beside him. Turning back, he watched David now expelling heavy breaths of air with each footstep he took.

“Dude, you alright?” he asked aloud, his emotions now getting the best of him.

With the loud exclaim, Sgt Cooper dashed to the rear of the column. Looking angrily at the two, he grabbed his holster and growled, “I ain’t telling ya twice. Keep it quiet or there’ll be trouble.”

“Sir, he needs to rest. Even a minute would help,” Geoff countered in a low respectful tone.

Sgt Cooper stared at David for a moment as he marched beside him. David’s loud exhales and his gasps of pain were too much noise for the sergeant’s tolerance. Lifting his gray woolen coat, he withdrew a long knife from another holster hidden beneath his garment. He stared sympathetically at the two for a moment, then spoke.

“I won’t risk all these boy’s lives on one noisy feller… especially if he’s wounded and wanted by the law.”

Geoff’s eyes widened. His mind raced frantically as he watched the sergeant move closer to David.

“Sir… wait!” Geoff blurted loudly. “What if I help him? What if I help carry him along? If he leans on me, he won’t have to work so hard. He’ll breathe quieter and won’t make a sound… I promise. If he does, you can kill him then, but give him a chance at least,” he implored.

Sgt Cooper thought about the proposal. He studied Geoff’s face for a moment and noticed fierce determination registered across it. With a slight nod, he stowed his knife in its sheath.

“Ok, you can help ‘im… but keep it quiet back here,” he said sternly.

“Thank you Sir,” Geoff responded sincerely.

As the sergeant hurried back up the line, Geoff grabbed David’s arm and draped it across his shoulders, holding it on the other side. David leaned into Geoff and began to walk. With a large portion of his load now gone, his movements felt less pained and he breathed with less effort.

“Any better?” Geoff asked.

“Yeah, a lot better,” David said through labored breaths. “I really appreciate this.”

“You owe me,” Geoff responded bluntly.

David stopped for a moment and stared, trying to obtain a read on the young man’s face. There was no mistaking the cold expression that marked his resentment.

“Geoff, I’m a little confused. If you dislike me so much, why are you helping me?”

“Dude, just because I don’t like you, doesn’t mean I want to see you take a shank in the chest. Jeeze!” he responded acidly, struggling to keep his angry voice to a low whisper. “Maybe if you had shown my brother the same decency, he’d still be alive right now.”

“Geoff, I don’t know how else to say this… I didn’t give up on your brother.” David thought about adding more to the discussion, but realized the danger in their conversation. Quickly, he added, “Maybe we should talk about this later, when we don’t have a sergeant breathing down our necks.”

“Whatever,” he responded coldly.

David turned his focus to the front and concentrated on his movements. With each step he took, he leaned into Geoff and thrust his weight forward. Shifting his weight to Geoff again, he stepped forward with his other foot, repeating the process over and over. An hour later, with the flow of blood now reduced to a small trickle, David felt less pain. Still supported by Geoff, he marched along with greater strength as they passed from enemy territory and into the safety of Confederate controlled land.

With the danger now far behind them, the column of men traveled at a slower pace, allowing David to keep up without much effort. As the two marched together, the silence made their travel uncomfortable and David began to speak, hoping to bridge the awkward gap between them.

“I think I’m going to be all right. I think the bullet passed through my side and out my back.”

“Uh huh,” Geoff grunted.

“Just hope the doctors at the camp have the provisions there for me to treat it.”

“Uh huh,” Geoff responded, continuing to feign indifference.

“They don’t have antibiotics or modern surgical instruments here in this time period. The best I can hope for is to clean the wound thoroughly, and change the bandages daily.”

“Uh huh,” Geoff answered once more, looking away through the forest.

David looked over toward Geoff. His lack of responses felt insulting and rude and he decided to test the young teen’s attention.

“I’m thinking about cutting off a finger from a dead guy and using it to plug the hole,” he said in casual tone.

“Uh huh…” Geoff responded again, then spun his head around in double-take. “Wait… What’d you say?” he asked incredulously.

David smiled slightly, responding, “Just checking to see if you were listening.”

Geoff shook his head in disgust. “Douche,” he responded in crass tone.

“Geoff, I’m just trying to be your friend.”

“Ha… that’s a laugh. You killed my brother and now you want to be my friend? What would ever make you think I’d want to be
your
friend?”

“I didn’t kill your brother. He was simply a victim of unfortunate circumstances,” David responded.

“Unfortunate circumstances? So there was nothing else you could have done to save his life?”

“No,” David shot back.

“No? Nothing at all? You couldn’t have done some other procedure to save him?” Geoff pressed.

“No, I did all I could for him,” David asserted.

“Really? If a
real
brain surgeon was there, do you think he could have saved him?”

“Possibly, I don’t know. It’s hard to say.”

“You mean hard to admit,” Geoff countered.

“No, I mean hard to say. There were a lot of variables at play with your brother’s injuries. It’s possible that someone with more experience could have saved him, but I think it’s unlikely. There was just too much damage.”

“That’s a cop-out. You failed because you weren’t competent enough to handle the surgery and now you’re just making excuses for yourself. Maybe if you had been smart enough to become a brain surgeon like the other guys, my brother would still be alive today. You shouldn’t have been working on my brother. Someone else should have.”

Geoff’s words pierced through his mind. He felt the teen’s comparison of him to a brain surgeon was irrelevant, but pondered the last statement: “shouldn’t have been working.” They were the same words Nurse Strugg had made the day before and now gnawed at him. He contemplated his exhaustion during that fateful surgery and how it might have affected his performance. Guilt began to seep into his thoughts. Quickly, he repressed the offending emotion and continued in his defense.

“That’s a ridiculous statement. I’m the most senor surgeon that hospital has right now. If I did make a mistake while working on your brother, a doctor with less experience would certainly have made more. The fact is, he received the best treatment the hospital had to offer at that time and still died from his injuries. If we couldn’t save him, it wasn’t from incompetence. He simply couldn’t be saved. At some point, you’re going to have to come to grips with those facts.”

“No I don’t!” he countered angrily. “I’m here and I can change those facts. So what do you have to say about that, Dr. Useless?”

“I say you’re acting like a child in a grown up world and you’re going to get yourself killed because of it.”

“It’s my life. I can do with it whatever I please,” Geoff retorted.

“Not when it includes others.”

“Hey, I didn’t include you. You just
chose
to butt in on my business. In fact, why don’t you just
choose
to butt out!” Geoff responded angrily.

He let go of David’s arm and forced him to walk under his own power. David stumbled at first, then limped along at the same pace as the others. Still holding his wound, he struggled through the pain while replaying the previous conversation over and over in his mind. Guilt once again, permeated his thoughts. With his eyes focused in front, he made one last simple statement:

“There’s still time to turn back.”

Geoff shot him an angry stare and replied, “And there’s still time to find Arles Moore.”

-----*-----*-----*-----

Two hours passed and the small detail of soldiers entered the wide encampment of General Joseph E Johnston’s Army of Tennessee. Numbering more than five thousand men, Geoff eyed the sea of canvas tents with amazement.

“Holy crap! I’ve never seen so many people in one place in my whole life,” he exclaimed.

“This is nothing. It’s just a small army. At the battle of Gettysburg, the combined forces totaled more than a hundred and fifty thousand men… thirty times larger than what you’re seeing here right now,” David responded, his wound causing him to wince as he spoke.