Missing (24 page)

     “That’s where we get all of our eggs and produce, too.”

     Mark’s mind went back to the pigs they raised, before they split their herds and gave the Army half of their livestock.

     There was one sow he was particularly fond of. Hannah named her Daisy, because of a strange flower-shaped marking on her left flank. Daisy was a favorite of his because she always nuzzled his leg when he went into the pen to feed them. Yet she never bit him like a couple of the other pigs tried to do.

     “Uh, cancel the bacon, okay?”

     “Sure.”

     Mark couldn’t bear the thought that he might be eating Daisy.

     He sat at a table by himself and ate quickly while he marveled at the activity going on around him. He wondered if the cafeteria was this busy all the time.

     He’d learn later that the cafeteria was the only part of the hospital that was busier at night than it was in the daytime.

     On night shift, the serving line only served up breakfast. The second shift, which got off at ten p.m., hung around to eat breakfast before they went home. The first shift came in early to eat breakfast before they went on duty.

     As it happened, the cafeteria had a reputation for serving lousy food during the daytime hours.

     Everyone preferred the nighttime cooks because it was pretty hard to screw up a pancake.

     A few minutes later Mark was back upstairs, in room 808, looking at Hannah’s face.

     He tenderly placed his hand between her breasts, feeling her heart beat, and thanking God he didn’t lose her. He quite literally couldn’t imagine the thought of living his life without her.

     Without her, it wouldn’t be worth living.

     He kissed her again, this time on the forehead.

     “Thank you for making it,” he said. “I knew all along you were one tough cookie.”

     He crawled into his own bed and studied her face, watching closely for any indications she was in pain.

     And then he drifted off to sleep himself.

Chapter 49

     With the daylight came a renewed hope that Sarah would be found soon, and found alive. There was also a renewed sense of urgency, for they knew she’d gone two full days now with no food, and with only the single bottle of water she’d always carried with her.

     Bryan had laid down in a sleeping bag one of the Army searchers had loaned him. He did so reluctantly, feeling guilty for having such comfort when he knew Sarah was cold and alone and had nothing to warm her.

     But it was there, and perhaps if he got a little bit of rest he’d be more alert the next morning.

     And perhaps he wouldn’t do something so stupid as not notice when the trail he was following led back onto itself.

     The two hours of sleep he got wasn’t much. But he, like the dog, had recovered to a certain degree. And he was once again ready to get back out there and find his wife.

     News from the night shift wasn’t good. The night searchers had proceeded a full mile farther into the woods past the point where the dog called it a day. But they found absolutely no sign of Sarah.

     There was some good news to be had, though. The dog was rested and his nose was working again. He, like Bryan, was chomping at the bits and couldn’t wait to get started again.

     But the dog wasn’t in charge. Neither was Bryan.

     The handler, Ben, was.

     And he had a certain way he did things.

    Bryan grew frustrated as Ben explained while taking two cans of Alpo from a backpack.

     “We can’t go until we pay the piper. And the piper, in this case, is old Duke. If he doesn’t get his nourishment first thing in the morning, he’ll run out of gas about three hours later. Then he’ll lose interest in following the scent and will want to find a soft spot to take a nap. And we’ll play hell trying to get him motivated again.

     “On the other hand, if we treat him right and make sure he gets a good breakfast, he’ll work right through the noon hour and into mid-afternoon before he wants to stop and rest.

     “So the extra twenty minutes we have to wait this morning will pay off with several more hours of tracking.”

    Ben eyed Bryan.

     “Of course, if you’d rather not wait you can move out without us and we’ll catch up to you in a bit.”

     Bryan didn’t think Ben was baiting him, but he just wasn’t sure.

     He half expected the man to finish his comment with, “After all, that worked out real good for you yesterday.”

     And he’d have been justified in making such a comment.

     Bryan was still kicking himself for his stupidity the previous day.

     But the words were left unsaid, and Bryan decided that Ben had no particular animosity toward him.

     It was just that he’d been working with this dog for awhile, and had developed a certain procedure that had to be followed.

     Bryan would harbor no animosity toward the handler either. After all, the man was donating his time and his dog at no charge, to help find the woman he loved.

     He sat on a rock, pondering Sarah’s fate, and jumped up immediately when Ben announced that Duke was ready to go.

     As they’d done the previous day, the team let Duke take point, with his handler close behind. Next in line was Bryan, followed by Captain Martin, an Army medic, and four other members of the search team. The soldier who found the flowers and blood the day before was conspicuously absent, though.

     Bryan wondered where the man went.

     And he wondered whether the other searchers were as frustrated as he was.

     But mostly he wondered about Sarah.

     Whether she’d been able to find something to eat. There were wild berries scattered here and there, as well as some edible plants. Some of the plants had leaves which retained water and would help quench her thirst as well.

    But only if she knew which plants to choose.

    For there were some plants that were poisonous as well.

     And others that wouldn’t kill her, but would certainly upset her intestinal tract.

     And diarrhea could be dangerous to someone who was already dehydrated.

     He knew she was aware that some wild plants were edible and some plants weren’t. They’d discussed it a couple of times before when they were exploring the area around the lake. And later when they went back to the lake to go fishing or picnic.

     But he also knew that she was injured. And tired. And hungry and thirsty.

     And under those conditions it was very likely she wasn’t able to differentiate which plants were safe and which ones weren’t.

     He also wondered whether she was cold. An experienced camper, lost in the forest, would know how to build a stick shelter, and cover it with fallen branches to insulate it from the chilly night air.

     An experienced woodsman would know to build a big pile of pine straw and dried needles beneath the shelter, and to crawl inside the pile to sleep at night.

     But Sarah wasn’t experienced in the woods, as Bryan was. He’d never taught her those things.

     He never saw any need to.

     And just as Frank was kicking himself for not being better prepared for this situation, Bryan was also making promises.

     Promises to himself to train Sarah, and everybody else, how to survive a chilly night in the woods.

     And how to tell which wild plants and berries were safe to eat.

     And how to build a fire without matches.

     And how to find or make safe drinking water.

     When all this was finished, he’d do a lot of things differently to help protect the people he loved.

     But that was later. First he had to find his Sarah.

Chapter 50

     Mark didn’t even know he dozed off. He hadn’t really intended to. His intent was to watch Hannah’s face through the night, and then get up to greet a new batch of visitors from the compound the following morning.

     Instead, he awoke to a brightness that the room lacked the night before.

     Sunlight was streaking into the windows and warming his face, but it couldn’t compete against the light of his sweet Hannah’s eyes.

     Which happened to be awake and intently staring at him.

     He was wide awake and at her side in a flash.

     “Hi, baby! Oh, God, it’s so nice to see your eyes again.”

     The tube they’d placed in her throat to help her damaged lungs breathe kept her from speaking.

     All she could do was blink.

     And for a few moments, all he could do was watch her.

     Then it finally dawned on him that perhaps he should ask how she felt.

     “How are you, honey? Do you have any pain?”

     She stared at him for a time while trying to figure out how to blink, “All over.”

     She considered it the silliest question she’d ever heard. But she couldn’t tell him that. So instead, she blinked repeatedly.

     “Honey, I don’t understand.”

     She blinked some more. Like she wanted to tell him something but was frustrated because she couldn’t.

     Only then did he remember the small writing pad and pencil the nurse had left on her bedside table the night before.

     “I’m going to put the pencil in your hand and hold the paper against it. Just write a word or two and then I’ll try to figure out what you want to say. Okay?”

     She blinked once. Her eyes were starting to moisten.

     She struggled, because her fingers were numb and she could barely feel them.

     And because she couldn’t see the paper she was writing on.

     The single word she wrote was little more than a hen scratch. But Mark was able to read it because it looked just like his own handwriting.

     It said, “Hurts.”

     He said, “Okay. We’ll take a break. I’ll be right back.”

     And he left her there, pencil still propped between her fingers, while he ran out to get the nurse.

     The nurse was better at dealing with intubated patients.

     “Good morning, Hannah. You’re looking absolutely lovely this morning. If you’re able to blink without pain, blink once for me now.”

     Hannah blinked one time.

     “Good. I’m going to ask you a series of yes or no questions. If the answer is yes, blink at me. If the answer is no, just stare. Do you understand?”

     Hannah blinked again.

     “Good. Now, on a scale of one to ten, is your pain level greater than five?”

     Blink.

    “Is it greater than eight?”

     Blink.

     The nurse stood.

     “Very well. I’m going to get you a shot of painkiller to help right away, and I’ll increase your drip so it helps for the long term. We’ll check you again in a couple of hours to make sure that’s solved the problem.”

     She turned to another nurse, who was standing in the doorway.

     “Rebecca, would you get a syringe of morphine for me? Point one five should do it.”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     The nurse turned back to Hannah.

     “Now, then. Is most of your pain above your hips?”

     Blink.

     “Is most of your pain in your abdominal area?”

     Blink.

     “I suspected as much. You were in surgery for several hours. You lost your gall bladder and your appendix, but you can live without both of them. Do you know where you are?”