Chapter 22

  Shawn stayed at the hospital waiting for news on Jesse for what seemed like an eternity. While he was waiting, he learned that Sanders had been killed. He was physically and emotionally spent when the doctor finally came out. The man looked extremely tired. He couldn’t get a read from his face and expected the worst. Shawn waited for the doctor to speak first because he was too terrified to ask.

  “Corporal Harris, I don’t want you to get your hopes up. Sargent Taylor is in very grave condition, but he is a very strong young man. He’s stable right now, but time is of the essence. The knife just nicked his heart, although it didn’t penetrate it. Another few centimeters, and we wouldn’t be talking right now. He needs to be transported to Saigon ASAP, where they have a much better facility.”

  “Thank you for all your effort, Doc. I really appreciate it. By the way, how is Dang doing?”

  “He’s doing fine; he’s a tough man.”

  “Can I see Jesse?”

  “He’s sedated, but you can see him for just a minute.”

  “Thanks again, Doc.”

  A nurse took Shawn in to see Jesse and sternly told him to only stay a minute. They were getting ready to move him. He went to his bedside and gripped his hand.

  Although Jesse couldn’t hear him, Shawn said softly, “This worthless war is over for you, buddy. It didn’t end the way we planned. Thanks for being such a good friend. I hope we’ll get a chance to have that drink at your home and watch the sailboats go by someday.”

  Shawn watched as they carefully loaded Jesse and several other wounded men on the Jolly Green Giant for their short trip to Saigon. When the chopper was out of sight, he jumped into his Jeep and headed for Madam Chi’s, where he intended to get drunk and enjoy the company of several young ladies. But neither of those two things happened. He spent the night alone, and there wasn’t enough alcohol in the world that could take his mind off of what had happened that night.

  *****

  The following morning, Bennett went over Hung’s report. Except for different wording, it pretty much matched the same events that Shawn had given him the night before. Bennett knew that a Tiger recon team had ambushed and killed an entire NVA patrol the previous day only three clicks from that hill and that a Chinese advisor had been among the dead. He looked at the Dragunov sniper rifle next to his desk and theorized that the prisoner they were now holding was probably the lone survivor of that same recon unit. Bennett had a strong suspicion that he had killed Sanders. He also theorized that the man was either wounded in the ambush the night before or was hit by the M60 after Hung had spotted him on that hill. Regardless, his injury slowed him down as he tried to return to his lines. Unfortunately, that’s when Jesse ran across the man. Bennett set the report down and decided that he needed to have a talk with the prisoner and find out if his theories were correct.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  *****

  Li was thrown into a holding cell and was given nothing to eat or drink. He couldn’t sleep due to the severe burning pain in his knee that was aggravated further by the U.S. soldier. His entire leg had swollen, and the area around his knee was turning black and blue with crimson lines. If he tried to stand, the pain sent shock waves through his entire body. He cursed the asshole that had repeatedly struck his knee. He asked his captors in their own language for something for his pain, but they just laughed at him. Li asked for food and water and got the same response.

  It was mid-morning when Li was dragged out of his cell by two ARVN soldiers and roughly placed on a wooden chair. A Green Beret Colonel and one other man sat across the table from him. The Colonel offered him a cigarette, and he eagerly accepted it.

  “Let’s start with your name and rank,” the Colonel asked through his interpreter.

  “Can I have something for my pain?” Li said in Vietnamese.

  The interpreter just laughed and shook his head no.

  "Can I have something to eat or drink?"

  "If you cooperate, you will be given food and water," was the interrupter's terse reply.

  Bennett asked the interpreter what the prisoner had said, and he informed him. Bennett told the man to provide some water and aspirin for the prisoner but nothing else. Bennett was of the school that you could get more information from a prisoner by goodwill rather than by force, although that was not the case with Li. After he received the two items, he refused to give them anything. Not even his name. The interpreter left the room and returned with two ARVN guards, who stood Li up and started to beat him. When Bennett saw what was happening, he immediately ordered them to stop. A half-hour later, and after receiving no information from the prisoner, Bennett left the room, and Li was thrown back into his cell. The guards disregarded Bennett's orders to give the prisoner food and medical attention.

  *****

  Sydney wasn’t much of a drinker, yet she easily finished the bottle of brandy before she crashed on her bed. Now, in the late morning hours, she finally got dressed and headed out the door with a slight hangover after a light breakfast and a lot of coffee. Sydney knew nothing of the events that transpired the night before nor that Jesse had been transported to Saigon in critical condition.

  She got into her Jeep and hit the starter button. To her absolute amazement, the Jeep roared to life. She drove through the crowded streets until she came to the field headquarters of the ARVN 18th Infantry Division, where she was to meet General Dao and his staff. She parked her Jeep and was about to enter the tent when she was approached by Colonel Bennett. He informed her that Captain Hung’s chopper had been shot down and that he had lost several of his men. But when she heard that Jesse had been wounded and that he was now in Saigon, nothing else he said seemed to register until he told her about the prisoner that had inflicted the near-fatal wound on Jesse.

  After her meeting ended, Sydney got on the phone and found out where the prisoner was being held. Then she made another call. She made sure that the prisoner would be transferred to another location, away from prying eyes.