The Trials of Being Loved

Part 39 - Drowning Polar Bear

Phuket? Did that road sign just say Phuket??? New rubbed his eyes then groaned as his head began to pound as more light streamed in. "Why am I headed to Phuket?"  Oh god, his voice was rough. "Water, please?" 

Gun leaned over the seat and handed him a bottle of water and a sandwich. "Here, food and drink. Jeez, New, can you at least remember you need to eat?"

New shrugged. "I had other things on my mind yesterday." He whined. "Now why the fuck are we going to Phuket?"

Off answered cheerfully from the front seat. "Tay told me to bring you here. Said you would know why."

Gun, still leaning over the front seat, squinted curiously as New pressed his lips tightly together and didn't say anything else. Interestingly enough, the tips of his ears turned bright red! He leaned over and whispered, "Papii? Can I ask him?"

"No, Baby, you can't." Off frowned. "Do you want him to poke into our business? He will, you know, once you open that particular door." His hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Remember what happened with Art?"

Gun shivered. "I am not going to. Some things are better left in the past."

Off gave a decisive nod. "Yes, they are. I have a feeling, good or bad, this is one of them." He smiled gently at his partner in crime. "Why don't you get more sleep? We have another eight hours ahead of us."  

"Mm. Have I told you I love you lately?" Gun reached for his hand and held it, returning his smile. 

"No, but it's nice to hear at any time." Off squeezed his hand, quite hard, letting him know the feeling was mutual. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The ride in the ambulance was swift. Tam rolled the stress out of his neck, and took several deep breaths, now that Tay was in surgery. He called one of the team members and handed the evidence, and with a stern look, "In my wife's hands, only." He didn't let go, until the man nodded. 

The relief he felt, as the package left his body, also helped to ease the stress. "Hey," He yelled, after the man, "Tell her I'll call as soon as I have an update." The courier turned, gave an abrupt nod and ran. Only then, did Tam drop like a stone into one of those plastic chairs. 

It seemed like hours before a doctor appeared. "The guardian?" He asked, pulling down his mask. Tam jumped up, since the boy's family hadn't arrived yet. He wondered if his wife had anything to do with it. 

"Me, Sir." He dropped into parade rest. Old habits around some authority figures were hard to loose. 

The doctor pushed his hand through his hair. "Whoever did that field dressing saved his life. The boy has a punctured lung from two broken ribs. We repaired the lung, but that wasn't the real problem." He rubbed his face. "The damage to his internal organs was severe. We had to repair a lot of tears to his intestines, from the repeated kicking, and he took a particularly bad one to the back, which may have left some damage to his liver. We need to see how it heals on it own, or he will need further surgery." 

"The good news is that other than the ribs, there was nothing else broken. The bad news, everything else takes much longer to heal. We induced a coma to help him heal. We'll wake him in 72 hours." Giving a short nod, he walked away. 

Pulling out his phone, Tam called his wife. "The boy will live. He's in an induced coma for the next three days. Nail that fucker's hide, Honey." 

"Are you coming home now?" Ms. Tam asked. "I found something very interesting about your El Captain and the young officer who was shot." 

"Soon, Honey. I need to recruit a new officer, if Joko hasn't done it yet." 

~~~~~~~~~~

New slept almost all the way to Phuket. Memories of previous trips there kept flooding his thoughts, causing tears. Why did Tay say anything about Phuket? No, he was not going to ask again!