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Unconditional Love 10: More Plans
Rating: IM15
Summary: Mrs. Talbert has to start planning for the future. Harm and Mac
give her a hand.
Spoilers: Anything up to the season finale is fair game.
Disclaimer: See Part 1
Tuesday Morning
Norfolk Naval Hospital
Harm guided Mac through the doors into the ICU unit. They headed to the nurses’
station and asked where Ron Talbert’s room was. The nurse consulted a list, and
seeing they were approved visitors, pointed them to the room. At the door to
Ron’s room, an MP stood guard. He asked for their ID’s before allowing them to
enter.
Mac opened the door softly and stopped on the threshold. Brenda Talbert was
holding Ron’s hand and talking to him. A doctor was busy checking his chart and
reading printouts from one of the machines the young man was hooked up to.
“Remember when you and Nathan decided to climb the pine trees in Mrs. Benton’s
yard? Boy, you two were a mess. Pine sap in your clothes, your hair … it took me
forever to get you clean. She says hello, by the way, and wants you to, and I
quote, ‘get your lazy butt out of bed’. If you don’t, she might come down here
and get you up herself.”
Not wanting to intrude on a private moment, Harm and Mac started to retreat. She
caught sight of them and said, “I’ll join you in the waiting room in a few
minutes.”
Harm and Mac sat down on the sofa. Mac shook her head. “I never realized …” her
voice trailed off.
He covered her hand with his. “I know what you mean.”
Mrs. Talbert walked into the waiting room. “I was hoping you would come by
today. The doctor wants to talk to me about making plans for where Ron is going
next. What should I say to him?”
Mac replied, “My partner and I did some research this morning into what benefits
Ron would have and what long-term care options there are.”
“And?” Mrs. Talbert asked. They told her that Ron would qualify for disability
coverage, and went through the forms that she needed to fill out and sign. “And
if the care he needs is outside what Navy or VA facilities can provide, Ron can
go to a civilian hospital or rehab center,” Mac continued.
Mrs. Talbert looked at both Harm and Mac. “Thank you so much, both of you. With
Ron here and all this business with the guards outside his room and protective
custody, trying to figure out what to do for the future was just too much.”
“Believe me, we were glad to be able help. How is Ron?” Harm asked gently.
She sighed. “Better, I think. He’s breathing on his own mostly, but they keep
the respirator in for when he needs help breathing. He doesn’t like it – he
keeps biting on the tube. It’s as if he’s there, but just needs to come out of
the fog. So I keep talking to him, telling him about friends and stories from
his childhood. Sometimes I get a reaction, whether it’s a sigh, or moving his
head. He’s got a long way to go, though.” Brenda Talbert bowed her head as the
enormity of what was ahead of her weighed upon her.
“You be here for your son. Just know we’ll help whenever and however we can,”
Mac took Brenda’s hand.
“If it’s not too much to ask, will you talk to the doctor with me?”
Mac hesitated a fraction until she saw Harm’s nod. “Of course.”
Mrs. Talbert went back to Ron’s room and brought the doctor back with her.
“Hello, ma’am, sir, I’m Lt. Commander Gant. I’m Petty Officer Talbert’s
neurologist,” he introduced himself to them.
“I’m Commander Rabb, and this is Colonel MacKenzie,” Harm gestured towards Mac.
“We’re assisting Mrs. Talbert with understanding her son’s medical benefits and
the paperwork associated with it.”
“She mentioned to us that you wanted to talk about long-term care,” Mac added.
“Yes. Although some of PO Talbert’s EEG’s are improving, I don’t believe he is
coming out of the coma anytime soon. And while we can deal with trauma cases
here, we are not set up for patients who need extended care.”
“Where would you recommend?” Mac asked.
“The ideal place for him would be the Neurological ICU at the University of
Virginia. They’re set up to handle exactly this type of case. And they have
dialysis on site, which is PO Talbert still needs to have daily.”
“How soon would he be going?” Brenda asked.
“I’d say another week or so. He needs to have surgery to put in a tracheostomy
and a feeding tube, and his heart has to be more stable before we can do that.
If you agree, I can put in a call to see if UVA has a bed available.”
Brenda asked Harm, “What do you think?”
“UVA has a great reputation. The only thing is it’s pretty far from home for
you.”
“I can handle that. I want what’s best for my son.”
“Well, then, Lt. Commander, go ahead and make your phone calls to UVA. And
thanks for your help.”
After the neurologist left, Mac told Mrs. Talbert, “We’ve got a few leads to
chase down in the case. We’ll still try to stop by every day, but it might be at
odd hours.”
“That’s okay. Knowing you’re out there trying to find the person who did this is
a comfort.” She stood up. “I’m going to go back and sit with my son. Thanks
again for all of your help.”
Harm and Mac decided to head back to the motel and take a nap. Tonight would
probably be a long night, strategizing with Gibbs.
“You know, Mac, I’m still not happy that you’re setting yourself out as bait in
this trap,” Harm said, as they got out of the car at their motel. “Promise me
you’ll be careful. We finally got to a good place for us. I don’t want to lose
you already.” He hugged her.
“Don’t worry, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” Mac teased. Then she turned
serious. “I don’t want to lose you either. But I can’t, we can’t, let
this change in our relationship interfere with our jobs.”
“I know, I know. But can we at least both agree not to take any unnecessary
risks?” he bargained.
“You mean, like playing tag with a cruise missile?” she leaned back in his
embrace and smiled at him.
“Exactly. Or like chartering a cab and driving into a battle zone in
Chechnya,” he countered. He pulled her back in and kissed her.
“Mmmmm, Commander Rabb. Let’s get to bed.”
“Your wish is my command, Colonel.”
To Part 11
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