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Date Posted: 08:17:23 02/23/06 Thu
Author: Sylvia Mohr Bartlett
Subject: For Which We Are Truly Thankful Ch I Section 1
In reply to: Sylvia Bartlett Mohr 's message, "FOR Which We Are Truly Thankful - inside" on 08:15:05 02/23/06 Thu

FOR WHICH WE ARE TRULY THANKFUL

Part One A B-BALL AND BACK PAIN

by Sylvia Bartlett Mohr

Reposted with revisions starting 11/17/2005 of this story so far….with revisions. Enjoy new version! VBG! Reposted the reposted with a bit more tweaking first. 2/23/2006

This marks the return of a rather behemouth old favorite... I will be reposting it in sections until I get as far as I was before. In the meantime, I will be working on future chapters, previously planned but never executed. So, once again, dear friends...into the breach.



Sturgis caught up to Commander Harmon Rabb as he left the courtroom. “Hey, Buddy, are we still friends after I beat you in court just now?”

“You didn’t beat me, Sturgis. I was sandbagged by my own client. I can’t defend him if he doesn’t give me all the facts.” Harm sounded tired.

“Sounds like maybe you are too worn out to keep our court date tonight, Counselor.”

“In your dreams, pal. I could beat you in one on one in my sleep.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Rabb. Are we still on for 8 then?”

“That’s when we have the court time, buddy. See you then.” Harm went into his office and closed the door behind.

Mac was still out on the Seahawk and he was surprised how much he was missing her. He’d be glad when the ship docked and she was home. He had spent lots of hours playing b-ball with Turner and playing guitar at home, but he missed his best pal now that their friendship was back on track. He had flown combat air patrol the last 3 weekends each day and he wasn’t sleeping well during the week, so he was very tired, but all the activity didn’t seem to help him get any decent rest.

His back was hurting a lot. That had all started when he had slipped on the steps leaving JAG HQ one night with Mac. The fall had been more embarrassing than damaging he thought, but he had been getting frequent twinges in his back and sudden weakness in his right leg ever since he fell. He figured he’d bruised something and had to work out the kinks. No big deal and nothing to worry about.


Turner was surprised when he walked on to the basketball court to see Harm already throwing hoops and having worked up a pretty good sweat. “You wearing yourself out for me, Pal?” He asked with a warm chuckle.

“Just loosening up and warming up to toast you good, Sturg, my man.” Harm laughed as he sunk a shot from outside the key over his shoulder without looking back.

“Impressive.” The black officer commented without a grudge. “I think the doctor is ready for me now.”

The two had a good, clean, aggressive, but close, game going. Harm evaded a block and went up to make a jump shot which scored nicely and won the game for him, but as he came down from the leap on his right leg, the leg gave out and he went down hard on the boards. Turner winced as he ran over. Harm wasn’t moving and seemed to be having a hard time catching his breath. Sturgis knelt by his friend, getting seriously concerned at how pale the man was. “Hey, Harm…that was a hard hit.”

Harm finally gulped some air in and coughed, his eyes watering. He shut his eyes tightly. “Damn.” He said softly. “That really hurts.”

“Do you think you broke anything?”

“My fall…with my butt.” Harm retorted, still not sitting up. “It’s mostly my dignity that’s hurt, my friend. Give me a minute to regroup here.” He stayed still, slowly getting his breathing under control, but he was still extremely pale. He started to try to get to his feet, but fell back. “Okay. Too soon to get up just yet.”

Now, Turner was worried. Harm usually bounced back pretty quickly from tumbles he took on the basketball court. For him to not get back up this long, he was in some serious pain. “Need a hand?”

“No, Sturgis. I think I’ll just stay here for a while. You can hit the showers if you want.”

“Are you sure? I can stay with you.”

“Go on, mother hen. Your chickie is just fine.” Harm tried to smile, but his eyes were still shut and he was still laying on his back on the gym floor. He finally opened his eyes when his friend neither moved nor said anything further. “Commander,” he said firmly, “I will be fine. I just think I need to lay still a few minutes and give the world a chance to slow down.”

The two men’s eyes were locked on each other and Sturgis reluctantly stood up, but he was frowning. After a minute of the stare down, Turner relented. “Okay, Harm. If you are still on the floor when I get back here though, I am going to help you up.”

“If I’m still on the floor when you get back from a shower, it will probably because I fell asleep while I lay here. And you can wake me up and send me HOME.” Harm tried to laugh, but failed at the attempt miserably. “Go before I humiliate myself any more, please.”

“Score wise, I am the humiliated one, Doctor Rabb. Damn fine game! See you in a few.”

“Not if I see you first.” Harm responded, but it was a halfhearted attempt at levity that didn’t achieve much to alleviate his friend’s concern as he headed to the shower.

After the door closed behind his old Academy chum, Harm slowly and painfully sat up. He had to drag himself to the bleachers to use them to aid in his reaching a standing position. He walked over and picked up his jacket from the floor and went straight out to his car, limping heavily. By the time Sturgis got out to the parking lot, Harm had driven away. Turner frowned. Harm usually showered at the gym before going home. His concern for his friend only deepened.


The next morning Turner didn’t see Harm in his office. He headed for the Admiral’s office and was stopped by Tiner. “Sir, I wouldn’t go in there just now. The Admiral is liable to bite your head off. Commander Rabb called in, he won’t be in today and the Admiral is not very happy about it.”

“I’ll risk it, Tiner, but thanks for the heads up.” Sturgis knocked and at the terse ‘Enter’ from the Admiral he went in. After coming to attention before the Admiral’s desk, he waited until Chegwidden looked up. The admiral did not seem angry, but he was frowning.

“Enjoy your game with Rabb last night, Commander Turner?” Chegwidden asked in a mild tone.

“It was invigorating right until the Commander won the game with a great jump shot.”

“Was that before or after he fell and bruised himself too badly to make it to work today?” The admiral asked, even toned.

“Right before actually.” Turner hesitated, but his desire to say more was clearly evident.

“Yes, Turner. You seem to have more to say about this?”

“Sir, it was just so odd. There appeared to be no reason for that fall. Harm didn’t slip or twist his ankle - he just went down, hard; like his leg gave way on him. I play basketball with the Commander often. He’s a good athlete and I don’t understand why he fell. It really knocked the wind out of him. He just lay there. Admiral, I’m worried. I don’t like it. He didn’t come in and shower – he just left to go home. I called him several times last night after I got home and he didn’t answer.”

“I spoke with him this morning on the phone when he called in. He sounded very tired. I read him the riot act for letting recreational sports interfere with his work, which wasn’t really fair - the man has enough sick leave saved up to make a real dent in time between now and the end of the year and he doesn’t take days off lightly. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on him.”

“Sir, not to make you feel bad about how you responded to him calling in, but Harm wouldn’t have called in, unless he were really hurting still. Is he going to see a doctor?”

AJ frowned. “Do you think that’s necessary?”

Sturgis sighed. “Harm accused me of being a mother hen when I expressed my concern last night, sir, but he was really pale afterwards. I never saw his color come back. I can’t say if a doctor’s visit is in order or not, but with the amount of time he is spending in the air, I am a little concerned.”

“Stearman or Tomcat?” AJ asked tersely.

“Admiral, Harm has flown combat air patrol over points on the East coast every weekend the past 3 weeks, sir, Saturday and Sunday. I am surprised you weren’t aware of that.”

Chegwidden broke in impatiently as he stood from his chair. “I’m not the man’s log book, Commander Turner.”

“Of course not, sir. Sorry, sir. Anyway, he has admitted he isn’t sleeping well during the week.”

“Why is that?” Their commanding officer rapped out.

The other man shrugged. “Harm doesn’t seem to have any theories on that he is willing to share, sir. He has bouts with insomnia fairly frequently, but this has been a longer haul than he’s had for a while, at least that I am aware of. He says he sleeps the best after he’s flown, so I guess that means he gets sleep on the weekends.”

Admiral Chegwidden turned his back on his subordinate and gazed out the window, but the concern behind the next question was evident. “You don’t think he would try to fly if he wasn’t feeling better by the next time he’s scheduled, do you, Commander Turner? I know Rabb can be damn stubborn most of the time, but is he foolish enough…?”

“Sir, I don’t think he would ever intentionally risk an aircraft and his RIO if he didn’t feel up to the task.” Sturgis broke in, with firm conviction in his voice. “I’m more concerned that he may have really injured himself in a way that won’t show up for a while, than that it will affect his abilities in the air or in the courtroom. A fall like that can really screw up a back and he has ejected a few more times than most pilots ever dream of…”

“Do me a favor, Commander? Check on him on your way home tonight?”

“I was planning on that anyway, Admiral.”

“If he doesn’t make it in tomorrow, I would like you to report to me first thing in the morning with your evaluation of how you find him, Commander Turner. I’ll make that an order if I have to.”

“Admiral Chegwidden, that will not be necessary. I will be glad to update you with my opinion of things after I see how he seems to be faring. However, couldn't you just ask him if he does call in tomorrow, sir?”

“After my reaction this morning, I rather expect he will call in early enough to get the machine if he has to take another day.” AJ sighed, a sound heavy with regret. “Sometimes even admirals should think before they bark. At any rate, thank you, Commander. That will be all.”

Although AJ’s back was still to him, Turner snapped to attention as he said. “Aye. Aye, sir.” He turned and left the office, nodding and giving a brief smile to Tiner on his way out so the Yeoman wouldn’t think he’d been reamed out by their CO. He went to his office, in deep thought.


Sitting down at his desk Commander Turner saw a message waiting on his computer.

“Turner, are you there?” The e-mail was from Mac on the Seahawk taking Singer’s place.

“I’m here, Colonel Mackenzie, how are you?” He typed back.

The cursor blinked a moment and than the answer came through. “Okay I guess. We are hitting some rough seas just now. I’ve been trying to reach Harm and he isn’t answering his e-mail.”

“Harm isn’t at work today, Mac. Can I help you?”

“I don’t need anything. Just wanted to hear from Harm. Is everything all right with him?”

Damn, how should he answer that one? “Any particular reason you are asking?”

“Don’t play with me, Sturgis. Is he on assignment? Why isn’t he at the office?” The impatience came through loud and clear.

“I didn’t just say he wasn’t in the office, Colonel. I said Harm wasn’t at work. He took a sick day. Look, don’t get overly worried or anything, but Harm took a fall when we were playing basketball last night. Hit the deck pretty hard. I don’t think there was any serious damage, but he called in today saying he was too sore to come in. Guess the admiral was pretty hard on him for missing work.”

“Why would the Admiral give him a hard time about missing work? Harm doesn’t take sick leave lightly and he has loads of it coming. Sturgis, did you push Harm when you were playing? I know you two are pretty competitive when you play…”

Sturgis cut her off quickly. “Of course I didn’t push Harm… he just fell. It happens to the best of us.”

“I wasn’t accusing you of anything, Commander. It’s just that…”

The cursor blinked a few seconds before continuing across the screen.

“It’s just that, Harm fell on the steps outside HQ a while ago. I feel kind of bad about it because he hit really hard, and, well, it looked so funny that I just laughed and laughed. Until I realized he was really pale, and he wasn’t getting up. He tried to laugh it off when I started to worry, but he was limping the next day, even though we were jogging together. He would run and seem fine, but when we slowed down and he was walking the limp would come out. He said it was nothing….”

Turner leaned forward and urgently broke in. “Mac, which leg? Which leg was he limping on?”

The cursor blinked for so long he almost jumped back on to ask if she was still there.

“I am pretty sure it was his right leg -- he was limping right sided. And holding his back between his ribs and his hip, too. Why do you ask?”

“It’s probably not important, Mac. But it was his right leg that went out on him last night. There was no obvious reason for him to fall. He didn’t slip or twist his ankle. He went up for a jump shot, made a beautiful basket, but when he landed on his right foot, he just kept on going all the way to the gym floor…like his leg gave out.”

“How can you say that isn’t important? It’s the same leg, Sturgis.”

“But, Colonel, he hasn’t been limping since he came home from the Seahawk. Not once. Nothing before he fell last night. So I don’t think it’s related to his previous fall when he was with you.”

“Sturgis, I’m not just being a worry wart here. Harm tends to push himself and he neglects things he should see to sometimes. Will you check on him tonight for me, please?”

“Admiral already asked me the same thing, Mac and I’ll tell you what I told him. I was planning on it anyway. I’ll let you know any new info as things progress. If Harm makes it in tomorrow, I’ll have him e-mail you right away - okay? Otherwise, I will give you the scoop. Okay?”

“Thank you, Sturgis. I really appreciate it. I miss you guys, so much.”

“I’m sure you do, Colonel…especially a certain fly boy we both know. If it helps, he is really missing you too. He gets this look on his face and I know who he’s thinking off. It ain’t me and it ain’t Petty Officer Coates. It’s you. He does care for you…you know that don’t you? Any way… He’s tough, Mac. He’ll be okay. I had better get to work here.”

“Me too. Mac out.”

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