Written for Steemit: A love story occurs during a time anomaly. A woman from today somehow steps into an

anomaly and meets a cowboy asleep on his ranch, in his bed, in the 1850's. ©Jeff Kubitz 2016 - 2017 All Rights Reserved.

Bunkers - Chapter 16, Song of Angels, Book III

Mindy Woczlewski courtesy of Nastya Muratokova

Song of Angels - Book 1 - Table of Contents
Birth - Book II -Table of Contents
Previous Chapters: Bunkers - Book III - Table of Contents

Rephael awoke as he was carried to the Medivac chopper. He hurt when he tried to breathe. He passed out from the pain.

The next time he woke, he was being wheeled on a gurney down a hallway. He tried to lift his head. It hurt so badly in the front of his chest.

"Captain, Lie back down, please. You are being taken to surgery. You'll be alright." A male nurse said to him.

"It hurts." Rephael could barely talk, it hurt so badly. "My chest hurts."

"That's going to be fixed in just a few minutes and you won't feel any more pain."

"Elizabeth," Rephael gasped, "Is she here?"

"We are almost to surgery and your wife has been notified. Now try to relax, don't move, and it will hurt less." The nurse said.

"What is wrong with me?" Rephael asked.

"Some ribs are broken and they will have to be set and your wounds will be cleaned and stitched up. Nothing too serious." The nurse answered.

"My head hurts, too." Rephael said.

"There is a nasty bump on the back of your head, now stay calm because here we are and they will give you anesthesia. In a couple of minutes, you won't feel a thing." The nurse said as he pushed the gurney into an operating room. "Now relax, we are going to lift you onto the operating table."

"Let's apply anesthesia before we move him." A doctor looked into his eyes, or Rephael thought the man was a doctor. "I am the anesthesiologist, Captain Wright, I am going to put this mask on you Captain and then I want you to breathe deeply and regular, okay?" The doctor slid the mask over Rephael's face. "Now breathe deeply and regularly and all your pain will just disappear and you will go to sleep."

"Okay." Rephael answered and he started to breathe. The first breath hurt. By the third breath, his eyes closed.

"He is under." Captain Wright said to the surgeon.

"Let's get him on the table and prepped." A surgeon ordered. Carefully, professionally, Rephael was moved from the gurney to the operating table. "Doctor, the surgeon said to an assistant surgeon, you get the wound in his leg first and I will pull out these broken pieces of his rib cage and sternum before they do even more damage. It looks like from the X-rays he is so lucky to be alive." The surgeon expanded the hole in Rephael's chest where two ribs poked through where there were separated from the sternum while the other surgeon worked on Rephael's shin.

With forceps, the chief surgeon pulled out three sharp pieces of bone from the hole, each about a half inch or so long, "There we go, he will live and I see no damage that nature will not fix." Then, he put the two ribs back into the sternum. "Whatever hit him hit him so hard but he will be as good as new in a month or two."

"How's that leg?" The chief surgeon asked as he sewed the hole in Rephael's chest closed. It would take about a hundred stitches.

"I have it cleaned and I am putting in a drain, then I will stitch the wound and get to his shoulder, that's minor compared to the rest."

The chief surgeon looked over, "Good work, and that wound shouldn't affect him at all once it heals."

Rephael woke eight hours later in a hospital bed. He tried to raise his head, "Ugh!" It didn't hurt as bad as he remembered but he was sore.

"You're awake!" He heard Elizabeth say.

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes, I am here darling and they say you will be good as new in a month or two but try to lie still. Your chest was broken in several places."

"Kiss me." Rephael said.

"I will gently." Elizabeth replied as she bent over him and kissed him on the lips without touching Rephael with anything but her lips.

"Oh that was good, where are we?" Rephael asked.

"We are at Nellis Air Force Base." Elizabeth answered. "Can I get you anything?"

"I am thirsty. It has been a long time since I ate, too." Rephael answered.

"Here, they said you can have a drink of water if you asked for it." Elizabeth held a cup with a straw to his lips. Rephael took a drink. "As for food, they will bring that around when it is time. Would you like your bed tilted up so you can drink easier?"

"Yes." Rephael answered. Elizabeth used the control the raise the head of the bed. Once it was all the way up, she held the cup to his mouth.

"Thanks," Rephael said after he finished sipping from the straw. "I still hurt but it is not nearly as bad as it was yesterday. Do you know what happened to me?"

"I heard you were shot down and then you were punched by that thing." Elizabeth answered, "But if you want to tell me what happened, I'll listen."

Rephael told his new wife the entire story.

Follow me: @jeff-kubitz Book One - Meeting is available in Paperback here: https://www.amazon.com/Jeffery-Kubitz/e/B01MXY9YHR