Love and the White Wolf - Book 3

8. I Trust You (Sexual content)

It took a full day and night for the medics to remove every piece of shrapnel from James body. They had to go underwater in the pool above the falls with snorkels and look for the glowing pieces in the dark. Two worked on his body while Dr. Strange and Wanda took turns keeping him suspended motionless in the water. After they took everything out they laid him on his stomach on the flat rock above the falls and bathed him in a bicarbonate solution to neutralize any remaining microscopic particles still present in his skin. Dr. Strange opened a portal to the burn treatment unit and a team came with a special gurney to transport him through. Both Wanda and Dr. Strange went with him even though they were both exhausted from their efforts to reduce his pain.

Debridement is the process of cleaning dead tissue from a wound. Burn victims are usually sedated or anaesthetized for the process which must take place before treatment begins. Since neither would work Dr. Strange suggested they try an epidural block. In his explorations of the future it worked half the time. It sort of worked, in that it reduced the pain from agonizing to just barely bearable. They began the process and determined that James spinal column was intact but he had suffered nerve damage. His remaining wounds were deep, penetrating burns as if he had been poked with hundreds of red hot pokers at the same time.

When they finally said I could see him it was the morning of the third day after his injury. He was face down on a special bed which kept him floating so that no pressure was felt on the front part of his body. The support for his face had a cutout with a mirror angled so he could have a conversation and make eye contact. He was on an IV to replace fluids lost to the burns and to feed him massive doses of antibiotics to stave off infections. Meals were liquids. It was necessary I wear a mask, gown and gloves when I saw him to prevent infection. His back and legs were covered in bandages kept moist by the regular spraying of them with a sterile solution.

"White Wolf, your wife has asked to see you," the nurse said to James.

"What? No!" he moaned. "Don't let her in."

"James, I'm right here," I approached the bed so he could see me.

"Go, leave me, please, please," he begged.

"I can't. I won't," I replied back in a quiet voice.

"You must," he screamed in agony. "I'll come home, I promise."

I looked at him helplessly and he made eye contact.

"I can't do this with you here. Go to Ma and Gus. But go, please, Gail, please."

I turned away and I left. Wanda and Doctor Strange came to me as I took off the sterile garments. Wanda held me as I cried. Doctor Strange was upset and unable to understand why none of his spells seemed to work.

"It's because part of him deep down thinks he deserves this for when he was the Winter Soldier," I suggested. "His PTSD from those years is very deep seated. He's probably not even aware he's doing it."

"We'll stay with him and do what we can," he said. "Not just as an Avenger but also as a physician and a friend. Let me know when you are ready to leave and I will portal you to your friends in Brooklyn."

"I won't stay there long," I said. "I want to go home, be there when he returns."

"Gail," insisted Strange, "burn treatment is extensive and time consuming. He could be here for months."

"His body regenerates and my birthday is a month away," I replied. "He won't let me be alone on that day."

I walked away from the disbelief in his voice as he told me I was in denial. If I was wrong, I was wrong but I had to have something to hope for. I couldn't call Gus and Ma for a few hours so I went to the meditation garden and sat on the bench under the arch of bougainvillea. I heard a voice and it was the shaman. I hadn't expected to see her out of her home but I moved over for her to sit.