Montana Saga Chapter 24

Dr. Harman had the floor this time. "Ms. Streahl's injuries to her

hands were not as severe as my team and I first thought. The

gunshots were to her thenar eminences in her right and left hands,

both through and throughs. Because the bones are untouched, this

simplifies skeletal management, but requires meticulous focus on soft

tissue viability and preserving critical neurovascular structures. The

primary surgical objectives shifted to aggressive debridement, evaluation

of the blast-zone, and protection of the thumb function.---" Dale breaks in,

"well that will be good news to my niece, because she would be just as

concerned about it being her middle finger, because she uses that to drive."

The room erupts in laughter for the first time since her attack.

With a slight smile on his face, Dr. Harman goes on to explain more about

Rya's hand surgeries.

"This type of injury is considered contaminated. The primary entry and exit

sites are typically left open by secondary intention or delayed primary closure

after subsequent look-after procedures, minimizing the risk of closed space

infections," Dr. Harman saw by the looks on Rya's family's and friends faces and

knew that it was time to let them finally see her in the ICU.

"We know that it's been hard to sit here for the past hour and not see Ms. Steahl,

so let's have you see her two at a time and then we can pick this conversation up

tomorrow. If you go down the hall and to the left, the ICU is right around the

corner, you can follow me and I'll bring you. Who is going first." Dr. Harman inquired.

"We will." Catherine and Dale Steahl said standing to their feet. Their somber

demeanor turned to joy when they saw Diane, and shock when they saw Raymond Harrington being pushed in wheelchairs by Harrison Grant and Roman Conrad.

Catherine was the first to hug her daughter Diane, "thank you Jesus!" she said with

tears running down her face, Diane couldn't hold back tears of her own.

Georgene Steahl hugged her sister Diane firmly but gently. "I'm glad you're back

with us ."

Catherine stared at Raymond with daggers in her eyes. Diane noticed and spoke

up in her father-in-law's defense.

"MOM! This is NOT on Raymond. Raymond was being abused by both his wife and

his son too. Save your anger for the ones who deserve it. Jere and his mother." Diane

scolded her own mother, who was taken aback the revelation.

Harrison motioned for an Elite Security Team member to take Diane's wheelchair,

then he approached Rya's Aunt Georgene.

"I need you to do something for me Lt. Colonel." Harrison said taking Rya's K.O.M.

necklace out of his pocket and handing it to her, she took it from him and put it in

the pocket of her army jacket.

"What can I do?" Georgene asked him.

"I am assuming you know who makes Rya's jewelry for her?" Harrison inquired.

"Yes, Darren Onyx. Why?" Georgene inquired in return.

"I want a copy of this neckless made...with one change." Harrison ordered.

"What do you want done Mr. Grant?" Georgene's curiosity raised.

"I want him to make a 24ct gold hollow K.O.M. necklace. I want you to put a tracking

device in it, and on her truck, so that this never happens to your niece again. Can you arrange that Lt. Colonel?" Harrison's not so much questioning her ability to get it done,

but more insisting it be done.

"I'll get it done. After I make those arrangements I need to see if Jace has found any information on Jere and Francine's whereabouts." Georgene replied leaving to find a

quieter area in the hospital to contact Jace.

In the ICU Catherine and Dale Steahl are stationed at Rya's bedside...

"My baby girl. You need to come back to us. You have dreams to accomplish, you have

a man waiting for you even if he doesn't---" her son Dale cuts her off.

"Leave his lack of faith out of it mom, she doesn't need that stress in her

condition." Dale says with slight frustration.

Dale picks up where he cut off his mother's conversation.

"We do need you back tomboy.," Dale tells Rya smiling. "It's too quiet a world without

you. We need your ferocious spirit, sarcasm and attitude back that inspires us all. You're

in there tomboy, I know you are." Dale encourages Rya gently squeezing her forearm.

Back in the church chapel, Henry after letting out only a small part of his fury slowly

sat back down,

Joseph sat in silence for a few beats letting the echo of Henry's cracked voice that turned

into fury fade into the high ceilings of the chapel. He didn't flinch from the horror of Henry's past, nor did he brush past the mention of Sela. Instead, the seasoned old farmer

leaned forward, resting his calloused hands on his knees, his face shifting into a fierce,

unshakeable respect.

"Mr. Conrad... Henry," Joseph began, his voice a low and steady rumble that anchored the

room. The people who did this to you weren't family. They were monsters wrapped in suits

and steel. And they were fools. There is no higher calling than being a steward of the land

and feeding the people who walk it. You aren't a servant Henry. You built a kingdom out of

the dirt because you have the soul of a true cattleman."

Joseph turned his head locking onto Henry's flint-like gaze. "I know your heart carries the

weight of losing Sela. A man doesn't just forget that kind of pain. But you asked what kind

of God brings Rya into your life just to take her away. I don't pretend to know the Almighty's

full blueprint, but I know this: He didn't send my granddaughter to you to break what's left of your heart. He sent her to you because He knew that a King who survived the dark alone

needed a Phoenix to finally bring him home."

Joseph reached out placing a heavy, comforting hand on Henry's rigid shoulder, gripping it

with the strength of a man who had worked the soil for decades.

"Jere Harrington and his mother think they can beat the dream out of her, just like your

family tried to beat it out of you," Joseph whispered, his voice darkening with a cold protective rage. They don't know the Steahl blood, and they damn sure don't know the

King of Montana. Rya is a fighter, "She fought in that operating room, she's fighting the

ICU right now. And when she wakes up she's going to need you standing by her bed--- not

as a broken man carrying a sack of hammers, but a her King. We are going to get through this. Together. Now let's go to the ICU and visit my granddaughter and you Phoenix.