HONDA 350 SCRAMBLER

Dr. James Hill Tanner:  Hello, this is Dr. Jim Tanner.  Is Dr. Sims available?  It’s very important and somewhat of an emergency.  OK, I’ll certainly wait.

The receptionist answering the phone call could tell Dr. Tanner had a real emergency. His voice was definitely edgy and projected a very serious tone.

Dr. Marcus Grant Sims:  Hey Jimmy, is everything OK? Are you OK?

Dr. Tanner:  Mark, I’ve been a surgeon as long as you and I’ve never seen anything like the case I have right now.  I’m working the night shift in ER—Memorial ER.  They brought this kid in about an hour ago.  He was riding a Honda 350 Scrambler on I-75, heading north when he lost control.  Dumped it big time.   There don’t appear to be any life-threatening injuries although he does have road burns on his legs and portions of his upper back; shoulder blade area.   No indication of head wounds or cranial trauma.  We did an MRI to make sure there were no injuries to his back or head.  No issues there.   The reason I’m calling, one cut on his right arm is very deep, almost to the bone and definitely needs stitches.    While one of our nurses was cleaning the wound preparing for the procedure, she peeled back a layer of tissue and just about lost it.   Absolutely freaked out.     

Dr. Sims:  That bad?

 Dr. Tanner:  She came to get me right away.  Refused to touch the kid until I took a look.  She was white as a bed sheet.  We went into the cubicle where the young man was lying.  She directed me to the laceration.    He was sedated because he would not hold still.  His blood pressure was considerably elevated before sedation.  He kept trying to leave and said he had to get home before they came.

Dr. Sims:  Who is they?

Dr. Tanner:   No idea and he would not say. Just kept telling us he had to get home.

Dr. Sims:  Any I.D.?  Driver’s license, credit cards, Social Security Number?

 Dr. Tanner: None, none whatsoever.

Dr. Sims:  Are we OK treating this guy?

Dr. Tanner:  We felt we had to.   As I mentioned, his blood pressure was 210/122 with a pulse rate of 138. I thought he was headed for a stroke.   The reason I called, when I pulled back the tissue and probed the depth of the wound I saw very small indicator lights.  White lights like tiny LEDs and three flat pieces not unlike printed circuit boards.

 Dr. Sims:  Jimmy, you’ve been working much too hard.  Long hours.  It’s time to take a break.

Dr. Tanner:  Look Mark, we have known each other since med school.  You know I don’t delight in storytelling.  I’m telling you this kid is ten feet from me and I’m looking at the arm right now.  I have had three nurses look also and they refuse to go any further unless we get clarification as to who, or what, this guy is. You are the best orthopedic surgeon in the city and one of the best in the country.  Please come on over and give me your opinion as to what we have here and more importantly, how we treat this kid.

Dr. Sims:  I’m on the way.  Can you give me an update on the BP and pulse rate?

Dr. Tanner:  The same readings.  Very same readings.

Dr. Sims:  Keep him calm, I’m on the way.

Dr. Sim’s office is about ten minutes from Memorial Hospital on East Third Street.  The commute was very brief and he arrived in about fifteen minutes.  Upon arriving at Memorial he went right to the ER; down the hall and into examining room 5.  Dr. Tanner was standing there looking at the boys arm. 

Dr. Sims:  Any improvement?

Dr. Tanner:   None, but no worse.   BP is the same.  He is stable and seems to be in no danger of stroke.

 Dr. Sims:  Let’s take a look at the arm.

Very carefully Dr. Sims opened the wound exposing the lower layer of tissue.  He suddenly jumped back. Looking at Dr. Tanner he said, “What the crap. What am I looking at, Mark?”

Dr. Tanner:  You see what I mean.

Dr. Sims stood there for a moment wondering what approach he should take now that he verified Jim Tanner’s previous observations. 

 Dr. Sims:  How long has he been here?  How did he get here?  Ambulance, private car, police vehicle.

Dr. Tanner:  The cops found the scrambler on the side of the road. Someone had called 911 from a mobile phone.  We think the phone call came from a guy who had seen him dump the cycle.  Just kept going and never stopped to help.  I suppose he felt he had done his civic duty to make the call.   The boy was unconcious when the police arrived.  They called the ambulance.   The officer who brought him in is still here.  If you want to talk to him, I can go get him.

Dr. Sims:  Mark would you hand me a scalpel and a cotton swab?

Again, very carefully, Dr. Sims spread the cut and gently probed the tissues.  What he saw literally blew his mind.    The boy’s arm appeared to be internally constructed with transparent tubes or leads with fluid inside.  He was unable to determine if the fluid was moving, but it appeared to be fairly viscous and seemed to oscillate much like the electrons in an AC circuit.    Dr. Sims took the scalpel and made a small incision to expose additional lengths of the tubing and substructure.  He needed a better look.   Long string-like rods or wires ran length-wise parallel to the boy’s arm.  He supposed these to be similar to our tendons.  When probing the rods, they deflected slightly, but when pressure was released moved back to their original position.     Sims very gently spread the tubes to see what lay beneath them.  He saw what could only be described as electro-mechanical structures, but the structures had movement and seemed to be functioning in some fashion.

Dr. Tanner:  Do you think he felt the knife when you made the incision?

 Dr. Sims:  Jim, I don’t think he feels a thing.  This is the most remarkable prosthesis I have ever seen.  I don’t know where this kid is from but we don’t have anything close to this in the “states”, maybe not the planet.  Do you have any calls from parents, relatives, friends of this young man?

At this time, Dr. Tanner asked one of the attending nurses to check with the front desk to see if anyone had called asking about the patient.  When she returned, the answer was no.  

Dr. Sims:  Jim, let’s look for parting lines in his arms.  I will look on this arm and you look on the good arm.  Let’s see if there are similarities between the two, but notice any tissue interruptions that might indicate conjoined structures. 

Dr. Tanner:  Are you thinking fabrication and if so by whom?

Dr. Sims:  I’m totally beyond rational thinking at this point.  I’ve never seen anything like this.  Do you have your cell phone with you?

Dr. Tanner:  Always!

Dr. Sims: Would you take a picture of the boy’s arm when I pull back the tissues?  Let’s get some documentation before they commit us all.  If you can, get several shots including one of the flat pieces.  There seems to be some sort of interface, a connection between the tubes upstream and the ones downstream.  The flat pieces tie these together in some fashion.  Did you say you did an MRI of the boy’s arm?

Dr. Tanner:  Not the arm.  We were worried about the blood pressure and elevated pulse rate as well as any head or back injuries.  We honestly thought he was in real trouble since he came to us unconscious.

Dr. Sims:  Nurse, would you call and schedule an MRI on his arm?  I need to see just what’s in there.  I think we’re going to call this an emergency also.  Let’s get him to the MRI immediately. 

At this time, Dr. Tanner and Dr. Sims coordinated the picture taking so as to capture as much of the arm as possible.   Suddenly there was a significant commotion in the hall.

Nurse:  Wait, wait, you can’t go back there.  You wait right here. 

Man’s Voice:   Look lady, I’m with the CIA and if you need to see my credentials I’ll show them to you but right now, I need to find one of your patients.  We were told he’s here.  A kid on a bike was brought in about an hour ago, and I need to take him with us. 

Nurse:  He is in no condition to travel.  He needs to be admitted for a medical assessment.  Right now we are completing our examination, and he is under our care. 

Man:  He’s coming with us, and right now.

Dr. Sims:  Hang on there.  Just who in hell are you, and why are you interested in this boy?  Are you the father?

Man:  I’m with the CIA and I have been sent to bring this guy with us.  He’s wanted by the government.

Dr. Tanner:  What on earth could this kid have done?  Also, let me see some I.D.  Just who are you?

At this point, agent Thomas McCarthy presented his badge and credentials.

Dr. Sims:  Anyone can make credentials.    Give me a phone number. Someone who knows you.

CIA:  You are beginning to wear on me, doctor.

 Dr. Tanner:  I was pretty much there with you when you walked into the examining room.

Dr. Sims:  How about that number?

CIA:  Here is my card.  Make the call.  You all know this is a federal matter, and we have jurisdiction?

Dr. Sims:  I’ll be back.

At this time, an officer from the Chattanooga Police Force came into the room.  

Officer:  Is everything OK here?

CIA:  It will be.

Officer:  OK, who are you?

CIA:  Here we go again.   Do you need an introduction?

 Officer: Yes, I do, and how about right now.

 Agent McCarthy introduced himself to the officer and told the same story he had given to Drs. Sims and Tanner. 

 CIA:  One of your doctors is checking me out right now.

 Officer:  You are out of your jurisdiction aren’t you agent McCarthy?

CIA:  Not on your life.  I’m federal—you’re local.

At this time, Dr. Sims came back to the examining room.

Dr. Sims:  His story checks out.  He is CIA and is instructed to take the child.   I will tell you this we are going to finish our treatment of this boy before you or anyone else takes him anywhere.  He has a four inch wound that is deep, and he needs treatment.  He’s going to get it.  Also, I need some documentation provided by you before I release this kid.  You may as well go get it right now.  He’s going nowhere.  Do you understand that? By the way, you seem to know about this boy—so who is he?  Where is he from?

 I suspect McCarthy thought this would be a cake-walk and he never expected the”push-back” he got from Dr. Sims.  What he did not know is that Sims served with a MASH unit during the Korean War.  He retired from the Army as a full colonel and was not used to taking crap from some punk, including a punk from the CIA.  He stood firm.

 CIA:   I was just instructed to bring him in.  I have no idea as to what he’s done, if anything.

Dr. Sims:  Get me some documentation.  I can’t release a patient we are treating without a proper warrant or other documentation. 

At this point, agent McCarthy left the room went into the hall and started making phone calls.  He never took his eyes from the room where the patient was located–never.  He wanted to make sure the boy did not leave.

Dr. Sims:  Let’s try to sew this boy up.  I suspect he will be going with McCarthy, and there probably is nothing we can do about it.  I also want to get that MRI completed before he leaves, if he leaves.
Nurse:  I can call administration, and they can plead our case for us.

 Dr. Sims:  That might not be a bad idea.  Would you mind doing just that and quickly and how about the MRI?  Are we scheduled?

Nurse:  We can go now or you can start to sew this one up.  Which comes first?

Dr. Sims:  MRI—let’s go.

At this point the bed is prepared for movement to the room where the MRI is given.  That completely freaks the agent.  He rushes over, puts both hands out and braces against the rails of the bed.

 CIA:  No, no, no.   We are going nowhere.  This kid is here until we come to get him. 

 Dr. Tanner: Look, you can come with us.  Stand right beside the bed while we take a look at what’s going on inside.  You forget this boy has been comatose since he came in.  Unless I’m wrong, that’s not normal.  We may lose him if we can’t understand his status.  I’m sure you were instructed to bring him in but, I’m sure some displeasure would be visited upon your head if he came in dead.  Right?  Besides, until we see some written reason for his being removed, he’s ours to treat.

 At this point, agent McCarthy stood stone-cold silent.  He knew Tanner was right.  A boy taking breaths is preferable to one laying in a hospital bed cold as a fish.  While he was pondering his own fate, two of the nurses started moving him down the hall and to the elevator that would carry him to the MRI.  Agent McCarthy followed.   Down the hall, into the elevator, up one floor, turn right and down the hall to where the MRI was located.  The technician met them at the door.

Technician:  Who do we have here?

Dr. Tanner:  This patient was involved in a motorcycle accident about two hours ago.  We need to get a scan of his right arm to insure we don’t make mistakes with his treatment.

CIA:  I need to come in while you are running the scan.

Technician:  I can assure you I do these ten hours a day, and I don’t need any help.

CIA: How long does it take?

 Technician:  The sooner we get started, the sooner we will be finished.

CIA:  Maybe you didn’t hear me.  How long?

Technician:  Normally, about   thirty to forty minutes.

Agent McCarthy entered the room, took a look around, making sure there was no alternate way the boy could exit.

CIA:  OK, get him in.

About fifteen minutes into the procedure, Dr. Jerome Hurst came down the hall. 

Dr. Hurst:  What do we have here?

CIA:  Who are you?

Dr. Hurst:  I’m Jerome Hurst, the managing director of the hospital.  I run this place. Who are you?

 CIA:  I’m McCarthy, and I’m a field agent with the CIA.

 Dr. Hurst:  Can you prove that?  Can I see some I.D.?

CIA:  We’ve done that.

Dr. Hurst: You have not done that for me.  I need to know why you are trying to remove our patient from the hospital and denying our efforts to provide medical treatment.  That’s important to us.

 At this point, McCarthy again produced his badge and I.D. requested by Dr. Hurst.  Dr. Hurst looked these over and asked:

Dr. Hurst:  Have we verified this information?  Is agent McCarthy who he says he is?

Dr. Tanner:  Yes he is.  He’s legit.

 Dr. Hurst:  Why do you want this boy?  What has he done that is so interesting?

CIA:  They don’t always tell me everything, and I have no earthly idea.  They just told me to bring him in.

Dr. Hurst:  I looked at his charts and he has a significant laceration on one arm and probably needs continuous treatment—after we sew him up.  Are you capable of giving him that treatment?

CIA:  We can provide whatever he needs medically.

Dr. Hurst:  Just who is we?

CIA:  The Central Intelligence Agency.

Dr. Tanner:  Agent McCarthy is obtaining the necessary documentation for the boy’s release.

Dr. Hurst:  I’m still not that convinced we need to see this kid removed from the hospital.  At least until we have a better fix on his condition and future treatment.

 Another ten minutes passes and the door to the MRI facility opens.

Technician:  All finished.  I have called Dr. Thomas to come and read the MRI.  He is in the hospital and is coming right now.

Dr. Hurst:  We wait.

Down the hall you can hear the familiar “ding” of the elevator reaching its destination.  The door opens and out walks another guy looking like he just stepped down from a recruiting poster. 

CIA: Do you have what we need?

 CIA #2:  This will do it.  Now let’s get going.

 Dr. Hurst:   I need to see what you have.  Let me take a look.

CIA #2:  Who is this guy?

 Dr. Hurst:  I’m the guy who runs this place. I’m the one that’s just about to call the police and have you boys taken outside. 

CIA:  That will not be necessary.  Take a look at the documents and release your patient to us.

Dr. Hurst carefully looks over the documents presented and makes a telephone call.

Dr. Hurst:  Ed, can you come down to the second floor?  I have some papers you will need to look at before we decide to release one of our patents.

CIA:  OK, just who the hell is Ed and why should we wait on him to look at the papers?

Dr. Hurst:  Ed is our general counsel.  He will give us direction on whether or not this kid is leaving with you or staying with us.  He goes nowhere until we get legal direction.

 CIA #2 is really put out at this time.   He must have been interrupted from a hot date or something because he was nervous as a cat. 

CIA #2:  We have to get going, McCarthy, and right now.

Again, the elevator opens and out walks the legal counsel for the hospital.  Dr. Hurst hands him the documents.  He then sits down on the bench to examine what he had just been given.  It does not take long.

 Counsel:  These look to be in order, and we don’t have reason to hold the patient.

Dr. Tanner: How about the arm?  We can’t let the boy leave without additional treatment.

Dr. Hurst: Take him back to ER and sew him up.  Then he goes with the spooks.  That’s all we can do.

At this point, the bed, with patient, travels back to ER.  Staples are applied closing the wound.  A van is waiting outside.  A black van.  The boy, agent McCarthy, CIA #2 and driver leave the hospital.  Not too much was said by the ER staff, although this would be a night to remember, and many more questions were asked than answered.

 FOOTNOTE:

In their haste, the CIA agents did not take with them the MRI scans accomplished previously.   Dr. Thomas did arrive at the examining room to read the digital information provided to him by the technician.

Dr. Thomas:  Is this a joke? Where did you get these?

Technician:  ER brought a boy in who had been involved in a motorcycle accident some time earlier in the evening.  He needed treatment but first Dr. Tanner and Dr. Sims wanted to get a look at what  was going on inside.

Dr. Thomas:  I need to see this patient.

Technician:  They took him.

Dr. Thomas:  Who took him?

Technician:  Guys from the CIA. They took him.

Dr. Thomas:  Did you look at these scans?

Technician:  Yes sir, I did and I’m not too sure I can believe what I saw.

Dr. Thomas:  No wonder. This kid has bodily systems I have never seen.  Parts that may work but don’t work like ours work.   Is anyone going to do a write-up on these scans?

Technician:  I don’t know Dr. Thomas.  Dr. Tanner and Dr. Sims treated the patient prior to him leaving, and I have not talked to them since they went back downstairs to the ER.

Dr. Thomas:  Are they there now?

Technician:  I have no idea.

At this time, Dr. Thomas goes down stairs to the ER.

Dr. Thomas:  Where are Doctors Tanner and Sims? Are they still on duty?

Nurse:  No sir. Dr. Tanner’s shift is over for the night and Dr. Sims has probably gone home.

 Tragically, Drs. Tanner and Sims died over the space of the next few days.  Dr. Tanner, a massive heart attack.  He was forty-six years old and a marathon runner.   Everyone was surprised.    Dr. Sims, a one-car accident.   They said his brakes failed.  Dr. Thomas was unable to discuss results of the scan with them before they died.   He decided to retire very suddenly and literally disappeared.  The nurses on duty that evening relocated to other areas of the country– unavailable for comment or consultation.   Strangely enough, all medical records for that evening disappeared.   Not a trace remained, even the admitting records.  The event never happened.

Four years ago my wife and I traveled by train from Montreal to Quebec City.  It’s about a two and one-half hour train ride through lovely country—thoroughly enjoyable.  I sat next to a gentleman and we quickly engaged in conversation.  Just a few words and we both knew we each were in the presence of fellow southerners.  

Writer: Where are you from?

Fellow Traveler:  I’m originally from Chattanooga-Chattanooga, Tennessee

Writer:  Are you kidding?

Fellow Traveler:  Not kidding.  Is that unusual?

Writer:  Only because my wife and I are from Chattanooga also. Are you up here on vacation like we are?

Fellow Traveler:  No, I live here now and really enjoy Canada.  Good place to hide.

Writer:  Hide?

At this point we started talking in some detail. Where he lived. If he was married. How many kids, if any.  What he did for a living.  Come to find out he was a medical technician.  Operated MRI equipment for a large hospital in Quebec City.   Small world.