Airwolf And I, Vice Versa

CHAPTER Four

Later that evening the haunting sounds of a piano could be heard floating over the lake. In the grounds of the huge estate was a smaller lodge boasting just 12 bedrooms. After Kristien’s ordeal of the kidnapping and the massive infection she had got, she languished between life and death, not really wanting to die but not really wanting to live, in intensive care for over 3 months. The Doctors kept dosing her full of strong antibiotics and other drugs just to keep her alive. Most other doctors would have performed a hysterectomy on what was left of her womb but as she was a member of the Dubawi Royal Family and the only one able to produce an heir they had continued to fight.

Kristien had discharged herself, still very ill but fed up with the monotony of the hospital and the constant changing of the secret service guarding her, her only distraction. She and Alfred had hatched the plan to leave and to return to her family ancestral home, not realising that the Secret Service had taken it over with a whole matrix of protection including surface to air missiles sites, lasers and probably a ‘star wars’ type platform in space. She had hated the way her life had been taken over, so the rebellious side of her went to the lodge by the lake where she had banned the secret service from ever stepping foot.

She had kept away from the main house due to the secret service being there but also she wanted time to grieve and she wanted to do this alone. The only person that seemed to understand what Kristien needed was Alfred. He had managed to keep the secret service away from the lodge so that his ward could grieve in the silence that she wanted. The lodge also was an escape for her, on really warm days sitting on the dock one could almost imagine Eagle Lake.

The lodge had a huge music room, a whole orchestra could play in this room and all the instruments waited there patiently for one day some one to play them. Gone were the days when Kristien had a full orchestra there, as she used to in happier times during her childhood, but they were long gone.

Hawke had gone to the lake earlier in the evening. If he closed his eyes he could see his lake with the eagle soaring above. He walked along the shoreline watching the fish ‘top’ in the evening air, there must be a boat somewhere around here he thought.

He looked in the distance and saw another imposing house albeit smaller, a hunting lodge maybe. Hawke looked at the lodge in the distance, God the English Gentry have to do things Big don’t they, he thought comparing the size of his cabin to the hunting lodge that was laid out before him complete with stables and another swimming pool.

Hawke’s ears instantly picked up the sounds of a grand piano playing over the lake. Johann Pachebel’s Canon in D was being played. He knew this was one of Kristien’s favourite pieces of music. As he walked closer to the lodge all the Georgian glass doors were open allowing the music to flow over the mist that was gathering above the ground that was cooling down from the day’s heat. He walked inside the music room, Kristien had her back to him sat at the piano with the main doors open to the private grounds of the lodge that overlooked the lake.

Hawke quietly moved forwards and looked over the room full of instruments. He instantly went over to the cello resting behind the piano. He deftly sat down and placed the cello, another Stradivarius, between his legs and listened.

Hawke found his place and started to accompany the melancholy pianist. Kristien continued to play on and touched a button on the adjacent synthesizer keyboard.

The sophisticated computer that sometimes she played with instantly found where the duet was and filled in what was missing.

From what was a melancholy solitary piece became a full orchestra and Hawke and Kristien played the piece to the end. Hawke had never felt as moved as he did right at that moment. He had never played with an orchestra before. He had often played with Kristien, she could play any instrument and she had brought a flute and a violin to accompany Hawke at the cabin, but this feeling was very euphoric.

Kristien did not turn around and Hawke sat patiently waiting hoping for another piece. He did not have to wait long.

Kristien chose Chopin Prelude in E minor another sorrowful piece and Hawke played along with the cello, there was no need for any other instruments to take part with this piece. Hawke felt the sorrow from Kristien in this music. The mist outside gathered during the music and hid the beautiful bridge designed and built by Capability Brown at the end of the lake. They finished and the silence between them kept them separated.

Kristien stood up and walked silently away from Hawke, not acknowledging that he was even there and paused at the doors, leaning on them for support and strength half knowing what Hawke was thinking and going to ask. They had avoided each other as best as they could and not even really had any conversation let alone looked each other in the eye. If they had done that then they would both be reunited this time with their tortured grief stricken souls, Hawke for blaming himself for losing Kristien and Kristien blaming herself for losing the baby and not contacting Hawke any sooner.

“What happened to our baby?” Hawke finally asked Kristien. The reports that Archangel had given him to read were lacking in great detail.

Kristien looked out to the lake, closing her eyes and praying that she would be transported back to Hawke’s cabin by Eagle Lake and back in time. The hunting lodge served a purpose for her, this was the place that if you closed your eyes, and thought really hard and listened to the gentle lapping of the waves you could almost think you were back at Hawke’s cabin.

Hawke brought the Stradivarius outside and sat on the stone palisade opposite Kristien. He started to play the piece by Prokofiev that he played often to the eagles.

For a brief moment in time, Hawke and Kristien were both transported back in time. He often had played pieces to her and the baby that she was carrying in happier times.

Kristien opened her eyes as Hawke finished the piece, tears in her eyes but still not looking towards him. “I am sure Archangel filled you in, as he has I with your exploits over the last few years.” Kristien knew those reports weren’t lacking in any detail. She had read what Hawke had been doing and it wasn’t looking for her either. “What difference does it make? The baby is gone, I am here and you are here, end of.”

“It matters to me.” Hawke held on to the Stradivarius, his arms resting down on it and he placed his chin on his arms waiting for Kristien to relay her ordeal to him. Why hadn’t she asked for him before now? He had searched for her and the trail had gone cold. He had given Archangel a piece of his mind when the FIRM and all their resources could not find her. He remembered the day when he punched Archangel and sent him flying across the Cabin, he broke a knuckle that day, and he had forbidden Archangel ever to return. He also remembered how an incapacitated Archangel had returned to the cabin two years later begging for his help to retrieve Airwolf from Libya at the hands of Moffet and Khadaffi.

Hawke looked out over the lake visualising his own Eagle Lake.

Kristien searched deep inside for some kind of strength to hide the pain that the last 24 hours had brought to the surface. Seeing Hawke after all these years just brought back the pain of the kidnapping. How does anyone get over the loss of a child and how to you explain the loss to Hawke?

Kristien walked forward to the palisade. Her white shirt moved in the evening breeze as she moved passed him and did not even look at him. She stepped down a couple of steps directly in front of him and then sat down, her back to Hawke.

“Well by now you know that commercial shoot was a cover to get you and Dom out of the way.” Kristien recited. “Well I don’t think you had been gone more than half an hour when a couple of Chinooks turned up with a little invasion team. I don’t know about 30 soldiers. By the time I got downstairs and tried to get the gun from behind the bar, they were everywhere. Arabs, that’s all I knew. They did not say anything just threw me to the floor and then dragged me out. I think they drugged me with something, I have no idea what but I was groggy when I awoke. It was dark, cold and damp and the day had passed without me knowing.” Kristien paused trying stop her composure from melting away.

Hawke listened, his deep brooding eyes filling with tears as he felt her pain and fear rise to the surface.

Kristien used her hand to wipe away the first tear. “Erm, well you know the doctor had told me to rest as my blood pressure was a bit high. Well this kidnapping was not the rest she ordered. I went into Labour. The Arab guards panicked and made various phone calls to whoever it was that ordered the kidnap. They managed get basic medical equipment, heart monitor, blood pressure. Basic stuff. When they got it I wished I hadn’t seen it. I have never seen such high blood pressure. I knew I was in trouble.” Kristien remembered it as if it happened yesterday, complete with the physical pain. Kristien’s own heart started to pump harder as if dealing with the physical pain again.

“Everything went wrong. The baby was coming but he hadn’t turned. My blood pressure was sky high that any moment I was going to have a cardio infarction. Then one of the guards came over, pulled out his knife and ripped open my stomach.” Kristien paused taking breaths trying to compose herself hoping that her last defence was not melting away.

Hawke shared the pain also and tears ran down his cheeks. He wanted to hold her and keep her safe in his arms once more, but he was afraid of hurting her even more and his curse was painfully pointing out to him that he was not allowed any happiness of a relationship let alone a family of his own. Since seeing Kristien again the pair of them had avoided eye contact and any sort of physical touch, such was each others pain.

“Oh god the pain. I haven’t ever felt pain like that and never do I want to again.” Kristien was holding her right side of her stomach as if the physical pain was resurrected just by the recalling of the wretched affair, she felt the eight inch scar that she was left with. The other hand was wiping away the few lone tears that had managed to escape the armour that Kristien had erected to keep her safe. “I am sure I heard the baby cry as the guard took him away. I am not sure. I was losing so much blood and I think I was coming back and forth into consciousness. I am really not sure.”

Kristien continued painfully remembering every moment. “I only remember bits and later being dragged to an airport and put on a plane. And then a secret service agent pulling me off the Kuwaiti Royal Plane which was in flames. I was told later that I was being taken back probably to Kuwait where they would have married me off to the Crown Prince there and that would have meant an enormous shift in power for Dubawi and Kuwait.” Kristien tried to avoid politics as much as she could. “So someone else, somewhere very powerful, knew of the kidnap and blew up the plane on the tarmac. Just to stop that from happening.”

Kristien was relieved that she had managed to get the ordeal out without falling completely apart, something that she had never managed to do before. She took a deep breath in. “And now, hey just look at all this.” She pointed around at the black suited men walking about in the distance. “Uncle Sam wants his piece of pie so he keeps me safe in return for hopefully one day I will get the throne and they can have the keys to the candy store with all those barrels of oil.” Kristien knew that the secret service were there to ensure that she lived so that indeed her first in line status to the Throne of Dubawi would be full filled. After all Bryon, her brother an esteemed leader of Dubawi could not have children so it befell to Kristien to continue the line, the usual ‘heir and a spare’ was usual for the aristocracy, something she had not even bothered about since losing Hawke’s baby.

Hawke outstretched his arm to touch Kristien on the shoulder for comfort, to pull her close to his chest, to hold her but she had already stood up and out of reach from his hand which fell limply to his side. How could he bring up all this pain, especially when she was still obviously grieving herself. This was Hawke’s first attempt at reconciling.

“What’s the saying? Shit happens?” Kristien composed herself looking out over the lake. “Well it certainly does round here.” She left Hawke to grieve in private and walked away from the lodge where she knew she would not get anymore peace and walked back to the Hangar to continue working on Airwolf. At least that would pass the time for now and give her the peace and quiet she was yearning for.

Carsten appeared from the shadows of the lodge and followed Kristien. He remained a discreet distance. He could not work out who Hawke was and the connection to Kristien. He worked out that they had probably met when working together on Airwolf and that’s all he could piece together. All the rest was too confusing. One thing for sure was they obviously didn’t have a previous history as surely they would be chatting and being happy together, so Carsten could relax. Although it was forbidden to have a relationship with Kristien he could not help himself thinking that Kristien herself abstained from men due to Carsten’s interest in her. That’s what he hoped. All she had to do was say the word and he would resign tomorrow and spend the rest of his life with Kristien, such were his feelings for her. He looked down at the PDA. Where was Hawke’s locator? He would have to go back to the Security Office in the house and do a diagnostic as sometimes the GPS locators were temperamental.

Hawke allowed the grief that he now felt to swallow him whole and he took the Stradivarius down the dock and knelt on one knee and played the most sorrowful eagle serenade that he had ever done. What was more sorrowful was that there was no eagle to share this with to distract him from the pain of losing a baby, his son and the first time that he had loved a woman forever.

As the bow stroked the strings with an immense sadness as Hawke remembered happier times at the Cabin with Kristien and how he thought he had kept her safe from the outside world only to realise that it was a façade and that his curse, had once more struck.