David Golemon - Legacy

As she sat she heard firecrackers somewhere off in the distance. It was the Fourth of July and she was marking her sixtieth day at Walter Reed. As she looked down at her small and elegant hands, she heard something over the pop of firecrackers. She looked up and saw that Colonel Lee was moving under the blanket. His head turned first to the left and then slowly to the right. She saw the large bandage covering the entire right side of his face and the forehead area. The blood had stopped seeping through as soon as the doctors got the infection under control last month. The bandages were now clean and dry. His one good eye blinked in her direction. She could see that he was having a hard time focusing after so long a sleep. She stood and walked slowly to the bed, placing a hand on Garrison’s cheek. She smiled.

Lee, as he finally focused on the young woman standing next to him, thought that the smile he received was a sad one. He tried to remember where he knew this beautiful face from. He had met this young girl before. He swallowed and tried to speak. The woman reached over and brought a large glass of water, using a straw to guide it into his mouth. Garrison took two long sips and then lay his head back. Once again the woman touched his cheek.

“You rest now. You’ve been hurt for a very long time.”

As his eyes fluttered shut, he tried to see the woman clearly. Her face was partly hidden in shadow because of the big-brimmed hat she wore. He gave up and let sleep take him once more.

Garrison Lee sat up when the nurse brought in his breakfast. He examined her face closely. It had been two days since he had awakened for good and ever since then he found himself looking at each female face as they came in to feed him, take blood, or just check his wounds. The woman this morning was not the same one he had awakened to three days ago.

A knock sounded at the door and the girl stepped back. She smiled and then nodded that whoever it was should come in.

Lee, with a half spoon’s worth of oatmeal in his mouth, saw a heavyset man walk into the room and remove his hat. He knew the man well.

“Well, it’s about time you woke up.” The big man stood over Lee as if examining him. “And, you don’t look as bad as everyone made out. I’ve gotten worse wounds while getting a haircut and a shave.”

Lee placed the spoon on the tray and looked the man over.

“Then you damn well ought to get another barber.” He looked at the large man with his one good eye. “How are you, Bill?” Lee asked, his voice still raspy.

“Tolerable, Lee, tolerable. Everyone thinks we can relax now that the war in Europe is over, but to hell with that, I say. We’ve still got one hell of a problem in the Pacific.” He leaned over after nudging the young nurse out of the way. “And to be frank with you, my boy, the Reds are starting to rear their ugly heads in Berlin, not to mention a dozen other places.”

Lee closed his eyes. “Well, they can’t say you didn’t warn them about that one, sir.”

“Damn right I did, Lee.” William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the Office of Strategic Services, shooed the young hospital nurse away and then sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, until you get out of here you can keep this in your pocket, my boy. Too bad you can’t show it to anyone or wear it on some fancy uniform.”

Lee was handed a small case. He clicked it open with one large hand while his eye studied Donovan. Finally he looked at what was inside the case. A set of silver stars gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lighting. He snapped the case closed as though he had discovered something distasteful.

“Congratulations, General,” Donovan said as he stood.

Lee set the new rank on the table with his oatmeal and then pushed the table out of the way.

“Yeah, I thought you would be all enthusiastic and giddy as a schoolgirl over the promotion.”

“Promoted for getting my agents shot all to hell? Getting a kid knifed in the belly? Yeah, I’m giddy as hell over that.”

“Felt you let them down, huh?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, for your information, our young Mr. Hamilton stopped one murderous bastard in that Nazi general.” Donovan leaned over and looked Lee in his one good eye. “And you better damn well give that kid the respect he deserves for doing his job.”

Donovan turned and started for the door.

“I’m afraid I fell asleep before the end of the book. What in the hell was in those crates?” Lee asked as he reached for the box containing his new general’s stars.

Donovan turned and all humor and anger was absent from his face.

“By the time those Hoover boys got their tails back up, the crates were gone. We assume the German agents did what General Goetz couldn’t. They probably made their way back to Germany somehow.” Donovan looked down at his feet. “Anyway, we’ll talk later. Right now there’s someone who’s been waiting to see you.” He turned away as he buttoned his suit jacket and placed his hat on his head. “And try to use some of that etiquette you used to have when you were a senator. She’s a classy young woman.”

“Bill?”

“Yeah,” Donovan said as he turned back to face Lee. He flinched as he was almost hit by the small jeweler’s box Lee had thrown at him. He fumbled it and then caught it.

“Shove that star up your ass.”

Donovan at first smiled, and then he laughed out loud.

“That would hurt, General Lee.” Donovan turned and left as his laugh echoed back into the room. “By the way, I have another job planned for you, or rather the president has.”

As Garrison turned away, not dwelling on what Donovan or the president was cooking up, he heard the footfalls of high heels on the floor. When he looked up he saw a woman in a large hat standing at the doorway. She hesitated only a moment and then stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. She stood planted just inside the doorway. The hat hid her face and the small veil attached to it made her look mysterious, but Lee knew who she was. She was the same woman he had awakened to three days before.

“I understand you’ve been a constant companion of mine these last couple of months,” Lee said.

The woman pushed the veil up over her hat and centered her attention on the man in the bed for a few moments before approaching him.

“I just wanted to see if you’re as big a son of a bitch as Ben said you were.”

Garrison Lee looked for the longest time at the young, beautiful woman before him. Then he swallowed as the memory of their first meeting came into his mind. He had come to her parents’ farm a million years before wanting to talk with her young husband about patriotism and how he could best to serve his country. His remaining eye could not hold her image any longer and he looked down.

“Mrs. Hamilton,” was all he said.

She slowly sat on the edge of the bed where a moment before the man who was soon to be known as the father of the CIA, Wild Bill Donovan, had been. She removed a large hatpin and then her hat. Her hair was done up in a bun and her face was clean of makeup save for lipstick. Her face needed none as far as Lee was concerned.

“Tell me about Ben.” She saw the uncomfortable look cross Lee’s face. “Not about how he died, about how he lived. You knew him far better than I, you see.”

Lee looked up and took the woman in.

“He lived, Mrs. Hamilton. In the short time he had, that boy lived.”

The widow of Benjamin Hamilton looked down and saw Garrison Lee clearly for the first time. She knew him to be someone who cared about his people, but also a man who hid that attribute well. She felt she knew him immediately and far better than anyone else ever would. It was that single eye and its penetrating glow. She never shied away from it and would listen to him speak for hours.