Chapter Thirteen
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was my leg in the air, held up by one of those crane looking things. My leg had all kinds of metal coming out of it and attached to it. I looked around and saw Toni, Agent Munoz, James, the doctor from earlier, and even Annabel was there. “Well, while everyone is here, someone might as well change the oil on that thing while it’s up there. Damn, I look worse than the Tin Man,” I said while pointing at my leg.
Annabel and Toni busted out laughing, but that was it. Everyone else was very serious. I remembered what happened when I noticed how serious they were. “What? Tell me Mac is okay.”
Everyone looked at Agent Munoz as did I. “They are still working on him, and the doctors are hopeful.”
“Jesus Christ, man, then why are all you looking so terrible?” I asked.
The doctor stepped forward, “Your leg was pretty bad once we got in there. The bullet did a good job of screwing the bone up. You’re going to need a wheelchair for some time while it heals and then therapy to be able to use it again.”
“Okay, Doc, don’t seem so down. I see the leg is still there so it’s nothing I can’t come back from,” I said.
“Sorry, some people get really upset when you give them some news like this,” he said.
“I’m sure, Doc, but take them to Walter Reed and they will have a different attitude when they leave,” I said.
The doctor cheered up, put his hand on my shoulder, and smiled as he walked out the door.
I turned to Agent Munoz and James, “Anything on the driver?”
“They are still working on him, but he asked for a lawyer, so now we wait,” Agent Munoz said.
“Well, I look like I might be here a day or so,” I shrugged.
Agent Munoz stuck his hand out and I shook it, “I will stay on it.”
“Thanks,” I said.
He turned to James, “You’re off duty until Mac is out of the woods.”
“Thank you, sir,” James said.
Agent Munoz left the room. I turned to the ladies. “So who wants to give me a sponge bath?”
More laughing, this time even from James.
Annabel pointed at the door, where the bearded nurse from earlier came in, she said to him. “He’s asking for a sponge bath.”
“Oh, honey, I will be happy to do that.” He stood in front of me with a scary smile.
“Don’t you have perfect timing? But sorry, I would rather get the help from her than you,” I said as I pointed to Annabel.
Annabel smiled, but the nurse didn’t have quit in him. “That’s not what you said earlier.” He put his hand on his hip and the other reached for my hand and turned it over so I could look at the palm. There was a number on it.
I asked, “What is that?”
“You asked for my number,” he said.
“Damn, I did, didn’t I?”
“Yep,” He said like a dog waiting for a treat.
“Sorry guy, but it was the morphine talking.”
“I know, honey, my radar still works well and I know straight and honey, you are that,” He said.
“Whew,” I said. He checked all my hook ups and readings and left the room. The women were holding in some laugher and let it out once he was gone for a bit.
Annabel stopped laughing long enough to say, “Now you have an idea of how it feels to be hit on.”
I laughed a little, “Sad thing is, I like the hitting on part.”
“I bet you do,” Toni said while still giggling. She got up and walked toward the door, “I’m going to see if they have anything new about Mac.”
I turned to Annabel, “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” she said, “When the FBI Special Agent in charge calls you and ask you to come to the hospital, it’s not something you just ignore. Besides, he told me you got all those girls to their parents. And you’re somewhat cute. It’s all a big turn on for me.”
“Oh yeah, I have no doubt,” I said sarcastically. I looked over at her and she got up and walked over to me with a very serious look on her face. She bent down and planted a kiss on me that made me feel like I was in high school again. When she stood up I just looked at her, “Wow, so you were serious.”
“Very.”
“Okay, well then I guess you might say yes to a date. I just can’t say when we might be able to go,” I said.
“That’s alright, I have an idea,” she said as she walked out of the room.
While she was gone, I sat there worried about my longtime friend. I thought about the statement I had made about not ever seeing him sleep. I joined the Navy before he did, so we were not in boot camp together. When we served together, he was always up. I went to sleep before him and he was always up before me. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. I don’t know why, the only thing I could think of was that it was the weakest I had ever seen him. I wanted to see him or have some idea of how he was doing. I thought about getting out of the bed, but I knew I could not do anything and if I got out of the bed, I knew my leg would not be in great shape.
After about fifteen minutes, Annabel returned with some food from I would guess the cafeteria. It wasn’t the best-looking meal and certainly not what I would have picked for our first date. Not with a woman who looks like this. She sorted out the food and we ate and talked for an hour before Toni came back and sat with us, saying they were still working on him. It had been nine hours and they were still working on him. I wondered at what point I worry.
Annabel handed Toni a bag, “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got you plain ham and cheese.”
Toni took the bag and said, “Wow, thank you. With everything going on, I forgot that we were supposed to go eat.” She started to look like she was going to cry.
I turned to her, “You know he’s crazy about you. I have known him for a long time and have never seen him act like this about anyone.”
That may have been the right thing to say, but the wrong time. Her tears found their path and started flowing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you cry, I just thought you should know how happy you have made him.”
Annabel looked at me with a look that told me to stop. So I did.
She finally caught her breath and said, “I’m in school and have not even thought about seeing anyone until you guys came into the bar. And now I’m falling for this guy who puts himself in danger without a second thought?”
She phrased it like a question, but I didn’t think she was asking anyone. Annabel saved me a little. “Sometimes things are not in our control and there’s a reason for that. You may not see if now, but usually the reason will come to you, and it will explain everything. It’s why I’m here, something happened today I could never have imagined but once I thought about it, I realized it might have happened the way it did for a reason. So now I find myself in a hospital room with some guy I met earlier today, and he has been shot and his leg looks like it’s on the back of a tow truck.”
Toni laughed a little which lit up the room from the gloom that had entered with me talking. I was hopeful Annabel might stick around. Having her around was like the feeling you get after you have been indoors for a few hours without the idea of the weather and you go outside and the sun hits you and you remember what it’s like to feel alive again. Made me think about being on a cruise in the Navy. If you had a job below, you could lose track of time and if you worked all day, you might not see daylight for days at a time. And don’t get me started on being a submariner.
The women talked for some time when I noticed I wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation. I was just enjoying the laughter and the site if two lovely ladies just talking about life. After about an hour of them talking, my doctor walked in with another that was in scrubs. I sat up a little straighter in my bed, which was harder than I thought it should be.
The doctor in scrubs started talking, “Let me start with he is in ICU recovery. We managed to get the bullet out, but he lost a lot of blood, which i
s typical of this sort of wound. We put everything back together pretty well. Right now, we are worried about infection, so he’ll stay in ICU for at least two days. His numbers look pretty good for someone who just got shot, so we are hopeful.”
Toni asked, “When will he wake up?”
“We have actually given him a sedative and we are hoping he will sleep through the night,” he said.
She asked, “Can I see him?”
“If you are just there for a few minutes, I don’t see why not.”
I turned to my doctor, “I need to get in there to talk to him.”
“He’s not awake sir. There is nothing you can do and you risk your leg. I don’t think it’s a good idea right now,” he said.
“Doc, I have the utmost respect for the work you guys do and I don’t want to screw up your good work here,” I pointed to my leg, “But if you don’t help me see him, I will find a way to do it myself. Please send in whomever you need to so I can see him.”
The doctor looked me over carefully and let out a long sigh, “Okay, Mr. Dawson, I’ll get you some help.”
“Thank you, doctors; both of you. I am very grateful,” I told them.
Toni turned to me, “Is it okay if I go now?”
“Of course. Tell him I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She nodded as she walked out the door quickly.
When she left, the doctors followed. Annabel walked over to me. “I think I will get going, when you get back you will need some sleep. If its okay, I would like to come back tomorrow?” she asked.
“You have no idea how okay that is. Thank you for coming today. I hope I have not scared you too much with all this stuff.”
“Not at all.” She bent down and gave me another great kiss. “I hope Mac is okay, tell him I said hi, please,” she said.
“I will, and thanks again,” I said and she walked out. I felt like I could not take in enough air when she was out of sight.
A small handful of nurses came in soon, took me apart from the bed, and got me into a wheelchair painlessly. When I was sitting, I said, “Not bad everyone, that didn’t hurt at all.”
My favorite male nurse wheeled me over to the ICU and took me in Mac’s room. He offered to stay for a while, but I asked him to come back in about ten minutes and he agreed.
I sat there looking at Mac with all those hoses and wires hooked to him. I wheeled myself a little closer to him and filled him in on the day’s happenings, including the women brightening up the day. I told him I would take care of figuring out who did this and why, and for him not to worry and just get better. Before I left, I bowed my head and said a little prayer for him.
I know it might not seem right to ask for God’s help considering what we do, but I have always thought we were on the side of good more than bad.
I had a hard time sleeping until a nurse came in and saw I was still up at eleven that night. After she checked everything she was supposed to she left and was back within five minutes with a syringe. I had not noticed until she had stuck it in the IV tube. “What is that?”
“Something to help you sleep,” she said.
“But I don’t want…” I could feel it hit me like a truck. “I don’t like taking anything for sleep,” I said as if it was slow motion.
“I don’t care, honey, you need to sleep. You were busy the last couple of days and you have a nasty leg wound right now.”
I remember her sweet grin and that was that.