Chapter Fourteen

You fainted, and he’s in surgery still, Leah answered.

“How long was I out? And why am I hooked up to an IV?”

About a half-hour. The IV is because you are a bit dehydrated. A precaution only, don’t worry. Although, you did do quite a number on your burns, bouncing that rifle off them like you did.

“Where are my clothes? I put my necklace in the front pocket of my jeans,” Shannon whispered as she sat up frantically.

Leah held up the white plastic bag containing her belongings.

Shannon nodded and exhaled a sigh as she leaned back.

“What’s next?”

They’re about to discharge you, and you will get dressed then come upstairs with me to the surgical waiting room.

“Okay. Any word on him yet?”

Leah shook her head.

The nurse came by twenty-five minutes later to take out her IV and lecture both of them about taking better care of Shannon’s preexisting injuries.

Leah listened politely, and then rolled her eyes and conveyed the gist to Shannon in a not-so-polite summation once the nurse was gone.

Shannon struggled not to giggle as she read Leah’s creative writing. It was hard not to, given that Leah had led with ‘Nurse Squeaky Shoes said’ and wrapped up with ‘let’s see how well she’d do in a freaking deer blind shooting at bad guys.’

Once she was dressed again, Shannon walked with Leah to the elevator, and they proceeded to the third floor to reconnect with Larry.

It was another two hours before the lead surgeon came out to update the trio.

“A delicate surgery, very little room for error. But it went well,” he told them. “He got really lucky. Two centimeters higher, and the bullet would have shattered his clavicle and shredded the artery instead of just nicking both. He may have some physical therapy he’ll need to do to build strength back up in the muscle tissue that was damaged, but I expect Marshal Jenkins to make a full recovery.”

When Leah relayed the surgeon’s news, relief washed over Shannon like a flood.

“How long will he be here?” Shannon asked.

“At least a week, maybe two,” came the response, and Leah once again passed on the doctor’s answer.

“Can she see him?” Larry asked, pointing to Shannon. “This is his girlfriend.”

“Sure, as soon as he’s out of post-op and settled in a room.”

Shannon beamed at this last statement Leah shared with her.

They thanked the surgeon, and once he’d left Shannon said, “Now what do we do? Pete’s truck is at the farm, and he’s going to be in here for at least a week. You have to go tie up loose ends for your case, right?”

Larry sighed.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding so Shannon would know his answer.

“So, how do we do this? I don’t want to leave him, but I don’t have anywhere to stay. And I’ve still got classes for another two months.”

Actually, you do have a place, Larry wrote to her. You’re welcome to stay at the farm, Shannon. Lynda and Montie already suggested it, as a matter of fact. Said they could tell you ‘wouldn’t want to be far from your fella’, as they put it.

She smiled.

“They’re right, I don’t.”

And as far as your classes. If I can get you situated with a laptop, can you do your last two classes remotely for a little while? Larry asked. Not forever, Shannon. Just until I can get the key players at Creach & Langford into custody. Two, three weeks, tops. Then it will be safe for you to go back to Chicago.

“I think so. I’d need to email my professors and find out. I don’t see any reason I couldn’t. Leah, what about you?”

Leah looked at Larry.

“When are you heading back?”

“Sometime tomorrow. Why?”

“Can I catch a ride? I want to get back, put my apartment back together.”

Larry’s gaze was unreadable.

“Sure.”

Shannon tapped Leah’s shoulder. “What’s your plan?”

I’m going to ride back to Chicago with him, Leah wrote. Get our apartment cleaned up.

“When are you leaving?” Shannon asked them.

Tomorrow, probably in the afternoon, Leah wrote.

Shannon’s eyes went wide as she remembered, and she stood, digging her hand down into her pocket.

“Here, while I’m thinking about it. You’re going to need this,” she said, and handed him her locket.

Larry gently pried it open and gazed at the microchip nestled inside before looking at each woman in turn.

“I think with these, we’ll have an airtight case,” he said, and smiled.

“Excuse me,” a young woman in scrubs said from the doorway. “We’re settling him into a room now. Follow me, please.”

***

Ten days later…

Shannon stretched and yawned, blinking as the morning light through the cabin window bathed her face in its warmth.

She’d spent every moment she could by Pete’s side since he’d been settled into his room on the hospital’s fifth floor – so much so that she knew, by name, every nurse on every shift that had helped with Pete’s healing.

Pete’s getting out today, she remembered, and the thought spurned her to joyful action, flinging back the covers and heading for a quick shower.

She checked out her face in the bathroom mirror. The scrapes and bruises were just about gone, and the burns she’d suffered had left little trace behind as well – Lynda had insisted on tending to them.

She retrieved a set of clothes from her suitcase, then turned on the water in the shower so it could warm up. She was just about to brush out her hair as she waited for the hot water heater to do its thing when she stopped short, stunned.

“I can hear the water running,” Shannon realized, and laughed.

She powered through her morning routine and grabbed a set of clean clothes from his ready bag for Pete to put on before driving Pete’s truck to the hospital to pick him up. 

***

She knocked on the door to his room, then swung it open.

Pete saw her and his face creased into the smile she loved so much.

He immediately scooped up the notepad and painstakingly wrote, Good morning, beautiful. I missed you, as best he could with his right arm in a sling.

“I missed you too,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye, trying to keep her secret just a bit longer. “How did you sleep?”

Pretty good, I guess. Ready to be in a real bed again.

“I bet,” she said, and wickedly thought to herself, I know I’m ready to have you in a real bed…

But she kept her expression neutral and told him, “I brought you some clothes. Didn’t think you’d want to wear your designer backless ensemble outside the building.”

He laughed, shaking his head.

Mabel, one of her favorite nurses, walked into the room, hugging Shannon and greeting Pete with, “Good morning, Pete. You ready to get out of here?”

“I am beyond ready,” he said. “Get this IV out of me, already.”

Mabel chuckled, and swiftly completed that task.

Meanwhile, Shannon was trying her best to hold it together.

Sweet Jesus, he sounds sexy, just like I thought he would, Shannon thought, her body instantly primed for him, and she fought to maintain her composure.

“I’ll be right back with your discharge papers,” Mabel told him.

“Thanks, Mabel. I appreciate you,” Pete answered as she left.

Shannon waited just a moment until the door shut again.

“So,” she purred, a megawatt smile on her face, “that’s what you sound like.”