It would be another 3 hours till they got word again from Nurse Wheeler who this time walked thru the waiting area directly to the side room. "Mr. Angell," she began, "your daughter is being taken to recovery now. Her surgeon will be in shortly to meet with your family." "Thank you." was all he could muster at the moment.
"I'll go wait out...." Flack began quietly as he rose from his seat.
"Please, Don, stay here with us." Mr. Angell interrupted. Somehow having Don there made him feel closer to his daughter, something he needed more than ever right then.
"Are you sure? I think they only want family in here right now."
"Yeah. I'd like you to stay." Mr. Angell is suspecting his daughter means more to Flack than just being a co-worker.
Flack felt a little odd, but grateful to be included with Jess' family.
Everyone in the small room stood as Dr.s Rawles and Peterson came thru the door, eager to greet those that brought news they had longed for. Rawles always dreaded these meetings. Sad and upset families looking to them to be miracle workers. This time would be no different. The thru & thru to the shoulder was fairly standard procedure, although it did leave a bruise on the lung as it grazed by. It was the bullet to Angell's abdomen that had taken most of the time and both doctors skilled hands as they eventually found 5 fragments that had starburst in different directions cutting thru & landing in her intestines and organs. "19 lacerations is a lot of repair work." she said with an exhausted shaking of her head. "I feel confident about how she came thru the surgery. However, let me caution you that she is not out of the woods yet. Far from it in fact." Dr. Rawles told them as she always felt obligated to convey both sides of the picture, to give families the hope they needed to be positive for the patient's benefit, yet with the honest reality they needed to prepar themselves for whatever might happen. "She'll be in recovery for at least 2 hours before being moved to the ICU. Then you can see her." She added, knowing what would be their next question.
*note to readers: Yes, 19 is a lot, but each fragment going in & out of someone's coiled up intestines would leave muliple lacerations.