Chapter 10
February 1987
Lee punched a number into the telephone near the Las Palmas, California, hospital waiting room and waited for it to ring in Denton, Texas. It was Sunday afternoon, so there was a good chance Louise would be home. One ring, then two, and then … "Louise Osterman speaking."
"Loulou, it's Lee. I… Amanda's been shot. They operated and repaired the damage to her chest, but she's still critical, heavily sedated."
"Lee, I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but we love you. Was it work related?"
"No. We got married on Friday and flew out to California for our honeymoon; I have an old friend out here in Las Palmas and I thought we could visit him and spend some time on the beach at the same time. A friend of his got too close to some very bad people and we got caught in the crossfire. All those years we worked together, Loulou, and I was able to keep her safe, and now, when we're on our honeymoon, damn it, she's lying in intensive care and I…. I called her mother; she's on her way out here from Virginia. Tell Leelee, will you?"
"She went to the movies with some friends from school; I'll tell her as soon as she gets back. Lee, don't give up. Amanda's strong; she's going to make it through this, and you're going to have a wonderful life together."
"I just have to keep telling myself that. I have to hang up; it's almost time for me to go and sit with her."
"You do that, and you tell her that Leelee and I are rooting for her."
"I will. Thank you, Louise."
A week later, the phone rang again. This time, Leeanne answered.
"Leelee, it's Lee. Amanda's awake! It was touch and go for a while there, but she's awake."
Leeanne started to cry. "Oh, Lee, I'm … Mom! Lee says
Amanda's awake. She's going to be all right! Tell her, Lee. Tell her!"
"Lee? She's awake?" Louise asked.
"Damn right she is; she never gave up, not for a moment, and do you know the first thing she asked me when she woke up? She wanted to know if I'd gotten the license number of the truck the shooter was driving. Not 'why am I here' or anything like that, just 'did you get the number'. The woman is amazing."
"Yes, she is. I'm so happy for you both, Lee. I know she's got a long road ahead of her with a gunshot wound like that, but she'll do just fine."
"Yes, she will, but I tell you, Louise, I'm not letting her anywhere near a field operation until the docs clear her, and maybe not even then. I'm not going to lose her, not when I came this close."
"I understand. Do you still want us to come up over Spring Break?"
"To be honest, Louise, I don't know how long it's going to take her to recover from this. She'll probably be fine by the middle of next month, but could we put it off for a few months just to be on the safe side. We'd love to see you both, but I'm just not sure."
"Of course, and her health has to be the first consideration. There will be other times, Lee. Oh, and Lee? I saw my lawyer the other day and asked him to put Amanda's name on the guardianship paperwork. If anything happens to me before Leeanne is eighteen, guardianship will automatically transfer to Lee and Amanda Stetson."
"I'll tell her that; she'll be honored. Not that we'll ever need to do anything, since you're going to live to be ninety, but we're honored."
"Give her our love."
"You bet I will."