Chapter 48

Abby thought she'd be prepared to see Jamie hooked up to so many machines. After all, she'd visited friends and relatives in the hospital before and she knew what to expect, or at least her head did; her heart, however, was another matter. Jamie's nurse escorted her to his intensive care room and tactfully slipped out again, leaving Abby to stand inside the doorway for a few moments in shock. He was heavily sedated because of the shock and pain of his wounds, the nurse had said, so he probably wouldn't wake up for some time. A monitor measured his heart rate and blood pressure, a nasal cannula made sure he got enough oxygen, and an intravenous drip kept fluids pumping into his system, fluids that a catheter removed once his bladder was full. He was tied to the bed as effectively as if he'd been strapped down, and she was sure he hated it, as active as he was. When he was awake, he was probably reproaching himself for blowing the operation and getting himself and an officer of the Montana Highway Patrol Special Response Team shot; Abby had asked about the man and had been told that he'd been medically evacuated to a hospital in Helena, the state capital, where the SRT was headquartered.

She took a deep breath, prayed once again for strength, and stepped forward.

Jamie was dreaming. He dreamed that his Princess, his Abigail, had come to his hospital room, kissed him, and told him that she would stay with him as long as he needed her.

"That's gonna be forever, Princess," he'd replied. She'd smiled, kissed him again, and sat down in the recliner the hospital provided before taking a pad of paper and a pouch of colored pencils out of a tote bag.

The hours of travel and concern for Jamie caught up with Abby about four o'clock that afternoon and she fell asleep in the recliner. Jamie woke up at five, looked around, and saw her. He blinked, looked again, and smiled just as Hannah St. Vincent came into the room to check on him.

"Sssh. She's asleep," he said softly. "When did she get here?"

"A little before three; she was awake when I came in at four, so she hasn't been asleep long. She told me that she woke up at two o'clock this morning our time, so it's no wonder she fell asleep."

"Bless them for getting her here so quickly. My stepdad, who is director of field operations for our Agency, must have arranged it."

"What's your pain level?"

"Down below five, almost to four."

"That's great. You're allowed another injection if you want it."

"Let me see how I do; I don't want to be so doped up that I can't talk to her."

"I understand. If it gets bad, just push the call button."

"I will."

"I'm off shift at seven, but the night nurse, SueAnn Brockett, will take good care of you, and Dr. Spearman will be in to see you tomorrow. I'll check in again at six. Do you feel like eating solid food?"

"Oh, yeah. How about Marvelous Marvin's?"

"Sorry, no can do, but our kitchen makes a decent pulled pork sandwich, if that appeals."

"Bring it on, and can you add an extra one for her?"

"Sure."

Hannah left the room, closing the door quietly, but something woke Abby up. She opened her eyes and saw Jamie looking at her tenderly.

"Hey, Princess," he said. "That wasn't much of a nap, but you can sleep more tonight. I ordered you some supper – a pulled pork sandwich."

She stood up, came over to him, and bent down to kiss him carefully.

"Is that the best you can do?" he teased.

"It's the best I'm going to do while you're wrapped up like a mummy, Iceman."

"Somebody told you."

"Lots of people told me."

"Figures. I like 'Super Spy' better, only I'm not feeling so super right now, and not because I hurt."

"Because of what happened, I know. You blame yourself. You were talking in your sleep a couple of hours ago, talking about how you regretted that that highway patrol officer got shot. He's going to be fine, Jamie; he's back in Helena with his family, and he's getting treatment."

"I don't know what went wrong; I planned everything so carefully, and the others agreed with the plan."

"People happened, that's what. People don't do what you expect most of the time, especially when they're a few fries short of a kiddie meal like Paul Sacher."

"Yeah, I guess so. The nurse said you got here around three?"

"Yeah. Lee got me on a flight to Chicago, Pete Peterson VIP'ed me through O'Hare, John Werkema met me in Denver, and Ellie Donaldson drove me here. She even checked me into the lodge. I'm supposed to call her when I want to go back there, and tomorrow, they're going to get me a car to drive, since I'm too young to rent one commercially. I'm so tired right now I wouldn't be safe to drive, even the short distance to the lodge."

"You should go back to the lodge and sleep, Princess."

"What, before I even eat my sandwich?"

"No, after you eat your sandwich."

" Trying to get rid of me, are you, J-Man?"

"You know that's not true," he protested. "I just don't want you to exhaust yourself, that's all."

"I know, and I appreciate it. How's your pain level?"

"Going down fast; before you got here, it was pushing eight; now it's down below five, and it's not the medication; I haven't had any recently. I'll take something to help me sleep, I promise," he said when she started to say something. "But right now, I want to just talk to you. What do you have there?" he said, gesturing with his left hand to the tote bag.

"Oh, more stories, a new one this time. Hugo and Henrietta got new skateboards for their birthday, you see, and they weren't using them safely, so Hugo fell and broke his arm. It's about being safe and not being afraid of going to the doctor, because the doctor is there to help you get better."

"Sounds wonderful. The mental picture of a large purple stuffed hippo on a skateboard is… very different."

"Oh, I've drawn that," she said. She reached for her sketchbook and turned to the correct page.

"Princess, you have real talent."

"That's what Matt said. I showed him and Deb some of my stories and he said I should try to get them published, but that takes a literary agent and connections I don't have."

"Actually, you do; you know Matt, and Harry Thornton, and some other people who know people in the publishing world. You might be surprised by what happens now that Matt has seen one of your books. If you can get them published, would you still want to get that degree in library science?"

"I can't imagine being able to make a living that way."

"But if you could?"

"I don't know, Jamie."

He was immediately apologetic. "I'm sorry, Princess; you've had a hellish day, and here I am nagging you about that."

"It's not nagging, I just can't deal with it right now."

"Sweetheart, you need to go and get some sleep. As soon as your supper comes, I want you to go back to the lodge. They'll call you if anything changes, I promise."

"All right, Jamie."

Their meals arrived; because he was watching her, she forced herself to eat most of her pulled pork sandwich, but even before she admitted defeat and put the last of it down, he was on his cellular phone to Elise Donaldson. She walked into the room ten minutes later, waited while Abby kissed Jamie good night, and whisked her off to a room at the lodge, where she took a long, hot shower, pulled on a cotton sleep shirt, and was instantly asleep.