Chapter 49

A call of nature roused Abby just before six o'clock on Saturday morning; she glanced at the clock beside her bed and said, "Golly, twelve hours? I must really have been tired."

The last twenty-four hours had gone by in a blur of changing planes, meeting new people who had been so helpful and friendly, and finally seeing Jamie and assuring herself that he really was all right; she felt like the events of the previous morning, when Amanda had told her that Jamie had been shot, had happened weeks or months before, not just the previous day. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten much since lunchtime the previous day, and she vaguely recalled Elise Donaldson telling her that the lodge started serving breakfast at six.

"Just enough time to shower and dress," she thought, as she went into the bathroom. She took another quick shower, braided her hair, and dressed in the colorful shorts set she knew Jamie liked. She added comfortable sandals, a touch of moisturizer and lip gloss, and went down to breakfast, where she found Elise Donaldson at a table, talking to a man in his late forties.

"Here she is," Elise said as the man stood up courteously. "Abigail Kozal, this is Jim's doctor, Dan Spearman."

"Dr. Spearman, thank you for all you did for him," Abby said as they shook hands.

"Dan, and it's what I do, Miss Kozal. His prognosis is excellent: he's young, he's in excellent physical condition, and according to his nurses, he's made rapid improvement just since yesterday afternoon when you got here."

"Please, call me Abby; I don't know if I had any impact on his condition, but I know that seeing him certainly eased my mind."

"Oh, it had an impact, Abby, a definite impact. I checked on him about ten last night and I was very pleased at how well he's progressing."

"That's wonderful news. I know you told me I could go over there anytime I wanted, Elise, but would seven o'clock be too soon?"

"Not at all. Shift change will be over by then, and the breakfast trays will be coming up. And speaking of breakfast, you need to eat yours."

"Oh, I will. I was so tired last night that I barely touched the sandwich Jamie ordered for me, but I'm making up for it now."

Shortly after seven o'clock, Abby parked the Agency sedan she'd been given to use in the hospital parking lot and went up to the Intensive Care Unit. She stopped by the nurses' station to check in, where Hannah was working at the desk.

"Abby, good morning! How did you sleep?" Hannah asked.

"Like a log. Twelve hours, and I only woke up because I was hungry. I had a good breakfast, and I talked to Dr. Spearman."

"Then you know how Jamie is doing. He's awake and doing very well; go right in."

"Thank you."

Jamie had been trying to curb his impatience, telling himself sternly that he really couldn't expect her to show up at seven in the morning after the long day she'd had previously, but when she walked into the room at ten minutes past seven, his whole face lit up. "Princess! I was just wishing for you, and here you are! How did you sleep?" he asked as she came over to give him a soft kiss, then two, then three.

"Twelve hours straight, except for a couple of trips to the bathroom that I only vaguely remember. I've had breakfast, I've talked to Dr. Spearman and Hannah, and now I'm here."

"Wonderful! They ordered pancakes and sausage for me for breakfast, but I'm going to need help cutting them up. I think I can feed myself with my left hand, though."

"I'm sure you can. How's your pain?"

"Not great, but bearable. The night nurse changed the bandages right before she went off shift, so I got my first good look at the wounds. Spearman did some really fancy embroidery on me, let me tell you."

"Were they through and through?"'

"The shoulder was; the round in my leg had to be extracted. I'm very glad that it hit where it did."

"Yes, they said it missed the femoral artery, but only barely."

"And it didn't hit me in the groin. I'll have a lovely scar just below the hem of my swim trunks, but that's much preferable to the alternative."

"Yes, think of how much hotter you'll look with those interesting scars," she teased. "Kathy told me all about how Jeannie Dusek was ogling you at the pool last month."

"Who?"

"Jeannie Dusek. She and Larry and Kath graduated AHS together. She saw you at the pool playing with Bobby and Sammy and asked Kath who the 'hottie' was."

"My God."

"Why, J-Man, I do believe you're embarrassed."

"I'm not used to being described in those terms."

"Well, it's nothing short of the truth. Kathy warned her off and she left without trying to 'accidentally' run into you."

"Well, good, because I would have been polite, but I damn sure don't want to be picked up in a public pool by anyone."

"How about other places?" she teased.

"Nope. Not there either."

That got him another kiss, which she'd just broken when there was a knock on the glass panel that separated his room from the rest of the unit. She went to open the door, accepted his breakfast tray from one of the nursing aides, and brought it over to him. She took the cover off and said, "Pancakes and sausage, a fresh fruit cup, coffee and blueberry yogurt. It all looks good. I'll butter the pancakes and cut them and the sausage up, and we'll see how you do with a fork, Lefty."

"What's in the fresh fruit cup?"

"Let's see - oranges, grapefruit, pear slices, and a cherry."

"Grapefruit?" He made a face.

"You don't like grapefruit?"

"Not without plenty of sugar."

"You don't put sugar on grapefruit, J-Man. You put salt on it."

"You might; I don't."

"Well, this time you're going to eat it, and without sugar. You need the Vitamin C."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Pulling rank on me, are you?"

"Of course. I'm royalty, after all; you're only a lowly federal agent."

He grinned. "That is very true. All right, I'll eat the stuff; at least you don't expect me to drink milk."

"I never said that. You don't have any on your tray, but if it shows up, you will drink it. It's good for you. Now then, pancakes and sausage."

He managed fairly well with his left hand once the food was cut up.

Dr. Spearman came in just as he was finishing the last of the fruit. "Oh, my," Spearman said. "What put that sour look on your face, James?"

"Grapefruit. Her Royal Highness here made me eat grapefruit, and without sugar."

"I told him he needed the Vitamin C," Abby said.

"And so he does. I see you cleaned your plate; that's good. What's your pain level?"

"It will rachet up to about seven when I'm due for another dose of the good stuff, but most of the time it's around five, sometimes lower. Right now, it's closer to four, but then I got the Abby treatment this morning."

"Always good. I think we'll take the catheter out today, although you won't be able to get up to the toilet just yet."

"That will be good."

"Let's get the tray cleared away and then I'll take a look at the wound. I know the bandage was just changed about an hour ago, but we'll change it again. You can observe if you like, Abby, though you will have to mask, just as a precaution."

"I can do that."

With Hannah on hand to assist, Spearman removed the bandages and Abby got her first look at what Jamie had called Spearman's 'embroidery'. She wasn't sure how she'd react, but she was determined not to flinch, knowing that Jamie was watching her reaction very closely.

"They look good. I would normally discharge you to a regular room at this point, but Agency protocol says you need to stay here where we can control access. If you continue to improve, I can probably discharge you to a convalescent facility of some kind by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Where would you like to go?"

"Abby tells me that there's a convalescent facility adjacent to the little general hospital in her hometown of Alliance, Nebraska. I'd like to go there. It's Alliance General."

"How far is it from here, Abby?" Spearman asked.

"Not quite five hundred miles by road through Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana, Doctor."

"We'll be flying him, of course; the air ambulance we'll be using can make the trip in about an hour and half."

"That sounds great. I need to let my parents know the plan, though", Jamie said. "My phone should be in the drawer there, Abby."