Chapter 12

Lee opened his eyes several hours later to find his room dimly lit. He was surprised to see the sky outside his window was streaked with colors from the setting sun. He looked down and, once again, found his broken arm propped up with pillows. Beside his bed, he noticed a covered tray with a note taped to it, "Do not remove until patient finishes."

Lee fumbled with the buttons for the bed and carefully raised the top of the bed to a sitting position. He managed to swing the bedside table over his lap. He lifted the cover and found a wrapped chicken salad sandwich along with a small bag of potato chips and an apple. His stomach rumbled loudly as he placed the cover down and reached for the sandwich. After a minute of trial and error, Lee finally extracted half the sandwich from the plastic wrap and sunk his teeth into it.

"Not bad… not Amanda's… but not bad," he mumbled to himself.

Silently, Lee ate his meal while his mind wandered. He was so focused on remembering every detail the doctor had given him about Amanda and William's conditions, he barely registered the knock on the door. He was startled when it swung inward.

"What the hell?!"

"Sorry, sir. Your mother-in-law, Mrs. West, is here. Can I let her in?" the agent stood sheepishly by the door.

"Yeah, please. Send Dotty in." Lee nodded as he willed his racing heart to calm down.

Outside of the room, he could hear the agent's muffled voice, "You can go in."

"Lee?" Dotty called as she hurried into the room. "Oh, Lee! Oh my gosh!" She dropped her purse on the floor and rushed to his bedside. She reached out to stroke the cast on his arm, her eyes scanning the rest of his body for more injuries.

"I'm doing okay, Dotty. I got lucky. It was just my arm and a few bruises here and there." Lee tried to sound strong but his voice cracked with emotion just seeing her panicked face.

"What happened? I mean, I know you were in an accident… they told me that much… but what really happened? Why is a man guarding your room?" Dotty fired off.

Lee patted the bed beside him and reached out to take her hand in his. "We had an accident just after we got out of the garage at the airport. I got thrown from the car—"

"Oh, my gosh!" Dotty gasped.

Lee squeezed her hand, "I'll be fine… good as new in a few days."

"Good as new? Lee, I don't know what medicines they're giving you, but you do realize your arm is in a cast almost to your shoulder, right?" Dotty studied his face carefully.

Lee bobbed his head. "I know, I know. It looks much worse than it is. For me anyway."

"What do you mean, for you? What's going on? Where's Amanda and William? They weren't at the house when I dropped the boys off." Dotty's eyes narrowed at her son-in-law.

"They didn't tell you?" Lee questioned slowly.

Dotty shook her head. "Tell me what? All I know is one minute the boys and I were on a glacier, and the next we were getting helicoptered to an airport where we were put on a plane home. I was given a vague message you had an accident and would explain everything. Now, where is my daughter and my grandson?"

Lee grasped Dotty's hand and peered directly into her eyes. "Dotty… Amanda and William were in the car with me. Amanda… Amanda is in the cardiac care unit… and William… he's…"

"Stop… Did you just say Amanda is in the cardiac care unit? Why is she there?" Dotty demanded.

"They came with me to the airport. We got t-boned, and I was ejected through the windshield," Lee began.

"Probably a good thing you weren't wearing your seatbelt," Dotty interjected.

Lee paused. "How did you know I wasn't wearing my seatbelt?"

"Because you never wear your seatbelt unless someone reminds you. Now, explain to me why Amanda is there and you still haven't told me where…" Dotty stopped. The color drained from her face and her hand began to shake.

"William's in the Pediatric ICU. He has a head injury, and he's in a coma right now, but the doctors assure me he's going to be just fine. Amanda had surgery last night for some internal injuries. The doc was keeping her sedated, but he told me they were weaning her off the meds over the course of twenty-four hours." Lee tried to comfort her.

"I need to see for myself. I need to see my daughter and that precious baby," Dotty declared. She straightened her spine and exhaled loudly. "Can you bring me to see them?"

Lee held tight to Dotty's hand and said, "I have to get that cleared first."

"Why? Why do you have to get clearance to see your own family? What's going on that you're not telling me?" Dotty snapped.

Before Lee could answer, Billy bounded into the room. "Lee, we've caught a break on Barta. I was in Emily's room when I got the news. You're never going to believe this, but he's downstairs in the ER waiting to be seen for—" He stopped when he noticed Dotty staring at him. "Mrs. West, I see you made it back."

"Yes, and I wish someone had told me what was going on!" Dotty pursed her lips tightly before adding, "And did you say, Emily? As in Mrs. Farnsworth?"

"Yes… Lee was picking her up at the airport when the accident occurred," Billy replied tentatively. "She's across the hall… she broke her leg in several places."

Dotty gasped and lifted her hands to her mouth. "Poor Emily. Is she in a lot of pain?"

"Today she is. The medicine they gave her finally wore off," Billy explained.

"Oh, that poor woman. I'll have to stop by and see her," Dotty exclaimed before Lee spoke up.

"Billy, did you see Dr. Lore? Dotty and I need to see Amanda and William."

Billy tugged on the lapel of his jacket and answered, "He was in the hall outside of Emily's just now."

"You think you can get him?" Lee questioned sharply.

Dotty turned and glared at her son-in-law. "Lee, that's not very nice. After all, I assume by the way Mr. Melrose is talking, he's her doctor as well. And if Amanda and William are… well… they're not going to know if I was there five minutes earlier or not. Besides, the way Mr. Melrose rushed in here, he obviously has something important to tell you."

Billy and Lee stared at each other, silently debating how much information Dotty needed to know. Finally, Billy said, "Yes, the man that caused the accident is downstairs in the emergency department and is being taken into custody as we speak."

"He's being arrested?" Dotty's eyes grew large. "For a car accident?"

"No, not just for the accident. He… um… well, the reason there's an armed guard outside of my room is because that man was going to try to assassinate the President. Billy set this up to make sure that we were protected… in case he came after us since we clearly disrupted his plans," Lee stammered an explanation.

Dotty tipped her head slightly before shrugging her shoulders and announcing, "Well, that makes perfect sense. You must have stopped him by getting in his way with your car, but now he's arrested and you're safe. Right?"

"Something like that," Billy agreed. "Dotty, would you like to come into the hall with me to find Lee's doctor? I'm sure Lee might want a few minutes to make himself presentable before he goes to see Amanda."

Lee glared at Billy. "What's wrong with the way I look?" He ran his hand down his face and felt the day-old stubble on his chin. "Okay, fine… I guess I could use a minute to brush my teeth or something."

Dotty moved around to his bedside and hugged him gently. "I'll be in the hallway when you're ready."