When Steve opened his eyes he was slightly confused. He didn't actually remember going to sleep but, from the dim light that was showing around the window blinds in his room, he guessed it was early evening and apparently he had slept for several hours.
"Nice to see you finally wake up, Sleeping Beauty. I was beginning to think that you might sleep through until morning." The voice that came from the other side of the room startled him and the sudden movement made him hiss with the agony that it caused.
"I might not have slept this long if you had come up and kept me company like Dad said you were going to." Steve lay still trying to decide the best course of action to shift his position with the least amount of pain.
"I got caught up in the ER. About the time I finished with the victims from the first major pile up another batch came in. Besides I've been sitting here listening to you snore for the last two hours. That's entertainment at its finest" Jesse stood and walked over to the bed and snapped on the lamp over his patient's head.
Blinking from the sudden illumination, Steve instinctively reached up to shade his eyes from the offending brightness. "Did you have to turn that on? I was not snoring."
"Yeah, well tell that to the nurses who were trying to find the source of all that snorting and sputtering. I think I heard a reference about a heard of pigs. I could have been wrong. It was a bit noisy in here. Remind me to check out your adenoids later. Move your hand so I can check your pupils." Jesse reached up to lower his patient's arm so that he could further irritate him with his little pin light.
"Does your head hurt any at all?" Jesse watched Steve's pupils noting that they were a little slow reacting to the stimulation.
"When you shine that spotlight into my eyes it does. Would you just put that thing away? When can I get out of here?" Steve tried to turn his head, shutting his eyes tight as the beam caused little spots to dance in front of them.
"You just got here today. What's your hurry? You haven't even had your first meal yet." Jesse walked to the other side of the bed and began to lower the rails.
"I've got to get home. Dad said that he took the Tanners there and I need to be close. Someone is trying to kill them." Steve watched Jesse warily wondering what he was going to do next.
"Well, the sooner we get you on your feet the faster you can get home. Now, we're going to just sit you up on the side of the bed for a minute. Let me do all the work though." Jesse raised the head of Steve's bed and then, taking the covers away, he took a hold of his legs and gently slid him around until he was sitting up facing him.
Steve sucked in his breath as the movement pulled at his shoulder sending a dull throbbing across his whole upper body. He managed to hold in the colorful remarks that he so badly wanted to express his discomfort with, and allowed Jesse to support him as he dangled his legs over the side of the bed. Sweat popped out on his face and breathing became an art form at that moment. He should have known what to expect. It wasn't like he hadn't been at this point before.
"How are you doing so far?" Jesse searched his friend's face for the truth but expected to hear those famous words.
Steve didn't disappoint. "I'm fine." Unable to say anything else without giving away the fact that he was anything but fine he chose to concentrate further on breathing without hyperventilating.
"I can see it now. On your headstone, it's going to say 'Here lies Steve Sloan. But he's fine.' Maybe you should try to come up with something more original. That's sort of lost its sincerity. I know your dad would like to hear a different answer for a change." Jesse eyed his friend for a moment before letting go to see if he could balance on his own.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean. If I say I'm fine then I'm fine." This might have been more convincing if he hadn't started to lean forward once Jesse let go of him.
"It wouldn't be like the world stopped if you just admitted that you might not feel so hot at the moment. You are entitled to feel like you just got shot. In fact, according to your diagnosis, you did get shot. With a big gun I might add." Jesse reached out to steady Steve before he fell completely over on his face.
"Help me get up. Do you know where my clothes are? Have you talked to Dad in the last couple of hours?" Steve tried to maneuver himself off the bed and missed the amused smile that suddenly spread over Jesse's face.
"No way. No, I don't, and yes, I have. Now I think it's time you laid back down. You don't want to overdo it." Jesse began the process of easing his patient back into the bed. Steve had other plans however.
"I've got to get out of here. Didn't you hear me? I think Isaiah and Emma are in danger." Steve wanted to struggle but was unable to do anything more than just allow Jesse to tuck him back into the bed.
As Jesse raised the side rails, he placed a comforting hand on his friend's arm. "You need to settle down. I've talked to your dad. Everything is fine. They are fine. There is a patrol car cruising by your house every half-hour or so. Now relax. They're serving meatloaf for supper tonight."
"Really? What time is it?" This seemed to distract him for a few moments.
"It's about fifteen minutes before they pass out trays. By the way, have you seen that new nurse that started last week?" Jesse jiggled his eyebrows breaking out into a grin that went from ear to ear.
"I guess not. After all, I've been here less than a day and most of that I spent examining the back of my eyelids. I take it from that goofy look on your face she's cute." Steve grinned back at Jesse.
"Red hair and green eyes. Just my type."
"Seems to me that any girl is just your type. Is she on duty tonight?" Steve had a conspiratorial look in his eyes.
Jesse's face suddenly changed to one of extreme caution. "Yeah… Why?"
"Well, I might need some help with my dinner this evening. You know how hard it is to eat with just one good arm." The look he gave Jesse was one of pure innocence.
"Yeah, right. That meatloaf can be pretty tough to cut sometimes. You just let me help you with your meal. Besides she's not your type. The last time I looked she hadn't tried to kill anyone yet." Jesse went about placing the bedside table up closer and adjusting Steve's pillows so he could eat in comfort once the meal was delivered.
"I just want you to remember that I'm keeping a mental list of all the things I plan to get you back for once I'm fit and able to. In the last half-hour, you've managed to accumulate quite a lot. So watch it!" He glared at his short blond friend in hopes of intimidating him enough to help him get to the beach house.
"I'm not worried. You're going to be in physical therapy with that shoulder and arm for quite a while. That look isn't going to get you home tonight either. Besides, I'm more afraid of your dad than you. I show up with you in tow and I'll be written out of his will." Jesse continued to fuss around the room.
"You may be more afraid of Dad than me, but I wonder if you just might be even more afraid of Amanda." Steve looked rather pleased at the expression that suddenly came across his little friend's face.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, what that is supposed to mean is I wonder what she will do once she finds out who accidentally deleted an entire night's work when he tried to open up his email on her computer." Smug just didn't quite do justice to the look that Steve was wearing at that moment.
"You wouldn't dare. I happen to know for a fact that you are the one who taught CJ and Dion that little move they were practicing when the vase her mother gave her for her birthday got destroyed." Jesse was determined to keep the upper hand. It looked as if he might still have it.
Just then, one of the older nurses breezed in with a tray and a smile that was clearly meant for her patient. She was one of the few nurses who could actually handle Steve when he didn't want to be in the hospital. She had the build of a linebacker with gray hair that would resist a hurricane as it was plastered down with a gallon of hairspray. She wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that she could intimidate you with if she chose to by peering at you over the tops. Even with all of this she still managed to give the appearance of being pleasant as long as you did as she instructed. "Here we are, Lieutenant. I've got a nice tray full of meatloaf and hot yummy mashed potatoes just for you. I also made sure that you got an extra helping of banana pudding. I remembered from the last time you were here how much you loved it. Now here let me help with your napkin."
Jesse watched in amusement as the nurse fussed around her patient while he tried to fend her off with his good arm. Between plumping his pillows, straightening his sheets, and tucking his napkin in under his chin, Steve never had a chance. "Well, since it looks like you are in very good hands, I'll just go and check on a couple of my patients while you are eating and come back later."
Looking rather desperate, Steve called after him. "I thought you said you were going to help me with my dinner. Jesse. Come back here. Jesseeee."
Jesse just smiled as he walked out the door. He knew he would pay later but this was just too good to let go by. He went to the nurses' station and called the beach house to check up on everybody. His conversation with Amanda was brief but satisfying as she reported that Mark was in bed and sleeping soundly after having eaten a nice hot dinner that Emma had prepared.
After he hung up the phone, he went to make arrangements to have a cot set up in Steve's room. It wasn't that he was afraid that anything would happen to his friend. It was obvious that the Lieutenant was well on his way to recovery. The earlier conversation he had with Mark, however, made him realize that he needed to be close by if Steve chose to become unreasonable during the night with his concern for the Tanners.
He had to admit that watching the confrontation between the nurses and their most difficult of patients was often amusing. The fact that Steve's father was Chief of Internal Medicine didn't afford him any slack when it came to the tantrums that often ensued while he was forced to surrender to the confines of a hospital room. His reputation was well known and it often put his caregivers on the defense from the start.
Jesse decided his best course of action would be to wait until Steve was well on his way to sleep before he ventured back into the room. Paperwork with his name on it was piled up at the nurses' desk so he settled down to tackle that while waiting till the coast was clear.
DM
Mark opened his eyes and realized that it was well up into the morning. His fuzzy brain couldn't quite comprehend what it was that had woken him up. He laid for a minute listening. He didn't seem to hear anything out of the ordinary. Just the usual beach noises and the surf crashing against the shore. He lay still enjoying the sounds that he had come to associate with home. Then he heard it again. It was the sound of raised voices that had awakened him. He listened carefully trying to understand what was being said. Finally, he just gave up and crawled from the comfort of his bed and fumbled for his slippers and robe.
"You can't leave here without someone going with you. Mark will be up soon and I'm sure he will be more than glad to take you to the hospital to see Steve." Amanda was desperately trying to appease the two older people who seemed determined to be on their way.
As Mark entered the kitchen, he soon realized that he had walked into a small war. Both Emma and Isaiah were standing in front of a very determined Amanda trying to convince her that they were not getting any younger waiting on the good doctor to finally wake up.
"I ain't never seen how people could sleep away the day this way. Me and Emma here has been up since the sun rose. I ain't a patient man, Missy. Now we are goin' to the hospital to see that boy with or without his daddy."
Mark could see it was going to be a battle of wills so he immediately stepped in to defuse the situation.
"I'm sorry that I slept so long. Just let me take a quick shower and change and we will be on our way. It won't take but a second."
"No, Dr. Sloan. You need to eat some breakfast first. Now you sit down while I fix you some eggs. The bacon is already done and the biscuits are warmin' in the oven. Here, Isaiah, you pour him some coffee now." For the next ten minutes, Emma fussed around fixing Mark one of the most delicious meals he had ever eaten. He was especially impressed with the biscuits.
He tried to make quick work of the meal and was on his way to the bedroom to shower and change when the phone rang. He decided to let Amanda answer it as he hurried to get ready to leave for the hospital.
When he came from the bedroom refreshed from a shower and wearing clean clothes he could tell by the look on her face that obviously the phone call had not been all that good.
"What's wrong?" A cold fear grabbed at his heart. He was afraid it was about Steve.
"That was Captain Newman. He just called to say that Edward Moss from the bank has disappeared. They can't seem to find the man anywhere." Amanda watched her friend trying to read his reaction.
"I didn't know they were looking for him. Do you know why?" Mark could guess but he wanted confirmation.
"Well, apparently they were going to question him about the land deal on Mr. and Mrs. Tanner's property. The captain said that there were some discrepancies and they wanted to ask him about them. He's just vanished."
Mark considered what he had just heard for a second and then led the little band out to the car. He took the Tanners with him and Amanda drove herself so that she could stop in and check on her boys before heading to the hospital.
Whatever had happened to Moss he was sure that the developer was behind it. He just hoped that when they found the bank president he would still be alive and able to tell them what he knew about Ashton's interest in the land and anything else he might have information on.
A/N: I am very sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter. I'm afraid I caught a bug and it took me a while to get over it. I want to once again thank you for the encouraging reviews and your faithfulness in reading my story.