In Walked Love
Chapter 6
SapphireJ

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked as I grabbed the back of Chase's chair as I didn't feel my legs were worthy of holding me up any longer.

Bones looked at me, "I said, Stephanie was in a car accident. Everyone is at the hospital."

When I heard it again I took off running for the stairs. I don't remember the drive, but suddenly I was in the emergency room waiting area. When I looked up, there was a wall of black. I marched over and tried to think of who my victim was going to be; I looked for Hector, but he was nowhere to be found. Then he looked up at me, I walked up and asked, "Why the fuck wasn't I called?"

"No one was called. Just as people in the office found out, they showed up here. Figured you'd be here when you found out if you wanted to."

"Lester, don't fuck with me. Why wasn't an alert sent out? Protocol is when one of us is hurt, the alert is sent office wide. Why wasn't it done this time?"

Les looked at me with a sad expression, "I guess no one thought of it. We heard it on the scanner and rushed over."

Cal and Hal walked over when they heard my voice getting louder. Hal looked at me and questioned, "What's the matter? There's been plenty of times she's been in the hospital and you've not been here."

"What's the matter?" I yelled. "What's the matter is the fact that my fucking WIFE is in the hospital and no one fucking called me." I realized what I'd said when everyone stopped talking and looked over at me. Guess the cat's out of the bag now. I didn't have time to listen to them and answer their questions. I had questions of my own.

Walking up to the desk, I looked at the nurse, "I'd like information on my wife, please."

"Last name?"

"Cooper," I replied.

She punched some buttons in the system and looked back at me, "I'm sorry sir, we have no one by that last name."

I was about to punch the wall but remembered that they didn't know, "Try her maiden name. Plum."

The nurse looked at me, "So, you're the one."

"I'm sorry?"

"I was here when she was brought in. She came to just as we were cutting her clothes off her, she asked for us to call her husband and she passed out again. I asked the guys over there," she said and pointed to the group in black, "but they all said she wasn't married and was probably confused about when one of them was in the hospital and she passed herself off as his wife."

I knew she was talking about when Manny was shot. At least I knew she had regained consciousness at some point. Looking back at the nurse I noticed her name and asked, "Betty, can you tell me what happened?"

Before she had a chance, I felt a large hand on my shoulder and spun around to see Tank standing there. "Come with me and I'll fill you in." I followed him to the ambulance bay outside for some fresh air and sat at the table in the corner. "I was sitting at my desk doing payroll when I heard the police scanner. Steph had taken Mooner in to be rebounded and was on her way to take him back home. She was going through the intersection of Fifth and Main when some drunk ran the red light at a high rate of speed and ran into her. Her car rolled a couple of times and landed on the driver side. They had to get the Jaws of Life to get her out."

"Fuck," I whispered barely able to contain my emotions. "How is she? How's Mooner?" I knew as soon as she woke up and remembered what happened, she'd ask about Mooner.

"He's banged up. Broken ribs, busted leg, but not much else. He was too high to tense up when they were hit." Tank ran his hand over his bald head and sighed; that wasn't a good sign.

"Just tell me, Tank."

"None of us knew you two were married; are you really married or are you just saying that to get some info?" I held up my hand and showed him my ring.

"She has the matching one on."

He nodded, "When did that happen? We didn't even know you two were dating."

"It happened over the weekend. Nothing else matters right now. How is she?"

"Look, all we know is, it's serious. When she was brought it, she looked pretty banged up and bloody. I've not talked to the doctor since she went into surgery. Fuck man, had we known, we'd have called you. They asked us if we knew who her husband was, but we thought she was just talking about Manny. I'm sorry man."

I couldn't tell him it was okay; I should have been able to because it wasn't their fault, they didn't know. But at the moment, all I could think of was I was going to lose the best thing that ever happened to me. I stood up and walked back inside. I stood at the windows and looked out over the horizon and did something I'd never done before.

I'm not a religious person; hell I don't even know if there is God. I mean, how can you put so much faith and trust into something you can't see, feel, hear, taste, or smell? I'm not atheist, but I guess you could say I'm agnostic. I believe there is some higher power out there, but I can't say for sure there is a God. But, in this moment, I'm hoping there is a God, because I'm praying to God that my wife pulls through this. I will do anything to have her be okay.

I felt another presence behind me and, from the smell, I knew it was Lester. I wasn't ready to face him yet; I knew he'd be calling my ass to the mats soon. I couldn't blame him really, but I didn't want it right now.

"Look, man, I'm sorry no one called. We really didn't think about it." He came up beside me so I could see him in my peripheral. "When the fuck did you two get married?"

"Friday night."

I could see him standing there, thinking. "Dude, I talked to the guys about Friday night. They said you and Steph were drunk off your asses. How the hell did you two get married? If you took advantage of her, I'll kick your ass here and now."

"Look, I don't need this right now. Just know that Steph and I have talked and we are staying married." Finally looking over at him, I gave him my glare, "How the hell could you not call me? Especially when you knew we spent the weekend together? Fuck man, when she was hurt three months ago, you called me. You know we've been spending time together; dinner three times a week, lunch almost every day. Hell, you were the one that called me out on spending the night over there or her staying at my apartment. How could you not think to call?"

I saw the doors open and when I saw whom stepped through, I walked away from Les. As I walked across the room, I began to wonder what I was going to say to this person. Walking up to him, I stuck my hand out to shake his, "Mr. Plum. I'm not sure if you remember, but I'm Binkie."

"I remember you," he said. "Steph brought you to dinner a few times." I nodded. "Can you tell me what happened?"

I walked to the empty chairs and after we sat down, began telling Mr. Plum what I knew of the accident. He tried hard to fight the tears, but in the end, they were there. I looked around and finally had to ask, "Sir, where is Mrs. Plum?"

Wiping his eyes, he shrugged, "Her and her mother went to Wisconsin to visit her sister. I've not called yet. Didn't want to call until I had all the details."

Before I could respond, a doctor came from the surgery wing doors and stopped at the desk. A few moments later, he began walking towards me. This is it, I thought. This is when I learn if my heart will continue to beat. I stood up and waited for his approach.

"Mr. Cooper?" I nodded. He thrust his hand out for a shake, "I'm Dr. Liscow, the head surgeon for your wife." I noticed Mr. Plum turn his head toward me in surprise. I hadn't had time to tell him of our wedding. "I just wanted to let you know that your wife pulled through surgery and is on the CCU recovery unit."

I noticed the guys all step closer to hear the information; even if I was pissed that they'd not called me, I knew this was something they needed to hear. They were all her family. "How is she? What was the damage?"

"We had to remove her spleen. Her left leg is broken, and we had to put a rod and screws in her left arm. She has two cracked ribs and is going to be sore for a very long time."

"When can I see her?" I needed to see her, to touch her, to feel her heartbeat to know she was still here with me. I didn't know how to explain it, but until I saw her face and heard her heart, I wouldn't believe she was okay.

Dr. Liscow looked at me and nodded; he seemed to understand. "Give them ten minutes to get her transferred and then you can go up. No more than two visitors at a time and no one that will upset her. She's still out of it and will be for a little bit."

Dr. Liscow left the area and Mr. Plum turned to me, "You married my pumpkin?"

"Yes, sir. We were married over the weekend. I meant to tell you, but… well, there's no excuse. I'm sorry."

"Non-sense. Are you happy?" I nodded. "I know she's happy with you. I've seen the change in her since you two started 'hanging out' as she put it. She was beginning to lose that spark she had growing up and I was worried that if she lost it permanently, she'd be a different person. Since you've been around, that spark has grown back in intensity, and I believe you are the reason. I had a feeling that things were going to happen, but I wasn't counting on this fast."

Now, how honest am I with him? I wanted to earn his respect and I wanted him to believe this was a marriage that would last, but if I told him how it came to, would he really think it will last? "I love her, sir. More than I ever thought possible."

"Mr. Cooper, you may see your wife now," Betty informed me.

I started to follow Betty, but stopped, turned around, and motioned to my new father-in-law, "Do you want to come with me?"

He thought about it, but shook his head, "You go first. I need to make a phone call."

The rest of the men stood along the wall, and I knew they'd wait for their turn to go see her and I was sure there would be a guard outside her door all night. Walking in, I thought my heart was going to stop. There was my beautiful wife hooked up to so many monitors and she had so many bandages on her, it was hard to tell it was her. She was black, blue, purple, and every color in between.

Betty looked at and smiled, "You can talk to her and you can hold her hand. Don't worry, she will let you know if she's uncomfortable. She may be out of it right now, but she can still let you know. I'll be in to check on her in a little bit. If you need anything before I get back, just push the call button."

I grabbed the chair in the corner and pulled it up to her bed before I grabbed her right hand, "I'm here, Honey. I'm so sorry I wasn't here when you were brought in. But, I'm here now and I'm not leaving without you. Most of the guys are in the waiting room, and your dad, he's here, too." I kissed her hand before placing my right hand over her heart. I could hear the heart beat on the monitor, but I needed to make sure I could actually feel it. When I felt it beat under my hand, I took a deep breath and tried to hold the tears back.

"I guess I should tell you before they all come in. The guys, and your dad, all know we're married. I guess I was a little pissed at them for not letting me know you were injured and I kind of yelled that you were my wife and I should have been notified. I know that's not the way you wanted them to find out and I'm sorry. You can kick my ass later, okay?"

I sat there, with my head on her bed next to her arm, and just listened to her breathing. I wasn't sure how long I was there, but I must have dozed off for a little bit. I heard the door open and, out of instinct, I reached for my gun. Looking up, I saw Lester and Bobby enter the room.

"How's she doing?" Bobby asked as he reached for her medical chart at the foot of her bed.

"I don't know. Her heart's beating and she's breathing. But that's all I can tell you. When is she going to wake up?"

"I don't know man. Looks like they have her on some serious drugs right now. Probably to give her body time to heal before she fights it. You know as soon as she wakes up, she's going to want out of here."

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully, she'll come back to the office and stay in my apartment so we can all help her."

Lester stood there just staring at Steph. While it wasn't unusual for him to stare at her, it was unusual for him not to say anything. "Les, you okay?" With a nod, he turned and left the room. I looked up at Bobby who just shrugged and looked at Steph's monitors.

I placed my head back on her bed near her body, and once again, began doing the pleading thing with whatever powers were out there. I just wanted my wife to wake up and be okay.