Chapter 4

Meanwhile, back at the Sheriff's Office, the phone call from Henry came through. Ruby answered and signaled to the others to be quiet. The office fell silent. Her face was grim as she listened intently as Henry updated her on Walt's condition. Her expression softened to a smile. She thanked Henry and then with great relief she turned and disseminated the news to the rest of the team.

"He made it through the surgery. Henry said his condition is still serious but he's stable," Ruby told them.

"Oh, thank God," Vic said, flopping back into her seat and running both her hands over her hair as relief washed over her.

The Ferg and Branch were also delighted to hear the news. All Vic wanted to do was to get back to the hospital and see her Walt. Ruby desperately wanted to see him also, so the pair left the office soon after the call, leaving the Ferg and Branch holding the fort and waiting for the Feds to arrive.

Having made the necessary calls, Henry re-entered the hospital and found Walt's room. He slipped in quietly and was momentarily taken aback seeing his old friend looking so frail amid a plethora of wires and tubes. He had seen Walt injured many times, during their time in Vietnam and throughout his stint in law enforcement, but this was his closest shave so far.

Cady clung to her dad's limp hand like both their lives depended on it. Her eyes were fixed on his face, desperate for him to wake. Walt looked a shadow of himself. His pallor was frighteningly grey. A light sheet barely hid an ugly looking tube poking through the wall of his chest draining blood from the injured area. His chest rose in time to the rhythm of the respirator. A large gauze bandage, which covered the surgical incision in his upper chest, remained visible above the sheet. Blood products flowed into an IV in his arm, replacing the vast amount he had lost through his injury and the surgery. It all served as a reminder to Henry just how lucky he was that his friend was still alive.

He stepped in behind Cady and rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. He said nothing, just wanted to let her know that he was there.

"The nurse said he's doing as well as can be expected," she told him. Her voice shook as she spoke all the while clinging to her father's hand.

"He is strong, Cady," Henry reminded her. "If anyone can get through this, Walt can."

Cady sniffed and nodded her head in agreement and reached her free hand back to rest on his. They remained in silence for a while.

"This is my fault, you know, Henry. If I hadn't badgered him into going to the bank, he would never have been there. This wouldn't have happened," Cady told him biting back the tears.

"You cannot think like that, Cady. This is not your fault," Henry replied. "Walt was unlucky, that is all. You could not know this would happen."

"I nearly lost him, Henry. I don't know what I would have done," Cady said pensively. "He's all I have, Henry."

"He is not all that you have, Cady Longmire. You have more people who care about you than you realize," he told her.

Cady smiled, knowing that he was probably right. Henry was practically family and had always been there for her and her father. They remained in the tiny room together for a while. The nurse, true to her word, kept regular obs on her dad. His condition remained stable. Eventually, as late night fell, Henry had to leave for a while to get to the Red Pony to check on things and let some staff go home, leaving Cady alone with her dad.

As he was leaving, he came upon Ruby and Vic sitting outside in the waiting area.

"He is doing well," Henry told them. "Cady is still with him."

"Do you think we could see him?" Ruby asked.

"I'm sure you could sneak in," Henry replied. "Down the corridor, fourth door on the right."

The pair thanked him and immediately stood and followed his directions. Ruby knocked and opened the door slowly. Cady turned and greeted her fondly and invited her in. Vic stepped in behind her.

"Cady, Sweetie, I can't believe this happened," Ruby said as she entered.

Cady stood and threw her arms around Ruby. They hugged silently for a while. Ruby had been so good to both her and her dad following the death of her mother. She had known Ruby for long time, since she was a girl, and Ruby had been a good friend to both her father and her mother. Ever since her Mom passed away, she was always looking out for her dad, trying to keep him out of trouble, making sure he ate proper meals, even down to offering suggestions on his attire, much to Walt's annoyance. Cady knew how upset she must be by what had happened and was glad that she was there. She was family too. Slowly, they extricated themselves from their hug.

Ruby stood back and looked properly for the first time at Walt. She, too, was taken aback by how ill he looked. She took a deep breath and approached the bed where he lay.

"Walter Longmire, I take a few hours off and look at the trouble you get yourself into," she scolded, placing her hand affectionately on his bicep and squeezing gently. "This was a close one, Walt. You're going to have to listen to the doctors and take it easy and get better, do you hear me? We don't want Branch getting too comfortable with you not there."

As Ruby spoke to Walt, Vic and Cady exchanged a quick hug.

"You must be exhausted," Vic said to her, noticing her puffy eyes.

Cady smiled and wiped her forehead.

"I'm fine."

"You should try and get some rest," Vic suggested. "I'll sit with him if you like?"

Please say yes, Vic wished silently.

"Eh, no, it's fine. I'd rather be here…..you know, just in case," Cady replied.

"Vic is right, Cady," Ruby interjected. "You come home with me and I'll make you some supper and you can get some sleep. There's no point in you making yourself ill. He's going to need you strong while he recovers."

Cady sighed. She looked over at her dad who was oblivious to anyone's presence in the room. Deep down, she knew Ruby was right.

"Okay," she agreed. "Promise me you'll stay with him?" she asked Vic.

Vic nodded. She was more than happy to stay with him. There was no where she would rather be, if truth be known.

"Okay then," Cady said, preparing to leave. "You have my cell number in case anything changes?"

"I have it," Vic replied. "Don't worry. If there's any change in his condition, I'll call you straight away."

Cady walked over to her dad. She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

"I'll be back soon, Daddy. Love you," she whispered as she withdrew.

Vic and Ruby's eyes met. Ruby nodded and Vic smiled back.

"Are you sure you don't mind staying?" Cady asked, feeling guilty about leaving her dad's side.

"Not at all," Vic replied.

"What about Sean?" Cady asked.

Vic hesitated slightly. What about Sean? She was pretty sure he must have heard about Walt's shooting. It had been all over the local news bulletins, yet he hadn't called her once all day. Vic's feelings for Walt had always been a bone of contention between them and she was pretty sure Sean didn't give a damn anymore. He had made it clear there was no way back for their relationship. They were married on paper only.

"Don't worry about Sean," Vic replied, choosing not to divulge her marital troubles at that moment. "He's out of town," she lied.

"Thanks, Vic," Cady said one more time before eventually being almost pushed out of the room by Ruby.

Vic was relieved by the time they left. She lingered awkwardly at the foot of Walt's bed for a few moments before taking the seat Cady had vacated. She sat forward, rested her elbows on the edge of the bed, held her head in her hands and let the stress of the day wash over her once more. She looked at Walt who remained so still in the bed. She glanced at the monitor beside the bed and watched it peak with every heartbeat,

It offered her some comfort to hear the beating of his heart after the stress of the day. Her mind slipped back to earlier that afternoon, to seeing him bleeding on the sidewalk, holding his weakening body in her arms on the jarring journey to the hospital, the fear of not knowing as she waited to hear if he had survived. She bit her top lip as her emotions threatened to take hold once more.

She stood up slowly and stepped closer to his head. She reached out and touched his rough face with her fingers. Softly, she drew her hand over his stubble from his jowl to his chin. She allowed her hand to linger on his face, until she finally leaned across and gently placed a kiss his cheek.

She didn't speak. There were no words. She just sat back down and rested her hand on his. She willed him to wake up. She willed him to recover. Life without him was not worth contemplating.

Later, as the nurse came in to do her checks on her patient, Vic quickly removed her hand from his. She felt self-conscious, even guilty for feeling the way she did. It was way too complicated and in a small town like Durant, complicated quickly became warped and sordid and then before you knew it, fodder for the rumor mill.

As the night progressed, Vic tried to sleep sitting in the chair. It wasn't very comfortable and sleep didn't come easy. She eventually found comfort, curled up on the chair and resting her head on the edge of the bed. That's how she was lying when the monitor alarm first went off. She shot up and looked around, initially disoriented. She pushed the chair away and was about to push the emergency call button when the nurse burst in.

"What's wrong?" Vic asked, panic rising in her chest.

The nurse checked the monitor and noted the figures on the screen.

"His O2 sats have dropped," she told Vic as she examined the monitor from which the alarm was sounding.

"What does that mean?" Vic demanded as panic gripped her.

"He's not getting enough oxygen. I'll page the on-call doctor and get him to check it out," the nurse told her calmly. "There's no need to panic. I'll just see what the doctor thinks."

"Okay, should I call his daughter in?" Vic enquired anxiously.

"No need to do that just yet. We'll see how he goes on a richer mixture and see if he improves," the nurse explained. "I'll be back shortly."

After she left the room, Vic approached the bed again and took hold of Walt's hand.

"What the fuck, Walt? Don't do this," she warned sternly. "You need to fight, okay? I can't lose you, Walt. Don't you give up, not now, not …."

She didn't finish because she heard voices approaching in the corridor. The nurse returned bringing a junior doctor in tow. Vic couldn't hide the look of concern on her face when the nurse stepped back to allow this kid access to the sheriff.

The doctor listened to Walt's chest and then his heart. He took a look at his chart, made some notes.

"There's fluid in his right lung," he announced, as he lifted the sheet to check the chest drain. "I can't be sure but I suspect there's a blockage. We need to check the tube and maybe remove it and insert another."

"What does that mean?" Vic asked anxiously. "Is it serious?"

"It's okay, just a minor complication. We can have it solved very quickly though you will have to step outside as we prepare to move him back to the OR," the doctor told her.

Vic turned and glanced at Walt. She walked over and stroked his hair. She leaned down and whispered to him that she would be back. Then she vacated the room to allow the medics do what they had to do. Not long afterwards, they emerged, wheeling Walt down the corridor to the OR. She returned to his room and waited nervously.

She thought about calling Cady, but having considered what the doctor had told her, she decided to wait a little and see how the procedure went. As it turned out, it went fine. Walt was back in the room thirty minutes after he left.

"Is he okay?" Vic asked as they settled him back in.

"He'll be fine. As suspected, there was a blockage so we replaced the tube and its doing its job," the doctor told her. "His sats have come back up and everything looks good."

"Thank you," Vic said with a sigh of relief.

She was grateful when everyone left the room and it was just her and Walt once more. She settled back into the chair beside him. She rested her head on the back of his hand and quickly fell asleep. She never budged until a hand touched her shoulder early the next morning and she woke with a start.

"Walt?" she said sitting up bolt straight.

"No, sorry, Vic. It's just me."

It was Cady, Walt's daughter, smiling down at her.

"Cady? What time is it?" Vic asked groggily.

"Almost 5.30," she replied. "I couldn't really sleep," she explained. "Any change?"

Vic looked up at the monitor and then back to Walt's face. He seemed comfortable.

"Not really," Vic replied. "They had to change his chest drain a few hours ago, but other than that he seems fine."

"Thank you so much for staying with him. It helped knowing there was someone with him who loves him as much as I do," Cady said, smiling at Vic.

"What?" Vic asked, stunned at Cady's use of the "L" word.

"Look, Vic, I don't know if there's something going on….," Cady started to say before Vic interrupted.

"There's nothing going on," she retorted adamantly.

"Okay, I believe you," Cady said reassuring her. "I was just going to say that if there was something going on or if something was going to happen in the future, I wouldn't mind. I've seen the way you look at him, the way you take care of him and the way you stand up to him. It's sweet and it reminds me that he needs someone to care for him in a way that I can't."

"I do care for him, Cady," Vic said, looking over at him. "I do, but I don't think..." Vic tried to find the words to explain their complex relationship.

"I know my dad. He's probably oblivious to how much you care about him. You're married and he's honorable to a fault. He can't see what's straight in front of him sometimes. You should tell him," Cady advised.

"Oh, I don't know, Cady. We work together and all and I don't think the idea of us as a couple would go down so well with the voters around here," Vic told her.

"You might be surprised," Cady replied. "Look, I don't mean to pry, but I get the impression you and Sean aren't working out?"

"You could say that. I'm pretty sure we're over," she said with a sigh. "He wants to move to Australia. I don't."

"I'm sorry," Cady said genuinely. "If you ever need to talk..."

"Thanks," Vic replied. "I just might."

Vic blushed and smiled, feeling a little awkward talking to Walt's daughter this way.

"I really should go, you know, work and all," Vic said, gathering up her things. "I'll call you later to see how he is."

"Thanks again," Cady said, smiling to herself at Vic's embarrassment.

TBC ****

A/N - please excuse my lack of medical knowledge. I'm winging it here. Hope it makes sense.