The ICU creeps me out. Too often when I was a homicide cop back in Philly, I had to watch someone die in the cold impersonal environment of an ICU. I showed my badge to the nurse
"I'm here to see the sheriff. How is he"
She put away her clipboard.
" Follow me, Deputy Moretti. Miss Longmire was just here, and she said you'd be coming. "
"But how IS he?" I asked more urgently as I donned a surgical mask .
"Hold out your hands" She squirted hand sanitizer into my palms and I rubbed them together. "He's semi-conscious and rambling. His fever spiked last night, so the attending doctor ordered him here . The wound is streaked and extremely warm to the touch. "
"Infection?" I asked
"Yes, we are giving him antibiotics via his his condition, sepsis can be deadly."
The sounds of machines whirling and whooshing and beeping attacked my ears as I followed the nurse down the ward. She drew back a curtain
" The call button is above the bed if you need help" she said.
Walt lay still on the bed. His face looked paler than usual, and his cheeks and chin held a bristly 5 o'clock shadow.
Gently I touched his bristly cheek, the cheek that I'd missed since he started shaving for HER.
" Hey Walt, I'm told you asked for me. I'm here and sorta in the middle of investigating your shooting, soooo"
The machines continued to make noise and Walt continues to look dead. Only the graphics on the heart monitor next to me assured me that he is still alive. A nasal tube replaced his oxygen mask and his mouth is slightly ajar. Carefully I shut his mouth.
"Walt, come on now, you're too damn quiet. Even for you."
A nurse stuck her head in Walt's cubicle She cleared her throat and I almost jumped out of my skin.
" Mrs Longmire, I'm sorry to inturupt, but we need the sheriff's vital signs now"
Mrs Longmire? This gal must be totally new in town.
" I'm not his wife, I'm his deputy.
I stood up so she could take Walt's vital signs. After she was done, she gave me a long, knowing look and walked away.
" What the hell is THAT all about , Walt? As much as I wish I could someday be Mrs Longmire, your involvement with that other woman pretty much ended any chance of that happening."
Suddenly Walt said something, but he spoke so low that I coukd not make out what he said. I leaned down close to his mouth, so close that I could smell the mint mouthwash that they have been using to keep his mouth moist while he is unconscious.
"Come again? I didn't hear you"
"Don't"
"Don't what, Walt?"
"Don't trust her. Vic. She's bad"
"Who?"
"Donna Sue. She's….."
Suddenly all the monitors in the cubical started making noise. I also knew what that meant, Walt was crashing…..
Several nursed rushed in with a defibulator.
" Outta the way, miss. " One guy yelled as they descended on Walt's bed.