Chapter 17

"Okay we stopped the drip she should be coming around with in five to ten minutes." The nurse informed Roy as he sat on the stool at his daughter's side. He was dressed in scrubs and had a disposable surgical cap on his head. It didn't take him long to realize why he'd had to wait longer than he thought he would.

While he had waited he thought hard of places he could touch his daughter with out hurting her He was planning to focus his touches on her lower chest away from the broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder. But now he sat looking over the upper body cast that had been required to keep the shoulder and collarbone in proper place. The doctor had explained that the cast was more do to her age and what he believed would be an unwillingness to stay as still as she needed to be for as long as she needed to be.

"Besides Dr. Brackett told me I have to give this one the very best of care" Dr Hunter smiled and gave the worried father a pat on the shoulder. "She'll be as good as new in a few weeks and from some of the other work I've been getting form this brawl it could have been worse. It's a good thing she's not a boy I understand they have six urologists working on the rest of the bunch. And they've emptied half the ice machines in the hospital."

As Roy sat watching for the first signs of consciousness from his daughter he replayed the conversation he had had with his son and wife. Chris had been determined that they weren't telling him the truth and that his sister was hurt worse than they were letting on.

When Dixie came in with the papers for them to sign she informed everyone that she was already under and while Roy read over and signed the papers Dixie was able to convince Chris that his sister was going to be alright and that he was going to have to share his room with her once she was all patched up.

Knowing they were going to keep both children in the same room brought peace and calm to everyone in the room, Even Uncle Johnny. Cap had relieved Roy from duty to attend to his family and Johnny hung around until Roy's replacement arrived.

Once little fingers started twitching Roy leaned close to Jenny's ear and started calling her name. He gently toyed with her hair and brushed his fingers to the side of her face.

When her eyes started blinking and fighting to open Roy pulled back so that she could see him better.

"It's okay Jenny, time to wake up now." Roy soothed as he kept his hand to the side of her face and worked toward the uninjured shoulder clear of plaster.

"Daddy?" Jenny whispered in fear.

"I'm right here sweetheart, you're all right, you're safe." Roy calmed searching his mind franticly trying to think what his daughter needed to hear most at the moment. "You're at Rampart and they've just fixed your shoulder and your arm."

The eyes came more fully open and there was evidence of confusion in the young girl's eyes. The eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other as the confusion grew and mixed with fear.

"You're in the recovery room," Roy tied to calm his little princess down. "They're letting you wake up from the medicine they gave you so they could fix your shoulder."

Even thought her right shoulder was in a cast past her elbow her hand was free, unlike the other hand that was cast up past her elbow. Roy reached across his daughter and placed his fingers in her hand and she quickly tightened a grip on them. And her face began to show some calm, then suddenly her eyes flew open in sheer panic and fearing she was about to throw up Roy called for the nurse and started to roll her on her side.

"Chris, Chris got hurt again, you have to help Chris." Jenny called in panic and Roy sighed before bending down and kissing his daughter on the cheek.

"He's alright sweetheart, Chris is fine, they're going to keep him overnight to make sure but he's resting. Miss McCall is saving the other bed in his room for you. So you're going to see him in just a minute."

Calming slightly Jenny began to sob, "It's okay honey, everyone is going to be okay." Roy tried to sooth.

"M, m, Mr. Bunker was hurting Allen's arm again," Jenny sobbed. "I kicked him in the boy parts like you said."

"I know sweetheart you did what you had to do, you made him stop hurting Allen. Everybody's going to be alright. Some of them are a little sore but their all going to be just fine in a few days or some of them a few weeks."

Jenny continued to sob and Roy continued to brush the side of her face and kiss her forehead. It wasn't long before she was ready to be moved and before they did, Dixie came in with a very special triangular bandage. They had taken the time to untie the Barbie bandage instead of cutting it in the emergency room, because the know used was loose enough to do so easily, and now Dixie was there to put it back on in a way not to hurt her injured shoulder.

Roy continued to hold her hand as the gurney was moved and as soon as the door opened JoAnne was at her daughter's side. Once she was settled into her bed, Roy lifted his son up and carried him over to get a closer look at his sister and see for himself that she was all right. It still took some convincing with all the casts she has on but the more awake she got the more at ease big brother became.

Johnny stopped by every time he was in the hospital, he too needed to see that his niece was doing well; Cap even had the engine stop buy so he could check on his Sr. Medic and his family.

The next morning both children were released to go home and once at the house Roy carefully carried his daughter in wearing an over sized t-shirt, in fact Roy thought it looked familiar, while JoAnne steadied a sore Chris as he walked in the house and got comfortable on the sofa while Jenny was settled into the recliner.

Once his children were settled in and Sesame Street was playing on the TV, Roy stepped out to pick up what ever was left in the car and the news paper from the front side walk. Unfolding the paper as he walked in he saw a picture of his daughter pinned down on the school's roof top and her feet planted firmly in Mr. Bunker's, who was standing on her arm, boy parts. The picture was taken from a nearby roof top using a telephoto lens.

The caption read, "Controversy surrounding young girl's battle cry." The head lines were enough to get Roy's blood to start to boil. He chose not to read the article. He chose instead to just be with his children and help them to get through their recovery.

Instead of watching the news Roy read a story to his children, when they couldn't agree on which story they wanted read, Roy read both.

When the children were tucked in their beds for the night JoAnne came to her husband's side and checked them out herself before asking Roy if he wanted to catch the news with her. She understood when he said no, she and seen the newspaper in the trash she too was upset that any one would question what her children did and figured someone had made up the battle cry they were wondering about any way. The next morning after a phone call confirming it was acceptable Allen and Tracy were delivered, via protective services van, to play with Chris and Jenny for an hour and a half,"

Allen sported a fresh clean cast only up to his elbow this time, he reported that his mother was doing better, "they don't have to give her somebody else's blood any more, but the doctor says she has to stay in the hospital until the big lump on her leg goes away."

JoAnne made a phone call to the pastor of their church and asked him to stop in and see the woman explaining the situation.

Later that afternoon Dixie and Johnny showed up at the DeSoto house at nearly the same time claiming Miss Marlow had called and asked them to come. Miss Marlow showed up five minutes later with two men in tow, asking if they could speak with Roy and JoAnne in private.

Reluctantly Roy led to official guests to the back patio and offered them a seat; He then pulled a couple of chairs from the kitchen table for him and his wife.

"Okay What Now?" Roy asked as soon as his wife was seated but while he was still standing and holding on to the back or JoAnne's chair.

Miss Marlow gave him a look that said things were out of her control and glanced at the man at her left while the man at his left started taking notes of the conversation.

"To make a long story short Mr. DeSoto you're being accused of masterminding the altercations that took place at the Elementary school three days ago." The man spoke frankly and with no emotion in his voice.

"What?" Roy couldn't believe what he was hearing but everyone in the house could hear him yell.

"Mr. Bunker is holding you responsible for the injuries he received on the roof top he has," the man opened a file and read from a page in it, "required a surgery to his throat to enable him to breathe with out the aid of a respirator and two, as he claimed, very painful surgeries to repair damage to his reproductive organs. He is planning to use media footage taken from a neighboring building as evidence along with other media articles."

"Yeah well that media coverage better not be edited to keep from showing that he was standing on my daughter's arm and twisting the broken arm on a student he injured before." Roy continued to yell.

"Yes it has by the way but don't worry about it, we have all three of the originals," The man actually cracked a smile.

For the next two hours Roy was questioned and his statement recorded. He was advised to secure his own attorney and ordered to stand before a pre trial hearing in one week. But from the moment the attorney cracked a smile Roy had no fear, well maybe just enough fear to call a former fire chief gone lawyer for some advice.

Barney had watched the incident being debated and contorted in the news and was actually excited to take the case on and told Roy he had nothing to worry about it would be easy to prove self defense.

Both Chris and Jenny had nightmares that night and Roy and JoAnne spent the night snuggling them, in ways that wouldn't hurt them, and coaxing them to talk. In the early hours of the morning the children were finally eased back to sleep only to wake up screaming again less than an hour later. Chris had two bouts of hyperventilation where Roy had to help him breath into a paper bag. They were more traumatized by what they had done than what had been done to them.

Then next morning when it was reasonable to call someone Roy called the hospital to set up some counseling for his children. Dr. Brackett thought an emergency first visit was advisable and Roy listened to his daughter cry for nearly an hour because she had gotten him in trouble and she was sure he was now going to have to go to jail.

Jenny was assured that the situation was not as bad as she feared and that her father would very likely not go to jail. Both children were also prescribed sedatives for sleeping at least until the preliminary hearing was over. The physiatrist also invited himself to the hearing for the children's sake.