Chapter Twenty-Two

Removing his gown, Trapper leaned back against a wall in the OR and closed his eyes. Gonzo sat on the anesthesiologist's stool and bent over with his head in his hands. "How long?"

Glancing at the clock, Trapper said, "Four hours, not counting setting his fingers and leg."

"What do you think his chances are?"

"He's lucky. He has an extra kidney and lung if the others fail. We'll have to keep a close watch on him. That lung could collapse again. How'd the kidney look after you aspirated it?"

"The color wasn't good. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Come on," said Trapper, pushing himself away from the wall. "Let's see if anyone's waiting for him."

The two doctors dragged their feet leaving the OR, and when they came to the surgical waiting room, Jaeger lay back in his chair with his son curled up in the chair beside him. Leaning over him, Trapper touched his shoulder. "Mr. Jaeger."

With sleepy eyes, Jaeger got to his feet. "How is Marcus?"

"He had a lot of internal damage, but we managed to get it all fixed. Now, whether the injured organs respond remains to be seen. We'll be watching him closely. Were you able to get in touch with his father?"

"Yes, and he faxed a consent form in to your administrative offices. I take it you got it. He's flying in. He'll be here tomorrow." Looking at his watch, he corrected himself. "Rather, today."

"We didn't wait on the consent," said Dr. Gates.

Jaeger looked shocked. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Relax," said Trapper, smiling. "We got a court order."

"You can do that?"

"When a condition is life threatening, yes. Marcus wouldn't have survived if we'd waited any longer," explained Trapper. "He'll be in recovery for awhile, and after that, we'll keep him sedated so he doesn't move around. Why don't you and your son go home and get some rest."

Jaeger offered his hand. "Thank you, Dr. McIntyre…Dr. Gates."

As the two surgeons headed for the locker room, Ernie called from down the hall. "Gonzo!" They stopped and turned. "Gonzo, I'm glad I caught you. I was just about to go home and get some sleep. Gloria asked me to ask you to look in on Leah Haverty. It seems she's the one who corralled all the children who were alright. She kept them in her room all night watching television until their parents arrived. David Sandler tried to get her to take something to help her rest, but she refused."

"Sandler? What was he doing here?" asked Trapper.

"He was on his way out when he intercepted Leah on her way to her room with a tray full of juice and jello."

"She raided the fridge?" asked Gonzo, laughing.

Ernie smiled. "It seems so. Those children were well cared for. But Leah's day was probably much too much for her. She spent several hours working with Mark, and then had a session with Dr. Matthews." She looked sideways at Trapper. "And as I understand it, she had dinner outside the cafeteria…catered from Antonio's Restaurant with a certain Chief of Surgery."

Gonzo moved his eyes over to Trapper, raising his brows, prompting Trapper to raise his hands. "She's been cooped up in this hospital for weeks now. Besides, Matthews wanted to treat her for depression, and she refused the medication, so I thought I'd get her away from her room for awhile."

Turning to Ernie, Gonzo said, "I'll go see her as soon as I get cleaned up. Go on home and get some rest."

Trapper leaned in to kiss Ernie's cheek. "As usual, my dear, you were wonderful last night."

A smug smile appeared on Ernie's face as she turned to leave. "I made some coffee for you. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Once showered, Gonzo and Trapper stood across from each other, dressing. "So Trapper. Catered dinner from Antonio's?"

"What about it?"

"Don't you usually take your dates to Antonio's?"

"If you're implying that it was a date, you're way off." Shrugging, he added, "I was just trying to help her forget where she is for awhile."

"Mm hm."

Trapper entered Leah's room behind Gonzo, who was pointing at the chair. "What's he doing here?"

"Ernie said he intercepted Leah in the hall," answered Trapper. "I guess he stayed." Trapper shook his shoulder. "David, wake up."

"Uh…oh, Trapper."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, Leah had all those children in here. I thought I'd give her a hand."

Gonzo stood at the end of the bed, looking at Leah's chart. "The children have been gone for awhile. And you're still here."

"I wanted to make sure you heard her sleeping," he said, standing and reaching for his jacket. "She wheezes every now and then."

Taking David by the arm, Trapper pulled him over to the bed. "Gonzo, I wanted to talk to you about Matthews anyway. Leah doesn't want to see him. Based on what she said, I don't think he's right for her."

"Well, this is convenient," said Gonzo, smiling. "I suppose you were going to suggest Dr. Sandler." Arching an eyebrow, Trapper gave a short nod. "How do you feel about that, David?"

"Why's she seeing Eric?"

"Come by my office, and we'll fill you in," answered Trapper.

Trapper reached over and felt Leah's forehead, causing her to stir. "She's a little warm."

Leah opened her eyes and closed them again, moving her arm up to cover them. "It's this room, isn't it? It draws people in by class. First, it was a day care full of children. Now it's a medical convention…or golf. It could be a golf outing."

Moving to the side of the bed, Gonzo pulled his stethoscope out of his jacket pocket. "Roll over on your side. I want to listen."

"Why?" she asked, complying.

"Because I'm your doctor, and this is what doctors do," he replied, chuckling. "Mm hm." He moved the stethoscope and listened again. "Mm hm." Looking back at the chart, he said, "Temperature is a little elevated. I'm going to order a chest x-ray."

"What is it?" she said anxiously.

"Maybe nothing. It could be a mild infection, and if it is, I'll prescribe antibiotics to take care of it. On the other hand, it could be that you did too much yesterday." She smirked. "A room full of children?" said Gonzo admonishingly. "A few weeks after heart surgery?"

She turned her head away, and seeing Trapper's raised brows, she growled. "They were very good children. Ask Dr. Sandler."

"It's true. They all sat quietly, ate their jello and watched TV."

Placing his hand above her head, Trapper leaned over her. "That may be true, but before you became a nursemaid to a bunch of nine-year-olds, you took dinner dishes to my office, walked back down to emergency, wandered around collecting lost souls, and then walked them back up here after which you brought a tray full of juice and jello in when you're not supposed to be lifting anything."

She looked into his eyes stubbornly. "It's all your fault again," she said with a slight smile meant only for him to see. "You should never have invited me to dinner. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have ventured out of my room."

Trapper caught the smile and returned it. "Guilty. In the future, I shall endeavor to leave you bored and depressed in your room." Before he straightened, he mouthed, "You're welcome."

"David, help yourself to some coffee and make yourself comfortable," said Trapper, pouring himself a cup.

Gonzo held the pot out toward him, but David shook his head. "I don't want to trade one vice for another."

"Vice?" said Gonzo. "Coffee is not a vice."

Dr. Sandler poured a glass of water and went to the sofa. "Are you drinking it because you're thirsty, or because it makes you feel comfortable?" asked David.

Looking over at Trapper with a dismayed expression, Gonzo answered, "Nevermind."

Trapper pulled out a drawer and leaned back, propping his leg up. "David, now that you've met Leah Haverty, what do you think?"

David gave Trapper a blank look, remaining silent for a moment. "Think? Well, she doesn't seem as hunnish as everyone says." Trapper glowered. "Oh, you're not talking about that. Well…she seemed normal…grounded. She had seven children in her room, and she was calm and easy-going."

"She's only that way around children, David. Here, look at her file." Gonzo passed her file over.

As David read it, his face went through a wide range of changes. First, his eyes widened. Then his mouth opened, and he ended with a cringe and a shudder. "Heart transplant. She's been through some physical as well as mental trauma. It's been what…" He looked back at the file. "…four years. She seems pretty well-adjusted."

"She's not well-adjusted…not yet anyway," said Trapper. "She needs help getting there."

"It's been four years. People usually adjust as much as they're going to in that amount of time."

"The problem is she's never tried to deal with it. She buried herself in her work, she isolated herself from everyone who knew her, and she intentionally alienates herself from everyone else so she doesn't have to deal with closeness and loss."

"That doesn't sound like the woman I met last night."

"David, she almost didn't have surgery to repair her heart because she wasn't sure she wanted to live. Does that sound well-adjusted to you?"

Gonzo stepped in. "The truth is she's somewhere in the middle. She started dealing with it with Matthews, but something about him…well…she stopped making progress."

"That's understandable. Eric works from a standard set of rules and assumptions. It doesn't always work, especially with people who are particularly strong-minded."

"Oh, she's that," said Trapper. "I'd say more like bullheaded."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow. I think she'll probably sleep all day today. She looked tired."

"There's one more thing you need to know, if you haven't already read it," said Gonzo, sitting next to him. He moved some pages over and pointed to a specific paragraph. "Read that."

"Oh…well, that could make you crazy." Gonzo and Trapper both glared at him. "I don't mean she's crazy. I just mean that getting her husband's heart would be hard to deal with. There would be all kinds of…guilt. Of all her injuries...let's see…collapsed lung, broken…wow…broken bones. In her face? Ribs, hip, arm, collar bone. She lost a kidney? It's a wonder she's alive. No wonder she hasn't dealt with the emotional part. She spent most of the time recovering from all this." He rose to leave. "Can I borrow this? I'd like to go over it more thoroughly."

"Sure," said Trapper.

"Oh, and Trapper. I need to talk to you, too," said David as he chewed on the end of a pencil.

Trapper shot up from his stretched-out position. "Me? Why me?"

"I heard the nurses talking about your catered dinner with her. It seems to me she's stopped trying to alienate you. It could be unfortunate for both of you if she's subconsciously or even consciously trying to replace a broken emotional link to the feelings she still has for her husband."

Trapper cocked his head. "Why would that be unfortunate?"

"Because it could never be the same. She'd keep comparing you to her husband, and you'd never be able to live up to him. Not that you're not…" David nervously bit into his celery stick. "I mean you would never be able to live up to what her husband meant to her. No one could…except her husband."