Chapter 7

Joe walked off the elevator on the hospital floor to find Charlie and Rex in the waiting room with two people who looked like they could be Sarah's parents. He had hoped that Sarah would be out of surgery by now, as the day had been long even though it was only two pm. The Superintendent heaved a sigh, this was always a part of the job that was tough.

"Charlie…"

"Joe, this is Daniel and Mai, Sarah's parents," his lead detective smiled as he introduced them.

"I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," Joe smiled at them and shook their hands.

"Joe, we've heard so much about you. You caught him, right?" Daniel looked at him like his eyes were boring into the Superintendent's soul. It was all her parents wanted to know and Joe could not blame them.

"We have caught the physical shooter, but it's starting to look like the man who rushed the crime scene was not there of his own accord," Joe admitted. He gave Charlie a sideways glance. The visit to Danny Bauman's family had been enlightening.

"There is someone else who is responsible for this?" Mai's look made Joe swallow hard. Despite her small stature, she was barely over five foot tall, the mother in front of him was a force of nature.

"Yes, we believe so – or at least responsible for sending the shooter to the home. Jesse, Detective Parsons, and I are on it. We will give you updates as soon as we can," Joe promised. Mai turned and looked at Charlie and asked,

"Why are you not on it?"

"I told him to be here for Sarah. He can join us when she's more stable," Joe stepped in. This answer did not seem to impress Sarah's mother.

"He's keeping me in the loop and I'm helping in any way I can. So is Rex," Charlie promised though he wondered now what Joe was onto. Still all of this seemed to ease Mai's concerns a little and that was something.

"Whoever this person is, they aren't getting away," Charlie told her.

"Charlie Hudson?" A doctor asked from the doorway of the waiting room, interrupting their moment. Charlie excused himself and met with the medical man.

"I'm Doctor Harrison. We removed some necrotic tissue and found the small bleeder. We've given Sarah some strong antibiotics and she is in recovery now," the medical man explained.

"Necrotic tissue?" Those words did not sound good to Charlie.

"It was caused by some of the digestive fluids that got away during the first operation. That's what was causing the infection. The good news is that the tissue we removed, Sarah won't miss. She's in good health otherwise and strong. I expect her to be feeling much better once those antibiotics kick in," Harrison said.

"How did this happen?" Charlie asked.

"Complications like these are not particularly uncommon with digestive system wounds. I wish I had a better answer for you. Doctor Gibbons is one of our best surgeons. I'd want him working on me if I had had an incident such as Sarah's," the doctor told him.

"I appreciate all that you and Doctor Gibbons and the hospital staff are doing. Thank you," Charlie gave him a slight smile. Harrison nodded and left the room.

"Charlie, how is she?" Mai got right to the point. Charlie had to admit that he never wanted to cross her.

"The surgeon just told me everything went well. She's in recovery so we'll be able to see her soon," the detective promised. The room breathed a collective sigh of relief. Daniel pulled Charlie aside.

"How are you doing Son?" The elder man asked. He knew that it was eating Charlie up inside, especially given his earlier apology.

"I'm hanging on by my fingertips. What's worse is that there is a chance that someone took a man, who was hanging on his own ledge, and used his mental instabilities against him. Sarah would want this guy caught fast. I want to do that for her, but I don't want to leave her side," Charlie told him. Daniel nodded. If it was possible, he was loving his daughter's boyfriend more.

"You know how much I love Sarah," Charlie said.

"I do," Daniel nodded.

"I've been…" the detective trailed off.

"You're worried that she'll say 'no'?" Daniel gave him a look. He never thought that Charlie would be so insecure – especially since he basically asked for his help with making the ring he wanted.

"It's that little voice in the back of my head. The one that popped up when I waited to tell Sarah how much she meant to me but I didn't. My last marriage – it didn't end well. I don't want that for us," Charlie admitted.

"You said the magic words – you know what to do. Besides, you know her mother would kill you before I could get the chance, right?" Daniel teased him. Charlie chuckled.

"Yes, that she would," the detective smirked.

To Be Continued…