Part 33 (1/2)
”Someone needs to call him. He'll want to know. And we need a priest here now.”
”She's not going to die,” Zachary, the youngest, shouted angrily.
Noah had separated himself from the family. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He couldn't talk now. Standing in front of a window across the room from the others, he stared blankly out into the night. It was difficult to breathe, impossible to think. He was in a cold rage. Blood...there had been so much blood. He had felt Jordan slipping away from him.
This waiting was horrific. He'd been shot before, and he remembered it had hurt like h.e.l.l, but that pain was nothing compared to what Noah was feeling now. If he lost her...Oh G.o.d...he couldn't lose her...couldn't live without her...
Nick had taken the elevator down to Laurant's room to tell her what had happened. His wife was sound asleep, and so he decided not to wake her. He pulled the plug on the television set on his way out the door and told the nurse on duty not to mention the shooting. Tomorrow would be soon enough to hear such bad news.
When Nick returned to the surgical floor, he spotted Noah standing alone. He went to stand beside him.
And the wait continued.
Twenty minutes later, the surgeon, Dr. Emmett, walked into the room. He was smiling as he pulled off his cap. Judge Buchanan rushed to meet him.
”Jordan did just fine,” the doctor said. ”The bullet went through her rib cage, and she lost some blood, but I expect a full recovery.”
The judge shook the doctor's hand and thanked him profusely.
”How soon can we see her?” he asked.
”She's in recovery now, and she's already coming out of the anesthesia. I'll let one of you go in, but only for a minute. She needs to rest.” The surgeon started for the door. ”If you'll follow me.”
The judge didn't move. ”Noah?”
”Sir?”
”If she's awake, give her our love.”
Nick had to give him a shove to get him moving. The news that Jordan was going to be okay had made Noah weak with relief. He followed the doctor down the hall.
”Just one minute,” Dr. Emmett instructed. ”I want her to sleep.”
Jordan was the only patient in the recovery room. A nurse was checking her IV, and when she saw Noah, she stepped out of the way.
Jordan's eyes were closed.
”Is she in pain?” he asked.
”No,” said the nurse. ”She's coming in and out of consciousness.”
Noah stood beside her bed, content to watch her sleep. His hand rested on top of hers, and he could feel the warmth. The color was returning to her face.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead and then whispered into her ear, ”I love you, Jordan. You hear me? I love you, and I'm never letting you go.”
”Noah...” Her voice was a hoa.r.s.e whisper. She didn't open her eyes as she said his name.
He wasn't sure she had heard him, and so he tried to soothe her. ”I love you. You're going to be okay. The surgery is over, and you're in recovery. You need to rest now. Sleep, Sugar.”
She tried to raise her hand, and her brow wrinkled into a frown.
”Sleep now,” he whispered, gently stroking her hair.
”He shot me.” Though weak, her voice was surprisingly clear.
”Yes, you were shot, but you're going to be fine.”
She struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids were too heavy. ”I saw him.”
She drifted off again. Noah waited. She saw him? She saw the shooter? Did she know what she was saying?
She whispered the words again. ”I saw him.”
Her voice faded. He leaned over her with his ear close to her lips. Her words were faint but slow and measured. ”He tried to kill me...Dave...Trumbo.”
She fell back into a deep sleep.
DID J JORDAN UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE HAD TOLD HIM? OR was she hallucinating from the drugs that were still in her system? Noah had to make sure. He waited by the side of her bed, and each time she awoke he asked her again to tell him what she had seen. was she hallucinating from the drugs that were still in her system? Noah had to make sure. He waited by the side of her bed, and each time she awoke he asked her again to tell him what she had seen.
The answer was always the same. Dave Trumbo.
Her eyes were open now, and he could see that she was in pain.
”You have to let her sleep,” the nurse told him. ”You've been in here fifteen minutes, and that's enough time.”
”She's hurting,” he said anxiously.
”Yes,” she said. ”I was just about to give her something. It's important to keep ahead of the pain. She'll sleep until tomorrow. She'll be moved to ICU by then.”
The nurse injected morphine into the IV. He waited until she had finished and then asked, ”Does she know what she's saying?”
”I doubt it,” she answered. ”Most of my patients don't make much sense at all. And she won't remember anything she said by tomorrow.”
Noah kissed Jordan again and went out into the hallway. Nick leaned against the wall, waiting for him.
”I don't know what to do,” Noah said. ”I can't think...”
”Jordan's going to be okay. Take a breath, Noah. It'll be all right.”
He didn't understand. ”Yeah, I know she's going to be okay. That's not the problem now. She told me something, and I don't know if I should believe her or not.”
”What'd she tell you?”
”She saw the shooter,” he said. ”She's pretty out of it,” he admitted, ”but she kept saying the same thing. Her voice was getting stronger, and she seemed more alert. I tell you, I think she did see the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I heard the car tearing out of the parking lot, but I got outside too late to see it.”
”I don't know if you can believe anything she said. She's drugged...”