Last First Kiss (43 page)

Red grinned and nodded. “I know he did. That man has the constitution of a bull. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen him want anything as badly as he wants a life with you. He loves you, and I promise he’ll do whatever it takes to get back to you.”

Giselle jumped up when her cell phone rang. “It’s Carrie! Red and I are on our way, Carrie,” she said into the phone.

They entered the surgical waiting room at a run, causing everyone else in the room to turn at their arrival.

“
What’s going on?” she asked.

“
They’ve removed part of the skull and found a subdural hematoma inside the temporal lobe,” Dr. Collins said, as he explained the procedure for correcting the situation to the group. “It may take a few days to know whether or not there’s been enough significant damage to cause any loss of function.”

Giselle, more sure than she had been of anything in her life before, knew he’d be fine. “There won’t be.”

The doctor looked at Red and held out his hand. “Scott.”

Red stared stonily at him for a few moments before extending his. “Tanner.”

Their cold reception surprised Giselle. She had expected the usual round of backslapping between old friends; it seemed as if these two men barely tolerated each other’s presence.

Dr. Collins told them he would let them know as soon as he knew more, and exited the room.

Red turned to Carrie and hugged her. “Hello, sweetheart.”

She hugged him back tightly. “I’m glad you could make it here to suffer along with the rest of us.”

“
He’s like a brother, I had to come.”

“
He’ll be fine,” she told him reassuringly.

“
No doubt; he’s got too much to live for, and he knows it.” He looked at Giselle and smiled.

“
What’s the deal with you and Dr. Collins?” Carrie asked.

“
I think we’re all wondering that,” Giselle said.

Red shrugged. “He slept with Chloe and I wouldn’t, so she tried to set me up so that Jackson would find us in a compromising situation—innocent on my part. Chloe banned me from attending the wedding and slipped Tanner in as best man.”

“
Oh my God! Tanner Collins...I read the letter Chloe left for Jackson and she wrote about him. She slept with him at their wedding reception! Why’d you call
him
?” Giselle asked.

“
I knew he worked here. I told him if he didn’t do this I’d give him the ass whipping he deserved back then.”

Carrie pinched his cheeks affectionately. “You always were my favorite.”

Giselle hugged him tightly. “Thanks, Red.”

Red wrapped his arms around the shoulders of each woman and pulled them close. “Man, I love it here.”

“
As long as you’re opening a club here, there’s no reason not to move closer. Besides, our babies will need their Godfather around,” Giselle told him.

One of Red’s brows arched curiously. “What babies?”

“
The ones I plan to give him once we’re married.”

“
Well, then. I guess I need to start looking for some properties. I can’t disappoint my Godchild; I’m looking forward to many years of watching him play baseball.”

“
God
children
and the girl will play also,” she corrected.

Red chuckled. “After seeing that video the other day, he’s definitely going to need a baby girl in his life.”

“
I think you’re right, Red. I’ll have to keep trying until he has one of each.”

CHAPTER 26

It was another hour before Dr. Collins came back in to tell them they had found the origin of the hematoma and stopped the bleeding. He told them a surgeon was currently working on finding the source of the internal bleeding.

“
I’ll let you know when I hear more, Giselle, is it?” he asked. He placed his hand intimately on her shoulder then squeezed it, letting his hand trail down her arm. She pulled her arm away from him, obviously uneasy with his attentions.

Red cleared his throat and stepped in front of Giselle as he glared at Tanner. The doctor exited through the doors leading to the surgical area.

“
That slimy S.O.B. will never change,” Red told her.

“
He gives me the
frissons
,” Giselle said, shuddering.

“
It takes a special kind of man to hit on a guy’s girl, when he’s in surgery fighting for his life,” Carrie sneered.

“
Tanner Collins,” Bill said. “I thought he looked familiar, but he didn’t tell us his first name. Jackson wasn’t too pleased when he stepped in as his best man.”

“
He ‘stepped in’ in several ways Jackson wouldn’t be too pleased about,” Red told him.

Giselle shook her head in disgust. “I’d just as soon not have to see him again.”

“
You probably won’t have to. I doubt he’ll come back now that I’m here. He’ll know I’ve blown his cover,” Red told her.

As it turned out, they didn’t see Dr. Collins the rest of the day. It was another hour before the surgeon who operated on his lacerated spleen came into the room. He said it had been a simple procedure to remove it without any significant bleeding, and the orthopedic surgeon was preparing for the procedure to repair the compound fracture.

“
How’s he holding up?” Giselle asked Dr. Moss.

“
Like a champ. That man’s heart is some kind of strong,” he said, before exiting the room.

Several minutes later, Giselle saw a very young woman walk through the door. She was slim, around five and a half foot tall, with a blonde ponytail. Before Giselle could ask if she was there about Jackson, Red walked up to the woman.

“
Excuse me, nurse. Are you looking for someone with Jackson Broussard?”

The woman turned, glaring at Red with narrowed, accusing brown eyes. “Why would you assume I’m a nurse?”

“
I don’t know. What are you?”

“
I’m
Dr
. LeBlanc...The orthopedic surgeon who’ll be repairing Mr. Broussard’s leg. I need to speak with a member of his family immediately. Are you family?”

“
No, but...”

“
Then you’re wasting my time.”

“
Excuse me,” Giselle said. “I’m his girlfriend and this is his uncle.”

Dr. LeBlanc turned her back on Red and addressed the others.

“
I’m Bill Broussard, and I’m the only family he’s got, at least until he ties the knot with Ms. Granger, here. Whatever you say to me you can say to Giselle.”

“
Yes sir, I understand completely,” she said as she smiled at both him and Giselle. “Mr. Broussard’s tibia has been seriously compromised; a compound fracture...An open fracture like his, is very easily susceptible to infection under the best of circumstances. He’d been lying out in a cow pasture for at least two hours, and there was serious contamination to the surrounding soft tissue. His tibia fractured in several places and there has been prolonged depletion of blood supply to the bone.” She explained the best procedure to repair the damage, involving a brace and pins through the bones. They would have to monitor him closely to avoid infection, and dose him heavily with antibiotics. “You see, here, here, and here, I’d have to insert pins to keep the bones together,” she said, as she showed them a print out of the ex-ray taken of Jackson’s shin. “The brace keeps the entire thing stationary so it can heal and fuse back together.”

“
Man, in my day we only had casts,” Bill commented.

She flashed a brilliant smile at him. “We don’t use casts when the bone breaks through the skin. Infections are too risky. We have to be able to check it often, keep it clean, and apply the topical antibiotics, as well as intravenous ones. It’s common in cases like this. I need to tell you, however, in this instance, our best may not be good enough to save his leg. There could be serious complications, such as gangrene, in which case, I would have to amputate above the knee. I am seriously leaning toward amputation now just below the knee.”

“
Absolutely
not
!” Red exclaimed from behind the doctor.

She swung around. “Excuse me, I believe we’ve already established that you are neither a family member, nor a fiancé. So just who are you?”

“
I’m a friend...His
best
friend...And I know damned well he’d want to do whatever is possible to keep his leg.”

She turned her back on Red and faced Giselle again. “Even if it means having to amputate above the knee later on? It’s a lot easier to maneuver a prosthetic limb when it’s attached below the joint, rather than above it.”

“
Well, if you do the job you’re
paid
to do,” Red sneered, from behind the doctor, “that won’t be necessary at all, will it?” He walked around her to face Giselle and Bill. “I’m begging you both, do
not
let her do this! Jackson would want to at least try to save his leg.”

Dr. LeBlanc turned an icy shoulder to Red, but her face softened once she saw how upset Giselle was. “I need to know what you want me to do. The timing is critical.”

Giselle had grown pale at the talk of infection, gangrene, and amputation. She pulled Bill over to the window to talk.

<>

Red hung back, standing next to the surgeon.

“
How old are you, anyway?” he asked her.

She clenched her jaw with an audible ‘snap’, and turned to glare at him. “I’m thirty-six.”

He jerked back, slightly surprised at her answer. “You sure as hell don’t look it.”

“
Yeah? How old are you?” she asked tightly.

“
I’m thirty-eight,” Red answered.

“
You sure as hell don’t act it,” she said haughtily, then turned her back on him again.

Red glared at her ponytail then walked over to Giselle and Bill. He leaned close to Giselle’s ear, “Can I say one thing?”

Giselle nodded silently, her eyes large and pleading desperately for some ray of hope.

“
I know Jackson better than anyone in this world. I’m telling you, he wouldn’t want you to give up on him, or his leg.” Red stalked off to the elevators.

Giselle and Bill exchanged serious looks before she walked back to Dr. LeBlanc. “Do whatever you can to save the leg.”

“
I can’t begin to tell you how great the risk of infection is, but if that’s what you want, I’ll do my best.”

“
I know it’s what he’d want,” Giselle explained.

Dr. LeBlanc smiled, and nodded. “I won’t have the time to come out and give you reports, and I expect it to be a lengthy procedure. All you can do is wait it out. Any complications won’t occur during the surgery, but afterwards.”

“
Dr. LeBlanc, please don’t take this the wrong way,” Giselle said. “I know looks can be deceiving, but it’s just that you look so young. Have you done this procedure many times?” She watched as Dr. LeBlanc studied her, then looked as though she had decided not to take offense.

She smiled, and touched Giselle’s arm in a reassuring gesture. “Ms. Granger, I’ve done this over a hundred times for many different hospitals in the area; I’m very proficient in this procedure. Like I told the other
gentleman
, and I use the term loosely, even though I may not look it, I’m thirty-six years old, and I’ve been a surgeon here for eight years. If anyone can save his leg, I can.”

Giselle beamed at her. “I believe you can, Dr. LeBlanc. Thank you so much. Will you be the one to come out and tell us when this is all over with?”

“
Yes, I will,” she said, before running back through the doors leading to the surgical area.

Giselle watched her leave. “I’ve got a good feeling about her, Bill. I’m going to find Red.”

She searched the chapel and the atrium, and finally found him in the cafeteria. He sat alone, with his elbows propped on the table, and his forehead resting on his closed fists. He didn’t see her when she walked quietly up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Once she had his attention she continued. “We told her to do whatever she could to save the leg.”

His head dropped back in a show of relief, and he covered his face with his large hands. “Oh, thank God! And thank you
.
You made the right choice, you’ll see. You want coffee?”