Maddy's Floor (37 page)

Firmly, the surgical nurse turned her around and pushed her in the direction of the waiting room.

Maddy paced for the first hour, then sat for the next. She'd been pouring energy into the operating room since she'd been kicked out. She'd tried to direct it into him, but there'd been so many people clogging the path, she hadn't been able to do that. She should have left her body and gone in to help heal him, but she'd been so distraught she couldn't function on that level now. Stefan was in there funneling energy, but he wasn't the healer – she was.

What was taking them so long? When no one came out after a reasonable time, she knew in her heart it was bad. Why hadn't she checked Drew first? Because she hadn't known he'd been hurt. He'd acted so normal and she'd been so numbed by the shooting of Dr. Cunningham, and what she'd learned…she hadn't realized exactly what had happened.

He'd been in there a long time. Too long. Nancy had even come to check on her, handing her a hot coffee. Maddy had phoned John to update him. Now everyone had to wait. Currently, Gerard sat beside her. The CEO had never looked so haggard.

Maddy sympathized. Her world centered on what was going on in the surgical room. She was locked in by her fear. In a place of no return. She should be helping them. She had skills that could help – if she were calm enough.

She needed to find her center of balance. He needed her. She shuddered. He had the best team possible working on him. They'd save him. They had to.

Maddy.
 Stefan's voice in her mind stopped her in her tracks. 
Stop and calm down. He needs your help. Our help. It's bad. You have to pull back. You're needed but you can't help him like this.

Just then, the door opened and Dr. Samson, a physician she knew slightly, came out. The blood drained from her face at the look on his.

Drew hadn't made it.

He didn't want to meet her gaze. She ran up to him. "Dr. Maddy, we tried. Honest. He'd lost too much blood. The tears on the inside…" Dr. Samson shook his head. "I'm sorry, but the bullet nicked an artery––"

Maddy was no longer listening. She bolted through the double doors and into the OR. Drew was still on the operating table, a sheet over his head, blood coating – well, everything. They'd tried. She got that. Only they didn't know what she did.

She might be able to save him. There was one more thing she could do. She'd never tried on someone this far gone, but…

Once she saw his cord, threadlike and wispy and still attached, she knew for sure. She flipped the sheet back to see his face. As Maddy pulled up a high stool from against the wall, the operating nurses withdrew, leaving her alone.

Stefan… Help.

Maddy closed her eyes and slipped out of her body.

And slipped into Drew's.

It took a long scary minute to find his consciousness.

Maddy? What the hell?

Hush. You're hurt. I have to heal you. Don't waste your energy. Think about life, living and loving. Especially about loving.
 And Maddy had to do the same. To take her abilities to this level, with this deadly level of damage, she had to let go. Of her fears, her doubts, her emotions. She had to be one with him, no walls, no hesitation, no holding back – 
she had to be him.

Maddy poured her energy into his damaged body, filling his heart with life, his veins with the blood and his body with healing energy. She knitted the artery closed, repaired torn tissues and damaged muscle.

The whole time she sensed Stefan's protective energy around her, funneling love, caring and energy her way. To heal like this took strength. It took acceptance. It took surrender. To herself. To him. To what could have been. To what could be.

She didn't know how long she was in there. She didn't care. She wouldn't leave until it was done. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. Vaguely, she heard noises going on behind her. She knew the OR staff watched her. She thought someone wanted to move her, but heard Nancy stopped stop them before making the attempt. She didn't worry. Stefan would take care of them. Right now, she was caught in an energy frenzy that filled the room with heavy pulsing vibrations.

Static buzzed and the air moved on its own. No one there could misunderstand that something major was stirring in the ethers.

Maddy's space. That was her domain.

The OR belonged to the medical world. The ethers belonged to her. She intensified her efforts. She had to save Drew. He'd become too important to let go. She wasn't even sure if she could anymore. If he died, he might take her with him at this point.

Dimly, she heard a series of beeps, followed by yelling and the sound of rushing footsteps. Maddy shoved everything out of her mind. The waves pulsed from her fingers, her heart and her soul.

More. Stronger energy, whiter energy. Everything she had, everything she'd been, everything she was – poured into his soul.

"Maddy?"

"Maddy. Stop. We can take it from here."

Let go, Maddy. He's back.
 Stefan's warm, loving voice slipped deeper into her subconscious, pulling her back, helping her return home. Finally, other voices penetrated the fog she'd buried herself in. Maddy slowly sensed other people in the room. She saw the matrix of other energies working at her side, working to save Drew.

"He's back. We've got him. It's okay. Let go now before you collapse."

"Dr. Maddy, stop!"

Maddy heard something else too. 
Maddy, I love you. Let go, sweetheart. I'm fine.

Love you, too. Sorry, I couldn't let you go.
 Then she did let go and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

SATURDAY

D
rew woke up feeling like shit. He groaned and tried to roll over. Pain stabbed at his chest and radiated outward. A cry wrenched free. Christ, he hurt.

"Don't move, you've been shot and you've had surgery. You're going to be fine. However, you're going to feel terrible for a while."

Duh.

He opened his eyes. A very tired looking, breathtakingly lovely Maddy sat on the edge of his hospital bed, smiling at him. His first attempt to speak was a little weak, a little thin. "Does this mean I get to move to Maddy's floor?"

"Hell no. You won't be here for longer than a day or two at the most. Just long enough to regain your strength. And if you behave, they might release you early for good behavior." When she smiled down at him Drew thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful as his beloved Maddy.

Memories filtered back into his mind. A sporadic image. The odd word.

"Did you have a hand in my recovery?" Drew studied the weariness on her face. Had she slept at all? He glanced over at the chair beside his bed. Sure enough, her purse and what looked to be several discarded coffee cups sat on the floor beside it.

The room around him came into clearer view. His surroundings were nowhere near as nice as Maddy's floor. Still, like she said, he wouldn't be here long enough to care. As a matter of fact, he wasn't feeling too bad at all.

"Maybe. How are you feeling?"

"I feel good. How about you? Did you sit in that chair all night? Have you no sense at all?" he teased.

"I'm fine." She snickered. "I'm not the one who walked into a bullet."

He closed his eyes at the reminder. "Right. I'm willing to forget that part. It couldn't have been that bad. I'm here, aren't I?"

Dr. Samson walked into the room in time to hear that last part. "And that part is a miracle. I'm going to tell you, young man, you shouldn't be here at all. You took a bullet to the chest that nicked a main artery of your heart. You bled out on us and for all our best efforts, we lost you. We gave up." He tapped on his stylus for a moment then looked up to run a professional eye over Drew.

Drew started. What? "I died?" His gaze encompassed Dr. Samson and Maddy, her lips quirking at his question.

Dr. Samson nodded. His years of medical experience showed in the pure white hair and wrinkles, but his face was animated. "Not only died, but we couldn't revive you. And we tried hard." He walked over to where Maddy sat. "I went out, told this young lady, and she bolted into the operating room and refused to let you go."

Maddy patted Drew's hand, her warm eyes smiling down at him.

The doctor studied her, a light in his eyes, wonder in his voice. "I've got to tell you, I've seen a lot of things in my life, including many miracles, but I've never ever seen anything like what I saw her do to you. She healed the hole in your artery, made your heart beat again, filled your veins with blood, and did too many other things to mention. I stood in the back of that room with my colleagues and watched in awe while the room pulsed and glowed as she put you back together."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Somehow, she did what shouldn't have been possible to do – she brought you back to life." With an apologetic glance at Maddy, he explained, "I only stepped in to help because she appeared to be on the point of collapse. We stitched you closed and that's about it."

He patted Maddy's shoulder. "Now that I have some idea of what goes on in the special project of yours, young lady, I've got to admit, I'd like to learn a whole lot more."

Maddy looked up at him, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Anytime."

"It obviously takes a toll on you, and I can see why you don't want to advertise your abilities. So make sure you rest for a couple of days yourself. Okay?"

"I will," she promised and watched him leave the room.

Turning back to face Drew, she found him studying her speculatively. "What's that look for?"

"You can do that? Bring people back from the dead?"

She frowned, shook her head, stared down at the sheets, her hands instinctively smoothing the wrinkles away. "You mean the others I've helped? There are a lot of factors that go into it, and then sometimes, if everything goes well, I might stop some of them from dying. Not always and not everyone, but sometimes…I can save one."

"And that makes it all worthwhile," he said, instinctively knowing the answer to his question. Because he had died. And she had brought him back.

She gazed down at him, her eyes so warm and loving.

He knew he was blessed.

"And that makes it all worthwhile."

"Speaking of people dying, how are Dr. Lenning and my uncle?"

"Your uncle is raising hell on my floor, and soon Dr. Lenning will be returning to help him." She grinned in delight. "Those two are going to get along wonderfully. Stefan says 'hi' and to stop doing things like catching bullets or you'll give
him
a heart attack."

"Well, you can tell him that I don't plan on ever going through that again."

She laughed. "I'm sure he knows already."

Drew studied her face. "I also remember something else while I was under."

Maddy gazed at him quizzically. "Really? What was that?"

"I remember a certain doctor telling me that she loved me."

A rosy flush rolled across her cheeks. She gave him a knowing smile. "That's okay – you said it first."

"Did not," he protested.

"Did too." They grinned at each other.

"Mean it?" he asked, studying her face intently.

She studied his features, her insides melting. "Absolutely. Did you?"

"Oh yes." He tugged her toward him, and kissed her thoroughly. So thoroughly, she didn't think he'd be in the hospital for more than a day – if that. "I feel great. It must be that extra dose of Maddy energy."

She grimaced. "There might be a few side effects of that, by the way."

"Like a more intimate knowledge of what you're thinking and feeling?" he murmured, tugging her back down to nestle against his good side. "Yes, I'm healing very rapidly, thank you."

She chuckled. "Yes, something like that. Of course, it works both ways, and just to inform you, the hospital bed is not the place to make love – you're not that healthy."

Surprise lit the depths of his eyes and he chuckled. "This will take some getting used to. We have a fun journey ahead of us."

"That it will be," she whispered against his lips. "Scared yet?"

"No way. Interested. Intrigued. In love. And looking forward to seeing how well this works out for both of us." Laughter colored his voice.

Sounds good to me
, she whispered in her mind.

And to me, too. Did I tell you I love you, Dr. Maddy?

Not recently.

Well, I do. Now and forever.

Thank you for reading MADDY'S FLOOR, book 3 of the PSYCHIC VISION SERIES.

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