Scars of the Present (14 page)

Chapter Twenty

I had waited until up until Amanda and Maddie had come home and told them about my evening with my father. I sat on the couch sandwiched between them and unloaded everything. They were both as stunned as I had been when I mentioned the words ‘proud mother’ and all of their reactions were exactly what I needed.

“So how do you feel, Syd?” Amanda asked after we finished analyzing my mother and her behavior.

“I’m still so confused, but I’m just happy to know I’m not…” I hesitated, trying to find the right word. “That I’m not incapable of loving or being loved.”

“Kind of like that we’ve been telling you for years?” Maddie said sarcastically.

I sighed and leaned my head against hers. “Do you want to throw in a few ‘I told you so’s’?

“Yes,” they both said at the same time, and we all burst out laughing.

“So what does that mean for your love life, Syd?” Amanda’s tone of voice was similar to how you’d talk to a scared kitten.

“It’s a little too late, I think. Live and learn, right? I miss David more than I can even put into words, but I’m not going to upheave his life if he’s happy.”

Maddie shook her head. “I saw him last week and he sure didn’t look happy.”

“When did you see him?” My heart rate kicked up at the thought of seeing David.

“When I donated all those clothes to the women’s shelter he was there with Sarah. He looked miserable, Syd.”

“After I’ve had some time to process all of this, I’ll reach out to him. Maybe at the very least he and I can be friends.” I almost choked on the word ‘friends’ as I said it.

Maddie scoffed and shook her head. “I tried that with Josh and it didn’t work at all, trust me.”

I didn’t think it would work either, but I missed having him in my life.

–––

“Can you sign off on this, Sydney?” One of the clerks, Hannah, held out a clipboard to me as I came around behind the desk.

Monday had flown by quickly, and I had been surprised that my shift was almost over when I finally had looked at the time. I had spent Sunday with my friends and I almost felt like an entirely new person when I’d woken up for work in the morning.

“Yep,” I replied, taking the paperwork from her. “I’m going to leave in about an hour, so if there are any others after that just stick them in my box.”

Hannah took the clipboard back from me and nodded. “Okay. I think we have a couple of more.”

The Emergency Room desk took most of my attention, but I didn’t mind. I always also in charge of about three other departments, but they weren’t nearly as busy. I talked to a few other clerks and was about to call it a day when an ambulance radioed in that they were on-route. I didn’t really pay much attention, the ambulance receiving being something the nurses handled. I flipped through some paperwork that needed to be sent to human resources and set it off to the side to be filed tomorrow before picking up the schedule.

The doors to the emergency room opened and a gurney was being pushed through quickly, the paramedics reciting random stats to the nurses and doctors who had congregated. I wasn’t paying attention, but I glanced up and saw David’s partner, Detective Wilson, and I immediately started to look to see if David was there as well.

The butterflies kicked up in my stomach and died about as suddenly. Taking a closer look, his partner looked ashen and was staring at the gurney, speaking rapidly as she moved with it. I felt my stomach drop in fear and my feet moved towards the curtains where they had wheeled the patient.

“… One shot is through and through on the shoulder, but the other one is lodged in the chest. We need to get the chest x-ray down.”

“There’s too much bleeding, we just need to take him up to the O.R. now. We can do the films when we get there.”

My heart was pounding in my throat as I moved closer to the curtains. Detective Wilson stepped out, looking like she was going to be sick. She glanced up at me before looking away and then realization dawned on her as her gaze snapped back to me. I couldn’t stop staring at the blood that was splattered all over her blouse.

“Sydney.”

I pointed towards the curtains. “Is that…?”

The curtains were whipped back quickly as the staff pushed the bed out, dashing for the elevator. When they passed by me I saw David’s pale face resting at the top, his eyes closed and a tube sticking out of his throat.

I gasped and dropped the papers I was holding as I started to follow the bed. A hand wrapped around my arm and I jerked back to see Detective Wilson standing there. “Sydney. You can’t go with them.”

Other police officers started pouring through the doors, and I was rooted to the spot as the chaos went on around me.

“Wilson!” Another person in a suit and tie came running up to Detective Wilson. “What happened out there? I heard reports that it hit near his heart. Is he going to make it?”

Detective Wilson held up her hand to silence him and gave me a sideways glance. “Captain, this is Bradley’s, er, girlfriend. She works at the hospital.”

The captain turned his eyes on me and cringed. “Sorry ma’am, I didn’t know.”

“What happened?” I turned to David’s partner with a pleading look.

She shook her head. “It happened so fast and it was all by chance. He went into the drug store to grab a snack for him and something for my headache. He interrupted a robbery because next thing I know I hear shots being fired. I ran in there and he had brought down the shooter, but he was...”

A strangled cry left my throat and my legs started to wobble. The captain put his arm around me and looked around. “We need to sit you down, miss.”

I shook my head. “I need to call his sister.”

Detective Wilson shook her head. “I already have someone doing that. Who can we call for you?”

Hannah was still standing at the desk behind me and she spoke up before I could. “Sydney, want me to call Dr. Pierce and his wife?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, not even really hearing her.

The hospital director, Mary, walked through the double doors and searched through the officers, looking for whoever was in charge. The captain held his hand up and she walked over.

“There’s a waiting room upstairs on the operating floor you guys can wait in, and I’ll make sure that they produce all of the updates to you there.”

She glanced towards me. “Sydney, are you okay?”

The captain winced and turned back to the director. “The officer up in surgery is her boyfriend.”

Mary gasped and pulled me in for a hug. “Oh Sydney, I’m so sorry. Let me get Linda for you.”

Hannah spoke again. “Nurse Thomas and Dr. Pierce will meet her upstairs in the waiting room.”

We rode the elevator up to the third floor and no one spoke. When the doors opened, Mary directed us to a waiting room where a couple of other people sat, too. I had barely dropped into a chair when Linda and Craig burst into the room. She paused just long enough to find me and then Linda pulled me into her arms. The dam I had constructed broke and I sobbed quietly into her chest for a few moments.

After I felt like I couldn’t cry anymore, I pulled back a little and sat with my head resting on her shoulder. Officers in uniforms and suits started to trickle into the waiting room, and the steady hum of quiet conversation flooded my ears. The elevator doors opened and Sarah stepped out with Randy right behind her, a frantic look on her face. She caught sight of me and moved quickly to embrace me.

“How is he?”

I shook my head helplessly. “No one knows.”

Sarah wiped her face and nodded. “He’s a fighter, always has been. He’s going to be okay.”

I didn’t respond and I sat between her and Linda, each of them holding one of my hands.

The process repeated when Amanda showed up, and then Maddie and Josh. They all stayed close, offering words of comfort when they could.

After about four hours, a tired looking doctor pushed opened the double doors and took in the huge crowd that was waiting. “Family of David Bradley?”

Sarah stood, pulling me with her. “I’m his sister.”

“We’re still working on him, ma’am. A bullet hit the left artery in his heart and we are working as fast as we can to repair it. He’s lost a lot of blood and it’s still pretty touch and go.”

I felt my face crumple and I attempted to stifle my sob.

“I wish I had better news at the moment, but I just wanted to update you.”

Sarah nodded, unable to respond, and it was the Captain who thanked the doctor before he went back through the doors.

Sarah and I moved back to our chairs and sat in some more silence. It was me who finally spoke.

“Where’s Claire?”

Sarah looked up at me and sighed. “With Alicia, luckily. She was supposed to fly out tonight, but she obviously won’t for now. I’m supposed to be keeping her up to date.”

“Does Claire know?”

Sarah shook her head. “We don’t want to scare her.”

“Good,” I agreed, giving a little nod.

Sarah stood up suddenly. “I’m going to go call Alicia. I’ll be right back.”

Randy looked at me when Sarah had disappeared around the corner. “She has to keep busy so she doesn’t fall apart.

“That makes sense,” I whispered, wishing I had something to distract me at the moment.

Detective Wilson dropped into the chair Sarah had just abandoned, and she looked exhausted.

“I never even asked if you were okay, Detective.” I glanced over at her.

She nodded. “The blood was all David’s. I should have gone in with him.”

I reached over and grabbed her hand and she smiled at me. “He really cares about you Sydney. I’ve never seen him care about someone, other than Claire, so much. He’s been my partner for over five years now, so trust me on this.”

“I thought he was seeing someone else?” I asked, tentatively. “I saw him a few weeks ago and he was with someone.”

“He tried. He took her out once after another officer in our unit set him up, but he didn’t want to go. The next day he told me it was a mistake and that he wasn’t ready to give up on you.” She gave me a small smile.

“What if he doesn’t make it?” My body shook and I looked at Detective Wilson frantically. “What if he dies without knowing that I care too?”

She gripped my hand tightly. “He knows, Sydney. He really does know.”

We sat in silence for a moment and I nodded to her. “Thanks Detective.”

“Call me Patty, please. We might as well get comfortable with each other, right?” She forced another smile.

Hours went by and people filtered in and out of the waiting area. Sarah, Patty, Amanda, and Maddie were the only ones who stayed constantly. Sarah kept stepping out to update Alicia, but otherwise she sat waiting for news too. Different officers came and went, and there seemed to be about ten to fifteen different ones in the waiting room constantly. The Captain came and went as well, having the do different administrative things regarding the shooting.

It was five hours after the first update, nine hours after he had been brought in, when the same doctor reappeared looking haggard. He walked right to where Sarah and I were sitting and a tiny smile formed on his lips.

“We were able to repair the heart and get it beating on its own.”

I sighed loudly and dropped my face into my hands. Sarah’s head thudded against the wall behind us and she burst into tears.

The doctor kneeled so he was eye level with us and his smile increased. “He’s going to be sedated for a while. The bullet nicked his lung and we have a tube down his throat to help him breathe. He’s in recovery now, but we’ll be moving him to the ICU soon and you can see him.”

“Thank you so much,” I said quietly and the doctor reached over to place a hand on my shoulder.

“No need to thank me. I’ll be back for you shortly.” He stood up and moved back through the double doors.

The Captain stood and smiled broadly to the congregation of officers still in the waiting room.

“He’s going to make it!”

The waiting room erupted in cheers, and I couldn’t help the grin that crossed my face. The officers who had been waiting slowly trickled out, and I told Maddie and Amanda to go home. They both hugged me and told me they were only a phone call away if I needed them.

A nurse came and directed Sarah, Randy, and I upstairs to the ICU waiting room. She stopped us when we got up to the doors and turned. “You’re all family, right?”

I sighed, about to correct her, but Sarah beat me to it. “Yes, the three of us.”

“Okay. Two of you can be in there at one time during visiting hours, which ended at nine, and then one person can be with him at all times. I’ll let two of you go in at the same time for about thirty minutes since he was transferred down during non-visiting hours.”

Randy moved to sit in the waiting room, gesturing for Sarah and I to go ahead, and we followed the nurse in.

When we got to his bed, I wanted to cry all over again. His face was still very pale, and the loud ventilator was hooked to the tube protruding from his throat. A blanket covered him up to his shoulders, but his right arm was resting above the blanket normally and the left arm was in a sling.

Sarah and I each took a side and grabbed a hand. Sarah moved to his head and whispered in his ear for about three minutes before she squeezed his hand and stood up.

“Do you mind staying with him over night? I want to talk to Alicia and figure out how to break the news to Claire.”

I shook my head. “Of course not. If I’m not here I’d just be in the waiting room. And I’d prefer here.”

She gave me a soft smile and came around to hug me tightly. “He’s gonna be okay.”

“He’s going to be okay,” I repeated and let out another relieved sigh.

Sarah left and I settled into a chair next to his bed, still clutching his hand.

“I’m so mad at you,” I whispered to his still form. “You can’t do this kind of stuff, Ralph. Life is hard enough without you when you’re just across the city, but I don’t even want to imagine it without you completely.”

I stood for a moment and leaned up to kiss his forehead. “You can’t leave me, okay? I love you way too much.”