Where Angels Tread (29 page)

“It’s too soon to tell,” Dr. Conway said, folding his hands and avoiding Heidi’s eyes while he addressed the Kensington family, who were gathered anxiously around him in a corner of the waiting room. “He’s in surgery right now to remove the bullet from his chest.”

Michelle gasped and swayed slightly on the spot; her children reached out their hands to steady her. “How many times was he hit?” Cody asked, and Heidi could tell that he was working to keep his voice steady.

Dr. Conway sighed heavily. “Three. Once in his right hip and once in his left leg. Those bullets have already been removed; they caused significant damage that will require extensive physical therapy, but they aren’t life threatening. The one in his chest is, of course, much more concerning. It clipped the edge of one of his heart valves, which has caused a lot of internal bleeding. My colleague in the operating room is working right now to stop the bleeding. I can assure you that we are doing everything we can for Shane.”

Heidi glanced around at the pale, drawn faces surrounding her, and knew that hers looked the same. She recognized from the tone of Dr. Conway’s voice that things were serious, even though he was doing his best to reassure the family. It was, she knew, the blessing and the curse of spending the last year working in the hospital. She herself had put on many a brave face when speaking to devastated families; Heidi couldn’t believe that she was once again finding herself on the receiving end.

Dr. Conway nodded to the Kensingtons and walked away, Heidi hot on his heels. She grabbed him by the arm just as he was about to disappear through the door. “Wait.” He turned around and studied her with sympathetic eyes. “Tell me what’s really going on,” she said. “I deserve to know the truth.”

He continued to stare at her for a few moments, then heaved a sigh and beckoned her inside. “Follow me,” he said quietly. As Heidi pushed through the door after him, she turned around and saw Jaime watching her. She gave Heidi a brief, almost imperceptible nod, as if to say
we’re counting on you
, before turning back to her family.

Dr. Conway was hurrying down the hall, and Heidi jogged to catch up with him. “Are you sure you really want to know?” he asked when she arrived at his side, panting slightly. She squared her shoulders and nodded. “It’s not looking good,” he said briskly. “Because the shooting occurred so far away from the hospital, the delay in getting him treatment caused his body to go into shock. There was a period of time—and we aren’t sure how long—where he was without oxygen to the brain.”

Heidi moaned and dropped to her knees in the middle of the hallway; Dr. Conway grabbed her by the wrists and guided her to her feet. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “We aren’t going to know until he wakes up if he sustained any brain damage. He’s in surgery right now, but Dr. Francis is confident that the wound to his heart can be repaired. Once he’s in recovery, it’s a waiting game.”

“How soon will we find out?” Heidi asked faintly. She knew from her brief experience as a nurse that a brain injury was one of the most feared diagnoses. Some patients never recovered, while some went on to overcome their injuries and lead long and fulfilling lives. Only time would tell, and Heidi couldn’t bear the thought of not knowing.

“I think it will be apparent fairly early on whether there’s any damage. If there is, it will take time to assess exactly how much.” He smiled sadly at Heidi, who stood frozen with fear. “The best thing you can do for Shane is to be there for him when he wakes up. He’s been through a lot.”

As she watched Dr. Conway walk away, Heidi felt a comforting hand on her arm. She turned and flung herself onto Josie, who stroked her hair softly and held her until the shuddering sobs wracking her body had finally subsided. Heidi looked up at Josie through tear-stained cheeks. “What am I going to do?” she choked out. “What if I’ve lost him forever?”

*

The group gathered around Shane’s bed in the recovery room was withdrawn and silent. Heidi sat in the corner, hunched up against the wall with her knees drawn to her chest. As she gazed at his still form and pale face, so small and helpless-looking among the many wires hooked up to his body, she suppressed the urge to climb into the bed with him. Heidi wanted nothing more than to run her fingers once more through his hair, trace her finger down the strong bones of his cheek, and tell him that she loved him.

Instead, she sat back and watched as Shane’s family crowded around him, holding a quiet vigil. His mother couldn’t take her eyes from her son, and stood beside him clutching his hand so tightly that several times Robert had to gently loosen her grasp. “You’re leaving fingernail marks,” he murmured to her, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it softly.

They remained there throughout the night, watching from the hospital window as the first hint of sunlight broke through the horizon. Every so often someone left the room for a cup of coffee or to get a breath of fresh air, but hour after hour they sat, waiting and praying for the first flicker of Shane’s eyelids to indicate that he was going to be okay.

The doctors and nurses bustled in and out of the room, speaking in hushed voices and shooting furtive glances in Heidi’s direction. She knew word around the hospital had spread quickly that Heidi Griffin, the long-suffering widow and single mother, was about to lose the only other man she ever loved. She could feel their sympathetic eyes boring into her, but she kept her gaze on the ground, determined to ignore the fact that she was the subject of their whispered conversations in the hall. The focus, she knew, should remain on Shane and his recovery.

Heidi must have dozed off for a few minutes because she woke to find Michelle sitting beside her, gazing over at Shane’s bed. “Shane is my firstborn,” Michelle whispered when she noticed that Heidi was awake. “I couldn’t have asked for a better son.” Not knowing what to say, Heidi nodded quietly and draped her arm around the woman.

“He loved you, you know,” Michelle continued, and Heidi felt a hard lump of emotion form in her throat, obstructing her airway. She struggled to catch her breath. “I know you two had your problems and that you aren’t together anymore, but I want you to know that Shane considered you family, and so do we.”

“Thank you,” Heidi whispered. “That means a lot to me.”

“And if something should happen and Shane…well, if Shane doesn’t wake up.” Michelle stopped and pressed her fingers against her lips to compose herself. “I want you to know that you and your son are welcome any time. Shane would want that.”

Heidi nodded again, unable to form the words she needed to thank Michelle for her kindness, even amidst the woman’s own suffering. She squeezed her hand, and Michelle squeezed back; somehow, Heidi knew, that was enough.

From across the room came a gasp and small scream. “Shane!” Lacey said. “Mom, come here! I think I saw something.” Heidi and Michelle jumped up and hurried to Shane’s bedside, joining the rest of the family who were now crowded around, jostling for a view.

“What did you see?” Michelle demanded.

“His finger moved,” Lacey said excitedly, pointing at where his hand rested on top of the white bedcovers.

Heidi tried not to let her devastation show in her face; she knew that the finger twitch was probably involuntary, a reflex that had no correlation to Shane’s recovery. Moving around Shane’s sisters, she reached down and stroked Shane’s forehead lightly, then bent over and pressed her lips against his temple.

“I love you,” she whispered into his ear. “Come back to me so we can spend the rest of our lives together.” She felt his fingers twitch once more, and she grasped his hand in hers, running her thumb gently along his palm.

“Come back, Shane. I’m waiting for you.”

“There it is!” Zachary called, pointing out of the car window to the giant weeping willow visible from the highway. “Pull over, Mom.”

Heidi steered the car to the side of the road and turned off the engine, reaching around to the backseat as Zachary bounded out of the car and jumped over the guardrail leading down to the grassy field just beyond the road. It was a beautiful day; the air was fresh with the first hint of spring, and the sweet scent of wildflowers hung in the air like perfume. “Wait up,” Heidi called to her son as she emerged from the car carrying a bouquet of sunflowers and daisies. “I can’t climb over that thing as fast as you.”

Heidi swung one leg over the guardrail and joined her son, who was now sitting against the thick trunk of the willow tree and turning his face up to the sky. A smile lit up his features as the warm sun played across his face. Heidi crouched down beside him and threw her arm around his shoulders, setting the bouquet of flowers carefully on the ground. “Where do you want to leave them?” she asked.

Zachary patted the ground beside him. “Right here,” he said. “Underneath the tree. That way they’ll be protected.”

Heidi nodded and unwrapped the cellophane wrapper from around the flowers. As she did, she glanced up at the car to find that the passenger side door was hanging open. She stood up and hurried over to the guardrail. “What are you doing?” she asked, her worried eyes on the figure now emerging from the car. “You know you’re not supposed to walk very far.”

Shane unfolded his long legs and leaned heavily against the walking stick he now relied on; he was undergoing a rigid and extensive physical therapy routine before he could regain full use of his hip. He hobbled over to the guardrail and attempted to lift his leg, but Heidi held out her hand to stop him when she saw the wince of pain cross his face. “You don’t need to do this, Shane,” she said.

“I do.” His voice was determined. Slowly, he guided his injured leg over the guardrail and limped over to where Heidi was standing. He smiled down at her. “See? I told you I could do it. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Taking her hand in his, they made their way across the grass slowly, stopping every now and then so that Shane could catch his breath. “I’ll be good as new before you know it,” he said, wrapping his arm around Heidi for support. She reached around her waist and grasped his hand in her own.

They reached the edge of the tree, where Zachary was waiting for them. “Ready?” he asked.

Heidi squeezed Shane’s hand. “Ready.”

From his duffel bag, Zachary removed the photo of John that Heidi had mounted on a piece of thick wood. He handed it to Heidi, who smiled briefly as the memory of the day she snapped the photo came rushing back to her. Heidi stepped forward and laid the photo gently against the tree beside the bouquet of flowers. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, imagining that the quiet breeze tickling her ears was a sign of John’s presence. “I love you,” she whispered. “And I always will.”

She backed slowly away from the tree and tore her eyes from John’s smiling face. Linking her arm through Shane’s, she motioned for Zachary to join them. When he did, the three of them stood there quietly, each lost in their own private thoughts. For Heidi, although this spot symbolized the loss of everything she had once dreamed about for the future, it was now a place for quiet remembrance, acceptance of events that could never change, and hope for a new beginning.

“Come on,” she said after a few more moments of quiet reflection. “It’s time to go home.” Then, hand in hand, the three of them walked back to the car, ready to begin their life together as a family. It was, Heidi knew, the start of something great.

THE END

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FOREVER MY LOVE

A Kensington Family Novel

CHAPTER 1

Ethan Conway stared at the woman sitting across the table from him with a vacant expression on his face, trying his best to listen as she described what she did for a living, but not really caring to hear about it. Most men would probably say that she was beautiful, with her willowy frame, mile-long legs, and thick blond hair, and at one point in his life, Ethan almost certainly would have agreed. But right now, he wasn’t giving her a second glance. The date was a sham, a way to appease his overbearing sister Hillary and stop her from talking incessantly about how he needed to get back into the dating world before it was too late. Too late for what, Ethan wasn’t sure.

“Then I went back to school to get my MBA, since it provides so many more opportunities for women in today’s workplace,” his date was saying, pausing from her endless stream of chatter to take a long sip from the glass of white wine sitting in front of her. In a moment of panic, as he watched her pat her lips dry with a cloth napkin, Ethan couldn’t remember her name. He thought that it began with a K, but he couldn’t be certain. Kristy? Kirsten? Karen? The possibilities were endless.