Baptized by Fire  -  Part 8

Downstairs, the activity in the emergency department had subsided to a dull roar.  Make that a dull squeak.  The place was utterly deserted.  Todd made his way through the department toward the door that led to the employee parking lot.

“Hey, Todd!  Where are you off to in such a hurry?”  Joe Early spied the orthopod hustling down the hallway.  He was obviously off duty, dressed in jeans and a fleece top.  The neurosurgeon figured maybe his colleague was just trying to make a break for it before he could be called in for another consult.

Todd stopped and turned toward the voice.  “Hey, Joe.  I’m on my way over to Justin’s clinic.  And I have a feeling I’ll be bringing him back here with me.”

“Oh?”  Joe caught up and kept pace with the other doctor.

“Yeah…he just called me.”  Todd shook his head.  “Something’s not right.  He’s altered…confused.  His voice was slurred.  Complained of a bad headache.  And then he just…went quiet on me.  I have a bad feeling…”

“What do you think it could be?”  In truth, Joe’s mind was already forming several possibilities, but he figured Todd knew Justin better than he did.

“I don’t know, Joe.”  Todd led the way out of the building.  A brain injury…a high fever…a stroke.  There were a lot of potential culprits and the surgeon didn’t want to give voice to any of them.

Joe followed his friend until he entered his car, then leaned with one hand on the roof, looking into the window.  “Well, keep us in the loop, okay?  I’ll stick around for a while.”

“Thanks, Joe.”  His spirit buoyed slightly by his colleague’s support, Todd drove off in the direction of Long Beach.

When Joe arrived back at the base station, he saw Johnny and Roy standing there, pouring themselves some coffee.  “Hey, fellas.”

“Hey, Doc!”  Johnny greeted the kind doctor enthusiastically.  “Brackett says that guy we brought in is gonna be fine.  But, I don’t think he’ll try using an ironing board as a step stool again…”

“No…”  Joe rubbed at the side of his nose.  “No, I suppose not.”  He struggled with what he’d just learned about Justin.  He figured Johnny would want to know, but he wasn’t sure if it was his place.

“Something wrong, Doc?”  Roy picked up on the physician’s hesitation.  He leaned against the base station desk and took a sip of his coffee.

“Well, I’m not sure…”  He looked down and fingered the gold bracelet around his wrist.  “I just had a disturbing conversation with Todd Andrews.”

“What do you mean?”  Johnny looked up, his brow knitted in confusion.

“Apparently he got a call from Justin.  He said he didn’t sound right.  That his speech was slurred and he seemed confused.  And he had a bad headache.”

“Well, what’s wrong with him?”  Johnny abandoned his coffee, Joe having just earned full rights to his attention.

“I don’t know.  Todd’s on his way over there now.”

“On his way over where?”  Brackett approached the base station, coming in late to the conversation.

Joe filled his friend in on what he knew about the altered physical therapist.

Johnny’s mind swam with a million questions.  As far as he knew Justin would be at home.  Where was Camarin?  Why hadn’t she called?  He wanted to ask Joe all of this, but figured he likely wouldn’t have the answers anyway.  “Maybe we should head over there.  Did he say if he was going to the house or to the clinic?”

Joe thought about that.  “You know, Johnny, he didn’t say.”

“Well, maybe we could head over to the clinic.”  There was no way Johnny was going to just sit around and do nothing.  “As long as we stay available.”

Roy nodded as he took a final swig of his coffee and picked up the radio sitting on the desk.  “Yeah, we could do that.  It’s in our response area.”

But, those plans were put to an abrupt end when the radio began its succession of beeps and summoned the paramedics to an ‘unknown type rescue.’

“Great.”  Johnny mumbled under his breath.  Then he took off down the hall alongside his partner.  Spinning on his heel, he called back to the doctors.  “Hey, if you hear anything…”

“Don’t worry, Johnny.”  Brackett assured the worried paramedic.  “We’ll let you know.”  He waited until the two were out of earshot before turning back to Joe and crossing his arms in front of his body.  “What do you think, Joe?”

“What do I think?”  Joe parroted.  “I think we shouldn’t make any rash assumptions until we hear from Todd.  There are far too many possibilities.”

“Yeah, and most of them bad.”  Brackett frowned.

“Well, at any rate, all we can do is wait and see.”  Joe reiterated the obvious.

“Wait and see about what?”  Dixie joined the doctors at the base station.

Brackett made eye contact with Joe and then began filling in the nurse.  There would be no going home now for any of them, not until they found out what was going on with Justin.  And, they figured they would have some news on that very soon.  It was one of those times they wished for a busier workload, because for now all the threesome had to do was stand around and wait.  And worry.

***

Todd pulled up to the clinic and the first thing he noticed was Justin’s Mercedes was not parked outside.  And the lights were all off inside the building.  His heart fell.  Justin was…somewhere.  He needed help.  And Todd had no idea where to look for him.  He eased his Thunderbird into the empty parking space in front of the clinic and began wracking his brain, trying to figure out where else Justin might be.  Of course the obvious answer was he went home.  But, if that were the case, Camarin would have been there.  Unless…

It hadn’t occurred to Todd until this moment that something might have happened to Camarin and the girls as well.  Realizing he was wasting time, he decided he may as well check things out quick, since he was here.  He got out of the car, quickly ascended the steps leading to the door, and tried the knob.  Locked.  A quick glance at the windows revealed the blinds were pulled.  Todd pounded on the door.  “Justin!  It’s Todd!  Are you in there?”  He placed his ear flush with the wooden door, straining to hear something.  But there was nothing to hear.  “Dammit.”  Todd muttered.  He decided he would head to the nearest payphone so he could call Camarin.  If Justin wasn’t home, at least she would likely know where he was.  He cursed himself for not thinking to do this sooner.  He had already wasted too much time. 

A split second before Todd got back into his car, he was overcome with a strange sensation.  Despite the ticking clock, he couldn’t leave here without making certain.  He would check the back door first.  He ran around the perimeter of the building and when he reached the patio, he was faced with a similar scenario.  The double doors were locked up tight, the lights were off, and there was no sign of life inside.  Hurriedly, Todd made his way around the side of the building, checking windows as he went until finally he spied a small window near the front about six feet off the ground.  He stepped up onto the small, metal basement window well, and that gave him just enough height to peer inside.  All the while he was thinking he was foolish.  That if Justin’s car wasn’t here, he was only wasting time.  He became so consumed by that idea he almost missed the figure lying on the floor in the reception area.  Todd blinked and strained to peer through the shadows.  In this light, he couldn’t be certain it was Justin, but who else would it be?  With new resolve, the surgeon ran back around to the street and popped his trunk, retrieving a tire iron.  Then, he took the steps in one stride and used the heavy instrument to break the glass on the door so he could reach through and turn the knob.  Sorry, buddy.  I’ll pay for the damage.

Todd fumbled on the wall for a switch turned on the overhead lights.  The illumination revealed a scene that temporarily froze the surgeon where he stood.  A brief episode of déjà vu passed over him and suddenly he was in his office consoling Justin as he explained what it had been like to be the one to happen upon John Gage on the floor of his barn.  Shaking that off, he took a moment to size up the scene.  Justin was lying partially on his stomach, partially on his right side.  Were it not for his hair, his frame, his watch and wedding ring, Todd might not have recognized his friend as it seemed the entire left side of his face, the half Todd could see, was swollen and covered in blood.  And he wasn’t moving.

There was shattered glass on the desk and the floor, drawers under the counter were pulled open haphazardly, their contents scattered.  And, the hallway floor was littered with overturned boxes and supplies.  In that moment, Todd realized Justin had been the victim of a crime, and his heart skipped a beat.  If that were the case, whoever was responsible might still be around.  But first things first.

Todd moved quickly to Justin’s side and instinctively reached for a pulse at his neck while simultaneously taking in his injuries.  He was relieved to find a steady throbbing under his fingers.  A little weak.  Too fast.  But there.  Todd allowed his fingers to remain in place, drawing comfort from the mere fact Justin was alive.  A closer examination revealed a neck and shirt stained red with blood, presumably the runoff from the trauma to Justin’s head and face.  Todd allowed his fingers to explore, being careful not to dislodge the clots that were forming.  He found a deep laceration at the hairline, just above Justin’s left ear, along with a nice sized lump.  In addition to that, Justin’s left eye was swollen nearly shut and ugly purple bruising already covered a good portion of his cheek and jaw.  Bloody sputum drained from the corner of his mouth, causing instant concern over his airway.  But, a closer look confirmed that Justin’s breathing was adequate.  In fact, he was lying in probably the best possible position, and Todd thanked the heavens for that small bit of luck.

 “Justin!  Justin, it’s Todd.  Can you hear me?”  What the hell happened to you, buddy?

Todd received no response and his mind raced.  He needed to call an ambulance five minutes ago.  Probably should have called a paramedic squad too.  And the police.  Even as his mind tried to prioritize what needed to be done, Todd wondered if whoever had done this was still around.  No matter.  If that were the case, his presence had been revealed the second he broke the window.  He couldn’t take the time to concern himself over that now.  Spying the phone on the floor next to him, he replaced the receiver in order to get a dial tone, his throat tightening at the sight of the bloody handprint on it.  From the looks of Justin it was nothing short of a miracle that he’d been able to call for help.

Todd dialed ‘0’ for an operator.  “My name is Dr. Todd Andrews.  I need the police, the paramedics, and an ambulance at 3963 Ocean Boulevard.  I think a friend of mine’s been assaulted.”

Todd replaced the receiver, relieved that help was being dispatched, and moved the phone out of the way to give himself some more room.  He gently shook Justin’s shoulder.  “Hey! Justin!  It’s Todd.  Come on, open your eyes!”

No response.

Again, Todd shook Justin’s shoulder and leaned in closer to his ear.  “Justin!  Time to wake up!”

Justin could hear a familiar authoritative voice pulling him from his slumber.  He recognized the voice as Todd’s, and he wanted to obey.  But, prying his eyes open was too much of an effort.  Besides, his head was killing him.  He moaned softly.

“That’s it, buddy.  Come on.  Open your eyes for me!”

Why was Todd yelling at him?  Didn’t he know he had a headache?  Justin did his best to do what Todd asked, hoping that would make him stop shouting.  He peeled open his right eye and tried to blink away the haze.

“Under the circumstances, I’ll settle for that.”  Todd was relieved to see Justin following this simple command.  It was a huge first step. 

Justin moaned again as consciousness began to return, and with it incredible pain.  He tried raising a hand to his head, but his effort was thwarted.

“I know.  Your head hurts like hell.”  Todd grasped Justin’s left hand and held on, figuring his friend could use an anchor about now.  “I’ll take care of that as soon as I can, but first I need to ask you a few questions.”

Justin’s answer was another quiet moan as he closed his eye again.

“Un-uh!”  Todd nudged Justin’s shoulder.  “I need you to stay awake for me.  Keep that eye open.”

As Justin once again peeled open his good eye, his thoughts seemed to open a bit more along with it.  What was he doing on the floor.  Why did he taste blood?  And what the hell had happened to him?  “T-Todd…wha…”

“Can you tell me your name?”

What?  “Justin…”  God, it hurt to talk.

“Do you know where you are right now?”

Justin tried lifting his head to see.  Bad idea.  He groaned miserably.

“Easy…”  Todd increased his grasp on Justin’s hand and carefully steadied his head.

Even though his vision was blurred, Justin could make out some of the scattered supplies littering the floor.  Bottles of herbal supplements…vitamins.  Trying to piece together what they were doing all over the place was too much for his brain to handle at the moment, and he struggled to make sense of where he was.  “I…I uh…”  Suddenly it seemed he had too much saliva and he tried to swallow it down, but that only caused more pain.  He gagged and then coughed, which made his face feel like it was being ripped off.  It was then it became crystal clear that he was hurt.  Bad.  But he had no idea what happened, and that scared him to death.  “Where…wha…wha…’appened?”  Panic was setting in now, and he tried again to move, but was stopped by increased agony and a pair of strong hands.

Concerned over Justin’s apparent lack of orientation, Todd abandoned his brief neurological assessment and offered his friend what he obviously needed more at the moment.  He leaned in close to his ear.  “Justin, listen to me.  You’re okay.  It’s Todd, and I’ve got you.  Do you understand?”

Justin nodded slightly and Todd could feel his body relax marginally under his touch.

“I’ve got you, and you’re going to be okay.”  Todd waited for Justin’s breathing to slow again.  “You’ve got some injuries to your head and face.  I know it hurts, but just try to relax.  Do you remember what happened to you?”

He didn’t.  And his fear began escalating again, along with his anxiety.  “No…”  Then another even more frightening thought occurred to him.  “Cam…”

“Is fine.”  Todd promised, thankful that Justin at least seemed to be remembering people.  “She’s at home.  She and the girls are safe.  Now, let’s worry about you.  Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Justin couldn’t figure out how to answer that question.  It seemed as though he hurt everywhere, yet on some level he knew he should be able to sort it out.  He knew the information Todd was after, but it was beyond his ability and too exhausting to explain it.  “Mmmm….I…I don’t…”

“That’s okay.”  Todd’s skilled hands moved to the back of Justin’s neck, exploring every vertebra, looking for deformities.  “Does your neck hurt?”  He had already observed that Justin seemed able to move his extremities, so he doubted there was any serious spinal injury to contend with.

“No…”

Todd’s hands moved downward over Justin’s spine.  “What about your back?  Tell me if anything hurts.”

Justin could feel Todd’s hands pressing on his back, and he found it oddly comforting.  He needed someone to be in control right now, and he was immensely glad his boss and friend was here.  In a detached sort of way, he figured if he had to be hurt, he couldn’t do much better than having an orthopedic surgeon here with him.  But, those meandering thoughts dissipated instantly when Todd’s hands reached the middle portion of Justin’s back.  The dull ache he had been feeling there…the one that seemed to wrap around his entire left side…the one that became sharper with every rapid breath he took…erupted in an agony so severe he could taste it.  He cried out in pain.

Todd’s hands recoiled as if they had made contact with a hot burner.  After taking just a moment to collect himself after the sound of his friend’s torturous scream, he carefully lifted Justin’s shirt.  “I’m gonna take a look…”  He became instantly nauseated at the sight, and his hand moved reflexively to his mouth.  Large bruises were forming over the area of Justin’s left flank.  In the shape of footprints.  In fact, on the one, Todd could actually make out the imprint of what appeared to be some sort of boot tread.  One thing was certain.  Whatever his friend had been through here tonight had been nightmarish to say the least.  Maybe it was good he didn’t remember.  And the real question was…who would do this to Justin?  And why?

Todd ran his hands gently over the swollen areas.  It was obvious there would be some rib fractures.  Possibly an injury to Justin’s kidney or spleen.  He didn’t feel the need to cause his friend further pain by conducting a more complete examination.  At least not right now.  Todd was startled out of his focused thoughts by a knock on the door.

“Police!”

Todd called out from his position on the floor.  “It’s open!”

Two uniformed officers from the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department stepped inside, filling Todd with tremendous relief.  Now, they would do their job and figure out who was responsible for leaving his best friend here alone and bleeding.  They would catch him and make sure justice was served.  And, if not, then Todd sure as hell would.  After introductions were made and a brief recount of the night’s events was given to the officers, they went about searching the premises, while Todd turned his attention back to Justin.

“The police are here, Justin.”

What did he say?  Police?  Damn it, what the hell was going on?  Why couldn’t he remember anything?

“Yeah.  It looks like you were assaulted.  Do you remember anything at all?”

Okay, now Todd was talking in riddles.  Assaulted?  Him?  “No…Todd…”

“It’s okay, Justin.”  Actually no, it really isn’t.  “The police will get to the bottom of it.”

Fear and panic began to creep in again.  After all, it wasn’t every day you woke up in ridiculous pain and found out you had been assaulted.  Especially when you didn’t have any enemies and tried hard to live an honest, law-abiding life.  “But…”  As Justin spoke the word, saliva and congealed blood gurgled in his throat and for a moment his airway was blocked.  This only caused more panic as his trauma-addled brain wasn’t able to sort out why or what to do about it.  He began to choke.

Recognizing immediately what was happening, and figuring Justin would fare better with his head elevated anyway, Todd hooked his hands under his arms and in one swift movement, lifted him up until he was in an almost-sitting position, leaning back against Todd’s chest.  In this position, the trapped secretions in Justin’s throat were able to make their way down his esophagus, and as soon as he could utter a sound again, he wanted to let loose a few expletives, but all he could manage was a prolonged, miserable groan.

Todd held his friend, supporting him with his own body.  “I know…”

Justin’s head spun in nonsensical circles.  He was dizzy, nauseous, surely his head was exploding, and his entire body throbbed with excruciating vigor.  Adding to his misery was the fact that he couldn’t seem to make sense of anything that was going on.  Someone had hurt him, and he had no idea why.  He hadn’t felt fear like this since he used to crawl into his parents’ bed when the ‘monsters’ came out of his bedroom closet.  “Todd…wha…wha ‘appened”  His emotions were getting the better of him now, and he just wanted someone to explain things.  And to make it all go away.

Todd held on a little tighter, his heart falling slightly at the repeated question.  He had just told Justin less than a minute ago what had happened.  This was not a good sign.  “I don’t know.  But it’s all going to be all right.  You need to calm down.”

Calm down?  Easy for him to say.  Justin had a better idea.  Shut down.  He wouldn’t need to think that way.  Wouldn’t need to feel.  He closed his eye and his head slumped forward.

“Justin?  Justin!”  Todd quickly repositioned Justin’s head in order to keep his airway open.  “Damn it.  Come on, buddy.  Stay with me.  Justin…”  After realizing Justin was again unconscious, Todd’s hands moved down in front of his body and he lifted his shirt.  A quick check of Justin’s abdomen filled him with a small measure of relief.  A little guarding on the upper left. Not bad.

Todd was relieved to hear another siren approach and then stop.  He looked up at the voice of one of the officers, who had just re-entered the room. 

“We searched the whole place.  Whoever did this is gone.”

It was then that a thought occurred to Todd.  Justin’s missing Mercedes.  “I think he may have stolen his car.”

“What’s that?”

“His car.  Dark blue Mercedez-Benz.  Justin keeps it parked right out front when he’s here.”

“I’m on it.”  One of the officers said as he exited.

The remaining officer knelt down in order to make eye contact with Todd.  “Anything else missing that you know of?  What about his wallet?”

Todd slipped his hands into the back pockets of Justin’s jeans.   “Gone too.”

“I’m guessing whoever it was wanted money…possibly drugs.  Everything so far is pointing to a random…”  The officer’s voice trailed off as he seemed to notice something.  He stood up.

“What?”  Todd craned his neck to see what had captured the other man’s attention.

“Bullet hole.”

“What??”  Todd’s voice raised in alarm.  “Where?”

“Right here.”  The officer pointed to a small hole in the drywall.  Then, his eyes scoured the floor for additional clues.  Finally, he noticed the photograph of the smiling family, missing its frame, with another bullet hole right through the center.  “And here.”  He held up the picture for Todd to see.

A chill coursed up and down Todd’s spine, causing his body to tremble. 

The officer picked up what was left of the picture frame.  “I’m guessing that’s where all this glass came from.”

Todd looked down at Justin’s face and studied the damage.  It had been obvious some sort of blunt object was used to cause these injuries, but up until now, Todd hadn’t been able to venture a guess.  He shivered again when he realized just how close his friend must have come to death, and wondered how-by-the-grace-of-god he’d escaped it.  “Hey, do you think a hand-gun could have caused this?”  He wasn’t sure why he was asking the police officer this, but he guessed he had probably seen more ‘pistol whippings’ in his career than Todd had.

“I’d say it’s likely.”  The officer noted.  “The question is…if the guy had a gun, why did he use it on a picture, and not on your friend, here?”

“How the hell would I know?  You’re the cop.  That’s for you to figure out.”  Todd couldn’t help but be irritated by the question, but then he regretted his tone.  After all, the man was only doing his job.  “Sorry.”  Maybe he just missed.  But, if there was no one around…why not try again?  Maybe he only had one round.  Todd’s head swam with questions no one but the perpetrator had the answers to.

“It’s okay, Doc.  And, I promise you, we will figure it out.”  The officer pointed toward Justin.  “How’s he doing?”

“Not too good.”

“Well, it sounds like the paramedics are here.  And the ambulance.  We’ve got a detective on the way too.  When he comes around again, we’ll need to ask him some questions.”

Outside the clinic, Johnny and Roy unloaded their equipment from the side compartment of the squad.  They had been cancelled on their previous call and weren’t surprised at all to receive the dispatch to Justin’s place.  They recognized a familiar figure approaching them.  Johnny spoke to the officer on his way inside.

“Hey, Scotty.  This is my friend’s place.  What’s going on?”

“Hey sorry, John.  I didn’t know that.  Not really sure what happened.  Someone trashed the place.  Your friend, I guess, really got his bell rung.”

Johnny nearly burst through the door and hurried over to where Justin lay supported by Todd.  “Doc?”

“He’s been in and out.  Disoriented…his processing is slow.  Probably a concussion.  I’m worried there might be some facial fractures.  Maybe even a jaw fracture.  He’s having some trouble speaking and swallowing.”

 “O2?”  Roy was already unfurling the tubing in anticipation of the doctor’s orders.

 “Yeah…just a cannula though.  When he comes around again, I don’t think he’ll tolerate a mask.  Besides, he’s drooling a lot.”

Johnny whipped out his penlight and carefully peeled back Justin’s right eyelid in order to check his pupils.  He winced in sympathy as he surveyed the damage to the left half of Justin’s face.  Then, very gently, he checked the left eye.  This caused Justin to stir slightly and utter a weak moan.  “Pupils are equal and reactive.  A little sluggish though.”

Justin felt something or someone touching his face.  He didn’t want anyone near it, and he protested weakly by raising his left hand.

Todd quickly returned the hand to his side, allowing Roy to finish positioning the nasal cannula.  “Hey, welcome back.  Look who’s here.”

Justin cracked open his one eye and tried to make out the identities of the fuzzy, dark figures in front of him.

“Hey, Justin.  Good to see ya.”

John.  That was John’s voice.  “Hey…John…”  He was starting to remember something now.  It was right there…just out of reach…

“And Roy’s here too.  Don’t worry.  We’re gonna give you the star treatment.”  Johnny did his best to keep the mood light, knowing it was as beneficial to him as it was to his patient.  He was fully aware Roy was keeping tabs on him, too, so he wanted to make sure his partner knew he could handle this.  He cut Justin’s right sleeve in preparation to take his blood pressure, and stopped when he noticed swelling and bruising that enveloped his entire upper arm.  “Hey, Doc?  Take a look at this.”

Todd frowned.  “Damn. Any deformity?”

Johnny handed the blood pressure cuff to Roy so he could use it on Justin’s other arm.  Then, he cut away more of the shirt so he could get a better look.  Starting near Justin’s elbow, Johnny’s fingers made their way up towards his shoulder, until finally Justin let loose a strangled, gurgling sound and tried to pull his arm away.  “Sorry…”  Johnny looked up at Todd.  “Might be a humerus fracture, Doc.  Can’t really tell.”

Todd sighed.  This just kept getting better and better.  “He’s got some fractured ribs too.  Posterior.  Left side.”  He didn’t have to voice that there could be some accompanying internal injuries.  He knew the paramedics were trained to assume that possibility as well.

“His BP’s 100 over 70.”  Roy allowed the cuff to deflate, and removed the stethoscope from his ears.  “Pulse is 110.”

“Check his lungs, especially on the left.”  Todd ordered, and Roy obliged.

“Lungs are clear and breath sounds are equal.”  Roy reported his findings before moving on to complete his own brief check for possible internal injuries.  He found that pressure on Justin’s upper left quadrant caused him to squirm a bit, but there was nothing to indicate any severe bleeding.

Justin wanted everyone to stop touching him.  He wanted to talk.  He had questions he needed to ask.  For one thing, Todd or John or someone needed to do something about this pain in his head.  There was so much he needed to say, but as he tried to make his mouth form the words, all he could produce was gurgled nonsense.  He coughed to clear his throat, and saliva mixed with blood ran from the corner of his mouth.  He groaned in frustration.

Johnny noticed this right away, and felt for his friend.  His misery was apparent, both physically and mentally.  He grabbed for a 4x4 and used it to wipe Justin’s mouth.  Then, he grabbed another one and placed it in Justin’s left hand.  That would do until they got out to the ambulance where he could replace it with a soft towel.  “Here ya go, buddy.  How are you feeling?”

“Mmm…dizzy…hurts…”

“How about an IV, Doc?”  Roy already had the set-up in hand.

“Yeah, go ahead.  Normal saline.  But run it slow.  I don’t want to overload him on fluids.”  Todd didn’t explain further.  He knew Johnny and Roy would understand his caution, with the possibility of a kidney injury.  The only problem was, he knew Justin might understand too.  At least under normal conditions.

While Roy was busy with the IV, Johnny carefully placed a couple of 4x4’s over the laceration near Justin’s hairline and secured it by wrapping some rolled gauze diagonally around his head.  Then, he remembered the ice packs Justin kept in his refrigerator.  “I’ll be right back.”

Roy and Todd looked up as a newcomer entered the room.  Roy recognized the African-American detective right away.  “Hi, Detective Crockett.”

“Hi, uh…Roy, isn’t it?”  Crockett sauntered over to where the action was.

“That’s right.”

“Listen, my men already filled me in on just about everything I need to know, and we’ve already got an APB out on the Mercedes.  But I’d like to ask your friend a few questions, if that’s all right.  It’s important.”

“Okay, just make it quick.”  Todd advised.  He knew the questions were necessary in order to get to the bottom of what happened here tonight.  But, he hated that Justin needed to go through this, and he wondered how much information he would realistically be able to offer.  “We need to get him to the hospital.”

“I understand.  Doctor…”

“Andrews.”  Todd extended a hand, realized it was covered in dried blood, and retracted it.  “Call me Todd.”

Crockett knelt in front of his only witness to this crime.  “Mr. Quinn?  Justin?  My name is Detective Crockett.  I need to ask you what, if anything, you remember about what happened tonight.”

“I…I don’t ‘member…”  Justin’s words slurred together in his effort to talk without moving his jaw.

Crockett was not unaccustomed to this type of response, and he knew the best way to respond was to keep at it.  “Anything at all.  Did you know the person who did this?”

That much Justin could answer.  He didn’t remember, but no one he knew would be capable of doing something like this.  Except maybe Jonas.  But, he was behind bars.  “No…”

Crockett made eye contact with the others, hoping along with them that maybe this meant some memories were coming back.  “Think hard.  Do you recall anything at all?  What color hair?  Tall or short?”

Fuzzy pictures were beginning to rifle through Justin’s memory like fragments of old, black and white movies.  But, he couldn’t make much sense of them.  “I…I don’t…”

“What else do you remember, Justin?”

The pain in Justin’s head was increasing with the added stress of trying to remember.  He clenched his good eye shut.  “I…I don’t…”

“What did he want?  What did he say to you?”  Crockett pressed on.

Justin pressed his head back against Todd as he became overwhelmed by pain and frustration.  The room spun and his stomach churned.  “Oh…God…”

“I think that’s enough questions for now, Detective.”  Todd warned.

But Crockett continued, fully aware of the distress he was causing, but knowing that with each hour that passed, there was less of a chance they would find their man.  “Is there anything else, Justin?”

“I said that’s enough, Detective!”  This time, Todd’s voice meant business.

“Of course.”  Crockett excused himself, thanking the others for their cooperation.  Then, he had an afterthought.  “Oh, uh…if anyone would happen to know the license plate of Mr. Quinn’s Mercedes…”

Johnny knew the answer to that one.  Only because Justin’s plate was so easy to remember.  “It’s JUST-PT.”

Crockett wrote that down.  “California tags?”

“Yeah.”

“Well thank you, John.”  Crockett pocketed his small notepad.  “You’ve been most helpful.”

“The guy took his Mercedes?”  Johnny asked.  Apparently he had missed that.

Todd nodded.

“My…what…”  This was all too much.  His car was gone?  Again, Justin’s mind reeled as he tried to comprehend everything that was happening.  His pain level increased right along with his stress, and he groaned in frustration.  Why wasn’t Todd doing anything about this?

“Here.”  Johnny rested an ice pack against Justin’s cheek, and Todd held it in place.  “Try this.  It might help a little.”

Justin flinched slightly as the cold pack made contact with his tender face, but as the ice began to cool and soothe, he began to relax slightly.  Unfortunately, his relief was only short lived.  “Oh…oh, God…”  He tried to lean forward.

“What’s wrong?”  Todd asked, then immediately realized what was happening and motioned for the trash can near the counter.  “There we go…”  The doctor was strangely calm, as if he had been waiting for this, knowing it would happen sooner or later.

“Sick…”  Was all Justin could get out before he was leaned forward and supported by three sets of hands while he retched pitifully into the waste basket.  A mixture of stomach contents, saliva, and blood, the sight and smell of which caused him to start heaving all over again.  And through it all, Justin figured if it was possible to die from pain alone, he was about to find out.  Once he was finished, he was dimly aware of comforting hands settling him again, of calming voices that he couldn’t understand.  And then the cool sensation was back, for what miniscule relief it provided.  But, at least it was something.  And Todd…telling him over and over again that he was okay.  Justin knew he was anything but.  But, he focused in on Todd’s words anyway as if they were a lifesaving intervention.

Todd looked past the paramedics at the ambulance attendants, who were waiting near the door with their litter.  Then, he made a suggestion to Johnny.  “Why don’t you guys get him packaged?  I’m going to call Rampart.”

“Sure.”  Johnny nodded, then had a thought.  “Doc?  What do you wanna do about this arm?  Do you want us to splint it first?”

Todd paused for just a second to consider that.  “No…I want to take a closer look at it on the way.”  He looked at the attendants again and started issuing orders.  “Raise the head of that litter.  He needs to be sitting up.”  The doctor knew that keeping Justin’s head elevated was important.  It would not only help limit any additional swelling, but it would be more comfortable too.  Also, it would make it easier to keep Justin’s airway free of blood and saliva, not to mention keep him from aspirating should he become sick again.  He turned back to Roy, who was nearest the drug box.  “Before you move him, go ahead and give him 4 milligrams MS IV.  You guys don’t carry phenergan or compazine, do you?”

“No.”  Roy opened the drug box and retrieved a vial of morphine.

Todd sighed.  “Didn’t think so.”  He watched as Roy drew the requested dose into a syringe and began slowly injecting it into the port on Justin’s IV.  “Okay, Justin.  A little MS coming your way.”  The doctor knew it wasn’t much, but he couldn’t risk more just yet.  He hoped it would at least take the edge off. 

Once the others began to move Justin in preparation for getting him onto the litter, and Todd no longer needed to support him, he slid backwards to where the phone still sat on the floor.  He picked up the receiver and looked up at Johnny.  “What number do you guys use?”  He punched it in as Johnny recited it from memory.

Joe Early picked up the red receiver on the first ring.  He, Brackett, and Dixie were still gathered at the base station.  They had heard the squad get dispatched to Long Beach, and they all had a feeling this might be the call they had been waiting for ever since Todd had left.  “Hello, this is Rampart.  Joe Early speaking.”

“Joe, it’s Todd.”

“Hello, Todd…”  Joe made eye contact with the others, ensuring they knew they would soon be getting some news.  “We thought maybe it was you.  Did you find Justin?”

“Yeah…yeah, I found him.”  Todd had to try hard to resist running over to the litter and intervening at the sound of Justin’s cries of protest at being lifted and moved.  He could hear Johnny and Roy talking him through it as best they could, and he reminded himself they knew what they were doing.  “Someone broke in…”  His voice trailed off.  No, hadn’t broken in.  Justin had apparently let him in.  Probably with the intent of helping him.  The thought of that only made Todd angrier.  “Someone assaulted him.”

“Someone what?”  In his experience, Joe had learned that nothing should come as a surprise anymore.  But, in all of the possible scenarios he’d already formulated in his mind as far as what might have happened to Justin, this certainly hadn’t been one of them. 

“I’ll explain later.”  Todd watched as the attendants placed a blanket over Justin’s legs.  He knew they needed to get going, so he kept his report brief.  “We should be there in about 10-15 minutes.  Joe, I’ll need you for a neuro consult, and give Aaron Katzman from maxillofacial a call.  And, have a portable radiology unit waiting.  We’re gonna need pictures of his head, left posterior ribs…may as well just order a full skull, chest, and abdominal series.  Also, his right humerus and shoulder.  I’m worried about possible trauma to his kidney or spleen.”

“You got it, Todd.”  Joe promised as he quickly jotted down some notes.  He couldn’t help but notice Todd sounded a bit shaky.  But, he supposed given the circumstances, that was to be expected.  “Anything else?”

“I’ll fill you in when we get there.  He’s showing definite signs of some sort of brain injury.  He’s likely got some skull or facial fractures.  Blunt trauma to his left flank.  Possible fractured humerus.  He’s in and out of consciousness, groggy and confused.  A bit shocky, but relatively stable…”  Todd watched the litter being wheeled outside.  “Look, I gotta go.”

“Okay, don’t worry.  We’ll have everything ready when you get here.”  Joe hung up the phone and filled the others in on what he’d learned.

***

Johnny held the plastic basin under Justin’s mouth as he heaved and spit painfully into it for the third time.  “Wish we could do something about this nausea, Doc.”

“Yeah…me too.”  Todd grabbed onto the overhead rail as the ambulance rocked and pitched on its way to the hospital.  He was becoming motion sick himself, so he could only imagine what the constant swaying was doing to Justin’s already compromised equilibrium.

The world, to Justin, had suddenly transformed into a cruel disarray of unpleasant sensations.  Pain…nausea…the intense glare of the overhead lights…the jostling of his body despite the litter straps…the strident wail of the sirens…all combined into one great, gigantic glob of misery.  He wasn’t even sure which end was up anymore as the voices and soothing touches of his friends tried to break through the insanity.  He could feel someone’s hands…John’s maybe…helping to steady him, urging him to rest his head back.  But, he resisted.  It hurt too damn much to think, much less move.  “God…my head.” 

Renewed anger surged through Todd’s veins at the sight of a tear falling from the corner of Justin’s good eye and forging a path down his cheek.  He couldn’t imagine how anyone could do something like this to another person.  To cause someone else this much pain.  It just wasn’t in his genetic makeup, and he wondered what kind of life a person had to have to be able to pull off something like this and just walk away, leaving the other person to suffer.  And possibly die.  He rapped on the glass partition between the patient compartment and the ambulance driver.   “Hey!  Can we kill these sirens?”

A few seconds later, the wailing stopped, making the normal sounds produced by the road and other traffic seem silent in comparison.  Todd glanced upward at the lights.  “Can we dim those a bit, too?”

“Sure.”  Johnny reached over and flipped a series of switches on the actionary, which resulted in an immediate reduction of glare.

Todd sighed.  “Get another pressure.”  He brushed the hair away from Justin’s mouth and used the soft towel he held to wipe the blood-tinged fluid from the corner.  Then, he placed the towel back in Justin’s hand and repositioned his ice pack, which was now being held onto the side of his face with the help of a wide elastic bandage.  “Hang in there, buddy.  We’ll get you some relief soon.  I promise.”  

In that moment, Todd realized he wasn’t accustomed to seeing his patients before they arrived in the emergency room.  And most times before he got to them, they had already been sedated with generous amounts of narcotics.  He wasn’t used to seeing what happened before that.  The so called “golden hour” where the trauma patient was treated by the paramedics and transported to the hospital.  And all of the stress that went along with the stabilization process.  And, he supposed he preferred it that way.  He wondered how Johnny…and Roy…dealt with bearing witness to this much suffering.  Shift after shift after shift.  In fact…Todd studied Johnny’s face carefully as he concentrated on the falling mercury on the blood pressure gauge.  He saw his jaw muscles give a slight twitch, and he wondered what the paramedic was feeling right now.  Surely, it was much different when the person suffering was somebody you knew.  Someone you loved.

Johnny allowed the cuff to fully deflate as he pulled the stethoscope out of his ears.  “100 over 68.”

“Good.  At least his pressure is holding.”  Todd was thankful that at least Justin didn’t appear to be hemorrhaging badly.  He used the pair of trauma shears he had grabbed out of the cabinet earlier to cut away what was left of Justin’s shirt around his right shoulder.  The upper arm and shoulder were definitely swollen and discolored, but there was no major deformity that Todd could see.  Todd strained to remember which shoulder it was that his friend had injured a few months back.  He thought it had been the right one, but he wasn’t sure.  He decided to ask as his hands felt for brachial and radial pulses.  “Hey, Justin?  Is this the shoulder you injured water skiing?”

Justin’s legs moved restlessly as another sharp pain increased in magnitude, enveloping his entire left side in an overpowering wave.  “S-skiing?”  His voice wavered as his entire body shook.

“Never mind.”  Todd placed his fingers inside Justin’s right palm.  “Justin, squeeze my fingers.”  When there was no response to his command, Todd tried again.  “Justin?  Do you feel my fingers in your hand?” 

Finally, Justin gave a weak, “Mm-hm.”  His head hurt too much to nod and talking made it feel like someone was jamming an ice pick through his ear.

“Good.  Give ‘em a squeeze.”  Todd waited until Justin complied, then went on to conduct a miniature neurological exam.  He leaned over and placed the fingers of his other hand inside Justin’s other palm and directed him to squeeze again.  Then, he moved to his feet, removing the boots and socks that Justin still wore, and placing them on the blanket between his ankles.  “Push your feet down against my hands like a gas pedal, Justin.”

It took a few moments, and several more prompts from Johnny until Justin’s injured brain finally put together what to do and communicated that to his feet.

“Good!”  Todd moved his hands to the tops of Justin’s feet.  “Pull back toward your shins.”

Again, it took awhile, and both Todd and Johnny breathed sighs of relief when Justin was finally able to comply.  Todd used the handle end of the trauma shears, and ran it up the sole of each foot.  “Negative babinskis.”

“Good.”  Johnny blew out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“Responses are a little slow, but he seems to have equal strength and control bilaterally.  Well, his grip was a little weaker on the right, but I expected that.”

“Right.”  Johnny looked out the back window and noticed they were pulling into Rampart.  “We’re here.”  He informed both the doctor and his patient, as he unhooked the oxygen tubing from the on-board supply.  “Do you want him on the portable cylinder on the way in?”

Unfamiliar with the jargon, it took Todd only a brief moment to realize what Johnny meant.  “No, let’s just get going.”

“Okay.”  The paramedic unhooked the IV bag from the overhead hook and held it aloft, transferring it to his teeth as he hopped out the back of the truck.

Todd waited until the attendants had unloaded the litter and then he carefully stepped down onto the cement, every joint in his legs, hips, and back seemingly protesting at the same time.  He wondered for a moment how these guys did this all the time.  It was no wonder John’s hip still bothered him once in a while.

But, it sure didn’t seem any worse for the wear now.  Todd could barely keep up with the litter as Johnny and the attendants wheeled it down the hallway.

“We’re all ready in six.”  Dixie announced, as she led the way to the treatment room, where she held the door open for the arriving crew.

Todd gave his report to Brackett and Joe as the others worked to transfer Justin from the litter to the exam table.  “He’s vomited times three, so he needs some phenergan ASAP.  He had four of MS on scene, but he’ll need at least five to ten more.  So, let’s get his neuro out of the way STAT.  He’s been hypotensive, but he’s remained stable.”

Joe stepped in with his penlight and flashed it in each one of Justin’s eyes, causing him to groan and try batting at Joe’s hand.  “How long was he out?”

“He was unresponsive when I first got there.  I don’t know how long.  When he called me, he said he ‘just woke up’ so I take that to mean he was out for a while before that.  He’s been in an out of it ever since.”  Todd went on to describe the neurological findings he had discovered thus far.

Joe traded his penlight for an opthamoloscope in order to take a better look as Brackett cut away the bandages around Justin’s head, his mouth twitching at his first glimpse at the extent of the damage.  He ran his fingers lightly over the various bruises, the laceration, and areas of swelling.  Then, he listened to Justin’s chest.

“His lungs are clear.  Where was the bruising you talked about?”   Brackett searched as he asked.

“He’s got several large bruises on his left flank.”  Todd pointed.  “I’m sure he’s got at least a couple posterior rib fractures.  He’ll need an IVP…”

Joe finished with his brief exam.  “There’s no papilledema.  The left eye looks okay, but it wouldn’t hurt to have an opthamologist take a look.  I’ll see who’s on call.”

Brackett barked at Dixie who had just finished with a blood pressure reading, and Johnny, who seemed like he wanted more to do.  “Get the rest of his clothes off.  Dix, draw blood for a CBC, type and cross, hematocrit, BUN, creatinine, and electrolytes.  Then, anchor a foley and get a UA.”

Justin began to protest at the doctor’s orders.  “Mmm…nnooo.”  Was Brackett out of his mind?  Surely he couldn’t be so bad off that he needed all of that.  All he wanted was something for the pain in his head.  Then he would go home and rest.  Home.  With his family.  That’s all he wanted.

“What’s wrong, Justin?”  Todd leaned in, realizing his friend was distressed about something.

“No…foley.”

Todd knew that if Justin’s mind hadn’t been scrambled, he’d know exactly why everything was happening the way it was.  But, something in his friend’s expression told him he didn’t quite understand.  And, that was more than a little disconcerting.  Todd squeezed his hand.  “Justin, listen to me.  We’re concerned you may have injured your kidney.  Which means we’re going to have to closely monitor your urinary output for a while.  Do you understand?”

Justin closed his good eye and another tear leaked from its corner.  “No…”

Todd glanced at the others.  No one was quite sure if that meant ‘no’ he didn’t understand or ‘no’ he didn’t agree with his doctors’ course of treatment.  “It’ll be okay, Justin…”  Todd nodded to Dixie, then let go of Justin’s hand in order to give her some room.  He wasn’t prepared for the reaction from the table.

“No!”  Justin practically screamed, in full panic-mode now.  “Todd!”  His respiratory rate increased and his now empty hand began frantically groping the air.  Raising his voice had caused dagger-like pain to throb through his face and head, which only increased his stress. 

Mistaking Justin’s outburst for continued resistance to the catheter, Todd took his hand again and started talking him through it.  “Hey…hey…calm down, Justin.  Look, you need…”

“Ssstay…here…”  Justin slurred.

“What?”  Todd looked to the others to see if any of them had been able to decipher the garbled speech.

“He said ‘stay here.’”  Johnny stood at the foot of the bed, his face expressionless, and fixated on his brother-in-law’s.  His jaw tensed.  Whoever did this was going to pay.  In that moment, Johnny had decided this for sure.  One way or another, he was going to pay.  Seeing Justin this out of control…his normally self-assured persona replaced by raw fear…watching him suffer like this…needlessly…was all of a sudden too much to take.  “I gotta…I gotta go.”  He turned and was out the door before anyone could stop him.

“Todd!”  Justin’s strangled cry brought everyone’s attention back to their patient.

“Okay, Justin.  Okay…”  Todd gave the hand a hard squeeze, affirming his presence.  “I’m right here.”

“”Kay…”  Justin closed his eye and relaxed slightly.

Todd stayed right where he was as Joe returned and went about asking questions and checking reflexes.  He stayed as Justin was rolled slightly to his right side so the other doctors could get a look at his bruises.  And, he donned a lead apron and stayed while all the X-rays were taken. 

Finally, he was able to offer some good news.  “We’re going to give you something for that pain and nausea now, Justin.”  He watched as Dixie injected the contents of two syringes into the IV port.  “You should start feeling a lot more comfortable in a few seconds.”  As the doctor literally felt his friend relax, he let go of his hand and tried to rub the tension out of his own neck.  All of a sudden, he felt as though every ounce of energy had been drained from his body.

“You okay?”  Dixie deposited the empty syringes on a tray.

It took a bit for Todd to realize the nurse had been speaking to him, and not their patient.  “Huh?  Yeah…I’m okay.”  He pointed toward the table.  “He looks like he’s doing a little better now, too.”

Dixie nodded.  “I’m going to start getting him cleaned up.  Who’s doing the sutures on that lac?”  She pointed to the ragged laceration at Justin’s hairline.

“Kel, will you or Joe do it?”  Todd asked.  “I want to go talk to Aaron.”

“Sure.”  Brackett smiled, his lip twitching ever so slightly.  He recognized this had not been an easy night for his colleague.

Todd exited the room and was greeted by Joe Early, who had been on his way back to the room with a packet of X-rays in hand.  “Hey, Joe.  Are they Justin’s?”

“Yep.”  Joe held the packet up.  “I already checked the skull series.  You’ll want to have Aaron take a look.”

“I was just going to track him down.”  Todd frowned.  “How bad?”

“Come see for yourself.”  Joe nodded his head toward the treatment room door.  “We can have Aaron paged.”

Todd said nothing as he followed the neurosurgeon into the room.  If Joe wasn’t saying anything, that was bad news.

Joe spoke as if reading Todd’s mind.  “The good news is, I didn’t see any evidence of a bleed.  There are some fractures, but neurologically speaking, I don’t believe he’s going to be dealing with anything worse than a severe concussion.”

“Yeah, well that’s bad enough.”  Todd grumbled.

“Could have been a lot worse.”  Joe gently reminded.  “The retrograde amnesia is normal, and quite honestly, could be as much from the shock and trauma of the event than from the head injury itself.  The disorientation…and other symptoms…should resolve in time.”

“Should.”  Todd hated to play devil’s advocate, but he knew as well as Joe did there was no way to know right now what long term repercussions these injuries could cause.

Joe placed a hand on Dixie’s shoulder to get her attention.  “Dix, would you have Aaron Katzman paged down here?”

“Sure.”  After a nod from Brackett indicating he could handle the suturing until she returned, Dixie left to carry out Joe’s request.

Joe slapped the radiographs of Justin’s skull up onto the light board.  “You can see here…”  He ran a finger along a barely visible line on the left cheekbone.  “There appears to be a non-displaced zygomatic fracture near the temporomandibular joint. That wouldn’t be much to deal with except…”  His finger moved to the outside of the lower jaw.  “…there’s a displaced subcondylar fracture.”

“Damn.”  Todd muttered.  He would need to speak with Aaron, but the orthopod was fairly certain there would be surgery in Justin’s future.

“His spine is clear.”  Joe announced, then he snapped up another series of films.

Todd carefully scrutinized the multiple views of Justin’s thorax.  “Looks like at least three posterior rib fractures…” 

“No extravasion.”  Joe pointed at the results of the pyleogram.  “But there was blood in his urine.  His kidney may be badly bruised.  We’ll need to keep a close eye on it.”

“Right.”  Todd looked over at his friend on the exam bed.  It appeared he was sleeping now, so therefore was not overhearing anything being said.  “Let me see the shoulder films.”  He gestured with his hand without taking his eyes off Justin.  Finally, he heard Joe snapping the requested pictures onto the viewer.  Todd moved in closer.  “Proximal humerus fracture…”  He sighed and shifted his weight.  “Doesn’t look too bad, but…he’s got evidence of some soft tissue damage here…”

“What are you thinking, Todd?”  Brackett asked from across the room.  He had just finished suturing and he peeled off his gloves.

“I think…”  Todd frowned, uncertain.  “Aaron’s going to need to address the mandibular fracture first.  I may just set his arm in traction for a few days.  See how it does.”

Dixie returned to the room.  “Dr. Katzman will be down in a few minutes.”  She walked over beside Justin and began smoothing his hair, being careful not to disturb the fresh sutures.

Justin began to stir at the nurse’s gentle ministrations.  As he came back to awareness, the first thing he noticed was the familiar scent of her perfume.  Then, he realized his mouth felt unbelievably dry.  He swallowed in an attempt to produce some saliva, but that hurt.  It wasn’t the piercing, brain shattering hurt he’d felt earlier, but it was enough to discourage his efforts.  He licked at his lips and tasted blood.  Frustrated and confused, he let out a quiet moan.

“How are you doing, Tiger?”

Dixie.  Suddenly, Justin remembered where he was.  But, he was a little fuzzy on why he was here.  “Thirsty…”  He hoped Dixie understood what he’d said.  He couldn’t get his mouth to work right.

“I have just the thing for that.”  The nurse knew Justin would not be allowed anything to drink just yet, so she retrieved a few mouth swabs from the cabinet, along with a cup of water.  She figured some cool water would feel good, and maybe she could loosen up some of the dried blood in Justin’s mouth and suction that away while she was at it.

The door opened and a tall, salt-and-pepper haired man stepped into the treatment room.  He wore an impeccably pressed tailored shirt with complimentary tie, but no jacket or labcoat.  And he spoke in somewhat kvetchy tones.  “Todd?  You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, Aaron…thanks.”  Todd picked up the folder containing the pictures he wanted his colleague to see.  “Kel?  Can we use your office for a minute?”

“Sure.”  Kel nodded, as he joined Joe at the viewing board.

***

Out in the hallway, Roy caught up to Todd and the unfamiliar doctor, somewhat out of breath.  “Doc?  Is Johnny in there?”  He pointed to the door of Justin’s treatment room.

“No.  He left a while ago.”  Todd looked at his watch.  “I thought you two had gone back to the station by now.”

“Well, we can stay available from here…”  Roy explained as he looked down the hall.  “But, I can’t find Johnny anywhere.”

“Hmm.”  Todd thought for a moment.  “Did you check the lounge or the cafeteria?”

“Yeah.  And the courtyard too.”  Roy shrugged.  “Guess I’ll keep looking.  How’s Justin?”

“He’s hanging in there.  Do you know if anyone has called his family yet?”

Roy had been wondering that himself.  “I don’t know.  I mean, I assumed Johnny would, but…”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll turn up.”  Todd led Aaron into Brackett’s office, leaving Roy to head back down the hall, where he nearly ran into Detective Crockett.

“Hello, Roy…”  Crockett greeting the somewhat harried paramedic.  “Do you by chance know where I might find Dr. Andrews?”

“He’s in a consult right now.”  Roy informed the detective.  “You could wait over there.”  He pointed toward the chairs in the emergency department waiting area.  “I’m sure he’ll be out before too long.”

“Right…”  Crockett made a move for the chairs, then paused as if in afterthought.  “By the way, how is Mr. Quinn?”

“I’m not really sure.  Dr. Andrews said he was hanging in there.”

It appeared Roy was in a bit of a hurry, so Crockett didn’t want to detain him.  But, there was something he might be able to help with.  “Would you happen to know if Mr. Quinn’s family has arrived yet?”

“I don’t think they even know what happened yet.  I don’t know if Johnny’s called them or not…”

“Johnny…as in your partner?”  Crockett was confused.  “Why would he call?”

“Because he’s Justin’s brother-in-law.”

“I see…”  Crockett seemed to ponder that for a moment.  “Well, when you track him down, tell him there’s no need to call Mrs. Quinn.  I sent a man over there already.”

“You did what?”  Roy couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  And he knew Johnny would be furious.  He would want to be the one to break the news to Camarin.  And Hannah.  He could only imagine what his reaction would be when he found out a police officer had shown up at Camarin’s door late at night with bad news.

“Whoever did this has Mr. Quinn’s driver’s license.  He knows where he lives.”  Crockett explained what had apparently never occurred to the others.  “He shot a hole through a picture of his family.  We had reason to suspect…”

“Wait…”  Roy ran his hand backward through his already unruly hair.  “Are you saying you think this guy might have gone after Justin’s family?  Who would wanna…”

“I’m sure everything is fine, Roy, or I’d have heard from my officer by now.  Everything points to a random…”

“He’s got kids…”  This was turning out to be an unbelievable nightmare.  Roy needed to find Johnny.  He hadn’t for one second entertained the thought that Camarin and the girls might be in danger, and he was sure Johnny hadn’t either.  “I have to go.”

“I understand.”  Crockett called after the retreating man.  “But, Roy!”

“Yeah?”  Roy turned, anxious at being distracted from his task.

“When you find that partner of yours…I’d like to talk to him.”

***

Camarin awoke with a start.  Something had awakened her, but as she listened in the dark, the only sounds she could hear were the rolling waves outside her open window.  She closed her eyes, intending to go back to sleep, but she was unsettled.  An eerie chill skittered down her spine, and she got up and closed the window.  Listening.

Surely her imagination was getting the best of her.  She was alone in the new house for the first time without Justin here.  That’s all it was.  She would check on the girls, who would without a doubt be safe and sound in their beds, and then she would go back to sleep.  She threw on her bathrobe and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Knocking.  Someone was knocking on the front door at…Camarin looked at the alarm clock on the bedside stand. One-thirty five in the morning.  What was she going to do?  She thought of the gun she used to keep near her bed on the reservation.  What she wouldn’t give right now to have brought that along to Los Angeles with her.  Instead, she had given it to Chaske Silver Feather.  A lot of good that was doing her right now.  The knocking continued.

Camarin’s mind raced.  The phone.  She would call the police.

“…Police!”

No sooner had Camarin thought to call them, they were announcing their presence at her front door.  That is…if it was really the police.  And if so, what were they doing here?  Her blood ran cold.  She stood frozen in place as the knocking continued.

“Mrs. Quinn?  Open up if you’re in there!”

Whoever it was knew her by name.  But, Camarin was taught to be suspicious.  She longed again for her shotgun, but ultimately decided it was no matter.  Her first responsibility was to protect the girls.  She needed to act.  She moved quickly to the girls’ room and found them both sound asleep in their beds.

“Mrs. Quinn, we just want to make sure you’re all right!”

Now why would they wonder that?  Had Justin sent them?  Was he worried about them?  But, then why not just call… Finally Camarin made her way out to front door.  She threw the deadbolt and opened it a crack, leaving the chain in place.  “Can I see some identification?”

“Sure, ma’am.”  The young officer handed his badge through the crack in the door.  “You can call the L.A. County Sherriff’s Department if you want to verify…”

“No…”  Camarin thought the badge looked legitimate.  Besides, there was a patrol car parked outside with lights flashing.  She undid the chain and invited the officer inside, pulling her bathrobe tight around her body.  “What can I do for you?”

“Hello, ma’am.  I’m Officer Ryder.”  He extended his hand, but Camarin didn’t shake it.

“And you seem to already know who I am.”

The officer removed his hat.  “I was sent here to make sure you were all right.  And to deliver some news.”

There was something wrong.  This officer was too detached.  Something had happened to Justin.  Camarin knew.  “We’re fine…”  Why would we not be fine?

“I’m glad to hear that.”  The officer looked down at his feet, and tapped the brim of his hat against the palm of his hand.  “Mrs. Quinn, your husband…”

“Oh, God.  He’s not dead.”  Camarin closed her eyes, unsure if she wanted to hear anymore.  “Just tell me he’s not dead.”

“He’s not dead.”  Officer Ryder waited a beat.  “But, he’s been injured.”

“What happened?”  Camarin sat down on the nearest chair.

Officer Ryder followed suit and knelt down in front of her.  “He was assaulted and robbed.  Someone knocked him out and took his wallet and his car.  We were concerned whoever did it might come here next.”

“I don’t…”  Camarin shook her head as her eyes filled up with tears.  This couldn’t be happening.  Not here.  “I haven’t seen anyone.  Who was it?  Why would he come here?”

“We’re not sure about anything right now.”  Officer Ryder explained.  “Our main concern was that you and your family were all right.”

Well, if we were before, we aren’t now.  “Is Justin okay?”  Surely he wasn’t, or he would have called himself.

“He was taken to Rampart General Hospital.  That’s about all I know.  I can take you there if you’d like.”

“Yeah…yeah, just…let me get my girls.”  It didn’t even occur to Camarin that the girls shouldn’t go to the hospital.  They were a family now, and they needed to be together.

***

In Brackett’s office, Aaron Katzman studied the X-rays of Justin’s skull, which were taken from just about every possible angle.

“What do you think, Aaron?”  Todd stood near the viewing board, eager for his colleague’s opinion.

“What was he hit with?”

“We’re not positive, but we think it was a handgun.”

Aaron studied the films a bit longer, then sighed and turned to face Todd.  He knew this patient was a personal friend of his, so he gave it to him straight.  “He’ll need intermaxillary fixation.  I’d like to use elastics, but with this combination of fractures, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be stable enough.  And, I’m concerned about trauma to the trigeminal nerve…”

“Yeah…I thought about that too.”

Katzman pointed to an area on the one picture.  “Do we know if those teeth were broken off like that before tonight?”

Todd winced at the sight of what remained of two of Justin’s top molars.  “I’ll have to contact his dentist to be sure, but I doubt it.”  The doctor knew Justin was diligent about his oral health, and wouldn’t allow something like that to prevail for very long.

“I’ll need to examine him.”  Katzman turned the light off on the viewer.  “If I can achieve a good occlusion, I can go ahead and take care of it this morning using arch bars and wires.  Then, after they come off in about four to six weeks, he can see an oral surgeon about his teeth.”

Todd blew out a long breath.  He had a feeling Justin would not react well to having his jaws wired shut.

“I’d like an opthamologist to look at his eye.”  Katzman informed Todd as they walked toward the door.

“I think Joe Early is already arranging that.”  Todd paused just inside the door, as if he didn’t want to leave the temporary sanctuary Brackett’s office provided.

“You all right, Todd?”  Aaron was concerned about his friend.  He looked positively exhausted, and it was clear the night’s events were wearing on him.  “I’m sure it’s been a hell of a night…”

“I’m okay.”  Todd figured he must look a sight by now, and he felt as if he were barely on his feet. But, he didn’t care.  Justin needed him right now, and he wasn’t going to let him down.  “Let’s go.”  He pushed open the door and waited for Katzman to exit.  Then, he followed him to Justin’s room.

Todd was relieved to see Justin appeared to be resting comfortably now, as Dixie busied herself cleaning the dried blood off of his head, face, and neck, stopping every so often to suction his mouth.  She acknowledged the doctors with a nod and a tight smile.

Todd moved to Justin’s right side and gently took his hand into his own, being careful not to jostle the injured arm.  Justin’s face was turned slightly toward him, and Todd leaned in close.  “Justin, it’s Todd.  Can you wake up for me?”

Justin’s response was a quiet, yet obviously irritated moan.  He shifted his legs slightly beneath his covers, and settled back into sleep.

Todd knew the combination of drugs Justin had been given, along with the head injury and the trauma he had endured, were making it very difficult for him to comply.  But, he didn’t want his friend to be caught off guard and possibly be startled by Aaron’s exam.  After all, Todd figured being blindsided once tonight was enough.  He nudged Justin’s good shoulder.  “Come on, Justin.  I know it’s hard, and you want to sleep.  But, there’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”

Todd’s words weren’t making any sense.  And the more Justin tried to understand, the more irritated he became.  He cracked open his right eye and tried to focus on his friend, but it seemed every time he tried to see, his vision became blurrier.  “Huh?  Todd…”  He became aware of pooled saliva in his mouth and he attempted to swallow it, but he couldn’t get his tongue and jaw to work together.  He let out a weak groan of frustration even as Dixie was there with the suction wand.

Satisfied that Justin was making an effort to wake up, but unsure about his level of understanding, Todd spoke slowly.  “Justin, I have Dr. Katzman with me.  He wants to take a look at you.”

Aaron stood at Justin’s left side, and after receiving a nod from his colleague, he addressed his patient.  “Hi, Justin.  I’m Aaron Katzman.  We’ve met before under more pleasant circumstances.  Do you remember?”

Justin tried.  He really wanted to remember, especially since somehow he knew he should.  But he couldn’t.  “I…uh…”  Damn it, why didn’t his mouth work right?

“That’s okay.”  Aaron spoke as his hands moved lightly over Justin’s face.  “You don’t need to talk to me right now.  I’m just going to take a look at your face.”  He paused for a brief beat when pressure over his patient’s swollen cheek caused him to flinch.  “Sorry...”  The doctor looked up at Todd.  “Has he had anything for pain?”  He was almost certain he had, but wondered if some additional analgesic might be in order before he continued on.

“He’s had 12 of MS over the past hour.  Can’t really chance any more with the concussion.”

“Right.”  Aaron agreed.  He hoped his exam wouldn’t be too painful for his patient.  He noted the obvious bruising that now covered most of the left half of Justin’s face and was beginning to spread across the bridge of his nose.  Then, he placed his hands on either side of Justin’s jaw, carefully feeling for the bony outline, but there was too much swelling.  He wasn’t able to easily find the physical evidence the X-ray had shown, and he didn’t want to cause unnecessary pain by trying.  “Justin, can you hear me?”

“Mmm…yeah…”  Justin wished Katzman would just go away.

“Are you able to move your jaw at all?”

Was he kidding?  “Hurz…”

“I know it hurts.”  Aaron made brief eye contact with Todd.  “But, I need to know if you’re able to move it.  Can you try moving your lower jaw side to side for me?”

Justin had to really concentrate in order to carry out that request, but in the end he found he wasn’t able to do it.  Not only did any attempt at moving his jaw in that direction cause mind-bending pain, but it was as if the bone just didn’t want to follow his brain’s commands.  Any attempt to move it to the right resulted in a strange almost-shift to the left.  “Can’t…”  That damned saliva was pooling again and Justin wanted to scream when he felt it start to run down his chin.  Thankfully, Todd was quick with the towel, and wiped it away.  “Shit…”

“It’s okay, Justin.”  Todd knew Justin was quickly reaching his emotional limit.  He had made it clear on a different occasion that he hated being a patient, hated the attention and the out-of-control feelings that went along with it.  Between that and being physically attacked…Todd struggled, trying to figure out how he could best help put his friend at ease without coming off as pandering.

Aaron pulled out a penlight.  “Okay, Justin.  I need you to open your mouth as wide as you can.  It’ll probably hurt a bit, but I need to look inside.”  He waited until his patient reluctantly did as he was requested.  “That’s enough…don’t force it…”

Justin wanted to rip this guy’s head off.  He hadn’t been able to open his mouth very far, and it was causing that ice pick to poke into his ear again.  He could feel Aaron’s gloved fingers poking around inside his mouth and his eyes watered as his head began to throb.  Finally, he had reached his limit, but a throaty whimper was the only protest he could manage.

“Okay, you can relax now.”  Aaron allowed his patient to recover for a few minutes while he relayed his findings to Todd.  “There’s some bruising under his tongue and to other soft tissues.  That’s pretty common with fractures like this.  There are also a few small lacerations inside his left cheek.  They should heal on their own.”  Finally, he turned his attention back to Justin by rubbing the right side of his chin.  “Can you feel that?”

“Uh-huh.”

Aaron’s hands moved to the other side.  “How about this?”

Justin was having a hard time feeling just about anything right now other than aching pain that seemed to envelope his entire head.  He concentrated.  Did he feel anyone touching him anywhere?  He cracked open his good eye.  There was a hand…touching his chin.  Could he feel it?  “No…”  He immediately wondered what this meant.  “Wha…”  And when the doctors didn’t answer him, he became even more concerned.  “Todd…”

“Don’t worry…”

Justin wanted to scream.  Of course he was going to worry.  But, he didn’t get much time to respond, because a second later, Aaron’s voice was back.  Something about the quality of it was grating on Justin’s nerves now.

“I need you to bite down for me.”

Justin tried, but he couldn’t do it.  His top teeth just wouldn’t line up with his lower ones, and the more he tried to make them, the more painful it was…and the more frustrated he became.  Thankfully, Aaron didn’t make him keep trying for long.

“Okay…that’s okay…”  Katzman walked over to the cabinet and retrieved a wooden tongue depressor.  “I’m going to put this between your teeth.  I need you to try biting down on it.  Try not to let it slip out.”

Again, Justin tried.  And he did manage to trap the flat, wooden stick between the molars on the right side.  But, only for a second or two.  And then it fell out.  And the instinctive reaction to retain it caused agony to flare.  Justin closed his eye and inhaled sharply before letting loose some slurred expletives.

“All right, Justin.”  Katzman patted his patient’s shoulder.  “I’ll let you rest now.”  He made eye contact with Todd that indicated he wanted to talk to him outside.

“I’ll be right back.”  Todd promised, squeezing Justin’s hand.  He offered a nod to Dixie, who continued with her task of cleaning her patient up.

Out in the hall, Aaron didn’t mince words.  “I think I should go ahead with the IMF now.  Any more swelling and it’ll be impossible to achieve an occlusion.  I can do it under conscious sedation.”

Todd pondered his colleague’s advice.  While it was a better alternative than general anesthesia, conscious sedation was not ideal with Justin’s head injury.  But, what choice did they have?  “If we wait, there could be further nerve compromise…”

“That’s right.”  Aaron agreed.  “He may already end up with some permanent numbness.  But, if we wait…”

“I know.”  Todd rubbed the back of his neck.   “Okay.  I’ll go talk to him.”

“Are you sure?”  Katzman knew it was typically best practice for the surgeon who would performing the procedure to explain it to his patient, but this situation was slightly different, and Aaron wasn’t surprised Todd wanted to be the one to break the news.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay.”  Aaron reached out and squeezed Todd’s shoulder in a gesture of support.  “I’ll go reserve an OR and get everything ready.”

“Okay.  Thanks, Aaron.”  Todd shook his friend’s hand, then pushed open the treatment room door and stepped back inside.

***

By now, Roy had looked just about everywhere for his partner.  He had been ready to have him paged over the hospital intercom system, but figured he would take one final look around.  He walked out into the courtyard and breathed a sigh at the familiar figure huddled on one of the chairs in the far corner.  Resisting the urge to call out and break the comforting yet somehow disturbing silence, Roy crossed the courtyard in a few long strides.  “Johnny?  I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Yeah?”  Johnny looked up at Roy then back down at the ground.  “I’ve been…around.  Justin okay?”

Roy wanted to tell Johnny that if he wouldn’t have run off like he did, he might know how Justin was doing, but that wasn’t fair.  After all, Roy knew exactly what was going on in Johnny’s head right now, having gone through the same thing after he had been assaulted.  He knew his friend was trying to find a way to make some sense of what happened to Justin…and failing.  He pulled up a chair and sat down.  “Last I heard, he was hanging in there.  Todd was consulting with some other doctor.  I didn’t recognize him.”

“Oh…okay.” 

The two sat in silence for a while.  Roy wanted to tell Johnny he knew what he was feeling...that it was natural and normal to have questions and be angry…but he couldn’t seem to find the right words. 

Finally, Johnny spoke.  “You know what I’ve been doing, Roy?”  It was a rhetorical question.  He didn’t really expect Roy to answer, and he didn’t give him time to.  “I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what I’m going to say to Camarin when I call her.  I mean…how do I…how…”

“I know what you mean, Johnny.”  Roy offered, although he didn’t completely understand.  When Johnny had been assaulted, there had been no wife or children to break the news to.  “You feel like you have to somehow make sense of it yourself because she’s going to be full of questions.  But, you can’t.”

“Because there is no sense to it, Roy!”  Johnny was on his feet now.  “Why?  Why, Justin?”

“The police seem to think whoever did this had his eyes on him.”  Roy explained evenly.  “Maybe he saw what kind of car he drove…figured he had money…”

“Well, I don’t buy it!”  Johnny paced around the courtyard.  “Stuff like this doesn’t just…happen.”

“You and I both know it does, Johnny.  Way too often.  It’s just harder to understand when it happens to someone you love.”

There was so much Johnny wanted to say.  That it wasn’t fair.  That it didn’t make sense.  But all of that seemed trite.  He and Roy both knew that in their profession they were constantly reminded of these truths.  “I guess I should go make some calls…”

“Just Hannah.  I already called Jo, and Camarin’s on her way over.”  Roy braced himself for what he knew he was about to reveal.

“You called Cam?”  Johnny was surprised, and a little confused.  He wasn’t sure if he should feel relieved that Roy had taken it upon himself to call Camarin…or angry.

“No…”  Roy stared at the ground.  “No, I didn’t call her.”

“Well, then who did?  Jo?”

“No…”  Roy looked up and into the wondering eyes of his long time friend.  “Detective Crockett sent an officer over to the house…”

“He what?”  Johnny began pacing again.  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “That wasn’t his place!  He had no right to…”

“Johnny, listen to me for a minute.”  Roy raised his voice, and immediately regretted it at the injured look crossing the other man’s face.  “I’m sorry…but, just…listen, okay?”

Johnny said nothing, but blew out a disgusted breath and flopped back down into his chair.

“Crockett sent an officer over to check on Camarin and the girls.  To make sure they were okay.  And, while he was there, I’m sure he told Camarin what happened.”

“To check on them?  This was a random thing.  Why would they need checking on?”  Johnny suddenly felt chilled.  His mind immediately settled on Jonas.  He had beaten him because he had wrongfully thought he had been hurting Hannah.  Was it possible he thought Camarin was wrong for Justin and retaliated?  No…that didn’t make sense.  Why would he beat up Justin?  And he was still in jail…

“Apparently the guy…well, I guess there was a family picture at the clinic and…well, whoever assaulted Justin shot a hole through the picture.”  Roy watched Johnny carefully.

“So the police think he might have it in for all of them…”  Johnny was piecing it together.  But that made even less sense than before.  “But that’s just nuts, Roy!”  Even as the words left his mouth, his mind began scrambling for possibilities.  Someone from the reservation maybe?  Chaske?  No…

“It may be nuts, but I can see why they’d want to send someone over there.”

“I don’t get it, Roy.”  Johnny shook his head.  “I mean the guy had a gun, right?  Why not use it?  Why leave a witness?”

“He did use it.”  Roy corrected softly.

“What…you think he tried to kill Justin and missed?  That he hit the picture instead?”  Johnny was on his feet again.

“I don’t know what to think, Johnny…”

“Why not try again, then?”  Johnny raked his hand through his hair and changed directions.  “This just doesn’t add up…”

“Well…that’s what the police are for.  To add everything up.”  Roy stood to face his partner.  “Our job is to take care of Justin...and the girls…”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right.”  Johnny did his best to shake off the events of the evening.  “I need to call Hannah.  Does Cap know where we are?”

“Yeah.”  Roy followed Johnny to the door.  “He’s trying to find a replacement for you, but I haven’t heard anything yet.  Oh, and by the way…Crockett wants to talk to you.

“Well, Crockett’s gonna have to wait.”

Roy tried to keep pace with Johnny as he hurried down the hall.  This conversation might be over, but he knew the younger man’s head was still full of unanswered questions.  Questions Roy knew he may never find the answers to.

***

“Justin, look at me.”  It was the third time Todd tried to get his friend’s attention, and he was becoming concerned.  It appeared Justin’s neurological status may be deteriorating, but it was hard to tell if that was the case, or if it was a result of the sedating properties of the medications he’d been given, or if Justin was simply shutting him out.  Todd considered raising his voice, ordering Justin into compliance, but somehow, after what he had been through, the doctor couldn’t bring himself to do it.  So, he settled for quiet cajoling.  “Come on, buddy.  I need to talk to you.”

Justin drifted somewhere between sleep and consciousness.  He knew Todd was talking to him, but he couldn’t make himself care.  But, when it seemed his friend wasn’t going to go away, he finally forced his eye open, a feat that was becoming harder each time.  He blinked up at Todd.  At least he thought it was Todd.  It was hard to focus on anything through the blurry, watery haze.  “Hey…”

Todd smiled.  “That’s better.”  He watched as Justin’s bloodshot eye wandered the room before finally settling on him for a second before closing again.  “No…no, I need you to stay with me for a minute.  Come on, Justin.”  He nudged his shoulder.

This time the eye didn’t open, but Justin turned his head slightly toward his boss’s voice.  He groaned weakly as even that tiny amount of movement brought with it forgotten pain and caused the room to rock.  “What…want…”

“I want to talk to you about your injuries.  And what we need to do about them.”  Todd explained, wondering how much of this Justin would really be able to decipher right now.

“Head hurz…tired…”  Justin protested.  He really didn’t care about anything but escaping into the comfort of sleep.

“I know.  But, just listen to me for a minute.”  When Todd didn’t receive a response, he continued, keeping his language simple.  “You have a fractured cheekbone, and a fractured jaw.  Aaron thinks it’ll be best if he performs a…if he wires your jaw…”

Justin shook his head, groaning at the added misery that caused.  “No…”

“Justin, listen…”  Todd had a hunch this would not go over well, and he did his best to quiet his friend’s agitation.

But Justin continued to protest.  “Don’t want…that…”

“I know you don’t.”  Todd rested a hand on Justin’s forehead.  “Calm down now…”

Justin allowed his movements to still, but he still fought.  “No…please…”  He couldn’t quite put into words what frightened him so much about having his jaw wired together, and that scared him even more.  Tears began to leak from his eyes again, and he hated it.  Now he wasn’t even sure what had happened to put him in this condition.  He was sure he knew…at one point.  And the more he tried to remember, the more his head pounded.  “Please…”

Todd bit his lip in an effort to stave off his own emotional reaction.  Seeing Justin like this…and knowing someone else was responsible made him angrier than he’d ever been.  He wanted to turn back time and tell Justin not to open that door.  He wanted to make all of this go away.  After all, that was his specialty, wasn’t it?  Fixing things?  But, even as Todd’s clinical mind went over all the ways that Justin’s body could be physically repaired, he realized how ill equipped he was to help him through the emotional trauma that would surely be equally difficult to deal with…if not more so.  Since he had no clue what to say at the moment, he let touch speak for itself…allowed his steadying hand to linger on Justin’s forehead…while his voice reverted to what it knew.  Just the facts.  That was a doctor’s job.  Stay cool and detached.  “Aaron’s going to take care of your jaw this morning, Justin.  You’ve also got a proximal humerus fracture, and I’m going to be placing that in traction.  Once the swelling goes down a bit, and we get you over some other hurdles…I’ll repair it surgically.  Your X-rays showed a rotator cuff tear, probably started when you hurt yourself waterskiing, and that caused some instability, resulting in a bigger tear and the fracture.  I can take care of that at the same time.”

Todd may as well have been speaking another language, because Justin wasn’t processing a single word.  His mind focused in on one thing.  “Cam…wherz…Cam…”

“I’ll go see if she’s here yet.”  Todd smoothed Justin’s hair and turned to go.

Fragmented memories started assaulting Justin’s brain, and he couldn’t sort them out.  “Wait…”

“Okay.”  Todd stood in his place.

“He…he had a…a gun…”

It was hard to understand the garbled speech, but Todd was able to decipher it.  “I know…”

“He…he wanted…money…”

“The police will find him.”  Todd promised, hoping he was right.  The doctor waited until Justin seemed to relax again, then he left intending to find Dixie…or John…or someone to stay with Justin until he came back.  When he exited the room, he nearly ran into Detective Crockett, who seemed to be hovering just outside the door.

“Ah, Dr. Andrews…I was wondering when I might be able to interview Mr. Quinn again.  And of course, I’ll need to arrange for a photographer so we have a record of his injuries for the court…”

“Not now.”  Todd pushed his way past the eager detective.

Seemingly nonplussed, Crockett moved down the hall toward the base station, spying John Gage just beyond it using the payphone.  He pretended to be busy reading over the hand scrawled notes in his pad until he heard the paramedic break the connection.  Then he pocketed the small notebook and approached him.  “Mr. Gage…John…may I have a word with you?”

“Not now.”  Johnny huffed, annoyed as he tried to dodge the detective.

Crockett’s eyebrows rose.  “That seems to be the phrase of the day.”  He followed Johnny down the busy hallway.  “I only need a few minutes of your time.”

Johnny stopped and tried to collect himself.  Then, he turned to face his pursuer.  “Make it quick.”

Crockett looked around.  “Perhaps we should find someplace where we have a little more privacy.”

Johnny said nothing, but led the detective to the staff lounge.  He opened the door and gestured with his hand for Crockett to enter.  Then, he followed him in, allowing the door to close behind him.  “There.  Now we have privacy.”

“John, I understand this hasn’t been an easy night.  But, really…I’m not the enemy here.”

Johnny sighed.  “I know.  I just don’t have a lot of time right now.”

Crockett pulled out his notepad and pen, seemingly ignoring Johnny’s protest.  “I understand you are Mr. Quinn’s brother-in-law.”

“That’s right.”

“So, you must know each other fairly well.  Do you spend a good deal of time together?  Family outings and such?”

Crockett had an annoying way about him that Johnny felt was suddenly magnified tenfold.  “Yeah, I guess we spend a fair amount of time together.  What does this have to do with…”

“I want you to think, John.”  Crockett prompted.  “Has Justin ever mentioned anyone who might have some kind of grudge against him?  Can you think of anyone who…”

“No.”  Johnny shook his head as he turned away.  “Justin doesn’t have any enemies.  There’s no one I can think of who would want to hurt him.  Well, except maybe his brother, but he’s in jail.”

The fact that Justin had an incarcerated brother was news to Crockett.  “Oh?  Tell me more about this brother…”

The conversation was suddenly put to an abrupt halt as the door opened.  Camarin entered, along with Kaya and Rose.  They were accompanied by Officer Ryder who had escorted them to the hospital.  At the sight of Johnny, Camarin charged forward, wrapping her arms around him, while Kaya did the same from the other side, and Rose embraced his waist.  Before any information could be exchanged, Ryder’s radio crackled to life.  He went over to the corner to respond to the voice on the other end, with Crockett hot on his heels.

Johnny led Camarin and the girls over to the couch, while keeping an ear trained on what was happening across the room.  Slightly distracted by Justin’s distraught family, he wasn’t sure he heard right.  But, it didn’t take long for Crockett to confirm the good news.

“Looks like we’ve found our man.”  The detective announced proudly as he approached the others.

“You caught him?”  If this was true, Johnny was immensely relieved that at least they would no longer have that to worry about, and maybe they could finally get some answers.

“Appears that way.”  Ryder announced.  State police pulled over a Mercedes matching the description you gave us.  Plates were a match, so they ran ‘em.  It’s your husband’s car, ma’am.”

“Well, they arrested him, right?”  Johnny wanted answers and he wanted them now.

“Yes, he’s in custody.”  Crockett confirmed.  “They found your brother-in-law’s wallet in the glove compartment.  Guy almost made it to the state line.”

“Well who is he?”  Johnny sat down on the couch and Rose immediately crawled into his lap, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

“I don’t have a name yet, or any other details.”  Crockett reported.  “I’ll let you know when we have more information.  The good news is, we caught him.  You can all rest easier tonight.”

“All of us except Justin.”  Camarin reminded sadly.  “How is he, John?”

“He’s…”  Johnny stared into the wide-eyed innocent faces of the girls.  Even though he realized they had witnessed more violence on the reservation than anyone their age should ever have to, he still couldn’t bring himself to go into much detail about Justin’s condition.  “He’ll be okay.  I was just on my way to see him.”

“The man who hurt papa…he’s going to jail for a long time, right?”  Kaya stared down the two men standing in front of her.  The bold question took Johnny and Camarin by surprise.  And it also did not escape their notice that this was the first time the older sister had ever referred to Justin as ‘papa.’

Officer Ryder knelt down and looked into the young girls’ deep, expectant eyes.  “He’s going to be facing a lot of serious charges.  So, yes, he’ll be going to jail for quite a while.” 

Johnny briefly catalogued all of the charges.  Assault and battery.  Robbery.  Grand theft auto.  What else?  Vandalism?  And what about the deadly weapon…He thanked Ryder and Crockett and escorted them to the door.  Then, he turned back to the others.  “I’m gonna go check on Justin…”

“They just took him up to the OR.”  Roy announced as he entered the room.

Johnny’s heart fell.  Not only had he not known Justin was having surgery, he had hoped to be able to see him.  And he knew Camarin was thinking the same thing.  Not to mention Justin probably wanted to see her too.  He had wasted too much time thinking.  He never should have run out of the treatment room like that.  Justin needed him, and he just ran away.  “Damn.  What…”

Roy knew that Johnny and the others would be full of questions.  “Dr. Early is on his way down here right now to talk to you.  He’ll let you know what’s going on.”

“Thanks, Roy.”  Camarin tried to smile.

Roy walked over to the couch and put on his biggest grin for the girls.  “Now, why don’t we…”  He plucked Rose up and held her in his arms.  “…Go get something to snack on?”  He looked to Camarin for approval and at her silent nod, he continued.  “And then…maybe we could…”

“Can we go see the babies?”  Rose asked.

“Sure we can.”  Roy started for the door, then stopped when he realized Kaya wasn’t following.  “Kaya, you can come too.”

“I wanna stay here.”  The young girl stayed rooted in her spot.

Camarin smoothed her daughter’s hair while looking from her to Roy to Johnny and back again.  “I suppose that’ll be all right.”  She was waiting for Rose to announce she wanted to stay now too, and was thankful when it didn’t happen.

“We’ll be back.”  Roy promised.  Then, he turned to Johnny.  “Oh, by the way.  Dwyer and Fitz came in early.  So we’re both off the hook for the rest of the shift.”

“Thanks, Roy.”  Johnny rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then made his way over to the coffee pot.  “Anyone else want a cup?”

After Camarin and Kaya both refused, Johnny poured himself a steaming mug and sat down at the small, round table.  He looked up to see Joe Early enter the room.  “Hey, Doc.”

“Hello.”  The kind doctor smiled and poured a cup of coffee for himself.  “Roy told me I’d find you here.”  He joined Johnny at the table.

“How’s Justin?”  Johnny drove straight to the point.  “Roy said he was on his way to the OR…”

Joe rubbed at the side of his nose.  “He’s fractured his jaw.  Right about here.”  He pointed to the area on the side of Johnny’s face.  “And his cheekbone is fractured here.  Todd consulted with a maxillofacial surgeon…Dr. Katzman.  He felt it would be best to perform an intermaxillary fixation right away.”  Joe elaborated for the benefit of the women, who he figured might not know what that was.  “That’s when they place what are called ‘arch bars’ over the teeth and then wire the upper and lower jaws together.”

Camarin didn’t like the sound of that, but she held her tongue for Kaya’s sake.

But the younger girl wasn’t quite so discreet.  “They’re going to wire his teeth shut?  How will he talk?  How will he eat?”

Joe smiled.  As soon as he had realized Kaya would be staying in the room, he had expected there to be questions.  “He’ll be able to talk.  He might be a little hard to understand, so it’ll be important for all of us to listen closely…and be really patient.  As far as eating…at first he’ll get all the nutrition he needs through a vein right about here.”  Joe pointed to the area of the subclavian vein beneath his own collarbone.

Kaya crinkled her nose.  “He’ll get food through his blood?”

“Yep.”  Johnny decided to explain further.  “That’s where a lot of what you eat ends up eventually anyway.  They’re just going to skip a few steps for now.”

“That’s right.”  Joe agreed.  “Then, eventually he’ll be able to eat liquid foods through a special tube that will fit through the small gap between his teeth.  Soups…milkshakes…things like that.  And when he goes home, you can help your mama mash things that he likes up real soft for him.”

“You mean he’ll still have the wires on when he comes home?”  Kaya asked.

“Probably.  And even after they come off, he’ll need to eat things that are easy to chew and swallow for a while.”

“How long will he have to stay here?”  Camarin realized she had very little information on Justin’s injuries.  Knowing that he had been assaulted, the facial fractures did not surprise her.  But, if those were the only injuries, Justin wouldn’t have to be hospitalized very long.

“I’m not really sure.”  Joe admitted, and it was the truth.  He toyed with his bracelet.  “He has a fairly severe concussion as well as a bruised kidney.  So, we’ll have to keep him under close observation for a while…”

“What about his arm, Doc?”  Johnny thought back to their assessment. 

“His right humerus is fractured near the shoulder.”  For Kaya’s benefit, he pointed to his arm.  “That’s right about here.  And there’s a rotator cuff tear.  Todd seems to think that happened a few months ago and may have caused some instability in his shoulder…making the fracture more likely.”

“A few months…”  Camarin thought back.  “You mean when he was waterskiing?”

Joe looked to Johnny for his opinion.

“Yeah…probably.”

“How did he break his arm?”  Kaya couldn’t picture an arm being broken in that location from a simple mugging. 

“We’re not really sure, honey.”  Johnny figured he would field this one.  He took a sip of his coffee.  “He probably fell and landed on it.”  He looked back to the doctor.  “Will it need surgery?”

“Eventually.  Todd’s going to put it in traction until some of the swelling subsides, and Justin has a chance to recover a bit.  He’s also got some fractured ribs, but they should heal without much difficulty.”

“What about his eyes?”  Johnny remembered the left one had been all but swollen shut.  And the right one had been bloodshot and watery.

“I had Dr. Kronk, an opthamologist, take a look.  There doesn’t appear to be any significant damage.  Justin will need to have his eyes checked eventually.  There’s always a possibility his prescription may change, or, if he doesn’t wear glasses…why, it’s possible he may need them now.”

“Really?”  Kaya tried to picture Justin in glasses.

“Well, honey…”  Camarin wrapped her arm around her daughter.  “If that’s the worst thing that comes out of all this…Besides, Justin…”  She quickly corrected herself.  “Your papa…is getting to the age where he’d probably need glasses sooner or later anyway.”

“That’s right.”  Joe chuckled, doing his best to lighten the mood for the young girl.  “Besides…glasses can look very…”  He pulled out his own spectacles and positioned them on his nose.  “…Dashing.”

Kaya giggled.

“Well, I’d better get going.”  Joe took a final sip of his coffee and carried the mug to the sink.  “Feel free to go upstairs to the OR waiting room.  This procedure shouldn’t take too long.  I imagine either Todd or Aaron will be out to talk to you soon.”

“Can we see papa then?”  Kaya wondered.

“That’ll be up to his doctors.”  Johnny walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.  He secretly tried to figure a way to disallow it.  He felt physically sick at the idea of Kaya seeing Justin in the condition he was in.

As Joe was leaving, Roy returned with Rose.

“Kaya…why don’t you go for a walk with your sister and Mr. Desoto?”  Camarin made eye contact with Roy, silently communicating she did not intend for this to be a mere suggestion.

“But, I wanna go upstairs with you and Uncle Johnny…”

“And you can.  Later.  After you get a snack.”  Camarin’s tone left no room for a protest.  “Mr. Desoto knows where the operating room waiting area is.  He can bring you up there in say…”  She looked at her watch.  “Twenty minutes?”  She waited for Roy’s brief nod of approval.

Kaya sighed and slunked over to the door.  “Okay…”

Once they were alone in the room, the tears started.  Camarin sat down on the couch and rested her face in her hands.  She was aware of Johnny sitting down quietly beside her and when his arm wrapped around her shoulders, she leaned into his protective warmth.  No words needed to be spoken over the next several moments, as each sibling knew full well what the other was thinking.

Finally, Johnny broke the silence.  “It’s over, Cam.  It’s gonna be all right.”

Camarin broke away and wiped her eyes.  “It’s not over for Justin.  God, John…”

“I know…”  He thought back to the weeks and months following his own assault.  At the hands of Jonas…and at the hands of his papa.  There were nights he still had bad dreams.  He knew Camarin was no stranger to this sort of violence either.  And like him, she was well aware that it would likely never really be over for Justin.  It didn’t matter that his physical injuries should heal.  It didn’t matter that the person responsible would soon be behind bars.  This was something Justin would carry with him for the rest of his days.  “But, he has all of us to support him.”

Camarin was quiet for a while, leaving Johnny to speculate on what she was thinking.  Finally, she spoke again.  “John…he will be all right, won’t he?  I mean physically.  Dr. Early said his kidney…”

“Worst case scenario is they’ll have to remove it.  People can live with only one kidney, Cam.”

“And his head injury?”

Now that was a little less certain.  “It’ll be a while before we know if there will be any long term effects from that.  But, I’m sure if Dr. Early was worried about it, he’d have let us know.”  Actually Johnny wasn’t sure of that at all, especially since Kaya had been in the room.

“I guess it could have been a lot worse…”  Camarin took a deep breath and blew it out.  “I just don’t understand…”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”  Johnny knew where his sister was going with that sentiment.  “I really think it was just a random thing…maybe the guy wanted drugs.  And, when Justin told him he didn’t have any…”

“He retaliated.”

“Yep.”

Camarin looked around the room, suddenly realizing someone was missing.  “Where’s Hannah?”

“Home.  I told her not to come down…to stay with the babies.”

That was exactly what Camarin had figured.  “Do you want to call her before we go upstairs?”

“Nah…”  Johnny dumped what was left of his coffee down the sink, leaving the mug there.  “There’s a phone in the waiting room.  He waited for Camarin to stand, then draped his arm across her shoulders.  “Let’s go.”

***

Todd Andrews stood at the foot of Justin’s bed in ICU, observing.  It hardly seemed possible that this was the same man who had practically bounced into his office just several hours ago excitedly regaling him with tales of the success he’d had getting the cantankerous and stubborn Mrs. Porter up out of her wheelchair and walking.  Sighing, Todd studied the left side of Justin’s face.  It wasn’t recognizable through the massive swelling and mottled, purplish bruising that extended from temple to chin and across the bridge of his nose.  The area directly beneath each eye was blackened, the left more than the right, reminding Todd of a lop-sided raccoon.  An oxygen mask supplied him with some therapeutic oxygen and an NG tube snaked from beneath it.  With Justin’s jaws wired together, he and Aaron hadn’t wanted to take a chance that he would vomit and aspirate, so it was necessary to keep his stomach decompressed, not that there would be very much in it anyway.  Ugly sutures tracked along his cheek at the hairline, and two ice packs rested against his swollen cheeks, held in place with a loose-fitting bandage.

Todd made cursory checks of the cardiac monitor as well as the collection bag hanging below the bed, noting that the tiny amount of liquid it held was noticeably red-tinged.  Finally, he made a slight adjustment to the traction device.  Justin’s right arm was extended straight out to the side, his forearm wrapped in a wide bandage, with his hand resting palm up in a padded shell.  Weights hung perpendicular to the arm and the floor, keeping the fractured ends of bone in alignment.

Aaron was out talking to John and Camarin.  Todd knew he should go out there too, but right now all his mind wanted to do was go over the procedure he had just helped Aaron complete.  As an orthpod, he was certainly no stranger to the various ways bone could be held together in order to heal.  Todd knew the average person would be shocked to find out many of the tools he used in the operating room were surprisingly and somewhat disturbingly similar to the ones a carpenter might use to build a house.  But despite that, there was something inexplicably unsettling about the rigid stainless steel bars he had helped Aaron attach to Justin’s upper and lower teeth, and the yards of metal wiring intertwined between them which would temporarily cause Justin’s smile to resemble a bear trap.  When all was said and done, the stabilization process had almost seemed barbaric in nature.

Todd tried to shake it off, but anger lingered.  Now that everything that could be done for Justin for the time being had been done…now that Todd was coming out of ‘doctor’ mode, he was seeing the figure on the bed through a new set of eyes.  The eyes of a long-time friend.  Even though rational thought told him this was likely a random crime, that the person who had carried it out didn’t know that Justin was a caring, peace-loving individual who wouldn’t hurt a flea on a fly’s back, it was still unbelievably hard to comprehend how anyone could want to hurt him.  If Todd thought hard enough, he could picture the confrontation.  Knowing Justin, he probably tried to help the man, even when he was holding a gun to his head.  Renewed anger welled up at that image as Todd wondered what had to be going through Justin’s mind before he was attacked. 

The good news was, the scumbag had been caught.  Todd was grateful Joe had let him know that.  And he could only hope justice would be swift and fair.  As much as it sickened him to allow what seemed like further violation of his friend, he was determined to let Crockett’s photographer get those pictures as soon as possible, while Justin’s injuries were still fresh.  He studied again the horrific disfigurement to Justin’s normally handsome features, and could only pray that it was temporary.  He thought about the colorful bruises on Justin’s left flank, one of them clearly depicting an outline and boot-tread that not only left no doubt as to what had caused them, but could easily be used to identify the assailant’s footwear.  Todd had already decided he would testify.  As Justin’s doctor, he would take the stand against this bastard, and paint a picture that would make damn sure the jury was as disgusted and irate as he was.  Yes, if Todd had anything to say about it, this guy would be going away for a very long time.

Movement under the covers tore the surgeon from his thoughts.  Justin’s legs shifted restlessly as his sedative began to wear off and the first shadows of pain began to sneak through his drug-induced respite.  Todd wrapped his fingers firmly around Justin’s left hand.  “Hey, Justin.  It’s Todd.  Can you hear me?”

Justin shifted again as nerve endings awoke and announced their irritation.  His entire head throbbed with the beat of a thousand drums, and blood coursed through his skull with the roar of a waterfall.  He could hear Todd talking from somewhere far away.  “Mmmm…”

“Easy…”  Todd increased his grip and waited.

After some confused deliberation, Justin’s mind finally put together that he was in bed, but something about it didn’t feel like his bed at home.  It was colder here.  He tried opening his eyes, but they refused to cooperate.  He tried to raise a hand toward the teeming agony in his face and head, but something was holding the right one down, and an attempt to move it only caused more pain to dart through his shoulder into his jaw.  And someone was holding onto the left hand.  Todd maybe?  He tried to turn toward the direction of the voice he had just heard, but that proved to be a terrible idea.  It felt like someone jammed a knife into his back and side as the roaring got even louder.  A sharp intake of breath brought him to awareness at the same instant he realized he couldn’t open his mouth.  His good eye flew open as much as the swelling would allow.

Todd could read the panic in Justin’s expression as well as the raw utterances of fear and confusion emanating from his throat.  He planted a hand firmly on Justin’s forehead to still his movements and help him to focus as he increased his handhold.  “Justin, listen to me.  You won’t be able to talk or open your mouth.  You fractured your jaw and we needed to wire your teeth shut.  Do you understand me?”

Justin shook his head as his panic increased, the guttural vocalizations becoming even more urgent in nature.

Todd raised his voice, fully aware that his patient was spinning helplessly out of control at the moment and therefore needed him to be completely in control of the situation.  “Justin, it’s Todd.  You’re in the hospital.  Your teeth are wired shut because you fractured your jaw.  You’re okay.”  He increased his grip again, his eye contact unwavering even as he felt Justin begin to relax slightly.  “You got it?  You’re okay.”

Justin wasn’t sure of much of anything at the moment, but one thing he did know was that he had always trusted Todd.  If Todd was telling him he was okay, then he had to be, even if he didn’t feel okay.  He grasped onto his boss’s hand as if it were the only thing tying him to sanity and he willed his muscles to relax.  But, he hurt too damn much.  And there were too many questions attacking his brain.  He tried to speak again, but then he remembered Todd had said what?  His teeth were wired shut?  He concentrated on his mouth, tried to find his teeth with his tongue, but it felt leaden and swollen.  He could taste metal and blood.  Nausea stirred in his gut and he gagged against the tube at the back of his throat.  And then that steadying voice was back.  He tried to focus.

“I know you’re hurting, Justin.  We’ll take care of that in a minute.  Right now I need you to tell me where you are.  You won’t be able to open your mouth, but you can talk to me.  Just calm down and talk to me…”  Todd reached over and pressed the call button, but it proved unnecessary.  Justin’s nurse was already walking into the room.  She moved immediately to the opposite side of the bed.

It took several painstaking moments for Justin’s brain to register what it needed to do in order to make his swollen tongue form words.  “Tah…”  His own voice sounded alien.

“Yeah, it’s me.”  Todd made brief eye contact with the nurse before looking back down.  “Can you tell me where you are?”

“Ho..hosss…”

Todd smiled.  Justin was hard to understand, but he was able to make out the fractional responses.  “That’s right, you’re in the hospital.  At Rampart, in the ICU.  Do you remember why you’re here?”

Justin closed his eyes as he strained to think.  Images and memories all blurred together until nothing made sense.  “Mm-mm…”  He shook his head and groaned miserably as pain erupted all over again.

Todd issued a quiet order to the nurse.  “Go get him his morphine.”  He turned back to Justin and spoke slowly and clearly.  “You were assaulted at the clinic, Justin.  You’ve got a concussion and some fractures, but you’re going to be fine.”

“’Sssaulted?”

“Yes.”  Todd glanced at the rapidly increasing blips on the cardiac monitor.  “But, you’re safe now.  They caught the guy, and he’s going to jail.”

“C-Cam…”

“Cam and the girls are fine.”  Todd moved his free hand to Justin’s good shoulder, carefully avoiding his subclavian line and the tubing snaking away from it.  “They weren’t there when it happened.  They’re fine, and they’re waiting outside.  I’ll send Camarin in to see you in just a little bit.”  Without breaking contact, Todd sidestepped just enough for the nurse to inject the contents of her syringe into an open port.  “You’re getting something for pain now.  Just rest.  Next time you wake up you should feel a little better.”  Todd knew that was probably a lie, as Justin would need to be awakened numerous times throughout the next twenty-four hours due to his head injury.  But, with any luck he wouldn’t remember any of it later.  He waited until Justin was sleeping, then turned to the nurse.  “Dr. Early and Dr. Katzman will both be in to check on him again before they leave.  Remember, neuro checks every hour.  I’m leaving for a while, but I want to be paged if there’s any change in his condition.  Got it?”

“Yes, Doctor.”  The nurse said meekly.  She was aware of Todd’s relationship with this particular patient and she figured that gave him the right to be a little terse.  She studied him for a moment as he took extra measures to make sure everything was in perfect order before leaving.  On the surface he appeared every ounce his usual confident and slightly cocky self.  But, she wondered if he realized there were a few noticeable cracks showing in that carefully constructed exterior.

***

Todd stopped in the lounge long enough to see that Aaron had already filled Johnny, Camarin, and the girls in on Justin’s procedure.   Now, the adults seemed to be engaging in some small talk while Kaya sat on the floor drawing pictures on what appeared to be a few lengths of exam-table paper and Rose slept soundly on the couch, her head in Johnny’s lap.  He cleared his throat.

Aaron turned to see who was there.  “Oh, hi, Todd.  How’s our mutual patient?”

“Well…”  The orthopod’s eyes moved to the young girl on the floor, and he wondered how much he should reveal.  “He came around briefly.  Was having some pain, so he’s had some morphine.  He was pretty disoriented, but that’s expected at this point.  But, he knew where he was, and he was asking for you.”  Todd’s eyes settled on Camarin.

Camarin’s eyes welled up, and she quickly wiped at them with the back of her hand.  Johnny offered her a tissue, which she accepted.  “Can I see him?”

“Sure.”  Todd nodded.

“I’ll take that as my cue to leave.”  Aaron stood and started toward the door.  “It was a pleasure meeting all of you.”  He smiled and shook hands with everyone before leaving.

Camarin walked over to where Todd was standing, then turned to face Johnny.  “Are you coming?”

“I’ll stay here with the girls.”  Johnny smoothed Rose’s hair as she slept on.  “You go ahead.  I’ll go when you get back.”

“Okay.  Thanks, John.”  Camarin followed Todd out into the hall where she cornered him for the facts now that they were out of the girls’ earshot.  “So, how is he really?”

Todd sighed.  “Cam…”  He took a moment to figure out what to say.  “All things considered, he really is doing all right.  But, I want you to be prepared for what you’re going to see.  And know that…it looks a lot worse than it actually is.”  As the words left his lips, they felt hollow, as if he were somehow downplaying the severity of what had been done.  The sliding door to Justin’s cubicle was already open and his nurse was still with him.  She smiled as she saw the doctor and the dark-haired woman enter.

“He’s resting comfortably now.”

“Thanks.”  Camarin offered the nurse a half-smile as she moved closer to the bed and got her first look at her husband.  She fought past the tightness in her throat as she willed herself to be strong and reminded herself that Justin was alive and would likely be okay.  He looked a lot worse than she had imagined.  She approached the bed and touched his hand gently, as if he might break.  Then, she leaned over and brushed a soft kiss across his swollen lips as her fingers carefully caressed the bruising on his cheek.

Todd stole up behind her and he placed his hands on her shoulders.  “You gonna be okay?”

Camarin said nothing, because she knew if she opened her mouth, she would lose control of her emotions.  So, she nodded instead, thankful for Todd’s sturdy presence at the moment.

“I’ll uh…leave you two alone then.”  Todd turned to go, unsure if he really wanted to while at the same time feeling as though he needed to get as far away from here as possible.  “Hit the button there if you need anything.”  He stepped out into the hall, taking one last glance inside.  Seeing these newlyweds like this, instead of enjoying all the carefree happiness they deserved caused anger to bubble up again.  It wasn’t right that someone stole that away…even if only temporarily.  Justin wasn’t walking down some dark alley looking for trouble.  He was on his own property, damn it.  Where he should have been able to feel safe and secure.  Even though Todd had seen and heard enough in his life and career to know he was being a bit naive, he couldn’t shake the ire that now seemed to have taken up permanent residence in his veins.  He charged down the hall to the elevator and punched the button for the third floor.  Once there, he strode to his office without saying a word to any of the familiar nurses walking the halls.  He entered into the relative sanctity of that space and pulled off his scrub top, rolling it into a ball and pitching it across the room.  He did the same with his pants, and then picked up the blood spattered clothing he had worn earlier.  The sight of it filled him with even more repulsion.  Remembering the gym bag he kept in his closet, he quickly retrieved it, throwing the jeans and fleece into the garbage can.  Next, he shrugged into his baggy sweatpants and pulled the well-worn UCLA sweatshirt over his head.  Then, he made for the parking lot without saying a word.

***

Back in the lounge, Johnny carefully removed Rose’s head from his lap and he repositioned her on the couch, throwing his jacket over her tiny body.  He needed to move.

“Where are you going?”  Kaya looked up from her work on the floor.

“Nowhere.”  Johnny stood and stretched, then squatted down to see what Kaya had been working on.  He noticed she was doing some shading on a fairly intricate sketch of an eagle.  “That looks really good, Kaya.  I didn’t know you could draw like that.”

“It’s something I’ve always liked to do.”  The young girl admitted as she continued to perfect subtle nuances in each feather.  “I was hoping they would let me hang this in papa’s room.”

Johnny’s heart tightened.  He understood specifically why Kaya had chosen this particular animal.  In Lakota lore, the eagle was a symbol of strength and protection, as well as the animal that was considered to have the closest relationship with the Creator.  Johnny knew that Kaya would ask the eagle spirit to carry her prayers for her papa to heaven on its mighty wings, where even the plea of a child would be heard.  “I’m sure your papa will love seeing it when he wakes up.”

“Uncle Johnny?”  Kaya put her pencil down and looked up into understanding eyes.  “Do you think they’ll let me see him?  I mean I know he’s going to look pretty scary and everything…”

“Well, you’re old enough.”  Johnny sat down on the floor beside his niece.  “I’m sure they would if you really want to.”

“Would you go with me?”  Kaya wondered.  “I mean…once mama gets back?”

“Sure.”  Johnny smiled, admiring not for the first time the young girl’s maturity and strength.  Unfortunately he was also aware of what had gone into molding these traits, and he thanked the spirits again for their intervention.  For sending Camarin to take her in after the death of her parents, and for bringing Camarin and Justin together so that she could enjoy the opportunities that she never would have had on the reservation.

“Thanks.”  Kaya smiled.  Then, she stood and wrapped her thin arms around Johnny’s neck, allowing him to return the hug.

“Anytime, sweetie.”  Johnny savored the feeling, even as his own heart longed for the warmth of Hannah’s arms.  Still, Kaya was family, and he basked in the comfort that word provided him now.  “Anytime.”

***

Todd Andrews grunted as he hunkered down and leeched strength from his feet, knees, hips, and shoulders to propel the training sled another few yards downfield.  At this wee hour of the morning, USC’s practice field was nearly deserted, except for a few students who presumably couldn’t sleep and felt like burning off the after-midnight oil by taking a few laps around the track.

The doctor was fortunate to still be allowed full use of the gym and training facilities here at the college.  At one time he had been the Trojan football squad’s orthopedic surgeon.  That was how he had met Justin.  He had been attending college here, studying physical therapy, and acting as a trainer for the team.  Todd thought back to the first time he had met him.  The doctor had been impressed with how well the kid knew his stuff and had wondered why, with his brains, he hadn’t just gone to medical school.  But, as time went on, Todd saw what genuine pleasure Justin got out of helping injured players get back in the game, and how absolutely good at it he was.  So, when an opening had come up at Rampart for a physical therapist, Todd had highly recommended him.  They had been working together ever since.

Again, Todd put all his might into taking out the anger and frustration of the past few hours on the makeshift offensive lineman, figuring it was as good a method of decompressing as any.  Even though he didn’t know what Justin’s assailant looked like, he had an image in his mind that he projected onto the center of the sled.  Then, he bashed into it again…shoulders down…knees digging in…he wasn’t just out for the block.  He was out for the “take him out of the game” tackle.

Todd paused just long enough to catch his breath, determined to move the sled even farther this time.  He took a deep breath and exhaled upon impact, but this time something went wrong.  The heavy padding on the well-used training device took this moment to finally give way.  It tore off as Todd’s body made contact, falling to the side and causing him to lose his balance.  However, the forward momentum was impossible to stop, and Todd found himself half-charging, half-falling into the steel post that remained.  A split second later he dropped to his knees as knife-like pain tore through his chest and stole his breath away.

One of the joggers noticed something didn’t seem right with the older man and he trotted up to him, out of breath.  “Hey, man.  Are you all right?”  He couldn’t help but notice even in the dim light Todd looked white as a sheet.

“Yeah…”  Todd tried to catch his breath as his hand clutched at his chest.  “Yeah…I’m okay.”  He reached for the young man’s hand and allowed him to help him to his feet.  Then, he immediately doubled over, placing his hands on his knees.

“Are you sure?  You don’t look…”

“I’m all right.”  Todd panted.  “Just got the…wind knocked outta…me…is all.”

Still, the student wasn’t convinced.  “Maybe I should get a doctor or something…”

“I am a doctor, damn it!”  Todd straightened up with a wince.  “I’m fine.  Really.”  He reached out to shake the kid’s hand.  “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”  The jogger was dubious, but he shrugged and trotted off.

Todd cut his workout short and gingerly slid behind the wheel of his car.  By the time he got home, the muscles in his right side had tightened up considerably.  He walked stiffly inside and went straight to the bathroom, peeling off his sweatshirt on the way.  What he saw in the mirror confirmed his suspicions.  A large bruise was forming over his right ribcage.  Todd moved his fingers to the swollen and discolored area and found that even the slightest amount of pressure caused almost doubling-over pain. That cinched it.  He had probably cracked a rib.  Maybe two.  For a brief moment he entertained the idea of going to Rampart for some X-rays, but he decided against it.  Justin would need surgery on his shoulder in another day or two.  And, he didn’t need Brackett or Morton or some other doctor telling him he shouldn’t do it.  He would be fine.  It was only a cracked rib or two.  Just tape ‘em up and get back in the game, right?

“Right.”  Todd muttered as he leaned over with a hiss and a groan and turned on the hot water tap in the bathtub.  A shower would be just what the doctor ordered.  He pulled his pager out of the pocket of his sweatpants and laid it on the vanity so that he would be sure to hear it if it went off.  Then, he stepped into the steamy deluge and imagined it washing away the stresses of the past several hours.

***

The person allegedly responsible for the assault and robbery of a Long Beach man has been arrested.  Twenty seven year old James LaCour was apprehended early this morning by California State Police and is currently being held without bail at California State Prison, Los Angeles County.  LaCour, a Louisiana resident who was recently discharged from parole for theft, forgery, and other fraud related crimes, is facing charges which may include assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and battery, armed robbery, grand theft auto, and vandalism.  According to police reports, LaCour allegedly entered a Long Beach business late last night and assaulted the business owner, forty four year old Justin Quinn, before stealing his vehicle and other personal property.  Police say at least one shot was fired from a 9 millimeter handgun.  Quinn is listed in fair condition at Rampart General Hospital…

Hannah clicked off the news report, having decided she didn’t want to hear anymore.  She knew she should call her parents and let them know the police had caught the person responsible for hurting Justin.  They would want to know that, and with all the craziness in the world, Hannah doubted this story would make its way all the way across the country to Pennsylvania.

She had been stewing about things ever since John had called her last night from the hospital.  Hannah couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about this supposedly “random” crime just didn’t feel right to her.  Call it women’s intuition, but something had her on edge.  She went over everything again, and even though she could think of logical explanations for every question that arose, she still couldn’t shake the perception that Justin had been singled out somehow.  But, why?  Finally deciding she was simply being paranoid, she decided to focus on being thankful that things didn’t turn out worse, and she went to the kitchen to start breakfast.  No sooner had she gotten a pan out of the cabinet, she heard keys in the deadbolt, and she turned to see her husband enter the house.  One look was all it took to realize what a harrowing night it had been.  Abandoning the pan, she moved quickly over to the door and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest.

The couple stayed like that for quite some time before finally parting.  Hannah stepped aside, allowing room for Johnny to remove his coat and boots.  She wanted to ask how Justin was, but she knew Johnny knew she would be curious, and would get to it soon.

Johnny made his way over to the table and slunked down heavily in one of the chairs.  He was exhausted.  “I followed Cam and the girls home to make sure they got there okay.  Tag’s gonna stop over later and stay with Kaya and Rose so Cam can go back over after she gets some sleep.”  He yawned, thinking sleep was exactly what he wanted as well.

Hannah poured herself a cup of coffee and offered Johnny a cup, but he refused.  She sat down at the table.  “I saw on the news they caught the guy already.”

“Yeah, I heard.”  Johnny yawned again.  “Police seem to think he was just after money.  Probably figured he could sell the Mercedes for parts or something once he got out of state.”

“According to the news report, he sounds like he was a bit of a grifter.  Probably owes someone a ton of cash or something…”  Hannah ruminated over her cup of coffee as she took a sip.  “What I don’t understand is, why Justin?”

“Why not Justin?”  Johnny challenged.  “All the guy had to do was see his car…”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”  Hannah was quiet for a few moments before asking the question she had been putting off.  “How is he?”

Johnny sighed deeply and reached across the table, taking Hannah’s hands in his own.  “He’s got a pretty severe concussion.  They had to wake him up every hour all night, and that was pretty rough on him…”

“Does he remember anything about what happened?”

Johnny shook his head.  “Bits and pieces.  Sometimes…he doesn’t remember anything at all, and other times…”

“Maybe it’s better that he doesn’t.”  Hannah frowned.  She knew what it felt like to be assaulted, although not as a victim of a random crime.  Either way, it wasn’t an experience she would wish on anyone, as the emotional scars lasted much longer than the physical ones.  She also was well aware of the nightmares her husband often awoke with…a post traumatic stress reaction to his own brutal assault last year.

“Joe Early said he won’t know for a while if there’ll be any lasting neurological deficits.  But, for now, he seems a little more oriented.  But he sure is experiencing his share of the physical effects of the concussion.  Dizziness…nausea…blurred vision…

“You said he fractured his jaw?”

“Yeah.  Todd and a Dr. Katzman…he’s a maxillofacial specialist…they wired his teeth together last night.  Justin’s not happy about it.  Can’t say I blame him.  Todd’s gonna wait to take care of his shoulder.  And of course, they’re keeping a close eye on his kidney.”

“Right.”  Hannah considered all of this, reminding herself again of how much worse it could have been.  “How are Cam and the girls holding up?”

“Amazingly well.”  Johnny changed his mind about the cup of coffee.  He stood up and walked over to the pot, pouring himself a cup.  “Especially those girls.  You know, they really impressed me.”

“Really?”  Hannah allowed herself a small smile as she thought of her two nieces. 

“Yeah.”  Johnny leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping his brew.  “I wasn’t sure about them being there at first, but Cam insisted.  But, they really did well.  Kaya drew a picture for Justin.  An eagle.  Man, I never knew she could draw like that…”

“I didn’t either.”

“And Rose.  Well, she slept most of the night, but Cam and I took her in to see him this morning for a few minutes.  I was concerned seeing him like that…”

“Right…”

“But, she wasn’t even fazed.  She even talked to him.  Was the only one who had been able to get him to smile all night long.  Well…almost smile.  Kinda hard with everything swollen like it is.  But, she did it.  I gotta hand it to her.  Then, she talked about being a nurse when she grows up the whole way home.”

“That’s great.”  Hannah wasn’t really surprised, and she figured Johnny really wasn’t either.  After all, Kaya and Rose were not unaccustomed to violence.  And Camarin did a lot of helping out at the clinic back on the reservation, not to mention the countless “patients” who had visited her home in search of more traditional medical means.  Hannah had a hunch the girls had both witnessed and helped out on more than one occasion.  She stood and walked over to where Johnny was standing.  “You’ve got to be wiped out.  Why don’t you go get some sleep?  I can take care of the horses before the babies wake up.”

“No…”  Johnny finished off his coffee and deposited his empty cup in the sink.  “I’ll go take care of the horses.”  At Hannah’s dubious expression, he planted a kiss on her lips.  “Then I’ll go to bed.  I promise.”

“Okay.”  Hannah moved toward the phone.  “Guess I’ll call Mom and Dad and fill them in…”

“Good idea.”  Johnny agreed, as he slipped his boots and jacket back on and headed outside.

***

Todd Andrews stood at the foot of Justin’s bed reading over his chart and every note from the past several hours since he had gone home.  While he was disappointed his friend seemed to have had a rough night, he wasn’t surprised.  He returned the chart to its cradle and a sharp twinge jagged through his side, bringing with it the short of breath feeling he had been experiencing off and on all night.  Todd knew these were all common symptoms of a fractured rib, and that the only prescribed treatment was rest.  Well, he would rest as much as his job allowed.  It might take him slightly longer to heal, but that was okay with him.  Justin…and his other patients…needed him more than he needed to be wasting his time in front of the TV watching some mindless game show.  He was so focused on his thoughts, he didn’t even notice Joe Early entering the room.

“Todd?”  Joe figured Todd probably hadn’t gotten much sleep overnight, but something about his appearance was concerning.  He looked pale.  And Joe noticed a fine sheen of perspiration on his face.  “Are you okay?”

“Huh?”  Startled, Todd wondered when Joe had come in, and how much he had seen.  “Yeah, sure.  I’m okay.  Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

Joe raised an eyebrow at the rapid response.  It was exactly what he would say if he were hiding something.  “I don’t know…you’re just looking a little pale.”

“I am?”  Todd played innocent.  “Well, I haven’t had anything to eat for over twelve hours.  Maybe my sugar is a little low.”

“I wasn’t aware you had any trouble with hypoglycemia.”

“I don’t.”  Was all Todd offered, his tone indicating he was done discussing this.  Joe knew as well as he did that going half a day without food could take a toll on anyone, especially people of their age.  At any rate he didn’t feel like playing twenty questions this morning.  Or being interrogated.

Joe could take the hint that it was time to change the subject.  Still, he vowed to keep an eye on the orthpod.  He wouldn’t intervene unless he felt whatever was going on was jeopardizing the well being of his patients.  And at least right now, that didn’t seem to be the case.  “Well, I was just going to check on our friend.  Would you like to help?”

“Sure.”  Todd allowed Joe to move to Justin’s right side, while he moved to the left.

Joe leaned in close to Justin’s ear and tried to rouse him.  “Good morning, Justin.  It’s time to wake up.”  When his patient didn’t respond, Joe resorted to other tactics.  He pulled out his penlight and peeled back the lid on Justin’s good eye.  Shining the light to check his pupil response brought a bit more than the intended result.

“Sson of…”  The words were garbled, but the meaning was clear.  Justin couldn’t believe someone was waking him up again.  It felt as though he had just gone to sleep.  And now someone was shining a light that seemed to slice straight through his brain.  Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone?  He tried to raise his left hand in order to bat the annoying beacon away, but someone was holding it.  “Shid…”

But, the experienced neurosurgeon was unfazed by the expletives.  “That’s more like it.  I’m sorry the light bothers you.”  Joe carefully peeled back the left lid as best he could, but the swelling made it nearly impossible.  “One more and then we’re done.”

Justin continued to protest.  “Sstop…”  His lips felt dryer than the desert sand, and he wanted nothing more than to moisten them, but his swollen tongue wouldn’t fit through the small space the wiring left between his teeth.

Sensing his friend’s distress, and mistakenly thinking he was thirsty, Todd picked up the plastic syringe full of drinking water.  “How about a drink?”

Justin cracked open his eye and tried to focus.  He hadn’t realized Todd was here.  It made him feel a little better.

Todd slid the thin tubing attached to the end of the syringe through the small gap in Justin’s teeth and slowly depressed the plunger, being careful not to deliver too much at once.  “How’s that?  Better?”

The water was lukewarm, but it still felt soothing as it made its way down Justin’s parched throat.  He nodded slightly as he allowed his eye to close again.  Thankfully, Todd must have noticed his other dilemma because a few seconds after the drinking tube went away, he caught a whiff of petroleum jelly just as Todd began gently applying it to his cracked lips.  “Thanks…”

“No, problem.”  Todd watched as Joe went about checking the reflexes in Justin’s feet and legs.

Finally pocketing his reflex hammer, Joe again leaned over his patient.  “Can you tell me what day it is yet?”

Justin wanted to ask the doctor if he was out of his mind.  With all of the jumbled thoughts bouncing around in his aching head, not to mention all of the drugs they kept filling him with, he hardly thought knowing what day it was should be that important.  He tried to think, but his meandering thoughts made it hard to concentrate or stay focused for very long.  At any rate, it felt like too much work right now.  “No…”

“Come on, Justin.  Give it a try. Think back.  What’s the last thing you remember doing before you ended up here?”  Joe knew from the notes in Justin’s chart that his memory of the events surrounding his assault were sketchy at best.  At times he was able to recall random details, and other times he couldn’t remember any of it.  While all of that was normal right now, it was important to know if Justin’s memory was improving or getting worse.

“Uh…”  Trying to get his mind to settle on just one thought for more than a second at a time was proving taxing.  “I…work…Misss…Porter…”  He hoped Joe and Todd could make out his horrendously garbled speech, because he wasn’t repeating it.

Joe looked to Todd for an explanation or confirmation.

“That’s right.”  Todd remembered.  “You got Mrs. Porter up out of her chair.  That was last night, Justin.  So what day is it now?”

Justin was tired of thinking.  He didn’t care whether he would be able to figure this out if he just thought hard enough.  He was exhausted, his head ached, and he wanted to go back to sleep.  “Don’…know…”

“That’s okay, Justin.”  As important as it was to gauge Justin’s progress, Joe also knew it was important not to stress him right now.  “We’ll try again later.  Are you still feeling dizzy?”

Now that was a question he could answer.  Only dizzy wasn’t quite the right word.  Every time Justin moved any part of his body it felt like he was on the fastest spinning carnival ride on the boardwalk.  And sometimes, even when he was still.  Even now the bed was doing intermittent dips to the side every so many minutes. “Mm-hm…”

“I’m going to take another look at your ear.”  Joe announced as he pulled an otoscope off the wall and gently turned Justin’s head toward him so that he could examine his left ear.  “I don’t see any trauma to the inner ear.  The vertigo is likely from your concussion.”

Justin moaned softly in response.  If that was supposed to be good news, it sure didn’t feel like it.

“Are you still feeling nauseous too?”

Was he ever.  Temporarily forgetting that he had a nasogastric tube, and what its function was, Justin’s eye flew open in panic.  As if the mere mention of the word could trigger vomiting, he felt as if it were now imminent, and how was that going to work?  He couldn’t open his mouth.  He uttered an urgent plea without using any words.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”  Todd was instantly alarmed at Justin’s level of agitation.

Justin reached up with his left hand and grabbed hold of Todd’s sleeve.  “Sssick…”

Now it made sense.  They had had this discussion before, but Todd was sure Justin didn’t remember it.  “Justin, you’re not going to be sick.  You have an NG tube.  Just relax…”

“If you’re feeling nauseous, we’ll get you some phenergan, Justin.”  Joe promised as he kept an eye on the cardiac monitor.  “But, Todd’s right.  You don’t need to worry about vomiting.”

Maybe that was true, but Justin still gagged against the plastic tube at the back of this throat.  The pain in his head increased and he groaned miserably.  Maybe he didn’t need to worry about vomiting right now, but what would happen a week from now when his jaws were still wired together and the tube was removed?  Justin decided out of all the injuries in the world, this had to be the worst to deal with.  He suddenly felt claustrophobic in his own body.

Joe had already hit the call button to summon the day nurse, and she entered the room to receive her orders.  A few moments later she returned with Justin’s medications and injected each of them into his subclavian line.

Justin could feel the icy liquid snaking its way through his veins followed seconds later by blessed relief.  He finally let go of Todd’s sleeve as his entire body seemed to go lax.  He was so tired.  Oppressively tired.  As if he could sleep for a year straight.  But, he knew his doctors and nurses weren’t going to let that happen, so he hoped they would at least go away now and let him sleep for a while.

Once he was certain Justin was sleeping, Joe spoke with Todd.  “I don’t see a lot of improvement yet, but at this point I’m not that concerned.  I think we can cut his neuro checks back to every two to three hours now.  Let him get some more rest.”

“Yeah…”

“Have you decided when you’ll do his surgery?”  Joe wondered.

“I’d like his neuro status to improve a bit first.  And, there’s still too much swelling.  Maybe in another day or two.”  Todd glanced below the bed and noticed the foley collection bag was only a quarter full.  “Looks like his output hasn’t improved either.”

Joe picked up the chart at the foot of the bed and scanned it.  “No, it hasn’t.  And he’s still hypotensive.”  He replaced the chart, moved around to the left side of the bed, and carefully lifted Justin’s gown so he could palpate his left upper quadrant and flank.  Justin stirred and mumbled incoherently at the intrusion, but he settled quickly back into sleep.  “He’s still guarding quite a bit.  I’m betting he’s got a pretty significant bruise.  We’ll start pushing a little more fluid today and see what happens.”

“Okay.”  Todd didn’t like this news.  Even though he knew Justin could function perfectly well with only one kidney if it came to that, it wasn’t an ideal outcome.  He also knew the healthy kidney could become unduly taxed due to taking on the added workload of the injured one.  The trick would be intervening before that could happen.  “Well, I have other patients to see.  Guess I better get going.”

“Right…”  Joe eyed his colleague thoughtfully.  He still looked way too pale.  “Todd, are you sure you’re feeling all right?  Maybe you should take the day off and get some rest.  Bryan Borchardt can…”

“I’m fine, Joe.”  Todd insisted even as an uninvited twinge charged through his intercostal muscles, causing a brief spasm he hoped the other doctor didn’t notice.  “I just need to eat something.  I’ll go down to the cafeteria and do that right now.”

“Would you care for some company?  I could eat something myself.”  Joe followed Todd out of the room.

Actually, Todd had had no intention of going to the cafeteria at all.  So much for that.  He couldn’t help but wonder if Joe was deliberately keeping an eye on him, and it wasn’t a comfortable feeling.  But, what could he do?  “Sure, let’s go.”

***

Todd forced himself to down a breakfast sandwich, even though he wasn’t the slightest bit hungry, as he and Joe conversed some more about Justin.

“So, where did you go last night after you left?”  Joe took a sip of his coffee as he continued to observe his colleague.  There was no doubt Todd was hiding something, and he knew sooner or later he would get to the bottom of it.  “I tried calling you at home before I headed out, but you weren’t there…”

“You did?”  Todd mentally calculated the time he arrived home.

“Yes, I did.”  Joe restated.  “It was around one-thirty.”

Todd decided there was no use trying to concoct a story.  Besides, it wasn’t as if he had stopped off at a bar or anything.  “I went over to the practice field at USC.  Worked out my frustrations a little.”

“I see…”

Todd was getting a little tired of Joe’s thinly veiled attempts at detective work.  “I had my pager.  If you needed to talk to me, why didn’t you…”

“It wasn’t anything urgent.”  Joe clarified.  “I just figured I’d give you an update on Justin before I left, but when you weren’t home…”

“I’m a big boy, Joe.”  Todd pushed his tray aside.  “I wasn’t aware I needed to let anyone know where I was going.”

“I didn’t say that.”  Joe paused, and then changed tactics.  “Todd, if something is bothering you…”

“Nothing is bothering…”

The doctors’ conversation was interrupted by a voice over the paging intercom.  Todd was being summoned to the ER.

“Sounds like they’re playing my song.”  Todd announced as he stood up gingerly, hoping Joe didn’t take note.

“Yep.”  Joe stood as well and walked alongside his colleague toward the emergency department.  “I’ve got to get down there myself.  Kel gets grumpy when he can’t find me.”

The pair hurried down the hallway as a young student nurse moved at a fast clip in the opposite direction.  Mind focused on her task, and not wanting the emergency department head to growl at her again, she didn’t notice the doctors drawing near.  Dixie had taught her to always move aside and yield the right away to doctors, especially when they were responding to a STAT page.  But, in this instance, the student was too preoccupied to remember this advice.  She looked up a second too late to avoid colliding with Todd.  It wasn’t a hard bump by any means, as the young girl barely weighed 100 pounds.  But, she stood back in shock as the tall doctor fell to his knees in the middle of the hallway.  “I…I’m sorry…”

“Next time watch where you’re going!”  Todd managed to bark out through clenched teeth.  It felt like someone was grinding a knife in his right side, and the angry remark had left him breathless.

Joe knelt down beside his downed colleague, noting his apparent pain and shallow respirations, and the way he was bracing his ribs.  “Todd?”

Now the surgeon was beyond irritated.  “I’m all right, Joe!  Just…help me up.  Gotta answer my…page…”  Todd was angry that he couldn’t seem to get more than a few words out without running out of air.

“The only place you’re going is into a treatment room.”  Joe decided, then looked up at the shell-shocked student.  “Go tell the secretary to cancel Dr. Andrews’ page and get Dr. Borchardt to cover it!”

“But…I uh…I was…I have to…”  The student stammered, torn now between the orders she had been given earlier by Dr. Brackett and these new orders.

“Now!”  Joe pointed down the hall and a second later the student scurried off in the direction of the secretary’s desk.

“Joe…I don’t need a treatment room.”  Todd insisted.  “And I can handle that page, damn it.”  He started to get up, but his movements were quickly stifled.

“You stay where you are.”  Joe’s tone was no nonsense.  He looked around for someone who could get him a gurney, but there was no one available.  Finally, a familiar face rounded the corner.

“Joe?  Todd, what are you doing on the floor?”  Kelly Brackett knelt down beside the pair.

“Oh, great…”  Todd muttered under his breath.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”  Joe responded, his hand still securely holding onto Todd’s arm.  “He’s been acting a little off since he got here, and just now Peggy bumped into him and he went down like a rock.”

“Peggy?”  Kel’s mouth twitched as his concern grew.  It was very unlikely the diminutive student nurse could injure the tall, solid orthopod just by bumping into him.  That meant something else was going on here.  At Joe’s nod, Kel grabbed onto Todd’s other arm.  “Let’s go.”

Todd allowed himself to be helped to his feet, protesting the whole way.  “Oh, come on.  Cut the crap, you two.  I’m telling you…”

“And I’m telling you you’re going to a treatment room.”  Joe stated again. 

“Joe’s right.”  Brackett agreed.  “Besides, if nothing is wrong, as you insist, then this shouldn’t take long.  And you can give us both a healthy dose of ‘I told you so.’”

“Kel…”  Todd growled.

“What happened?”  Dixie noticed the trio coming toward her, Todd in the middle, being steadied on either side by Joe and Kel.  She had heard Todd’s cancelled page, and it didn’t take much to put two and two together.

“We’re not sure yet, Dix.”  Brackett responded.  “What’s open?”

“You can go right in here.”  The nurse held the treatment room door open for the others to enter before following them in.

“Up on the table, Todd.”  Brackett ordered.

“Look, you guys are all making a big deal out of nothing here.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I was just paged…”  Todd tried to escape, but his efforts were easily thwarted by Dixie and Joe who both stood at the door with their arms crossed, wearing stern expressions on their faces.

“And Borchardt is handling it.”  Brackett reminded his colleague.  “It was only a routine radius fracture.”

“See?”  Dixie raised an eyebrow.  “You’re not missing anything. Now, get up on the table like Kel asked you to.”

“He didn’t ask.  He ordered.”  Todd corrected, growing surlier by the moment.

“Well, in that case…”  Kel couldn’t help a tiny smile.  “Would you please get up on the table and tell me what’s going on?”

Knowing he was outnumbered, Todd made his way over to the table.  “There is nothing going on.  In case you all forgot, I had a bit of a rough night last night, and like I told Joe earlier, I just needed to eat something.  I’m fine now.”

“Uh huh.”  Joe remarked flatly.  “Is that why a nurse the size of a ten year old practically rendered you unconscious?”

“Now you’re exaggerating…”  Todd pointed a finger at the smirking neurosurgeon.

“Okay…okay…”  Brackett figured it was time to stop the banter and get to the bottom of the issue at hand.  It was obvious Joe had reason to suspect all was not well with Todd Andrews, and they were accomplishing nothing by continuing in this direction.  “Look, Todd.  We all know last night wasn’t easy for you and you’re under a fair deal of stress right now…”

“Don’t…”  Todd raised his hand to stop Brackett from saying anything further.  “Don’t coddle me.  I am certainly professional enough to be able to handle what happened to Justin…”

“No one said you weren’t.”  Brackett crossed his arms in front of him.

Todd sighed.  The jig was up and he knew it now.  There was no way these three were going to quit until he admitted he had been injured.  It was time to call it in and let the chips fall where they may.  “Okay, listen…When I left here last night, I went over to the practice field at USC to let off a little steam.  I was working with one of the sleds and the padding came loose.  I smacked into the metal post, and may have…bruised a rib or two.  It’s nothing.”

“Let’s see if it’s nothing.”  Concerned, Brackett approached the exam table and adjusted the height.  “Take off your shirt and hop up here.”

Todd gave the other man his best glare, but it did not produce the desired effect.  It was obvious Kel would not back down.  He sighed and began loosening his tie.  “Kel, in case you forgot, I’m an orthopod.  I think I’m capable of assessing…”

“I’m sure you are, but I want to see anyway.”  Brackett insisted.

Dixie held out her hand and accepted the tie, then held out her other hand for Todd’s shirt, which he unbuttoned and gave up with a scowl.  The nurse immediately let out a whistle at the sight of the large bruise on Todd’s right side.

“That’s quite a bruise.”  Joe pointed out the obvious as he helped Todd onto the table.

“Yeah…”  Todd looked down.  The truth was he hadn’t even looked at it since last night, and it certainly had improved in both size and color since then.  “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

Kel frowned as he palpated the discolored area which caused the injured doctor to flinch and groan in response.  “Sorry.  Pretty tender there.”

“Sure as hell is.”  Todd agreed.  “Like I said…I bruised…”

“I think this is more than a bruise and I think you know that too.”  Brackett moved the light above the bed to get a better look.  “You’re short of breath.”  He began unfurling his stethoscope.

Todd rolled his eyes.  “Only because it hurts like hell to inhale.  I’m telling you…”

“Shhh.”  Brackett shushed his colleague as he moved his stethoscope around on his chest and back, listening.  Then, he straightened and removed the earpieces from his ears.  “Well, your breath sounds are equal.”

“Satisfied?”  Todd shot back.

“Not quite.”  Brackett pocketed the stethoscope and turned to the nurse in the room.  “Dix, get a set of vitals.”

Dixie wore a stern look as she went about her task, then reported her findings to Brackett.  “Pulse is 100.  Respirations are 22.  BP is 150 over 88.”

Brackett rubbed his chin.  “Hmm…BP’s pretty elevated.”

“That’s because you’re all pissing me off!”  Todd surmised.

“Maybe.”  Brackett agreed.  “Or maybe it’s because you’re in a lot more pain than you’re letting on.”

“Are you through?”  Was all Todd offered in response to Brackett’s assumption.

“Nope.”  Brackett turned back to Dixie.  “Call radiology and tell them to send down a portable.  I want a complete chest and abdominal series.”

“Oh for crying out loud…”  Todd protested.  “That’s it.  I’m outta here.”  He started to get up, but was quickly stopped by three sets of hands.

“X-rays first.”  Brackett insisted.  “Then you can be outta here...if there’s no internal trauma.”

“This is ridiculous…”  Todd seethed.

“Well, you can think that.  But, your symptoms say otherwise.”  Brackett refolded his arms.  “And you know I’m right.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”  Todd muttered as he looked down at the floor.

Brackett smiled and gave his colleague a friendly pat on the shoulder.  “Lie back and relax for a few minutes.  You may be right that it’s just some bruised ribs.  But if our situations were reversed, ask yourself what you would do.”

“I’d do the same damn thing.”  Todd admitted as he lay back on the table with a wince.

“That’s the spirit.”  Joe commented with a smile as he turned to go.  “Well, I’d better be going.  Someone has to hold down the fort out there.”

“Thanks, Joe.”  Todd responded from the bed.  His mind raced with thoughts of everything he needed to do this morning, so he could get back in to check on Justin as soon as possible.  This was going to set him back, and as angry as he wanted to be at his colleagues, he knew the only blame rested on him and his own stupidity.  Then, there was the matter of Justin’s surgery.  He needed to get that on the schedule, assemble his team, and reserve an OR.  He didn’t have time for this.  He continued to brood as the techs positioned him for the various films Brackett had ordered and then brooded some more while he waited for them to develop.  It was nearly an hour later when the door to the treatment room opened and an orderly finally delivered the manila folder that would hopefully be his ticket out of here.

Brackett intercepted the folder and walked over to the viewing board, snapping the films into place and intentionally standing in front, blocking Todd’s view.

“Hey, down in front, Kel.”  Todd strained to see, and was just about ready to hop down off the table when Brackett turned and approached the bed with a report.

“Two fractured ribs.”  Brackett announced.

“Ah, you’re full of shit, Kel.  Let me see…”

“You can see, but the proof is there plain as day.”  Brackett walked back over to the viewing board and pointed out two very distinct lines.  “Sixth and seventh ribs.”  He allowed a moment for this to sink in, then added, “Do you still want to tell me I’m full of shit?”  He crossed his arms in a self-satisfied gesture.

Todd ran his hand through his hair.  “Okay.  So now we know.  Write me a scrip for some Ibuprofen and I’ll be out of your hair.  I’ve got patients to see.”

“Not so fast, Todd.”  Kel switched off the light on the viewing board and moved over to the bed.  “The only place you’re going is home to rest.”

“Oh, come on, Kel!”  Now this was going too far.  “I let you force me in here, jumped through all your hoops…So I’ve got a couple of cracked ribs.  You and I both know there’s nothing to be done for them.  There’s no reason I can’t work if I feel up to it.”

“Let me ask you something.”  Brackett decided to try a fresh tactic, since his usual bossiness did not have the desired effect on this particular patient.  “If you were me, and Justin was sitting where you are right now, what would you tell him?”

“Kel, that’s not fair…”

“It’s absolutely fair!”

“No…”  Todd shook his head.  “No, it’s not.  Justin’s job is a lot more physical than mine.”

“Is it?”  Brackett stared the other doctor down, and received no response.  “Okay, well then what if I were sitting there?”

Todd sighed a long, frustrated sigh.  “You know what I would suggest.  But I wouldn’t force you as long as it wasn’t affecting your job.”

Brackett eyed his colleague dubiously.  He doubted what he was insisting was true, but he decided to give him a chance.  After all, he knew it would be important to Todd to keep an eye on Justin and be involved in his care.  “Okay, well how about you cut back, then?  Talk to Borchardt about picking up some of your case load for a week or so…”

Now that Todd could live with.  Besides, it would give him more time to focus on Justin.  “That’s a deal.”

“And nothing physical.  Let Bryan cover the reductions and the surgical procedures.”

“Okay.”  Todd nodded.  “Well, except for Justin’s…”

“Including Justin’s.”  Brackett cursed internally.  He almost had him.

Now Brackett was getting Todd’s dander up again.  “Kel, it’s a routine ORIF.  There’s absolutely no reason…”

“Any surgery is physically taxing.  You know that.  And what if something goes wrong?  Ask yourself how you would feel if you made a mistake…”

“I won’t make a mistake.”  Todd was on his feet now and staring Brackett down.

“You’re being foolish and you know it!”  Brackett barked.

“Hey…what’s going on you two?”  Dixie entered the room.  “I could hear you all the way out in the hall.”

“Todd, here, has two fractured ribs.  But, he still thinks he should perform Justin’s surgery.”  Brackett informed the nurse.

Dixie was concerned to hear of Todd’s injury.  She moved toward him, her voice full of compassion.  “Todd, I’m sure Bryan would…”

“No one is doing Justin’s surgery but me.”  Todd insisted, cutting Dixie off.

“You said yourself it’s a routine ORIF.”  Brackett changed tactics again.  “Bryan’s done hundreds of…”

“I know!”  Todd yelled, then softened his tone.  He knew Kel was right, and that just frustrated him all the more.  “I know he has…”

“But, this is Justin’s arm.”  Dixie knew exactly why Todd was so insistent upon taking care of his friend himself.  And she knew Kel understood too, if he could only get past his need to be right long enough to realize it.

Todd sighed, defeated.  At least Dixie understood.  “Right.”

Dixie placed a hand on Todd’s shoulder.  “And you want to make sure everything goes perfectly.  So much so that you don’t even trust a surgeon who has more experience than you do…”

“I know Bryan would do fine…”  Todd agreed, but that wasn’t the point.

“That’s right, he would.”  Dixie nodded.  “And…I bet he would let you observe.  You could be right there in the room watching every move he makes…”

“But, be able to take a break if you need to…”  Bracket interjected as he wondered for about the millionth time what Dixie’s secret was.

“All right, you win.”  Todd grabbed his shirt and started putting it on, accepting some assistance from Dixie.  “I’ll talk to Bryan.  And I’ll call over to Harbor and see if they can spare an orthopod for a few days to help cover my case load.  I’ll turn over everyone but Justin for the rest of the day…”

“At least.”  Brackett urged.

“And I’ll talk to Bryan about Justin’s surgery.”

Brackett smiled as he reached out and placed a hand firmly on Todd’s upper arm.  He knew how hard it was for his colleague to back down on this.  “I’m sorry, Todd.  I know it’s not the way you want it…”

“No apologies necessary.  You were right.”  Todd stuffed his tie into his pocket.  “Besides, it was my stupidity that caused me to be injured in the first place.”

“Accidents happen.  No one can blame you for needing to decompress.  I admit I was quite angry myself over what happened to Justin.”  Brackett began following Todd to the door.

“Yeah, well…at least they caught the guy.”  Todd blew out a long breath.  “What’s done is done, I guess.”

The trio stepped out into the busy hallway where they were immediately approached by Bryan Borchardt.  “Todd?  Are you okay?  Joe told me…”

“Yeah, Bryan, I’m okay.”  Todd made brief eye contact with Brackett and Dixie before stepping away from them and accompanying Borchardt on his way down the hall.  “But, we need to talk…”

***

Johnny stretched out his lanky legs and rested his feet on the small bedside stand, crossing them at the ankles.  The nurse had just left after Justin’s latest neuro check, and Johnny hoped Justin would be able to sleep for a few hours now.  Camarin had just gone home.  Johnny had been right in guessing she would not want to leave Justin alone, so he relieved her about an hour before dinnertime so she would be free to go home and have a meal with the girls.  He promised to stay until she got back in the morning, since he did not have to work tomorrow.  He already missed his family.  But, the hospital was no place for the babies.  And Hannah was much better equipped to care for them all night. 

Johnny leaned his head back against the smooth vinyl of the small, bedside chair and smiled at the eagle drawing that hung on the wall directly above the cardiac monitor.  It was almost as if the magical creature was keeping watch over the blips moving across the screen, regulating them, making sure they remained steady and even.  He followed their movement for a few moments before turning his attention back to his brother-in-law, glad that he appeared to be resting peacefully.  Not long ago it had been a different story.  Justin had not taken well to being awoken, and was not at all cooperative with the nurse as she took him through her familiar list of questions.  While Johnny knew that Justin’s cantankerous behavior was well earned and also a likely side effect of his concussion, it had been difficult to see him acting like that.  After all, the perky physical therapist was normally the very definition of optimism and cheer.

As Johnny watched the steady rise and fall of Justin’s chest, it did not take long for his own eyelids to grow heavy in the relative quiet of the darkened cubicle.  And soon he was sleeping soundly.

Johnny hefted yet another pitchfork full of hay and began carrying it toward Red’s stall when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He turned just in time to feel his face explode in pain, but he did not fall to the floor.  Instead, he found himself standing beneath the willowing branches of a dying tree on the outskirts of his small village.  He was crying but he didn’t know why, and his tears felt thick as the piercing winter wind seemed to nearly freeze them solid before they could track all the way down his cheeks.

“Worthless good-for-nothing…”

Johnny looked up expecting to see the hate-filled eyes of his papa, but instead, Jonas stood before him brandishing a long-handled shovel as he smiled lasciviously.

“I killed that goodie two shoes brother of mine, and now I’m gonna kill you…”  Jonas reared back the shovel in preparation for a grand slam swing.

“No!”

Johnny startled awake, covered in perspiration, his heart nearly pounding out of its protective cage.  But he only had a brief moment to be relieved that he had only been dreaming.

“No…”  Justin’s legs moved beneath the covers and his head pitched back and forth on the pillow.  “No, please…”  His left hand flopped off the bed weakly and his right arm strained against the confining bonds of the traction.

Johnny rose to his feet in a half-second, concerned that whatever nightmare Justin was having might cause him to further injure himself.  He was afraid to touch him for fear he would project the physical contact into his dream, and he did not really want to wake him.  Johnny’s mind scrambled for a plan that would hopefully disrupt the nightmare and ease Justin back into restful slumber.  “Hey, Justin.  It’s John.  I’m here, and you’re safe, man.”

But Justin didn’t appear to hear.  He groaned weakly as his fractured speech pleaded with his attacker.  “Leave them…’lone…don’t…” 

Justin’s left hand appeared to try to swat at something or someone unseen, and this time Johnny chanced grabbing onto it.  “Hey, come on…don’t look at him, Justin.  It’s me.  It’s John.  Feel my hand?”

Justin’s head stopped moving, and his legs stilled for a moment.  “John?”  But, then the restless movements continued.  “He’s…don’t let…”

Johnny increased his grip.  “Don’t pay attention to him.  Listen to me.  And squeeze my hand.  Can you do that?  Squeeze my hand.”

It took a few seconds, but Justin’s fingers finally curved weakly around Johnny’s.

“That’s it.  Now, hold on and listen to me.”  Johnny had a fair idea what this nightmare involved.  “He’s not real.  Don’t pay any attention to him.  He can’t hurt you.”

“Cam…”  Justin squeezed harder.

Johnny watched as the blips on the heart monitor increased in speed.  Now it made sense.  “He can’t hurt Cam either.  She’s safe.  We’re all safe.  Do you hear me?”

Justin didn’t respond, but his hand held on.

“Do you hear me, Justin?”  Johnny used his free hand to smooth Justin’s damp hair, watching his face closely until the frown of confusion began to melt away.

Justin groaned as he opened his good eye and tried to make sense of things.  “Wha…”

“Go back to sleep, Justin.  Everything’s okay.”

But Justin wasn’t convinced.  His brow creased in continued confusion as he tried to sift through fragmented images and memories until he was left unsure of just what was real anymore.  “No…he…”

“He’s in jail, Justin.”  Johnny continued to do what he could to provide some assurance and comfort even as he remembered the vivid and frightening images that haunted his own dreams just minutes ago.  “He can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

Justin tried hard to focus on the concerned and familiar face hovering over him, but fear and uncertainty held him in a firm grasp.  He had no idea how long he’d slept, or what day it was. He had sketchy recollections of Todd talking to him.  And some other doctor he didn’t know.  Or maybe he dreamed that.  And nurses.  And Cam.  The more he tried to put the pieces together, the more his head throbbed and pounded with dizzying fervor.  “But…wha…”

“I know it’s hard, Justin.  But, you have to relax.  Just trust me, okay?”

“He…he had a…a gun…”

“I know he did, but not anymore.”

Justin willed his breathing to slow as he continued to clutch onto Johnny’s hand.  More was coming back to him now.  Todd told him he had been assaulted.  That was why he hurt so much.  That was why he was at Rampart.  “John?”

Johnny was relieved as a spark of recognition and clarity seemed to add some color to Justin’s unusually lackluster eye.  “Yep, it’s me.”

“What’s going on?”  Todd asked softly as he entered the room.  He moved to the opposite side of the bed and immediately began to size up his patient’s condition.

“He was having a bad dream.  Seems better now.”  Johnny eased Justin’s hand back down onto the bed and released his grip, giving the hand a quick pat.

“I figure that’s pretty normal.”  Todd leaned over the bed in order to make eye contact.  “How are you doing?”

“I…”  Justin struggled to answer that question.  There were just too many unfilled blanks.  “I don’t...head hurz…”

“I’m afraid it will for a while.”  Todd lifted the ice pack and studied Justin’s right shoulder and arm, nothing that the swelling finally appeared to have stalled, and may even have started to subside a little.  “How does your shoulder feel?”

“Ssore…”

Todd felt for brachial and radial pulses and squeezed Justin’s nail beds.  Then, he leaned over the bed again.  “Justin, do you remember we talked about your shoulder needing surgery?”

“Mmm…no…”  This was all getting to be too much for Justin to process and he closed his eye, hoping to be allowed to sleep.

“Hey, stay with me just for a minute, Justin.”  Todd tapped his patient’s good shoulder.

“Tired…Todd…”

“I know you are, but I need to talk to you.”  Todd’s tone was gentle but insistent.  “You’re going to have surgery in the morning.”

“Wha…wha for?”

“You have a proximal humerus fracture and a torn rotator cuff.  You need surgery so we can get you out of this contraption.”  Todd indicated the traction device that held Justin’s arm immobile.

“’Kay…jus…do what you…hafta…do…”  Even though Justin wasn’t sure of much right now, one thing was certain.  He trusted Todd.  If he said he needed surgery, then he needed surgery.  He wasn’t in much position to argue, and trying to understand it all was making his head hurt.

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”  Todd made brief eye contact with Johnny before returning his attention to Justin.  “You’re going to have surgery first thing in the morning, but I won’t be doing it.”

Justin wished Todd would stop talking in riddles.  “Wha…why?”

“Yeah, why, Doc?”  Johnny was as confused as Justin about this development.

“Bryan Borchardt is going to do it.”  Todd explained.  “But, I’ll be in the room too.”  He hoped this was enough explanation.  He really didn’t want to tell Justin that he was injured.  The last thing he needed was to be worried about him.

“Wha….wha’s going on…Todd…” 

Johnny could see that Justin was becoming agitated again, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit angry.  Why in the world wouldn’t Todd do Justin’s surgery?  He had to know Justin would feel more comfortable and more at ease.  Surely there had to be some logical reason.  Maybe there was more to Justin’s injury.  Maybe it was something Borchardt excelled in.  “Yeah, what’s up?”

Todd sighed.  He wasn’t really prepared for this, although he supposed he should have been.  He had fooled himself into thinking he would be able to just slip this by, but who was he kidding?  Now he needed to come up with something, and he figured he may as well make it at least a half-truth.  “Okay, I’ll tell you, but I don’t want you to worry about it, okay Justin?”

Justin frowned.  “Worry…wha…”  The effort of talking was really beginning to cause pain now.  Even his tongue ached.

“I uh…had a fall.  Slipped on the stairs and cracked a couple of ribs…”

Justin’s eye opened again at this news.  “You…you ‘kay?”

“I’m fine.”  Todd spoke the two words with such definitive affirmation, it left little room for doubt.  And, he carefully avoided the suspicious glare he was getting from across the bed.  “I just wasn’t certain I’d be comfortable standing for that length of time, and I didn’t want anything to go wrong.  It’s an easy fix, Justin.  And Bryan’s done hundreds of these surgeries.  I trust him, and so should you.  And I promise I’ll be right there…”

Of course Justin would have felt better if Todd was performing his surgery, but he knew Borchardt’s work.  There was no reason not to trust him.  Something wasn’t adding up here, but Justin’s head hurt too much to concentrate on what.  “’S’okay…”

Todd smiled and gave Justin’s shoulder a pat.  “Good.  Get some rest now.  Do you need something for pain?”

“Head’s…killing me…”

Todd walked to the foot of the bed and picked up Justin’s chart.  “You’re due for some Demerol.  Are you still feeling nauseous?”

Justin thought about that.  The room still seemed to tilt and rock.  And the metallic taste of stainless steel and blood still assaulted his bruised taste buds.  “Little…”

“Okay, I’ll have the nurse bring you some phenergan too.”  Todd closed the chart and returned it to the cradle before moving back to Justin’s side.  “Anything else you need before I go?”

Justin found himself wishing Todd would stay.  There was something grounding about his presence.  But, he reminded himself his boss was injured now too.  “You…’kay?”

It took Todd a few seconds to process what Justin was asking him.  “I told you I’m fine.  Now, get some rest.”  His jaw tensed.  This was exactly why he didn’t want Justin to know he was hurt.

“You…res’ too…”

“I will.”  Todd promised.  “As soon as I make sure you’re set for the night.”

“I’m going to be staying here with him, Doc.”  Johnny figured Todd would feel better about leaving and getting the rest he needed before Justin’s surgery in the morning if he knew this. 

“Good.”  The doctor nodded.  “I’ll see you early in the morning, Justin.”  He gave his friend’s foot a squeeze on the way out.

“I’ll be right back.”  Johnny promised his friend as he followed Todd out into the hall.  “Hey, Doc?  Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, John.”  Todd reiterated.  “A little sore, but…you know all about that, right?”

“Yeah…yeah I guess I do.”  Johnny smiled.  He still was not convinced the doctor had been hurt in a fall, but he couldn’t exactly put his finger on why.  Maybe it was because Todd had carefully avoided eye contact when he mentioned his spill on the stairs.  Maybe it was the way he seemed in too much a hurry not to discuss any details.  This left Johnny to wonder if Justin was suspicious too, but he reasoned the therapist’s current level of disorientation might prevent that.  He decided to abandon any more figuring about that for now as his mind settled on a new question.  “Uh, Doc?”

“Yeah, John.”  While still giving Johnny his attention, Todd managed to communicate through eye contact to Justin’s night nurse, who was seated at the nearby desk, that it was time for Justin’s meds.  She quickly went about gathering the needed supplies.

 “Are you sure Justin’s okay for surgery?  I mean…his neuro checks…”  Johnny stepped aside to allow room for the nurse to enter Justin’s cubicle.  

“I know they haven’t improved all that much.  But they haven’t deteriorated either.  If there was going to be much more brain swelling or if there was a hemorrhage, we’d have likely known about it by now.  I consulted with Borchardt this afternoon.  Justin’s latest X-rays show the traction isn’t affective.  Because of the instability caused by the rotator cuff tear, those bones won’t stay in alignment.  If we don’t do the surgery soon, it could result in a major loss of function in that arm.”

“Really…”  Johnny looked down at the floor, unhappy about this news.

Todd placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder.  “Don’t worry.  I talked to Joe.  He agrees this is the best course of treatment.”

“Okay…if you say so, Doc.”  Johnny heaved a sigh.  “I guess I better get back in there.  You going home?”

“In a bit.  See you in the morning.”

“Yep.  Bright and early.”

Johnny returned to Justin’s room, passing his nurse on her way out.  He expected to find Justin sleeping, or at least resting now.  But, instead, he grunted softly as his head moved on the pillow, and his legs shifted restlessly beneath the blanket.  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Justin let out a soft moan as anxiety fought against the sedating effects of the medications he had just been given.  “Tah…”

“Todd just left.”  Johnny grabbed hold of Justin’s hand.  “What do you need?”

Justin continued to squirm anxiously.  “He…he…hurt more…than…letting on.”

Of course.  It figured Justin would be worried about Todd now.  “Come on now.  What makes you say that?”

“He…he’d never…give up the…OR.”  Justin’s brow creased as the effort of talking caused pain to blossom in his jaw.

Johnny noticed his brother-in-law’s dilemma and searched for a way to put his mind at ease.  He knew he wasn’t capable of thinking clearly at the moment and that his emotions were frayed.  “Well, I’m sure he didn’t give it up willingly.  You know how it goes around here.  Brackett or someone probably found out about Todd’s injury and made a big fuss.  Anyway, I just talked to him out in the hall.  He’s fine, Justin.  A little sore.  But, he’s okay.”

“But…”

“You need to quit talking.”  Johnny urged.  “You’re not doing yourself any favors by worrying.  I’m sure Todd just wants to be sure everything goes perfect tomorrow.  Besides, you know him.  He’ll still find a way to call all the shots…”

“You got that right.”  A voice came from the direction of the doorway as a tall, sixty-ish man strolled into the room.  Johnny recognized him right away.

“Hi, Dr. Borchardt.”

Borchardt extended his hand for a shake.  “Good evening, uh…”  He recognized the dark haired man as one of the paramedics, but his name escaped his memory at the moment.

“John Gage.”  Johnny returned the handshake.

“That’s right.  Forgive me…”  Borchardt moved to the foot of the bed and scanned Justin’s chart, peering over it occasionally and frowning at his patient’s current level of agitation.  He returned the chart and moved to Justin’s right side.  “Justin, it’s Bryan Borchardt.  Can you look here a minute?”

Justin stilled his movements at the sound of the doctor’s voice and he turned his head slowly toward him.  The vision in his good eye was still hazy and it was difficult to open it very far, but he made an effort to focus on the tall, gray-haired man standing over him.

“I just wanted to check a few things before tomorrow morning.  Did Todd fill you in on what we’re going to be doing?”

Johnny appreciated the surgeon’s choice of pronoun.  Even though he knew Borchardt would be the one holding the knife, he knew it was important for Justin to have the reassurance that Todd would be almost equally involved in the process.

“Yeah…”  The truth was Justin was a little fuzzy on the details of what his surgery was going to involve.  His arm was broken.  That much he knew.  At any rate, he couldn’t bring himself to care much about it.  If Todd said he needed surgery, then he needed surgery. 

“Good.”  Borchardt began moving Justin’s gown aside.  “I’m going to take a look at your shoulder, okay?”

Justin nodded slightly and closed his eye wondering to himself what would happen if he had said it wasn’t okay.  Would that even matter?

Borchardt took a moment to visually assess the amount of swelling and bruising that extended from the top of Justin’s shoulder to his elbow.  He didn’t feel the need to further agitate his patient at this point by touching, so he turned his attention to Justin’s hand, feeling the digits for warmth.  He wasn’t expecting the man on the bed to suddenly jerk spasmodically and cry out in pain.

Johnny took a surprised step backward as Justin’s entire body seemed to arch off the bed, then settle, as his left hand moved quickly to his left cheek.  He watched helplessly as Justin cried out in agony, his hand tensing into a claw-like form and trembling erratically in response to whatever affliction had suddenly erupted in the side of his face, causing stabbing, electric-shock pain.  “Justin?  What hurts?”  Johnny’s own jaw tensed out of alarm for his friend, and his eyes searched the surgeon across the bed for answers.

Justin was unable to respond.  His shaking hand indicated the left side of his face, but it was unclear if he meant his jaw, his ear, his head, his cheek, or some combination of the lot.

Borchart, too, looked on in concern.  But, as quickly as the paroxysm appeared, it seemed to vanish.  A closer look revealed the muscles in Justin’s swollen cheek twitching sporadically, leading the surgeon to make an educated guess as to what was happening.  “Better now?”

Justin was afraid to speak.  Afraid to move or even breathe for fear the horrific torment would return. He felt someone’s fingers lightly brush his cheek and then his entire being filled with dread as another spasm seemed to take on life of its own.  His entire face exploded in a torrent of lightning bolts.  And, he cried out again as tears leaked from his tightly closed lids.

“Easy…easy now…”  Borchardt did his best to soothe his patient until once again the attack seemed to subside as quickly and as mysteriously as it began.  “There we go…”

Jayne, the night nurse, entered the room at the commotion.  She stood at the foot of the bed awaiting any orders from the doctor.

Borchardt spoke evenly and calmly as he kept one eye and both hands on his patient.  “Is Dr. Katzman still here?”

“I think so.”  Jayne nodded.

“Go have him paged, okay?”

“Yes, Doctor.”  Jayne hurried quickly to the desk.

Johnny released a large sigh of relief when it seemed as though Justin’s latest torment had passed.  At least for now.  “What the hell was that?”

Borchardt answered Johnny’s question with one for his patient.  “What kind of pain was it, Justin?  Are you able to describe it?”

Justin waited a few seconds, then spoke hesitantly.  “S-stabbing…like…bolts of…’lectricity…”

“Only on the left side of your face?”  The doctor continued.

“Y-yeah…ah, shit!”  Justin’s sucked air through his teeth and he pressed his hand against his cheek, squeezing frantically.  He cried out again, hating every bit how pathetically weak it made him sound.  But, this pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced before or ever wanted to experience again.

Borchardt and Johnny looked on helplessly, each doing their best to talk Justin through his ordeal until finally, mercifully, the paroxysm again subsided as if it had never happened.

Borchardt knew these men needed the assurance some type of explanation could provide.  “My guess is this is some sort of neuralgia caused by irritation of one of the facial nerves.  This hasn’t happened before?”  The doctor again picked up Justin’s chart and began scanning it.

“No, Doc.”  Johnny answered for his friend, afraid to let him speak again.  “I mean, he’s had pain, but…nothing like this.”

“And you just had some Demerol…”  Borchardt deliberated over the chart, looking up at the sight of someone entering the room.

“Bryan?  You had me paged?”  Aaron Katzman moved swiftly to his colleague’s side, nodding a smile to Johnny, who gave Justin’s hand a squeeze and then moved out of the way to allow room for the doctors.

Borchardt quickly brought his colleague up to speed.  “He’s had three episodes of intense left facial pain, occurring paroxysmally.  Each lasted less than thirty seconds, although I’m sure to Justin, it felt much longer than that.  He described it as stabbing, like ‘bolts of electricity.’  And, I noticed some twitching in the masseter muscle.”

Katzman frowned as he was informed of this development.  He accepted the chart from his colleague and scanned over it before moving to Justin’s left side, leaning in close to his ear.  “Justin?  I’m not going to touch you or ask you to talk, okay?  I’m just going to take a look.”  The doctor observed his patient’s bruised jaw and cheek, noting that the twitching Borchardt had described was now absent.  Katzman                                                       was reasonably certain he knew what was causing this new onset of symptoms, and he could only hope it would prove temporary.  “Justin, we knew with the fractures you sustained, there could be some irritation of the trigeminal nerve, and I suspect that’s the case.  We’ll get you started on some anti-convulsant medication, as well as a strong anti-inflammatory agent.  That should help, okay?”

If Justin’s brain hadn’t been clouded from injury, he might have remembered treating various patients over the years with trigeminal neuralgia, a syndrome touted as one of the most painful conditions known to medical science.  He might have recalled the desperate people he had encountered who were willing to sell their souls for even one hour of relief from their unrelenting, chronic pain.  Who had turned to him as a last hope after medications and surgery had failed them.  But, right now, all of that knowledge was out of reach.  And that was probably a good thing.  Right now, all Justin wanted was some assurance his own blinding pain would not return.  He offered a barely decipherable nod.

Katzman smiled and gave Justin’s shoulder a pat.  Then, he jotted some notes in his chart and left the room in search of Justin’s nurse and eventually Todd Andrews.  He and Todd had discussed the possibility of this complication, and he was sure his colleague would want to be kept informed.

Back in the room, Borchardt made quick work of the remainder of his exam, knowing his patient needed to rest.  He finished by giving Justin’s fingers a squeeze and a promise both he and Todd would check on him before his surgery.

“Hey, Doc?”  It appeared Justin was finally sleeping, and Johnny took advantage of this to act as his advocate, asking some questions that were on his mind.

“Yes?”  Borchardt looked over his glasses as he made some indications in Justin’s chart.

“This uh…”  Johnny waved his fingers over his own face.  “This…neuralgia.  I guess it doesn’t affect his surgery or anything…”

“I’m sure Aaron would have mentioned something if he felt we shouldn’t proceed with it.”  Borchardt dropped the chart in its cradle.  “I can’t see that it should make any difference.  Nothing we do should cause any further irritation to the nerve.”

“But…”  Johnny fidgeted.  This experience had been slightly unnerving.  “Won’t you have to intubate him nasally?  Because of…”

“Yes, we will.  But, it will be on the opposite side.”  Borchardt smiled.  It was obvious this young man cared a lot for the injured physical therapist.  “Look, John.  The risks of not operating on that shoulder as soon as possible far outweigh any miniscule risk of exacerbating the facial nerve irritation...”

“Just how…”  Johnny looked down at the figure on the bed.  It appeared Justin was sleeping, but he didn’t want to take any chances of him overhearing.  He canted his head toward the door, indicating the doctor should follow him outside.  “Just how bad are the risks, Doc?  Is he going to lose function in his arm?”

“That’s what we’re trying to avoid.  Didn’t Todd talk to you?”  Borchardt wondered if maybe Todd didn’t reveal the whole story in an effort to keep John from worrying too much.  “Or…you think maybe he didn’t tell you everything.  Is that it?”

Johnny stared at the floor.  “Something like that.”

“John…”  Borchardt began, then stopped.  In the brighter light of the hallway, the paramedic looked positively haggard.  “Listen, would you like to get a cup of coffee or something?”

“No…no…”  Johnny hastily declined the offer.  “I need to get back to Justin.  Just…tell me what’s going on.”

Borchardt sighed, wondering if it was his place to fill Johnny in, and wondering what Todd’s reaction would be when he found out he had done it.  “What’s going on is…Justin’s shoulder is very unstable right now.  Todd and I believe the soft tissue damage is more extensive than he originally suspected.  Because the ligaments and tendons are not doing their job, stabilizing his fractured humerus with traction…or any other non-surgical means…is futile.”

“That’s pretty much what Todd told me, but…”

“The longer that fracture stays out of alignment, the more difficult it’s going to be to achieve an acceptable union.  That could result in any number of complications, such as a frozen shoulder, bone death, degenerative joint disease…”

“Will he still be able to do his job?”  Johnny knew that if Justin could no longer work as a physical therapist, if he could no longer perform the skills needed to keep his clinic working…it would devastate him.  And even though rationally the paramedic knew it was way too early for any definitive answers…after all, Justin’s concussion could prove just as debilitating as this shoulder injury, that didn’t stop him from needing someone to tell him everything would be okay.  Even if it was only a half truth for now.

“Todd and I are going to do everything we can to ensure he does.”  Borchardt placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder.  “But, he needs that surgery, John.  The sooner, the better.”

Johnny ran his fingers backward through his already unruly mop of hair.  “Yeah…yeah, okay.  Thanks, Doc.  I’m sorry, I just…”

“No apologies necessary.”  Borchardt shook his hand.  “Justin’s lucky to have a friend like you looking out for him.”

“He’s my brother-in-law, actually.”  Johnny gently corrected.

“Oh…right…I knew he had gotten married recently.  I wasn’t aware…”  Borchardt’s voice trailed off.  “Well, anyway.  He’s lucky to have you.”

“I’ve been lucky to have him a time or two myself, Doc.”  Johnny said thoughtfully as he turned back toward Justin’s room.

***

Part 9