AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she dialed his number. “Alec? This is Jillian.”
“Are you still at the hospital?” He sounded surprised.
“Yes.” Her vision blurred and she forced herself to continue. “I'm sorry but I don't think I'll be able to get away tonight.”
“I understand, although I would love to see you even just for a few minutes.” He sounded disappointed and she hadn't even told him about the weekend yet. “I need to go home, though to check on Shannon. I talked to Megan earlier, and she said Shannon was doing okay, but I’d like to see for myself.”
“That's only natural.” She bit her lip and blinked away the tears. “We can talk another time, Alec. Give Shannon a hug for me.”
“I will. Jillian, I uh...” he stopped, and then said, “Never mind. I'll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, Alec.” She quickly ended the call before she started sobbing in earnest. Taking several deep breaths, she fought off the wave of depression and stood. Daniel McNeil. She needed to focus on something besides her own misery. Daniel’s life was on the line, she needed to go up to the ICU to check on him.
Anything was better than going home to her empty house. Alone.
* * *
Alec gazedat his sleeping daughter, relieved when it seemed she really was much better. According to Megan, her fever had broken about eight o’clock that evening and she hadn't thrown up during the entire time he was gone at work. He felt certain that Shannon would be back to her old self, wide awake and raring to go, by morning.
His smile faded. Shannon would be fine, but he couldn't say the same about Daniel McNeil. Too bad he hadn't found him sooner. In some ways it was a miracle he'd found the kid at all. He and Rafe had sensed a change in some of the football player’s attitudes since the news of Frank's hospitalization had hit the streets. They'd discovered Daniel was the unofficial captain of the team, the one who scheduled group weight training sessions and held study hours for anyone having trouble memorizing the various plays. Daniel was not just the quarterback of the team but, according to the rest of the players, he was the heart and soul of the group.
Alec had been convinced Daniel would tell them the truth behind the percocets.
Instead, they'd found him unconscious, having accidentally or purposefully overdosed on them.
His mother had sworn the boy wasn't depressed. There was no suicide note, and his mother claimed Daniel was thrilled to be the first-string quarterback. He was really hoping for a college scholarship next year and his mother seemed to think there was a good chance he'd get it.
But not anymore. Even if Daniel woke up from his drug overdose, he'd likely not play anytime soon.
This whole percocet situation had spiraled out of control. The kid had almost died, could still die, just because someone was greedy enough to prey a player's willingness to do anything to be noticed. He'd never seen anything like it. Drugs in any form—narcotics or steroids—were bad news.
At first Daniel's mother hadn't wanted them to talk to her son, but when they pressed she'd reluctantly agreed. When she hadn't been able to wake Daniel, she began screaming his name. Alec and Rafe had rushed into the bedroom, and he had instinctively known time was of the essence. Rafe had called 911 while Alec had given first aid, holding the young boy’s airway open and breathing for him until the ambulance had arrived.
The empty percocet wrappers they'd found had been buried in the bottom of the kid’s garbage can. When they'd questioned Daniel’s mother about them, she'd been shocked to see them. She had admitted Daniel had suffered a shoulder injury that impacted his throwing arm. But she hadn't thought the injury bad enough to interfere with his playing. The additional information convinced Alec that this was likely an accidental overdose. Not a suicide attempt.
Yet the end result was the same.
Alec turned away from his sleeping daughter, still seeing Daniel’s unresponsive face in his mind. He'd requested the paramedic to give the boy Narcan, the antidote to narcotics, but even two doses hadn't worked. Because Daniel had been too far gone? He didn't know and could only hope the charcoal had been able to bind to the medication enough to do some good.
That train of thought led him right back to Jillian. Her fingers appeared to be bothering her again. He'd noticed she'd had difficulty placing the nasal gastric tube, so he'd given her a hand. Thankfully his medic training had prepared him well. Placing nasogastric tubes wasn't difficult. He'd done far more technical procedures when he'd been in the army.
He sank on the sofa, scrubbing his palms over his eyes. Daniel's face, and those of the other kids he'd lost, swam through his mind. He'd thought as a police officer in the civilian world he'd have a chance to help people, but most of the time he felt like he was only getting further behind. First there had been Ricky, who died of a gunshot wound. Then Frank had ended up in the ICU. Now Daniel.
His goal had been to make the world a safer place to live, especially for kids. He felt more strongly about his mission now that he had Shannon.
He stared at his silent television, wishing Jillian was there with him. Should he call her again? No, she sounded pretty dejected when they'd spoken earlier. Given the critical nature of Daniel’s condition, he couldn't blame her. And he couldn't help wondering if she was concerned about her hand. She'd told him the tests were negative, but obviously something was wrong. Tomorrow, he decided. He'd call her tomorrow and take her to his parents. There was nothing like a Monroe family event to lighten the mood. And since Shannon would be preoccupied with Bethany and Ben, he and Jillian may be able to find some time to talk alone.
At least, he hoped so.
* * *
The next morning,Shannon woke him by bouncing on the bed. It had been cute the first time she'd done it, but now he swallowed a low groan. At least his daughter must be feeling better. He roused himself, flashing Shannon a big grin.
“What would you like for breakfast this morning?”
“Daisy and I want to go for a walk in the park,” Shannon announced. “You promised.”
His daughter liked to use his own words against him. Had he promised? It seemed these days he was breaking his promises more than he was keeping them. Especially the big one of not causing upheaval in Shannon’s life. Stifling a sigh, he headed for the kitchen. “We’ll go to the park after breakfast.”
