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“Can we take the catheter out? I’d prefer to get up to use the bathroom.”
Derrick chuckled. “No, you really will not want to try that yet either. Tomorrow or the day after, maybe. Your incisions need to heal plus you’re bound to feel dizzy. We don’t want you to move around much for a few days. You aren’t a very patient person, are you?”
“I’m normally a healthy independent person. I can’t see me just lying here for a few days,” she countered. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be crabby and difficult.” She realized her words had been clipped.
He patted her shoulder. “Not crabby or difficult. Just give it a few days. You have a nasty infection from the ruptured appendix and the antibiotic they’re giving you is strong. It can make you feel sick as well as dizzy. If you feel nauseous at all let us know. There is also an order for an anti-nausea.”
If there was one thing doctors were good at, it was writing prescription orders. She’d pass on as many of them as she could. Though it occurred to her that this would at least delay the decision she had to make regarding the FBI coursework.
That was the last thought she had before drifting off to sleep.
Bravo
Laura Lee woke several times overnight. She ended up accepting the painkiller, but not the sleep aid.
Gunshots blasted the silence and instantly snapped her wide awake. Her eyes took in the dimly lit hospital room and the pain in her abdomen reminded her where she was. Panic assaulted all her senses. Fearing the gunman or gunmen would hear her; she held her breath to quiet her gasping breaths. The woman’s face, leaning into hers, had pleading eyes. Her sudden presence startled Laura Lee. She begged Laura Lee for help in a whisper, but Laura Lee could not get up. She was so terrified, she couldn’t even answer.
From behind the woman, a man rushed into the room. He was visible in the spotlight of brightness flooding into the room from the hallway through the now open door. Laura Lee’s gaze re-affixed on the woman. She wanted to tell her to run, but the words wouldn’t come out. She was frozen. All the details from the case the team had worked in New Orleans a few months previously when she was put on probation flooded back to her. The woman standing before her was from that case. What was she doing there?
The man reached them and in slow motion; he hit the woman and knocked her to the ground. Laura Lee watched helplessly as he mounted the woman and raped her. It was only when he glanced back at the bed and Laura Lee saw his face that a scream broke free from her. It was Harrison West, one of her college professors.
With a racing heart and unable to catch a breath, Laura Lee’s eyes darted around the empty room. She was fully awake now and realized it had been a nightmare. No one had been in her room. There had been no gunshots. After her breathing and heart rate returned to normal, she relaxed into the uncomfortable mattress.
By morning, she could sit upright with little nausea. She was tolerating the strong antibiotic well. She declined another dose of the painkiller when it was offered, as she was sure that was what had caused the utterly realistic nightmare. Her liquid breakfast arrived at the same time Doc did. As promised, he was just checking in on her before heading to the office for the briefing on the mission before the team would deploy.
Laura learned that Caleb Smith had been called back to the office to cover for her, interrupting his vacation. She felt bad about that. Caleb hadn’t had leave when the rest of the team had recently, before Shepherd’s wedding. And he’d just met a woman he’d planned to spend time with that he now wouldn’t be. She planned to send him a message later, apologizing to him that her emergency caused his plans to change.
She had several more surprise visitors. Mid-morning, Madison visited. She told Laura not to worry about Ops and the mission. Caleb would get his leave time after they concluded the mission. Madison had always been kind to her, even when Shepherd had put her on probation. Madison offered to help however she could with the coursework. But Laura Lee hadn’t felt comfortable enough to confide in Madison what the issue was. Madison was a senior officer, and she was married to Cooper, the number two in charge of the agency. The nepotism at Shepherd Security was crazy!
Shepherd Security may be more laid back than other military units, but Laura Lee always remembered what kind of unit it was, an extension of the military. That was one thing that Charles Saxton, her adoptive father, had taught her. Even for him on the police force, the higher-ranking officers may have been his friends, but they were still his superiors. Laura Lee was brought up to respect rank, and it stuck with her long after he was killed in the line of duty, which was before she joined the ROTC in college. Thinking back on her choices, she was sure that both Charles and her birth father, Denzel, would be proud of her.
“Laura Lee, are you okay?” Madison asked.
Madison’s voice broke in on Laura Lee’s deep thoughts. “I’m sorry, Madison. My mind drifted. Must be the painkillers.”
“No worries. You rest,” Madison said, patting her arm. “And don’t worry about anything until you’re released by the doctors for light duty. The due dates for your coursework will even be extended due to this illness. So, please, don’t try to work on that while you’re off. I heard you asked Angel to bring you your laptop.”
“Yes, I foolishly thought that maybe I could work on something while lying here, but the pain killers have my brain so jumbled I don’t even trust myself to send an email.”
Madison smiled. “I’m going to go and let you get some rest. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you,” she said.
A short time later, Caleb Smith poked his head into the room. She hadn’t messaged him yet with her apology as she’d planned. And he had a bouquet of flowers for her, which made her feel even worse that she hadn’t.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked.
She smiled, so appreciative that he came to see her. “I’ve been better,” she said. “They’re not giving me nearly enough happy juice. I still feel pain, and this was laparoscopic surgery. I can’t even imagine how bad it would hurt if they’d actually cut me open the old-fashioned way.”
“So, the appendix actually burst, huh? As they say, go big or go home,” he said with a chuckle. “It looks like other members of the team beat me here.”
“Yes, I was really surprised when Angel and Elizabeth came by yesterday afternoon.” She pointed to one bouquet of flowers. “And I guess that Michaela and Yvette came by while I was still asleep after surgery.” She pointed at the other bouquet.
“How long do they think you’ll be in here?”
“I’m not sure. It depends on the infection that got spread when the appendix burst and how long it takes the antibiotics to knock it out.” Her eyes led his to one of the IV bags hanging beside her bed. “They tell me it’s a really strong antibiotic that is only given intravenously, so I have to be here until the infection is gone, not that I can even get up on my own yet.”
“That really sucks. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
