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Keira’s expression grew serious. “But that evidence wasn’t enough for Baker Street. He wanted more. That’s where I came in.”
A sudden knock on the ladies’ room door startled them both, and they turned sharply as the door opened just far enough to allow Cody Walker to stick his head in. “Liam’s out of surgery.”
Cate caught her breath. She hadn’t forgotten Liam was fighting for his life—it had been constantly in the back of her mind. But she’d allowed Keira to distract her for a few minutes. A warm, sisterly feeling permeated her when she glanced at the other woman and realized that’s what Keira had been trying to do—distract her from worrying about something over which she had no control. But now...
She looked at Cody. “Is he...?” She couldn’t get the question out.
He shook his head. “Don’t know. The surgeon just came out to talk to the family. But she’s smiling, for what that’s worth.”
Cate closed her eyes briefly. He’s alive. Liam’s alive. Thank You, God. If You’re there...thank You.
In no time at all they’d joined the others in the waiting room, where a woman wearing surgical scrubs quietly watched their approach. Her gaze moved from Cate to Keira as she asked, “Are you...?”
“I’m his sister,” Keira said quickly.
Cate couldn’t say anything. What was she? She had no official role in Liam’s life. She wasn’t his wife. She wasn’t his fiancée. She wasn’t even his girlfriend. But you are the woman he loves, she reminded herself. You’re the woman he risked his life to save...not once, but twice.
The surgeon was talking, and Cate forced herself to listen.
“He’s a very lucky man. It must have been a coated or jacketed bullet, because it didn’t deform on impact and cause massive damage. The bullet entered below his right rib cage and nicked his left lung, but it went right on through, out his left side. The paramedics inserted an endotracheal tube into his lungs to help him breathe, and they started an IV right away—our first responders are the best in the business—and that helped. He’s on a ventilator, but we’ll try to get him off that as soon as possible—hopefully tomorrow.”
Cate wanted to ask why that seemed to be so important to the surgeon, but wasn’t about to interrupt.
“We reinflated his left lung—no problem. And we didn’t have to remove the lower lobe since it was just nicked—we repaired it and I’m fairly confident that will hold. He’s also got a thoracostomy tube in place—more commonly known as a chest tube.”
“What’s that?” Keira asked, and Cate threw her a grateful glance because she wanted to know, too.
“It’s a flexible plastic tube inserted through the chest wall into the cavity between the lung and the chest wall. It’s hooked up to a suction device that will evacuate air and any remaining blood from the chest cavity, which will help keep the lung inflated. That tube will stay in place longer, maybe as long as a week. We’ll have to wait and see. I just wanted you to be prepared when you see him. The endotracheal and thoracostomy tubes will make it will look worse than it actually is.”
“So we can see him?” Keira asked in a hopeful voice, and again Cate was grateful.
“He’s still in recovery, but yes, we’ll let you see him as soon as we can. Not for too long, please, and not all of you at once—you don’t want to exhaust him. We’ve got him on antibiotics, of course, and pain meds. He won’t be able to talk to you, not even after he regains consciousness—not until he comes off the ventilator—but you’ll be able to talk to him.” She smiled. “You might not know it, but the presence of family and friends is great medicine and can actually aid in the healing process. So we encourage visitors...in limited doses.” She smiled again, this time at her little joke, then glanced at the clock on the waiting room wall. “Is there anything else you wanted to know?”
Cate finally found her voice before anyone else had a chance to ask a question. “You said you want to get him off the ventilator as soon as possible. Why?”
The surgeon hesitated. “He’s young. He seems to be in splendid physical shape. And his wounds in and of themselves aren’t that serious. But there can be...complications,” she said reluctantly.
“Complications?” Cate’s heart skipped a beat.
“Pneumonia is the most common. But when the patient is immobilized with a ventilator, we also have to worry about deep venous thrombosis and possibly a pulmonary embolus.” Before Cate could ask, the surgeon explained, “DVT, that’s blood clots in the leg veins. And if that occurs, the blood clot could break free and travel to the lungs, causing the pulmonary embolus—PE.” She held up a cautionary hand. “Don’t be alarmed, I’m not saying any of these things are going to happen. Just that they might. We’re taking steps to prevent them, but the most important thing is to get him off the ventilator as soon as possible.” She gave them an encouraging smile, and glanced again at the clock. “If that’s all... I really do need to get back. One of the recovery nurses will let you know when you can see him.”
