Chapter 14 ~ Mr and Mrs Right 

If you don’t have any shadows you’re not in the light”

~ Lady Gaga

Anita's point of view, Children's hospital, Pittsburgh. 

I'm in a nurses coffee room now. Strange right? yeah, it surprised me too that I was allowed to wait here but then maybe the orderly who let me in here thought I work here, he may have been fooled by the clothes I'm wearing, but it's also a very busy shift, everyone is in a hurry and that's when mistakes are made.   It's a definite upgrade from the general waiting room where I was in the beginning, it's calmer here. But I can't really say I'm all that relaxed, every sound has me jump a little more than I'd like to admit. I guess my nerves are finally catching up with what's been going down tonight.

This can't be correct. I blink my eyes several times while staring at the clock on the wall. I can't believe it's 7:21 a.m. The time displayed on my phone agrees. This means we arrived here just over an hour ago now, but it felt like she’d been there for several hours. Because I'm not a staff member there's not much for me to do but wait for news.

I just came back from Hunter. This boy is something else. He was with us the whole time we worked on Brian, he kept totally calm, didn't even seem bothered being suddenly cast as a surgical assistant. I'm so happy I was still down there in the reception when he was brought in. He was the last to be brought in and he literally fell into my arms when he saw me. I guess he was finally at the end of his rope. He wouldn't let go of me and I was allowed to go with him to the examination room. He didn't really comment much on the questions the doctor asked him, seemed relatively fine physically but asked about Cynthia. I lied and told him I hadn't seen her and didn't know if she was in this hospital. Because I know that she's here, and what I heard when they brought her in was not so positive… well I guess I'll know soon.

I fill up my cup by pressing the button for the strongest fake espresso three times. I've started to feel a bit tired now that I allow myself to relax instead of walking around. Better get on my feet again. I sip the tarlike result from the coffee machine, like expected it tastes bad but hopefully it will help. 

"Dr. Wright had asked for you mam, he's upstairs at the roof terrace," 

It's the same orderly as before who has come to find me. He looks tired. It's the same as in every other hospital, understaffed on a regular day but this morning has been extra hard on everyone, with the bus accident and us on top of all other regular patients, "you'll find the elevator if you follow the corridor to the left out of here."  

Once on the elevator I can't help but panic a little. If Daniel is out, does that mean Brian out of surgery already? Or… is he d… No! I can NOT think like that. Damn it, that's hot! My hands are shaking too much, making it tricky not to spill the steaming hot liquid all over myself. ‘Get a grip! You are not the injured one here...’ I tell myself, closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing. 

-   -   -

Everything had happened so fast. 

She’d been separated from Daniel as soon as they entered the ER when he left with the doctors who took Brian to the operation room. A few minutes later the second team of paramedics arrived and Justin was rushed to surgery as well. The third team of doctors was standing by. Anita learned that an ambulance was on the way high priority as well. Could that be the girl? Anita’s thoughts went back to the farm earlier that night. 

‘I’m fine. I’m FINE. Help Brian’. She knew there was nothing she could have done differently as she really had her hands full at the time. 

Soon the ambulance arrived. She’d guessed right, it was the girl. She could hear the paramedics shout out her condition. “Chest wound, tension pneumothorax, internal bleeding, she’s going into shock”. 

Anita didn’t get to see the others arrive because a security guard had approached her after the girl was taken away and handed her a blanket. He asked her to come with him. “You best wash and get new clothes ma’am”. 

He led her away and gave her a washcloth and a towel and set of scrubs to wear and showed her to the restroom where she was able to wash. She was shocked when she looked at her reflection. That was the first time she paid attention to her own appearance. Her hands and clothes were covered in blood stains. It was everywhere. Under her nails, in her hair, face, neck, the straps of her bra. The knees of her jeans were soaked, It had gotten on her socks too. 

Daniel had been right about Brian having a ruptured spleen. He had attempted to slow the bleeding by clamping forceps onto the lienal artery but there was still some bleeding. Daniel literally held his spleen the whole flight while the paramedics managed the IVF and incubation, she whispered relaxing words in his ear as if he could hear her.  She honestly didn't know how the poor boy was still alive when they brought him in.

When she came out of the bathroom, Becky and Erin were waiting for her. 

“Security said you were here,"  Becky told her. "listen, we need to talk before you go back to the waiting room. The FBI has taken over. They have the list and they are in charge now. But we’re not talking about the case with anyone. There is a major operation in the making. The info Swanson sent in was pretty extensive, not only locally. It’s big. So it goes without saying that no news of this can get out until they say so."

"We all need to give a statement later," Erin added. " But to the outside, your story is that you were one of the first to the scene of the bus accident. Just to brief you, a bus blew a tire and flipped on its side on I-79 north of Pittsburgh, that story is real, happened about the same time, we tweaked the numbers and the media was told our kids were involved. The only people who know any different are our team, the paramedics and medical teams directly involved. If you need to be somewhere, we can help you get there but it’s best if you stay… for your safety mostly. We can’t be too safe. The list has members of the police and other influential people. 

"Why the hell would I have gone on a drive out of state in the middle of the night after double work shift, no one's gonna believe me. And I'd rather not lie to my grandparents" 

Noticing the two young women's insecure looks and not wanting to add to the cluster of problems they were already facing she quickly added, "But there are different ways to tell the truth so don't worry. This is too important. I'm staying. I'll tell my coworkers I have a secret lover in Pittsburgh…"  ...or something, she thought to herself, because really, it wasn't something she had to figure out now. Explanations could wait, it was still early, no one would miss her for at least an hour.

"Samantha is on her way bringing Hunter in,” Becky explained. "It would be good if you could go stay with him for a bit, none of us are gonna be able to… we have our hands full with the media. Imagine if they knew the truth though... and one more thing..." they exchanged looks, and Erin reached into her pocket.

"I'm told that sometimes blood samples get mixed up in the laboratory...'' She handed a bag with two blood samples to Anita. "Valery gave me this. Apparently there's a chance a certain someone might get asked to prove he hadn't been drinking before performing a surgery. "Obviously", I have no idea who she was talking about… but I guess you can give this to Daniel… if he thinks he might need it..."

For the love of Jesus, Mary and Kurt Cobain… well given the circumstances, this was minor, Anita thought. She'd been awake for more than 24 hours, she really needed to find coffee...

-     - -

She got off the elevator and stepped out on the terrace where she found Daniel sitting with his legs up on the small table smoking a cigarette. She asked if he’d share it with her.

“What? Did you run out of your own special brand…” he teasingly asked her.

She gave him a 'Really Daniel?' look. She was really beyond tired and not in the mood for joking. So was he. She handed him the bag Erin had given her. He gave her a questioning look. "I believe it's an alcohol free blood sample. Someone thought you might need it."

They finished the cigarette in silence.

“Cigarettes are bad for you” she said as she took the last drag. “You’re right, I should give you more of mine”. They both chuckled but then turned somber. It was time to face reality.

“Sorry about that stupid comment earlier, I'm acting up.. I'm keeping myself together by holding on to every little good memory there is, hey... come here babe, let me hold you… we're all shocked by this. Shit almighty...”  

“Tell me” she said. 

Daniel let out a deep breath and frowned. 

“He made it through surgery. As much as they yelled at me for my freestyle surgery skills we agree it bought him time. We lost him… twice. The rupture on his spleen was substantial but they used the rivet technique and it seems to work... looks like the bleeding stopped for now anyway. He was nearly dry… and he’s O neg… the blood bank didn’t have much of his type but they have called in some donors. He’s really low still.

But… ahh there is so much more. His liver is enlarged, he’s yellow. The lab is testing him but I don’t need to see the results to know that he’s in trouble. And that’s just the tip of it. He’s been sexually and physically assaulted, I can’t even imagine… It's beyond my understanding how he was even conscious when we arrived. His fingers are so messed up, cuts and bruises all over. He’s severely underweight. He has a tough road ahead of him physically as well as mentally. 

“The other one, I don’t know. He's still in surgery. It doesn’t look good. They said they're gonna  remove parts of his skull bone to relieve the pressure. He has a high fever and his spleen is severely inflated but at least it’s intact. Brian said he had been sick, it's probably mononucleosis. They're probably gonna need to induce a coma for some days.

The others… the girl did amazing. She snapped right back with the decompression and is off the ventilator already, sleeping, but she’ll stay in the ICU. The wound isn’t as bad as it looked, she probably doesn’t even need a transfusion. The boy, I was told you saw him. He's physically better off… but he too has been abused. They are all malnourished and underweight. They need further testing, STD and so on… I imagine they’re all gonna need a lot of help psychologically…"

Anita dried her tears. “This is so horrendous. It’s.. how?… poor babies…  I'm just so... MAD at the people who did this to them... I wish there was something more I could do... Anita whispered. 

“Well, I need to go to work soon. The morning has been even more busy over at Shady with most of the passengers from the bus going there… Shit… I can’t stay here much longer. But if you can… I’m sure it will be appreciated. There are never enough volunteers and you know at least a little bit of what they’ve been going through. I don't think any of them have relatives here... and the staff sure isn’t gonna go sit with them, we both know that they don’t have time. This isn’t Grey’s Anatomy. They’re gonna need a lot of help…” Daniel sighed. 

"Yeah…" Anita rose and started to go back inside “I… I’m going back in there, I need to see if I can help in any way… yeah… maybe I can ask for some time off from work...”

“Will you marry me?” he interrupted her.

She stopped in her tracks. Did he just propose?

“Excuse me... What did you just say?”

“You heard me” he said staring at her with an amused look 

“Uhhh... you’re already married, Daniel, to someone else.”

"We're separated” 

“Well... you... Ahh.. I never... I mean... I like being single.... I don't want to be tied down and... “ Anita had to stop to breathe, “and besides...”

“Besides?” he prodded.

“Besides... eh... I'm...” she stumbled over her words.

“Having problems constructing a sentence?” he grinned, it was so much fun seeing her off balance like that.

“You’re a cheating, unreliable son of a bitch, you’re a inbred workaholic, you risk your life in your spare time... and if I remember correctly you once told me you never wanted to get married” he was just being impossible.

“And yet I did, didn’t I? And you’re right I am all that. But I'm also a soon to be single, very handsome, highly intelligent man with a demanding job and way too much money on my hands. I like beautiful people, I don't prefer one gender to the other. Don't get me wrong though, I've also always wanted to get into your pants... again...” he winked at her wickedly, “and by the way you do like being tied down… or up... if I recall correctly… and so do I…”  

Focus. 

“Hear me out Anita, I know that I fucked up… and I hurt you and I’m sorry for that. Barbie and I got married for all the wrong reasons... but that's not why I’m asking you to marry me, I don't want to limit myself either… not that I think we’ll ever do that to each other... It’s just that...” 

He took a deep breath.

“...these kids could do a lot worse than having a brilliant doctor and a sexy nurse as caretakers. And your grandparents have that farm with plenty of space, but they are too old to be granted their care. And you are the only supremely hot and intelligent woman I know who’d feel comfortable in an open marriage. And we're soulmates, obviously, so it makes perfect sense.”

“Da...” Anita was at a loss of words but what he was suggesting was nothing short of brilliant. 

“Is that a yes?” he licked his bottom lip and bit it a little bit in a feeble attempt to hide his smirk.

She couldn’t deny she was caught off guard. But it made perfect sense. As much as Daniel had confused her in the past, this wasn’t about her. This was about a group of teenagers desperately in need of a new start in life. 

“Yes.”  

“I do love you, you know,” he said and now there was no way he could control his smile. 

Dr. Wright stood up, all six feet two inches of him, walked in secure steps to the beautiful blue eyed nurse never losing eye contact, pulled her in and kissed her heavenly sweet lips…   ~ The end ~ 

Yeah. Cheap paperback novel. All. The. Way. 

Except that it wasn’t, he also thought. This was real life. Unfair, painful, confusing, exhausting, crazy life. It was what it was. And they had to at least try to help and maybe they could make a difference. 

"So, Mrs Right, before we plan our ridiculously romantic summer wedding… are you ready to fight for them?" 

“No... but let's do it anyway.” 

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