Atramentum

by MJ Duncan

  “George?”

  “They’ve got her. Vet’s expecting them. She’ll be okay.”

  “Ma’am, we need to get her on the stretcher now. Do you want to ride with us, or follow in your own car?”

  Joss shook her head as she looked at Maeve. What did people do in cases like this? She knew that they would need a car eventually, but the idea of watching another person she loved drive away from her was enough to make her sick to her stomach. “I don’t…” She shivered violently, the shock of what had happened fading enough to allow her body to register exactly how cold she really was. “Maeve?”

  Maeve squeezed her hand. “You need shoes and a coat, and my insurance card is in my purse on the hook in the mudroom. I’m okay to ride on my own, there’s not a lot of extra room in the back of the ambulance anyway. Just follow us in the car so we have one at the hospital. George is going to need you, too.”

  Joss drew a slow, ragged breath and nodded. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” Maeve squeezed her hand again. “I love you.”

  Completely ignoring the two men surrounding them, Joss leaned down and kissed Maeve softly. “I love you, too. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She swallowed hard as she pulled away, and shoved her hands in the front pockets of her jeans as she watched the paramedics lift Maeve onto the rolling stretcher.

  She was glad Maeve could not see her crying as she watched the paramedics load her into the ambulance, and as soon as the doors were slammed shut, she took off for the house. She yanked her ruined socks off on the patio and tossed them aside as she leapt through the door, the cool hardwood floors feeling positively hot against her freezing feet as she sprinted upstairs for a new pair. Not thirty seconds later, she flew back down the stairs, her new socks sliding dangerously on the wood floor as she ran toward the mudroom. She shoved her feet into her shoes as she gathered her coat, Maeve’s purse, and the car keys, her heart beating wildly as she raced through the garage door to her car, her every thought focused on only one thing—getting to the hospital as fast as she could.

  Thirty-Eight

  Joss stood at the large, floor-to-ceiling windows flanking the eastern wall of the surgical waiting area at Sky Memorial Hospital watching the snow she had been eagerly anticipating fall. The sky was dark, the flakes invisible except for where they tumbled through the pale, golden glow of the lights in the parking lot outside. The lights inside the waiting room were dimmed in deference to the fact that it was now the middle of the night and not everyone’s circadian rhythm was accustomed to being awake at such a time, and the otherwise empty room silent except for the quiet hum of the air conditioner that was pumping more cool air into the already too-cold space. Somewhere behind several sets of swinging doors behind her, Maeve was undergoing surgery to set her broken elbow, and Joss closed her eyes as she resisted the urge to begin pacing again. The constant back-and-forth across the long, rectangular room had been making her even feel more sick with nerves than just standing still, but at least if she was moving she felt like she was actually doing something.

  She took a deep breath and held it. Maeve is in good hands. The doctor assured us it was safe for her to go under general anesthesia. She’ll be fine. She’ll be fine… Keep it together. Don’t break now. She needs you.

  “Coffee.”

  Joss opened her eyes and smiled her thanks at Scott’s reflection in the window as she took the white paper cup he held out to her, noting the black duffle he carried in his left hand. She hoped Michelle had thought to grab a coat for Maeve since the rangers had taken the one she had been wearing during the attack for their dogs to scent while they tracked it. “Thanks.”

  He hefted the bag and nodded. “Michelle dropped this off while I was getting the coffee.”

  “Thanks.” Joss took the bag from him. She sipped at her coffee and sighed. The drink warmed her hands and throat, but she doubted she would feel properly warm again until she was able to see Maeve and know for certain she was okay. “You wanna sit?”

  Scott shrugged. “Only if you do.”

  He had arrived at the hospital earlier that evening after she had called to tell him what had happened, asking him to handle things at Atramentum until further notice, and had stubbornly insisted that he had nowhere else he needed to be when Joss tried to convince him that he would be much more comfortable at home than sitting in the main lobby of the hospital. She was grateful for his stubbornness now, however. The waiting room was eerie—cold and shadowed, the only sign of life their ghostly reflections in the windows—and his presence was doing wonders to help keep her rampaging pessimistic thoughts at bay. He knew when to talk and when to keep silent, and she knew that without him to keep her company, she would have surely lost it by now.

  The orthopedist handling Maeve’s case had said the surgery would take about an hour—but she had already been gone for close to two—and Joss was beginning to fear that all of the surgeon’s assurances about Maeve being perfectly fine to go under general anesthesia despite her concussion were false.

  “Have they come out to talk to you yet??”

  Joss shook her head and checked her phone for the thousandth time that evening. Her throat was tight, and if she had eaten anything since that apple seven hours earlier, it surely would have come back up by now.

  “Any word from Brock?” Scott asked, nodding at Joss’ phone.

  The local vet had done everything she could to stabilize George, but the Dane’s injuries were too critical for the small clinic to manage, and they had referred her case on to the veterinary hospital at the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado. With her handful of broken ribs and punctured lung, the large veterinary hospital was better equipped to perform the required lifesaving measures, as well as monitoring her twenty-four hours a day afterwards. They had called to update her on George’s status as they drove the Dane down the mountain, and the hospital had called once they arrived there to get a credit card number to cover George’s expenses, but news on that front was as sparse as it was here with Maeve.

  Joss shook her head. “Nothing since he texted to say they had just taken her back for surgery.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah.” Joss blew out a loud breath and dropped into a nearby chair. She slumped in the seat and took a sip of her coffee. “I dunno… I mean, he sounded optimistic when he called on their way down the mountain, like the vet in town felt this was something she could recover from, but I hate that she’s all the way down there and we’re up here.”

  Scott dropped the bag he was holding at her feet as he sat in the chair to her right, giving her leg a reassuring bump with his knee. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, he asked, “How much longer is Maeve supposed to be in surgery?”

  “I dunno.” Joss ran a hand through her hair and sighed, her stomach twisting as she looked at the clock on the wall. What was taking so long? “She’s already been in there longer than they were saying she would be.”

  “Joss?”

  Joss bolted upright and looked at Dr. Lewis. The blonde orthopedist was young, probably not much older than she was, but the nurses had all raved about her skill in the operating room. “Yes?”

  “Maeve is in recovery and starting to come around if you’d like to come back and join her.”

  Joss nodded and grabbed the bag of clean clothes from the floor as she jumped to her feet, only vaguely aware of Scott doing the same thing beside her. “How is she?”

  Dr. Lewis smiled. “It all went perfectly,” she said, her voice soft and reassuring. “It was a little more difficult to realign than I’d anticipated, which is why the surgery took longer than we thought it would. I used three pins to set the elbow”—she bent her left arm in front of herself and pointed to where she had placed the pins—“but that’s not at all uncommon, and Maeve should recover beautifully from this. Provided she continues to do as well as she has been, she could possibly be discharged tomorrow.” She frowned and checked her watch. The day had changed over while she had
been in surgery, and she shook her head. “Sorry. Later today.”

  Oh thank God. Joss looked over at Scott. “Do you want to come back too, or…”

  “Nah.” He yawned and made a show of stretching his arms over his head. “It’s late. I’m going to head home.” He wrapped an arm around Joss’ neck and pulled her into a light hug. “Go take care of your woman. Lemme know if you need anything. I’ll text Brock and let him know he can hit me up if he needs help while you’re with Maeve.”

  Joss sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thanks.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Of course. We got your back, Perrault. I’ll call after the sun comes up to check in. Try and get some sleep.”

  Joss nodded, even though she was certain that sleep was nowhere in her future, and turned toward Dr. Lewis. She forced a tight smile as she took a deep breath, and nodded that she was ready. “Thank you.”

  “Of course.” A nurse in navy blue scrubs was waiting on the other side of the swinging doors, and Dr. Lewis smiled as she waved a hand at her. “This is Carrie, and she’ll be taking care of you guys from here on out. I begin my rounds at six, so I’ll see you again bright and early.”

  Joss shook the doctor’s hand. “Great. Thank you so much.”

  Dr. Lewis nodded and disappeared down a small corridor just behind them.

  “Ms. Perrault?” Carrie spoke up. “Shall we?”

  “Absolutely.” Joss swallowed hard as she followed Carrie through a second set of doors to the recovery area. There were three other nurses at the central desk station in the middle of the ward, and Joss bit her lip as she gave them a small nod in greeting. Her throat was too tight with worry despite the nurse’s assurances that Maeve was okay to do anything else.

  Joss sucked in a deep breath when her eyes landed on Maeve—the lone surgical patient in the ward at the moment, laying on a slightly elevated hospital bed with her casted arm draped over her stomach. Her blackened eye had completely swollen shut in the time that had passed since the attack, but the eyelashes on her other eye were fluttering as her body shook off the anesthesia that remained in her system.

  She was waking up.

  She was alive.

  Joss closed her eyes and blew out the breath she had been holding as the fear that had been twisting her stomach from the moment she watched them take Maeve back for surgery disappeared, leaving her feeling weak-kneed and slightly dizzy.

  Maeve was okay.

  She swallowed back her tears as she opened her eyes and hurried into the draped-off area where Maeve was waking up, the duffle bag she had been carrying landing with a quiet thump on the floor beside the bed. Her eyes darted over Maeve’s arm that had just been operated on, and she frowned when she saw the elastic bandage that covered the cast she had been expecting to see. “Why the Ace bandage?” She glanced at the nurse as she picked up Maeve’s glasses that were sitting on the small, rolling table beside the bed and gently set them in place.

  “Because of the trauma to the arm, Dr. Lewis bivalved the cast in case of extreme swelling. When she comes back for her recheck in a couple weeks, it’ll be taken off and replaced with a regular, uncut cast.”

  “Oh.” Joss took Maeve’s un-casted hand in her own as she stood by the side of the bed as Maeve continued to shake off the drugs that had kept her asleep, and her heart clenched at how cold it was. She looked at the nurse. “She’s cold.”

  The nurse smiled and draped another blanket over Maeve’s legs. “She’ll warm up soon. It’s just a lingering effect from the anesthesia.”

  Joss nodded, taking the woman at her word as she turned her attention back to Maeve, watching the way her non-blackened eyelid fluttered, waiting for the moment it opened for good. There you go, baby. Come back to me.

  One long blink later, Maeve smiled as her gaze became more focused, her normally vibrant emerald-colored eye dulled by the medication that was still working its way from her system. “Hey, you.”

  Thank God. Joss clenched her jaw as she forced a small smile and gave Maeve’s hand a light squeeze. “Hi,” she rasped.

  The automatic blood pressure cuff came to life with a low hum, and the nurse gave Joss’ shoulder a light pat as she turned her attention to the machine, giving them as much privacy as the unit allowed.

  Joss took advantage of the woman’s kindness and leaned in to press a tender kiss to Maeve’s forehead. “How are you feeling?”

  “Sleepy,” Maeve murmured. “How’d it go?”

  “Three pins, but the doctor assures me you’ll be good as new in no time,” Joss reported.

  “George?”

  Joss shook her head. “Brock texted not long after you went into surgery that they had taken her back. But I haven’t heard anything since.”

  “We need to get to her,” Maeve said.

  “I know.” Joss squeezed her hand reassuringly. “But first, we need to get you taken care of here.”

  “Blood pressure is good,” the nurse reported. “Maeve, I need to listen to your heart,” she said as she reached for the collar of Maeve’s hospital gown.

  “I’m fine,” Maeve insisted even as she had a stethoscope pressed to her chest. “You should go to her.”

  Joss shook her head as tears stung at the backs of her eyes. Oh, how she wished it were that easy. “Sweetie, I love George as much as you do, but Brock is taking care of her there. He will light a fire under their asses to make sure she gets everything she needs, but right now we need to get you everything that you need so we can take care of her once she’s out of the hospital.”

  “When can I go home?” Maeve asked, changing tactics. She looked at the nurse expectantly.

  The nurse smiled as she draped her stethoscope around her neck and patted Maeve’s leg. “It usually depends on how well you’re managing your pain,” she said in a calming tone as she made a note on Maeve’s file. “The doctor will check on you during her morning rounds in a few hours and she’ll make the decision then. I’m not making any promises, mind you, but in most cases like this, the patient is able to go home within twenty-four hours.”

  Maeve’s eyes were like lasers, determination focusing her gaze as she looked back at Joss. “I’ll need clean clothes so we can get down there after I’m discharged.”

  Not at all surprised by Maeve’s insistence that she get to George as quickly as possible, Joss nodded and waved a hand at the bag that was on the floor by her feet, hidden from Maeve’s view. “I figured that was what you’d want to do, so I had Scott send Michelle to the house to grab us some clothes. Thought you’d be more comfortable with her rifling through your drawers than him.”

  Appeased, Maeve yawned and nodded. “Good.”

  “Everything looks good here,” the nurse piped up as she set Maeve’s chart on the foot of the bed. She made a waving motion to the other nurses in the unit and then kicked the brakes off the wheels of the bed. “We can move you back to your room now.”

  “Great,” Maeve said.

  Joss could tell by the determined set of Maeve’s jaw that she was eager to get things moving along so she could prove to the doctor she was ready to go home, and she just hoped that Maeve would be honest about the pain she was feeling. It would do none of them any good for her to be discharged before she was really ready. She gave Maeve’s hand one last squeeze before letting it go, and picked up the duffle from the floor. “Do you need me to do anything to help?” she asked the nurse, who had already unplugged Maeve’s I.V. machine and looped the cord over an unused hook on the unit, and hooked the thin metal pole between the webbing between her thumb and forefinger and the back of the bed.

  The nurse smiled and shook her head. “Nope. I’ve got her, but I recommend following behind us so I don’t accidentally run you over.”

  Joss nodded and stepped out of the way to give the large bed room to move. The trip from the recovery unit to Maeve’s room on the eleventh floor took no time at all since the majority of the hospital was sleeping, and she set the bag of clothes on
the small chair beside the bed as the nurse rolled it into place and locked its wheels.

  Once Maeve was properly situated—I.V. plugged back in, pulse ox in place, blankets adjusted—the nurse smiled and asked, “Is there anything else you think you’ll need right now?”

  “No, thank you,” Maeve said in a flat, weary tone.

  Joss added, “I think we’ve got it.”

  “Okay then.” The nurse nodded. “I hope everything goes smoothly for you from here on out.”

  “Me too,” Joss agreed. She looked at Maeve, whose lips were pulled tight in pain, and sighed. “Me too.” Once the nurse had left the room and closed the door after herself, Joss used the remote attached to Maeve’s bed to dim the lights as she leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to her temple. It was late, and they had more long days ahead of them. “Get some sleep, baby.”

  Maeve nodded, the dimmed lights and the drugs lingering in her system effectively trouncing any desire she might have had to resist. “Okay.”

  Joss’ throat tightened with emotion as she watched Maeve slip back under, and she swallowed thickly as she kissed her forehead. “I love you. Oh God, do I love you…”

  She knew that she should sleep while she could as well, but once she was sure that Maeve would not be waking up anytime soon, she retrieved the clean clothes Michelle had picked for her and disappeared into the small en suite bathroom. She closed the door quietly and then turned on the lights, and blinked at the harsh glow the florescent bulbs above the sink cast against the gleaming white tiled floor and walls. She turned on the shower and undressed quickly as it warmed up, and closed her eyes as she stepped beneath the hot, beating stream.

  Alone and utterly, completely exhausted, she sank to the floor, barely registering the cool tile against her skin as she pulled her knees to her chest. She bit her lip nearly hard enough to draw blood as she tried to fight back the chest-rattling sob that she could feel building inside her, but it was no use. She pressed her forehead against her knees as she let it go, tears of fear and relief pouring hotly down her face as she rocked in place, comforting herself as best she could.