“She’s at the hospital.”
Jenna stood up fast with a force that made the detective step back. “Hospital? What happened to her? I need to see her now.”
“She was shot. She lost a lot of blood, but Officer Reihman informed me they have her stabilized at this moment.”
Jenna ran for the door. “Take me to the hospital now. You can tell me what happened to Kris and Kim on the way.”
***
Kris opened her eyes and squinted. The lights in the ceiling blinded her and she felt nauseous as they rushed past in a blur. She could see doctors and nurses surrounding her. She was in the ER. She closed her eyes and her mind drifted back to meeting Jenna for the first time in the emergency room. Remembering Jenna was still missing, she panicked. She tried to sit up, but she was secured on a backboard.
Kris saw doctors and nurses running around in chaos shouting orders. She kept blacking out. Her hearing was coming and going also. She heard something about a code. Someone else shouted, “We’re losing her.”
She finally succumbed to the extreme fatigue and sleepiness that overtook her senses. Her eyelids stopped fluttering and everything was silent. She drifted off into warm and peaceful sleep.
Kris heard someone calling her name, but it sounded muffled and distorted. She tried to tune them out, but then she felt someone squeezing her hand. She was still dazed and disoriented. Someone screaming at her to open her eyes and to squeeze their hand pulled her back out of her peaceful state. It was Jenna’s voice.
Kris fought her way out of the mist of darkness surrounding her guided by Jenna’s voice. She opened her eyes straining to focus against the harsh light. Jenna was standing over her along with a team of people poking and prodding her.
Jenna smiled masking her fear and leaned over with tears in her eyes. She kissed Kris on the forehead and squeezed Kris's hand tight. “Stay with me, Kris. We met in this ER, and I damn sure will not lose you here too.”
Kris tried to speak, but nothing came out. She had an oxygen mask over her mouth. She had lines and wires attached to her like something from a sci-fi movie. She looked up at Jenna and blinked hard to free the tears clouding her vision. Kris used her other hand to give Jenna the sign for I love you. She heard Jenna say, “I love you too,” before she blacked out again.
Jenna went out into the waiting area where Erin, Liz, Danni, and Jay were waiting. They stood when they saw Jenna. “What happened?” Erin asked. “Danni told us that Kim shot Kris and Allie…and that Kim is gone.”
Jenna wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. “Yes. Kim shot them both as well as our neighbor. Stan will be fine. His gunshot wound was through-and-through. Allie took a bullet in her shoulder, and she is in surgery now to repair some nerve damage. She’ll be fine.” Jenna hugged Danni. “I’m so sorry, Danni. I’m sorry Allie got caught up in all this and that she got hurt. You know they will take good care of her here.”
“It’s not your fault,” Danni said. “What about Kris?”
Jenna fought back more tears. She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. “Kris lost a lot of blood. Kim shot her in the back and the bullet is still inside resting near her heart. She’s lucky it missed her heart and any other major blood vessels, but she does have a collapsed lung on that side. They tried a chest tube, but her lung was still leaking air. She’s getting a bronchoscopy right now.”
“What’s that?” Liz asked.
“It’s a video of the inside of her airway to give us a clearer picture of what we’re dealing with.”
Liz squeezed Jenna’s shoulder. “But she will be okay?”
Jenna looked around at all their friends gathered around wanting to hear good news. She wished she could give it to them. She wished she could tell herself everything would be fine, but she knew better. She knew how serious Kris's condition was. “It’s serious. Keep her in your thoughts.”
Dr. Brian Tolson interrupted and pulled Jenna to the side. “It’s more serious than we thought.”
She turned back towards her friends, “Sorry guys. Thanks for coming, but I need to get back to Kris.” She put her hand on Danni’s arm. “Will you keep everyone informed for me?” Danni patted Jenna’s hand and nodded.
Jenna followed Brian back to the endoscopy suite to discuss Kris's results with the pulmonologist. While waiting, she pulled up Kris's scans from before. Finding no evidence of damage to Kris's heart, she breathed a sigh of relief, but Kris did have a collapsed lung.
“Jenna,” she heard a soft voice behind her. She turned to see Dr. Courtney Garman in the doorway. “What did you find, Courtney?”
Dr. Garman entered the room shutting the door behind her. She tugged at her surgical mask dangling from her neck. “Well, you already know about the pneumothorax,” she said nodding towards the images in front of Jenna. “We identified a significant bronchial tear near the carina during bronchoscopy.”
Jenna lowered her head into her hands, “So, she needs an emergency thoracotomy. Thanks for your help, Courtney.” She looked over at Brian who was sitting on the edge of the desk beside her. “I can’t believe this. I was hoping to avoid surgery. Now, I have to operate on my girlfriend.”
Brian stood and looked down at Jenna. “No. I can do it.”
Jenna bolted up and shook her head. “Thanks, but this isn’t your specialty. This is what I do. I have performed this type of repair many times without any major complications.”
Brian objected, “But it’s your girlfriend. If the Chief finds out about this, you could get in serious trouble.”
“I know, but I’m good at what I do. I don’t want to waste precious time waiting for another specialist to come in. I was supposed to cover today, but I called in asking to have the day off. It left them with no coverage, so I had to agree to be the one on call for today. In fact, I already got an alert about a chest trauma coming in while I was on the way to the hospital.”
Jenna cleared her throat. “I didn’t know it was Kris. I know all about the gray area of ethics involved, but this is an emergency. As far as I know this hospital doesn’t have a specific rule against it in an emergency situation. You don’t have to get involved. I don’t want you jeopardizing your career for me.”
Brian smirked. “I’m not going to win this one am I?” Jenna shook her head. “Okay. I will assist you, but the deal is if I feel your objectivity is being affected or if I feel that you are too hesitant to proceed, I will take over.”
“Understood,” Jenna said as she ran out of the room to prepare for surgery. She ran into Danni who was pacing the hallway outside the door.
“Did I just hear you say you were going to be the one to operate on Kris? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Danni asked.
“I’m the most qualified person here right now, and she needs emergency surgery.” Jenna said. “I didn’t want to scare the others, but I’m worried. It’s bad Danni, and we don’t have a lot of time.” Jenna paused and cleared her mind of the emotions overwhelming her. “Please update everyone and tell them to keep us both in their thoughts. I’ll do my best. Kris is a fighter and she always gets her way, so we have that going for us.” Jenna hugged Danni and walked away.
Jenna found Kris in the preoperative area unconscious. “I love you. You have to fight, Kris. I won’t let you down. You are going to get through this. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you when this is all over.” Jenna leaned down and kissed Kris's forehead before leaving to prepare for the most important surgery of her life.
Jenna met up with Brian scrubbing in. She looked through the glass at Kris lying on the operating room table. She visualized the steps in her head while Brian reviewed everything that they had discussed. She looked one last time at Kris's face before they repositioned her. Once Jenna crossed the threshold into the operating room, Kris would be her patient. Jenna had to close off all her emotions as best as she could. She couldn’t afford to let anything cloud her judgement and ability to react fast. That was her patient lying
on the table awaiting the best care she could give. Jenna looked at Brian with determination and nodded her head. “Let’s do this.”
Together they walked up to the table where Kris was positioned on her side. Jenna was glad she couldn’t see Kris's face. She said a silent prayer and took a deep calming breath. She asked for the scalpel and watched as the surgical technician placed it in her gloved hand. Jenna held the scalpel above Kris's skin. Her hand was steady, and she knew she was ready. She looked up at Brian across from her, and he gave her a nod of encouragement. Jenna lowered the blade contacting Kris's smooth skin creating a perfect straight line with the return of bright red blood. This was her playing field and she was the one calling all the shots now.
Chapter Fifteen
Kris awakened in a hospital bed with Jenna at her side. She was in the ICU. Her throat was sore and scratchy. She tried to raise up, but she was too sore.
“Stay still,” Jenna said. She leaned down and kissed Kris's lips. Jenna ran her hand through Kris's hair. “Hello, beautiful. We have to stop meeting in the hospital like this.” She poured some water in a cup and pressed the straw against Kris's dry lips. “Take a few sips before you try to speak. You had surgery and you had a tube in your throat. That’s why it feels sore right now.”
Kris took a small sip, but it was painful to swallow. Jenna insisted, so she forced a few more sips. Kris spoke, but it came out more like a hoarse whisper. “What happened? Where were you?”
Jenna sat on the edge of the bed and held Kris's hand. “I went for a run and Kim pulled up beside me in her car. She said she wanted to talk. I told her I would call her later, but then she said she would wait for me at the house with you. I didn’t want her anywhere near you so I got in the car.”
Jenna pressed the straw back to Kris's lips and refused to continue until Kris took another sip. “Kim drove to the hotel near the hospital. As soon as she shut the hotel door, she pulled a gun on me and tied my hands and feet together. She tied me to a chair and put tape over my mouth so I couldn’t scream. She turned the television on and left me.”
Kris tried to push up in the bed a little to get more comfortable, but she winced in pain. “How did you get away?” Kris asked.
Jenna put her hand on Kris's shoulder to keep her from moving again. “Stay still. Your body has been through a lot.” Jenna continued her story. “Allie remembered Kim mentioning the hotel when Kim was talking to the two of you. Allie told the cops before she went into surgery and they found me.”
Kris's memories of what happened started coming back to her. She had been so happy to see Jenna, that she hadn’t had time to think about what happened. She remembered Allie getting shot on the couch and all the blood. She feared the worse.
Jenna saw the concerned look on Kris's face and knew what she was thinking. “Don’t worry honey, Allie is fine. She had surgery, but she’s good. She already has a room and can’t wait to see you.”
Kris had tears in her eyes. She remembered struggling with Kim and the gun going off. “What about Kim?”
Jenna lowered her gaze and straightened the covers around Kris. “Kim didn’t make it.”
“I’m sorry, Jenna. You just got your sister back and I took her away. It was an accident Jenna. She had the gun. She shot Allie, and then…Oh no, what happened to Stan? She shot Stan too.”
Jenna had Kris take another sip of water. “Stan is okay. Stop worrying about everyone else. You’re the one who got the worst of it. I know it was an accident Kris, but either way Kim wouldn’t have stopped until she killed someone. She told me at the hotel she wished it had been me they kidnapped so she could’ve had my life. I think that’s why she did all those things, because she wanted to be me. I’m afraid what might have happened if you hadn’t stopped her. I believe she would’ve come back and killed me. The police found large rolls of plastic in the trunk of her car and a shovel.” Jenna wiped away a tear from her cheek. “That woman was not my sister. I lost my sister years ago due to those people who kidnapped her. They took her innocence away and turned her into someone else.”
Kris knew Jenna was right, but she would always be the one that killed Jenna’s sister; however, she would do it again if she had to. “I don’t remember too much of what happened towards the end. I remember trying to get the gun away from Kim. The gun went off, and I looked down to find Kim bleeding. I tried to call nine-one-one and then there was another shot.” Kris trembled as she recalled the events that had happened. “I didn’t realize at first she had shot me, but I saw Allie screaming and Kim had the gun pointed at me still. Everything else is foggy, but I remember seeing you in the ER. I thought I was hallucinating or seeing flashes of my life before dying.”
Brian entered the room. “You are one lucky lady, Kris. You lost a lot of blood and had internal injuries. You needed emergency surgery. Jenna stood up to everyone and demanded to be the one to operate.”
Kris gave Jenna a quizzical look. “You operated on me?”
“Yes, with the help of Brian,” Jenna answered.
Brian shook his head. “I was more of a babysitter than anything. Jenna didn’t need my help. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing.” Brian paused before leaving, “Do what Jenna says, and you will be out of here in no time.”
“Thanks Brian,” Kris said. She turned back to Jenna. “So, when can I get out of here, Doc? I have my own private doctor who can take care of me at home, you know.”
Jenna stood up beside the bed and straightened out her scrubs. “Soon. I will get to take you home soon, but I think I will have a team helping me.” Jenna walked to the hallway and motioned for someone to come in. Danni appeared in the doorway pushing Allie in a wheelchair.
Danni pushed Allie up to the bedside where Allie put her head down on the bed and cried. Kris rubbed Allie’s back while letting her tears flow also.
“I was so scared Kris,” Allie said. “I thought we were going to die, and then I thought I did lose you.”
Kris smiled. “I know. I was scared too.”
Danni and Allie began asking Jenna rapid-fire questions about Kris's recovery. Kris couldn’t get a word in with everyone talking. She looked around and smiled. She had been through hell and back, but none of that mattered. What mattered was the people surrounding her at that moment. They were all here for her. She looked at Jenna and grinned. She never would’ve imagined meeting someone like Jenna. She had already given up hope before meeting Jenna in the same hospital almost two years ago. She loved Jenna with her entire heart, and she knew Jenna felt the same way.
After Jenna had finally managed to get everyone to leave, Kris called her over to the bed. Jenna kissed Kris on the cheek before sinking down into the chair beside Kris's bed. She caressed Kris's arm. “I love you,” Jenna whispered.
“I love you more.” With effort, Kris pulled Jenna’s hand up to her lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “These are the hands that saved me, not just today. I had given up on love until finding you. You saved me and showed me what true unconditional love is.” Kris ran her fingers across Jenna’s left hand. “I heard what you said before surgery when we were alone.”
Jenna looked into Kris's eyes. “Oh, um, I didn’t think you could hear me. You were still sedated.”
“Oh okay, I understand. Don’t worry about it,” Kris said.
“Come on Kris, I just...I meant what I said before, I just didn’t think we’d be discussing it like this here.”
“I think this is the perfect place to discuss our future. This is where we met. This is where our future began. This is where our future together would’ve ended if you didn’t save me,” Kris said.
Jenna gave Kris a playful smile. “I didn’t know you were so sentimental. You’re right. This is the perfect place and the perfect time.” Jenna reached for her bag and pulled out a black velvet box. The day after Kim had left to go visit her parents, Jenna went back to the jewelry store to buy the earrings for Kris. She was glad Kim had noticed them in the store window
. After walking into the store, she approached a sales associate who happened to be standing behind the counter of a display of engagement rings. She began looking at a few while the associate retrieved the earrings. One ring in particular caught her eye. It had a platinum band with an asscher cut diamond. Princess cut blue sapphires with brilliant cut diamond highlights along the band accented the diamond in the middle.
She knew she wanted to marry Kris and had entertained thoughts of proposing before Kim showed up at the hospital. Since Kim came back into her life those thoughts were on hold, but standing in the store with the ring in her hand thoughts of marriage sprang to the forefront of her mind again. She thought the ring was perfect, and Kim could be her maid of honor. She purchased it and kept it in her purse inside of a small medical kit she always carried. Every time she came up with a romantic scenario of how to propose, the perfectionist in her would scratch the idea and start over. When Kris had joked about marriage and babies with her earlier after being teased by Allie, she had been nervous because she already had the ring in her purse. She couldn’t believe how much things had changed in the time span of only a few days since the purchase.
She took Kris's hand in hers and gazed into her eyes as tears welled up in hers. “This is the second time I have thought I might lose you. We have overcome so many obstacles and setbacks that life has dealt to us. It’s like fate wants us to be together. Fate brought us together when you needed stitches two years ago. I wasn’t supposed to be in the ER that day, but they needed help. Then, after the accident I thought I had lost you, but you showed up here to take care of me. Here we are again. I never want to think of not having you in my life. I want to spend every moment I have left in this life with you by my side.”
Jenna's Closure (Dr. Jenna Harper Series Book 2) Page 15
