Waking Up Cuffed

by Melissa Stevens

  The ambulance pulled into the bay at the hospital and the doors opened. Warren climbed out as and got out of the way so they could get to Hayley and take care of her. He stood to one side watching as doctors and nurses hustled her inside and into a room. Feeling helpless, he watched her disappear into a room and the door closed blocking her from view. He wanted to stop right there to fall to his knees and pray right there in the hallway, but the weight of Hayley’s phone in his hand reminded him he had a call to make.

  Chapter 40

  Hayley clenched her teeth and fought to keep from crying out as the gurney bounced and jarred as they unloaded her from the ambulance and took her inside. She knew if she started crying or screaming, she might not stop, at least until she lost consciousness. She kept her eyes closed as she was surrounded by people. The chatter of the emergency room staff washed over her and she fought to keep her teeth clenched and her lips closed.

  She managed it until someone started poking at her wound. Even then the only sounds she let escape was small whimpers of pain.

  “Shit, she’s awake,” a voice said near her uninjured side.

  “Sergeant Moreno, can you hear me?” this voice came from the other side.

  It took her a moment, but she managed to open her eyes and found herself staring up at sympathetic brown eyes. She blinked and he was still there.

  “Sergeant Moreno. I didn’t realize you were awake. We’re going to give you something for the pain and see how bad your injury is. Is there anything you need to tell us? Are you allergic to anything? Have you had surgery before?” The man with the brown eyes turned away a moment and spoke to someone else, but she didn’t catch his words.

  She blinked again letting his words sink in for a moment. She shook her head slowly, just once back and forth.

  “No what?”

  It took her a moment to relax her jaw enough to be able to speak. It helped that some of the ache seemed to slide away. Her arm and shoulder still hurt but she didn’t care as much.

  “No allergies. Yes, surgery. No complications.” She took a couple deep breaths and felt something touching the wound again. “How bad?”

  “It’s not good, but it could be worse.” The voices faded away. She tried to grab the strings of the conversation but they were slippery and seemed to float away.

  Chapter 41

  Warren paced the waiting room impatient for some kind of news. He’d had to send an officer into court to notify Hayley’s sister. Then he’d called Nancy. His own sister hadn’t met Hayley yet, but he needed someone here. Someone he could lean on, even just a little, until he got word one way or another.

  Someone stepped into the small area that only had a few people here and there. Most of the Blackjack PD was still on the scene trying to figure out what had happened and dealing with things there. They would be here soon enough, but Warren didn’t care the only people he wanted to see, aside from Hayley safe and sound were Nancy and Hayley’s sister, Denni. He looked up to see who the new comer was, and it took him a few seconds to realize it was Denni. She was dressed in a snappy little business suit with her hair pulled back in a smart little knot on the back of her head, making her look enough different from her jeans and boots, with her hair down around her face that it took a moment to register.

  “Denni?” He stepped in her direction.

  “Detective Hathaway, right?” she looked up at him, fear drawing at the faint laugh lines at either side of her eyes. “What are you doing here? How’s my sister?”

  “First, I don’t know how Hayley is. They won’t tell me because I’m not family.” He glanced toward the admissions desk. “I was hoping maybe you could go ask?”

  “Sure.” She went to the front desk, identified herself and asked about her sister. Warren couldn’t hear what the older woman behind the desk was saying but Denni was nodding. After a moment she turned away and came back to him.

  “She’s on her way to x-ray then they’re going to take her to surgery. They said she’s should be fine, but they need to make sure the bullet didn’t leave behind fragments and didn’t damage anything. She told me we won’t be able to see her until after the surgery, but we can go up to the surgical waiting area. It’s bigger.”

  “I know where it is. I was here not too long ago with another detective.” He took a breath and tried to calm himself. “That was a car accident though, not like this.”

  Denni glanced around the room. “Why are you the only one here? Doesn’t the police department usually turn all out for a shot officer?”

  “They do. They are still at the scene. I came with Hayley in the ambulance.”

  She frowned a moment. “Where you there when she got shot? What happened?”

  “I wasn’t there.” He gave a shake of his head, sat on a nearby chair and buried his face in his hands. “I was at the station when the officer down call went out. My partner and I scrambled out of there as quickly as we could. I didn’t know until after we got to the scene it was Hayley.”

  “What was she doing out there? She was complaining just the other day that she never gets out of the station house anymore.”

  Warren scrubbed his hands over his face and looked up at Denni where she was still standing.

  “She was so excited this morning to be getting out. She was riding along with a rookie, a trainee who’s not made probation yet, because she said she wanted to get a feel for how he was doing.” He sighed. “Once I knew it was her, I didn’t hang around to find out what happened, I just got in with her as they brought her in.”

  She stood staring at him a moment then took a deep breath. “Okay, first show me to the surgical waiting room. Then we’ll sit down and talk.”

  “You got it.” He pushed his way to his feet and down the hall to the elevators, pulling out his phone to send Nancy a text about where to find him while he was at it. “I’m just letting a couple people know where we’ll be, so they can find us once they get here.” He sent another message to Zeke and Johnny, letting them know she needed surgery and where they would be, knowing they would relay the message to others and news would spread through the department.

  The elevator reached the right floor and he led Hayley’s sister to the large comfortable room set aside for families to wait while their loved ones underwent surgery. He helped himself to a cup of complementary coffee, not because he really wanted one but to keep his hands busy. Besides, something in his stomach wasn’t a bad idea.

  “You want one?” he looked at Denni.

  “Please, two sugars, no cream.”

  Warren fixed the coffee and took hers to where she’d found a cushioned chair to sit. She watched the door a doctor would come from when Hayley was out of surgery. Warren didn’t bother to look. He knew it was too soon. She probably wasn’t even in surgery yet.

  “Thank you,” she said as she took the coffee and curled her hands around the paper cup without taking a sip. “You said you talked to her this morning. When did you see her?”

  He cringed inwardly as he worried about what Hayley would say when she found out he’d spilled the secret she’d wanted to keep. The secret that they were seeing each other. He didn’t care who knew. He wanted to shout from the mountain tops how thrilled he was that she is his girl, but she’d wanted to wait and he’d respected that.

  “She told me her plans for the day over breakfast.”

  Denni looked a little surprised. “Hayley rarely gets out of the house early enough to meet someone for breakfast. I’ve been trying to get her to meet me for ages.”

  “We didn’t meet. She stayed at my place last night.”

  Denni’s face lit. “You’re the one she’s seeing. You’re why she wouldn’t go out with Tracy anymore.”

  “I am. I hate to have kept it a secret from you, but it was at her request. She said it would only be for a while, Just to be sure it wasn’t a flash in the pan, then done. She didn’t want to risk her reputation with the department.” He looked down and then back up at the face so similar
to Hayley’s. “I agreed because I knew, even when it started that she was it for me, she’s the one. I just had to give her time to figure it out.”

  “And now?”

  “I don’t care who knows. I never have but she told me to call you. Gave me her phone.” He dug Hayley’s phone out of his pocket and showed it to her. “I asked if there was anyone else and she told me it was just the two of you. My heart broke for you both. You’re not alone anymore. I’m here for Hayley and that means I’m here for you too.” He looked away. “I can’t imagine just having my sister and no one else.”

  Denni moved in and hugged him. Warren hugged her back. He wasn’t sure if she was comforting him or he was comforting her, it didn’t really matter.

  “There you are. Tell me what’s going on?” Nancy’s voice made him look up. Something washed through him, some emotion he didn’t have the energy or patience to identify, but having Nancy there helped. He didn’t pull away from Denni, something told him she needed to feel the connection, instead he opened one arm to welcome his sister.

  “My girl got shot, they’re gonna take her up to surgery soon.”

  “Oh, bubby.” She didn’t say any more, just closed the distance between them and hugged him. Bubby had been her childhood nickname for him, she’d been too little to say brother, and had tried for bubba, but it had come out bubby, and stuck. As they’d gotten older she’d used it less and less, and now, it only came out when she was upset or worried about him. After a few moments they broke apart.

  “Who’s this?” Nancy asked looking at Denni. Warren made introductions and explained to his sister what had happened and what he knew so far.

  “The family of Sergeant Hayley Moreno?” a middle-aged man in scrubs had appeared in the door that lead back to where they held surgery.

  “Yes?” Warren said.

  The man approached.

  “And you are?”

  “I’m her sister,” Denni spoke up saving Warren from having to admit there was no legal tie between him and Hayley. He’d have to fix that.

  “My name is Sander Billingham, I’m a surgical intern.” He looked at Denni as he spoke. “We’re prepping your sister for surgery now. The wound isn’t as bad as we’d feared, but there are a few fragments we’ll need to remove, then we need to make sure there’s not more damage than we can see on the x-ray. We hope this won’t take too long and we can get in and out in an hour or two.”

  “How is she?”

  “We’ve given her something to help with the pain and keep her comfortable, she’ll be in a little more pain after surgery, but assuming there’s no serious damage, she should be able to go home in a day or so.” He took a deep breath. “There will be restrictions, but we’ll have a better idea of what’s going on after we get in there and take a look.”

  “How soon until we can see her?” Denni wrung her hands together.

  “After surgery she’ll spend about an hour in post op, then we’ll move her to a room. You can see her then.”

  “All right. Thank you, Doctor.”

  “I’ll come back out when we’re done and let you know how things went.”

  “Thank you.” Warren nodded and watched the doctor disappear through the doors leading to the operating room.

  He was only vaguely aware of the others in the room as he went to one of the chairs around the room and sat. Dropping his head into his hands, Warren closed his eyes, and let relief wash over him. His hands shook and silent tears escaped. Knowing that the wound wasn’t as bad as they’d feared left him in a better state of mind. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as he pulled himself back together so he could be ready when people looking for information.

  Chapter 42

  Hayley hurt. But not as badly as before they’d knocked her out. Her shoulder throbbed but it was dulled, she didn’t know if it was something about the surgery, she’d been headed into the last she remembered or if it was the pain meds. Right now, she didn’t care.

  She opened her eyes and found the room dim, which was good because the bright light coming through the open doorway to one side of her bed made her eyes water. Glancing around, the first thing she saw was Warren in a chair beside the bed, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared at the floor. She wanted to reach for him, but he was on her left and as much as that shoulder hurt, she knew better than to move it. She continued to scan the room and found Denni in a chair on the other side of her bed, and a woman she didn’t recognize beside her sister, looking half asleep.

  Hayley swallowed and couldn’t help the grimace at how badly her throat hurt. Frowning, she tried to remember when she’d hurt it, but failed. The wound on her shoulder hadn’t come anywhere near her throat, besides, it hadn’t hurt before the surgery.

  “W—” she swallowed and tried again. “Warren,” it came out as a rough whisper.

  His head shot up, eyes wide and bloodshot.

  “You’re awake.” He stood slowly, as if stiff and she couldn’t help but wonder how long he’d been sitting there. How long had she been out?

  “How—” she swallowed again.

  “Want some water?” He picked up a small cup with a straw and moved it so she could take a sip without having to move.

  “Thank you.” She took a couple more sips and some of the pain in her throat eased.

  “Take it easy, baby.” His voice was soft.

  She looked up at him and saw the shiny trails where tears had fallen down his cheeks and he hadn’t bothered to wipe them away.

  “Denni, Nancy,” he looked up at the pair on the other side of her bed, “she’s awake. Nancy, will you go let the nurse know?”

  “Sure,” said an unfamiliar voice.

  Hayley turned and saw the woman she didn’t recognize heading out of the room. Denni stood and moved closer to the bed.

  “You scared me bad, big sister.” Denni gave her a weak smile that revealed how tired and stressed she was. “I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

  “Well, it hasn’t been much fun on this end either,” Hayley couldn’t help but say. “How bad is it?”

  Denni shook her head. “They said they repaired the damage, but honestly, I didn’t catch more than that. Maybe that guy of yours did.” She looked across the bed and Hayley turned back to Warren.

  “There was some damage, but they were able to repair it. It’s gonna mean some physical therapy, but eventually you should come back one hundred percent.”

  She tried to reach for his hand but nothing happened. Looking down, she found her arm attached to a board to keep it from moving, several wires and tubes leading from it. It looked like the arm belonged on someone else, not attached to her body.

  “They’ve got you on some pretty strong meds, but said you can go home once you’re on oral pain meds. With some stipulations.” Something in his voice made her back up at him.

  “Stipulations?”

  “You can’t live alone, not for a while,” Denni put in, making Hayley look at her. “You can’t be left alone for the first several days.”

  Dread filled Hayley and she wondered what nursing was going to cost her.

  “I’ve already arranged to take a week off,” Warren said. “And I can get more if I need it.”

  She started to protest, he didn’t need to take time off to take care of her, but he covered her lips with one finger.

  “Hush. It’s done, no use in protesting. I will let you decide where you want to stay, your place or mine. You’ll probably be more comfortable at your place, but maybe you’ll be better with me not invading it, and my place is all set up for Jake. Think about it a bit.”

  “Jake can come stay with me for a while, the kids would love to have him and either way it would probably be better if he wasn’t there to accidentally jar and hurt her.”

  The voice came from the one Warren had called Nancy earlier. Hayley looked at her but found she wasn’t alone.

  “Good morning. My name is Norma, I’m your nurse for now. How are you feel
ing?”

  “Okay. My throat hurts.”

  “That’s from the breathing tube from surgery. I can get you something for that if you’d like. It should pass in the next day or so. Anything else?” She moved close to the bed and logged into the computer there.

  Hayley shook her head.

  Norma checked several things on the computer, flipping from one screen to another before Hayley could tell what she was looking at. “How’s your pain?”

  “I can feel it but it’s not bothering me, not too bad.”

  Norma smiled. “You’re not trying to be tough for the detective here, are you?” She glanced across at Warren then turned her attention back to Hayley.

  “He’s my boyfriend, and it seems he’ll be taking care of me once I’m out of here, so no.”

  “Good, that’s good.” She made a few notes on the computer. “The doctor should be here in the next couple hours to check on you. If you start hurting, hit the button on the side of the bed or send someone out to get me. We’ll try you on oral meds next dose and see if that’s enough. Once you’re good on oral meds, barring any other concerns, we should be able to send you home.” She patted Hayley’s good hand. “It’s so much easier to recover in your own bed.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem, sweetheart, that’s what we’re here for.” Norma nodded to the others and left.

  Hayley turned back to Warren and gave him a weak smile. “I hope you don’t mind. I kinda blew our secret.”

  “I don’t care. I never cared. I only agreed because it was what you wanted. But I think it’s already blown. Between the way I hopped into the ambulance on site and everything that’s happened here. I don’t think there’s much secret left to keep. But I’m glad you’re ready to claim me.”

  “I was just so glad to see you, I didn’t care who found out.” Her voice was still rough and she used her good hand to reach for the water, only to find out it shook.