by H. L. Wegley
“If she comes out of the coma? Are you saying she might not?”
“We can’t be certain about that. But let’s assume she will respond and soon wake up. Then we’ll have to evaluate her further to see if there are any long-term effects from of the overdose. That’s as accurate a picture as I can give you right now.”
“When…” His voice broke. “When will you know more?”
Tears streaked down Katie’s cheeks. “Jenn is going to make it through this, isn’t she?”
“May I ask who you are, miss?”
“This is Katie, our daughter.”
“Katie, it’s not a certainty, but we’re hopeful Jennifer will make it through this crisis. As I said, then we have to address the question of possible long-term impacts. I’ll make sure someone gives you regular updates—immediately, if there are any changes. Right now, we just have to wait on Jennifer’s body to respond.” Doctor Pruitt motioned towards the elevator. “Mr. Brandt, if you go up to the ICU waiting area on the second floor, it will be easier to reach you with updates.”
“Thanks, doctor.”
“I guess we need to pray now.” Katie’s intense blue eyes displayed hope for the first time since he found her by the van.
“Yes, Katie, we need to pray.”
****
An hour later, Lee and Katie still sat in the ICU waiting area. They had prayed for Jennifer, but Lee hadn’t prayed for patience.
His floor-tapping foot refused to stop, and he sought an excuse to pace. “I’m going to get something to drink from the vending machine down the hall. Do you want anything?”
“Nothing for me, thanks.”
When he turned to step through the door to the hallway, a tall figure filled the doorway. A tall man with a familiar face. “Peterson, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see how Jennifer’s doing. I heard they released Katie.”
“Trader injected Jennifer with something that knocked her out. She’s in a coma and there might be complications. We won’t know how this is going to turn out for a while.” Lee’s anger flashed like a bolt of lightning. “She’ll never be safe until you get Trader. Why aren’t—”
Doctor Pruitt stepped out of the door of the ICU.
Katie came to stand beside Lee, wrapping her arm around his waist.
“We have some good news.” The doctor smiled.
The breath Lee had been holding blasted out of his lungs.
Katie’s arm relaxed its constriction.
The doctor eyed Peterson suspiciously.
“This is Agent Peterson, FBI. He’s working the case involving Jennifer.”
Peterson flashed his badge.
Dr. Pruitt nodded. “Jennifer is responding well to the reversal agent. She’s out of the coma. Our concern about the respiratory depression has been resolved. We gave her some motion tests and there seems to be no ataxia…no lack of coordination. If the remaining tests go well, we’ll move her out of ICU. They’re preparing room 204. Unless we uncover something unexpected, she’ll be there in about thirty minutes. After that, we’ll need to watch her for a few hours before we make any decisions about sending her home.”
Sending her home? A few minutes ago it seemed that might never happen. “Thanks, doctor.” Lee pulled Katie close, kissed her forehead, and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
Peterson shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. “I’ll see you in a bit, probably in room 204. I need to make some phone calls.”
Katie looked at the vending machines. “I am a little hungry.”
“You were probably hungry when I asked, just too preoccupied to realize it.”
“Probably. But you know what, Lee?”
“Did you learn that question from Jenn? No, I don’t know anything.”
Katie’s eyebrows pinched together in a serious frown. “Peterson didn’t tell us about Trader.”
“He’ll tell us in Jennifer’s room. Let’s hope it’s good news.”
“Yeah,” Katie replied. “Four weeks ago, I didn’t even know Trader existed. Now, I hope he doesn’t.”
“I know what you mean, Katie.”
****
A nurse pushed Jennifer into the room.
When Jennifer saw Lee and Katie, she locked the brake on the wheelchair. It jerked to a stop, and she slid out onto her feet.
“Whoa, young lady. You’re not supposed to be running around yet.” The nurse tried to snag her arm.
Jennifer barely heard the nurse’s admonition. The nurse meant well, but this wasn’t a time for caution. Jennifer stepped into Lee and Katie’s waiting arms.
Lee kissed her forehead.
She hugged him and then focused on Katie. “How’s your head, young lady?”
“It’s OK. No concussion, no headache, just a lump on my head.”
“Thank God.” She clenched her jaw. “I wanted to kill him when he hit you. I tried—”
“Knock, knock. May I come in?” A deep voice sounded from outside the door.
The nurse threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t see why not. Bring the elephants, the lions, and the clowns. Strike up the band. Why listen to me when you can have a circus? Please, Jennifer, at least sit on the bed. If you fall, I could lose my job.”
“Sorry, ma’am.” Jennifer sat down.
The nurse left the room, and Peterson stepped in.
“Peterson, did you get that…that—”
“You can stop there, Jennifer. We can add our own expletives.”
“And Peterson’s got a couple of pretty good ones to add,” Lee murmured.
“Trader’s dead.” Peterson pursed his lips and let them digest the news. “He left some blood along his trail, and the dogs sniffed him out.” He focused on Jennifer. “What did you do to him?”
“You should have seen what Jennifer did to his nose.” Katie became animated as she blurted out the story. “I didn’t see all of the kick, because I was supposed to be unconscious on the floor. But blood sprayed all over the wall.”
“Jenn, Katie saved your life. After Trader drugged you, she hid, and then she carried you from the van when Trader went back to get her,” Lee said, putting a hand on Katie’s shoulder.
Peterson looked from Jennifer to Katie. “It sounds like there’s plenty of glory to go around. As I was saying, police dogs found Trader. He wouldn’t surrender. There was a firefight. Of course, the SWAT team won, one to nothing.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Jenn sighed. It was all finally over. “He’ll have no more chances to—” She looked up, gave them a warm smile, and then reached out. “Katie, I can never thank…” She tugged on Katie, who sprawled across the bed.
“Easy, Jenn.” Katie sat up. “The fight’s over and we won. I can’t believe how you taunted Trader, making him so mad he forgot about me.”
“But you were unconscious.”
“Only for a few seconds. I saw his nose. You kicked it clear to kingdom come.”
“More likely, to the other place,” Peterson pointed a thumb downward. “Well, that’s all the news I’ve got for tonight. When you’re feeling better, I’ll need statements from you and Katie. Probably from you, too, Lee. We wrapped up the forensics in your apartment, Jennifer. It’s all yours again and it will be clean. The clean-up crew will be done before you get there. See you all later. Probably tomorrow.” He turned to leave then stopped. “Lee, one of my men is staying on here until Jennifer is released. He can take you to get your car or wherever you need to go.”
Lee, Katie, and Jennifer were silent for a few moments.
Jennifer let the implications of Peterson’s news sink in. Their individual roles in the recent drama were now becoming visible to her, woven into the tapestry of a story only a good God could write.
“It’s just like you told Katie,” Lee said to her. “All things work together for good, even evil deeds performed by evil men who are only seeking to further the cause of evil.”
“Will He always take bad, and then turn it in
to good?” Katie asked.
He reached for Katie’s hand. “For those who trust Him, yes, He will. But at the end of this age, everything bad will be set right, either by God’s justice or by His love and grace.”
“There’s so much evil.” Katie frowned. “I don’t understand how He can deal with it all.”
“Me, either. But I believe Him when He says He will,” Lee said.
Another nurse came in.
Lee met the woman’s gaze. “What do you think about that, ma’am, God turning evil to good?”
“Uh, I agree with the young lady. There’s a whole lot of bad in this world. You see a lot of it in a hospital.”
“Only an all-powerful, all-knowing God can deal with all of it. Have you heard these two young ladies’ stories of what He just did in their lives?”
“Not really.”
Lee gave her a nutshell version of the human-trafficking operation, including how Jennifer and Katie thwarted Trader’s plans.
“You know, I heard part of that on the news. It gives one something to think about.”
“Someone to think about, ma’am,” Lee replied.
“Changing the subject. Jennifer, the doctor has decided you can go home soon. He’ll be in to talk to you in a few minutes. Good luck, and”—she turned to Lee— “thanks for sharing your story.”
“Thanks.” Lee said, smiling.
The nurse left the room.
“Does he always do that?” Katie rolled her eyes.
“Get used to it. He used to take me out of my comfort zone all the time. But now he mostly puts me in it.” She smiled warmly at Lee.
He bent down and kissed her, slowly, gently.
Jennifer smiled at Katie. “See what I mean?”
“Excuse me.” A voice came from the doorway.
Jennifer sat up as a tall man in scrubs entered the room.
“How would you all like to go home?”
She gave him a courteous smile. “We would love that.”
The doctor told her there would be no long-term impacts from her brush with death. With a few words, he ended her ordeal. But surely there had to be more. “So I’m good to go? Life as usual?”
“Good to go, yes.” The doctor smiled. “Life as usual? After hearing about tonight’s events, I rather doubt that. Newspaper reporters, TV stations—”
“Enough. I’ve been there before.” She gave him the cutting-throat gesture.
The doctor cocked his head. “So I wasn’t mistaken. The human-trafficking story, a terrorist plot last spring. That was you and this gentleman?”
She nodded.
He patted her hand, and then left.
“Jenn, you’re not like a special agent, are you?” Katie eyed her with suspicion.
“Yeah, Katie. Jenn’s a special agent…for God. She only works for NSA to make a living.”
“Katie,“ Jennifer took her hand, “Didn’t Lee tell you about the terrorists? You know, when Lee and I fell in love in a cave.”
“He told me about the terrorists. But seriously, you fell in love in a cave? This story gets weirder every time I hear it.”
“We’ll de-weird it for you sometime,” Lee said. “The story has a really nice ending, though. You’ll see in about two weeks.”
Jennifer took his hand, kissed it, and then looked up into his bright blue eyes. “In about two weeks, sweetheart, the story begins.”
****
An hour later, Lee, Jennifer, and Katie, stepped inside her apartment.
Thoughts of Katie escaping from this apartment and carrying Jennifer to the bushes played through Lee’s mind. He sought words to tell her what was on his heart. “Without you, Katie, this would have probably been the saddest day of my life. Thanks for what you did.”
Katie’s gaze dropped to the floor and her cheeks flushed. She looked up again. “Thanks for treating me like your daughter tonight.”
“Come here.” He pulled Jennifer into the huddle and spent some time thanking God for the outcome of the evening.
Tears rolled down Katie’s cheeks once more, but this time her eyes were bright and full of life as she went to her bedroom.
“Sweetheart, give me a few minutes to wash the hospital off. Then let’s talk. We’ve got a wedding in two weeks and a pile of adoption papers.”
“After everything you’ve been through, are you sure? It’s really late.”
“I just slept for three hours. I’m fine.”
“And I’m not about to leave you alone in this apartment after what happened here. So, it’s a date. Your couch in a few minutes.”
****
Ten minutes later, Jennifer returned.
Lee’s eyes were closed. He had been through a lot.
She’d slept through most of it.
She sat down and leaned against him. Some date this had turned out to be. But she smiled as she thought how fortunate they were to be safe and to be together.
Eyes still closed, Lee slipped his arm around her. “One more thing for our agenda, we need to plan the details of our Maui honeymoon, the one that starts in about two weeks.”
She leaned against him. “I thought you were out for the night.”
“Have I ever stood you up?”
“No, you’ve never done that. But, Lee, honeymoons, like all romantic things, just sort of unfold. You don’t plan them, certainly not all the details.” Why had she added the last part? It must be the drugs. Jennifer could feel the heat in her cheeks.
“I was talking about romantic activities.”
“Uh, what kind of…romantic activities?”
“You know, a Haleakala sunrise, a Molikini snorkel cruise, a getaway to Lanai—those kinds of activities. For the rest, we’ll just wing it unless you really want to plan—”
She smacked him on the head with a couch pillow.
31
Saturday, November 30, Maplewood Community Church
Jennifer slipped into her wedding gown, and then looked around the partition.
Her sisters, Jess and Julie, stood in front of a long mirror wearing their bridesmaids’ dresses, working on their hair and makeup.
Katie glanced at her. “Are you ready for me to help, Jenn?”
“You finish getting ready first. Then I need you to look out front and tell me if things are going smoothly.”
“OK, I’ll be back in five minutes.”
Katie returned a few minutes later.
“How are things going in the sanctuary?”
“They’re right as rain. Or maybe as a thunderstorm.”
What had she meant by that? Katie. She looked so grown up, so beautiful.
Jennifer reached for her soon-to-be daughter, but Katie jumped back.
“Careful, Jenn, you don’t want my makeup rubbing off on your white dress.”
“Katie, you look absolutely perfect.”
“Thanks, but looks can be deceiving.”
Thunderstorm, hmmm. “What are you up to, young lady?”
“Well, somebody just put some carefully selected stormy weather symbols on the bottom of Lee’s shoes with a white marker. When you two kneel for the prayer—”
“What somebody and what symbols?” Jennifer feigned a frown.
“The symbols for rain and thunderstorm, because we became a family in a rainstorm. You aren’t mad, are you?”
“No. Lee’s a big boy. He can take it.”
“Yep. Now, tell me how to fasten the back of your dress.”
The music had transitioned from praise and worship songs to a classical piece. The wedding was underway, and Jennifer would soon walk down the aisle. As she stood waiting for her cue, one of the women helping with the wedding slipped her a note. It read, “All set.” Good. The surprise was ready.
The guests should all be seated now. Would Howie, Agent Peterson, and Captain Lewis be there? Mel and Kirsten said they would come. It would be a wonderful reunion for the girls. Hopefully, Jennifer could find a moment to talk with their parents about the speaking engagem
ents. One was scheduled for mid-January.
Katie’s head popped around the corner. “It’s show time, Jenn.”
Outside of the dressing room, Granddad waited for her, smiling and looking handsome in his tux.
Together they watched Katie walk arm-in-arm with Jim Williamson, Lee’s friend.
“Jennifer, you found a real princess when you found Katie.”
“Granddad, just don’t ever call her princess, or you’ll have to duck an eighty mile-per-hour rock aimed at your head.”
“That is a good thing to know. Are there any other things I should know about Katie?”
“Don’t call her Goldilocks either, or you’ll see high heat—high and way inside.”
“Thank you, Jennifer. Anything else?”
“Only that it’s our turn, now. Granddad, thank you so much for taking a chance on Lee when he asked to court me.”
“It wasn’t a chance. It was a sure thing. I hear the ukulele playing. Shall we go give you to Lee, now?”
“Let’s roll.”
****
Lee had been standing at the front of the church for what seemed like an hour. Finally, there were signs of life at the rear of the sanctuary.
His breath caught when he saw Katie walking with a graceful bearing that far exceeded her fifteen years.
For one brief moment, the thought of what Trader meant to do with her stabbed his conscious mind. He forced it out and buried it in the graveyard of dead thoughts.
When Katie passed by and smiled, he nearly ran out to hug her. Instead, he mouthed, “I love you, Katie.” Proud father? That was an understatement.
The music changed from classical to a soft, melodic ukulele melody. A pure, sweet, Hawaiian lady’s voice sang “Aloha ‘Oe.”
Katie was staring at Lee like she was expecting something to happen up front. She should be looking at Jennifer.
When she appeared, nothing existed but Jennifer. The dress took her beyond mere beauty, to what she was, God’s masterpiece here in the flesh, his bride.
