Gold Star Chance

by C J Murphy

  Jax sobbed out a laugh. “Am I okay? I think that question is one you need to answer for me. I’m so sorry.”

  He took a deep breath and winced. “Sorry? Did you pistol whip me?”

  She held his hand to her cheek, as she sat down on the chair by his bed. “No, but it should have been me.”

  With force she wasn’t expecting, he squeezed her hand. “Jax, I’d be in jail right now if they’d taken you instead of me.” He labored a few breaths. “I’d have killed ‘em.”

  “Easy now, those monitors over there are jumping all over the place. I’d like to be allowed to stay for a bit.”

  Marty slowed down and used broken sentences to relay the information. “Call came. Wanted you. Sick horse.” He stopped for a minute and shook his head.

  “Don’t talk. We can do all that after you’ve rested.”

  “Need to…get it out.”

  She closed her eyes and drew on the strength he’d taught her to have when she needed to treat a wounded animal. “Go ahead.”

  “Thought it’d be simple. In and out. They jumped me. Took me…that cabin. Needed more supplies.”

  He lay there for a few minutes, and Jax could tell he was trying to gather some strength. “Uncle Marty, it can wait. They got them all.”

  He opened his eyes again. “Tomorrow’s not a promise, kitten. Let me get it out.”

  “You’d better not be going anywhere. I need you.”

  “Doin’ my best. Told ‘em I needed stuff they wouldn’t understand. Hoped someone would see us…when we came back. Kenny came. It hit the fan.”

  “They got them all, Uncle Marty. Chance and the others figured it out. Two of the guys who took you are still alive. The one you were treating, and the one Tyson bit.”

  Martin let out a long breath. “Happy ‘bout that. They was gonna shoot Kenny again. I stopped them.”

  “I think we’ve got the gist of it, Uncle Marty. Rest now.” She’d have to call her father to relay the scan results Dr. Halston had given her. Jax hadn’t noticed Taylor standing in the room, until she spoke into her radio. Jax recognized Chance’s voice advising she was on her way in the door of the emergency room to get looked at. Looked at? Why? What happened?

  Taylor stepped closer to her. “Kenny’s alive because of him. That guy’s as tough as John Wayne’s toilet paper.”

  Jax screwed up her brow in confusion. “What the hell is John Wayne toilet paper?”

  “Rough, tough, and don’t take shit off of nobody.”

  Jax nearly doubled over at the fairly accurate character assessment of her favorite family member. “Tell Chance I’ll be down in a minute. I’m going to call Maggie.”

  Taylor tipped her hat and left the room.

  She leaned over the bed railing and kissed the sleeping man. “Shortest John Wayne look alike I’ve ever seen.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  CHANCE LIMPED INTO THE emergency room at Garrett Memorial. Zeus was in a K9 cruiser in the parking lot. She’d need to make arrangements for him. She recognized Bailey, a nurse from Tucker County, who had her hand on a flat, green button, ready to walk back through the swinging doors into the treatment area. Bailey’s eyes grew wide at the sight of Chance’s leg, and she quickly grabbed a wheelchair. She said something to the receptionist, which caused the woman behind the glass to pick up the phone and dial.

  “What the hell, Chance, you’re bleeding all over my waiting room. What happened?” Bailey pushed the chair to her.

  Chance eased herself down. “I took a gun to a knife fight.”

  “You’re as pale as a hospital sheet. How long ago?

  “Hours. I’m okay, Bailey. It’s just a scratch.”

  “A scratch as big as the Grand Canyon. You cops are all alike, ten foot tall and bulletproof.”

  Chance tapped her chest. “Bulletproof maybe. I will admit black BDUs don’t form a very effective knife barrier.”

  Bailey pushed her into an exam room. “Get up on that bed. I’ll get the doctor.”

  “Thanks, Bailey.” She climbed from the chair, as Bailey pulled the curtain. She removed her vest and bent to untie her boot. Within seconds, the curtain was ripped back and Faith appeared before her.

  Faith’s eyes raged. “Where are you hurt?”

  Chance stopped what she was doing and looked at Bailey. “Bailey, who’s on duty tonight?”

  “Amy’s the attending. I saw Faith come around the corner. I thought…”

  Chance looked directly at Bailey and ignored Faith. She held up a hand when Faith came near. “Bailey, can you please find Amy for me?” Chance controlled her voice as much as possible and put a strong emphasis on please.

  Bailey nodded and left. Faith approached the bed and reached out for Chance’s leg.

  “Faith, stop. You aren’t on duty, and you won’t be treating me. Do you understand?”

  “Get off your high horse and let me see what you’ve done this time.” Faith pushed her hand aside.

  Chance stood, ignoring the pain in her leg. She was walking through the curtain just as Dr. Halston came around the corner and nearly ran into her.

  “Whoa, whoa there, Terminator. Get your ass back on the table. You’ve strung blood all over the place, and I don’t plan on having to declare a biodisaster for any more bloodshed.” Dr. Halston stepped into the room “Dr. Riker, can you give us a few minutes, please? On the bed now, Chance.” She pushed past a stunned Faith and stepped between her and Chance.

  Faith crossed her arms. “I will n—”

  Chance stood to her full height and looked at Faith with the intensity she used when intimidating criminals. “You will, or I will leave this hospital faster than Zeus goes into attack mode on my command.”

  Bailey took Faith’s arm and physically pulled her back. She closed the curtain behind them.

  Dr. Amy Halston looked at Chance, and then glanced toward the fabric of the privacy curtain. She raised her eyebrows then pointed to the bed. “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got going on.”

  Chance unlaced her boot and pulled it off. Blood continued to trickle from beneath the pressure bandage Ethan had applied at the scene. She felt slightly woozy, as she dropped the boot to the tile floor and pulled off her sock. She climbed up onto the bed. After Amy washed her hands and donned gloves, she cut off the Ace wrap and removed the dressing. A deep, three-and-a-half-inch slice to her calf said hello.

  “Damn it, Chance. How much blood have you lost?”

  “Not enough to kill me. It started back up when I walked in here.” She raised her hand. “And before you threaten to pull someone’s medic license for letting me, it was my choice. I was walking into this ER under my own power. If the bleeding hadn’t gotten worse, I’d have walked all the way back here. Bailey nixed that.”

  “Damn. You’ve got a bleeder in here.” She pressed a fresh dressing to the wound. “Hold that. She went to the curtain and leaned out. “Bailey, I need you.”

  Bailey reappeared and immediately reached into the cabinet beside the sink. She pulled out a suture tray and some sterile saline. She washed her own hands and donned a fresh pair of gloves. “Damn, woman. Someone tried to make this leg a little shorter.”

  “Yeah, what he wanted was something a little more permanent.”

  Amy looked up at her, as she irrigated the wound. “Looks pretty clean. I need to tie a few things off quickly. Hang on, there’s no time for lidocaine.”

  Chance squeezed the side of the bed, as Amy quickly sutured small, severed vessels. The bleeding slowed.

  “Okay, let me get a better look at this. He didn’t break off a tip or anything did he?”

  “No. One clean swipe. Now, what he’d done with the knife before he decided to shave my leg, that’s unknown.”

  Amy poked and prodded the wound. “Okay, lets numb it up so I can stitch it. Draw the normal bloods so we can get a baseline on her.”

  “Yeah, you’ll need to do that anyway. Someone will show up here soon and have you sign an eviden
ce log.”

  Amy stood up and looked at her. “Why would your blood tests be considered evidence?”

  Chance pointed to her leg. “To put it bluntly, this is the last assault on an officer that guy will ever commit.”

  Amy shook her head and started to inject the numbing medication. “I’m guessing someone else with a gun and badge will need to see the results?” She looked over her glasses at Chance.

  Chance nodded and bit her lip at the burn of the medication. “Why the hell does that stuff have to hurt so much to make it numb?”

  “Price of doing business with me, Sheriff.” Amy finished numbing the wound, and then dropped the needle into a sharps container. “Sit still for a few minutes and give that medicine time to work. I’ll be right back. Bailey, get her vitals and the blood samples. Start a line with Ringer’s. She looks a little pale.” Amy left the curtained off-exam area, leaving Bailey in the room with Chance.

  Bailey propped up the head of the bed and grabbed a blood pressure cuff. After recording Chance’s pulse, blood pressure, and respirations, she pulled out several tubes from a drawer. “Okay, time for me to play Monica Bellucci.” She wrapped a rubber strip around her arm and pulled it tight. “Make a fist.”

  “Dracula’s bride, huh?”

  “What can I say? I like horror flicks. Should I ask what the deal was between you and Faith just now?” She palpated Chance’s arm. “Got one, hold still.”

  Chance put her head back and felt a quick pinch, as Bailey slid the needle into her arm and pushed a rubber-topped tube into the plastic sleeve. Thick, red blood filled the tube rapidly, and Bailey replaced it with another.

  “Faith is no longer my doctor.”

  “You guys have been broken up a long time. Last time when you came in here hurt, she refused to let anyone else work on you. She was the attending that night. I’m sorry if I overstepped tonight. She came in with your deputy on the chopper. Didn’t know there’d be an issue.”

  “I’m not the one with the issue, Bailey. She has no objectivity when it comes to me. If she’d been on duty, I probably would have let her do her job without fussing. The fact is, I’ve had a pretty rough night. The last thing I need is to be read the riot act by my physician. What I need is someone to sew up my leg so I can go check on Kenny and Doc Hendricks.”

  “Chance, it’s Taylor.” A voice spoke through the curtain without entering.

  “Come on in. Join the party.”

  Taylor pushed back the edge and stepped in. “Kenny’s doing fine. Doc Hendricks is in a room and stable, with Jax by his side.” Taylor looked wide-eyed at Chance’s leg. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “One of them took a swipe at me and Zeus.”

  Bailey hung a clear fluid bag from the pole behind Chance’s head. “I’m going to let this run in slowly. Amy’s right. You’re a little pale. Your pressure could use a little pick me up. She’ll be fine, Taylor. Amy will be back to sew her up in a minute.” Bailey finished hanging the intravenous line. She labeled the blood vials and placed them in a transport bag. “I need to send these out.” She pointed to Taylor, and then to Chance. “You, make sure she stays put.”

  Taylor nodded. “She’s got her own personal babysitter until Maggie can get here.”

  “Dammit, Taylor. Did you call her?” Chance rubbed her face. Having Maggie and Dee worried about her was an even bigger thing she didn’t need. In her estimation, she’d already caused them three lifetimes worth of grief, and her regret over that was overwhelming.

  Taylor held up both hands. “Don’t be pissed at me. Jax still has that radio you gave her. She heard you were coming in. As soon as she’s sure Doc’s settled, she’s coming down here. She called Maggie.” Taylor pointed to herself. “Not me.”

  Chance pinched the bridge of her nose. “Has Marty regained consciousness?”

  “A bit. Everything looks good. Kenny’s up in the surgical intensive care, and Becky’s with him. Surgeons say he’ll be fine. Unfortunately, they had to replace almost his entire blood volume. It’s going to be a long recovery.”

  “He’s lucky to be alive, Taylor. The video showed the guy I killed stood over him with the gun like he was going to execute him.”

  Taylor nodded. “I heard. Doc told them if they killed Kenny he wouldn’t treat them.”

  “I’ll have to thank him personally.”

  “What happened out there? I’ve heard bits and pieces.”

  Chance proceeded to quietly give her the down and dirty version of the night’s events.

  “I’m sorry it came to that, Chance. It couldn’t have been easy.”

  “I didn’t think about it. You know as well as I do, the thinking comes after. Before that, it’s our training and our instincts that save our life or that of another. He refused to drop the gun. He pulled a knife. He refused commands even with Zeus’s teeth in him. If I had to make a guess, he was high on something. Until they question the survivors, we won’t know exactly what went down. Hopefully Doc will be able to give us the full account.”

  “No hopefully about it. He’s awake and told me everything.” Jax strode into the area and came to a stop at Chance’s side. She looked down at her leg. “I think I asked you not to come back with anymore scars. What am I going to do with you, Sheriff?” Jax leaned over and kissed Chance softly.

  Chance reached up and pulled Jax down into her embrace. “More of that I hope.”

  Taylor chuckled. “I’ll leave you two alone for a bit. I’m going to go see if Penny wants to head home. I’ll be back.” Taylor pointed to Jax. “You’re in charge. You hear me?”

  Jax stood and saluted. “She’s in good hands.”

  Taylor nodded as she left. “I have no doubt.”

  Jax pulled up a chair and sat by Chance. She nodded to Chance’s leg. “How bad is it?”

  “Not as bad as it looks.” Chance reached for Jax’s hand and kissed the knuckles. Jax was exactly the medicine she needed.

  “You didn’t tell me out there. I’m guessing this had already happened?”

  Chance didn’t say anything and dropped her head, not wanting to meet Jax’s eyes.

  “And you didn’t tell me, because you didn’t want me worrying about you while I was sick with fear over Uncle Marty.”

  Chance confirmed Jax’s suspicions with a nod.

  Jax held her hand. “Honey, I know getting hurt is one of the risks of your job. I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me, for any reason. Not telling me, because you think it will freak me out or you don’t want to worry me, will only cause me to worry more about what you might be hiding.” She reached out and tilted Chance’s head up until their eyes met. “I’ll never ask you to stop doing what you do. It’s not going to scare me away. A long time ago, I let someone tell me the way I felt about you was wrong. I won’t make that mistake again. I love you, Chance, for everything you are, and because of what you are. You being a police officer doesn’t scare me half as much as what my life would be without you. Because of that, I know you’ll do everything you can,” she rose and leaned near to Chance, “to always come home to me. That’s all I ask.” Jax kissed her sweetly, then sat back down holding her hand, saying nothing more.

  Amy came back in. “Okay, let’s see about putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.”

  For the next few minutes, Amy cleaned and sutured the wound. She put internal, absorbable stitches in to help hold the tissue together and closed the skin. When she was done, Chance sported eighteen blue stitches across her calf.

  “Bailey, put a dressing on that and get her vitals again. If they’re in normal limits,” Amy looked at Jax as she pulled off her gloves, “she can go home.”

  “Which is exactly where she’s going.” The curtain swished aside, and Maggie Fitzsimmons stepped inside. She held up her left hand, all five fingers extended. On her right, only her index finger was in view.

  Chance let a grin slip out. She knew Maggie was ticking off another of her cat-like lives. “Hey, Mom. Amy can t
ell you, I’m nowhere close to death’s door. And, before you have a fit, I need to go up and check on Kenny before I go anywhere. He’s my deputy. Becky’s sitting at his bedside in a hospital, because he works for me.”

  Maggie shook her head and walked over to hug Jax. “How’s Martin?”

  Jax nodded. “Good. Better than expected. He regained consciousness a little bit ago. He’s battling a killer headache, but that old bird is as tough as the turkey I used to eat in the UC Davis cafeteria. His doctors say he’ll be fine. They’re going to keep him a few days, just to watch that bump on his head and make sure there are no lingering effects from the CS-gas.” She held up a hand and stopped Chance from speaking. “You saved his life. He told me the stuff you threw in that window was mild compared to what they put him through when he was in Vietnam. Said to tell you not to blame yourself.”

  Chance relaxed back into the bed. Bailey came back in and unhooked her IV. Amy entered right behind her. “Okay, here are your orders. I’m giving you a broad-spectrum antibiotic. One shot now, pills for when you’re home. Your records show you’ve recently had a tetanus booster. We’ll call you in a few months to do blood work. Keep that thing clean and dry for a few days. I’ve left some items you can use to help you shower. I could give you some narcotics for the pain, if you want them?”

  Chance shook her head. “No, over the counter will be fine.”

  “Chance, I’m also giving you some crutches for a few days. That knife wound hit muscle. It needs to heal. I know you won’t sit your ass on your couch and watch TV, so use the crutches for a few days.”

  Maggie crossed her arms. “Don’t worry, Dr. Halston.” She narrowed her eyes, “She’ll be a very good girl. Count on it.”

  The doctor tore the written prescription off her pad and handed it to Maggie. “I’ve got no doubt she’ll have lots of help being just that. Let’s not meet again this way, shall we?”

  Chance saluted and took the crutches from Bailey. “Not if I can help it.”

  Bailey and Dr. Halston left the room. “Mom, let me go see Kenny and Marty. After that, I promise to let you take us home. Please? And could one of you get Zeus from the cruiser outside?” Jax left the room ahead of her.