Kevin swayed in his chair, waiting for the doctor to speak again, to say the terrible words he knew were coming. His Jamie, gone. . .

"Mr. Richardson, your wife is out of surgery, and we have put her into Intensive Care. She’s very weak, and she lost a lot of blood," said the doctor. Kevin blinked several times, unable to process what he heard. His mouth opened and closed, but no words formed.

Brian asked what Kevin could not, "Is she all right now? Will she survive?"

"It’s hard to say, there is always the chance that something will happen, some complication we cannot foresee. But for right now, she is stable, and I have confidence she will recover fully." Jamie’s mother let out a wail of relief, and collapsed on Jamie’s father. Kevin just stared up at the doctor, but for the first time, hope appeared in his eyes.

The doctor continued, "Your wife is one very lucky woman, Mr. Richardson. The angle of the bullet as it hit her is really the only reason she did not die immediately. Had the shooter been standing at the top of the stairs, or had your wife been at the bottom, so that they were even with each other, the bullet would have gone directly into her heart.

"Instead, the bullet passed through her cleanly; there was both an entrance and exit wound. Passing through her body, however, it nicked her aorta and her left lung, which is the reason the surgery took so long. As I said, she lost quite a bit of blood, we had to repair all of the damage done, as well as reinflate her lung, and make sure she will be able to breathe normally on her own. All of that I believe we accomplished, she just needs to rest and recover."

"Can I see her?" Kevin asked quietly.

"She won’t be awake, she is still under the effects of the anesthesia. She probably won’t regain consciousness for a while."

"I don’t care, I just want to see her. Please," he said.

The doctor nodded, "All right. But because she is in ICU, I’m afraid you can’t stay for very long, ten minutes at the most."

Kevin turned to his cousin, "B-Rok, I need you to come with me." Brian nodded and stood up. The doctor said, "You will all eventually be allowed to see her, but for right now, I think it’s best if only Mr. Richardson goes up." Brian started to sit back down, but Kevin refused to let him.

"Come on, just help me get there. I don’t think I can make it on my own right now." Brian and Kevin followed the doctor out of the room and onto the elevator to the ICU floor.

Standing outside Jamie’s room, Kevin took several deep breaths. Brian gave him a smile of encouragement, "Go ahead, Kev. Go tell Jamie we are all here for her. Give her a kiss for me." Kevin nodded, and pushed open the door.

The only sounds in the room were the steady rhythms of the heart monitor and the respirator. Kevin was not prepared to see Jamie hooked up to all kinds of machines. He could barely see her through all the tubes and monitors and bandages that covered her. The woman in the bed looked nothing like Jamie, and if it weren’t for the auburn hair on the pillow, Kevin would have sworn he was in the wrong room.

She was so pale, so still. Kevin choked back a sob, and slowly moved forward until he was beside her. Several IV’s were hooked up, and he very carefully pulled a stool over to the side of the bed. Holding one of her hands in both of his own, he laid his head down onto the mattress and began to cry.

"Jamie, I. . ." he closed his eyes. "I love you so much, Jamie. Please get better. Please wake up and come back to me. I thought you were dead, and I wanted to join you. I don’t know what I would do without you, and I never want to find out. You mean everything to me, and I need you, Jaim. Do whatever you have to, but don’t die. Find your way back. Don’t leave me too. Please, I can't go through this again." He raised his head and stared down at her, silently willing her to respond to him in some way. She remained still, and as he looked at her, the sound of the machines filled the room and echoed in his head. His thumb continually caressed her hand and wrist as he watched her, watching for some reaction to his presence and his words.

The door opened quietly, and the doctor came back in. "I’m sorry Mr. Richardson, but it has been ten minutes. You can come back in a couple of hours." Kevin nodded to show he heard the doctor. He leaned over and kissed Jamie’s forehead, traced down the side of her face as best he could without disturbing the breathing tubes, squeezed her hand once more before letting go, and whispered softly, "Remember what I said. Come back to me soon. Please. I love you, Jamie."

Kevin stood up and stared down at his wife one last time before turning and slowly leaving the room. Brian was still standing outside the room, leaning up against the other wall. As Kevin came out, Brian eased off the wall, and came over to him.

"You all right?"

Kevin nodded, "A little. I needed to see her, but she’s so still, it’s almost like she isn’t alive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like that. She normally moves in her sleep, but she isn’t moving now."

Brian slung one arm around Kevin and tried to reassure him. "You heard the doctor, it’s the anesthesia. You’ll see, she’ll come around once it wears off. Jamie’ll be fine."

"I hope so, Rok. I don’t know what will happen otherwise."

"Don’t think like that. Jamie came through the surgery, that’s the toughest part. She’ll be up in no time, just have faith." Kevin nodded again and whispered, "Okay, Bri."

Brian tugged at his sleeve, "Come on. You’ve seen her, you know she’s okay right now. Now you have to be fine for her. Let’s go get you something to eat. You haven’t eaten all day."

"Yes, I did. I had breakfast with Jamie. . ." his voice broke as it trailed off. Tears appeared in his eyes again, threatening to spill over.

Brian gave a small smile, "Neither of you eat that much for breakfast to begin with, and I’m sure you really weren’t thinking about food this morning. Come on, you need to eat, and this time I’m not taking no for an answer. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just something. Now do it or I’ll shove it down your throat for you."

Kevin smiled faintly in response, "All right, Brian. I’ll go with you, no need for threats." He sobered, "It seems like this morning was so long ago though. Like I haven’t been with Jamie in forever."

"I know, Kev. I know. This is really tough on you, on all of us. We love her too, you know, just like a sister. We will all get through this, but you have to help us. You can’t leave us either. We need you too."

Kevin sighed, "Right. It’s just that I hate hospitals, every time I’m in one, someone I love. . ." He looked away and bowed his head, lost in remembrance.

"Hey, it’s okay, I understand completely. I’m not exactly fond of this place either you know."

"I know. All right, Brian, let’s go to the cafeteria. I know you know the way."

"Are you kidding? I can take you there seven different ways while blindfolded." He smiled again. Kevin smiled back in response, a real smile this time.

"Shall we test that idea?" he asked, sounding more like the normal Kevin that Brian knew.

"Nah, not this time. But let’s go. You need to do something productive in the meantime until you can go back and see her." They headed towards the elevator, and Brian breathed a small sigh of relief.