Page 74 of Embattled Ever After

She settled into one of the farthest corners, away from the ears of the other people in the waiting room. “Duncan has broken his pelvis. Normally, a fall to the ground wouldn’t do much, but with his prior history it has turned into a devastating injury. The previous repairs have shifted and are going to need to be fixed. He probably did that a while back when we visited that vet on Christmas. Also, for the past several months he’s been having a lot of pain in the hip socket itself. His orthopedic doctor is back there now, and they’re going to go ahead and replace the joint while they’re in there fixing everything else. It’s not ideal, but there’s no sense in putting him back together if he’s going to need a new surgery in a few weeks.”

“Why has he been in so much pain?” Shannon asked. “It did seem like his limping had gotten worse recently.”

Alex nodded. “One of the screws used in his original repair had begun to shift and it’s worn a groove in the ball of his femur. His hip is basically metal to bone, with no cushioning cartilage left.”

Several faces winced in pain. Some of them had been through issues of their own, so they could understand what he was going through now.

“How good is this surgery, doc?” Chad asked.

The woman sighed. “The plan for the repair is sound, but I don’t know the doctors themselves. Duncan has been going to the same orthopedic doctor for years though, and I don’t think he would have wasted that much time going to someone he didn’t trust or like.”

That was very true. Duncan had no time for anything less than competence.

John looked up at Shannon. She seemed a little pale, but her eyes were clear and strong. She seemed to sense the weight of his gaze because she turned and smiled at him. Her warm hand never left his shoulder.

“So that’s where we stand,” Alex continued, her eyes looking sharp but sad. “He’s sedated right now because of the amount of pain he’s in, but they might rouse him enough to talk to him about what’s coming. He’s going to be down and hurting for a while, but I think in the long run he will be more mobile and carry a lot less pain.”

“Was he hurt anywhere else?” Lora asked.

“Nope. Not a mark on him other than the unstable lateral compression fracture. The fall shouldn’t even have left a bruise, but his previous repairs had begun to destabilize. It was just a matter of time before he ended up here.”

“Are you doing okay?” Shannon asked her softly.

There was a break in her professional demeanor. For the barest moment her lips trembled, then firmed. “Yes,” she said softly. “This has just been a bit of a crazy morning.”

Shannon crossed to her and gave her a hug. “Thank you for getting the information for us. Are they going to let you stay back there with him?”

Alex nodded. “Yes, I think so. Probably not for the surgery, but they’re bending a few rules for me.”

The group settled into conversation and John realized he was going to have his hands full for the next couple of months. Duncan would be unable to run the company, so it would fall to Chad and himself. Just what he needed right now, on top of everything else.

Chad volunteered to call Duncan’s family and let them know what was going on. Alex headed back to Duncan, promising to keep them updated, and they settled in to wait.

John paced the waiting room for as long as he could stand it, then starting doing trips up and down the hallway. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he told Chad he was going to drive Shannon home for a while. She started to protest that she didn’t want to leave, but she must have recognized the uncompromising look in his eyes. He needed to go home for a while to decompress, and she needed to rest and get something to eat.

His truck was still in the parking lot. One of the detectives had been about to tow it but John had protested vehemently. The guy had looked at the wheelchair and his expression had relented. John didn’t care for his pity, but it let him keep his single mode of transportation so he bit his tongue that time.

Once home and the exuberant puppy taken outside, Shannon sagged onto the couch. He parked next to her and leaned over to stroke her curls. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, her eyes growing drowsy. “I’m worried about so many things… Duncan, Alex, the fact that we lied to the police about the man who saved us. Are we still in danger?”

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he sighed. “I’m not sure I can ease your mind about any of those, although I do believe Duncan will pull through this. And it sounds like he could be better off than how he started the day. As for the danger, I’m not sure. Chad said there was a lot of blood in that truck bed, enough that it had to be a pretty devastating injury. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about him for a bit.”

She relaxed deeper into the cushions, her eyes closed. “Okay. I love you so much, John.”

“I love you too, babe. Get some rest, then we’ll see about going back to the hospital.”

She drifted off and with a final stroke to her hair, he pulled away. His tires silent on the hardwood floor, he rolled through the house to his security system. The turmoil of his mind settled as he settled into the familiar actions of checking screens and the movement sensors. Nothing had been in or around the house since they had left yesterday. That eased the huge knot in his stomach.

He wanted to get his hands on the surveillance footage of the hospital entrance. Figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask, he called the detective who had been grilling him. “Any chance I can get a copy of the surveillance footage?”

The man was silent for a long time. “I’ll let you, but only because you might recognize something on the tape that we didn’t see. If you do notify me… you got it?”

“Yup, got it.”

Within an hour he’d been given a link to the Dropbox account where the footage was stored. John watched the tape over and over again. It only covered from the front door to the first line of cars in the parking lot, but the picture was surprisingly clear. He paused it when Good Sam, his nick name for the rescuer looked up just right. His face looked familiar, like he’d seen it before.Wherehad he seen it before?

He sat back in his chair, stewing over it. They needed to get back to the hospital before too long. It was creeping into afternoon and he wanted to be there for Duncan, just in case the surgery went more quickly than planned.

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