Page 3 of Misunderstood Hacker

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Brock

“You need to go home,take a shower, and sleep,” Patty whispered.

I didn’t even look up or acknowledge her. I already knew she was sitting on Sam’s lap, running her hand over her pregnant belly. It was the same position she had been in for the last couple days. They were sitting in the white hospital chair on the other side of Jessica’s bed. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Jessica’s lifeless body lying among the sheets. The sound of medical equipment beeping in the background was a constant reminder of how close we came to losing her.

The doctor wasn’t sure when they would stop the medication for her induced coma. They were worried about her having permanent brain damage from the accident. Her right arm was in a pink cast. Her left leg was suspended above her body in a matching cast.

“I will go home when Jessica is released. A man ran her off the road, one we haven’t identified yet. If I find a lead, I will consider your request.” For the last forty-eight hours, I had been telling everyone the same thing.

Patty was about to respond when Betsy, the night nurse, walked into the room. She was dressed in green scrubs and had her long red hair in a bun. She was about to do her nightly rounds.

“You people need to go home, shower, and rest. Running yourself ragged will not be healthy for Jessica when we wake her up.” Betsy had been harping on me for the last few days to go home. Why didn’t my friends understand I had no plans to leave? John had brought me a week’s worth of clothes. I had my laptop with me. Not a single person could make me leave this hospital.

Sam woke from the nap he was taking on the chair.“She is right, pixie. Let’s go home and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll return around eight tomorrow morning.”

“Idon’t want to leave her,” Patty whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

Ididn’t care what they did.Iwas waiting until I saw Jessica’s vibrant gray eyes look at me.

“I promise you we’ll be back soon. Jessica wouldn’t want you doing this to yourself or the baby. She would want you at home.” Sam wasn’t giving Patty an option anymore. He stood up with Patty still in his arms. Before leaving the room, Sam told me to call them if there was any change.

“Will do.”

I could tell Betsy wasn’t done lecturing. “You know, you should also head home and take a nap.”

“Thank you for your concern. I will rest here. There is no way I’m leaving her side.” This argument was getting old.

Betsy changed the IV bag hanging next to the bed. I had learned the routine of Jessica’s nurses. She was refilling the bag that contained phenobarbital, the medicine that kept Jessica in her induced coma. They had taken another brain scan a couple hours ago. Once the swelling in her brain went down, the doctor planned onbringing her out of the induced coma slowly.

“This is no place to rest. You won’t get any sleep.”

“I did two tours in Afghanistan. These sleeping conditions are heaven.”

I grabbed a bag of licorice and my laptop to work on figuring out who could be behind the car accident.

Betsy made a frustrated sound.“Fine. Stay here. She won’tbe happywhen she wakes up and finds out you didn’t take care of yourself.” Once she finished checking Jessica’s vitals, she left without saying another word.

I pulled up the security camera feed of the path Jessica took.Over thenext couple hours, I worked on going through the video footage I could pull.But the “scenic route” Jessica had taken didn’t have many traffic cameras.

* * *

Thenext morning,everyone was back in Jessica’s room waiting to hear from the doctor.

Sam and Patty had brought me breakfast when they came back this morning. They looked like they had gotten some rest.

“You should head ho—” Patty tried to get out.

Sam knew I would lose my temper at Patty if she asked me to head home one more time. He put his hand over Patty’s mouth before she could finish her thought.

“Pixie, Brock will head home when Jessica wakes up.”

The worry in Patty’s eyesalmost made me cave. “You will run yourself down. I care about you, Brock.”

“How about we make a deal? Once Jessica wakes and we know she is okay, I will run home, take a shower, and nap.”

“Okay.” Patty pouted,obviouslyoverwhelmed by everything going on. “But if the doctor keeps her in a coma for a few more days, I expect you to leave and take a nap. I will send Sam’s whole team to drag your ass out of here. Or I will take your computer hostage until you go home, shower, and sleep.”

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