Page 43 of Two Weddings and a Shoot Out

She finished and bumped Maureen’s shoulder. “Thanks,” she said.

“No problem. You need anything else, just ask,” Maureen said.

What she wanted, Maureen couldn’t give her—Locks, healthy, whole, and awake.

The doors opening had her turning. At the sight of the doctor, she tried to read his expression. The doctor walked toward Remi and the girls. Remi held up her hand at the doctor to wait.

“Hope, get over here,” Remi called.

Hope walked over and stood by Remi. Remi slid her arm around her.

“Your father is a lucky man. He received excellent care on the way here, but his heart still stopped twice on the table. The first time, he came back quickly. The second time it took us a little longer, but his blood pressure is good, along with his heart rate. He had significant blood loss and damage. We’ve repaired everything, and now it’s up to him. The next twenty-four hours are important. He’s not going to be awake tonight, so I suggest you all get some sleep. He’ll be in ICU for at least twenty-four hours,” he said.

“Can I sit with him?” Hope asked.

“One of you may,” he said. “Once he’s settled, you can go in two at a time if you’d like to see him.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Remi and the girls echoed.

Hope breathed a sigh of relief. He’d made it through this hurdle, and she could be in his room tonight.

Sarah’s arm wrapped around her, “He’s strong, Hope. In fact, when he gets home and is doing stuff too soon, you’ll be amazed at how fast he gets well.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Hope said.

Hope sipped the hot tea she’d went and made for herself. It was close to six in the morning. She’d dozed in the chair a couple of times, but it wasn’t the most comfortable. But even if it were the softest bed, she couldn’t shut her mind off enough to sleep with Locks lying in the hospital bed, with all the monitors and tubes hooked up to him. His skin had pinked up a little in the last couple of hours. He'd looked so pale the first time she’d seen him after surgery. The nurse had said it was due to his extreme blood loss.

“Hey,” a voice whispered. Hope turned, and Beth was standing in the doorway, an unsure look on her face.

“You can come in and touch him. They said talking to him and rubbing his hands is good for him,” Hope said.

Beth walked over and kissed Locks’ forehead. “You’re not supposed to do this stuff when I’m not around. I love you, Daddy,” Beth whispered through her tears.

Hope stood up and slid her arm around Beth. “Honey, we’ll get through this.”

Beth leaned her head against Hope. “I appreciate you not promising everything would be perfect. What have the doctors said?”

“That they are giving him fluids and his output is good. Kidneys are working well. Blood pressure is normal. They repaired the damage the bullet did. If you want the particulars, you’ll have to ask the nurse because I wasn’t listening well. All I heard was he was alive, though they lost him twice on the table,” Hope said.

“Dad’s tough. He’s going to get through this. Do they know when he will wake up?” Beth asked.

“They’ve started tapering off the medicine they were giving him, and the nurse indicated maybe in the next couple hours, he might start showing signs of waking up.”

“Do you want to take a little break, and I’ll sit with him? I’ll call you if he starts to wake up,” Beth said.

Beth watched Hope leave the room. Hope only wanted to be gone about twenty minutes.

Beth rubbed his fingers and the top of his hand. These hands had taught her about cars, about going after a skip, and about how to carve her own path. When she’d shown a preference for surveillance instead of the other parts of the job, he hadn’t kicked up a fuss. He looked at the business and found a way they could use her skills, then gave her a huge budget to get started on her disguises.

Beth had been blessed with parents who didn’t want cookie-cutter kids that were all the same. Her mom and dad had both nurtured her abilities and strengths. She was grateful to them, and she missed her mom.

She’d been around Hope a little, and if she could have picked the woman to be with her dad in the coming years, she would have picked someone like Hope. Hope was loving but strong and wouldn’t take any crap. With Hope and Benji around, she could see her dad being around longer. Hope and Benji would help keep him young at heart.

She couldn’t stay long. She’d left Della helping Flick, along with their Cider Creek Chapter. The back of her neck was itching, and she was positive they’d get a break soon. There were just so many threads that needed to be pulled together. Once they hadthem all, they’d act swiftly. Rose had wanted to help but couldn’t be seen. Beth had her helping at the clubhouse, going through the paper trail to see if they’d missed anything.

Hope walked back in. Beth didn’t think it had been that long, but Hope probably couldn’t stand to be away from Locks.

Beth stood up and let Hope take the chair. Maybe she could get her dad to wake up a little sooner. She leaned over close to his ear.

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