At seeing me in the hospital, their mood darkens; they know I am somehow involved. I have never seen hate like those two just displayed towards me. They deserve to know what happened. As I spin the tale, their eyes go from shock to worry to hate. I can’t even finish before Jane is beating on me. I take it; I deserve it.
Connie asks Jane with anger, “Why are you hitting her? She didn’t shoot your brother.”
Jane is a crying mess. I feel so sorry for her. She truly loves Bill like I do.
Connie lightly slaps her daughter. That worked; she is broken from her hysterics.
Connie asks, “Didn’t you listen to the story? She called Agent Johnson. She wore a wire. She unhooked the nipple clamps. She took one guy out. When did Bill go ape shit? After the second guy lays out Vickie. Had she not known Melissa, Vickie doesn’t get called, and we never see Bill again.”
Jane grabs me and squeezes the life out of me as we both hold each other and cry our eyes out. It takes thirty minutes for us to get cried out. All that’s left is worry and sadness.
Two hours later and a tired-looking surgeon comes out to see us.
He looks at us and smiles as she says, “Damn, you look worse than Bill.”
That doesn’t even make us smile. He wants to know who his family is.
He asks, “Who’s related ….”
Connie steps forward, “We all need to hear this. It’s a long story.”
The doc says, “He lost a lot of blood, is weak, his lung collapsed, and the bullet broke up doing some nasty work. Fortunately, I am former Army myself and have seen this a bunch. He obviously likes to catch bullets; tell him to stop. This one almost did him in. It’s going to take a long time to heal. You keep him safe, and he will be fine. You can all see him now. He is on a good pain killer and will soon be asleep.”
A nurse takes us back to his room. She looks nervous. As we get closer, I can hear Bill yelling, “Tits, tits, I need to see me some tits. Big ones, small ones, square ones, round ones.”
Oh my, he’s out of it.
As we walk in, he lights up, “TITTIES! Show me some titties!”
The nurse is embarrassed.
I look at Jane and smile. She smiles back at me. Mom says, “Noooooooo.”
Jane and I both pull up our shirts and grab the bras as we do.
Bill is fascinated, “TITS! Show me more!”
Mom is embarrassed; she looks at me, and I’m staring at Bill. As mom starts reaching for her shirt, Connie does as well. I am then shocked as the nurse says, “Oh fuck, he’s cute as hell,” as she also pulls up her scrubs and bra. We all laugh and readjust the bras and pull down our shirts.
Jane says with a grin, “Now there is something I never would have guessed happening today.”
Mom agrees, “Today has been a most unusual day. I know we have no right, but I would like to stay if you can find it in your heart. I need to know that he’s ok and that last display of his was not encouraging.”
Connie laughs, “Oh, I don’t know. When Bill came back from the military, it was obvious that he had seen death and something terrible happened. He was lifeless for a long time. It wasn’t until he met Vickie that he came out of his shell. What you just saw was the corn ball that he could be before he joined up. He was a free spirit that enjoyed life.”
Bill is asleep.
Libby, Connie’s sister, breaks into the room in hysterics, “I just came from …” She looks me in the eyes. “From … the club. Is it true, is the bitch dead? Oh, thank God Bill is alive! They said she killed him.”
She sobs uncontrollably, even with Connie and Jane holding her. They walk her out because she’s making too much noise.
Mom squeezes my hand, “I’m proud of you. You didn’t have to do anything.”
I hug mom, “No, I had to. I love him too much still. He will never love me the same, but we can be friends, and that’s better than nothing. It’s my own fault; I am taking responsibility for my actions. Some old lady told me I needed to do that. I figured it’s been long overdue.
We both hug each other and cry some more.
+++++
Saturday and Sunday, I help cater to Connie and Jane. They’re both stressed over everything that’s happened. Bill physically is doing better. The man is as strong as an ox and heals well, just like young people do. Psychologically, something is wrong. It’s one of those things that you know, but you can’t quite put the finger on it. I guess in a word, I would say he’s depressed. I don’t see that wonderful smile that usually carries.
Melissa took some of his ego, his cockiness, whatever you call it, it’s diminished. His family either doesn’t see it or is trying to keep his spirits up. He sleeps a lot like he’s hiding from the world. The problem is he doesn’t sleep well, and he wakes up tired and without a restful sleep unless they give him a sleeping pill. In a word, I’m afraid. I don’t like this.
+++++
Monday, I show up at 9:00 as if I were in his office. I have my notepads, pens and am dressed up like a young professional with money.
Bill says to me, “Not today. I need some sleep; I’m tired.”
I have had enough of him. I’m frustrated because he’s blowing me off, and he sent his family home. Granted, they need some time away. Mom surprised the hell out of me. She gave day-to-day control of our company to her next in command. I was like, okay; she is stressed and is finally taking time off. Oh no. She goes over to Bill, Jane, and Connie’s company and starts giving orders. With nobody watching, people were taking advantage of the situation.