Chapter 19
“What did you say?” Sam asked.
“Sam? Can you hear me?” Vandy said.
Beep… beep… beep.
Sam blinked several times. He looked to the sound of Vandy’s voice. She was standing over him. She was smiling though tears were in her eyes.
The beeping noise was not from a cell phone, but through a medical life window monitor. He was in a hotel room.
“Oh my god, you’re awake!” she cried out. “Nurse! Nurse! He’s awake.”
The nurse came in and looked at Sam, “Look finally decided to join us,” she said. She looked at the monitors. “I’m Nurse Riley. Ms. Vanderbilt and I have been watching over you.”
Sam blinked again, “Vandy?”
“Yes, it’s me, Sam. I’m here.”
He tried to lift his head. Vandy gently retrained him, “Don’t try to move, Sam. “
“She’s right Mr. Steele,” the nurse repeated. “Don’t move. I’ll get your doctor.”
“Where am I?” Sam asked.
“You’re in St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula,” she said.
“I was having the most wonderful dream,” Sam said.
“What was it about?” Vandy asked.
He glanced at Nurse Riley, “I’ll tell you later. Oww!”
“What happened?” Riley asked. “Are you in pain?”
“I feel so stiff,” he said, his voice lumbered, groggy.
“That’s because you’ve been in a coma, Sam,” Vandy said. “You’ve been in a medically induced coma for nine days. You were shot five times and banged your head. I was so worried.”
A man in a lab coat appeared. He was thin and short, with dark hair and a dark complexion.
“Well, hello, Mr. Steele,” he greeted, pleasantly, but without a smile. “My name is Dr. Adatia. Do you know where you are?”
“Yes,” he replied. “In St. Patrick’s hospital.”
“You were shot, Mr. Steele,” Dr. Adatia replied, “five times. Do you remember being shot?”
“I think so,” he said. “Even if I didn’t, my shoulders, side, hip and leg would remind me. Damn, it’s painful.”
“We were able to remove the bullets,” Dr. Adatia said. “They are healing nicely. I would expect you to have a full recovery from those wounds.”
“That’s good news.”
“Mr. Steele, do you have family we can call for you?” Dr. Adatia asked. “We couldn’t locate anyone and Ms. Vanderbilt seemed to think…”
“No,” he interrupted. “There’s no one.”
Dr. Adatia nodded, “Mr. Steele, who can make medical decisions on your behalf in the case of an emergency?”
He bit his lip and sighed, “I… I… really don’t have anyone.”
“I’ll do it,” Vandy said. “I’m right here.”
She looked at Sam, “Unless you think I’d kill you.”
“You were pretty pissed at me for a while,” he said, smiling.
“I’ll send the nurse in with the paperwork later, if that’s okay, Mr. Steele.”
He nodded.
“Mr. Steele, you lost consciousness through a combination of pain and blood loss. The automobile drifted off the road. Ironically, it wasn’t the gunshots that caused your biggest problems. You banged your head pretty solidly when the car hit a boulder. Do you remember hitting the boulder?”
Sam shook his head, no.
“Ms. Vanderbilt called 911 and the Medical Chopper brought you here. She kept pressure on your wounds until the chopper arrived. She may have saved your life.”
“I’m grateful,” he said, smiling at Vandy. “We’re even.”
“Not by a longshot, cowboy,” she rejoined.
“We discovered swelling of your brain and placed you under a medically induced coma. You’ve been in that coma for nine days,” the doctor continued. “We’ve been bringing you out of it slowly over the last two days.”
“You put me into a coma? I’ve been out for nine days?” he asked.
“Yes,” he said. “It is standard medical procedure. It helps prevent further brain swelling and allows for faster healing. Are you in pain?”
“Yeah,” he said. “My body is stiff, my shoulders, leg and hip hurts and I have a bursting headache.”
The stiffness is from lying in bed, and the shoulder, leg and hip pain is around the areas where the bullets were removed,” Dr. Adatia said. “Tell me more about the headache. Do you get them often?”
“No,” he said. He opened each of Sam’s eyes and shined a pen light into them.
“Anything else I should know about?” Dr. Adatia asked.
“My stomach is a little queasy,” he said.
“These are probably side effects from the trauma,” Dr. Adatia said. “To be safe, I’m going to get you upstairs for another MRI.”
“Thanks doc,” Sam said. “Do you know how long I’ll be here?”
“You’ve just recovered from a coma, Mr. Steele,” Dr. Adatia said. “Let’s take it one day at a time. Let’s look at the MRI and take one day at a time, shall we?”
“You’re the boss,” Sam said.
“I wish all my patients would say that,” he replied, a smile appearing on his face for the first time.
He gave Nurse Riley a series of instructions, patted Sam on the knee and told him he’d be back later to check up on him. Sam thanked him. Vandy hugged him. The doctor turned red in the face and left.
“I’ll bet you’re hungry,” Riley said.
“You know it,” he replied. “Do you have steak and mashed potatoes?”
“Not exactly.” she said, consulting the doctor’s instructions, “We have Jello and chicken broth.”
“Yum, yum,” he feigned, rolling his eyes. Vandy laughed.
Sam looked at Vandy, “Your leg.”
“I was treated and released seven days ago,” she said. “The doctor was most impressed with your field work, by the way. Thanks to you I am on the mend.”
“The rest of your cuts?” Sam inquired.
“You mean my boob?” she said. “More good news there. It’s going to require a little plastic surgery, but the doctor thinks I’ll be back in low cut dresses in about six months. The leg will continue to have a white scar even with plastic surgery, but ask me if I give a shit.”
“Do you give a shit?” he asked, dutifully?
“Nope,” she said.
“Why are you still here in Montana?” he asked.
She raised her eyebrows, “Why do you think, cowboy?”
“She’s barely left your room for three days,” Riley said. “You have a wonderful girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Sam said.
Vandy’s jaw dropped in feigned disbelief, “I suppose you think you can do better?”
“Better than a stunning billionaire Hollywood celebrity with a face like and angel and a body that could make Raquel Welch envious? Hmmm…”
He paused, pretending to reflect.
“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “I might have to wait a week or two, of course.”
“Careful, cowboy,” she scolded, “this may be the one day I can kick your ass.”
“I’m going to leave you two lovebirds and order Mr. Steele’s meal,” Riley said. “Press the call button if you need me.”
Sam held up the button, “Trust me ma’am. I’m all over this button.”
Riley laughed and left the room.
“The men who were after you?” he asked.
Vandy started to reply when a young, black, burley orderly bounded into the room. He had ear bud headphones in his ears and was playing air guitar, “Mr. Steele? Sam Steele?”
“That’s me,” he said.
“I’m Richard, you’re bedside chauffeur for the day. I’m taking you up to the next floor for an MRI,” he said. He turned to Vandy, “You can wait here or…”
“Actually, I haven’t had a shower or change of clothes today,” she said. “I think I’ll go back to the hotel and clean up now that you’re awake. I have a few calls to make. I’ll be back later, cowboy. I’ll give you all the updates then. You okay with that?”
“Sure, it’s probably better anyway,” he said. “My head is spinning.”
“You’ve been through a lot,” she said. “You need rest.”
She leaned over and planted a long, wet kiss on his lips. The orderly raised his eyebrows.
“I’ll be back soon,” she said. She winked at the orderly and skipped off.
The orderly looked down at Sam, “So, she’s Elaine Vanderbilt?” he said.
“She is,” Sam replied.
“Hot damn!” Richard barked, looking at Sam. “She looks even better in person than she does on television. No offense man, but you know that shit is wayyyy above your pay grade.”
“Don’t I know it,” he replied.
When Vandy got back to the hospital, Sam was fast asleep. Riley said it was normal and that he needed sleep for his body to continue to heal. She scooted her chair next to the bed, and sat, holding his hand. She fell asleep herself.