Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (56 page)

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday evening — 7:40 P.M.

Ava stood at the end of Seth’s bed. His face
was grey in color and partially obscured by the breathing tube. The
monitors danced a blue rhythm that meant Seth was stable. But the
tight knot in Ava’s stomach whispered another story.

She went around the bed to hold his hand.
Not cold, not warm. It was as if Seth was hanging between life and
death.

Updating Technician Alvin on her protocol,
the ICU Chief Doctor had rattled through the results. The surgery
had been successful. The younger men were already showing
improvement. Seth had stabilized. The dialysis, followed by a
course of steroids, was also effective. The patients seemed to be
clearing the toxin from their system. He felt confident that the
younger men would be awake by tomorrow morning. He agreed with the
team from Geneva and they would be ready with pain medication when
the men woke up.

“
It comes down to age,”
the doctor had said. “Detective O’Malley is in excellent health, in
some ways better health than the younger men.

“
But?” Ava
asked.

“
He received twice the
dose,” the doctor’s callous updating voice never wavered. “And he’s
an old guy.”

The doctor picked up Seth’s chart to review
it.

“
And that means
exactly?”

“
He has sixty year old
organs,” the doctor shrugged. “It’s unlikely he’ll recover
fully.”

Ava must have made a noise because the
doctor jerked his head up to look at her. His eyes squinted at her
reaction. With a nod, he left her at the end of the bed.

“
He’s an old
guy.”

Hearing the doctor’s voice in her head, she
plopped down in a chair and dropped her head into her hands. What
had she expected? She was dating a man who was almost three times
her age. At some point, she would end up in some hospital by his
bedside.

“
He can be a real ass,” a
woman’s voice came from the edge of Seth’s bed. Ava looked up to
see an ICU nurse. “He doesn’t mean it. Mostly. Or that’s what I
tell myself when he acts like that.”

“
The doctor?” Ava
asked.

“
You’re not the first
family member he’s freaked out,” the nurse said. “Should I call the
social worker? You can file a complaint.”

“
I’m too tired to talk to
anyone,” Ava said.

The nurse nodded at her. Ava picked up
Seth’s hand again. It seemed warmer. Maybe that was a good
thing.

“
I remember you,” the
nurse said.

“
You do?” Ava
asked

“
You were just over there
not too long ago,” the nurse nodded to indicate where her ICU bed
had been. “We snuck him in past your father and the
cameras.”

“
Seth?” Ava
asked.

“
He was really sweet,” the
nurse said. “He said he was afraid the darkness would take you. He
got in bed with you and held you.”

“
He did?” Ava
asked.

“
He stayed for about an
hour before your father pitched a fit about not being able to see
you.” The nurse smiled. “Of course, it’s against regulations for a
guest to stay that long but… A couple of us know Detective
O’Malley.”

“
Know?” Thinking they were
old girlfriends, Ava blushed.

“
He caught the drunken
bastard who ran over my nephew,” the nurse said. “Brought peace and
justice to my sister and our whole family. A couple of other girls
have similar stories.”

“
I’m sorry for your loss,”
Ava said.

“
See, I knew if he loved
you so much, you must be good people,” the nurse said. “If you want
to get in bed with him, I won’t stop you. Just don’t mess with the
monitors or tubes.”

Ava kicked off her Dansko clogs. She went to
the end of Seth’s bed and, with the nurse’s help, she climbed
in.

“
You have about an hour
before our shift change. You should probably get out then,” the
nurse said. “I bet love is exactly what he needs right
now.”

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday night — 8:40 P.M.

Mike wiped the dirt off
his hands onto his jeans and stood up. He wasn’t sure what he’d
expected tonight. He’d certainly heard all about scary creatures
and the battle against evil.
All
kinds of things. He’d even heard about the bright
light that emanated from his Valerie with the help of Noelle and
Nash. There just was no way anyone could have prepared him for
this.

The action had started the moment they
arrived. Jacob yelled that the creature was fighting to escape.
Valerie jumped into action. Within moments the women and children
locked arms. Intent to support them, he, Jacob, Aden and Sam stood
ready to jump in. But those ladies did not need their help. A
radiant light burst from his Valerie. As if drawn by a magnet, the
light dove into the earth.

And they fought.

With Katy in her arms, Jill, supported by
Jacob, managed to hold everyone upright. The earth shook and the
men fell to the ground. Ash fell from the sky. Shard like rain
battered their bare heads and faces. Lightning sprung from no
where.

The brilliant light of Valerie continued to
pummel the creature in his cage.

At one crucial moment, Jill seemed to
collapse. Charlie rushed to her side. With Charlie on one side,
Teddy behind, and Sissy on the other, they held Jill upright over
the jerking, rolling earth.

The brilliant light of Valerie hung on.

And then, as if it had never happened, the
earth became shockingly still. The sky filled with bright stars.
Wet and covered with ash, they looked at each other.

“
Is that it?” Valerie
yelled from where she, Nash, Noelle, Honey, Sandy, Rachel, Heather
and Mac stood. “Jake! Is that it?”

“
I think that’s it,” Jacob
said from somewhere to Mike’s left. Mike helped him to his feet.
“Delphie?”

“
He’s dead,” Delphie
said.

“
The Shamans are leaving,”
Jacob said.

Honey began to hoot with joy and a general
cheer rose up. The kids screamed and jumped up and down. Sam helped
Delphie up. Aden rushed to Sandy. Jacob grabbed Jill. And he rushed
to Valerie.

“
How are you?” Mike
asked.

“
Great!” Valerie beamed.
He picked her off the ground and spun her around.

“
You’re
amazing.”

“
That was amazing,”
Valerie said.

Mike looked up to see everyone laughing and
hugging. He smiled at Valerie.

“
Party at the Castle?”
Valerie asked and got general applause in return.

“
What’s the proper
celebration after saving the world from evil?” Sam
asked.

“
Pizza!” Noelle
said.

“
You had pizza last
night,” Sandy said.

“
Pizza!” Charlie and Teddy
said.

“
Pizza!” Honey said and
hugged Sissy.

“
Pizza it is,” Sam said.
“I’ll call.”

“
Let’s go home!” Valerie
said.

As if nothing had happened, they got back in
their cars. It wasn’t until Mike was sitting in the driver’s seat
of his old Bronco that he began to laugh.

“
What’s funny?” Valerie
asked.

“
Nothing,” he said.
“Everything. What a night!”

Valerie laughed.

~~~~~~~~

As if it was whispered in his ear, Seth
heard very clearly:

“
Don’t leave me O’Malley.
I love you.”

Seth looked at Saul and Silas.

“
Did you hear that?” Seth
asked.

“
She’s a total babe,
brother,” Saul said. “How do you always manage to get the
babes?”

“
She seems so young,” Seth
said. “I don’t have any idea what I was thinking.”

“
Oh Seth,” Silas said.
“She loves you. Who cares how old she is?”

“
You’re not her father.
It’s not your job to make sure she finds an age appropriate mate,”
Saul said. “Do you love her?”

“
I gave her Mom’s ring,”
Seth said.

“
The one she always wore?”
Saul asked. “Wow.”

“
Then who cares?” Silas
asked. “When you get here, the only thing that matters is the
people you loved and those who loved you back. All that other stuff
– money, age, gender, color, whatever – don’t matter. Only
love.”

“
How do you always get the
babes?” Saul asked. “That girl you met at Eastman was flaming hot.
She was my… inspiration for years.”

Saul blushed to his ears. Silas squealed
with laughter. Shaking his head at his brothers, he had to
laugh.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & FIFTY-SIX

Date night

Two days later
Friday morning — 7:40 A.M.

Denver Health

Sandy pressed open the door to Seth’s
hospital room. He and the other officers were stable. They were
moved from the ICU yesterday. Knowing Seth’s wishes, and in full
control of his finances, Sandy had arranged for the officers to be
moved into their own private rooms.

The patients remained unconscious,
confounding the medical experts. The neuroscientists were meeting
today to go over test results. The predictions ranged from dire
statements to shrugged shoulders. Sandy sighed and went into the
room. She folded the blanket Ava had used last night and set it on
a chair.

“
Another hospital room,”
Sandy said.

She set her bag down on the chair and began
setting up. She didn’t really understand what the doctors were
talking about. She only knew that it was Friday, early morning.
Seth needed his hair cut and shave. Leaving Aden with the kids,
she’d navigated the morning commute traffic to come to Denver
Health.

“
You’re particularly
scraggy,” Sandy said. “What is it about being unconscious that
makes your hair and beard grows so fast?”

She plugged in her cup warmer and set a
glass jar of his favorite shaving cream on it. She went into the
bathroom to wet her badger hair brush.

“
Sandy?” a woman’s voice
came from the door. Sandy peeked out of the bathroom. “Here are the
towels we have. Will they work?”

“
They’re perfect,” Sandy
smiled at the nurse. “I hope it wasn’t too much
trouble.”

“
Not at all,” the nurse
said. “Will you shave the other officers?”

“
My pleasure,” Sandy
smiled. “We’ll see if we can lure them back to the land of the
living.”

“
Great idea,” the nurse
said.

Sandy took the towels from the woman and set
them on the chair. She wet a few and set them in her spa towel
warmer. She took her set of scissors and her portable shaver out of
her bag. Using the window ledge, she unrolled her black scissor
pouch and grabbed a comb from her bag. As she did most Fridays,
Sandy clipped Seth’s hair.

“
Remember when you were
shot?” Sandy asked. “Your hair grew like this. Crazy hair. Maybe it
seems like more growth because you’re lying down.”

She looked at Seth’s sleeping face. The
breathing tube had been removed but a nasal cannula remained. She
worked on the front of his head first.

“
Of course, you’ll be
delighted to know that Valerie and the gang have taken down both of
those evil creatures,” Sandy said. “I’m kind of proud that Rachel
and I were involved. Noelle and Nash too. Well, Sissy and Charlie…
I guess everyone.”

Sandy chuckled.

“
They found a state water
quality truck outside my salon,” Sandy said. “Ferg says it’s Saint
Jude’s get away vehicle. I guess he was wearing a water uniform. I
didn’t notice. Anyway, that’s how he got around undetected. Who
would look twice at someone out in the open spaces looking at the
water? I know. I know. The water is foul out there. Especially
along Sand Creek. So, it makes good sense. One thing you can say
about Saint Jude, he wasn’t dumb.”

“
But you of all people
know that,” Sandy kept her voice bright and cheerful. “Delphie and
the Coroner have met with all of the families to let them know.
It’s amazing how much peace one man’s death can bring.”

“
The media is hailing you
as the crime stopping savoir you always have been,” Sandy chuckled.
”Magic O’Malley rides again. Don’t laugh. You did good, real good.
Of course, Ava’s dad is being a jerk but that’s his job. He’s
taking a lot of credit for the take down of Saint Jude. I don’t
remember him being anywhere near my salon basement, but… to anyone
who doesn’t know anything, it kind of looks that way. State
Attorney General Aaron Alvin takes over and Saint Jude is
apprehended within hours. And as you always say, he does have to
get elected.”

Her sharp scissors clicked quietly. Seth had
a thick mane of salt and pepper hair. She rotated his head to the
right so that she would work on the other side of his face. Her
breasts brushed against his face.

“
Lucky you have that
breathing thing in. You might have suffocated,” Sandy said. “I’m
still breast feeding Rachel. The postmaster assigned my breasts
their own zip code – 80206-H-U-G-E.”

She leaned back expectantly. Nothing.

“
Well, I thought that was
funny. Anyway, Rachel is doing really well. She’s gaining weight
and starting to be more attentive. Don’t tell anyone but I think
Charlie is her favorite. She always smiles when he’s around.
Charlie seems to have really bonded with her too. It’s nice to
see.”