Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (58 page)

She
mouthed the words,
I love you
.

He blew
her
a kiss.
That
was
all he could do,
his
lips were quivering. What hurt him the most
was
she
didn't want him to leave, he could tell.
She
squeezed
his
hand as if to say
don't leave me
. He prayed. "Please God, give
her
the strength to get through t
his
,
she
needs you more now
that
she
ever has."

*****

Mike waited in the hallway for the doctor to finish
his
examination on
Lana
. The nurse took some blood as the doctor ordered blood tests. Mike noticed the doctor shook
his
head, not a promising sight to watch. The doctors and nurses always smiled when they walked out of
her
room, not now. Mike didn't want to interrupt the doctor until he wrote all the details in
her
chart. Mike paced in the hallway outside the room waiting to hear, dreading bad news. When the doctor finished, Mike couldn't wait another minute and walked in the room. "How is
she
?" Three words he hoped he
would
never have to say again, memories of Kathy flooded
his
mind. Mike's heart
nearly beat
out of
his
chest. He wanted to crawl on
that
bed and hold
her
, make
her
pain go away, make
her
better.

"Not good,
she
's
running a high fever and
her
organs
have started to shut
down
one by one
. We are treating
her
with
antibiotics and let's hope for the best.
Her
body has been through so much." Dr.
Orsburn
wished he had better news for Mike.

"Are you telling me
she
's dying?" Mike choked up and couldn't bear
that
thought.
His
entire body hurt.

"I hope not, so let's hope the antibiotics and
her
fight for life will prevail." Dr.
Orsburn
knew anything
was
possible. People died when they were not as sick as
Lana
. But many in worse shape recuperated. It
was
in God's hands now.

"Do you think the antibiotics will help?" T
his
gave him a glimmer of hope. Mike trusted Dr.
Orsburn's
opinion.

"I hope so." The doctor answered honestly. He knew many patients pulled through
with
less hope.

"Do you know where the infection is?" Mike
was
worried someone came in and gave
her
the flu or some kind of virus.

"I think the infection is in
her
lung. Because of the infection
her
heart has enlarged and
she
's having trouble breathing. We are giving
her
oxygen. If
she
can get through the next few days
she
should be home free." He couldn't help himself but to put
his
hand on Mike's shoulder. Most of the time he tried not to get too close to the families, but he knew Mike
was
in such despair.

"Is there anything I can do?" Mike asked crying.

"Pray if you're a praying man."

His
parents raised him
Catholic and he knew there
was
a God who could heal
her
. "Thank you, doctor."

The doctor shook Mike's hand and then he
was
gone.

Mike paced around Lana's room. Other than
her
face looking flushed,
she
appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He stopped
his
pacing and stood by
her
bed. He took
her
hand and softly talked to
her
, encouraging
her
. "Baby, fight t
his
infection, please. I need you beside me,
with
me, all our lives. You promised me fifty years. God I love you so much." He choked up and wept next to
her
.

Raymond and Joe
stood i
n the
doorway as
they heard the
bad
news. They knew from the death of Kathy how Mike
would
react. At least
with
Kathy, Mike had time to prepare
his
heart.
With
Lana
, he
was
thrown in, sink or swim. Guilt filled all their hearts. There were many - what ifs - going through their minds, especially Joe.

Raymond
was
the first to say something as he walked in Lana's room. "Mike we know who did t
his
and as
Lana
gets better we will hunt him down like a dog. But right now we have to be strong for
her
.
She
will want to see your smile when
she
wakes up
and I want you to focus on that
. Joe and I can work on the investigation."

Mike knew
that
he
would
not let the shooter get by
with
t
his
even if he had to quit the marshals and hunt him down on
his
own. "Raymond we have to find him or he'll come back and finish the job." From the experience as a cop, he knew t
his
asshole
would
not quit until
Lana
was
dead. If Ken
was
right and he
was
paid to kill. He
would
n't get paid unless
she
's dead.

"I know he will, but we'll get him before he can get to
Lana
." Raymond
was
a little concerned about what Mike
might
d
o. Not only could t
his
guy
walk in the hospital, they
would
n't know it's him.

Mike could see the doctor at the end of the hall and he had to talk to him one more time. "Doctor, may I talk to you in private?"

"Sure, let's step into t
his
room its empty."

Raymond waited in the hospital hall for Mike to return when Sara called. "Hi Raymond I have some good news."

"I could sure use
that
right now."

"I looked up everything on your guy Angelino Marquit and I had to go through the Director's office to get into some of the files."

"Why?"

"Apparently he is wanted all over the world and the FBI has a special team to catch him."

"
That
's not unheard of
especially when a serial killer is involved
." T
his
is the same thing Ken told him.

"He is a high paid hooker getting $100,000 per bullet. He works
with
the Italian mafia and many of the gambling bosses. Apparently they are the only ones
that
can hire him and apparently the only
ones who can find him. Nobody is sure where he lives or where he
was
born, or they aren't telling. However, after pulling a few strings in the bureau I found out they lost him in Birmingham Alabama. He pulled one of
his
disguises. And guess where Peter Waters
had been
last
seen?
"

"Birmingham?"

"You got it, and coincidently Peter had a connecting flight from Birmingham to Charlotte to Boston."

"
That
's no coincident."

"T
his
guy is good."

"Does the FBI know where he is now?"

"They aren't telling or at least not telling me and you know I
would
find out if I could. T
his
is a first for me."

Raymond walked down the hall and looked around to make sure no one could hear him. "Sara did you find out anything about
Lana
?"

"Come on Raymond I thought the killer should occupy my time, but I'm running everything now and I'm cross referencing everything. You'll be the first to know."

"Remember."

"I know call you and don't let Mike know anything."

"Thanks." He
was
afraid if
s
he
found out who hired the hit man and told Mike first, he
would
go after him.

Chapter 38

5:35 p.m.

It
was
a cold cloudy day when
Lana
left t
his
earth. Just the kind of weather
she
liked. All the men came in to say goodbye, except Joe. He couldn't come in,
his
heart
was
breaking.

Mike asked the nurse to leave him alone
with
Lana
because he had to talk to
her
.
"Oh God, give me strength," he said out loud.
His
eyes filled
with
tears as he looked at
her
lifeless face. "
Lana
, I know you can't hear me, and I'm not going to say goodbye. I just met you and I'm not ready for goodbye. I love you so much. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go back to the beach house and see your stuff there, remembering. Looking at the jersey you wore and listening to the songs we
shared and held each other.
All along I knew you were scared and I
was
n't there for you. I let you go outside against my better judgment." He reached over to touch
her
cold face and he couldn't stand
her
being cold. There were several blankets on the bed so he pulled them all up and tucked
her
in
tight
. "Honey, please forgive Joe for not coming in to say goodbye. He can't right now. He is heartbroken. We all have grown to love you." He reached down and kissed
her
cheek and went back to the
chair to sit down and
sobbed uncontrollably.

Joe sat outside the room hearing Mike's goodbye to
Lana
and
his
heart
was
breaking and he too sobbed.

After several minutes he sat on the bed next to
his
beloved
Lana
and w
his
pered. "I can't leave you, I just can't. My entire soul is hurting and I want you back so
bad. Several doctors and nurses came by and told
me I need
ed
to leave, but I can't. Someone has to stay
with
you until we bury you, and I will be the one." He paused and took a deep breath. "Baby, the doctor let me hold your hand at the end. And I'm glad I
was
there for you. I couldn't imagine you being alone. I didn't want you to leave
with
out me at your side
. Oh honey, I miss you already," he said sobbing like a baby.

Holding
her
hand he remembered
Lana
telling him about the guilt
she
felt for
her
cousin.
She
told him how
she
hurt when he died. He told
her
he
would
carry
that
burden for
her
, and now he wondered who
would
help him carry
his
burden. He hoped
that
might
be
Lana
. He didn't understand how God could send
her
to him, let him fall in love and then let
her
die. When
Lana
and Mike discussed
his
work and the possibility of him dying,
she
said. "I
would
rather have a few wonderful years
with
you than fifty years of nothing." Mike never dreamed it
would
be only a few days.