Page 64 of Justice for Daesha

“That makes both of us,” another voice said. It was the first words Lawrence had spoken since they’d left the scene.

Of course he was terrified. She was his only living family member, and she was being rushed toward the hospital. “Sir, I’m really sorry. I feel like I fell down on the job, and I?”

“Young man, you have nothing to apologize for. I’m sure Daesha saw Lucy and thought everything was fine. No telling what she told my daughter. Might’ve told her something had happened to me or to Marshall. But Daesha wouldn’t have hesitated to go with her, not for a minute. They were really close when the kids were little. She trusted Lucy. Had no reason not to.”

Amos hung his head. “Thanks, but that really doesn’t make me feel any better.”

Everyone was silent for a few minutes until Lawrence spoke. “You know, I talked to her on the phone earlier in the week. She loves you, AgentFletcher.”

“That’s Amos, sir.”

“And that’s not sir. It’s Lawrence. She went on and on about how great you are, how you’d do anything for her, how you’d give your life for her. I think she was right.”

Amos couldn’t hold it in anymore. His heart was breaking. If she didn’t make it, he wasn’t sure what would happen to him, but he knew he wouldn’t give a damn about anything ever again. “She was. If I could trade places with her right now, I would.” Tears rolled down his face. “I just keep thinking about how terrified she must’ve been, in total darkness and not understanding what was happening. I’m sure she kept wondering why I didn’t come for her.”

Lawrence laid a hand on top of Amos’s. “But you did!”

“Not fast enough.” Amos turned away and stared out the window, tears pouring down his face. “There was very little air in there, and it had to be a hundred and thirty degrees. I missed it. I should’ve known it was Lucy. I should’ve caught the fact that she was bitter. I?”

“Don’t ‘should’ on yourself, son. It’s a waste of time. All you’ve got is now, and all you can do is keep moving forward. Everything else is a waste.”

Jack’s voice interrupted them. “Mr.Wilkerson?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Not sir. Jack. I’m Amos’s brother. And I have to tell you, my wife and I have grown to love Daesha. She’s a wonderful person. But we knew she had to be. My brother’s never been this head-over-heels in love with a woman before, so she has to be special.”

“She is. She’s a one-of-a-kind,” Lawrence answered and smile.

Yes. She’s a one-of-a-kind. And if she doesn’t make it, there’ll never be another Daesha. Never.Amos watched the miles roll by as they barreled toward Elizabethtown and the nearest hospital. She had to make it. He’d only known her for two weeks, but he’d be lost without her.

* * *

They could hearthe EMTs calling out vitals as they ran down the hallway. “Female Caucasian. Suspected heat stroke with obvious dehydration. Approximately thirty-five years. Pulse, one sixty and thready. Blood pressure, seventy over fifty and unstable. Respiration…” Amos couldn’t hear everything they were saying. He was trying too hard to keep up.

When they reached the trauma area doors, the gurney sped through but a nurse blocked their way. “No one allowed back here. We’ll be out in a minute to talk to you, but right now, they need their space to work with her.” The three men were left standing there, staring through the tiny windows in the doors that had closed in front of them.

Amos was almost out of his mind. Jack tried to talk to him, but he was having none of that. They’d been waiting about thirty minutes when a familiar voice cut through the silence of the waiting area. “Son?”

He turned to find his parents standing there. Denise’s cheeks were wet with tears, and Henry held out his arm to their son. When Amos reached them, he pressed his face to his dad’s shoulder. Henry had always been their rock, the person who could fix anything that went wrong, but he couldn’t fix that situation, and Amos felt lost and alone, no matter his mother’s arms closing around him.

It was at least another ten minutes before a doctor stepped into the waiting area. “Wilkerson?” Amos and Lawrence both shot up and the doctor approached them. His voice was quiet and even. “She suffered serious heat stroke, but we’re encouraged that she was still sweaty when she came in. That means her dehydration hadn’t gone too far. Unfortunately, the chance of brain damage is very high. Her core temperature was about one-oh-six. That’s way too high. We’ve brought it down to normal, and her blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate have stabilized. The next few hours will tell the tale. We’ve put her in a medically-induced coma to let any brain swelling subside.” Amos wanted to ask questions, but he wasn’t sure what to ask, when the doctor asked, “Would you like to see her?”

“Yes!” both men answered in unison.

The doctor swept his gaze from one to the other. “I’m only supposed to let one person at a time go in, but I don’t give a damn. Come on.” They followed behind him as he led them to a small cubicle. “As soon as we know she’s stabilized, we’ll move her to ICU, but for now, we’re monitoring her.” The nurse standing to the side nodded at them.

Amos took one of her hands and Lawrence took the other. Her dad leaned down and whispered, “I love you, sweetheart. I’m so sorry this happened. These people will take good care of you. I’ll be right out there in the waiting room. I’m going to let Amos stay here with you. I can see he loves you. Everything will be fine.” With a pat on Amos’s shoulder, Lawrence stepped out of the cubicle and Amos was there alone with Daesha. Even the nurse moved to stand on the other side of the curtain.

He bowed his head, closed his eyes, and let the tears fall. Losing her… He couldn’t. He’d finally opened his heart to someone, and that was the result. As they were growing up, over and over, Jack had gotten knocked down by life, but he’d always gotten back up. Amos, on the other hand, had seemed to lead a charmed life. Everything he tried he’d excelled at, and every obstacle had somehow dissolved.I suppose this is karma’s way of catching up with me after all these years, he told himself.

Smoothing a hand over her forehead, he thought about Jack and Heather. They’d been together for years and fought her disease valiantly, only to lose the battle in the end. But by damn, they’d had years together, and some of them were very good. He’d only had Daesha for a couple of weeks. Yes, Heather’s illness and death had been unfair, but there was something just as unfair about having love for a little while and then losing it.

Oh, dear god, Fletcher, listen to yourself!a voice in his mind scolded. He was standing there, holding the hand of a woman who might never wake up, and all he was thinking about was his loss and how unfair it was to him. What about her? Her sister had been brutally murdered, and until that morning, no justice had ever been found. Her mother died. And then, to try to ease her pain, she’d gone off to war, only to come back with part of her body missing and a monumental task ahead of her, to forge some kind of life out of the rubble of what she’d been handed. Not only that, but she’d dedicated that life to helping others, human and animal alike, with a depth of compassion he’d never known.

He knew in that moment he had nothing to complain about. He’d been given a wonderful gift, the gift of that strong, compassionate woman’s love, for a few days. If those few days had to last him a lifetime, then so be it. Without her there beside him, her memory would have to do, and he’d make it work. He’d show more love and caring for the people he served. He’d be quicker to take cases no one else wanted because they were so emotionally draining. He’d show appreciation for his supervisor, his coworkers, his parents, and by god, for Jack and Aleta. No more teasing his baby brother. No more calling him names or putting him down. Jack was a hero. He’d been right beside Amos every step of the way, and his big brother would never let Jack down again.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave. We’ll come out and let you know if anything changes. Okay?” The nurse’s hand on his shoulder held a tiny bit of comfort, and he was thankful for her too, for all the people who were working so hard to do what they could for the woman in that bed.

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