Page 83 of Serve and Protect
Jennie opens the container of gelatin and scoops some out with a spoon. “Open up,” she says, grinning as she feeds me.
Throughout the evening, more visitors stop by to say hello—the SAR team members, several of my deputies, and Darlene.
Ricky finally shows up after his shift ends. The first words out of his mouth are, “You sure took one hell of a risk.”
“It was worth it, man. And I knew you could take him out.” Ricky was a sharpshooter in the Marines before he joined law enforcement.
“Yeah, well don’t do that to me again, boss. Jennie’s head was six inches away from my target. I about shit my pants.”
I raise my left fist. “I owe you.”
Grinning, Ricky gives me a gentle fist bump. “It looks like you’ll be out on sick leave for a while. You can pay me back by making me the interim boss. Then I can really piss Jace off.”
“It’s a deal,” I say.
Jennie dozed off in her chair around seven. She’s awakened when her phone rings. “It’s Dawn,” she says as she takes the call. “Hi, Dawn. How’s everything going?”
She listens for a while, then glances my way. “Are you sure?” She listens. “She does? Where does she think we went?” Jennie smiles. “Really?” She listens. “Okay, if you’re sure. Thank you.”
Jennie ends the call. “That was Dawn. She offered to spend the night with Granny so I can spend the night here with you.” She laughs softly. “Apparently, Granny thinks you and I are on our honeymoon.”
“Really?”
She nods. “And guess where she thinks we went on our honeymoon?”
“Where?”
“Hawaii.”
“You’re kidding me,” I say.
“Yeah. I don’t know where she got that crazy idea. I’ve never mentioned Hawaii to her before in my life.”
“Actually, it’s not that crazy,” I say. “I have an aunt and uncle who live in Hawaii. My mom’s younger sister, Cassandra, and her husband live in Maui. I think they’ve got three or four kids.”
“You have family?” Jennie sits upright in her chair. “I didn’t know that. You never mentioned them.”
“Mom and her sister were estranged—no surprise there. Cassandra used to send me birthday and Christmas money when I was a kid, but my mom would always confiscate it. So then my aunt started sending me toys, and Mom would sell them on eBay. I eventually told my aunt to stop sending anything. God, I haven’t talked to her since I graduated college. She actuallyhelped me pay for school. She paid half my tuition, and I worked to pay the other half.”
“I’d really like to meet your aunt one day,” Jennie says. “I thought you had no family.”
Jennie spends the night with me in my room. There’s a recliner in the room that lays flat to make a guest bed. A nurse provides her with a pillow, sheet, and a blanket.
Her makeshift bed is close enough to my bed that we can reach out and hold hands as we fall asleep.
* * *
A couple of days later, I’m released in the afternoon after being examined one last time by my surgeon. Micah comes to the hospital in Robyn’s car to drive us back to Jennie’s house. There’s no way I could climb in and out of Micah’s truck.
“Looks like I’ll be staying with you a while longer,” I say as Jennie helps me out of the car.
“I should say so,” she replies as she and Micah help me up the steps and into the kitchen.
They take me straight to Jennie’s room. She puts me in her bed and fusses over me to make sure I’m comfortable enough.
“How was Hawaii?” Rosie asks from the doorway.
God, I love that woman. “It was fantastic,” I tell her.
