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Calamity

(Sitting here nursing a cold trying to get better so that I can go to the movies on Thursday, December 19, 2019, to see the last Star Wars movie, 'The Rise of Skywalker'.  Do leave a review since it will aid me in my recovery.

Chapter 5

A few hours later at the hospital the waiting room is filled with Evangeline’s family and friends.  Todd sent his plane for Evangeline’s mother and her Uncle Clay.  Her sister Layla came from her job at Capricorn along with Antonio Vega.  Cristian finally made an appearance and expressed his agitation that Todd was there but Layla pulled him aside and stressed to him that none of that is important now.  The one important thing at this moment is Evangeline.  She warned Cristian that if he continues with this nonsense that the family will forbid him from seeing Evangeline.  Layla reminded him that he’s not the only one who loves Evangeline and that all of the people gathered here in this area have every right to be here because they share one common interest, Evangeline.  By the time that Layla finished chastising Cristian he was totally embarrassed and slinked over to a far corner and kept his mouth shut.

It seemed like it was taking forever to get any word on Evangeline’s condition.  Todd had made his way several times to the nurse’s station, using his clout as a member of the hospital board, but he still didn’t know any more than anyone else in the waiting room.  Antonio had food and beverages for everyone brought over from his mother’s diner.  By this time Nora and Bo joined the crowd in the waiting room.  Soon everyone was quiet and in their own thoughts trying to comfort themselves while they waited for news.

Finally a doctor appears before the group.  Evangeline’s Uncle Clay approaches the doctor and introduces himself.  The doctor asks to speak with the family members in private but as Uncle Clay looks around the room he decides that it would be unfair to have these people wait any longer to hear about Evangeline so Uncle Clay says, “You can say what you need to say doctor.  All these people here are her family.”  Understanding clearly, the doctor begins to update them on Evangeline’s condition.

“Ms. Williamson is in ICU.  The bullet caused internal bleeding and she lost a lot of blood.  We gave her transfusions.  We were able to stop the bleeding and repair the damage caused by the bullet.  But we encountered an unexpected difficulty during the surgery.  The bullet was laced with poison.  This shooter was making doubly sure that their victim would die because if the bullet didn’t kill them then the poison would.  Fortunately for us one of the surgeons assisting in the operating had prior experience with such a situation and knew exactly what to do.  We’re confident that Ms. Williamson will recover but we want to keep her under constant observation for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.  Her body has been through a major trauma and it needs to repair itself and it needs time to do that.  Once Ms. Williamson regains consciousness we’ll know more.  Do you have any questions?”

Uncle Clay quickly asks, “When can we see her?”  The doctor smiles and answers, “We’d like to keep to a minimum the number of people in ICU so we must limit it to ‘immediate family’ only and no more than two people at one time.  You all here can define who is ‘immediate family’.  Ms. Williamson will need all of your support during her recovery.  The ICU station nurses will let you know when you can sit with her.”  The doctor then leaves the group to process all the information that he has imparted to them.