Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 181

Bethany

POV

The two children were doing better than I expected. One child I had not thought would make it through the night surprised me at how well they had responded. Children never cease to amaze me with their strength and total trust in us and the love they seem to share. It looks like the parents hurt more than the child sometimes when you see the child's eyes light up as the mother and father enter the room, yet the parents seem to have had almost no sleep worrying about the child. There's nothing I can do about that, unfortunately. Parents worry and have good reason to, and the child's innocence can bring the strongest man or woman to tears.

Today, I will assist with the man's operation. He is ready, and I am looking down at his face as he goes drifting off to sleep, counting to three before he is gone.

Drake rambles on about his night with Saun, making the nurses giggle at his antics. His voice is a soft drone in the background as I go into my zone and wait. I am here for Theo today; he is going to go solo on implanting this heart. I watch him set it ready for use and then place it aside to get the man done. I need to be confident that Theo will do each step flawlessly.

Theo is a great surgeon, and the whole operation flew by. I did not need to say a word; he never faltered once. I am sure when we review the video, he will be critical of himself, just like I am when I review myself. It is human nature to be harder on oneself and look at the flaws, not the achievements. I am trying to do better each time. Sometimes, it is good to be critical of oneself when it comes to holding a person's life in your hands; you do not want to make a mistake. It is not easy for me, and I know Theo is the same when we lose a patient. It is like losing a piece of yourself, and I think Robson often feels responsible, too, and he is not even in the operating room.

Having left the theater, I left Theo to look after his patient. I was sure he would come find me if he needed me for any of the app processes. My phone will ding when something is not right, and I can fix it from here.

'Hi Nate, you are looking much better,' I said to my brother-in-law. He was propped up by pillows, watching television. It was on the sports channel.

'When can I get out of here?' He grumbled at me with a smile, and I knew he was testing me. Hank had already given the all-clear if we followed instructions, and I wondered if Judy or Thomas would let him get away with not following the rules.

'How about today?' His eyes widened with surprise under normal circumstances. He would be stuck in this room for another week, but Hank was sending one of his best nurses to look after him. She would live with them until Hank said he (being the nurse Nate would have assisted him) would no longer be needed. He would update Hank daily and contact him if something was wrong.

'You mean that?' His eyes lit up, and he started to move too fast and ended up causing himself pain.

'Ouch.' he grumbled and laid back against the pillow, rubbing his chest.

'Yeah, Hank has a male nurse who will care for you and has agreed to live with you until you are well enough to do things on your own.

'Excellent.

'I have organized an ambulance to take you home. It will be here in an hour, along with your nurse and two bodyguards! 'Oh man, do I need bodyguards?'

'No guards, no going home.

'Okay, okay, they better be ugly, or Thomas will get jealous. He chuckled at the thought, then paled as he looked up at me.

'No, he will not take another partner; you are more than a handful for him, I said, knowing what he was thinking.

'You're the best. Sis.' he looked at me sheepishly.

'Let me help you change into something you would be happier to be seen in outside these walls.' I giggled as I lifted the bag I had received from Thomas and started to pull out the clothes. He had a choice; I could see he was already looking at the track pants and T- shirt. Something was non-clingy; he must be in more pain than he was letting on. After he was dressed, he was panting and sweating like he had run a marathon.

'Do you want some painkillers for the trip?' I needed to give them now so they would be working by the time the ambulance arrived, or I would have to inject him with something more potent, and I knew he would fight me on that. He tried to be strong when he did not need to be.

'Please, something that won't make me groggy. I do not like feeling like that. I understood what he meant and gave him the best I could, hoping it was enough for the journey. Steve arrived ten minutes later.

'Hi Steve, this is Nate. Nate, Steve is your nurse, and you had better follow his instructions, or I will get you back here in a jiffy. I warned him with a chuckle.

'I want my own bed so that I will behave! he replied, looking at Steve, a well-built man who could most likely carry Nate around all day and not tire.

The paramedics arrived with their gurney, and we loaded Nate into the ambulance, giving him assurances that we would visit him soon. I stood at the dock and watched the ambulance carry Nate away, and I felt so glad he was away from there and back home, safe. Not that he was not safe here, but being home, where you are comfortable, is much better than at the hospital, no matter how good the hospital is.

Theo came to me a little after Nate left.

'Gone home?'

'Yeah,' I said as I leaned into Theo. He kissed my head.

'All done; Robson is happy and says we can leave now. I have done the rounds and sent two home, and the young trainee doctors are doing great work so far. Robson is very happy with their progress.

'Good, it's time to get out of here and see how Hank is going.' We left the hospital and headed home, hoping Hank was getting on with his life. His slump was only one day, and the push for him to check up on Nate gave him the push he needed to get back out there; his love for being a doctor and needing to look after Nate would work in our favor.

Hank said he felt guilty that Nate took the bullet at his home, a place he always believed was safe and secure. Those trees seemed to be a good distance away. Hank never thought snipers would use them; now, he is looking at how to protect his backyard better. It is good that Scott did know about a possible sniper attack and catered for hitting them back. It all happened so fast, and if it had not been for Theo filling in some of the blanks, I would not have known what happened. One minute, I am about to have my first kiss as his wife, and then the next, I am on the floor in pain, and having no clue why I was on the ground; I do remember hearing a bang, but I did not put that down to gunfire. That never entered my head; why would it? I was too consumed with my wedding day and the nerves I had and sharing the day with my Dad, making it so much more special.

I wonder how the sniper is doing?

We have not heard anything, if he lived or died. I will have to ask Dad if he has heard anything yet.