Chapter 11

It was a long wait. May and Mark brought Jeanette who had been admitted. She had a large bandage on her head and was in a wheel chair. April ran to her and said, "I'm so sorry, Missus Jeanette!" She hugged her neck being careful of the bandage.

I said quietly, "We contacted Nancy. She will come here first." Jeanette nodded slowly. Her cheeks were tear-stained.

We sat there another half hour before a doctor came out. He said, "Andrews family?"

I waved him over. I said, "This is Jeanette Andrews, Tom's mother. April, my daughter, is his fiancé. May is my other daughter with Mark Gordon, Tom's cousin. I'm Paul Sanderson."

He shook my hand and went to Jeanette and held her hand gently. "I am Doctor Johns. Missus Andrews, I understand you were injured, too. I'm sorry for what happened.

"I led the team operating on your son. He also received a bullet through the back of his left leg at the knee. He will have a limp and need more surgery for that wound. My team was involved in the wound to his back. We removed a bullet close to his spine. He had complained of a lack of feeling from his waist down to the medics. We hope that removing the bullet and the pressure will resolve that. It was our first priority. We'll have to wait but the prognosis is positive though guarded. Doctor Massengil is operating on his leg and should be out shortly.

"Do you have any questions?"

Jeanette stated the obvious. "You won't know if there is any paralysis until after he wakes."

"Yes, ma'am. That's correct." He gave her a card. "Someone will need to set up an appointment after he is released from the hospital." We nodded at him and he left.

It was an hour later when a second doctor came out and asked, "Andrews family?"

I waved him over to Jeanette. "Missus Andrews, the operation by Doctor Johns was successful. We found evidence of nerve firing in Tom's leg. His knee, however, was blown out by the bullet. We will have at least two more surgeries before he can walk. I was the team physician to the track team. His track days are almost certainly over. It's too early to tell for sure but that's my initial prognosis. I'm sorry there just wasn't much left to work with. We will have to rebuild a lot of bone and tissue but that will wait. He is in recovery now. Once he's recovered from the anesthesia, he will be moved into a room and can be visited. I will check on him this evening." He left. He looked at April and smiled gently.

We waited some more. A nurse came in. We were the only ones there now. "I am Ann Wright. We are moving Tom to a room next to yours, Missus Andrews. He's barely awake. He's going to be disoriented and in some pain. The doctors will be in later. If you will follow me, we will go to his room." We did with Mark wheeling his aunt.

Tom was there on his side in the bed. He was still under some part of the anesthesia or pain medications. April rolled Jeanette's chair close to him so he could see them. He slowly smiled weakly. "Hello, Mom. Ape, I'm glad you're here." She was at the head of his bed and leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"Oh, Tom. I was so scared and am so sorry." She caressed his cheek.

Jeanette said, "Except for Nancy, we're all that's left. Mona killed your father before killing herself. I think she thought we were dead, too."

"Oh, Mom. I'm sorry."

"Tom, we always knew she was sick in some ways. We should have forced her into counseling years ago. We kept thinking it was a phase she would outgrow.

"How do you feel?"

"I, uh, have a little pain in my back and my leg hurts."

Mark said, "Can you wiggle your toes on your left foot?"

"Yes, why?"

"That means you don't have paralysis. What's left is to work on your right knee."

"That's what Doc Massengil said. I'm supposed to stay off my feet and he said there will be another operation or two."

Jeanette said, "We'll get through it, Tom."

"Yes, Mom. We will. Where's Nancy?"

April said, "She should be here within the next hour. She had to send some messages on her final exam which was Monday afternoon."

We just stood and sat. Half an hour or so later, Nancy came in. She rushed to Tom and Jeanette though she gave April a hug, too. She had tears in her eyes as she hugged her mother and brother. "Dad?"

"She killed him." Tom told her.

"Bitch." She was embarrassed and tears were flowing down her face. "Sorry, Mom. She made my life and Tom's as miserable as she could."

"I'm sorry, too, dear. We should have done something years ago but she always promised to change. She was our first and your dad and I had gotten me pregnant before we married. I think we always had some guilt. She figured it out and used it to get us to back off.

"I think she figured out that her mistreatment of April was the last straw. Tom was leaving this morning to take you to Sunday school, April. His phone was dead. She shot him twice. She shot me and I was unconscious for a while. I was just starting to regain consciousness when Jackie and Mark came in. Your aunt Jackie called the police and EMT's. It was too late for your father. Mona had shot herself, too. I don't want to live there any more."

I said, "Jeanette, don't worry about it right now. We can handle it with Jackie and Momma Rosa to help. I talked to the police. They will have tape on the house and a man watching most of this week. However, they will let you retrieve clothes or you can tell Jackie or Laura or April what you want and they will get it. There are things to worry about. Where you will live isn't one of them."

"Thank you, Paul." She shook her body slightly. If you folks don't mind, I'm going back to my room and lie down. Follow me in. Let's leave April and Tom here for some time alone."

April said, to my surprise, "Dad, please stay with us while we talk." I looked my surprise but nodded.

"Tom, I was intensely disappointed when you brought me home last night. I even debated not wearing my engagement ring this morning. I want to understand what you think I said and wanted and why you seemed negative toward my feelings. I had already decided to delay our wedding until we could counsel further with Pastor George before you were hurt."

Tom said, "This is the second time Mona had done something that had come between us. I went home last night and listened to her rant for over an hour. I countered her accusations and rants with facts. I told her that, in the future, my wife and I would avoid her and her poisonous attitude. I am marrying you, April. While I love my family, my first priority will be my wife's health and well-being. The Bible says that a man leaves his family and he and his wife become one. They create family. I was on my way to tell you that, April. I had argued to no avail with Mona. I understood your position and planned to support it. I told my dad that April and I would not be visiting when Mona was home and that I would spend most of my time before our marriage away, too. Once we were married, we would always be together and Mona would have no involvement with us then.