Chapter 6

I woke up the next morning when a nurse came in to deliver a breakfast tray. Tea with cup of broth and a tiny bowl of green jelly.

“This is all I get? I haven’t eaten in five days. I’m starving.”

“The doctor wrote DAT in your chart,” she informed me, “which means ‘diet as tolerated.’ They’ll see how you do sipping on this, then they’ll advance you to something more.”

“So lunch will be better?”

“Maybe. As long as you can keep this down.”

“Great.” I reached for the cup of broth and hoped for the best.

A half hour later, my mother and my dad walked into the room. Mom burst into tears at the sight of me.

“Thank God you’re awake!” she said, bending over the bed rail to hug me. “I’m so sorry we weren’t here when you woke up. They sent us home.”

“No worries, Mom. You’re here now.”

Dad moved to the other side of the bed and hugged me as well. “You are one tough cop,” he said with a grin. “You were all over the news.”

“Yeah?” I replied. “So I’m a celebrity now?”

“Pretty much,” Mom replied. “The reporters were outside for the first few days, but they’re gone now. I’m sure they’ll be back when they hear you’re awake.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m not really up for talking to reporters. I haven’t even tried to walk yet. And I could use a shower.”

“Don’t worry about any of that press stuff,” Mom said. “We’ll handle everything and tell them how you’re doing. There are a lot of concerned people out there. People in Middletown were lighting candles and praying for you all the time.”

I thought about my strange experience in the operating room and couldn’t help but wonder if it was all those prayers that had brought me back. I probably should have said something to my family about my experience, but in the morning light, it seemed less real than it had when I first woke up.

Maybe the whole thing was merely a dream.

“Have you heard the news?” Mom asked.

I shook my head while I scraped the bottom of the small bowl of jelly.

“The kidnapper’s in custody.”

“He’s alive?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. You shot him in the leg and he was released from the hospital after a day or two.”

“What about the woman?”

“She’s fine, too,” Mom replied. She’s very grateful for what you and Bert did for her. She said the guy stole her van while she was pumping gas. He forced her inside, then got behind the wheel and kept the gun on her. Turns out he was running from some drug dealers he owed money to. The woman came to visit you the first days. Those are the flowers she left.”

Mom pointed toward the window.

“That was thoughtful,” I said.

Mom leaned over the bed to kiss me on the cheek. “We’re just glad you’re all right. We’ve all been so worried.”

She stepped back when two nurses entered the room with towels and a pan of water. “Good morning, Nick,” one of them said cheerfully. “I’m Sandy. Are you ready for a bath?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” I replied. “Does a sponge bath count as a date, Sandy?”

I winked at her and the nurse laughed. My parents shook their heads with a smile and went out for coffee.