Chapter 105

Jeff and the judge chatted for a while, then, "Despite all your references, I would be remiss if I didn't speak to Jennie and Melissa. Would you please return to the living room and send Jennie to see me."

Jeff, having expected it, got to his feet, "Sure," he said.

In the living room, Jeff caught Jennie's eye. "Judge wants to see you in the den. Down the steps and to the left. You can't miss it."

As Jennie got up, Diana pulled Hope to her, and Helen moved to sit on the other side of the girl. As Jeff neared, Hope seemed to try to get even closer to Diana. The Queen shifted her gaze to a nearby chair, so Jeff took the hint and changed his course a bit. Diana's eyes caught his for a second as he sat, and she shook her head ever so slightly. Jeff smiled and began to chat with the judge's wife.

Myra brought Jeff a cup of coffee, then smiled and said, "Your wife assured me that you would never turn down a cup."

Jeff chuckled and joked, "Oh, I only drink three or four pots a day. It's the elixir of life in the early morning, and it's not bad for the rest of the day, either."

Mrs. Carver laughed and said, "My husband always has an insulated carafe sitting on his desk."

As Myra left, Louise turned serious. "She's been with us ten years. She moved in when her mother died. For all practical purposes, Myra is part of our family. Wiley and I would be lost without her."

They continued to talk, and Helen joined in telling Louise about Helen's school, but Hope said nothing, just sat snuggled to Diana as she (Hope) waited impatiently for Jennie.

Jennie was gone for about twenty minutes, but came back smiling as she spoke to Jeff. "I got Melissa on the phone, and Judge Carver talked to both of us. He's really nice."

Helen moved over so Jennie could sit back by Hope.

"He would like to speak with you now," Jennie said to Helen.

"Of course," Helen replied, standing.

As Helen left for the den, Hope turned to Jennie. "Is he going to let me go with you?" Hope worried aloud; the first thing Jeff had heard her say after he had returned to the living room.

Jennie patted Hope's hand. "I'm almost positive he is. Well, at least until the police can find our mother."

"I don't care about that. I want to go with you," she whined, then in a rush, her voice trembling as she fought back tears, "I don't know where she is. I got up one morning and she wasn't there. Daddy was evasive about it when I asked him. Then later when I kept asking, he told me to just shut up about it. I don't know whether he's done something to her, or if she just decided to leave. I know they had been fighting a lot, but they would never tell me why." There was another long pause as she looked down at her lap, then, "I hated my Father. I'm glad he's dead, but his ... brains splattered all over..." As she chopped the sentence off, a small gasp escaped her, and tears flowed down her cheeks.

"It's all right now, Baby. It's all right," Diana kept repeating as she pulled the crying girl against her shoulder. Jennie wrapped her arms around Hope and cried with her.

A few minutes later, Judge Carver, accompanied by a smiling Doctor Boswell, came back into the living room. "Is there anything..." the judge started to ask.

"Yes," Diana said, standing. As she walked past the judge, she motioned for him to follow her. In the hallway and out of earshot, she turned to him, "I don't know what the legal aspects are for all this, but Jennie, my daughter Arlene, and Melissa have been close their entire lives, even though Hope is younger. We didn't bring Melissa with us due to the seating capacity of the helicopter. I've known Hope all her life. She needs someone she knows and trusts. I promise you we will care for her and love her as part of our family. I don't know how long the paperwork will take, but she needs to go to the hotel with us tonight. Half of what you're seeing right now is because she's afraid we'll leave here without her, but..."

Jeff stepped into the hallway with Diana and the judge, having heard most of the conversation with his excellent hearing, as Diana knew he would. Jeff stopped beside the judge, putting his hand on the judge's shoulder, "Whatever we need to do, we'll do it," Jeff said, finishing what Diana was about to tell the judge.

Carver smiled, "I had the paperwork started before you even got here. I just needed to talk with Jennie and Melissa. We'll finalize everything in my office in the morning. And by the way, I was thoroughly impressed with Doctor Boswell. You're fortunate to have her."

"Yes, we are," Jeff agreed. The Prime hesitated for a second. "And if Hope's mother does show up?" he asked.

The judge's countenance took on a stern air, "I and the head of DHR will have some serious questions for Mrs. Stewart. Hope is almost sixteen, according to the FBI agent. If she wants to live with you and your wife, even if her mother shows up and disagrees, there are several legal avenues left to pursue, particularly since the mother appears to have abandoned her children. To understate, something is drastically wrong with this young lady's family. And I agree; she is obviously desperate to go with her sister. Her father was most probably ... whoring her out," he snarled. "And the undercover agent was investigating a slavery organization. It seems reasonable to assume there is an excellent possibility that her father was going to sell her to that foreign person. That's what the FBI agent I talked to thinks, and he says Hope would probably have been out of the country in a couple of days, and would never have been heard from again."

The judge took a breath. "My wife and I could never have children, although we adopted two who became our own. They're in college now, and our nest is empty, thus our quick response when I realized that Hope was destined to be immersed in the system. And this ... person was selling his daughter into slavery. I want Hope out of this city and away from any possibility that this group of slavers can get to her..."

"I swear to you I will guard her with my life," Jeff said, again striving with a mental push to put all the emotion that he could behind his words. "And ... we have excellent security. No one will approach our home without us being aware of the potential intrusion. No one will ever hurt this young lady again."

The judge sighed again, "I'm going to hold you to that. I want your contact numbers and your room number at your hotel. You and your wife bring Hope to my office in the morning. I'm not foolish enough to force her to stay here tonight after she's seen her sister. Just make damn sure you take care of her. I'll handle the legal side of things."

"Thank you, Sir," Jeff quietly said.

Diana grabbed Carver and hugged him as hard as she could, then pulled his face down and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

The judge's face flushed, and Jeff was hard pressed to keep his own face straight, knowing Carver had just gotten himself one heck of a titty press, even though it had been toned down some by the bra Diana was wearing.

When Diana was back in the living room, she sat beside Hope and whispered in her ear. "You're going with us."

"Tonight?" Hope whispered back, her face brightening.

"Yep. Tonight, then after we do the paperwork tomorrow, we'll go home to Colorado either tomorrow afternoon or the next morning, depending on when we get everything done with the judge."

"And I'm going with you, right? You're not going to let me be put in a foster home?"

Diana hugged her. "No Baby. You're positively going home with us. No foster home — ever."

Louise quickly packed the few clothes and makeup she had bought for Hope. When Diana saw the nice overnight case, suspecting that it came from a matched set of luggage, she started to make a comment, but Louise shook her head, Diana understanding that Louise wanted Hope to take the case, also.

Hope gave a hug and a heart-felt, "Thank you," to Louise, but managed only a shallow nod to the judge with a timid-sounding, "Thank you," her eyes remaining downcast as she spoke.

"You're welcome here anytime, Hope," he said, not approaching her, aware that she was continuing to have a problem with being close to a man. He hoped she would get over it soon.

At the door, Kayla subtly stepped around Jeff to be first out. As soon as they were out on the porch, Lieutenant Mayfield and Carter stepped out of their vehicle. Judge Carver, noticing, raised an eyebrow at Jeff. "Looks like that general liked whatever you invented," he smirked.

HOSPITAL

GET THING OUT THROAT, Hanes scrawled across the white board.

The doctor was so proud of Hanes' progressing recovery that if he (the doctor) had a tail he would have wagged it. "I think we need to wait for you to get a bit stronger..."

NOW!!! Hanes scrawled as fast as his weak and shaking hand would scribble.

The doctor motioned to the two nurses, and the three stepped out of the room. "He seems to be gaining strength rapidly. I had planned to wean him to CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) first, but I'm beginning to think he's strong enough to breathe on his own?" he finished, obviously wanting the nurses' opinion as well.

Sandra glanced at Bobby, then, "He's adamant about having the tube out. We could always try him to see if he can breathe on his own."

"If he has problems," Bobby chimed in, "we can always re-intubate." Bobby had stayed over a little while in hopes of being there when Hanes came off the ventilator.

"All right. Do it. But be sure to tell him that he will get the tube back if he needs it."

Both nurses grinned, and a few minutes later, they stood by Hanes' bed. Preparing to use a 10 cc syringe to remove the air from the ETT (Endo Tracheal Tube), Sandra stopped to look at their patient. "You will have to have at least two more surgeries as soon as you're a little stronger, but we pushed the doctor a little and he has agreed to let you try to get along without a ventilator. If you start having problems breathing, though, the tube goes back in. Understood?"

Hanes quickly nodded.

"I want a big cough to help as I pull this, and pulling the tube may make you cough a little bit, also," Sandra said, knowing full well what was going to happen. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bobby smirk. "Now cough!" Sandra ordered. As Hanes coughed, Sandra pulled the tube from his trachea, which produced a paroxysm of coughing from Hanes. He moaned and locked his good arm across his chest. When the coughing died down, and a white-faced Hanes could concentrate on what Sandra was saying, "I'm sorry, but the coughing is necessary. I know it hurts, but you're going to have to do a lot of it. While you were on the ventilator, we cleared the secretions from your lungs by using a Ballard suction system."

Bobby broke in to continue, "But with the tube out of your throat, you now have to clear the secretions yourself. That's what coughing does. Not coughing is not an option."

When Hanes nodded, looking at first one and then the other of the nurses while fighting back another cough, "Your throat may be a little bit sore," Sandra added ever so sweetly.

Hanes quickly decided that the young nurse was a mistress of understatement.

Sandra watched his pulse oximetry readings for a moment, then paid particular attention to Hanes' breathing to make sure he wasn't using accessory muscles, nor was he working hard to breathe. Finally, glancing at her sister, who nodded, she said, "I know it is hard to do, so I'm going to help you to cough. I'll be back in just a moment."

Hanes stared after the pretty nurse. I don't need any help coughing. I don't want to cough. It fucking hurts too much, he thought.

Shortly, she was back from the supply PYXIS (A computerized, secure supply device for storing medical supplies and drugs) with an incentive spirometer in her hands. Assembling the equipment, she said, "This little gadget is something that you're going to have to use every hour that you're awake for the next day or two. And for the first night or so, I'll wake you a couple of times for you to use this."

"And ... I'll expect you to use it regularly during my shift," Bobby said.

Sandra continued, "Again, this isn't optional. If you want to stay off the ventilator, you are going to have to do a little bit of work. You've had enough fun, and you don't need more. Fun being pneumonia, or going back on the vent," she teased.

Hanes nodded as he stared at the simple-appearing device. Looks like she wants me to blow in that tube, he thought. That shouldn't be any real problem.

Sandra held the machine up. "I want you to put your lips firmly around this mouthpiece. See this little white thing here? I want you to suck in air through your mouth like your sucking a thick malt through a straw. I've placed this band at fifteen hundred cc's. See here. Make this white indicator area rise up until you reach at least fifteen hundred here where I've marked, then continue to pull air into your lungs and hold the white area at or above fifteen hundred for as long as you can. Okay?"