Safe Harbour

by Danielle Steel

  “Is something wrong?” But he knew it before she said it, as a wave of terror filled him.

  “It's my mom. She's been shot. She's in the hospital. Can you come?”

  “Right now,” he said, throwing back the covers, and stepping onto the floor, still holding the phone. “What happened?”

  “I don't know. They called Alice, and then I talked to them. The man said she was shot three times.”

  “Is she alive?” He nearly choked when he asked her.

  “Yes.” Her voice was very small, and she was crying.

  “Did he say how it happened?”

  “No. Will you come?”

  “I'll be there as fast as I can get there.” He didn't know whether to go to the hospital, or to Pip at home. He wanted to be with Ophélie, but it sounded as though Pip needed him.

  “Can I go with you?”

  He hesitated for only a fraction of an instant, and grabbed a pair of jeans as he listened to her. “Okay. Get dressed. I'll be there as soon as I can. Where is she?”

  “SF General. She just got there. It just happened. That's all I know.”

  “I love you, Pip. Good-bye.” He didn't want to waste time talking to her, or reassuring her. He got dressed, picked up his wallet and car keys, and ran to the car. He didn't even bother to lock his front door. He called the hospital from the car. They had no news, except that she was in critical condition, in surgery, and they had no further idea how she was.

  Matt drove as fast as he dared over the mountain, and then hit the gas once he got to the freeway. He nearly flew over the bridge, and threw the money at the woman in the tollbooth, and he was at Pip and Ophélie's house within twenty-four minutes of her call. He didn't waste time going in, only honked the horn, and she ran out wearing blue jeans and her ski parka, which she had found in the hall. She looked deathly pale and terrified.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her, and she shook her head. But she was too frightened now even to cry. She looked like she was about to faint, and he prayed she wouldn't. He was praying far harder for her mother. And he didn't comment to Pip about the insanity of her mother being on the streets late at night with the outreach team. This was what he had feared, and predicted, all along. But there was no comfort now in having been right. He couldn't see how she would survive. And Pip couldn't either. Three bullets sounded like more than any one human could survive, although Matt knew some had.

  They drove to the hospital in anguished silence, and he parked the car in one of the slots for emergency vehicles, and then he and Pip ran inside. Jeff, Bob, and Millie saw them as soon as they came through the door and knew instantly who they were, or at least the child. She looked just like her mother except for the red hair.

  “Pip?” Bob approached her and patted her shoulder. “I'm Bob.”

  “I know.” Pip recognized him from her mother's description, and the others. “Where's my mom?” she asked, looking nervous, but remarkably composed. Matt introduced himself to them with an angry frown. He couldn't blame them for what she'd been doing, she had chosen to do it, but he was angry anyway.

  “They're taking the bullets out now,” Millie explained.

  “How is she?” Matt asked, looking straight at Jeff, sensing that he was in charge.

  “We don't know. They haven't told us a word since she came in.” They all stood there for what seemed like hours, and finally sat down.

  Bob went to get coffee, and Millie held Pip's hand, as she clung to Matt's with her other one. They sat in silence, there was nothing anyone could say, to excuse, or explain, or comfort. None of them had much hope, including Pip, and no one wanted to lie to her. The likelihood of Ophélie surviving was slim to none.

  “Did they catch the guy who shot her?” Matt finally asked.

  “No, but we got a good make on him. If they've got mug shots on him, we'll get him. I ran after him, but I couldn't catch him, and I didn't want to just leave her,” Jeff explained, and Matt nodded. And even if they caught him, what difference would it make if she was dead? None to him, or Pip. Nothing was going to bring her back if she died. But at least she wasn't dead yet.

  He went to the desk several times and asked them, but all they could tell him was that she was still in surgery. In the end, she was there for seven hours. But at the end of it, she was still alive.

  Jeff had called the Center by then, and reporters had called the desk, but fortunately no one had shown up yet. And at nine-thirty in the morning a surgeon finally came out to talk to them. Matt was terrified of what he would say, and so was Pip. He hadn't let go of her hand since they'd arrived, and whatever he did, he did with the other hand. She had a death grip on him, and he on her.

  “She's alive,” the surgeon said to reassure them. “We don't know what's going to happen yet. The first bullet went straight through her lung and out her back. The other one came out the back of her neck, and missed her spine. All things considered, she was pretty lucky, but she's not out of the woods yet. The third bullet took out an ovary and her appendix, and did some nasty damage to her stomach and her intestines. We've been working on that for the last four hours. She had four surgeons working on her. That's about as good as it gets around here.”

  “Can we see her?” Pip piped up in a voice that was barely more than a croak. She hadn't said a word all night, and the surgeon shook his head.

  “Not yet. She's in surgical ICU. But in a couple of hours, if her vitals are stable, you can come up. She's still unconscious from the anesthetic, but she should wake up in a few hours. She'll be pretty groggy, and we're going to keep her that way for now.”

  “Is she going to die?” Pip asked, squeezing Matt's hand so tight it felt like a vise, and he held his breath as the surgeon answered.

  “We hope not,” he said, looking straight at Pip. “She still could, she's very, very badly injured. But she survived the surgery and the trauma. She's pretty tough. And we're doing everything we can.”

  “Damn right,” Bob said, praying that she would.

  Pip sat down again then, and looked like a little wooden statue. She was not going anywhere, and neither were Matt and the others. They just sat there and waited, and at noon, a nurse said that they could go up to the ICU. It was a scary place, and the glass enclosure where Ophélie was, was filled with machines and monitors and lines running everywhere. Three people were monitoring her, and every inch of her seemed to be covered with needles and bandages and tubes. She looked deathly pale, and her eyes were closed as Matt and Pip walked into the room.

  “I love you, Mommy,” she said, standing at the foot of the bed, next to Matt, and he did everything he could to fight back tears so Pip wouldn't see it. He knew he needed to be strong for her, but all he wanted to do was reach out and touch Ophélie, as though to will life into her. They seemed to be doing everything they could for her. And the whole time they stood there, she never moved. They were just about to leave, when the nurse told them their time was up. She could have visitors for only five minutes every hour, and there were tears rolling down Pip's cheeks. She was terrified she was going to lose her mother too. And Ophélie was all she had left. Her mother was the only family she had in the world. And as though sensing her distress, Ophélie opened her eyes and looked straight at her, and then at Matt. And as though to encourage them, she smiled, and then closed her eyes again.

  “Mommy?” Pip spoke out in the tiny glass cubicle. “Can you hear me?” She nodded yes. The only thing that didn't hurt was her head. And there was an oxygen mask on her nose.

  “I love you, Pip,” she whispered, and then looked at Matt. The look that passed between them said that she knew what he would have said. It was the last thing she thought of as she went down, that he had been right, and then everything went black. And now he was standing there, and she was afraid he was mad at her. She was glad he was with Pip, and wondered how that had happened. Pip must have called him. “Hi, Matt,” Ophélie said, and then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again. They were both cryin
g when they left, but they were tears of relief as much as distress. She looked as though she might make it, but they both knew that was not yet sure.

  “How is she?” the others asked as soon as they came back. They had been waiting anxiously in the ICU waiting room, and were worried sick when they saw Pip and Matt in tears. They were afraid she had died while they were in the room.

  “She talked to us,” Pip said, and wiped her eyes.

  “She did?” Bob looked shocked and thrilled. “What did she say?”

  “That she loves me.” Pip looked pleased. But it was clear to all of them, even Pip, what a long, delicate treacherous haul it would be. She was by no means out of the woods.

  The others went back to the Center that afternoon, but promised to come back that night, while they were on their route. They had to get home and get a few hours' sleep. And there was a meeting planned at the Center, to discuss the safety issues of the outreach team. This had been a shock for everyone. And Bob and Jeff had already said that from then on they were going to be carrying guns, since they all still had permits to do so, and Millie agreed. There was a major question now as to whether the outreach team was an appropriate placement for volunteers. It was obvious to everyone that it wasn't. But too late for Ophélie.

  Matt stayed at the hospital with Pip all afternoon, and they saw Ophélie again twice. The first time she was sleeping, and the second she appeared to be in pain. And as soon as they left, they gave her morphine. He tried to talk Pip into going home for an hour then, to rest and clean up and get something to eat. And after they'd given her mother the shot to make her sleep, she finally agreed, although reluctantly. He went back to the house with her, and Mousse greeted them. And then Matt went to make scrambled eggs and toast for them. There were two messages on the machine from Pip's school, expressing their concern for her. Alice had apparently called them that morning before she left, and she had left a note on the kitchen table, telling Pip to call if she needed anything. And she had left another note saying she had come back to walk Mousse that afternoon.

  Matt took him for a walk before they ate, and then he and Pip sat at the kitchen table, looking like shipwreck survivors. Pip was so exhausted she could hardly eat, and Matt couldn't eat either.

  “Do you think we should go back yet?” she asked nervously. She didn't want anything to happen, good or bad, while she was gone, and she was like a cat on a hot stove, waiting for him to finish.

  “How about a shower before we go back, for both of us?” he asked patiently. They both looked a mess. Not to mention the fact that they both needed sleep. They'd have to get some eventually, and he tried to talk Pip into a nap at least before they went back.

  “I'm not tired,” she said valiantly, and he didn't push her. They agreed to shower and clean up, and then Pip wanted to go back to the hospital for the night. He didn't argue with her. He wanted to be there too. He drove her back, after he walked Mousse again, and they settled onto the couch together in the ICU waiting room.

  The nurse told them that their friends had come by to check on Ophélie, but she'd been asleep, and she was again. When Matt checked she was still in critical condition. And as soon as Pip sat down on the couch in the waiting room, she fell sound asleep, and he was relieved. He sat watching her, wondering what would happen to her if Ophélie died. He couldn't bear to think of it, but it was a possibility. If they let him, he would bring Pip to live with him, or take an apartment in the city. His mind was whirling with ugly possibilities, when the nurse came to get him at two A.M. She looked serious, and Matt panicked the minute he saw her.

  “Your wife wants to see you,” she said quietly, and he didn't correct her. He just set Pip's hand down gently and followed the nurse into the ICU. Ophélie was awake and she looked anxious to see him. She beckoned him to come close to her, and he was terrified she was having a premonition of worse to come, and as soon as he bent next to her, and touched her cheek gently, she started to talk to Matt in a whisper. It was obviously hard for her to breathe.

  “I'm so sorry, Matt… you were right… I'm so sorry… will you take care of Pip?” It was what he had feared. She was afraid she was dying, and wanted him to make some arrangement for Pip. He knew she had very little family, except distant cousins in Paris. There was no one to take her but him.

  “You know I will… Ophélie, I love you… don't go anywhere, sweetheart… stay here with us…we both need you… you have to get well …” He was pleading with her.

  “I will,” she promised, and then drifted off to sleep as the nurse signaled to him to leave.

  “How is she?” he asked the nurse at the desk as he left. “Has anything changed?”

  “She's holding her own,” the nurse reassured him. She was impressed that he and the child had been there all day and night. Things like that made a difference, and it always surprised her how many people didn't bother. But Pip and Matt had hardly moved, except for their brief trip home for less than two hours. And in the morning, when the shifts changed, they were still there. But Ophélie seemed a little better.

  He took Pip home again, and told her he either had to buy some clothes or drive home to get his own. They discussed it over breakfast, and decided to stop at Macy's on the way back to pick up some things for him. It was obvious that Pip didn't want him to leave, so he didn't.

  He finally got a minute to call Robert and tell him that morning, and made an arrangement with Alice to walk the dog regularly. He called Pip's school, and they assured him that she didn't need to come in. They were very sympathetic and hoped that Mrs. Mackenzie would be better soon. There had been several distressed calls from the Wexler Center, but he had no desire whatsoever to talk to them, and didn't.

  And after a brief stop at Macy's, they went back to the hospital, and took up their vigil again at the ICU. And finally, by that night, Ophélie looked a little better. Bob, Jeff, and Millie had come by to see her, and noticed it too. And after they left, he was tucking Pip in with a warm blanket a nurse had given them, when she looked up at him from the couch.

  “I love you, Matt.”

  “I love you too, Pip,” he said quietly. He had bought enough clothes and underwear to keep him going for a week. Sooner or later, he'd have to go back to the beach, but he was planning to stay in the city with Pip for as long as he was needed. It didn't look like he'd be going home anytime soon.

  “Do you love my mom too?” She'd never been exactly sure of what had gone on between them. They were both extremely discreet about it.

  “Yes, I do.” He smiled down at her, and she smiled at him.

  “Will you marry her when she gets better?” He liked the fact that she had said when and not if. He wanted to think of it that way too. “She needs you, Matt. And I need you too.” It almost made him cry listening to her, and he wasn't sure what to say to her. Before she'd been shot, Ophélie had been by no means sure of how she felt about him, or what she wanted to do about it, although he was totally sure of how he felt about her.

  “I'd like to, Pip,” he said honestly. “I think we'd have to ask her, don't you?”

  “I think she loves you too. She's just scared. My dad wasn't always so nice to her. He shouted a lot, mostly about Chad. Chad was pretty sick, and he did some pretty bad things, like try to kill himself. And my dad didn't think he was sick, so he shouted at my mom, and thought she was weird.” It was a fairly accurate account of what had happened, from what Matt knew too, although Pip had expressed it in her own terms. “I think maybe she's scared you might be mean to her too, although you've never been mean to us, but maybe she's afraid you would be if she married you. My dad was really grumpy and really smart, and maybe he wasn't as nice to her as he should have been… and she could be worried that you might die, because she really loved him, even though he was grumpy and mean and he never talked to us much. He was always busy, but I think he loved us anyway… do you think you could tell her that you'll be nice to us, and then she'll say yes. What do you think?” He didn't know w
hether to laugh or cry as he listened to her, and he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead instead.

  “I think if she doesn't marry me, I should marry you. You make a lot of sense, Pip. That's what I think.”

  She guffawed as she lay on the couch in the deserted waiting room. They were the only people there again that night, and she grinned at him. “You're too old for me, Matt, but you're pretty cute, for an old guy… like a father, I mean.”

  “You're pretty cute too.”

  “Will you ask her?” Pip looked anxious again. She had a lot on her mind.

  “I'll do my best. I think we should wait till she feels better though, don't you?”

  Pip thought about it, and then frowned at him. “I don't think you should wait too long. And it might make her feel better if you ask her to marry you. What do you think? It might help her feel a lot better, and give her something to look forward to.”

  “It's a thought.” Or it might scare her to death. He knew there was that possibility, better than Pip. He remembered only too well the night in Tahoe when she had been too afraid to make love to him. Marriage may not have been the solution Pip hoped it would be. But as she did, he wished it would. She drifted off to sleep then, pleased about having spoken to him, and he sat there for a long time, watching her with a quiet smile.

  He went to call Robert again then, he had promised he would, and reported what was happening. He had offered to come in from Stanford that morning. But Matt explained that Robert couldn't see her anyway, so he said he would call him to let him know how she was. And Robert was immensely relieved to hear from his father that at least she was still alive. He had been shocked when he first heard the news.

  Ophélie's shooting was all over the eleven o'clock news that night. But the hospital had kept reporters away. And they reported with somber faces on the news that the volunteer from the Wexler Center who'd been shot was still in critical condition at San Francisco General, but still alive.

  Jeff showed up at midnight then, to tell Matt the shooter had been caught. They spoke in whispers as Pip slept, and Jeff was pleased to be able to report that to him. He and the others had gone to the police station and identified mug shots of him. And he'd been apprehended completing a drug transaction only three blocks from Jesse, the alley where she'd been shot. The suspect still had the gun on him. They were going to try to identify him in a lineup the next day, but there was no question about who he was. And he was going to be sent away for a long time. He had a criminal record an arm long. So far, it was all good news. Except for her. Her life still hung in the balance and it was early days yet.