Whether it was relief from the stress, the pressure, or the worry, Aidan didn’t know, but she got up, and uncharacteristically hugged Mary tight.
“Thank you!”
Vicky laughed, and Mary blushed, “You’re very welcome.”
“Mary, I very much appreciate your offer, but I can’t have you stay behind. Not if it isn’t safe.”
“Ma’am, with all due respect, that’s not your decision to make.”
Aidan happily intervened, “It’s okay, baby, we’re safe. The bombs have been disabled.”
Vicky exhaled quietly, “Oh, thank God. Well then, I also thank you, Mary.”
Mary was very much relieved as well. She was staying out of loyalty to Vicky, and faith in her nurses’ oath. But the thought of the hospital blowing up, at any minute, was foremost in her mind. Though she had rationalized that if Vicky was still here, it had to be safe.
“I’ll go get the gentlemen in charge, and be right back.”
As Mary left the room, Aidan leaned over the bedrail, and kissed her lover with trembling lips. Vicky put her hand to Aidan’s cheek, and reciprocated with as much love as she could project.
The door had been left opened, so Paul walked in, and blushed at the sight of the two women kissing. “Ahem…,”
“Paul, come in. Tell me what’s happening with my hospital.”
Paul, two men, and Yvonne, entered the room.
“Ms. Montgomery, good to see you awake.” Paul greeted her honestly, then made the introductions, “This is Fred Patch. He’s with Homeland Security, taking over for Tom Bradshah, while he recuperates. And this is Leonard Greene, he’s with the FBI.” Paul stepped aside, and Patch stepped up.
Vicky smiled sweetly at him, and asked, pointedly, “When can we get back to work?”
He was taken aback by her question, and looked at her with confusion. “We’re still sweeping the hospital for more explosives. It will take a few more hours at least, just for that, ma’am.”
Greene added, “And the FBI needs to interview every employee, patient, and passerby that was present during the bombing.”
“And, ma’am,” it was Paul’s turn to speak again, “The explosives under this building, will not be removed until later today. Plus the rubble needs to be cleaned up, and‒‒”
“Rubble? Was there physical damage to the building?”
He realized that she was still unaware of the explosion in the education building, so he proceeded to give her a full incident report. She gasped several times, as he gave complete details on the explosion, the destruction, and finally the deaths.
“Oh, God,” she mourned, “so many dead, so many family members grieving, right now. And for what?”
Paul had been on duty for over twenty‒four hours straight. His adrenalin was keeping his exhaustion at bay, but his anger could no longer be contained. “For a bunch of damn radicals hell bent on destroying our way of life, that’s what!”
Vicky didn’t hear him. Her own anger had melted into tears.
Seeing her lovers tears, Aidan was driven to protect her, “Everyone out, now.”
They started to leave, when Vicky stopped them, “No wait, I’m all right, Aidan.” She regained control of her emotions, and looked up into Aidan’s anxious eyes, “I’m all right, sweetheart.” Aidan reluctantly nodded at her, and stepped aside.
“Paul, Yvonne, first let me say, how very much I appreciate your help in all this, thank you. And now I must ask for your continued support, because I am not leaving this hospital. My nurse has agreed to stay with me. I should be up and about by tomorrow, or the next day, at the latest.”
“How can we help?” Yvonne asked.
“Please, call the board, and the Leadership team, immediately. Tell them to stay away, until the all clear is officially given. Except for Jack, I need to see him.”
“Most of the Leadership team is already here, Vicky. They started coming in, as soon as security sent out the alert.”
Vicky found comfort in that, “I’m not a bit surprised. Okay, ask them to assess the damage to their units, and give me a full report on where each patient was transferred to. I want them to call their employees and assure them we will reopen, as soon as possible. And I need to speak with Jack. Will you please ask him to come up?”
“Well, he’s the only one that I haven’t seen yet,” Yvonne replied, suppressing her sarcasm.
Aidan noticed the puzzled look on Vicky’s face. I wonder what that’s about.
“Okay,” Vicky put her skepticism aside for the moment, “call him, and get him in here, please. He will be doing the interviews with the press, so let’s set something up outside, at the front entrance. Rent what equipment we may need. Paul, I don’t want any reporters inside this building. Understood?”
Paul stood erect, and replied, “Understood, ma’am.”
“Aidan…”
Aidan snapped to attention, and with a devilish grin said, “Cassidy, reporting for duty, ma’am.”
Vicky laughed, until the pain shot across her chest. “Oh,” she grabbed her ribs, “Don’t make me laugh. Aidan, would you mind setting me up with a laptop to the network, also a phone that’s on the network, and find my cell phone for me, please?”
“Sure, no problem,” Aidan noticed that Vicky was growing tired again, fighting to stave off the sleep her body was craving.
“Yvonne, I need to call the families of our employees that were killed. Could you get their numbers for me, please?”
Yvonne nodded her head. Before Vicky could speak again, Aidan spoke up.
“Okay kid, that’s it for you. We’ve got our marching orders. You get some sleep, and we’ll report back later.” It wasn’t so much a statement, as an order.
Vicky looked at her, and considered objecting. Instead, she nodded her head, “Thanks everyone.” All but Aidan filed out of the room.
“I know I’m forgetting something, Aidan.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll come to you later. Just get some sleep now, or do I need to push that happy pill button?” She indicated the morphine drip, used for self-medicating when the pain was too much to bear.
“No, please don’t, I hate that stuff.” Vicky knew that she would not be fully in control, if she use the pain killer, and she had to be alert, in case of another emergency.
“You need to sleep, baby.” Aidan thought for a moment and came up with an idea. She walked to the end of Vicky’s bed and pulled the cover’s back. Then, breathing on her fingers to warm them up, Aidan began to rub the soles of Vicky’s feet.
“Oh… that feels so good,” she slurred. Minutes later, Vicky nodded off, much to Aidan’s gratification.
*
On her way to Vicky’s office, Aidan saw FBI Agent Greene, talking to Paul, in the empty hallway. She joined them, as Paul was explaining that only a handful of people would have access to the dungeon, because it required a master key.
“I need a list of everyone who has access to both areas, where the bombs were planted.” Greene requested.
Aidan asked, “You think an employee is involved?”
“Yes, I think it’s an inside job. Somebody with a key had to let them in.”
“Okay, I keep a list of employees, their badge number, and the number on the key they were issued,” Paul stated, “I’ll get you a printed copy, as soon as I get back to my office.”
“How easy is it to duplicate this key?”
“It’s a regular key, so if someone wanted to, they could easily have it copied. But only my Security Officers, and the Leadership team are authorized to have the key. I doubt it’s any of them.”
Agent Greene shook his head, “Until we can determine who the person, or persons, may be, everyone on your list is a suspect.”
“I guess that makes me a suspect, then, because I’m on that list.”
Aidan joined in, “I’m on there, too.”
*
Almost two hours later, Vicky awoke to find a laptop and telephone, already set up, and
her cell phone, on the bedside table. She smiled at all the equipment waiting for her, and looked at Aidan, asleep in the chair across the room. God I love her so much, she thought, as she punched the button to raise her bed into a sitting position. She picked up the cell phone, time to call the board, and whispered into the phone, so as not to waken Aidan, “Sam, its Vicky...”
Sam! Sam, it’s Aidan, where are you?! Sam! Oh God, where are you?! Has anyone seen Sam? I have to find her! Aidan woke up with a jolt, and looked around. She saw that Vicky was talking on the phone, so she rubbed the back of her head and repositioned herself in the chair. What the hell was that about? She tried to hold on to the fading memory of the dream, but it slipped away, when the conversation in the room interrupted her thoughts.
“Yvonne, it’s Vicky. Is Jack here yet?”
Yvonne answered, “No ma’am, not yet.”
“He’s not here?” She didn’t even try to hide her frustration, “Okay, well, send him up when he gets here, and will you come up as well, please? I’m ready to make those calls now.”
“I’ll be right there,” Yvonne hung up the phone, thinking that Jack was an idiot. You don’t keep the boss waiting, especially in a crisis like this one.
Vicky looked over at Aidan, “Thank you for the toys, honey.”
“No problem. So, Jack still isn’t here yet?”
“No, apparently not. I wonder what could be more important than this hospital?”
Aidan was thinking the same thing. Seems unusual, for the administrator of a hospital that just had a bomb explode in it, not to be here. In the back of her mind, she made a mental note to learn more about Jack.
“Maybe I should just have the news media come to my room. I could talk to them all right here.”
“No way, kid. What’s plan C?” Aidan looked at her seriously and Vicky knew she was probably right. But the public needed to be told that the hospital was still here, and the patients were all safe.
Yvonne tapped on the door, “Vicky, Jack’s here, may we come in?”
Jack Owens over saw the day to day business of running the hospital, where as Vicky oversaw the entire health system, which included four hospitals and thirty‒nine clinics. Jack had only been with the hospital a little over five months, and he was already a thorn in Vicky’s side.
“Jack, this is Aidan Cassidy, she will be my proxy while I’m recuperating,”
“Your proxy, ma’am?” Jack asked, a bit confused. He had thought that would be his role, while she was laid up.
“Yes, she will speak for me,” she stated, in no uncertain terms. “If you need something, and I’m not available, ask her.”
Yvonne was surprised by her declaration. It was unprecedented. Was she doing this because she was in love, or because it was best for the health system, right now? Contemplating the reasons, Yvonne realized that it must be because Vicky didn’t think Jack could handle the crisis. Can’t say that I blame her.
He turned to Aidan, and held out his hand, “Ms. Cassidy.”
Aidan observed how limp and sweaty his handshake was. Most business people have a firm, ready to make a deal, type of handshake. There’s just something about this guy that I don’t like.
“Jack, I’d like you to handle the press. I’m sure they are beating down our doors, by now. I’ll write a prepared statement, all I need you to do is read it to them. Don’t answer questions, don’t stray from the statement. Understood?” Vicky’s tone was razor sharp, “I will tell them that we should be back up and running before the end of the week.”
“That’s rather fast, don’t you think, Victoria?”
“No, in fact, I don’t think it’s fast enough. I think that just as soon as the authorities clear us, we need to open up the patient floors again. I understand that we have a lot to do, before the education building can reopen, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t get back to patient care. Do you?”
“Uh, no I guess not,” Jack whined.
“Damn straight,” Vicky declared, “No terrorist is going to distract St. Frances from its mission and values. Not while I have breath left in me.”
Aidan knew that Vicky meant exactly what she said. It was as if Vicky and the hospital were one. Different, yet connected in every way.
Jack conceded, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Please make sure that the FBI are accommodated, and that they are with you, when you read my statement to the press. I should have it for you, in about twenty minutes. Let them answer any questions asked. Until then, keep me informed hourly, please.”
He nodded, pulled out his cell phone and started making calls, as he hurried from her room.
“Your proxy?” Aidan asked, with a sheepish grin.
“Oh, sorry honey, he pissed me off, so I just kind of blurted it out. But I meant it. You can speak for me, anytime. Just don’t sell the hospital, while I’m still in it, okay?” Vicky grinned, and Aidan and Yvonne laughed. After all she’s been through and she still has her sense of humor.
Vicky looked at Yvonne, who handed her the list of family members to call, “Thanks, Yvonne,” but before she could continue, Aidan interrupted them.
“Yvonne, did Jack say why he was so late?”
“Yes, he said something about, he thought the building had fallen down.”
“Idiot!” Vicky and Aidan said in chorus. Yvonne laughingly agreed.
“Okay, take this down for me, please, Yvonne…”
Aidan sat in the corner and listened, as Vicky spoke from her heart about the legacy of the hospital, the commitment and determination of its employees to care for its patients, mind, body and soul. She marveled at Vicky’s sparkling eyes, as she spoke, and wondered jovially, whether Vicky loved this hospital more than she did her.
“Thanks, Yvonne. Get that typed up for Jack, and make copies for the media, please. And ask Paul to start reporting to me every hour. I don’t want to miss anything that’s going on. Thank you.”
As Yvonne walked out the door, Vicky picked up her phone and began dialing, “Mr. Waters, this is Victoria Montgomery at St. Frances Hospital, I wanted to offer my condolences,” Vicky choked back the tears, “your wife, Julie, was a wonderful person…”
Remembering that she had forgotten to call Joyce, Aidan followed Yvonne into the hallway.
“Joyce, we haven’t officially met yet, but I’m Aidan Cassidy, Vicky’s uh, well, her partner.”
“Aidan! I just saw it on the news. What happened? Is Vicky all right?”
“Yes, she’s okay. She got shot in the chest and had to have surgery, but she’s already up and running the show again.”
“Why didn’t you call me!”
Aidan could tell, that wasn’t a question, it was an accusation. “I’m sorry Joyce, but there just wasn’t time. They had to operate, right away.”
“I understand, Aidan. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was just scare, you know?”
“I absolutely know, Joyce.”
“I’ll bet you do. Listen, I’ll catch the first flight down there.”
“That would be good. I’d feel better if you checked on Vicky, personally. Uh, can I ask you something first, though?”
“Sure, what is it?”
She imagined that Vicky told Joyce everything, so she hoped she would know about the baby, “Did you know…, I mean did Vicky tell you that she was…, I mean…,” Aidan was at a loss, as how to ask the question, from someone she had never met.
“Do I know she is pregnant?”
“Was, was pregnant. She lost the baby,” Aidan fought off the growing pressure to let the tears flow. She hated crying, and had already exceeded her quota for the month.
“Oh no, dear God,” she could hear the fear in Joyce’s voice, “Does she know?”
“No, not yet, I haven’t been able to tell her. Joyce, how…?” Again she searched for the right words, afraid of what the answer might be.
“Artificial insemination. A couple of weeks before you arrived. She said her clock was ticking, and
she was tired of ignoring it.” Joyce remembered how proud she was of Vicky, for so bravely making that decision, despite the controversy, they both knew it would cause. Joyce believed that a woman’s body was her own, to do with it what she wanted, and no religion, or under‒educated, elected buffoon, was going to dictate otherwise.
“But how, I mean, I know how, but she’s Catholic. Isn’t that against her religion, or something?”
“I don’t know much about her religion, but yeah, it probably is. Nevertheless, you know Vicky, if she set’s her mind to something, nothing will stop her. Listen, it was good to meet you over the phone, but I’m going to jump on the first flight out, and will be there this afternoon. Please, tell her I love her.”
“Will do, Joyce,” She hung up the phone, just as Paul came off the elevator.
“Here’s your prescription, Aidan,” he held out the prescription the surgeon had given him, earlier in the day.
“Uh, yeah, thanks,” Aidan crumbled it up and stuffed it in her pocket, “Paul, would you please,see that Ms. Montgomery is not disturbed, for the next hour. No one comes near her room, until I say it’s okay.”
“No problem, Aidan, I’ll take care of it, personally. Anything I can help with?” Paul trusted Aidan. If there was anything he could do to help her, he would do it. Even follow her directions, related to his own job. It was the least he could do, given all she had done, for all of them. Plus, he had already run into Yvonne, and she had told him about the exchange with Jack.
“No, thank you, this is something I have to do alone.” She went back into Vicky’s room, closed the door, and waited for her to finish with her calls.
“I promise, Joyce, I’m all right. Aidan is taking good care of me,” Vicky winked at Aidan, “No, I don’t want you to come down. It’s a crazy mess right now, and I wouldn’t have any time to visit with you.”
Aidan was nervous, so she tried to distract herself by pouring a glass of water for Vicky. Then she poured one herself, and downed it in one gulp. Her mouth was still dry.
I Remember You Page 25