by Judith Lucci
As the door creaked open and a shaft of light appeared from the overhead light, Weston felt fear for the first time in his life.
Facing him in the room was the drug crazed, raging face of Anthony Gavette.
Weston was frozen in place.
Anthony stared at him and said quietly, "I've been waiting for you, you slimy bastard. You took my Rose!" Then Anthony lunged at Whitset, knocking him to the floor.
Chapter 35
The rape treatment at Gulfport Memorial had been just as awful as Alex had expected. It was the most humiliating experience she had ever endured. Even though the physician had been kind, she thought she heard some joking outside her cubicle. Nadine's quiet reprimand had convinced her she was correct.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she was discharged. The ride back to New Orleans was quiet, both women deep in thought. Finally, Alex asked, "When will I know? When will they tell me if I've been raped?"
"The physician told me he would run the labs himself. He said he would get back to me this afternoon." Nadine glanced over at Alex, aware that she was depressed.
"That long? Why so long?" Alex's voice sounded pitiful.
"They do a lot of testing, Alex. You know that. Try to get some sleep now." Nadine's voice was chiding. She was getting pretty tired, too.
"I just want a shower and something to eat. Then, I want to go to CCMC and check on Monique. I'm really worried about her." Alex's voice faltered as her eyes filled with tears for her friend.
Nadine nodded. "Yes, I talked with Robert. He's also very concerned. Monique's still in surgery. They are doing a craniotomy. She has a depressed skull fracture."
"Did she regain consciousness before the surgery?" Alex was afraid to hear the response.
"No, she didn't. She was completely unresponsive. Robert's also in surgery. Said he was hopeful that once they relieve the pressure in her head, she might regain consciousness, maybe even come back full force." Nadine reached for Alex's hand and pressed it. "You know how these things go, Alex. It could be either way." Her voice was sympathetic. The look she gave Alex was understanding.
Alex flinched as she remembered the sound of Whitset's lead pipe splitting Monique's skull. She would never forget the sound it had made, not as long as she lived. She shuddered to herself and cried silent tears for her friend.
"It's so unfair, Nadine. Monique and Jack had just found each other. They're in love. Did you know that?"
Nadine jerked her head and stared at Alex. Her eyes were closed, her head laid back against the seat. Hell no, she didn't know that. She said softly, “No, Alex, I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me."
Alex made no response until Nadine awoke her in front of her house. Nadine made them both a sandwich, while Alex showered and dressed. It was afternoon. Then, they left for CCMC.
Chapter 36
Don Montgomery was pacing furiously back and forth in his office. Elizabeth Tippett and Josh Martin were sitting at a small conference table. In front of them was the morning edition of the Times Picayune. The lead story on the front page outlined the tragic attack on Angie Richelieu and the death of Mrs. Smithson.
Elizabeth finally spoke, "Don, for heaven sakes, sit down. Your pacing is driving me nuts. Stop it!"
Montgomery turned on her. "Tippett, what the hell is going on here? Tell me again! Are you sure Whitset is responsible for the attacks on Alex and Monique Desmonde?"
Elizabeth sighed and turned to Josh Martin and back to Don. "Yes, absolutely. Officer Martin was there! What other proof do you need? He interrupted the attack on Alex. Monique was already unconscious. Whitset is definitely responsible. Can't you get that through your head?" Elizabeth was tired, worried about Alex and Monique, and sick of Don.
Don sat down and glared at Josh Martin. "Where in the hell is Commander Françoise? That useless bastard should be here helping us clean this shit up!"
Josh bristled at Montgomery's reference to the Commander. Jack was his hero and he worshiped the ground he walked on. He was short on energy, patience, and time. He mustered up some self-control and said in a derogatory voice, "Mr. Montgomery, Commander Françoise is out searching for Whitset now. There's a citywide manhunt for your administrator. I'm leaving here now to meet up with him, if I can find him."
"No need. I'm here, Josh. No need to hunt." The three of them looked towards the doorway of Montgomery's office and stared at the exhausted Jack Françoise. Jack was so grey with fatigue and anxiety that he appeared to be an apparition. Jack touched Elizabeth's shoulder and sat down.
Officer Martin rose in deference to his commanding officer. "Commander, can I get you anything?"
Jack shook his head negatively and addressed Montgomery. "Is Alex here yet?"
Montgomery stared at the Commander and said, "Hell, no! I heard she'd been attacked by Whitset. Is it true?"
Françoise nodded. "Yeah, Whitset attacked Alex and Dr. Desmonde. I understand she's still in surgery. Anyone check on her?" Jack looked at all of them dismally.
Elizabeth answered, "Yeah. I called up about an hour ago. She was still in surgery. They said it would be several more hours. They're doing a craniotomy, Commander. She has a severe skull fracture. Why not come with me to my office and I'll call again." Elizabeth stood alongside Josh, and the three of them left a speechless Don Montgomery in his plush executive office.
As the trio walked towards Elizabeth's office, Jack's cell rang. He looked at the number. It was Nadine's cell. He said, "I'll catch up. Let me talk to Nadine. I think she's with Alex.” He stopped and sat in the lobby, while Josh and Liz waited expectantly.
Jack returned and gestured with his hand. "Let's go to Alex's office. She and Nadine are over there.
Alex and Nadine were sitting at the conference table in Alex's office. As soon as Jack entered, Alex went over and hugged him. She could feel his silent tears as they embraced. Alex said softly, "Jack, we don't know anything yet. Let's be positive. Robert's up there, so you can be sure she's getting the best." She continued to hold Jack, feeling him shudder as he grouped for composure.
Finally, he let go and smiled at her. "You're looking pretty good, Miss Lawyer Lady. You do have a few bruises and a shiner. Everything else okay?"
"Yep, I'm doing okay. Promise. Nadine has been great. Can you get her a raise?" Alex winked at Nadine.
"I'll do my best." He looked at Josh and Nadine. "Can we talk privately?" He looked sideways at Elizabeth.
"I get the message, Commander. I've got to go clean up our image with the press anyway. You guys do good while I'm gone, okay?" Liz gave them all a big smile. She hugged Alex when she left and said, "We'll talk later, Al. I'm glad you're okay. You don't look too bad for a chick who has been up all night," Elizabeth joked, as she left them alone.
Alex smiled at her friend. "Yes, Liz. Later. I'm doing pretty okay. Say some prayers for Monique."
"I've been praying for you all since about 3 o'clock this morning. And by the way, you two owe me. I've been sitting with Don for hours, listening to him rant and rave. Steer clear of him if you can. He's a wild man again."
"Gotcha, Liz. Thanks," Alex said.
Elizabeth gave Officer Martin a special smile as she quietly closed the door of Alex's conference room.
Jack sat down wearily in a chair and said to the group, "I got the preliminary forensics on Angie. We ain't got zip. Nothing."
Alex gasped, "What? Nothing? How can that be?"
Nadine spoke quietly, "It's probably because so much time elapsed between the rape and the collection of the evidence. What about blood and hair samples, Jack? Are they conclusive?"
Jack's face brightened. Damn, he thought to himself. I really am in bad shape. I'm almost useless. He had forgotten about the evidence, except the rape forensics. "Hell, yeah, we got the hair and skin. We even got the damn bite mark. I can't wait to catch the little pervert." Jack, clearly in a brighter mood, rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Alex was still confused. She felt her heart
fluttering with fear. She looked at Nadine and said, "Nadine, why don't we have any ABO groupings? Surely, there should be something!"
Nadine understood Alex's fear. "I guess the specimens weren't collected soon enough to build a good case. Anyway, the genetic markers could only implicate Whitset if …."
She was interrupted by Commander Françoise, who said tersely, "Nadine, suppose the man's a non-secretor? Then we'll never be able to determine …." Jack's voice trailed off as he stared at Alex, whose face had flushed a bright red. She was staring at the conference table, unable to speak.
Nadine knew what they were thinking. If Whitset was a non-secretor, then Alex might not know if she had been physically raped or not. She'd never come to closure on the subject. Damn, Nadine thought. This just isn't fair.
"Alex," Nadine began, "We don't know anything yet .…"
Alex stood. She was in the greatest rage she could remember. "Shut up, Nadine! Shut up all of you! None of you know that humiliation, the ignominy, I just endured at that Podunk hospital. All of you just get out of my office!" She looked wildly at Josh, Nadine, and Jack. "I said to get the hell out of here, now!"
Jack was shocked. He'd never heard Alex curse like that before. He stood to try to comfort her. As he reached for her, she pushed him away, fighting back hot tears.
Nadine remained seated and looked up at Alex's tear streaked face. "Alex, I know exactly what you’ve been through. I've been through it myself. We'll leave now, but I'll be back here in one hour to see you."
Alex stared at them as they left her office. Then, she put her head down on her conference table and wept, crying for herself, Monique, Jack, and Robert. Her life would never be the same. She just knew it. There was no way it could be.
Commander Françoise, Nadine Wells, and Josh Martin reconvened in the hospital dining room, all of them staring tiredly into their coffee.
Finally, Jack said, "How bad was it in Gulfport?"
"It was as bad as always, Jack. Nothing different or unusual. It's just a demeaning experience for any woman, or man for that matter." Her voice was clear, but her eyes had a faraway look in them.
Jack cleared his throat, uncomfortable with what he was about to say. Finally, it came out. "Nadine, I didn't know that you had been .…"
Nadine interrupted him. "I know you didn't Jack. It's not something I've ever revealed during a case." She looked bluntly at Jack and Josh. "Make sure this goes no further."
"Of course not, Nadine. Your secret is safe with us. Right, Josh?"
Josh nodded his head affirmatively and said, "Right, Commander. Right, Ms. Wells. No one will ever know." Personally, Josh never wanted to piss off either the Commander or Ms. Wells. They were both pretty scary in their own right.
Chapter 37
Robert Bonnet was deeply troubled. As he stood in the shower in the O.R. suite, the warm water seemed to remind him only that he was still alive. He was numb all over. The rest of the world seemed cold to him, cold and unkind and out of sync.
Monique’s surgery had progressed well, but Robert was depressed by the extent of her head injury. The neurosurgeon, Dr. Van Hansen, wasn't hopeful for much of a recovery. In fact, early in the surgery, after assessing the extent of her injury, the buildup of intracranial fluid and its compression on the brain, he had recommended they close, take three EKG readings, and then make a decision. Robert had objected vehemently, even though the clinical picture looked grim.
At a later point, the neurosurgeon had pointedly questioned whether Monique should even have any plastic surgery, suggesting it was a waste of time and doubtful that Monique would ever even ask for a mirror if she ever regained consciousness.
Robert again objected angrily. A volley of harsh words had followed.
Robert really didn't like Van Hansen. He was lousy at the bedside and had the “Surgeon rude, superior personality”. But Robert knew he was also a great technical neurosurgeon. In the end, the plastic surgeon had come in and done a fairly good job of reconstructing Dr. Desmonde's face where Lester Whitset had tried to obliterate it. Of course, only time would really tell how good she would look, if she even lived.
Robert continued to chastise himself. Perhaps the neuro doc had been correct. Maybe he wasn't seeing Monique's injuries for what they were. Part of the time during the operation, he had found himself remembering their youth together. They had been great friends. They still were. Then, his thoughts returned to the "celebratory dinner" they had shared only two days before. Jack and Monique had been so happy that night. Oh, there had been a few tense moments, but Robert knew the two loved each other beyond belief. Now, he had to go tell Jack that things didn't look so good.
"Bonnet, wake up! Are you still in there? You're going to be a prune if you don't get out." Robert recognized the voice of one of the male O.R. techs. He opened the shower door and grabbed a towel.
"Yeah, I'm coming out. Give me a minute." Robert left the shower and was changing into clean scrubs when the tech approached him again.
"You okay, man? You look awful. You're all wrinkled." Tom Finney, the O.R. tech, looked him up and down. He smiled at Robert and gave him a look of encouragement. He studied the surgeon's face and said, "Listen man, you know how those damn brain guys are. They thrive on pessimism. They always predict the worst … not sure of this, not sure of that, and all that horseshit. Then, they look like Santa Claus or the tooth fairy when the patient wakes up and starts bitching about the nursing care. Brain surgeons practice more savior behavior than the rest of you. Don't let him get you down!" Tom slapped Robert on the back.
Robert smiled at the aging tech. He had known Tom for years, even before he was operating at CCMC. Tom had been a nursing assistant first and then an O.R. tech. He knew patients and he knew doctors. "Thanks, Tom. You're right. I'm really down about Dr. Desmonde."
"Listen, doc. If anyone can pull through a skull fracture, it's Monique Desmonde. She is a fighter, and she's a stubborn lady. Don't write her off. She'll come back, if only to prove her jackass surgeon wrong. Wait and see!" Tom gave Robert a big hug before rushing down the Hall. "Gotta go. See you, doc. Get some rest. You look like hell."
Robert waved at the spry tech and smiled. "Thanks Tom." He entered the physician's waiting room and called Alex's office. No answer. That concerned him. Then he called Jack's cell. Jack answered and agreed to meet him in the recovery waiting area.
Robert finished dressing and walked slowly into the recovery area. His injured arm was killing him. It was numb and felt like someone was sticking pins in it. He brushed the sensations off. It was just fatigue. It always got like that when he was tired. He checked on Monique in recovery and learned from the nurses that she was stable and had been transferred straight up to the neuro ICU. The room was empty except for Jack and Nadine, who were seated together on a couch, talking quietly.
Robert stood in the doorway. The pair hadn't seen him. Robert felt his eyes fill with tears as he saw the goodhearted, hard-nosed policeman. If he looked bad, then Jack looked ten times worse. The Commander was suffering. He looked old and tired. His body language spoke of complete misery and severe emotional pain. His face was, well, what was it? Robert had never seen the look that Jack had on his face. He continued staring at him from a distance, as his mind searched for a word that described how the Commander looked. Finally, it dawned on him. It was fear and Robert had never seen Jack truly frightened.
Jack's face was a mask of fear. The Commander was desperately afraid of what Robert Bonnet, his friend the surgeon, would tell them about Monique.
Robert approached Jack, who looked deep in thought, and gently tapped his shoulder. The Commander jumped at his touch. He looked at Robert anxiously. Robert sat on the coffee table opposite Jack and Nadine. Neither man spoke.
Nadine, fearing the worst, reached for Jack's hand.
If he were standing in front of a firing squad, Robert was sure Jack would not be as afraid as he was now.
"Hey, man. How are you?" Robert asked tentat
ively. The silence was endless. Françoise seemed afraid to ask, and Robert didn't want to talk. His mind was formulating the best way to tell Jack that all estimates to this point suggested that Monique would be a vegetable.
Jack's eyes implored Robert to tell him something good. Robert knew he couldn't ethically do that.
Finally, Robert said, "Jack, the surgery went well. Monique's in recovery." He paused for a moment, groping for the best words. "To be honest, Jack, the neurosurgeon isn't optimistic about her recovery. Her injury was extensive .…"
"And …." Jack asked in a small voice. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Robert would have laughed at Jack's voice.
"We don't know. The next 12 hours are critical. He put in a shunt to drain the fluid off of her brain." Robert watched as Jack’s shoulders sagged and then continued, "But, I'm hopeful that she'll regain consciousness .…"
Jack interrupted and said hoarsely, "I don't care if she never practices medicine again. I just want her to be able to be with me, to love me, to stay with me. I love her, Robert. I loved her as she was, and I'll love her for what she'll be. I don't care what she's like after this. I'm going to marry her and take care of her. Do you understand?"
"Of course I do, Jack. And, I'm going to pray that you get your wish. We'll all pray for that, won't we, Nadine?"
Nadine nodded and continued to hold Jack's hand. She asked Robert, "Dr. Bonnet, have you experience with patients like Dr. Desmonde?"
"Yes, I do. I'm not offering any false hopes. I never do. I simply want to say that medicine has been proven wrong many, many times. Monique may come out of this and do fairly well, great even. But, Jack, she'll never be exactly what she was, if she's anything at all. You must understand that."