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............Part
16.......,
"Roy! Detain her!" Brice barked, jerking his head towards the almost catatonic nurse who stood in the elevator.
Johnny slumped in the wheelchair, obviously unconscious and very pale.
In a heartbeat, Roy decided to obey now and ask questions later. He stepped forward and took Alica in a firm grip as Dr. Brackett hurried forward. The doctor knelt by the wheelchair and quickly assessed his patient. He rose. "Let's get him up to Surgery, stat!" he commanded the nurse and orderly that hurried up the hall in his wake.
As they wheeled Johnny away at a fast clip, Dr. Brackett followed, pausing only to jerk his thumb at the paramedics and nurse still standing by the freight elevator. "Deal with that," he ordered the arriving security guard.
The man nodded, and sternly confronted the paramedics who held a trembling young nurse pinioned between them. "What's going on here?"
****
By the time the interrogation by the guard was over, Roy was shaken by his partner's near miss. And he's not out of danger, yet, he remembered, involuntarily glancing up towards the direction of the Surgical suites. Johnny, you have to pull through this! As soon as that thought passed through his mind, all the suspicions and jealousy of the past day welled up afresh. Roy took a deep breath. It was time for answers, past time. He strode down the hall towards his wife's room. He pushed open the door, and it was only the pneumatic catch that kept it from banging against the wall. "Joanne, wake up!" he snapped brusquely.
Jo jerked, startled, and turned towards his voice, her burned and battered body screaming protest. "Roy! What's wrong?"
He stood with his arms tight across his chest, fury radiating from him like a fire's heat. "What's going on between you and Johnny?"
The question made no sense to her, but his anger was obvious. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she quavered.
"Don't play stupid, Joanne!" he snapped, "I want the truth, and I want it now! How long have you and Johnny been having this affair?"
She gasped as his words sank in. She drew back a bit from him, feeling all the blood in her throbbing face drain away. As her mind dealt with what he said, she had the conflicting urges to burst out laughing, and to scream at him in offended fury. Fury won. "Royce Christopher DeSoto! That is the most.... ridiculous, INSULTING thing I have ever heard in my life!" she burst out, in a near shout. "Never ONCE have I even considered being unfaithful to you, the entire ten years we've been married! And to have you charge in here and accuse me of it now, and with JOHNNY GAGE of all people!!!"
Strengthened by her rage, she pulled herself upright with the bedrail, glaring at her husband with hurt and betrayal, "I can't believe you would ever even think me OR him capable of such a despicable thing! What the hell has put this crazy idea into your head?"
****
Chet smiled broadly, captivated by her warm brown eyes and not believing his luck. "How about tonight?"
"That would be perfect!" she answered with equal warmth. "I get off at six."
"Would you like me to pick you up here?" he asked, eager not to lose a minute with this woman.
Carol shook her head, "No, I'd rather you come to my place, about seven?"
At Chet's nod, she took a pad and pen out of her pocket and wrote down her address and phone number in a flowing hand. "I'm looking forward to it already," she murmured, as she slipped the piece of paper in his shirt pocket and brushed a kiss across his cheek.
"Carol Davenport, Treatment Three!" the intercom interrupted.
"See you at seven, Chet!" she smiled as she hurried away.
"And not a second late," he promised under his breath, and strolled out of the ER, a very happy man.
****
The next day....
Hank reached out and snagged Dixie on her fourth rapid passage through the living room. He pulled her onto the couch beside him. "Dix, you've been keyed up and haven't said three words to me all day. Is it something I've done?"
"No..." she half-moaned, then quavered "Yes..." in a strangely choked voice.
"What? What have I done?" he asked softly as he pulled her onto his lap.
He was startled by the painful impact of her fist against his chest. "You've made me an aged primigravidae, you big jerk!" she sobbed.
Hank blinked several times, as the meaning of her outcry sank in. Stunned beyond speech, he stared into her face for a long moment, then hugged her closer and began to laugh. "I clearly remember getting some enthusiastic cooperation in that little project!"
"This isn't funny!" she wailed. "Oh, Hank, what are we going to do?"
He kissed her, and brushed the tears from her cheeks. "We're going to do what every couple has done from the beginning of time. Wait... and argue over names."
She gave a small chuckle, inspite of herself, then sobered again. "Hank, you know it isn't that simple. People still think you're married to Joyce..."
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