Shot of Silence (Justice Again Book 3) by M Comley (best contemporary novels txt) 📗

she seemed settled enough. My wife looked in on her and discovered she had a fever and a rash. It was that quick,” AJ replied.

Katy was grateful AJ was here, her brain had turned to mush. Her baby was seriously ill, and here she was, numb and unsure what to ask for the best. She had the urge to run to be with Georgie, not to hang around listening to the doctor’s words which were coming out jumbled now.

“That’s often the case. At least you got her here swiftly. That’s imperative in cases such as this. Please, try not to worry.”

“What about her heart?” Katy muttered.

“I’m aware she has ongoing issues. We’ll monitor her every step of the way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get your daughter settled in ICU ASAP.”

“Of course. Thank you for giving us an update so quickly, Doctor.” AJ shook his hand.

The doctor left the room. AJ dropped into the chair next to Katy. They stared at each other, and then AJ touched his forehead against hers, and they cried together.

After a few minutes of feeling sorry for herself, Katy reached into her handbag and pulled out a tissue for each of them.

“It’s imperative we remain strong, Katy.”

Katy wiped her eyes and then her nose. “I know. It’s going to be so difficult. What if…?”

AJ wagged a finger. “Those words are not to be used, not this time. Shit, we’d better call our parents, they’ll be livid if they find out we’re here and we didn’t call them.”

“I can’t think about that for now. I need to be with her, AJ.”

“We’ll make our way up there in a few minutes. Let me make the calls first.”

“I’m not sure what I’d do if you weren’t here to support me.”

He touched her cheek. She sighed as more tears fell.

“Stay strong, Katy. We’ve got this, sweetheart. She’s in the best place, thanks to you.”

Katy frowned. “I’m not having that. We both did well getting her here.”

“Yeah, but if…”

She placed a finger on his lips to silence him. “Teamwork, nothing more and nothing less than that, AJ. Haven’t you got some calls to make? No, correction, you call your parents and I’ll ring mine.” A sudden inner strength came to the fore.

AJ smiled. “That’s my girl, welcome back.”

Katy went to the other side of the room and called her parents. Her mother shrieked the second she told her. “Mum, please, try to calm down. The doctor praised us for getting her here so quickly. She’s in the best place possible to make a recovery.”

“And will she? Recover? What sort of strain is this going to put on her heart?”

“We won’t know that for a few days. She’s safe for now, Mum. I just wanted to let you know.”

“Thank you for ringing me. Do you want me to come down there?”

“No, there’s no point. She’ll be in hospital for at least a couple of days, I should imagine, although that has yet to be confirmed.”

“All right. Ring me with regular updates, if you get the time.”

“I will, I promise. Love you, Mum.”

“We love you, too, dear. Give our little princess a gentle hug when you can. Stay strong, Katy. I’ll say an extra prayer for you all this evening.”

“It’ll be appreciated. Thanks, Mum.”

Katy ended the call and walked over to AJ who was rolling his eyes as he spoke to his parents. He put the phone on speaker. “Mother, you need to calm down. We’re responsible adults. Katy and I got Georgie here quickly, that’s going to make all the difference to how she responds to the treatment.”

“Can you guarantee that? Can the doctors? What about going private? We’ve got a policy, I’m sure it will cover you and your family. I can dig it out and have a look.”

“Mum, we’re in safe hands here. Thanks for the offer, but we’ve got this. I’m just calling you to give you an update on what’s happening.”

“I know you are. The offer is still on the table, should you need it.”

“Thanks. I’ve got to go, the doctor is here to speak to us,” he lied, just to get rid of her.

“Oh, very well. Keep me informed. I could be there within the hour, if you should want me, us.”

“Let’s see how things progress for now. There are only usually two visitors to a bed anyway.”

“I’m glad you’re together. Stay positive, and let me know daily if you can.”

“I will. Goodbye, Mother.”

AJ wrapped an arm around Katy’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “That’s the hard part done, now we can concentrate on our daughter.”

“I need to ring Roberts. Make him aware of the situation and that I won’t be able to work for a few days.”

“Let’s hold fire on that for now.”

They hugged again and drifted into the corridor, stopping a porter to ask the way to ICU. He dished out instructions, and they set off.

At the nurses’ station in ICU, one of the nurses gave them both gowns and masks to wear. Georgie was there already, behind a screen as they were setting up the equipment for her. The screen was removed around fifteen minutes later. Katy gasped. Her daughter was hooked up to several monitors, an IV drip, and she was wearing an oxygen mask.

The nurse who had given them the gowns placed an arm around her waist. “It looks worse than it is, I promise. Come on.”

Katy and AJ held hands and approached Georgie’s bed.

Katy’s eyes misted. She wiped the moisture away to clear her vision. “My poor baby.”

“Hush now, think positively, love,” AJ whispered and kissed the top of her head.

The nurse placed two chairs on the other side of the bed and motioned for them to sit down. “What about a drink? Can I get you a tea or coffee?”

Katy shook her head. “No, you have enough to do as it is, without running around after us.”

“Nonsense. It’s a one-time-only offer, we do it for all new arrivals. You’re on your own after