Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4 (52 page)

“
Oh my God,” Jill ran to
Sandy. She put her hands around Sandy’s head.

“
Our ice,” Jacob gave MJ a
white trash bag full of ice. MJ poured the ice into the bath. Jacob
shifted a sleeping Katy to his other hip. “We have an ice maker so
we’ll have more in about fifteen minutes. Should I go to
Walgreens?”

“
Go,” MJ said.

“
I’ll go with you,” Charlie
said.

Jacob nodded to Charlie. He laid Katy on the
bed next to Honey.

“
I’ve got her,” Honey
said.

“
Thanks,” Jacob said. Jacob
and Charlie ran out of the room.

“
Mama?” Jill
called.

Anjelika pressed into the crowded
bathroom.

“
Oh my God,” Anjelika
said.

“
Can you get her feet?”
Jill asked. “Sandy’s fever is high. The toxins from the appendix
are affecting the baby. She wants out.”

Anjelika reached into the cold water and
held Sandy’s ankles.

“
Mama?” Jill
asked.

“
We won’t be able to stop
the birth,” Anjelika said. “That baby either joins us or she
dies.”

“
They’ll both die,” Jill
said.

Jacob and Charlie ran in with two full bags
of ice. They poured them into the bath with Sandy.

“
Can you clear the room?”
Anjelika asked.

“
Out,” Aden
commanded.

Familiar with his no-nonsense tone, Noelle
and Nash retreated. Mike pushed past Aden into the bathroom. Sam
stood at the door. MJ shook his head at Sam. MJ gave one last look
at Sandy and left the room. When the door closed, Jill let go of
Sandy’s head.

“
We can’t fix everything,”
Jill said.

“
We don’t have the time,”
Anjelika said.

“
What’s the issue?” Mike
asked.

“
Fever? Baby? Or… Or…
Sandy?” Jill hiccupped when she said her best friend’s
name.

Mike put a hand on Jill’s shoulder for
comfort.

“
Mama, what gets all
three?” Mike asked.

“
Fever,” Anjelika said. “We
get the fever and get her to the hospital.”

“
Jill?”

“
I c-c-can’t decide…
I…”

“
We work the fever first,”
Mike said. “Jill, go with her in the Ambulance. I’ll deal with
Aden.”

Mike stuck his head out of the bathroom.

“
Call an ambulance,” Mike
said. “We’ll be ready when they get here.”

“
Got it,” MJ
said.

They heard Aden argue with MJ through the
door. MJ, Anjelika, and Jill looked at each other.

“
I’ll start,” Mike
said.

Mike took Sandy’s hands. Anjelika took her
feet. Jill kissed Sandy’s forehead and put her hands around Sandy’s
head. A few moments later, Steve came into the bathroom followed by
their sister Candy. Steve put a hand on Anjelika’s shoulder and his
other hand on Jill’s shoulder. Candy put a hand on her mother’s
shoulder and another on Mike’s shoulder. Megan joined them a few
minutes later. Megan put a hand on Mike’s shoulder and one on
Jill’s shoulder. For five minutes, Sandy absorbed their entire
focus.

“
They’re here,” a male
voice said. There was a tap on the door.

And they continued to focus on Sandy.

“
They’re on their way up,”
the male voice said.

Their focus stayed razor sharp on Sandy.

“
They’re on the second
floor,” the male voice said.

“
Reverse order,” Mike
said.

Megan let go of Mike and Jill. Candy let go
of Mike and Anjelika. Steve let go of Jill and Anjelika.

“
Jill!” Mike
said.

Megan took Jill’s hands off Sandy’s head.
Anjelika let go of her feet and Mike let go of her hands. Mike
opened the bathroom door. He, Megan and Candy went into the
bedroom. Led by MJ, the paramedics got Sandy out of the bathtub and
onto the stretcher. Mike physically restrained Aden to keep him
from going with her. Jill ran behind the stretcher.

An unhappy parade, they followed the
stretcher out of the Castle and to the sidewalk. After Sandy was
loaded, Jill hopped in. She’d already taken Sandy’s hand when the
ambulance made a squealing journey turn out of the Castle driveway.
They stood in stunned silence watching the Castle gate close.

“
Delphie?” Aden asked. “Can
you take care of the kids? I have to get to the
hospital.”

“
I’ll take care of the
kids,” Delphie said.

“
We’ll take care of them,
Aden,” Valerie said.

“
I’m sorry, Aden,” Sam
said. “You can’t go.”

He pointed to Aden’s ankle bracelet.

“
You’re supposed to get it
off today,” Sam said. “They’ll never let you…”

Aden collapsed to the ground. Delphie helped
Valerie herd Noelle, Nash and Charlie into the house. Anjelika went
with Megan and Candy to their cars. Aden didn’t look up.

“
Come on, man,” Mike said.
“She still needs you to be strong.”

“
Who’s going to be there
with her?” Aden asked.

“
Heather and Tanesha,” MJ
said. “Jill.”

“
What if she has the baby?”
Aden asked.

“
She’s having the baby
today,” MJ said. “That’s a certainty. The question is whether
either one of them will survive.”

“
Oh my God,” Aden said.
“I…”

“
Come on,” Mike said.
“Let’s get some cereal. Delphie’s going to want to have one of her
ceremonies. We may as well eat while she sets up.”

“
I need to get Honey,” MJ
said.

“
I’ll help,” Steve said to
MJ.

“
We can take care of Katy,
Jake,” MJ said. “Why don’t you…?”

MJ nodded toward Aden. Jacob nodded.

“
Cereal will help,” Jacob
said.

Jacob helped Aden get up from the ground. He
gave Aden a genuine man-hug and thumped him on the back. As they
separated, Jacob gently touched the back of Aden’s neck as huge
tears rolled down his face. They turned and followed Mike and Sam
into the house.

~~~~~~~~

Friday morning — 6:05 A.M

Refusing to be dislodged, Jill had run
behind Sandy’s stretcher through the hospital. The Emergency Room
doctors gave Sandy a cursory examination and moved into action.
They prepped Sandy on the way to a neonatal birthing center. A team
of doctors and nurses waited for them. Jill pulled scrubs over her
pajamas and joined Sandy in the room. Within minutes, Sandy’s
little girl was born by cesarean section. Sandy was rushed into a
surgical suite.

Unwilling to leave her best friend’s tiny
two and a half pound little girl alone, Jill stayed with the nurses
and doctor caring for her. For the next hour, she stood to the side
while the professionals worked to keep the baby warm and alive. She
watched them inject her with a cocktail to mimic the nutrition from
her umbilical cord and set up an IV. They struggled to get the
moist air in the squirming baby's nose. The baby’s small mewing
cries brought tears from Jill’s eyes.

“
She’s going to make it,”
the nurse said. She set up the ventilator. “This kid is tough as
hell.”

The nurse let Jill hold the tiny bundle for
a moment before setting her into an incubator. Jill followed the
baby through the corridors and into the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit. Jill stood outside the window staring at the child when
Heather and Tanesha arrived.

“
Where’s Sandy?” Heather
asked.

“
Surgery,” Jill said. “MJ
knows one of the ER docs. He told him there’s another pocket of
toxins and infection. They missed it in her original surgery
because of the baby.”

“
And the baby?” Tanesha
asked. “Did she…”

Jill pointed through the window to the tiny
child in the incubator near the back. The women stared at the
baby.

“
She’s beautiful,” Heather
said.

“
And so tiny,” Jill
said.

“
Like Sandy,” Tanesha said.
“How are her lungs?”

“
Not quite developed yet,”
Jill said. “The nurse said she was tough as hell. I…”

“
Come on. No blubbering,”
Heather said. “Let’s find out about Sandy.”

“
I’d like to go to the
chapel,” Jill said.

“
I’ll find out about
Sandy,” Tanesha said. “You guys find the chapel. We have some
serious praying to do.”

Jill nodded. Heather steered her to the
information desk. Tanesha met them a few minutes later. She
confirmed that Sandy was in surgery. They left word for the doctors
to find them in the chapel. Together, the three girlfriends went to
the chapel to pray for their beloved Sandy and her small addition
to their family.

~~~~~~~~

Friday morning — 6:05 A.M

While the kids collected all the candles in
the house, Delphie and Valerie set up the main Castle living room
with comfortable pillows. Delphie created a makeshift altar with
the candles and began calling the spirits, Gods and Goddesses to
the room. By the time Honey, MJ and Katy came down, the Castle
living room was a comfortable meditation area. Jacob lit a fire in
the fireplace.

“
What about school?” Nash
asked. “It’s my last day.”

“
You want to go?” Aden
asked.

Shaking his head, Nash’s pained eyes told
more than he was willing to say.

“
Charlie has to get to
rehab,” Aden said. “He missed yesterday and…”

“
I’ll take him in an hour
or so,” MJ said. “You have to be there at nine, right?”

“
I don’t want to leave…”
Charlie started.

“
You’re going,” Aden said.
“You need to be there today more than ever. You want to use today,
don’t you?”

Grimacing, Charlie nodded.

Aden stared into Charlie’s eyes and then
said, “Me too.”

MJ helped Honey onto a comfortable pillow on
the floor. He gave Katy to Jacob and sat next to Honey on the
floor.

“
Most of you have done this
before,” Delphie said. “When someone we love is in trouble, we send
them love, strength and compassion. We pray for them. In this case,
it’s Sandy and the baby.”

“
What’s happening?” Valerie
asked.

“
Sandy’s in surgery,”
Delphie said. “The baby is healthy but very small.”

“
Tiny,” Jacob
said.

“
Should we split? Some of
us focus on Sandy and others on the baby?” Mike asked.

“
I think we can do both,”
Delphie said. “You can say a prayer you’re familiar with or just
focus on sending love. You kids know the metta meditation,
right?”

Nash and Noelle nodded.

“
We’ll do that,” Nash
said.

“
What should I do?” Charlie
said.

“
I usually say the rosary,”
Mike said.

Charlie nodded. Leaning into Mike, he
whispered, “I never remember the order.”

“
Me either. Jill usually
tells me,” Mike said. “We’ll just do our best.”

Delphie gave them each a set of rosary
beads.

”
It’s not about being
perfect,” Delphie said. “It’s about sending love. You can also just
think of Sandy and the baby. That works. Why don’t we get
comfortable?”

With Nash lying on one end, Noelle took the
other end of the couch. Charlie leaned up against the couch and
Aden sat next to him. Jacob sat with his back to the fire. He
nestled his sleeping daughter on his lap. Valerie and Mike sat down
on a pillow near Honey and MJ. Sam sat down next to Jacob.

“
Let’s begin,” Delphie
said.

~~~~~~~~

Friday morning — 8:05 A.M

Seth had been sitting at his desk at the
downtown Denver Police station since four-thirty that morning.
Charlie had called to tell him about Sandy around four. The only
place he could think of to store his worried body and mind was his
office. He’d hoped this murder case would occupy his mind. Once at
work, he had to lock his cell phone in his car to keep from calling
Jill or the hospital every ten minutes. He would have just gone
there but he didn’t want to inflict himself on Sandy’s friends.

Who’d ever heard of a two and a half pound
baby? He couldn’t imagine any baby so small. He’d never given a
thought to his wives’ healthy deliveries. That’s what women do.
They have babies and divorce you.

But this was Sandy.

Seth rubbed his forehead and looked at the
clock. How long could surgery last?

“
Oh great, you’re here,” a
technician from the Denver Crime Scene Lab said.

He looked up at her with blurry eyes.

“
Long night?” the
technician said.

“
I…”

“
I heard,” she said. “I
also won ten bucks.”

Seth raised his eyebrows at her.

“
I knew you’d be here,” she
said. The woman held out a folder stuffed with paper. “We’ve gotten
through about half of that barn. The Director wanted me to drop off
what we have so far.”

“
And?” Seth
asked.

“
There’s a lot there,” she
said. “Seriously, there’s so much there it’s hard to determine
what’s important to this case and what’s… historic. The Director
called in all the trainees and any spare techs from around the
state. We need the help. You’re supposed to be getting a team from
Major Crimes to help you.”