Love Don't Cost a Thing (14 page)

I knew the ass wipe looked different. I should’ve jumped him at the door before he got in. Now my family and all these people’s lives are at risk. It will be my fault if anything goes wrong.

“Sir, calm down. What are your demands? Please, we’ll do as you say, just don’t hurt anyone,” Agent Bradford pleaded.

Everyone were afraid and in an uproar trying to get out.

“I want the doors locked now!” The delivery man ordered. “And everyone to sit!”

Agent Bradford extended the palms of his hands as he signaled everyone to sit. “OK. OK. Tell us, what else do you want?”

“We want all the American’s to get out of my country and take this Russian shit with you all. He doesn’t belong here. He’s none of our guest. We didn’t invite him here. He’s not wanted here! As a sign to prove that our demands are real you all have to die.”

While Agent Bradford was distracting the assassin with dialog, he noticed Agent London quietly reaching for her gun. Even though she had a clear shot, Colin didn’t want her to take any chance while carrying their baby.

No, babe, don’t do it. Let me handle this. Oh god, I have to do something. This is about to go down wrong.

In a quiet instant, Monica stood up. She pushed the Ambassador sitting beside her to the floor and, without hesitation, she aimed her gun, a Glock, and fired two shots. The assassin’s gun went off out of reflex, hitting Agent London in return.

As she fired Agent Bradford jumped and dove toward the assassin to catch the detonator as it fell from his hands. Agent London hit the assassin dead center in the forehead and upper torso. All the Ambassadors were banging on the doors for the military police and undercover F.B.I. Agents to come into the committee room.

Colin handed the detonator to the bomb squad. He saw that the assassin was dead, but when he looked around he saw Monica lying behind her desk unconscious and bleeding. He crawled speedily to her side and held her.

“Babe! Please, babe. Hold on!” Monica wouldn’t open her eyes or respond to Colin. “Shit!” He cleared the desk and chairs further away from her by pushing them furiously. “Somebody call the paramedics now!” Colin yelled irritably.

Agent London was rushed to the ER at the Military Combat Hospital that was within the Green Zone of Bagdad. Agent Bradford had to fall back because he was the Senior Agent on his mission. He had to wrap up and give clearance on the whole incident, gather information and collect statements, and interview everyone inside and outside from the meeting to organize into report form, ready for debriefing. Ten hours had passed before Colin could get clearance to go to the hospital to see Monica. He was beside himself.

The two soldiers outside of Monica’s room allowed Colin to enter. She was in a private room with only authorized personnel allowed to enter. Her room was heavily guarded for protection from any type of retaliation that may come from the assassin’s cohorts. Flowers and cards began to enhance the appearance of the bland décor. Colin fell to her side. She was still unconscious. He grabbed her right hand and held onto it while burying his face into her covers. Her whole left side was wrapped in bandages and casted.

“This is my entire fault, Moe. I will make this up to you, babe. Come on, fight. Fight for us. Oh god, please let the baby be alright.” Colin’s head hung heavy.

Nurses begin walking in and out of Monica’s room to check on her vitals and the flow of here IV. Colin’s heart was so weighty that he didn’t notice or pay much attention to the nurses. His eyes were fixated on Monica’s state.

The doctor finally entered Monica’s room to view her chart again. Colin jumped to his feet to question the doctor.

“Doctor, I’m Agent Colin Bradford. I’m Agent London’s, I mean Monica’s fiancé.”

“OK. I’m Dr. Shiloh Ahmed. Did you just get here?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well let me bring you up to speed. Ms. London just got out of surgery about a little over an hour ago. The surgery took about ten hours. We put her into an induced coma.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, for a number of reasons, one I’m sure you know, she’s expecting. To save the baby we need her completely still. She lost a lot of blood. In a resting state the body is more prone to heal faster than it is in a conscious state.”

“I understand, what’s the other reason or reasons?”

“Second, when the bullet entered her left shoulder, it entered like a spinning missile. It struck her collar bone. The bullet flattened out, but parts of her collar bone shattered, creating splinters that became lethal weapons themselves.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Collin grabbed hold of the back of a chair to brace himself.

“What I’m saying is not only did we have to remove the bullet and the bone fragments, but a couple of them cut through to her left lung causing it to collapse. We had to move swiftly to correct this.”

Colin stood strong as he grabbed hold of the chair and slid his fingers through his hair with his other hand.

“I don’t believe this shit. Will she be alright?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re helping her to breath with the respirator to ease the pressure and prevent her right lung from working so hard. We’re trying to reinflate the left lung by inserting a Heimlich’s valve.”

The doctor asked Colin to have a seat so he could thoroughly explain all that was being done to Monica doing the operation and what was the expected outcome when she awakes, in addition to what needed to be done when she was ready to leave the hospital. He did what the doctor asked of him and took a seat.

“OK, once her lung reaches its natural size, the Heimlich valve will be removed hopefully before she leaves the hospital. We also removed the bone fragments and reconstructed a small part of her collar bone.”

“What about the baby?”

“Right now, both mother and baby are stabilized. I have to admit, she’s a strong lady. After the trauma Ms. London endured, I’m amazed that she’s still carrying her fetus. Most wouldn’t have survived. That’s why we need her to rest and keep perfectly still. We can’t allow her to be transferred to the States just yet. The transport will be too rigorous for the two of them. She will remain here for at least seven to eight weeks.”

“Damn, I can’t believe this doc! I can’t believe this.”

“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Agent Bradford. We’re doing our best and giving Ms. London our most excellent service. She appears to be a strong woman. So with a little hope and prayer she and baby will pull through this alright. Be encouraged.”

Colin shook the doctor’s hand. “Thanks, Dr. Ahmed.”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll be in and out to check on her,” the doctor stated before he left out.

Colin made arrangements to stay in Bagdad while Monica healed and recovered. He put in for a Medical Leave of Absence. He was determined he was never leaving her side ever again. Eight weeks seemed like centuries while waiting for Monica’s health to improve. That was the time they said she could return back to the States to a recovering hospital that would perform her rehabilitation to regain the use of her left arm and shoulder again.

****

Exactly eight weeks later Monica had been transferred to Denver Physical—Advanced Rehabilitation. “Good morning, Ms. London. How do you feel?”

“Good morning, Dr. Marks. I’m feeling so-so, I guess. I’m sore from all this therapy and I don’t feel like doing anything today,” Monica stated as she leaned on her hands looking down at the floor.

The doctor chuckled with his response. “Aw, I’m sorry to hear that, but you know in order to have a full recovery you have to complete your daily exercise regime for your arm.”

A tear rolled down her cheek. “Yeah, I know. I’m just not feeling up to this today and I just… I still can’t believe this happened to me.” Monica pulled herself together. “Mm, OK, OK. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Just before the doctor could respond, he saw Colin coming into the corridor and waved for him to come join them. Monica was sitting up in a wheel chair waiting to be transported to the physical therapy training room. Colin was full of smiles and reach down to kiss her once he was by her side.

“It looks like someone is not having a good day today.”

“I’ll give you two some time, but Ms. London, I need to see you in the therapy room on the mats in twenty minutes please,” the doctor stated as he walked away.

“No, I’m not. And I don’t feel so lovey-dovey either.”

“I know you feel like crap, babe, but you have to do what’s needed to recover. I also know we still have issues with our relationship, but right now my main concern is you getting healed and in the best condition for our baby.”

Monica buried her face into her hand as she listened to Colin. She knew he was right, but was still sore from her wound and tired of her physical therapy.

“You’re right, Colin, but sooner or later we need to resolve our problems before the baby comes. I don’t want our baby born into an unstable home.”

“Neither do I.”

“I’m glad we can agree on that. So much has happened and I want things to be right with us. When that bastard pulled out that bomb all I could think of was you and the baby!”

“Everything will come together with time. When I saw that dickhead assassin shoot you, I wanted to empty out my rounds into his head. You two were all I could think of.”

They both chuckled, but Monica caressed her left shoulder to comfort it from the pain of her laugh.

“Monica! I’m never leaving your side again. But, babe, the way you blew that assassin’s head off just made me realize I never want to get on your bad side.”

Monica chuckled lightly again and looked into Colin’s eyes after she gave him a hug. She saw his rage and hurt all at once and knew she could never push him away again even if she tried.

“I know, babe. I know,” Monica replied.

Colin began pushing her wheelchair to the gym/therapy room.

“That’s why I had the best doctors flown here to help you. I wasn’t taking any chances with you and the baby.”

Monica stopped her chair with a jolt by hitting the brakes on the right side. “What?”

Colin patted her back to pacify her and continued pushing her chair.

“Sh, calm down, Moe, we’ll talk about it later and after therapy you can take me on a tour to get your mind off of things. I’ve never been in this hospital before.”

She dismissed his comment for the moment. “I haven’t either before I came here, but the nurse takes me for a walk sometimes when you leave. So I guess I can take you where she takes me.”

“Where does she take you?’

“You’ll see later. It’s a place she calls,
Ward of Reflection.
It helps you in many ways depending on your condition.”

“Really, how did it help you, babe?”

“It helped me a lot, especially seeing things from a different prospective.”

****

Monica took Colin on a tour of the hospital hoping he would see the variations of love and unconditional love. Even though her arm felt as if it was about to fall off, she didn’t let it prevent her from showing Colin the
Ward of Reflection,
hoping for a change or some type of enlightenment.

“Why are we coming here? This is depressing. Babe, your nurse has been bringing you here? I’ll talk to the Head Nurse about her.”

“No! Don’t do that.”

“Why not? The patients here have amputated limbs and most of them appear to be lonely, or on their dying bed.”

“Yes, they do and some are on their dying bed. But look, Colin, take a really good look at them.”

“I really rather not, Moe. Let’s go somewhere a little more pleasant. I can arrange for you to get care from my place and have doctors and nurses come to the house to aid you.”

“Dammit, Colin, no! I don’t want to go to your house or for you to spend any more money on me. Look at these people!”

A nurse came running toward them, “Is everything alright here?”

Colin’s jaw line was straight and tight. “Yes, it’s OK. She’s just a little excited.”

The nurse looked at Monica. “Ma’am?”

“Yes, everything is fine. We apologize for the noise.”

The nurse responded, “Yes, please keep the noise down. Some of our patients are just recovering from surgery.”

“We will and again I apologize for the noise.”

Monica confirmed with a wave of her right hand. Her left arm was still in a sling with bandages still around her shoulder, neck, and chest area. They had to be changed daily. The intense therapy caused her wounds to bleed occasionally. Monica signaled Colin to continue pushing her chair with a light slap over her shoulder onto his hand. He continued on quietly.

“Babe, just listen to me for a second. These people here are suffering and some of them, worse than I am.”

“I know, Moe, that’s why…”

She interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

“Listen! Some of them are really bad off with no one to care for them, no one to love them. I come here when I feel down. I look around and realize things could be worse. I could’ve lost my arm or full use of it, worse, my life or the baby.”

“I wouldn’t let that happened to you. That’s why I got you the best doctors to help with your recovery.”

“No, Colin! Again, there are some things money can’t buy. You can’t buy love, you can’t buy health, or life for that matter. Look at the patients that have family and love ones. Do you see anyone throwing money around or trying to buy doctors?”

“Dammit! What’s your point, Moe? What the hell is it you want me to see? Because I don’t get it!”

“My point is that even though some of these patients don’t have the money you do, their loved ones are still here. Love, Colin, doesn’t cost a thing. Our whole relationship with you has been about nothing but spending money.”

“I can’t help it if I have money. What I’m supposed to do with it? You want me to give it away?”

Monica signaled Colin with her good arm to come in front of her so she could look into his eyes. He came around to the front of her wheelchair.

“You could use your money to help others too sometimes. You’re in a position to create avenues to help and assist those less fortunate than you are. Stop being careless and self-indulgent with your money.”