Traffic Stop (27 page)

“Tobi,” he said, acknowledging her.

“Hi, Tom. I’d like you to meet Grace Thomas, Ryan’s mother.”

“Hello, Mrs. Thomas. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

“I wish we were, too, and please, it’s Grace.”

He nodded and continued. “Sorry to keep you all waiting out here so long, but we were doing some diagnostic tests. Since there was a blunt trauma to her head, we did a CT scan, which confirmed what’s called an intracranial hemorrhage or bleed.

Essentially that’s bleeding within the skull that occurs when a blood vessel in the head is ruptured or leaking. The bleed is causing some increased intracranial pressure. We had already called the neurosurgeon when we found out that Ryan had a significant head injury and was in route to the hospital. He’s here and has gone over the findings on the CT of her head. We also did a CT scan of her abdomen and pelvis. She has some internal bleeding, which appears to be coming from a lacerated spleen.

She’s being prepped for surgery as we speak, so we’ll know more once we get her in there and take a better look.”

“Tom, was she awake at any time?” Tobi asked.

“No. As soon as she arrived, they intubated her.” Turning toward Grace, he said, “Right now, we are more concerned with the swelling around her brain, so we have put her into a medically induced coma. The neurosurgeon, Dr. Timothy Stafford, is going to be in the operating room at the same time we are, so when he’s done, he can come out and brief you. Are there any more questions?”

Tobi looked at the others and waited until they all had an opportunity to ask questions before speaking. “Thanks, Tom.

We’ll be in the surgery waiting room.”

Tom placed his hand on her shoulder and patted it gently before leaving. As he disappeared through the double doors, Tobi blew out a deep breath and turned to the others.

“I guess we just wait now.”

“Why don’t you show us where the waiting room is, Tobi?

We may as well get settled because I think we’re going to be here awhile,” Grace said.

They made their way through the halls in silence, and Tobi couldn’t prevent the one thought that kept pressing on her mind.

She felt so responsible for what was happening to Ryan, and the guilt was consuming her. They entered the waiting room, and she found a chair in the back and out of the way. Sitting down, Tobi leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She listened to the sounds around her and valiantly tried not to think.

Tobi heard voices coming their way, so she opened her eyes and raised her head. Patrick, Morgan, and a group of police officers walked into the waiting room and approached Grace. Tobi watched as Ryan’s brothers hugged their mother, and the guilt she felt threatened to overwhelm her. She stood and paced in front of the large window overlooking the hospital parking lot. Tobi stopped and leaned her forehead against the glass and clasped her arms around her torso. She closed her eyes once again and prayed that Ryan would come out of this without any complications.

Tobi felt hands on her shoulders and looked up into Grace’s reflection. Raising a hand to cover one of Grace’s, Tobi looked down at her feet.

“Tobi, I know what you’re over here thinking, and you can stop it right now. None of this is your fault. That man was very sick, and you are not responsible for his actions.” She turned Tobi around to face her and looked directly into her eyes. “There is not one person here who blames you for what happened. If you don’t believe me, take a look for yourself.”

Tobi glanced over Grace’s shoulder and encountered sympathetic smiles and nods of agreement. Grace pulled Tobi against her and hugged her before saying, “I love you like you were my own daughter, Tobi. Please quit beating yourself up about this, honey.”

“I’ll try,” Tobi said as fresh tears fell from her eyes.

Reaching up to wipe them away, Grace said, “No more tears now. It’s time for us to be strong because Ryan is going to need both of us when she gets out of surgery.”

“Okay.”

Grace took her hand and pulled her over to the rest of the group. Just as she was about to sit down, Tobi heard someone say Grace’s name. Walking toward them was a tall and very beautiful blonde woman.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here any sooner, Grace. Do you know anything yet?” she asked while hugging Ryan’s mother.

“Not yet, sweetie,” Grace said, pulling out of the embrace.

Grace took the woman’s hand and turned toward Tobi. “Have you met—”

“Tobi?” the blonde woman interrupted.

Tobi looked nervously between the two women before nodding her head. “Yes, I’m Tobi.”

The woman took Tobi’s hand with one of her own. . “It is so nice to finally meet you. I’m Lauren Bassett; we spoke on the phone.”

Tobi smiled and relaxed visibly. “Lauren, it’s great to meet you. I just wish it were for a different reason.”

“It’s the nature of her job, Tobi, whether it was you or someone else. I hope you understand that.”

“I’m learning,” Tobi said, looking at Grace.

The OR doors opened, and the crowd all turned to watch as a man in scrubs walked toward them. “Hello, I’m Dr. Stafford. Are you all with Ryan Thomas?”

Grace, flanked by Patrick and Morgan, stepped forward and shook his hand. “Yes, Doctor, we’re her family.”

“Let me tell you what I found and what we’ve done. As expected, we encountered a bleed within her skull, which caused some swelling. We placed a tube inside to help it drain and take away some of that pressure. It’s just a matter of time at this point.

We’ll keep her monitored, and over the next twenty-four hours, we should know a little more about how this will affect her, if at all.”

“You’re saying that she may not have any complications from this, Dr. Stafford?” Grace asked.

“I won’t know for sure until she wakes up and we can evaluate her, but she appears to be very healthy, and my hope is that she will recover with no side effects.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Grace replied.
I hope so, too, for Tobi’s
sake as much as Ryan’s.

“I’m going to go back and get her transferred from surgery to the recovery room, but Dr. Asher should be out to talk with you shortly.”

As he left, Grace turned to Tobi with a smile and pulled her into an embrace. “See? She’s going to be all right, Tobi.”

Tobi sighed in relief, but said nothing. Grace’s support meant more to her than she’d ever be able to express in words. Actions definitely speak louder than words.

A short time later, Tom came out to talk to them, as well.

“Well, I’ve got good news. It seems the bullet did minimal damage. We had to remove her spleen because we couldn’t stop the bleeding. Other than that, she has a couple of broken ribs. My guess is that the bullet ricocheted off the ribs and into her spleen.

She’ll be sore from the incision for a few days, but from my standpoint, things look really good.”

“Thank you, Tom,” Tobi said, taking her first full breath since she saw her lover shot.

“I’ll be around. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to have me paged.” Pulling the surgery cap off his head, he walked away, turning back briefly to wave before disappearing through the operating suite doors.

After hearing the news, there were audible sighs of relief.

Everyone sat and chatted among themselves and slowly the number of officers waiting started to dwindle down. As they said goodbye to Grace, they included Jake and Tobi in their parting thoughts and well-wishes. Jake was upset and very worried, as any partner would be. The other officers understood that bond and offered him support and encouragement. Lauren and Tim had stayed and made several trips during their wait to get coffee for everyone. Two hours later, a nurse told them that Ryan had been moved to the Intensive Care Unit for observation.

When they arrived at the
ICU
waiting room, they let the desk clerk know they were there. “Hello, Dr. Drexler. Ms. Thomas’s nurse tonight is Andi, and she should be out shortly to talk with you all.”

“Thank you,” Tobi replied with a smile.

Andi arrived fifteen minutes later and told Grace and Tobi that they could see Ryan. As they entered Ryan’s room, Grace took Tobi’s hand. Being on this end of the hospital environment gave Tobi a whole different view of how things appeared to her patients. The room was sterile-looking even with the mauve and light blue accent colors. The hissing of the respirator and beeping of the monitors were the only sounds and added to the room’s cold and morose feel.

Tobi stood beside the bed and looked down upon the woman who had come to mean so much to her. They had taken great care not to tape the tube near Ryan’s split lip. Aside from the bruise marring her skin, she looked to be sleeping peacefully. Her head, which was wrapped in a large white bandage, had a drainage tube coming out of it. Tobi took Ryan’s hand in hers and continued to lovingly gaze down at her. Ryan’s skin was cold to the touch, but the warming blanket covering her would soon remedy that. She leaned down and placed a kiss on Ryan’s cheek and whispered in her ear.

“I love you, Ryan. Come back to me soon, darling.”

Tobi stood back up and watched as Grace took Ryan’s other hand in hers. She was not crying, but there were tears visible on the edges of her eyelids. Tobi left the room to give Grace some time alone with Ryan, and went directly to a staff phone to place a call requesting a leave of absence. This time of year was when she typically took time off anyhow, so there wouldn’t be a problem.

Ryan needed her now more than the radiology department did.

Through the night, Grace and Tobi took turns staying with Ryan. The others had taken their leave after Grace promised to call if there were any changes. Each time her turn came about, Tobi stood or sat keeping a vigilant watch over Ryan. She was surprised seventeen hours later when Ryan opened her eyes.

“Hello there, beautiful.”

Ryan turned her head slightly to look at Tobi and felt a moment of panic at her inability to speak because of the tube down her throat. She automatically reached for the tube before Tobi grabbed her hand. “Leave that alone, honey, its helping you breathe. I know it’s uncomfortable. I’ll have the nurse call your doctor, and we should be able to have it removed.”

Tobi pushed the call button for Ryan’s nurse as she continued to look into her eyes. When the nurse came in, she told her Ryan was awake and asked her to call Dr. Stafford. As the nurse left, Tobi reached over the railing and ran her fingers gently across Ryan’s cheek.

Smiling, she said, “I love you, Ryan.” She ran her fingers over Ryan’s brow and leaned down, kissing where her fingers had just been.

When Dr. Stafford arrived, Tobi went to tell Grace that Ryan was awake. They both returned to the room just as he finished a brief assessment and was ready to take the tube out.

Having the endotracheal tube removed from her throat made Ryan cough. The coughing jarred her side and she moaned. They had hooked up a second IV line that contained pain medication, so Tobi pushed the button to release a dose.

“I just gave you some pain medication through your IV, Ryan.” Placing the button in Ryan’s hand, Tobi said, “As long as it’s not too soon, you should be able to push this when you feel you need something to take the edge off.”

Ryan nodded her head and tried to talk. “My throat…” she whispered.

“I’ll be right back, honey.” Tobi left the room to get a cup of ice. Returning, she took a spoon and scooped some up. “Here you go.” Tobi held the spoon close to her lips and Ryan took a couple of pieces in her mouth and sighed before closing her eyes.

Ryan slept off and on for the next several hours, and talked briefly when she was awake. During one of her waking moments, she asked for the details of what had happened at Victor’s house.

Tobi described the events as she remembered them, which seemed to satisfy Ryan.

Ryan felt a wave of relief wash over her knowing that Tobi was safe. There was a period of time at Victor’s house when Ryan had experienced a fear she had never felt before.

“I love you so much, Tobi. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you. I was so afraid that everything I was doing wasn’t enough.”

“Honey, it was more than enough,” Tobi started to say, reaching over to caress Ryan’s cheek. “I can’t imagine my life without you.”

Ryan took Tobi’s hand and gave her as big a grin as her healing split lip would allow.

“There’s just one more thing I want to know,” Ryan said.

Tobi laughed softly. “It’s Elizabeth. My middle name is Elizabeth.”

Born in 1969 and a lifelong Missouri resident, Tara Wentz shares her home with her life partner, Chris, her son, Conner, and their four dogs. Tara has been in the medical field for 17 years, a job she truly loves. Her hobbies include reading, photography, and writing.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to email her at
[email protected]
.