Under The Moon's Shadow by T. L. Haddix

Author:T. L. Haddix [Haddix, T. L.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Streetlight Graphics Publishing
Published: 2010-08-18T15:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty Four

Beth didn’t remember the first several hours after she came out of surgery. That time was a blur, only a vague sense of movement, pain, and voices. When she did come around, it was nearly six thirty, the morning after the shooting. She opened her eyes and realized, strangely enough, that she was hungry. The hospital room was cast in shadows, the curtains partially drawn to block the light coming in from the nurse’s station. She turned her head and saw her mother stretched out on a cot across the room, her father sleeping in the recliner beside Jackie.

Shifting on the bed, she tried to get more comfortable without making any noise. Sharp pains shot through her abdomen and shoulder, restricting her movements, and Beth eased back onto the pillows. After she caught her breath, she raised her left hand toward the call button, her movement clumsy with the IV taped to the back of her arm. Before she could push the button, however, the curtain was quietly drawn back, and a nurse peeked around the edge. When she saw that Beth was awake, she moved into the room to stand at the bedside.

“How’re you feeling, hon?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“Hungry,” Beth told her. “And I really need to change the way I’m laying.” The nurse raised the back of the bed and helped Beth lean forward so the pillows could be adjusted behind her back.

“Oh, thank you.” Beth let out a sigh of relief as the pressure on her body was relieved. “Am I still in ICU? And um, what hospital am I at? For that matter, what city?”

“No, you’re in step-down. You’ll get more intensive care here than on the floor, but not as much as in regular ICU. That means you’re getting better. And you’re at the University of Louisville.”

Hearing her father stir, Beth turned and smiled at him as he stretched and came awake. He quickly moved to the side of the bed opposite the nurse.

“Hey, there’s my girl,” he said. He pressed a soft kiss to Beth’s forehead as the nurse hit the button that would inflate the blood pressure cuff Beth wore on her right arm. “How’s your pain?”

“Bearable. Maybe a six out of ten? It’s getting a little worse now that I’ve moved around some.”

Her vitals checked, the nurse showed Beth the button for the pain pump, and Beth thanked her.

“Just push the button if you need anything, sweetie.” She excused herself, and Beth turned to Richard, who was trying to cover a yawn. It was odd to see her father with a day’s growth of beard on his face. Even on Christmas morning, he was usually groomed by the time he came downstairs. She noticed new lines on his face that hadn’t been there before yesterday, and her heart twisted.

“How much sleep did you get?”

He shrugged and glanced at his watch. “Enough. How do you feel?”

“Sore and hungry, but otherwise okay. A little fuzzy. Could I have something

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