Chapter 54
FIFTY-FOUR
Sandra swung past the command vehicle to fill everyone in and to let them know she was off.
They were all wrapping things up to head out themselves.
Neal promised to update her on Jordon Maddox and Nurse Mahoney.
She handed the keys for the Bureau car to Brice, telling him she was going to order a car service.
There was somewhere she’d wanted to be since that morning and couldn’t get there fast enough.
Sandra had updated Elwood, and he said, “Let’s hope Maddox and that nurse pull through. I’ll call the director and let him call Ilene Maddox.”
Amen to that!
She ordered a ride on her phone and set out to the meeting spot, but her phone rang, stopping her in her tracks. “Special Agent Vos,” she answered.
“Dr. Cowan. I wanted to let you know the good news. Phoebe Chapman is getting her heart. She’s being prepped for surgery as we speak.”
Sandra put a hand over her heart, sending out gratitude to the universe. “That’s wonderful news. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Thank you for getting that little girl safely through the day.”
“Nurse Torres had a lot to do with that too.”
“That’s good to know. Take care.” With that, the doctor was gone.
Sandra’s heart was pounding. Tears beaded in her eyes, and she took a few moments to breathe. Today had taken a crap turn with Ashmore’s execution, but this news just inserted some light. She started to walk toward the street.
“Hold up,” Brice called out, stopping her. “Just one thing before you go. While you were in there, you’ll be happy to know that I used the full backing of the Bureau to enforce the Fat Cats site be taken down. It’s already offline.”
“Impressive, and great job.”
“We’ll try to ignore the likelihood of it popping up tomorrow with a different name.”
“Let’s take the win for tonight.” There were at least a few.
“Sorry that things went down the way they did in there with Mindy Ashmore.”
“Me too, but it sounds like Phoebe Chapman has a bright future.” She told him about the call she just received.
“Hallelujah. I tell you this job is one helluva ride.”
“That it is. Night, Brice.”
“Night. I hope everything works out with your mother.”
“Me too.” She turned to leave and came into Kreiger’s path. I might never get out of here. But Kreiger just shook her hand and dipped his head.
Forty-five minutes later, due to a detour to the field office for her car, she arrived at Howard University Hospital.
She had also taken time to clean up and change into fresh clothes from her to-go bag.
Now, though she couldn’t get to Margo fast enough.
She headed to the floor where Dana told her to go and scooted down corridors toward her mother’s room.
She heard voices before she reached the doorway, and as she rounded it, the sight before her melted her heart.
Dana, Eric, and Olivia were sitting at Margo’s bedside playing cards. Margo was laughing. She must be winning.
“Eric?”
He turned and stood. “You’re here.” He hugged her and pulled back, angled his head. “You all right?”
“I will be.” While all trace from Mindy Ashmore’s death was physically gone from Sandra’s appearance, it was etched in her mind.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Mom.” Olivia hugged her.
“My little Sandra, you made it.” Margo was beaming from the bed, and it was hard to reconcile the picture in front of her with a woman who had fainted that morning. Well, except for the bandaged wrist.
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.” She gave her mother a squeeze and a kiss on the forehead.
“I’m winning.” Margo snickered. “I think they might be letting me, but I’ll take it!”
Dana shook her head. “You are winning fair and square.”
“Whatever you say. Deal my Sandra in. My little ladybug.” She winked at Sandra, and her heart puddled. That was the pet name she’d started calling Sandra not long after Margo and her husband had adopted her and Sam. It was one she hadn’t heard in a long time.
“I’d love to play.” What she’d like even more was answers, but this was a good moment, so she’d enjoy it as long as she could.
The four of them played Go Fish for a few rounds when Sandra’s phone rang. She pulled it out, and while there was no caller ID, she had a feeling the call was important.
“Excuse me, I have to take this.”
“That’s my ladybug. She does important work.” Margo hummed a tune.
Sandra touched her mother’s shoulder as she stepped away and went out into the hall. “Special Agent Vos.”
“Lieutenant Coleman here.”
Her heart sank. “So…?”
“Jordon Maddox’s and Colby Mahoney’s surgeries went well. Both are expected to make a full recovery.”
“That’s great news.” She told him about Phoebe’s heart.
“Thank God. I didn’t just call about Maddox and Mahoney. You did a great job today, Sandra. If you’re like me you’re probably giving yourself a rough time about Ashmore, but she’s not your weight to carry. She made her decisions. You gave her every chance. Please remember that.”
“Thank you for the kind words.” That’s about as deep as she could let them sink in. Words, surface level. She’d need to process what transpired today in her own time. “And I appreciate the updates.”
“Don’t mention it. Night.”
“Night.” She ended the call and put her phone away.
Eric came up and put his arm around her, resting his hand on the small of her back. She turned to him. “It’s so nice that you’re here. It means a lot to me.”
He leaned in and kissed her.
“Did you pick up Liv?” She assumed he probably had when she saw Olivia here.
“I did. We’ve been here for about an hour.”
“By the way, great thinking to have Trudy Hall on standby. She helped save the day.” She gave him the overview, leaving out Mindy Ashmore’s demise.
“Glad to hear everything worked out.”
She pressed on a smile, which he saw through. His facial expression tightened.
“What didn’t you tell me?”
“The shot caller died. It was tragic, unnecessary.”
“Oh, Sandra. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“The worst part? I was right there when it happened.” Her brain matter was on my face, in my hair, in my mouth…
“You can’t control everything. Sometimes bad things happen.”
“Somber, but you’re right.”
“From my side of things, Stevie Cross will go away for his role in today’s incident.”
“As he should. Did he really think he’d get away with it?”
“You know what they say? Some people are stupid. But I don’t really think he cared if he got caught.
Cross seemed to think he owed his nephew.
He was estranged from the boy’s mother for several years.
But he saw how Sullivan’s death destroyed her at the funeral.
So when Shane came to him for help, there was no way he was letting his nephew, or his sister, down again. ”
“What a person will do for family…” Her thoughts turned completely to Margo. “We need to find Mom’s doctor.”
“That’s him there.” He nudged his head toward a fifty-something man in a white lab coat striding toward them.
“Sandra Vos?” the doctor said.
“I am.”
“I’m Doctor Friedman. If you have any other family members in the room you’d like out here, please, go ahead and get them. Considering Margo’s mental state, I feel updating her would only confuse her more.”
“I agree.”
“I’ll get Olivia and Dana.” Eric swept into the room, and quickly returned with them.
Olivia came over and stood close to Sandra. Eric stood on her other side. Dana was next to Olivia.
“That’s everyone?” the doctor asked, and Sandra nodded.
“Your mother’s condition is serious but not critical.
She has a bleeding gastric ulcer, which we believe was exacerbated by her medication.
Margo was taking a low-dose aspirin every day, a common recommendation for a woman her age.
She was also on an NSAID for her arthritis.
Both things are typically fine on their own, but they increase the risk of a peptic ulcer.
The bleeding caused the anemia and resulted in her passing out.
Her wrist only broke due to how it twisted when she fell.
Her bone density is what one would expect of a healthy woman her age. ”
Sandra took a few seconds to find her voice. “What does that mean? A peptic ulcer? Is it treatable?”
Eric took Sandra’s hand, and Olivia tucked into her side. Sandra wrapped her arm around her daughter.
“It is. We’d stop with the medication immediately and get her started with blood transfusions to build up the iron. Then we can do surgery to fix the ulcer.”
“And the associated risks with that?” Sandra was afraid to take a deep breath in case she somehow jinxed the diagnosis.
“Once we get her iron levels built up, the surgery is considered low risk. Do I have your permission to start her on a blood transfusion, Ms. Vos? I understand you are Mrs. Davenport’s medical proxy?”
“Yes, please, go ahead and do that.”
“Will do so immediately.” The doctor smiled at them and set off down the hall.
Sandra stood there, her head spinning. All that worry today for no real reason.
“Grandma’s going to be all right, Mom.” Olivia sniffled.
“That she is, sweetheart.”
Olivia left with Dana and went back into Margo’s room.
Sandra pinched her St. Michael pendant. “She’s going to be all right.” She parroted Olivia’s words, trying to get them to really sink in.
“More than all right.” Eric wrapped his arms around her, and she sank against his chest.
This had been one hell of a day, with all its twists and turns, but she got through it. She’d do so again tomorrow, too, if she could at all help it. And even better, she’d face the future with her family and Eric by her side.