"Is she okay?" Joe asked.

"She’s losing blood." Frank realized his shirt was soaked. He reached for Nancy’s neck making sure her heart was still beating. "Joe, give me your shirt."

Frank took the shirt from Joe once he pulled it over his head. Frank put the shirt over his and pressed down. Frank asked without taking his eyes off Nancy, "Is Matt still out?"

"Yeah. He’ll be out for a while. I only had to hit him with one punch."

"Good."

"Help is here, Frank," Joe said.

Frank stayed where he was as police and paramedics came into the cafeteria. He finally stepped back when the paramedics got to work. He watched as they quickly checked Nancy over. Within minutes she was placed on the stretcher.

"I’m coming with you," Frank said.

"Only family is allowed in the ambulance."

"I’m family," Frank lied.

"Let’s go."

Frank looked at Joe and saw he was talking with a couple of police officers. He saw Joe glance at him and nod his head. Frank followed the paramedics out to the ambulance after grabbing Nancy’s purse off the back of the chair she had been sitting in.

He climbed into the back before the ambulance doors were closed. He reached for Nancy’s left hand and squeezed it. He said, "Hang on, Nancy. Just hang on."

When they arrived at the hospital, Nancy was rushed into the emergency room. Frank tried to follow, but was stopped by a nurse. He told the nurse he was fine and was directed to the waiting room.

After a little while, the doctor came out and questioned him. "Are you related to the young woman who was brought in?"

"I’m a friend of hers," Frank said.

"Is there any family of hers on the way?" the doctor asked.

"She actually lives in Illinois," Frank said. "But I believe I have the number to her husband."

"We need to speak with someone who can give us consent for surgery," the doctor said.

"If you lead me to a phone, I can call her husband," Frank said, although he hated the idea of breaking the news to Ned.

"This way."

Frank stepped into a room where there was a phone. He hoped Nancy wouldn’t mind that he went through her purse, but he needed Ned’s work number and couldn’t waste time playing phone tag. He found her address book and quickly located Ned’s work number.

He quickly punched the digits into the phone. The phone was picked up on the second ring. "May I help you?"

"I need to speak with Ned Nickerson, please."

"One moment."

A moment later, he heard a voice say, "Ned Nickerson, how can I help you?"

"Ned, it’s Frank."

"Hey, Frank, what’s up?"

Frank took a deep breath. He hadn’t thought how he was going to tell Ned. "Frank, tell me what’s wrong."

"Ned, Nancy is in the hospital. She was shot."

"How bad is it?" Ned asked. Frank could hear the shaking in Ned’s voice.

"I’m not certain, but the doctor said she needs surgery. If you hang on a moment, he can tell you more."

Frank handed the phone to the doctor and listened intently as the doctor explained where the bullet had entered her body and the necessity to remove it as soon as possible because she was losing a lot of blood. The doctor said, "Thank you."

The doctor handed the phone back to Frank and then headed out of the room.

"Ned?" Frank asked.

"I’m on my way," Ned said. "I will be on the first flight out of here."

"All right," Frank said.

"Bye." Ned ended the call.

Frank put the phone back down. He turned away from the phone. He hoped everything would be all right. Everything has to be all right.

* * * * *

It was early evening and Frank was sitting in the waiting room. Joe was sitting beside him. Joe had arrived a couple hours earlier and had brought along a shirt for Frank. Frank tried to think positive, but he was worried. He knew Nancy was in surgery and the doctors were attempting to get the bullet out of her shoulder. Now, they were waiting to find out how the surgery went.

At that moment, the doors to the waiting room opened. Frank and Joe saw Ned step into the room. Frank could see Ned was out of breath as he moved toward them. "Where’s Nancy?"

"In surgery." Frank said as Ned sat down across from him. "She’s got a bullet in her shoulder and the doctor hasn’t been out yet."

"What happened?" Ned asked. "She didn’t tell me about the case."

Frank and Joe filled Ned in on what had gone on. When they finished, Ned said, "She has to be all right."

"She will be," Joe said. "I’ll get us some drinks while we wait."

Frank nodded and Joe left the room. After a few minutes, Ned, staring at the floor, broke the silence. He murmured, "Nancy has to be all right. If we hadn’t fought, she wouldn’t be here now. This is all my fault. I should’ve spent more time with her. I know I was taking her for granted. She has to be okay. I need to make this up to her. She needs to know I’m sorry."

"She does know," Frank said. "She wanted to wrap this case up so she could get back to you. She wanted to see you."

"Really?" Ned asked, looking up with hope written on his face.

"Really," Frank said.

"Mr. Nickerson?"

Frank and Ned looked at the doorway. They saw a doctor in green clothes standing there. He was in his forties with short black hair. He made his way toward them as they stood up.

"How is Nancy?" Ned asked as the doctor motioned for them to sit down.

The doctor sat down and said, "Nancy is resting now. We were able to remove the bullet without any complications. She was lucky. A few more inches and she could have bled to death."

"She’s going to be okay?" Ned asked.

"She’s going to be fine." Ned let out a breath, as did Frank. "I’ll take you to her room."

Ned and the doctor got to their feet. Ned looked at Frank, who said, "I’ll wait here to let Joe know."

"Okay." Ned turned and followed the doctor out of the waiting room.

Frank leaned back in his chair and let out another breath. He was glad she was going to be all right. He felt a weight was lifted off his shoulders.