As Laura walked into the intensive care unit, her heart fell. Patrick's bed was empty. An aide was stripping off the bedding with practiced, efficient moves. Laura froze. Too often an empty bed signaled the death of a loved one. Just as a deep blackness surrounded her a strong hand on her shoulder drew her back to reality.

She spun around, expecting the worst.

"Laura." It was a familiar voice. "I'm so sorry about what happened to your husband."

"Oh, Tim!" Her frightened eyes bore into his. "Where's Patrick?"

"Upstairs. He's off the ventilator so he doesn't need the ICU bed. Come on, let's go up."

"Oh thank G.o.d. Tim, I thought - everything bad has been happening and I thought -"

Tim smiled broadly. "Wrong. Come on, let's go see. This you're gonna like. We're pretty pleased at our handiwork."

"Yes, of course. Let's go!"

Patrick lay alone in a semiprivate room, hooked up to a heart monitor and connected to an intravenous line and a urethral catheter. His eyes were closed as Laura tiptoed over to the bed and kissed his forehead. "Patrick?"

The child stirred and his eyes opened slightly.

"We've been using short-acting sedatives so that he'd wake up just as you arrived. Looks like we timed it just right," Tim beamed.

"Patrick," Laura repeated, again leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. "Honey, you awake?"

The child's eyes opened more widely and a smile crept over his face. "Mommy."

"You've had a nice long sleep, baby."

"I'm sleepy. Do I have to get up now?"

"Here, buddy, let me prop you up a bit." Tim pushed the b.u.t.ton on the side of the bed.

"Wh ... what's this?" Patrick's eyes left Laura to examine the tube in his nose and then the wires coming from all directions. His free hand touched the bulky protective dressing covering his entire chest.

"You had an operation, honey, remember? We're in the hospital. You're doing just great, but you have to stay in bed for a few more days. Okay?'

"Oh, yeah. Kinda -"

"But you're doing great," added Laura with a rea.s.suring smile.

"Can they take all this stuff off me? My throat hurts," Patrick rasped.

"Soon," said Tim, "but I'll tell you what. If you're hurting we can give you some medicine. And, you can start eating once we get this one out." He pointed to the tube in his nose. "And that'll make your throat feel better."

"Okay," said Patrick weakly, "I'm tired." He looked up suddenly. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he's not here right now," she gulped. "Honey, try to go back to sleep, okay?"

The child was asleep before he could answer. Laura turned to Tim. "Dear G.o.d, how can I ever tell him?"

"You will, but not right now."

"Next time he wakes up? Should I? What will it do to him, to his heart?"

"Kids are tough, Laura. He'll be okay. He has you and the other kids."

Laura stayed with her youngest son for a few more minutes. Then she and Tim left quietly to join the others across at the hotel. Halfway down the hospital corridor she met her father, coming to sit with Patrick.

"Dad," she fell into his arms. "I didn't tell him, I just couldn't. He'll be devastated."

"I know, I know. You'll tell him soon. You go on now, I'll stay with the little man."

"Thanks, Dad. If it weren't for you and Mom, I just -"

Carl Whelan shook his head slowly. "You and the children are safe, that's what matters. The nightmares are over, and you can get back to your life now."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX.

It was the day before Thanksgiving as Laura and Roxanne sat at the round table in the staff lounge sipping a cup of tea, a plate of homemade cookies on the counter. Both were exhausted after a long day of difficult surgical procedures and looking forward to the long holiday weekend.

Laura kicked off her st.u.r.dy, scuffed nurse shoes and fluffed her hair as it cascaded down from the surgical cap she'd worn all day. "So what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"Mom's doing the cooking, thank goodness. Louis, Will, and Louis, Jr., and of course my little Jose, are coming over. I really miss that little guy since they moved to one of those big old houses in Hyde Park. As soon as he's well enough, Louis plans to start the renovation."

"That's great, Roxie."

"And he's so grateful that you worked things out for him at the hospital. Getting them to cover the medical bills and the half million settlement means so much, I can't tell you. It's not only the house, but now they have a replacement car, a big station wagon. And, well, a life."

"Which you are a big part of, if I'm not mistaken." Laura grinned at her friend, relieved that she'd made the decision to stick by Roxanne during the resolution of the Ruiz malpractice case. As soon as she'd returned to Tampa from Philadelphia, Laura set up a meeting with Cliff Casey, Tampa City Hospital's CEO.

"Look," she'd told him that first week of September, "I don't want trouble for the Hospital, but what happened to Wendy Ruiz in the ER that night shouldn't have. You know that Sam Sanders has subpoenaed me in a malpractice case, and even though I'll be a so-called hostile witness, I'll have to tell the truth."

"Laura, you're a physician," Cliff replied. "You know how hectic things were that night. The whole Ruiz family coming in at once, swamping the ER. Two dead on arrival, and the child had a transecting spinal injury. She would have been a paraplegic."

"I know that, but it's no excuse for mismanagement of a chest wound and you know it, Cliff. I think you should settle the case. Mr. Ruiz will not make unreasonable demands if you offer to settle."

"Well, his lawyer isn't sounding so reasonable," Cliff pointed out. "Three million dollars and going for punitive. Triple damages, that'd be nine million."

"I think if you offer something fair, something equitable, Mr. Ruiz will overrule his lawyer. I don't think he wants to go to court, but he's desperate. Please give it a try."

Laura kept at Cliff until he finally directed his attorneys to negotiate something they could absorb. The hospital would be hurt if Laura testified against it, hostile witness for the plaintiff notwithstanding.

"I'll make you a deal," Cliff had said. "I know that you've just gotten back with the kids, and you'll have to get them settled in for the new school year, and get settled in your own life. But what I'd like you to do is take on the additional role here as director of the emergency room. We need someone with your strict standards and intimate knowledge of trauma care. Since you trained at City Hospital in Detroit under the pioneer of modern trauma management -"

"Yes," Laura said softly. Even her face softened, her eyes suddenly bright.

"Yes, you remember Dr. David Monroe, or yes, you'll do it?"

"Both."

Cliff nodded. "Good. We can work out the compensation later. It won't restrict your private surgical practice, so you should come out pretty good financially."

"I'll manage. I would like to do this," she said with finality. "I think I can make a difference."

"Then it's settled. We'll clear up the Ruiz case, and Laura, on a most positive note, your former patient, Mr. Harvey Weintraub, has offered to donate another huge sum - five million - to the hospital for use at your discretion."

"That's terrific. I'd like to use some to modernize the ER - oh, do I have ideas," Laura said with a smile. "And, Cliff, there's one more commitment I need from you. It's Roxanne Musing. The hospital's been giving her a hard time over her involvement in the Ruiz case. Can you stop hara.s.sing her and permanently a.s.sign her to my surgical cases? She's an excellent surgical nurse."

After Cliff agreed, Laura headed upstairs to her next meeting in the hospital cafeteria - with Greg Klingman. They sat at a far table with cups of coffee.

"I've got news to tell you." A grin covered his face. "Celeste and I are getting married. In two weeks. Small family wedding in Maine, where she's from."

"Oh, Greg, that's wonderful! She's a fortunate woman. I'll never forget how wonderful you were to me when my whole life was coming apart. And in the midst of it, your fiancee was shot trying to save that little girl! You two are really lucky you have each other."

"I know. We're each planning to slow down our professional lives. She quit the interior design firm that kept her out of town so much, and I just promoted both Rob and Carrie to senior partner. We want to have a family right away, and, well, things couldn't be better."

"What about Celeste's physical condition? I mean, from the gunshot wound?"

"Well, as you know, the bullet went through a section of her lung, which made the lung collapse. When they removed a portion of it, they said there shouldn't be any long-term problems, and so far, she's been feeling great. Does that sound right?"

After a moment, Laura said, "Yes, but if you don't mind, I'd like to see Celeste myself - just to make sure."

"Absolutely. Thank you. The bullet eventually lodged in the shoulder. Almost nicked the axillary artery, but missed by a hair. She has a scar from the surgery. I hope it never goes away. It'll always remind me of how lucky I am."

Smiling, Laura reached over and squeezed his hand.

"And what about you," he asked, "will you be okay?"

"Now that I'm back in the OR I'll be fine. And it looks like I'll be taking on additional responsibility in the ER."

"That's terrific. And how're the kids doing?"

"Everyone's back in school. Including Patrick, who's doing fine. They'll be stopping his medication soon. Mike and Kev are glad to be home with their friends and spending every free moment playing baseball."

"Bet they were pretty annoyed that the Yankees beat the Dodgers in the World Series."

"'Annoyed' is too nice a word."

Greg smiled, then paused. "It's going to be hard to raise three boys without a father. Hard on the girls too."

Laura nodded. "I can only imagine. I even had to take Nicole to a child psychologist. She's become even more difficult, and moody, depressed, maybe."

"They say kids should work through these things, right?"

"That's the idea. Natalie's always been shy, but we talk a lot, and she seems fine. I think Nicole's carrying the guilt of Steve's death. She always resented how much time he spent with the boys and was pretty vocal about it. I hope going back to school will help."

"I don't see how she can blame herself. Steve's death has nothing to do with her."

"We know that, but it's hard to tell what goes on in a kid's mind. Anyway, it's awful to say, but I'm glad that Santiago's dead. At least there won't be a trial."

"Right. It didn't take the 'organization' long to snuff him out. Bullet through the head in the transport van from Michigan to Florida. How cla.s.sic is that? Just wish the same would happen to that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Gonzolas. Imagine killing a child for money. But once he skipped bail, I doubt he'll ever get caught."

Laura winced. "You know, I still don't know what made Detective Lopez show up in Detroit that day."

"It was Chuck. He didn't tell you? He'd gotten a tip from that old friend of Kim Connor's, that Carmen woman? I remember specifically because I spoke with her on the phone that very day."

"What day?"

"That day in Detroit, when Steve was killed."

Laura winced again. "Oh, that's something I didn't know."

"Apparently, she'd seen Santiago and overheard him talking about what he was planning to do."

"I see. So Chuck contacted the detective and he showed up in Detroit? It's amazing how fast it all happened, isn't it?"

Greg nodded. "I agree. Turns out that Lopez had a personal vendetta against Santiago - he'd killed the detective's former partner."

"Oh, that's terrible. What an evil man he was. I just can't imagine, choosing to kill another human being."

"You and me both."

"I wonder how many other people Santiago killed or had killed or executed?"

"Too many, I'd guess, but his death was a big loss for Jake Cooperman, he wanted to try that case so bad. But Lopez got a promotion for bringing him in. You know, turned out he was a pretty good guy, even Chuck got to liking him."

"Not me, after what he put me through," Laura breathed. "I wonder why Chuck didn't tell me about Carmen?"

"Keeping a confidence?"

"I see. Well, as for Santiago, at least we won't have to rehash all that speculation about Kim Connor and Steve. I'm not sure how the kids could've handled that."

"Well, now they won't have to."

"In large part that's thanks to you, Greg. Celeste is getting a wonderful guy."

Now it was the day before Thanksgiving and Greg and Celeste were already expecting their first child, while Roxanne and Louis had begun building a new life together with his three sons.

"Laura, tell me the truth. Do you think I'm too old for him?"

"Louis? Rox, you're only thirty-eight."