Nora Buchanan’s eyes are glued to the illuminated numbers in the elevator. 1…2…In her hands, she holds two cups of coffee purchased from the food truck that’s always parked just in front of the Llanview Hospital entrance. She watches, waiting to reach the third floor - where her best friend Evangeline Williamson is being operated on.

When the doors finally open on the third floor, Nora steps out of the elevator. She walks the hallway – past the station to her right and down around the corner. She manages to hold the coffee cups and doesn’t spill a drop while using her elbow to press the release pad on the wall to her right, opening the double doors to that section of the third floor.

The uniformed LPD officer she passed on the way out is still standing where he was then - still stationed where he’d been assigned by Lieutenant John McBain. She’d been too anxious to ask about it when she first got here several hours earlier. Now she makes a mental note to do so later.

As she walks to the waiting room, it occurs to her how very eerie it feels in these halls. It’s the middle of the night and all is quiet on this – the operating room floor. Only the occasional opening of the mechanical double doors, footsteps of hospital personnel in the halls, a random cough or conversation or laugh breaks the silence.

It’s so hard for Nora to imagine Evangeline in a place like this – for a reason like this. It seems so inconceivable that she could have been shot very nearly to death – not once but twice – and all for committing the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It chills Nora to even think about it – about what might have happened.

What may still happen.

Over the past couple of years, Evangeline has come to feel to Nora like something of a younger sister. They’re both attorneys, with Evangeline about eight to ten years younger. When after a long and successful career as a Defense Attorney, Nora took a job with the opposition and moved to the District Attorney’s office, she’d felt somewhat isolated. There weren’t very many female attorneys around for her to bond with – to swap stories with. And when Evangeline first came on the scene in Llanview, it was as the attorney for the demonic Mitch Lawrence. It was a fact that didn’t quite sit well with Nora, even though her years as the attorney for the defense taught her that everyone deserved the best possible legal representation – no matter who they were. Still Mitch Lawrence was responsible for so much pain and suffering for so many people over the years that it was hardly a testament to Evangeline’s sense of right and wrong that she agreed to act as legal counsel for a man like him.

But then they found themselves on opposite sides of the same case when Evangeline defended Todd Manning against the charge that he raped his ex-wife, Blair Kramer. Somehow – even though Nora was certain that Todd was guilty and Evangeline was just as certain that he wasn’t, they came to understand and respect each other and became first friendly rivals and then friends.

And now it just doesn’t seem possible that Evangeline is in this hospital where she’s been for hours now, being operated on to save her life.

Nora pushes the thought out of her head. Evangeline will be fine, she tells herself. She just has to keep on believing it.

As all of these thoughts swirl through her mind, she finds herself at the end of the wall on her left and she turns into the area there – the area with the worn brown armchair, the worn beige-brown patterned sofa, and the blindingly intense recessed phosphorescent lighting overhead. She sees John standing at the window now, staring out into the darkness – just the latest of several spots he’s been camped out in throughout the course of the night. When she left to go get the coffee, he’d been up and down – periodically seated on the sofa and then abruptly up on his feet, pacing. She can feel the tension in the air surrounding him. With what she knows about his past – remembering the haunted man he was when he first came to Llanview and seeing the almost contented man he’s become since - she knows that he must be absolutely terrified.

If the unthinkable should happen – if for some reason Evangeline doesn’t make it – Nora’s afraid of what losing a second woman he cares for would do to him.

“Black with lots of sugar,” she announces, pulling John’s attention away from whatever it is in the dark sky that he's been staring at so intently.

“Thanks,” he says, taking one of the cups from her hand. He sips gingerly at the contents. “This tastes pretty good. It can’t be from that vending machine around the corner…”

“It’s not,” she answers as she sits on the sofa, carefully holding the hot cup of coffee in both hands. “That food truck outside usually has some pretty neat stuff to eat – greasy burgers and fries with lots and lots of ketchup. Coffee’s not bad, either.”

“Hey, you know what? I’m sorry. I should’ve gone to get the coffee. I don’t know what I was thinking…”

“Don’t worry about it. I actually kind of needed the change in scenery – stretch my legs a little.”

Nora watches John drift back to stand at the window, periodically sipping from the cup in his hand – his mind so very far away.

“Hey,” she begins, “I meant to ask you earlier but it slipped my mind. How come there’s a uniformed officer standing guard?”

“Just being careful, that’s all.”

“What? You don’t think that Evangeline’s in some kind of danger, do you?”

John says nothing for a moment, considering whether or not to answer her question.

“Look, before she lost consciousness, Evangeline told me that one of the shooters looked right at her – that she might be able to identify him. I’m guessing he knows that and…I don’t wanna take any chances.”

“Oh,” she says quietly. “I see what you mean…Any leads on who these guys are?”

“Don’t know," he answers. “Bo’s back at the office working on it. As soon as everything’s all squared away here and I know Evangeline’s okay, I’ll start nosing around - see what I can dig up.”

“Maybe you ought to let Bo handle it, John,” she cautiously suggests. “This one’s kind of personal for you...”

“I’m gonna find these guys, Nora,” he tells her in an even voice. “And when I do, I’m not gonna stop until they pay for every single scratch, every bruise, each and every ache and pain Evangeline feels – every single tear she cries because of what they did to her…”

Nora hears in John’s voice pretty much what she expected to hear – that words of reason about what’s happened are of no use – not at this moment and probably not in the future.

“So me suggesting that you sort of back off and let someone else handle this case – someone who’s not so personally involved, someone who can be a bit more objective - isn’t really going to work is pretty much what you’re saying?”

“Pretty much.”

“Got it. Consider the subject dropped.”

“Good idea.”

Nora can’t help smiling to herself. She didn’t expect that John would take her advice and let someone else investigate the case. His feelings for Evangeline run too deep for that. He’s determined to catch the men responsible for what’s happened to her – no matter what it takes. And no doubt that he will. She just hopes that when he does, there’s someone around who can keep him calm and professional.

She doesn’t want to find herself prosecuting him for misconduct.

Or worse.

“So,” she begins abruptly, changing to a safer topic, “when do you expect Evangeline’s mom to get here?”

“I don’t know. She called around trying to get a plane reservation but nothing’s flying into any of the local airports tonight. I thought it might make sense for her to just wait until morning and get a flight out then but she said something about getting a relative to drive with her. It’s gonna take them practically all night to get here. Evangeline’ll be out of surgery by then.”

“But her daughter is here now and she’s hurt,” she explains. “She’d never be able to wait until morning. No mother would…”

“I guess not. So…how’s Matthew?”

“My next door neighbor Mrs. Bennett says that he’s still asleep and that everything’s fine. I checked when I went to get the coffee.”

“Figured you would.” He puts his coffee cup on the window sill and paces first one way and then another before tiring of the routine. He glances at his watch and shakes his head. “I used to be good at this…”

“What’s that?”

“Waiting. Used to be I could sit still for as long as it took and just wait. But now…I feel like I’m about to come out of my own skin – can’t sit still…” He looks at his watch again. “Where the hell is Michael?”

“He said he’d be back out with an update as soon as there was any news,” Nora reassures. “Don’t worry. No news is good news, right?”

John takes a deep breath and tries to settle down.

“Yeah, you’re probably right…”

”Waiting’s just hard. Especially when it’s someone you care about…” She senses him drifting away again. “Evangeline…Well, she mentioned to me about you…meeting her family and everything…”

“Yeah. I met the family alright…”

“Gave you a hard time, huh?”

“Some. It was okay, though – told me a lot about Evangeline.”

“Like what?”

“Like…” He wanders over and sits on the sofa next to her. “Well, she’s always had all these big dreams, you know – like being the first Black female President and everything…Her family…They’ve got a lot of expectations for her…and it got me thinking -”

“What – that you’re not what they were expecting?”

“Something like that…I told her once that she was this force of nature. She is. She’s strong and brave – good at everything she tries, you know? I mean, take football, for example. We said we’d find out more about each other by sharing things we like to do, right? Well, of course football’s my favorite sport and Evangeline had never even been to a football game before in her life. So I figure we’ll go, she’ll be bored out of her mind, hate it, and never want to go to another game again. Instead we go and she’s watching the game – I mean really watching the game, you know - asking all these questions and everything. She’s up on her feet cheering and she gets all bent outta shape when the Eagles lose…And then, on her own, she starts reading about football. I go over to her place and she’s got this book “Football for Fools” and she’s teaching herself all about the game…and she wants to go again…”

“And that surprised you.”

“Yeah,” he says. “It did…But she’s always full of surprises. It’s like nothing intimidates her. She’s got more guts than any ten guys I know…I mean, here I am, this local cop working in a small town and she’s this…this powerhouse of a lawyer, capable of going all the way to the top if she wants to – the Attorney General’s office, Supreme Court – whatever she puts her mind to…She could do a helluva lot better than me…”

“And what does Evangeline say about all this?”

“She says that she’s happy where she is, doing what she’s doing.”

“Happy with you, you mean…You know, one of the best things about Evangeline is that she’s so…open. Everything’s possible. Nothing’s out of the question. She told me all about that football game – how much fun she had…I don’t know. I just think that the two of you should stop thinking about it so much and worrying about it so much and taking each other’s pulse every five minutes and just enjoy each other. Time goes by so quickly. It really does. If you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life that makes you happy…just hold onto ‘em. Don’t let go…Okay,” she warns, “I’m gonna pry now.”

“Oh, you’re gonna pry now?” he teases.

“Yes, I’m gonna pry now…You love her a lot, don’t you?”

John glances over at her for a moment before looking away. He thinks about what she’s asked – pretty much the same thing that Evangeline asked. Why couldn’t he just say it to her then – say the words she needed to hear from him? It’s been months since and he still hasn’t said those words to her. Saying them to her when she’s asleep doesn’t count.

Still he knows it’s true. He’s never been more certain of anything in his life.

He wonders if he’ll ever get another chance.

“I never told her, you know,” he quietly admits. “I don’t even know why – not really. It’s not like I didn’t know. I’ve known it for a very long time…I didn’t think it was possible for anything in my life to be good again after Caitlin died…Then one day, I looked up and there was Evangeline. One thing happened and then another and then another…I guess it didn’t feel right for me to have those feelings for anyone but Caitlin. So I fought it, you know – kept trying to convince myself that I could still keep a distance – that what Evangeline and I had didn’t mean as much to me as it did. But then I realized one day that if I ever lost her…If I have to lose her, I want it to be because she’s on her way up and a local cop doesn’t fit in with her plans. Or maybe she’s sick and tired of dealing with my baggage – tired of being with a man who can’t even tell her how he feels about her, you know? Something like that…But not like this…”

“You’re not gonna lose her, John,” she tells him. “You’re just not. Neither of us will. Look, she is gonna come out of that surgery and she’s gonna be alright…And you’ll get another chance to tell her how you feel. You will – only…You have to believe it, too.”

“I know,” he tells her. “I do believe it.”

At that moment, the quiet around them is broken by a distant sound from the other end of the hall. John shoots to his feet when he hears what sounds like footsteps coming closer. Nora quickly puts her coffee down on the table in front of her, some of it spilling onto the table and then the floor. But she doesn’t care.

“Is that him?” she asks as she stands, an excited but worried tone creeping into her voice. “Is that Michael?”

John looks over in time to see his brother Michael coming toward him, following about a step behind a tall dark-haired woman with a pretty face and short hair wearing surgical scrubs – the same woman who’d spoken to him just before Evangeline went into surgery – Dr. Young.

“How is she?” John demands before they reach him, trying to prepare himself for whatever they tell him.

“Miss Williamson is in Recovery,” Dr. Young answers. “She was lucky. I won’t sugarcoat it for you. As much as a hair in either direction and…things could’ve been much, much worse…As it is, we had to remove her spleen and repaired one or two other internal injuries that were caused by the bullet wound to her abdomen. We stopped the bleeding, fixed up her arm…She’s on antibiotics and the prognosis is good but…we want to observe her for about forty-eight hours or so – just to make sure.”

“Oh, thank God!” Nora says, finally letting out the breath she was holding. “Thank God she’s alright…”

“Yeah,” John quietly agrees.

“So,” Dr. Young continues, “whatever questions you may have, I’ll be happy to answer them for you.”

John shakes his head no.

“There’s nothin’ right now,” he says. “Can I see her?”

“Why don’t we give her a little bit of time in Recovery first? She’s still unconscious right now. We’ll let you in to see her when they take her down to the ICU. So, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to go check in on a few other patients. I’ll come back and check on Miss Williamson again before my shift ends.”

“Dr. Young,” John begins. “Listen, thank you. Thanks for taking care of her.”

“I’m glad it worked out,” she says. “She’s healthy and in good shape. That can make all the difference – just the way it did in this case…I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Hey,” Michael says before she can walk away, “thanks for letting me observe. I know I felt a little better being in there with her.”

“No problem, Doctor,” she says with a smile before walking back in the direction she came from.

“I’m telling you, John. You’ve got some kind of woman on your hands. She’s a fighter. That’s for sure…”

“Yeah, she is.”

“Thank God for that…” Nora adds.

“You’re a lucky man, dude,” Michael tells him.

“I know, Michael. I know…Hey listen,” he tells Nora, “there’s nothing more you can do here tonight. Evangeline’s out of surgery and everything. Why don’t you go home – get some rest? I’ll call you when she wakes up.”

She hadn’t realized it before now but admits to herself that she suddenly feels very, very tired – as if now that she knows Evangeline is out of surgery, the tense night and the lateness of the hour are finally taking their toll.

“You sure you don’t need me to stay or anything – keep you company?”

John smiles.

“You already did that,” he says. “You kept me from losing my mind with all the waiting…Go home. Matthew’s gonna be missing his mom soon.”

“I guess you’re right,” she acknowledges. She walks over to Michael and hugs him warmly. “Goodnight, Dr. McBain.”

“Goodnight,” he says. “Get some rest.”

“I just might be able to do that now,” she says as she they part. She turns to John and walks into his arms, expecting him to stiffen just the tiniest bit.

But the feeling of his arms surrounding her is a pleasant surprise.

“Thanks again,” he says quietly.

She lets him go and finds his eyes, one small tear of relief escaping from hers and traveling down her cheek.

“Look after our girl, okay? Give her my love.”

“I will,” he tells her. “Don’t worry.”

Nora walks to the other sofa and picks up her coat – the one she dropped there when she first arrived. Her eyes catch sight of John’s jacket with Evangeline’s blood on it, lying in a heap on the armchair nearby – not a memory that she wants to revisit.

She forces herself to look away.

’The worst is over.’

She takes in a deep breath and blows it back out very slowly, feeling so much lighter than she did a few moments ago.

“Goodnight, guys!” she says with a wave on her way down the hall in the direction of the officer and those mechanical doors.

“Goodnight,” John calls after her, watching until she disappears through them.

“Man,” Michael sighs, “it’s been a long night…”

“Yeah, it has,” he quietly agrees. “I need to see her, Michael…”

“Johnny…Look, you heard what Dr. Young said. Evangeline’s in Recovery. She’s not even awake yet…”

“Right. And if it was Marcie lying in there? Where would you be?”

Michael looks at his brother, completely understanding where he’s coming from and knowing how futile it would be to try to talk him out of this or anything else right now.

He shakes his head.

“No wonder I’m always in trouble around here…” he observes, slowly making his way down the hall toward Recovery.

John follows, his eyes checking around them – just to make sure that no one notices – not really, anyway.

“No need to stop doing what you do on my account, little brother,” he says quietly.

He makes his way down the hall, trailing Michael as casually as he can. He doesn’t want to call unnecessary attention to where he’s headed.

He follows Michael through another set of mechanical double doors, making a sharp right turn, and down a hallway. At the end of the hallway on the right is an oversized door with a glass window.

Michael peeks through the glass briefly, looking for any possible opposition before turning the knob and pushing the door open. He stands to the side and holds it open for his brother.

John steps in tentatively, seeing the brightly lit room with the hospital curtains hanging from their rods – hearing the steady beeping of what sounds like a single heart machine he sees past one of the curtains. Michael heads in that direction, pulling the curtain aside.

There – behind the crisp white curtain – lies Evangeline, a white sheet draped over her.

She’s still unconscious like Dr. Young said. But it feels so good to be this close to her again – to be able to see for himself that she came through the surgery.

To know that she’s really alright.

John steps to her bedside, gently touching her face. His eyes quickly take inventory, noting the automatic blood pressure cuff on her arm and the small cuff on her finger that connects her to the heart machine near the head of her bed. He sees her bandaged right arm.

His fingers find their way to her hair – as always – softly stroking it as he gazes at her lying there before him. He’s so caught up in the sight of her looking so still and calm that he doesn’t notice Michael slipping away for a brief minute.

A sudden noise that sounds like something metal banging into something else nearby pulls John’s attention away from Evangeline briefly. A few seconds later, Michael appears from behind the curtain, a chair in his hands.

John steps aside as Michael brings the chair over, placing it next to Evangeline’s bed.

“Have a seat,” Michael tells him.

John sits in the chair, as instructed.

“Thanks,” he says quietly.

“Don’t mention it,” Michael says.

John’s eyes return to watching Evangeline, not wanting to let her out of his sight. Michael decides to leave him alone with her and steps back behind the curtain, pulling it around to give them some privacy.

“Hey,” John hears Michael say to someone. “She’s my brother’s girl and I figure they need a little time together so do me a favor, okay? Try not to mention it to Dr. Young. She’ll rip my head off…”

A female voice laughs softly.

“She won’t hear it from me, Dr. McBain,” the voice says.

“I knew I could count on you…”

John goes back to watching Evangeline. He takes her hand in his and exhales deeply, his eyes roaming over her face. She really looks beautiful – flawless brown skin, perfectly shaped lips. All that’s missing from view at this moment are her eyes – those large brown sensitive eyes – the ones that warm his heart whenever they look happy – the ones that melt his heart whenever they look sad. What he wouldn’t give for just a glimpse of those eyes at this moment.

He misses her. He always does whenever she’s not with him. He misses the sound of her voice. He misses how she can always make him laugh. He misses the way she giggles whenever he makes her laugh. And now he’s almost too afraid to let himself really believe that there may actually be a chance of him experiencing those things again.

He stands and leans over her, tenderly kissing her forehead.

“I’m here,” he whispers. “I’m right here…”

He brushes her cheek with his free hand, touching her smooth skin – feeling so close to her.

“You’ve been through a lot,” he says. “Get some rest. I’m not goin’ anywhere…”