Lisa Williamson sits in one of the chairs in her daughter’s ICU room at Llanview Hospital, dozing. She’s been up all night and the combination of tension and outright fatigue keep putting her to sleep. Her nephew Henry went out for some air a few moments before, having tired of waiting for his cousin Evangeline to finally wake up. He also knew that anything he may have wanted to say about her and her white cop boyfriend would have gotten him slapped across the face by his aunt Lisa and so he opted to make himself scarce for awhile.

Evangeline squirms in bed – her body feeling weightless. But the pain in both her right arm and mid-section is slowly growing stronger like a distant drum coming closer and closer – strong enough to wake her.

She opens her eyes with a start, not quite remembering where she is at first. But then it all comes rushing back – her favorite table at the Palace restaurant where she waited and waited for John to meet her, becoming just the tiniest bit angry that he hadn’t arrived yet. It wasn’t like John not to call to say that he was running late and he had called to say just that. But by that time, he was even later than he said he’d be and somehow an instinct told her that Natalie had to be at the bottom of it – where she always seemed to be.

Evangeline remembers going to the Rest Room to freshen up and walking back through the main dining room to her table on the patio. Along the way, for some reason, she noticed one of the Palace wait staff wearing sneakers of all things. It seemed strange and out of place since Renee Devine Buchanan always ran such an impeccably dignified establishment. But she put it out of her mind and went back out to her table to resume waiting for John.

And then, no sooner than she’d returned to her seat, a man came out to the patio and over to her table – a man whose face looked familiar even though she knew it was one she didn’t know personally. And then he introduced himself – Robert Castro. She recognized the name and remembered where she’d seen the face before. It was from a photo in the newspaper – a photo that accompanied the article about Alderman Mark Krakauer and his alleged misappropriation of funds from the city coffers – misappropriation to the tune of three million dollars over the past five years. And Castro was the one who’d blown the whistle.

He recognized her from her picture in the paper, too, he said – from when she got that stupid Woman of the Year award from the Llanview Chamber of Commerce. He knew that she was a lawyer and he really needed one. Apparently there was more than a little bit of suspicion flowing in his direction as well and he needed an attorney and quick.

And then the place erupted.

Evangeline heard what she swore were gunshots from inside the restaurant – the kind that only an automatic weapon could make. Before she could react, a dark-haired man in a red Palace jacket stood at the door, having just shot Castro. Then he looked at Evangeline with two of the coldest brown eyes she’d ever seen in a career of representing people accused of virtually every kind of crime. She began to rise from her seat but very quickly something that felt red hot tore into her right arm, causing her to lose her balance and topple over in her chair. As she fell, there was a similar pain that ripped through her stomach and she landed on the floor as the table fell over as well. She thought she heard the man coming toward her when she heard a breathless and panicked male voice saying that they had to get out of there. And then she heard footsteps that seemed to blend into the screaming and panic and general chaos she heard coming from inside.

Mostly she remembers the pain – the searing hot pain – and how she managed to pull herself over to the wall even though she could barely breathe. She remembers looking down at her arm and seeing the blood running down, soaking the sleeve of her dress. She remembers looking down at her left side where that pain was and seeing blood pooling there, too. She remembers cupping her hand to her side. She remembers looking around for her pocketbook because that’s where her cell phone was. But it was too far away from where she was for her to reach it.

She didn’t know how long she stayed in that very spot before one of Llanview’s youngest and apparently inexperienced finest appeared - telling her not to worry – that help was on the way.

The pain she feels now can’t compare with the pain she felt then. Still it’s a completely respectable pain - one that she’ll long remember. She knows that if it keeps on getting worse, she won’t be able to keep from crying out.

’John…’

Where is he? Her eyes dart around quickly, searching. She starts to panic when she doesn’t see him around anywhere. She remembers him being there before. But then again, does she? Maybe she doesn’t. Maybe he wasn’t there. Maybe she just dreamed he was. She’s not sure. Her mind is in a jumble.

And the pain is getting worse.

“John…”

“Baby!” she hears in familiar woman’s voice. At that moment, her mother’s pretty face appears standing over her. “You’re awake! Oh, thank God! I’ve been so worried!”

“I’m okay, Mom,” she manages, though her throat is still raw and she can’t get much volume. “Where’s John?”

“John had to go to the police station he said. He told me to tell you that he’d be back soon. Don’t worry.”

Evangeline takes a deep breath and tries to relax. She didn’t dream it. He actually was here earlier. She feels unsettled at his absence at that moment.

But he’ll be back soon, she tells herself.

“You don’t know how good it is to see your eyes open, sweetheart,” Lisa tells her. “I don’t think I breathed from the time I got John’s call last night to the time he called to say that you were out of surgery. Henry and I drove all night to get here…” She touches Evangeline’s face. “I love you so much, baby.”

“I’m okay, Mom,” Evangeline manages. “I’ll be alright.”

“I thought I’d lose my mind when John called. He said that there’d been some kind of shooting in a restaurant or something and that you’d been shot. I wanted to jump into the car right then and there but you know how I drive when I’m upset…”

“I know…”

“And Clay was out of town…Finally I got hold of Henry and we drove up and when we got here, you were asleep -”

“Mom,” Evangeline interrupts, “I’m okay. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

Lisa takes a deep breath and tries to settle down.

“I’m just so glad to see you, honey,” she says.

“Good morning,” a pleasant sounding nurse greets as she enters the room. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Not so great, to tell you the truth,” Evangeline admits, the pain becoming a bit more intense.

“She just woke up.”

“Well, you’re about due for your pain medication,” the nurse says, looking at her wristwatch. “Let’s just get your temperature, blood pressure, and pulse first and then we’ll see what we can do.”

“I’d appreciate it…”

“Okay then,” Lisa says. “I’ll give you some room and wait outside.”

She walks around the bed in the small room and steps out into the corridor where she paces back and forth outside – waiting while the nurse examines Evangeline. She feels as if a load has been lifted off her shoulders just knowing that Evangeline is actually getting better. It’s one step toward putting this whole awful experience behind them.

The automatic doors to the ICU open and Nora Buchanan steps into the unit. She quickly peeks in as she passes the first room on her left and then the second, hoping to see one particular face. Just up ahead of her, a woman paces just outside of the third room. She looks past the woman and into the room, spotting the face she’s been looking for as a nurse checks the readings on the nearby monitor. Best of all, the patient is conscious.

Nora lets out a deep sigh of relief.

“You must be Evangeline’s mom,” Nora says with a smile, offering her hand as she approaches the woman outside. “I’m Nora – Nora Buchanan.”

“Nora,” Lisa repeats, recognizing the name. “Yes. Cookie – I mean Evangeline talks about you all the time.” She shakes her hand. “It’s great to meet you – finally.”

“Same here. I’m sorry that it has to be like this…”

“So am I. Believe me.”

“So,” she continues, peering into Evangeline’s room, “how’s she doing this morning?”

“Well, she’s awake. She’s lucid. But she is having some pain, I think.”

“Hey,” Nora begins, “a little pain’s not necessarily a bad thing after everything she’s been through.”

“Oh, I agree.”

“We were here most of the night – John, me, John’s brother Michael – Dr. Michael McBain, actually. We waited and waited until Evangeline came out of surgery. Michael even observed in the operating room.”

“Evangeline did say that John’s brother is a doctor. I can’t thank you enough, Nora. It’s nice to know that she’s got friends who’ll look after her.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. Really. I’d do just about anything for that lady in there. She’s been a really great friend to me. Wouldn’t have anybody to tell all my secrets to if she wasn’t around. Anyway I went home once we knew she was out of surgery and that she was alright. I have a little boy – Matthew – and a neighbor stayed with him while I was here at the hospital. I’m pretty sure John stayed, though. It didn’t seem like he’d be leaving any time soon…”

“Oh, he was still here this morning when I came. And I have to say that he was absolutely wonderful about keeping me informed while we were on the road. I thought I’d go crazy knowing that she was being operated on and that I wasn’t here with her…”

“That’s right,” Nora says. “You must be exhausted. John said you were driving here overnight with another family member?”

“Evangeline’s cousin Henry. He and John didn’t exactly hit it off when they met…”

“Yeah, I think I remember Evangeline telling me a little bit about that…”

“Well, Henry can be incredibly obnoxious, which he chose to showcase on the day of Aunt Rita’s funeral – when he saw John and Evangeline together. And I’m afraid that Evangeline’s Uncle Clay also gave John a hard time.”

“John’s a big boy,” Nora says. “He can handle it.”

“So I noticed. He seems like a really good man.”

“He is.”

“And he really cares for my little girl,” Lisa adds. “Any questions I may have had about that were all answered by the way he’s looked after her through this whole thing. You know, that’s all a mother can ask for – that her child will find someone who will love and support and nurture them.”

“Well, John’s no day at the beach, I’m sure. After all, what man is? But…he does care for Evangeline – a great deal, I think. Maybe even more than he knows…She’s been good for him. And I think he’s good for her, too.”

“I hope so. She loves him so much…”

Nora’s mind flashes back to her conversation with John during the night. She smiles to herself at the memory of what he said about Evangeline – about his feelings for her and how much she means to him.

“Don’t worry,” she tells Lisa. “I think they’re gonna be okay.”

---

Bo, in his shirtsleeves, sits at the desk in his office, leaning back in his chair – thinking. He’s been at it all night – trying to figure out an angle – any angle – that might help find out exactly who was behind last night’s shooting at the Palace.

And why.

John pops his head in.

“I’m expecting those files from the D.A.’s office on all of Castor’s known associates,” he says. “They should be here before the end of the day.”

“Good,” Bo says. “Hey, I thought we said you were gonna go home and get some sleep.”

John shrugs.

“Didn’t work out that way,” he says. “Looks like you could use a few hours yourself…”

“Yeah, I think I’ll head out in a little while.”

“Good idea. I’m on my way over to see Newman at the D.A.’s office to sort of repeat my request for the files in person – just in case…”

“For emphasis?”

“Let’s just say that I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding…”

Bo smiles.

“Gotcha…”

“Anyway I’m heading back to the hospital after that. Anything else before I take off?”

“No, nothing. Give Evangeline my best.”

“I’ll do that.”

“And if you turn up anything in the meantime, give me call.”

“I will,” John says.

He turns to leave, passing Natalie without a word as he does – barely even glancing in her direction. Her eyes follow him through the squad room and out as she wanders into Bo’s office.

“John seems pretty tense…” she mutters out loud.

“Yeah well, that’s to be expected. Somebody he cares deeply for could have died last night. Can’t really expect anything else, can you?”

“But it feels like he’s angry with me or something. I think he blames me for what happened to Evangeline last night…”

“How’s that?”

“I…I called him and I asked him to stop by the hotel last night and…he was late meeting Evangeline at the Palace…”

“I see…” Bo says. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. Close the door.”

Natalie steps into his office and closes the door behind her.

“What is it?” she asks, already knowing the answer.

“Now, when you took this job, you swore up and down that you and John were just friends and that was all. But lately you’ve been doing everything you can to get his attention. Something change between you two that I’m not aware of?”

“It’s just that…Uncle Bo, I never stopped loving John.”

“Oh, boy. Here we go…”

“And we could’ve had a future together if Evangeline hadn’t come along and taken him away from me…”

“You sure about that? I mean, if I remember correctly, you were running around with Paul Kramer at the time.”

“But I never loved Paul,” Natalie admits. “I only went with Paul to…to make John jealous…”

“Well, that’s the chance you take when you start playing games with people’s feelings. You started hanging around with Kramer and John moved on with his life.”

“But Uncle Bo, I know he still has feelings for me. I’m sure of it.”

“Look, John cares about you. That’s for sure. But he’s with Evangeline now. What about his feelings for her because I gotta tell you…they seem pretty solid.”

“So what are you saying? Are you saying that I should just forget how I feel? John loves me back. I know he does.”

“Look, I’m in no position to tell anybody what to do when it comes to relationships. No, what you do about your love life is your business – that is, until it disrupts the efficient running of this department. That’s when it becomes my business. Keep it out of the office. Good enough?”

“Okay. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Yeah well make sure it doesn’t. Oh, and just a little piece of friendly advice. John’s a good friend and I think Evangeline’s pretty great and great for him.”

Natalie rolls her eyes.

“Just what I need,” she complains. “Another member of the Evangeline Williamson fan club…”

“The point is…I wouldn’t go messing around in that if I were you – especially not now. You just might end up destroying whatever good feelings John still has for you.”

Natalie says nothing in response as she turns, opens the door, and steps out of the office.

Bo shakes his head, knowing that she won’t take his advice.

“Natalie, Natalie, Natalie…” he mutters as he stands up from his chair and stretches. He walks to the coat rack and grabs his jacket. “When the time comes, don’t say you weren’t warned…”

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