“
From your lips to God’s ears,” she whispered, then leaned back and closed her eyes.
Another hour passed. A nurse came out long enough to tell them that he was holding his own, and that the doctor would be with them after surgery was over.
Poppy had moved from shock to panic. Her heart was hammering so hard against her ribcage that it hurt to breathe. She kept wanting to scream, but was afraid God wouldn’t listen.
Then all of a sudden she looked up and saw Justin coming toward her. There was a moment of disbelief that he was even here and tried to work up some anger, but it didn’t happen.
Without a word of greeting, he sat down beside her and pulled her close against his side, and just like that her head rolled against his shoulder as if he’d cradled her countless times before.
“
I’m here,” he said.
She couldn’t find the focus to reject him for wallowing in the strength of his embrace. And, it was finally his empathy that broke her.
The first tears came softly and then once they’d begun, turned into harsh, ragged sobs until the sound of her despair tore at the hearts of every man there.
It cut Justin to the core. He felt every tremor of her body as if it was his own. The depth of her despair was understandable considering the seed from which it had grown. She’d already lost so much. She had no strength to lose anything more. So she cried and he held her until there was nothing left of her grief but a silent, trembling fear.
When the surgeon finally appeared, asking for Mike Amblin’s family, Justin stood, pulling Poppy up with him.
“
This is his fiance’.”
“
And he’s my partner,” Kenny added, as everyone gathered to hear the verdict.
The surgeon saw the panic on Poppy’s face and purposely focused on her.
“
The good news first. He came through the surgery just fine.”
Poppy went weak with relief. “Oh, thank God.”
The surgeon kept talking. “One bullet nicked a lung. We fixed that, but it also tore through muscle on its way out. That will take time and therapy to fully heal. The wound in his leg was a through and through, but he lost a lot of blood. He’s weak. He’s got a fairly long road ahead of him, but barring any complications, he should expect a full recovery.”
“
And that’s it?” Poppy said.
The surgeon smiled. “That’s it.”
“
When can I see him?”
“
He’ll be in intensive care for a couple of days. The nurses will give you visiting hours.”
“
Well then,” Poppy said, as her eyes rolled back in her head.
Justin caught her before she hit the floor and laid her back down on the sofa. Kenny ran to get some water. By the time he got back, she was already coming to.
“
Did I faint?”
Justin smoothed her hair away from her forehead. “Yes.”
Kenny set the water down on the table. “Just like you did when we first met you, remember?”
Poppy’s eyes welled with tears. “Yes, I remember.”
Justin frowned. “When was that?”
“
The day they came to tell me they pulled Daddy’s body out of the Little Man.”
Justin felt the accusation as sharply as if she’d screamed it at him.
Kenny sighed. “We didn’t know she’d just gotten the call from the hospital about her mother. It was a bad time.”
“
But that’s in the past and I don’t live in the past. Not anymore,” she said.
She felt Justin looking at her. The words were hanging on the tip of her tongue. They had to be said now, when it mattered, and to him.
“
Thank you for coming.”
It was a shock. It was a relief. It was more than he’d expected.
“
You should have called me.”
“
I didn’t think.”
They both knew that was a lie, but they let it lay.
That’s when she noticed he was still wearing that crazy paper flower.
He caught her looking at it and waited for her to ask, but she didn’t, instead she shoved her hands through her hair.
“
I must be a mess. I just got out of bed and drove here. I don’t remember even washing my face.”
Justin wanted to hug her, but all he said was, “you’re fine, but you need to put something in your stomach or you’ll fade out on yourself again.”
“
I can’t eat.”
“
Yes, you can. Mike’s alive. I’m thinking it would be to your advantage to stay strong for him.”
She stifled a frown. Why did he have to be right, too?
Kenny overheard the conversation. “I’ll get you something,” he said, and headed for the vending machine on the other side of the room.
Justin didn’t say a word until she had eaten an entire sweet roll and finished a cup of coffee. Once it was obvious that Mike had come through the surgery, the police presence on the floor thinned considerably. Kenny returned to the precinct to write up the reports, leaving Justin and Poppy in the waiting room alone.
“
I’m going to say something now that you’re not going to like, but I can’t fall any farther in your eyes than I already am, so what the hell. You are such a strong, beautiful woman. You remind me so much of your mother that it makes my heart ache. I’m very proud of you and whether you like it or not, I’m growing to love you.”
Poppy felt cornered.
“
And having said that, I think it’s time for me to leave. You weathered your crisis like the survivor that you are, and would have done just fine without me. I needed to be here for you, more than you needed me and that’s okay. Call if you need me.”
He kissed the top of her head then walked away without looking back.
Poppy didn’t say goodbye. She’d already thanked him. It was all she could manage for one day. Her panic did not fully subside until she was allowed to see Mike. Between the steady blip of his heartbeat on the monitor and the warmth of his skin beneath her touch – she finally allowed herself to believe he would survive.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
It was close to sunrise when the nurses came to tell her Mike was waking up. The moment ICU was open to visitors she made a beeline for his bed, but he hadn’t moved since her arrival. Now, she was standing at his bedside willing him to regain consciousness while she was there. The frustration of limited visiting hours was driving her insane. He had to wake up soon. This was her last day off from work, and come hell or high water, to keep her job, she had to be at The Depot tomorrow.
All of a sudden, he moaned. It was the first sound she’d heard him make since they’d moved him from recovery. She took his hand, threading her fingers through his and gave them a squeeze.
“
Mike, it’s me, Poppy. I’m here, sweetheart.”
His fingers suddenly tightened around her hand.
Her heart skipped a beat. “Yes, honey! I’m here. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.”
His eyelids began to flutter. She glanced at the clock. Only seven minutes more and then they’d make everyone leave. She waited, willing them to open as she cupped the side of his face. The whiskers were like sandpaper against her palm - tough like the man who wore them.
He blinked.
“
Hi honey.”
He blinked again and then suddenly his eyes were open. Momentary confusion began to escalate until he saw her. His grip tightened as Poppy whispered in his ear.
“
Welcome back, Michael Amblin.”
“
Love....”
Her smile ended on a sob. “I love you, too.”
“
Sorry,” he said, and then his eyelids fluttered again as he slid back under.
This time when the nurses ended visitation, she was leaving on a high. He was coming back to her. It no longer mattered how long it took. All that mattered was the journey had begun.
When she went home, she called Johnny and told him what had happened.
“
Oh my God, sister, are you okay?”
Poppy sighed. “Yes. I’ve come to understand something I’d never understood before.”
“
What’s that?” Johnny asked.
“
The human body can only take so much damage before it dies, but the human spirit is different. No matter how many times it’s wounded, it rejuvenates itself by nothing more than the passing of time. Remember that old saying, ‘time heals all wounds?’ I finally get it.”
John was silent.
“
Are you still there?” Poppy asked.
“
Yes, I’m just trying to come to terms with the fact that, although I’m older, my baby sister is wiser now than I ever will be.”
“
Don’t feel bad, Johnny. I thought you already knew women are smarter than men.”
****
By the end of the day Mike was remembering everything, including the fact that right after he’d been shot, he feared he was going to become the next person in Poppy’s life to let her down. Eternally grateful he’d been wrong, he lived for the moments when she was with him, and gave her all the confidence she needed when she had to leave.
Their relationship had just been tested in the most difficult of ways, and Poppy Sadler had come through with flying colors. During the ensuing days, every time one of the guys from the precinct came by to visit, he heard it over and over again. It was everyone’s opinion she had the makings of a damn good cop’s wife.
****
Justin’s new house was rising like a phoenix from the ashes of his past. It was now apparent it would be majestic, but what surprised most of the residents was how scaled down in size it was compared to the massive mansion in which he’d been raised.
There was also something else going on down on the north side of the riverbank that they had yet to figure out. A few weeks earlier ground had been cleared of brush and trees and the earth had been turned and worked. First guesses from the community were that the head offices were going to expand. But when a small tractor suddenly appeared one morning pulling a seeder, they realized something was being planted – most obviously some kind of ground cover. After that, it ceased to draw interest.
They had no idea that it was the single thing on which Justin was most focused. It was his last ditch effort to show Poppy how much she meant to him, and that he was not above shouting it to the world.
****
Callie called Poppy every Saturday - sometimes to issue an invitation that was never accepted - sometimes just to remind Poppy that she and Justin were in her life, whether she wanted them or not.
Justin saw her on a regular basis at The Depot, and continued to wear the red poppy, although its bedraggled state was pitifully obvious. When it was a business lunch, he greeted her warmly and introduced her to his dining companions as his daughter, leaving Poppy with no option but to bear it silently or lose her job for causing a ruckus.
He knew it irked her, but what he didn’t know was that, for Poppy, his dogged determination not to quit was also beginning to wear away her disdain. The fact that John held him in high esteem and Mike liked him as well left her riding that fence alone. And the truth was that Mike filled her with so much love, it was impossible to maintain hate.
****
July 4th
It was the end of Mike’s first week back at work. They’d put him on desk duty, which rankled, but at the same time he was so grateful to be back at work he wasn’t about to complain.
An invitation to Justin Caulfield’s housewarming was on the kitchen counter where Poppy left it the day it arrived. It promised food, wine, and fireworks over the river and begged an RSVP which she had ignored.
The new house in question was sugar-frosting white - straight out of the old South and sporting four massive pillars that ran the entire length of the front façade. They supported a two-story roof over a deep wrap-around porch. It wasn’t hard to imagine that some southern belle in a long hoop-skirted dress might come strolling out onto the veranda at any moment.
The black-top road leading up to the property was like an arrow pointing the way to the new diamond shining in a bright green rough.
Poppy resented it for the constant reminder it was, that she was in any way attached to the owner, and at the same time felt small for being so petty. It had been nearly a year since her life had unraveled, and to date, she had yet to find a single critical fault with the man her mother had so desperately loved.
The crop he had planted months earlier had turned out to be nothing more than a huge long field of tall, uncut grass. She supposed it was to prevent erosion and run-off, which was a positive difference from the muddy, brushy riverbank where Jessup had been murdered.
She hadn’t been able to discard the housewarming invitation, but at the same time couldn’t bring herself to go. While her feelings for Justin and Callie were slowly changing, they were still too fragile to air them in such a public fashion.
Tonight she and Mike were going to grill burgers and hot dogs in the front yard and feed anyone who happened to swing by, and after it got dark, enjoy the promise of Caulfield’s fireworks from their side of the river.