by Sydnie MacElroy
[Castle Rock Memorial Hospital]
>Vanessa pulled into the hospital parking lot and found a space.
>Zenya handed the folder to Jordan, "I'd like to see how Leo >is doing."
>"I'd like to go back to the school and see if we can find out more. >You can stay here if you'd like."
>"That's not necessary," Zenya said quickly.
>"Yes, it is."
>Zenya regarded Jordan for a long moment before saying, "Thanks."
The worst part of waiting around at hospitals was just that - waiting. In particular, the feeling of helplessness when there's nothing else to do but wait. It was something Zenya had never been very good at - after a few minutes, the need to do something constructive usually won out. As soon as she had ascertained from the doctors that, although it had been a close call, Leo would survive and that Martin was recovering as well, she stationed herself at Leo's bedside with a phone book and started trying to track down Green Pastures while she waited for him to wake up.
The tactic worked fairly well. She was able to keep most of her stray thoughts at bay. Things like 'What if�' 'I'd have gone through the rest of my life wondering�' 'The doctors said there was no damage to his spine, but�' - those thoughts usually didn't get any farther than that before she shut them out. And in the process, she managed to learn that there were two families named Green in Castle Rock, three more in the surrounding countryside, and a garden center called Green Fields a few miles south of town. A phone call to directory assistance revealed that there were three listings for Green Pastures in the state of Montana. Two were lawn services. The woman who answered the phone at the one in Billings seemed to think Zenya was insane for asking if they did any work in the Castle Rock area. They were a three man operation, for heaven's sake! The other one, from another small town in the opposite corner of the state, had recently closed down, and the number rang through to the home of it's former owner, a fourteen year old kid who had given up the lawn business for a paper route. The final one had no address attached to it and there was nothing to indicate what sort of business it might be. A call to the number got a recording that the line had been disconnected.
Zenya wished that she'd asked Vanessa if she'd gotten the license number of the truck, or that she'd held on to that file. Anything to keep her occupied, because the second she ran out of things to focus on, her thoughts started drifting. She was struck at once by the irony of the situation, that it wasn't a full two weeks since she'd been sitting by another hospital bed, that on that night it was Leo she was most worried about, out chasing down one of Rebecca Cross's henchmen. It occurred to her that worrying about him as much as she had been lately was exceedingly unprofessional, even if she didn't allow it to show most of the time. On the other hand, that entire point was negated by the simple fact that she was sitting in a hospital room waiting for him to wake up after a bullet wound that had nearly killed him. Maybe a little bit of worry wasn't so uncalled-for after all.
>For a man who seemed to have spent the past few hours floundering >in some sort of ocean, Leo was extremely thirsty when he woke up in >one of Castle Rock Memorial's beds. Sooner than he knew it, a cup >of water was near his parched lips and Leo took several sips before >the water was taken away. When Leo opened his eyes, for a moment >he thought that he saw Jenn sitting next to the bed with a cup of water >in her hands. As his eyes got a chance to focus, Leo saw that it was >Zenya sitting there and putting the cup on the dresser beside his bed.
>"Hey" she said, in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "How are you >doing?"
>Leo managed a weak smile, and as he took one of Zenya's hands in his, >he said, "I'm much better now."
Zenya smiled at him, then studied the back of Leo's hand for a long moment. The relief she felt at seeing him awake and all right made her even more acutely aware of how frightened she had been at the thought of losing him. The strength of the emotion she was feeling took her by surprise, though maybe it shouldn't have. Jordan had seen through the facade. Maybe the only one she'd been hiding it from was herself.
Zenya leaned over the bed and kissed Leo lightly. "Don't scare me like that again," she scolded in a soft whisper.
"I'll try."
"I guess that's all I can ask. Are you in much pain?"
Leo moved tentatively and grimaced. "Not too bad. Be up and around in no time. Martin?"
"You hit him in the arm. Nothing serious. He's in the next room. You remember everything?"
Leo nodded, though it seemed to take some effort, and there was a far away look in his eyes. "Some of it's a little hazy, but I remember." An involuntary shudder ran through him as he recalled the disturbing images before the shooting and he gripped Zenya's hand tighter.
Zenya was torn, but only slightly, between wanting to understand this phenomenon and wanting to spare Leo from having to think about something that was obviously uncomfortable for him. The questions could wait. She reached out and ran her hand along his cheek. "Forget I asked. You need to rest and get your strength back. Besides, I think the doctors will want to take a look at you. I was supposed to tell them the minute you woke up."
Leo started to chuckle, but it turned into a frown and groan instead. "No hurry," he said with a forced smile.
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NRPG:
Jeff: Sorry it took me so long to get something written. I had trouble with this one, for some reason. Hope to get that short story finished and out to you in a couple days, though. ;)