Coppernicous Pt. 04

Just then there was a knock on the door and it swung open to reveal Lieutenant Halvorson. I waved for him to come in. "Hi, Bill," I called out. "Or since you are here on business, should I call you Lieutenant?"

"Hey there, Toomas. Bill is fine. Yes, I'm here on business, though I don't think there is much business to be done. I just need a statement from you about what happened out at your house. I'm glad you have your watchdog here," he nodded at Johnny. "I'm not even going to read you your rights, because unless you tell me something really absurd, I already know it was self-defense. Set your mind at ease. How about walking me through it for my records."

I looked at him, surprised. The police never rule anything out before they have everything covered.

"I know, it's unusual, but there is more to this case than you know. It's cut and dried the way it came together for us. I just have to have your statement to finalize things. Do you mind if I record this for later transcription? I'll have someone bring it by for your signature tomorrow sometime."

At my nod of agreement he pulled out a small recorder and spoke into it briefly, setting up the details of our meeting, and for the next fifteen minutes he walked me through everything that transpired.

*************

My daughters sat quietly and listened as I went through the whole ordeal. I had wished they would be asked to leave, but when they weren't I decided they could learn about what happened all at once rather than me having to answer questions interminably.

I love my daughters, don't get me wrong, and I'm glad they cared enough to race home when Kat called them to say I'd been shot, but they can be overly concerned at times. (I shall be charitable here.) I knew they were concerned about my deal with Deidra, too, although Kat talked to Jenny and had her on-board with the idea. The other two, well, let's just say they were dubious. I wasn't up to fighting that battle right now, though, so after the Lieutenant left and Margarite broached the subject I pled exhaustion.

Johnny had stepped out into the hallway with the Lieutenant, and he stepped back into the room just as I was begging off on the question. He picked up on it quickly, and I was glad he did.

"You were asking about the young lady your dad is going into business with? That is the smartest thing I've seen him do, and I've been his attorney for how many years? That young lady is going places, and your dad was smart enough to understand it. Don't worry about her getting into his pockets, 'cause I can assure you, she will be putting more into his pockets than she ever takes out."

I left it to them to talk it out for a few minutes, and I closed my eyes to rest. The murmur of their conversation was enough to lull me into a light sleep.

My little nap lasted no more than a few minutes. An imperious knock on the door startled me awake, and the door swung open without an invitation to admit a scrawny little pipsqueak of a man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. His arrogant attitude was obvious in the way he looked down his nose at me while he marched the short distance to the bed.

"Mr. Kze . . ."

"It's Toomas. I don't go by mister, especially from someone who can't pronounce it. Who are you, and what do you need?"

Have you ever met someone you automatically didn't like? This twerp was such for me.

"I'm John Squires, attorney for the university, and I'm here to tell you your contract with the university is suspended immediately. The women's volleyball team will be moved to other facilities by the end of the week. You have violated the school's no gun policy in any of its facilities, plus you have caused the death of one of the students. Your actions, sir, are reprehensible and inexcusable. This is also notice to you of intent to sue for damages for the harm you have brought to the good name of the university. I have been in contact with the victim's family, and they are bringing a wrongful death lawsuit against you, and the university will participate in their suit."

Behind him I could see Johnny start to stand. His face was red, and the veins were bulging in his neck, but I raised a hand and stopped him before he could speak.

"Are you here on behalf of Dr. Anderson, the president, and have you conversed with Dr. Cook in the athletics department about this?"

"No, I have not. As legal counsel for the school I had no need to consult with them. You have violated school firearms policies, killed a student, and brought ill-repute on the university. We don't need your kind. I went by the property, and you don't even have any of the signs on your doors that say guns are not allowed, in contravention of regulations."

"Might I suggest you go back to your office and read my contract with the university? My home does not belong to the university, nor does any of the property. It is my home, and I do not fall under any of your foolish gun rules. No, I don't have any signs on my doors proclaiming my home as a target-rich environment, as all of the school buildings do. It is my home. I have leased rooms for young ladies on the volleyball teams, and I have also made the grounds available for their training, but it is my property, not the school's, and you have no business here today. Had I not been prepared for the perpetrator's attempt on the life of one of the young ladies who lives in my home it would be she who is dead today, and possibly others along with her. Is that what you prefer?"

"I hope you will bring a lawsuit against me, for I will counter-sue you personally for overstepping your bounds and for unprofessional conduct, as witnessed by Mr. Johnny Walker, my attorney, and the president of the local bar association. I suggest, sir, that you walk out that door with a lot less arrogance than when you walked in it, and you don't let it hit you in the ass when you close it. I shall call Dr. Anderson and discuss our conversation with her. I would suggest you might want to dust off your resume, because you will not be needed by the university any longer once Dr. Anderson hears of your hubris in coming here as you did. Now get out of here, you pompous ass, before I have security throw you out!"

I reached for the phone on the bedside table as a no longer arrogant lawyer slunk out the door.

*************

Greta, Margarite, and Jenny spent most of the day with me, and it helped pass the time, but to say I was bored was beyond question. Kat couldn't stay because of classes, to her disgust. She wanted to cut the classes, but I put my foot down. The other foot, that is.

I had a cast on my thigh to protect the wound, so I couldn't get up and around. I thought it was overkill, but the nurse told me it was because of the arterial damage, and because they were concerned the femoral artery might let go. If that happened I'd bleed out in minutes, so I had no choice. They weren't going to take it off of me anyway.

Coach Thorson called off practice the first afternoon I was allowed to have visitors, and the whole team piled into my room, with the exception of Lynn. They had to get approval for all of them to be in the room at one time, and Kat went a long way to get it approved. The head nurse got a little huffy when she asked Coach Thorson what their relationship with me was, and Darlene said we all lived together.

The only one not there was Lynn. Darlene told me she was at the house in bed, under sedation. She didn't think I would want to see her, anyway, and she said she was going to drop out of school and go home. I pointed over at Greta and said, "Go get her. Tell her I want to see her, now, and don't take 'No' for an answer."

Kat started to get up to go with her, but I waved her back into her seat. "No, Kat. If you go she won't take you seriously." Margarite and Jenny both jumped up to go along, and went out the door behind Greta at my nod of approval.

I spent the next half hour telling the girls what happened, and answering their questions as best I could, careful to leave Lynn's involvement out of the situation as much as I could. The last thing she needed was anyone from the team putting a guilt trip on her.

It was a groggy Lynn that came through the door, with Greta holding her by the arm reassuringly. Lynn had her head down, and tears in her eyes. I could hear her arguing with Greta in a stage-whisper. "He doesn't really want to see me. I almost got him killed, and it was my fault."

"Lynn," I called across the room. "Come here, sweetheart. Yes, I do want to see you. It was not your fault, and I'm glad I was there." I patted the side of the bed, hoping she would take me up on the offer and not be stand-offish.

For a moment Lynn hesitated in the doorway, then shuffled over by the side of my bed, eyes downcast. She wouldn't meet my gaze, but stood and sniffled as tears coursed down both cheeks. "I'm so sorry I got you into this, Toomas. I'm so, so sorry. I wish I was dead." It was a whisper, followed by a sob, and Lynn collapsed on the floor.

With my leg in the cast the way it was, and the ubiquitous IV in the arm on the other side of the bed there was no way I could reach her, but Kat and Greta both knelt next to Lynn on the floor and embraced her, whispering in her ear.

"Lynn, honey, it was not your fault, and I am glad you aren't dead. Look at me, sweetheart," I said softly. Coach Thorson quietly shooed the rest of the girls from the room, and I gave her a silent nod of thanks. "Lynn, if you had not told me about Shawn you would be dead, and possibly some others of the girls would have been hurt, if not killed. Would that have been better?"

Lynn shuddered where she knelt on the floor and sobbed even more. I grabbed the box of tissues from the bedside table and handed them off to Kat, then I looked over at the door, where my charge nurse stood with a concerned look on her face. I waved at her and held my finger to my lips before motioning for her to leave and close the door. "Later," I mimed to her with a "Please?" She looked doubtful, but after a quick glance at Jenny, she relented and backed out of the doorway and pulled it closed gently.

"Lynn," I said softly, trying to break through the grief. "Please, sweetheart, look at me for a minute." I remained silent for a few moments to allow my calmness to communicate with her. "Sweetheart, if I'm not sorry this happened to me, why should you be? Hmmm?"

Surprised, she looked up at me with wide eyes for a moment before looking back down at the floor. "You can't mean that," she mumbled. "You're just trying to be nice and make me feel better, but you can't."

Kat broke in. "Lynn, do you think my daddy would have sent my sisters to get you if he didn't mean it? I know Daddy better than that. If he didn't want you here he would have said to keep you away, not to send for you. He's going to be OK, and so will you, but you have to stop blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault." Kat gently wiped the tears from Lynn's face and then whispered, "Talk to him. He's never lied to me yet, nor to anyone else I've ever known. He's not going to lie to you, either. He really does care about you."

Lynn lifted trembling eyes up toward me and I gave her a gentle smile and patted the bed again. "Please, sweetheart, I don't like talking down to you. Sit up here by me for a minute, OK?"

"Are . . . are you sure?"

I nodded and patted the bed again.

"But, . . . but, after that awful man from the university came by the house today I didn't think you would want to see me."

I cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "Man from the university? Little arrogant man? Attorney?"

She sniffled again, and more tears welled up. Kat handed her another tissue. "He said I was going to be kicked out of the university, and the team was going to have to move away from your house, and that your contract was being revoked."

I had to listen carefully to understand what she was saying, her voice was so broken with sobs.

I patted the bed again, and Lynn finally sat gingerly on the edge. I put my hand over hers and said, "He was by here and threatened me, too, but he didn't tell me he had accosted you. Now I'm really getting PO'ed at him. I kicked him out of this room, and Johnny Walker was here to witness it. Now I know I'm going to bring charges against him for unprofessional conduct."

My voice softened, and I continued, "the biggest thing is you, and how are you doing? I don't want to hear any more of this junk that this was your fault, because it wasn't. I am the one who made the choice to meet him at the door, not you, and I'd do it again. People like that are not fit to have in society."

"But it's not fair for you to get shot for me. I'm responsible." Lynn dabbed rather ineffectively at tears that flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto her shirt. Kat handed her a couple of dry tissues and took the wet ones from her hand. "I have to live with that. You could have died."

Perhaps it was poor amateur psychology on my part, but I decided the soft approach wasn't going to work with Lynn. I gave her hand a squeeze and a little tug to get her attention fully on me, and made her look up into my eyes. "Now listen here, young lady, and listen good." My voice was firm, yet still soft. "I'm the one who chose to be there, not you. You didn't tell me to meet him at the door. I chose to do that. You didn't choose to put the gun in his hand. He did. Could I have died? Yeah, I could've, and I almost did. If I had, I'd have died happy, taking that piece of refuse out with me, but Kat and Deidra were there to take care of me, and that made the difference. Don't be giving me any more of your 'It's my fault' junk. You hear me? By the way, did you know Kat had her gun out when she came running in there?"

Lynn's head snapped up and she turned to Kat, who nodded.

"Kat figured out something was going on because I had on my sport coat so no one could see my gun, and she got hers. Kat thinks you are worth defending, too."

Lynn suddenly leaned upward on the bed to wrap her arms around me and sob on my shoulder, but the tears and sobs were different now, and I knew she was going to be OK. Finally as she paused to catch her breath she gasped out, "I just didn't know. They wouldn't let me out of my room, and I just didn't know what was going on until the policeman came back to talk to me. I should have been out there with you."

My hand stroked her back comfortingly, and with a sigh she nestled her head back down on my shoulder like a little girl.

My daughters had remained silent the whole time, but now they sensed things had turned the corner, and they gathered around the bed, and next I knew I was in the middle of a group hug. I know that for the longest time they had reserves in their mind about my "harem" as Kat jokingly called it in private with me, but now it seemed they were at peace with the situation.

*****************

I had been in the hospital room for three long, tedious, days and was in the process of saying goodbye to Jenny, Greta, and Margarite, when the doctor came into the room.

"Toomas, I have some good news for you, and some bad news. We are releasing you from the hospital tomorrow, but we have to find a nursing facility for you. You obviously cannot be up and about on your own, and you have no one at home to care for you. Is there any particular nursing home you would prefer? If so, we'll try to find a bed there for you."

My spirits sank. A nursing home is the last place I ever wanted to go. I remember when my father had to be in one the last year of his life, and how he called it the penitentiary. I know, I know, they are necessary, and most of them take good care of their patients, but I don't like to be at the mercy of anybody else. I like to be able to care for myself.

Greta, my blessed Greta, spoke up. "What sort of care does he need, Doctor? He doesn't really need a nurse, does he?"

"Well, technically, no, but he will need someone qualified to care for a bed-bound patient. He's not going to be up and about until the cast is removed, and he needs someone who can tend to his bathing and other personal needs. I'd be a lot more comfortable if it were someone who knew enough about medicine to be on the lookout for any complications with his wound. It is covered, but if there were problems, it would be better if someone was able to recognize them."

Greta turned to her sisters, ignoring me completely, as she took charge of my situation. "What do you think about Lynn? She told me she has worked as a CNA in a nursing home for the last two summers." She turned to the doctor. "Would a CNA be sufficient, Doctor?"

He nodded. "Yes, if she is available enough. He really needs someone available around the clock, though."

"I think it would be good for Lynn. It will give her a chance to give something back, and I think it will help her self-respect a lot. What do you girls think?" Again, Greta left me out of the conversation. I tried to interject, but Greta shushed me. "Daddy, we'll make sure you are taken care of properly. Just leave it to us, OK?"

Well, it really wasn't OK, but it was obvious I had no say in the matter at all, and thinking about it, it would be nicer to be at home. I wasn't sure about having one of my girls responsible for bathing me and caring for my bodily functions, though.

"Doctor, how soon do we have to have an answer on where he is going? Would tomorrow be too late?" Margarite was obviously going along with her sister.

Jenny settled the issue for us all by calling Kat on her cell and getting Lynn's number. A quick text to Lynn to confirm she was not in class and a group call on speaker to Lynn, and it was all settled.

"Doctor, we'll get him set up at home. Is there anything we need to have set up for him?" Jenny, the organizer took over this function.

"Well, it would be best to have him in a hospital bed, and you will need a wheelchair for getting him to and fro. You will want to arrange for an ambulance to get him home. There is no way he can be moved in a passenger car with that cast on his leg. After the cast is removed in two and a half weeks he will be able to get around on crutches, but I would be a lot more comfortable if the young lady is able to continue to provide care, at least for another week. She is a student at the university, no?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Could other of the students living there at the home be available in case of need while this young lady is in class or elsewhere?"

Jenny smirked at the doctor. "From what I've seen around the house, I think they will be lining up to take turns. If I didn't know my father as well as I do, I'd think he had something going on out there." She and her sisters got a good laugh as I tried to protest. "Oh, hush, Daddy. You will enjoy it, and you know it. We can still find a cheap nursing home for you if you want."

I surrendered, but I had some serious misgivings about putting myself in the care of all of the girls, as helpless as I was. I could only imagine the teasing I would get now!

*************

It turned out to be late afternoon before I was able to make the transition home. The medical supply place my daughters called was late in delivering and setting up the hospital bed. Jenny and Margarite both had to leave the previous night, but Greta was able to arrange to stay another day, so she was there to handle the transfer to the house. I had no more than gotten settled in the bed in my office, where Greta had it set up so stairs would not be an issue, when Lynn came rushing in from school. The first thing she did was to give me a big hug and kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so glad to have you home, Toomas! Thank you for letting me help care for you. I felt so helpless with you gone."

My location left us with one problem. We didn't have a call button system like they have in the hospital or a nursing home. How was I to be able to call Lynn, or one of the other girls, if I needed her?