Authors Note: This story was edited by ErikThread and DaveT with my thanks and appreciation. Any errors are mine alone. It previously was posted on another site.
Georgie Girl
Chapter 7 Hey There, Georgie Girl
I have some vague memories of being attended to by a paramedic and being lifted onto a gurney and into a van. I saw Georgette once or twice, but I don't remember what she was doing. I remember being rolled into what I thought might be an operating room, and then nothing until I started to wake up.
The room was dimly lit and it took me a couple of attempts to focus my eyes before I concluded I was in a hospital room. I appeared to be by myself. I could see several tubes and two bags of fluid on a stand, along with a fancy monitor that was showing my heart rate. Good news. I was still alive.
I could turn my head and when I did I saw the huddled figure of Georgette curled up on a chair in the corner, asleep I assumed.
"Hey there ... Georgie Girl," I croaked, trying to be a comedian.
"John!" she cried, jumping up and coming to me.
I felt her cool hands on my face and her kisses on my forehead as her tears splashed down into my eyes.
"Oh, God, Johnny, I was so scared. I thought you were going to die. I saw that knife sticking out of you and all the blood. I thought you might be dead," she cried.
"You and me both," I said, my voice not sounding like it usually did. "Can I have some water? My throat feels awful."
"Here," she said, passing me her water bottle.
I took a sip and immediately felt better. Seconds later a nurse entered the room and snatched the bottle out of my hands.
"What are you doing with that? It's not sanitary. If you wanted water, then press the button," she said in a firm but not angry tone.
"Sorry," I said. "I just woke up."
She opened a door and came back a few moments later with a foam cup, a flexible straw and some cool water.
"There you go. Fresh, clean water from the Sierras," she smiled.
"Thanks. What time is it?"
"Just after eleven."
"So, I've been in here for a couple of hours then?"
"Eleven in the morning, young man. You were in surgery for over three hours. Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with knives?" she asked with a smile.
I put my head back on the pillow and noticed the control panel for the bed. I found the button to raise my head and immediately I could feel some stress on my chest. I wasn't sure what it was, but I assumed it had to do with the slash I had received in the fight. It was coming back to me now. I should have been frightened to death, but I was too stupid to be, I guess.
"What happened after I hit him?" I asked Georgette. "Did he get away?"
"No ... you knocked him out long enough for the sheriff's department to take him away. He's probably in the Tahoe City jail. I told the sheriff we'd press charges for attempted murder and all the other things he's guilty of. Father said he spoke to the county attorney's office and asked them not to grant bail. He's a threat to all of us."
"He didn't look like he was in his right mind from what I could tell," I said, my voice now beginning to return.
"He isn't," she agreed. "He's crazy and probably has been for a while. He needs to be locked up for a long time."
"So, you told your dad what happened?"
"Yes. He and mother and Nan came right away. They're at the lodge, cleaning up the mess."
"I'm sorry about that, I really am. I need to phone my parents and let them know I'm okay."
"Already done," she smiled, kissing my forehead again. "My father called them."
"How?"
"I found their number in your wallet. They're both on the way. They should be in Reno soon. Father and Mother are picking them up at the airport and bringing them here. Nan's at the lodge with my aunt and uncle. Nan will be along to visit later. She was all set to take my father's shotgun and shoot Brad."
"I bet she was. She really is someone special, Georgette."
"I notice you allow her to call you Johnny. That must mean she's special."
"I used to hate it when Ginny called me that, but I figured out why after we split up. When she said it she was trying to tell me that she was in charge. It was like she was belittling me in a small way. I didn't really catch on until Nan called me Johnny that first time and I didn't mind. With her, it was a term of affection, like when she calls you Georgie-Girl."
"You called me Georgie-Girl when you woke up," she smiled.
"Do you mind?"
"Not at all ... as long as it's you. Special privilege for a special man."
"In that case, I can live with Johnny from Nan and you," I grinned, taking her hand and squeezing it."
As if on cue, a short, balding man entered the room. The smock and the stethoscope were a give-away. He was my doctor, I presumed.
"Nice to see you awake and alert already Mr. Smith. By the way, is that your real name?" he grinned.
"Yes sir, it is," I said with chuckle and immediately regretting it.
"I don't recommend laughing, coughing or sneezing for the next little while. You're going to find it uncomfortable until the wounds heal. I'm Doctor Hilliard, by the way."
Georgette had stepped back and was sitting in the chair, listening to the conversation.
"How much damage did he do?" I asked.
"The slash on your chest is pretty much superficial. It wasn't deep, but it took something like thirty staples to close it. The puncture wound was another matter. In a way you were quite lucky. He only nicked a kidney and an artery, but you lost a lot of blood and it took us a while to find and repair the damaged bits. You should recover with no after-effects at all as far as I can see."
"How long will I be here?"
