A Pale Paradise

  ******

  Thad ducked his head as he climbed out of the police car, then turned and held out his hand to help Phyl. She shifted her shoulder bag to a more comfortable position, and they thanked the officer as he walked toward them. The young man escorted them into the brightly-lit, white and pale green-tiled facility, and they stopped at the information desk in the front lobby. Phyl looked around at the small lobby, then up at Thad, who raised his eyebrows at her and squeezed her hand. She was so anxious to call Scott and Leah so they could head out to Freeport. They would be understandably frantic and want to book a flight as soon as possible. The receptionist, an elderly woman wearing colorful printed scrubs, flipped through some papers on the desk, then eyed them all rather warily.

  "Mr. Martin is in de surgical unit right now." The woman paused as Phyl took in a sudden breath, then continued. "You may wait in de surgical waiting room on de third floor, if you like." She smiled at them, then looked down at her papers, effectively dismissing them.

  "Well, let's head up to the third floor." Officer Smith turned to them, and held his hand out for them to precede him to the elevators. As they walked toward the elevator, Phyl turned her head back toward the young officer and smiled at him.

  "We appreciate everything that's being done for Jonathan and us." She saw the officer nod to her, a slight smile on his face. They reached the doors and the officer pushed the 'up' button, and the three of them waited silently for the doors to open. Phyl tried to keep calm, and she knew that Thad was frustrated as well, judging by the number of times he had squeezed her hand. This all seemed so unreal. Who would ever think that in their lifetime, they would be involved in a shooting? Who would ever think that could happen? She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated on the feel of Thad's warm hand enveloping hers. She couldn't allow herself to think of any alternate ending to their recent nightmare, other than the obvious one of Jonathan not getting shot. If Thad had been injured or worse, she....no, no, she wouldn't think it. She wouldn't. But, he had thought of her safety first, and then had been able to subdue the gunman. She sighed, grateful for his clear quick thinking, and his strength. The doors finally opened and they entered the large, carpeted enclosure and the officer pushed the button for the third floor. Phyl rubbed her lips nervously as the doors slowly closed. After a moment, they walked out of the elevator into a bright hallway, and they each turned their heads to either side looking for the signs to point them in the right direction.

  "There it is." Thad nodded to the right at the small sign on the wall that read 'Surgical Unit' in front of swinging metal doors at the end of the hall, and a room on the left with a sign that read 'Waiting Room.' Again, the officer extended his hand, indicating that he wanted them to precede him. The trio turned left into the small waiting room, and Phyl immediately spied the black phone sitting on a small wood table against the far wall. The rest of the room consisted of upholstered chairs set against the walls, and one row down the middle of the room.

  "I'm going to call Jonathan's parents in Nassau." Without waiting for the officer to reply, she let go of Thad's hand and headed toward the table, setting her shoulder bag on the table.

  "That's fine." The officer nodded affably. As she rummaged in her bag for the hotel's number, she noticed that Thad had emerged from the adjoining bathroom after washing the remaining blood off his hands, and had pulled a chair up to the table to join her. She glanced over and saw that the officer was standing by the door, and was in conversation with a nurse that had passed by in the hall. Just as Phyl picked up the receiver, she saw the officer hurrying across the room toward them, so she set it back on the cradle and turned to him.

  "Your friend is doing fine." He smiled at them. "They are finishing up now, and say that he will be in the recovery room in about an hour."

  "Thank you." Phyl returned his smile.

  "By the way," Thad turned to him, his arm across the back of the chair. "Do we give our statement to you while we wait?"

  "Yes, my partner is bringing the paperwork to the hospital, and then we can proceed." The young officer nodded to him. "It shouldn't take too long, and then you can check on Mr. Martin once he is taken to a private room."

  "I just thought of something." Phyl paused, looking at Thad, then the officer, holding the phone halfway between the cradle and her ear. "Won't Jonathan require some sort of security while he's here? After what just happened?"

  "Yes, Sergeant Dawes has instructed my partner, Officer Williams and I to take shifts. We'll be stationed outside his hospital room door."

  "His parents will be very relieved to hear that, I'm sure." Thad narrowed his eyes at the officer. "I'm glad your sergeant is taking those precautions."

  As Officer Smith returned to stand at the door, Phyl dialed the hospital's operator, and asked to be transferred to the front desk of the British Colonial Inn in Nassau. She waited impatiently for the receptionist at the hotel to confirm the Martins' acceptance of the call, and relay that information to the hospital receptionist. Thad sat next to her, his elbows on the table, as he rested his chin in his hands, and she saw his serious, warm gaze, and she sighed and ran her hand along his arm. He looked exhausted to her, his lids heavy.

  "I'm glad you could understand my signal," he smiled softly, and he half-winked at her. "I thought I felt you nod into my shoulder, before I pushed you toward the door."

  "I figured out pretty quickly what you planned to do." Phyl lowered her eyebrows at him, and returned his smile, gazing into his dark eyes. "I knew what you were thinking." She searched his eyes. "Thank you for that. You saved us all, you know."

  She saw him lower his head and rub his forehead with his clasped hands.

  "I've never been in a situation like that before, Phyl, and I know you haven't either." He rested his cheek on his hands and gazed at her. "This is what we were afraid of, coming here, and it's happened. It's deadly serious now."

  Phyl nodded, continuing to rub his arm. She quickly turned her attention back to the operator.

  "Oh yes...thank you." She nodded at Thad. "Leah, thank you for taking the call."

  "What's wrong, Phyl? I can tell something's wrong by your voice."

  "Leah, Thad and I are at the Freeport Medical Center." She took a deep breath and continued. "Jonathan was shot in the arm by a gunman."

  "Oh my God! Scott - come to the phone."

  "Leah, he's finishing up in surgery now. The bullet hit his shoulder."

  "Phyl, will you be able to see him?"

  "Yes, the officer said we could when he's transferred to a private room. In a couple of hours probably." What time was it, she wondered. She glanced down at her watch and saw that it was almost one in the morning. She noticed that Thad was still resting his cheek on his fist, as he listened to the conversation.

  "There are police there with you?" Scott's voice was strained as he took over for Leah, whom Phyl could hear sobbing in the background.

  "Yes, they are posting an officer in front of his door around the clock."

  "We'll head over there as soon as we can get a flight. What time is your flight?"

  "Nine in the morning."

  "We'll get there somehow so you can get to the airport on time." She heard Scott take a deep breath. "Well, this is what we all were worried about, isn't it Phyl? How did it happen? Who found him?"

  "We were at...Scott, I'm going to let Thad talk to you. I think the officer wants me." Phyl motioned to Thad that the officer was trying to get her attention from his post at the door, and handed him the phone. She got up and crossed the room, listening to the officer for a moment, then went back to sit at the table with Thad as he was finishing up his description of the shooting. She rubbed her forehead, and leaned her head back to stretch her sore neck, then smoothed her hairline and ponytail.

  ".....the gunman aimed at Jonathan, I managed to grab his arm as he fired, then we wrestled for the gun and it went off again. I was finally able to hit him a couple of times, knocking him unconscious. H
e's in police custody now." Thad's deep voice was calm, and he exhaled. "You and Leah need to be careful when you come to Lucaya." He nodded. "I understand. All right, thank you. You two take care. We'll see you later." He hung up the phone and looked over at Phyl as he placed it on the cradle. "What did the officer have to say?"

  "His partner is here and we have to give our statements in a few minutes."

  "What time is it?" Thad leaned back and glanced down at his watch. "It's a little after one. Our flight to Nassau leaves at nine in the morning." Thad rubbed his forehead. "I don't think we'll be getting any sleep before then."

  "I know. I wonder how long it will take Scott and Leah to get here, if they can even get a flight this late. Oh, here's the other officer." They both turned their heads toward the door to see a tall young man in his crisp black and white uniform, holding a large manila envelope, enter and converse with Officer Smith. The two officers turned in unison and walked toward them.

  "This is Officer Williams."

  Phyl looked at the officer expectantly, as he nodded to them, then he opened the envelope and pulled out several forms.

  "This won't take very long, Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher." He smiled at them. "Why don't I pull up a chair, and we can get these filled out." Thad raised up and moved his chair a little closer to Phyl's as the officer positioned his chair to face them across the small table. He sat down and arranged the papers, and pulled two pens from his uniform pocket. "Let's get started, shall we?"