Johnny Breeze & Me - 18. Love, Light, and Trauma

“Daddy, it hurts!!”

Blood was pouring out of Cade’s arm. I yanked off my tie and tied off his arm well above the wound. Margaret knelt beside me. “I’ll watch the boy. Johnny needs you more!” She held Cade in her arms and began to comfort him, telling her grandson that she was there, that he was going to be alright.

I could hear sirens approaching as I went over to Johnny. A police officer had removed Johnny’s jacket and was using it as a compress on his back. Another officer was applying pressure to the front of his chest with his shirt. I knelt down on the other side of Johnny and looked into his eyes. “Hang in there, baby. Help is on the way. We’re gonna get you fixed up.”

“Cade?”

“He’ll be fine. He got hit in the arm, nothing too serious.”

“I love you, Jason.”

“Shhh. Don’t try to talk.”

The next thing I knew, paramedics were asking me to stand back so they could work on Johnny. I looked over at Cade, and Margaret was also asked to move. I held this stranger of a woman in my arms as I kept looking at the two people I loved more in the world being worked on by the paramedics.

I looked over towards Sam. He was lying on the ground with his head in a growing puddle of blood. His eyes were open, and a police officer was looking for a pulse. My heart sank as a team of paramedics lifted him onto a gurney, covered him completely, and loaded him into an ambulance. It drove away without sirens.

One of Johnny’s paramedics told me they were taking him to the trauma unit at University Medical Center. One of Cade’s paramedics came up to me and asked if I was the boy’s father. I nodded my head, and he asked if I would like to ride with them to Dell Children’s Hospital. I explained that I would prefer if they also took him to University Med Center as the other victim was also the boy’s father, and I needed to be with both.

He got on his radio and talked with someone and said they would be able to do that, but we might want to reconsider things later since Dell was much better equipped to handle children’s trauma. I didn’t even have to think about it. “Let’s take them both to University and see what we need to do after they get stabilized.”

As they were putting Johnny in the ambulance, Margaret began to climb in. “I’m his mother-in-law. I’m not leaving him alone!” I was happy to have her with me. I climbed into the ambulance with Cade and held his good hand while the paramedics started an IV. They were taking his blood pressure, pulse, temperature and talking to him about how brave he was. I wish someone would look at me and tell me I was being brave, but I was terrified. I wasn’t crying, but tears were flowing from my eyes.

Cade looked up at me. “Don’t cry, Daddy. It’s just my arm. They can fix that.”

“I love you, little man.” I kissed his hand.

“How’s Papa? Is he going to be okay?”

“Yes, he’s in another ambulance. He was hurt pretty bad, but you and I both know how strong he is. He’s going to make it. He’s going to make it.”

I closed my eyes and silently prayed, “Dear God, please let Johnny make it. Please give Johnny the strength to make it!”

Thankfully, the hospital was just a short distance from the courthouse. Both ambulances pulled up at the same time. Cade and Johnny were wheeled in one behind the other. Cade’s paramedics took him into a cubicle down the hall. Johnny’s paramedics were shouting at the doctors waiting to meet them. The lead paramedic called out Johnny’s stats, “Heart rate 120, respiratory 40, blood pressure 90 over 60. We’re giving him oxygen and dressed the patient for a sucking chest wound. Drainage needed STAT.”

Johnny was rushed into a room, and the door closed behind them. The room was marked `Trauma 1.’

I was just staring at the closed door. I think I was in shock. Margaret had her arm around me, trying to comfort me. I was brought out of my daze when I heard Cade cry out.

“Owwww! It hurts!” I looked down the hall and started walking towards my son. A nurse came up to me and asked if I was the boy’s father.

“Yes, I need to be with him.”

As she led me into Cade’s cubicle, she asked if the patient in Trauma 1 was related to Cade. “Yes, he’s also Cade’s father.”

She looked at me and smiled. “You go and be with your son. I’ll find out what I can about the other patient—”

“Johnny.”

“—Johnny, and get back to you with any information. And this woman is?”

“Cade’s grandmother. Can she come in, too?”

“I’m afraid only one family member is allowed at a time. We have a private waiting area that we’ll set up for you and your family.”

I walked into Cade’s cubicle, and he appeared to have calmed down. The attending doctor looked up at me. “Are you Cade’s father?”

“Yes, sir. How is he?”

“We gave him a mild sedative. I’m waiting for the x-rays to come back, but my initial examination shows that the bullet penetrated his right forearm and went through the ulna, one of the long bones in the forearm. He’s a very lucky boy. Whoever applied the tourniquet did the right thing and prevented a great loss of blood.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” a groggy Cade looked up at me. “You saved my life!” I took his left hand and kissed it.

“You’re gonna be an okay little man. I love you!”

The nurse entered the room and handed me a hospital scrub shirt. “Here, you might want to get out of those stained clothes.” I stood up and took off my blood-soaked jacket and shirt. She held out a bio-bag for me to place them in, and I put on the fresh shirt. I immediately felt better. “Sir, why don’t you come with me, and I’ll fill you in on what we know. Dr. McCoy will come and talk to you about Cade when he gets the x-rays back.”

She led me into the private waiting area where Margaret was. She had already changed into a scrubs outfit. “How’s Cade?”

“He’s going to be fine. They might have to do some surgery to repair his arm, but the doctor is waiting for the x-rays to decide. They have him sedated a bit, and he seems to be handling things well.”

“Okay, folks. I’m nurse McCoy. I’m going to be your advocate for the next couple of days.”

“I’m Jason Richardson, and this is Margaret Manning. Wait. Nurse McCoy? Dr. McCoy?”

“Yes, he’s my husband. Now, before we continue, I have to know that you are the immediate family of the patients.”

“I’m Cade’s father, and Margaret is his grandmother.”

“Excellent. Now, before I can give you a report on Mr. Breeze, I need to know that you are his immediate family.”

She emphasized the word `immediate’ and gave us both a knowing look. Margaret spoke, “I’m Johnny’s mother-in-law. Jason is his brother.”

“Excellent, that’s all I need to know.” She winked at me. “We’ll just leave it at that.”

I looked at the nurse. “What can you tell me about Johnny’s condition?”

“He’s quite fortunate that there were trained policemen at the scene. They most definitely saved his life. The bullet entered his back and went through his right lung, and exited through his chest. The doctors have begun draining the excess fluid from the wound and have bypassed any testing. He’s on his way to surgery now.”

“Is he going to—? Is he—” I couldn’t finish saying it.

“Jason, he’s in critical condition. And to be honest, it’s touch and go right now. He’s also a very lucky man in that the area’s top thoracic surgeon happened to be on duty and met Johnny in the trauma room. He couldn’t be in better hands.”

Suddenly the television in the waiting room went to a special report, and a local news station had a crew in front of the courthouse.

“There has been a violent and fatal shooting spree in front of the Travis County courthouse this morning. We’re going to take you live to Jessica Bond, who is at the scene.”

“Thank you, John. About thirty minutes ago, a man fired three shots at a group leaving the courthouse. One man, a local attorney, died at the scene, and two other victims, an adult, and one child, were rushed to University Medical Center. According to witnesses, the injuries to the adult appeared to be quite serious, while the child appeared to have been injured in the arm. Police on patrol at the courthouse fired two shots at the gunman, who was also pronounced dead at the scene. According to a police spokesman, the group leaving the courthouse had just finished an adoption hearing involving the juvenile. Names of the victims have not been released pending family members being contacted. Jessica Bond, Eyewitness News.”

“Thank you, Jessica. We will have more on this developing story during our mid-day news at noon. We’ll now return you to our regular programming.”

Margaret wept openly for the first time. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I can’t believe my husband did all this to your family!”

I took Margaret’s hand. “You had nothing to do with this, Margaret. I’m just so grateful you’ve been here with my family and me.”

“I know. I know. But Frank tried to kill Johnny and Cade. And he did kill your attorney!” Then it hit me. Sam! He was dead. I wondered if the police knew who to contact? I knew he was divorced and had two children. But that was the extent of my knowledge. Ironically, he knew nearly every aspect of our lives, yet we knew so little about his.

Nurse McCoy put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry about your friend.” She then turned to Margaret. “And I’m also sorry about your husband, Mrs. Manning.”

“Don’t be sorry about that son-of-a-bitch! He got what he deserved!” Just then, the phone on the wall rang, and the nurse picked it up. “Yes, Doctor, I’ll send him in right away.” She told me Dr. McCoy had Cade’s x-rays and asked if we wanted to see him before they took him up to surgery.

Margaret and I both took deep breaths to compose ourselves and walked down the hallway to Cade’s cubicle. My beautiful son was all wired up to monitors, and an IV was running into his good arm. He was even groggier than before. “Daddy! They’re going to fix my arm now.”

“That’s good, little man. Now you do what the doctor says, and we’ll be waiting for you when you wake up.”

“Daddy?”

“Yes, son?”

“Can you call Connor and tell him I’m not dead?”

“Of course I will, Cade. Don’t you worry about a thing.” He then fell asleep.

Dr. McCoy looked up at me. “He’s had quite a morning. He went into a bit of a panic about his Papa, so we increased the dosage of his sedative a bit. He knows what we know. That his Papa is in surgery right now.”

“Oh, God.” I sighed and rested my forehead in my hands.

“Don’t worry too much, Mr. Richardson. Mr. Breeze is in the best of hands. Should something like this ever happen to me or someone in my family, Dr. Marco is exactly the person I would want to take care of them. Now, Cade will be in surgery and recovery for a couple of hours. I’m not sure how long Mr. Breeze will be. Would you like something to calm your nerves a bit while you wait?”

“No, I need to be awake and alert.”

“Very well. I’ll have Nurse McCoy take you to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. You do need your strength.”

“Mrs. Manning, how about you? Would you like anything?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I need to be here for my boys.” That made me smile—my first smile in what seemed like a long, long time.

An orderly came in and began to wheel Cade out of the room. Margaret and I followed them to the elevator. Before the doors opened, I kiss Cade on the forehead. “I love you, little man.” The doors opened, and Cade was on his way to surgery.

The nurse took Margaret and me to the cafeteria. While we were walking down the hall, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that it was JJ.

“Hi, JJ.”

“Good God! I just saw the news on television, and they didn’t say much, but it sure sounded like you guys. Where are you?”

“I’m in the hospital cafeteria. Cade and Johnny are in surgery. I’m with Cade’s grandmother, who has been an angel through all of this. Where are you?”

“Zach and I are in the hospital lobby and can’t find out anything. There are a lot of people here trying to find out what’s going on.”

“If you can get away without anyone noticing, please join us in the hospital cafeteria. We’ll fill you in on what we know.”

I hung up the phone and told Margaret that JJ and Zach would be joining us. She looked at me with a puzzled look. “JJ and Zach are as much a part of our family as anyone can be. They are Cade’s uncles.”

Nurse McCoy looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and Margaret spoke up. “They are my sons. Like Jason said, they are a part of the family.” The nurse just smiled to herself as she picked up her tablet and began typing.

“I just need their last names, and they will be on the immediate family list. We want Cade and Johnny to have all the support they can get.”

I gave her their last names, and she looked up and smiled as she finished typing. “Quite an interesting family you have.” She chuckled. “Believe it or not, it’s not even close to some of the most interesting, if you know what I mean!”

“Jason!” JJ and Zach walked into the cafeteria just as we were sitting down with a cup of coffee. The boys ran over to us, and the three of us just each other in a group hug. It was so good to have them with me. I already felt stronger.

I broke the hug and introduced them to Margaret. “JJ, Zach, this is Margaret Manning, Cade’s grandmother.”

JJ looked at her suspiciously, “Oh.”

“No, it’s not like you think at all. Sit down and let me explain everything that’s happened.”

I told the boys about the court session. I let them know about Franklin’s testimony and how wonderful Sam was. I explained how Margaret wanted nothing to do with her husband and then told him all I could remember about what happened outside the courthouse.

By the time I had finished, JJ was sobbing into Zach’s shoulder. Zach held his lover close and said, “Get it out of your system now. There are two people up in surgery right now who are going to need you to be strong. They’re going to need all of us to be strong.”

Nurse McCoy excused herself and said she was going up to the surgery floor to see what she could find out for us. Zach looked over at me and asked if anyone had called Johnny’s mother. “Dear God, I completely forgot!” I excused myself and went out into the hallway. I dialed the number. She picked up after two rings. “Hello?”

“Hi Mom, it’s Jason.”

“Jason! How did the adoption go?”

“It went great. But something terrible has happened.”

“Oh no, what’s going on?”

“As we were walking out of the courthouse, Cade’s maternal grandfather had a gun and shot Johnny and Cade.”

“Dear God! Why would he—are they—”

“They’re both in surgery right now. Cade was hit in the arm and should be fine. Johnny was shot in the chest, and he’s in pretty bad shape.”

“Oh my God, I—I—I’ll get the next flight out to Austin.”

“I’ll take care of your flight arrangements and have someone pick you up at the airport here in Austin.”

“Oh, Jason! He’s going to be okay, isn’t he? He has to be okay!”

“Johnny’s stronger than most people. He’s going to pull through this. He has to. Let me make a few calls, and I’ll get right back to you with your flight details.”

“Okay, I’ll start packing now and wait for your call.”

I walked back into the cafeteria and noticed Margaret and the boys talking. She looked up when she saw me. “How are you doing, Jason?”

“That was hard. I need to find a flight.” I started looking up flights on my smartphone and was getting frustrated. Nothing was available until tomorrow. JJ got out his phone and started looking, too.

In about a minute, he handed me his phone. “Johnny’s mother needs to be here as soon as possible. I’ll charter a jet and get her here by dinner.” Margaret looked at him with a puzzled look. “Don’t worry, Margaret. I have more money than I know what to do with, so this is one of those things I’m happy to do.”

“Oh my! I had no idea!”

Zach looked at her. “Most people don’t. JJ’s guardian was quite wealthy and passed away several months ago. He left everything to JJ.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss JJ.”

“Thank you, but it’s all good.” He dialed the number for the charter company and made all the necessary arrangements. He gave them a credit card number, and within minutes, the flight was set. I called Johnny’s mother and told her to go to the charter hangar at the Phoenix airport and that JJ had arranged for a private jet to bring her to Austin. She would be landing here at 4:15. Amazing!

JJ suggested we call the theatre and see if someone could pick up Johnny’s mother. He wanted to be here for Cade and Johnny when they woke up from surgery. I didn’t know if I was ready to make that call. Then JJ remembered Bob was in the emergency room lobby. I dialed his cell number and handed my phone to JJ. “Hi, Bob. No, this is JJ. Johnny and Cade are in surgery, so we’re all just waiting. Look, we need a favor. Can you ask someone to pick up Johnny’s mother at the airport charter terminal? She’ll be arriving at 4:15. Great, thanks! Yes, I’ll tell him.”

“Bob is going to pick her up. He also wanted me to tell you that there are several people in the hospital lobby, praying and waiting.” I looked up at the television and noticed CNN was now talking about the shooting. “Oh God, now it’s on CNN. This is going to turn into a circus! I feel like I should go out and talk to our friends and let them know what’s happening, but I don’t want to deal with the press!”

JJ stood up and said, “Why don’t I go out to the lobby and let people know what we know and tell them how thankful you are that they are all there?”

“Thank you, JJ. You’re a saint.”

“Well, I don’t know about that—But I do what I can!”

Zach spoke up, “True dat—I mean, the saint part and all!”

“Hey!” That got a little laugh from the group just as Nurse McCoy came into the cafeteria. We all just looked up at her and waited.

“Good news. Dr. McCoy is about finished with Cade. He had to place a couple of pins in the bone and ended up doing a small bone graft. They used some bone from his femur—the thigh bone. That will add a little to his recovery time, but the doctor is very pleased with the way things are going.

“As far as Johnny’s surgery is going, Dr. Marco has cleaned the lung of the bone fragments from his rib, and he’s now closing the wounds in the lung. It’s a slow process, but everything is going better than expected. He’ll be at least another hour in surgery. The police are also here and wanted to talk with the two of you. I told them they would have to wait until the surgeries are completed, and you’ve had a chance to be with the patients.”

“Thank you, Ms—”

“Margaret, you can call me Beverly, please.”

“Thank you, Beverly. I don’t think I’m quite ready to talk to the police.”

“Now, so that you know. Johnny’s not in the clear by any means. He could be in ICU for several days. Often, the doctors decide to use extreme sedation to facilitate healing in the early stages of recovery. Dr. Marco will decide once the surgery has been completed and Johnny comes out of the anesthesia. The next 48 hours are very critical. Once we pass that stage, we will know more about Johnny’s prognosis.”

I just nodded as I took all this in. I was just thankful that Cade and Johnny were both alive and in good hands. Beverly continued, “Why don’t we freshen up our coffees and head up to the surgery waiting room? Cade will be in recovery soon, and I’m sure you’ll want to be there as soon as possible.”

We freshened up our coffees and followed Beverly to the elevator. Once we got to the surgery floor. She led us to another private waiting room, where we sat and waited.

About thirty minutes later, Beverly came in and told us Cade had been moved into his room. She suggested that I go in first. She led me down to the elevator, and we went up two floors. We made it to Cade’s room. He was sound asleep, and my heart broke. He had an IV in his left arm, and his right arm was in a cast that was being held up in traction. Dr. McCoy was waiting for us.

“Hello Doctor, how is my boy?”

“He did great. Beverly tells me you already know what we did. He’s going to be immobile for a few days while his leg heals. Once he can walk on his own, I’ll release him. I expect him to be here for about a week to ten days. He’s going to be sleeping quite a bit right now.

“As he was coming out of his anesthesia, he started to panic about his father, so we sedated him a bit. The thing he needs most is rest. We’ll leave you alone with him for a bit, but he probably won’t hear you or know you’re here.”

Dr. Marco led Beverly out of the room, and I sat down next to Cade’s bed and held on to his left hand. “Hey there, little man. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I sure am proud of you! You did great, and you’ll be up and about in a few days.” I felt a light squeeze on my hand and felt a sudden rush of relief.

“Uncle JJ and Zach are here. Do you want them to come in?” I felt another squeeze, so I went out into the hallway and found Beverly standing outside the door. I asked her to bring up Margaret and the boys.

Within minutes they entered the room. JJ gasped when he saw Cade, Zach whispered something to him, and he soon got it together. Zach walked up to Cade and kissed him on the forehead. “Hey there, little stud! You need to get better soon so we can get you back in the dance studio!” A very faint smile came across his face, and that did it. Tears started welling up in my eyes as he squeezed my hand again.

JJ was next. “Hey, Cadester! I just talked to Connor and told him you were going to be just fine. His mom is going to bring him here when you can have some more visitors. That means you have to get better real soon, right?”

Another smile. Another squeeze. More tears. A nurse came into the room and said we needed to let him rest and limit ourselves to one visitor. She then walked over to me and told me that they were nearly finished with Johnny, and I might want to wait so I could go in and see him.

I leaned down to Cade and whispered to him. “I’m going to go and see Papa now. You be good, and do what the doctors tell you, okay?” I kissed him on the forehead and got ready to go back to the waiting room. Margaret offered to stay with Cade so the boys and I could be there to hear about Johnny.

About an hour later, Dr. Marco came into the waiting room. “Well, we had a couple of close calls, but I feel quite good about Johnny’s surgery. I’ve decided to sedate him to help him heal. That should last two or three days. We have him in ICU right now. He can only have one visitor, and that can only be for a few minutes. I’m sure you would like to see him.”

“Yes, doctor. I would like that very much. Is he going to make it?”

“Well, I wish I had a more definitive answer for you, but we just don’t know. Right now, I would have to say his chances are 50/50. The next 24 to 48 hours are critical. We are monitoring his vitals very closely. He’s stable at the moment, and that’s the best we can hope for right now. Are you ready?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes, please take me to see him.”

As we approached the door to the ICU, Dr. Marco stopped. “I want to prepare you. There are a lot of machines, tubes, and wires attached to him. He’s not going to look good. I just want you to be aware that he’s going to look a lot worse than he actually is.” I just nodded as he led me into the ICU.

The ICU is a strange place indeed. There is a constant hum of beeps and purrs coming from monitors, and nurses are quietly bustling about in a choreographed movement of urgency. Dr. Marco parted a curtain and nodded to me. “Just a few minutes. That’s all we can allow for now.”

I walked through the curtains and was shocked at what I saw. Johnny looked so small and helpless as he lay in the bed. He was so pale. A machine was breathing for him, and several monitors were beeping and humming. I walked over to the bed and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I love you, Johnny. Please pull through for us. We need you.”

I took his hand, and just as he squeezed it, a horrible sound came from one of the monitors. It was a blaring, steady beep. A nurse came running in and called out, “Doctor, we have a flat line!” She looked at me. “Sir, you’ll have to leave now.”

Dr. Marco came in, and another nurse took me by the arm and led me out of the ICU.

Once I was in the hall, I slid down to the floor and wept. “Please don’t leave us, Johnny! Please come back!”