Fatal Judgment Read Free Page B

I’ll give it back after you talk to the doctor.”
    She blinked and looked down. So did he. His much-larger hand partly covered hers, and he couldn’t help noticing that beside his fingers, hers seemed slender. And fragile. And very feminine.
    A weird catch in his respiration startled him, and the instant she released her grip he retreated to the farthest corner of the room.
    “Your sister survived the surgery, Judge Michaels. But the prognosis isn’t good. Do you want me to give you all the medical terminology or put it in lay language?”
    “Lay language.” Her words were taut. Strained. Laced with fear.
    “Okay. The CT scan showed that the bullet entered at an angle from the back of the head, veering toward the right. It lodged behind the right eye. As we discussed earlier, it’s very possible your sister heard or sensed a presence and started to turn. Had the bullet gone straight in from the point of entry, it would most likely have damaged both hemispheres of the brain. There would have been no chance of survival.”
    “Does that mean . . . can she recover?”
    Jake evaluated Liz’s rigid posture, the pulse throbbing in the hollow of her neck, the whitening of her knuckles—and prepared to spring forward if she started to nose-dive.
    “It’s possible.”
    But not probable.
    The man’s cautious tone spoke volumes. Judging by the sudden tightening of her lips, Liz had picked up his unspoken message too.
    “However, we have a long road to travel,” the doctor continued. “Let me tell you what we’ve been doing for the past few hours. The initial CT scan indicated your sister had suffered a significant amount of bleeding in the brain. So we took off a small portion of the skull to evacuate the blood. We also removed dead tissue and inserted a tube to drain off excess fluid. At this point, our biggest concern is swelling. That’s why we left the skull open. Swelling can increase pressure inside the head, which prevents blood passage to tissue. That, in turn, leads to further brain injury. Or brain stem issues.”
    “Is the bullet . . . did you get it out?” Liz’s voice shook.
    “No. Attempting to remove it would cause more damage. It’s better to let it stay where it is.”
    “What about the baby?”
    “We’re still picking up a strong fetal heartbeat.”
    “What happens next?”
    “We wait. We watch. We monitor.” He pulled off his surgical cap, revealing a head of close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, and pinned her with an intent look. “You need to be aware that a lot of things can go wrong, Judge Michaels, from cardiac arrest to renal failure to respiratory problems. What we need to focus on now is getting your sister through the next few days. If we succeed in that, we can consider next steps.”
    “May I see her?”
    “Not for several hours. She’s in recovery now and will stay there awhile. You can visit her briefly once she’s moved to intensive care. In the meantime, it might be a good idea to try and get some rest and come back in the morning. We can call you if anything changes.”
    She was shaking her head before he finished. “I can’t leave.” Her voice rasped on the last word.
    Watching the muscles in her throat work as she swallowed, Jake joined the conversation. “We can get a hotel room for you close by, if you’d like.”
    “No. I need to be here.”
    “She won’t know whether you’re here or not, Liz.” He strove for a gentle tone, hoping it would buffer his practical comment.
    When she looked up, he was taken aback by the determination and unyielding conviction in her eyes. “I’ll know. I can’t leave someone I love alone in their time of need.”
    Then why were you going to leave Doug?
    He scrutinized her face, searching in vain for an answer to his unspoken question.
    “Let me see if we can find you a room where you can get a little sleep, then.” The surgeon rose, interrupting the charged silence.
    Liz leaned forward and touched his arm. “Doctor