"I smelled the smoke," Lance told him. "What about Lizzy and Martin?"
"Martin is about to be discharged. I'll wheel him upstairs when I head back up. Lizzy is about to go into surgery, but they don't expect it to take very long. She's more worried about Angus and Betty than anything else. She keeps telling us that Betty wouldn't be gone for something like this and that something is wrong."
Lance nodded. "I have to agree. Betty would be by Lizzy's side. Maybe she's with Angus." Then realizing what he said, he glanced back at the nurse, hoping she didn't catch what he said.
"I know. Anything is possible right now. We'll figure it out. We just have to keep you and Lizzy calm for now. Both of you are ready to rush into the operating room and demand answers."
"Can you blame us?" Lance bit his lip. He couldn't take his anger out on others. They were doing the best they could, and they were worried too. Franks and Angus were like brothers and Lance knew that this was as hard on him as it was him. "Thanks for the update. Go get Martin. He'll want to be up there waiting. I'll join you as soon as I get done here."
"They're not keeping you?" Franks looked surprised.
"They said they were going to try, but I'm not that injured. I can deal with a sore shoulder and a few cuts. I have a slight concussion, but I'm sure anyone in the blast zone does. It's not like I'll be leaving the hospital. If there's a problem, I'm already here." Lance cringed as he felt the nurse pull what must have been a deeply imbedded piece of glass from his upper thigh. "Felt that."
"Sorry, will add a little more lidocaine," the nurse told him.
"Has anyone gotten hold of Bethany or Ray?" Franks asked.
"Yeah, Eve was going to do that." Lance couldn't remember if Franks had met Eve, but it didn't matter. "I expect they'll be here soon."
"Good. I was going to drive over and get them if I needed to." Franks watched the nurse pull another piece of glass from Lance's leg. "I hate to say you were lucky, but at least most the glass hit your legs. Some of the facial injuries out there are horrible."
"My back was to the glass window. I think that helped, but it's also probably why Angus got hit so badly. Honestly, there wasn't a safe spot inside that restaurant. I've never seen anything like it. Will you let Gretta know I'm here and won't be coming in to work until Angus is okay? I'm sure they've tried to call me in tonight to assist, but I have no clue where my phone is. Gretta will know how to get hold of Mack tonight. Have them call in Harold to cover for me."
"Already done." Franks smiled. "Sam knows you're here and he's got things under control. Gretta went in to help deal with things tonight. Families will be calling about their loved ones. You just focus on you and Angus for now. Work will be there once you're both healed."
God, Lance hoped so.
"Is there anyone else I need to contact for you?" Franks asked.
"No. Everyone is already here." He closed his eyes as he thought about how close he came to losing everyone in his life tonight. Franks was about the only close friend who hadn't been with them. "Go check on Angus. He needs you more than I do right now."
Franks nodded. "Just trying to figure out how to walk behind you again without getting another view of that full moon."
The nurse laughed. "I'm done with his bottom. He's all covered up now. You're safe."
"Thank God," Franks groaned. "It will take me years to recover from that."
"Let's not mention it to everyone, okay?" Lance sighed.
"Oh, hell no. That's going to be the first thing I tell Angus when he wakes up from surgery." Franks gripped Lance's good arm. "I'll be back if there is any news. Promise."
"Thanks." Lance heard him leave the room.
"Sounds like a good group of friends," the nurse told him.
"The best. I just hope I won't lose the most important one tonight." Lance tried to relax, but his shoulder hurt and his ass burned as the numbing medication was wearing off. "How bad am I back there? Anything seriously cut?"
"One or two that you'll need to rebandage for a few days, but for the most part, just a lot of tiny cuts. There's not as much glass as I expected, but I'm sure to have missed some. You can come back in if you feel it and can't get it out yourself."
"I'll be right upstairs. Not going to leave until Angus does." Lance meant that. He'd camp out on Angus's floor if he had to. He wasn't going to leave his side. Not until he at least knew that Angus was still in his body and that his ghost hadn't somehow gone into the light. He didn't know if a physical body could live without the spirit inside, but he didn't think so. Maybe on life support, but Angus had been alive without any support at the restaurant. God, he was going to lose his fucking mind until he knew for sure that Angus was still in his body. He was sure Lizzy was having the same thoughts. The others might know it's bad, but they hadn't seen Angus's ghost leave his body. That fact alone told Lance this was serious.
"Lance, Angus is alive. He's still in surgery. It sounds like he's doing well, but I don't know all the medical jargon that they were saying. There weren't any buzzers or alarms going offand the surgeon was calm. They've removed the glass and are repairing his neck. Man, I don't know how they do that on a living person. It's amazing enough watching you do it on a dead body. Just fascinating. I might have to spend some time here watching operations." Jeremy floated into view.
Lance released a long breath, a bit of the tension easing from his body at the news. It still didn't give him all the answers he needed, but at least he knew they weren't struggling to keep him alive. Things were calm in the operating room. "Thank you," he mouthed to Jeremy.
"Isaac is still up there with them in the operating room. He'll come out and let us know if anything changes. I'm going to go find Lizzy and let her know the news. We aren't sure exactly where they moved her. She wasn't in surgery yet but wasn't in any of the pre-op rooms yet either. I'll find her. Don't know where Betty is. No one has seen her. Martin is concerned because he said Betty would never leave Lizzy's side at a time like this." Jeremy floated around Lance and watched the nurse work on taking the last of the glass from a few spots on the back of his calves.
"Lance!" Bethany rushed into the room, followed by Ray. "We didn't know. Eve told us. How serious is it?"
