Free B00CCYP714 EBOK by R. E. Bradshaw Page B

all surprised it sounded like him. But for her and Ernie to receive the same message, now that was freaky weird.
    “Why didn’t you say something?” Rainey asked.
    Junior turned back to look for Rainey. She saw him and motioned him to go ahead.
    Ernie was usually very direct, but she was a little hesitant to speak. She finally said, “Well, you were so happy, not moping, not paranoid, not looking over your shoulder all the time. I didn’t want to threaten that with just a feeling. I don’t know if it’s Billy talking to me, or just the memory of his voice, but it’s been strong lately. Something is just not right and I cannot put my finger on it.”
    “How long have you had this feeling?”
    Ernie thought about it and answered, “About four months now.”
    Rainey nodded her head. “I’ve had it too. I thought it was all the talk of you retiring, Mackie getting older, me being so busy and tired all the time. There’s also my track record. Things were going too well. Something was bound to go wrong. Then tonight happened and I thought maybe this was the bad thing, and we made it through it, but –”
    “But you still have that feeling in your gut,” Ernie finished for her, and then added, “I think your instincts are awake now. Mackie going down woke them up. That voice is telling you to watch your back.”
    “Funny, but that’s exactly what Dad said.”
    “Then listen to him,” Ernie pleaded.
    “Always.”
    #
     
    An hour later, Dr. John Herndon sat across from Rainey and the rest of Mackie’s friends and family gathered in the waiting room. John was Rainey’s stepfather and a highly respected heart surgeon. Though they were not close for most of Rainey’s adult life, she liked him. When the triplets were born, John was instrumental in repairing Rainey’s relationship with her mother, and they both became doting grandparents. After the trauma physician came out to tell them Mackie’s problems were multiplying due to heart complications, Rainey called Katie to tell her what was happening. It was at her suggestion that Rainey then called John. He came without hesitation. John Herndon loved his stepdaughter and knew Mackie personally, but he came because he was a great doctor and a better man.
    Silver-haired and handsome, John patted Rainey’s knee and gave them the news. He addressed Thelma first. “Mackie is in stable condition, so you can relax for the time being. That said, he has a long recovery ahead. It was actually opportune that he was shot this evening. The trauma impact caused a hemothorax—bleeding between the chest wall and the lung. The bleeding depressed his breathing and put pressure on his heart. He was stabilized here in the ER by the removal of some of the fluids through needle aspiration and later a tube was placed to remove the rest. The two broken ribs and the soft tissue injuries from the impact, though painful, are not a worry at this time. That’s the good news.”
    Rainey swallowed against the fear rising in her throat.
    John took a breath, his tone more serious when he continued. “He experienced a cardiac arrest from an acute coronary thrombosis, probably due to the trauma. In layman’s terms, Mackie’s heart stopped. The trauma team was able to restart the heart in a reasonable amount of time, but with some difficulty. Further examination uncovered major blockage in four coronary arteries. I’m waiting for his primary physician’s files, but I’m sure he has discussed Mackie’s high cholesterol and risk for atherosclerosis with him, though it appears he did not heed the warnings. Mackie was well on his way to a heart attack before tonight. Fortunately, he had that episode here. Had it occurred elsewhere, I’m not sure he would have survived. As soon as we feel he is ready, we’ll be doing a quadruple bypass. Our friend Mackie is going to have to undergo some serious lifestyle changes, if he wants to live.”
    “He will survive the surgery, right?” Junior