Chapter 12

The distance from the front door of the townhouse to the curb was perhaps twenty-five feet. The moment Miranda emerged from the door the entire party was nearly blinded by the lights of television remote units and what seemed like hundreds of digital cameras. A cacophony of sound roared over them as every reporter on the opposite sidewalk shouted questions in the hope of eliciting some kind of response from the famed fashionista. As the vehicle doors slammed shut behind them, Hughes’ earpiece sounded.

“Wait one,” he commanded the driver, listening to the message. He acknowledged the message into his wrist mic and turned to face Miranda.

“Ms. Priestly, we’re going to wait for just a moment for a second car. The press has managed to get organized and they’re waiting with cars and motorcycles at the end of the block. I’d like a chase car before we leave for the hospital.”

Miranda frowned. She was used to the press and dealt with their attentions through her publicist, but this appeared to be more than the usual gaggle of gossip reporters.

“Mr. Hughes, is there something going on I don’t know about?”

“As far as we can determine, every news outlet in the country has picked up the story and appears to be running with it. These aren’t just the celebrity gossip reporters, some of these are hard news. We’re monitoring the coverage back at our main communications facility. It’s big, Ms. Priestly; there’s worldwide coverage. And it doesn’t seem to be dying down any.”

A second SUV pulled in behind them and both vehicles accelerated rapidly down the block to where the NYPD had opened a lane for them through the crowd of reporters and news vans. Just as Hughes predicted, several cars and motorcycles pulled out to follow as they passed.

It was only about twelve blocks to the hospital, but the ride was nerve-wracking with the press vehicles chasing them. If they slowed for a traffic signal, motorcycles with photographers on the rear pulled abreast of them and tried to snap pictures of Miranda through the tinted glass. Hughes got a radio report that there was still more press gathered at the hospital, but that NYPD had them cordoned off and had cleared a lane for them to a rear loading dock by the Trauma Center that was away from the cameras.

As they reached the hospital precincts, the NYPD stopped their pursuit and the SUVs pulled into the covered loading dock with no further incident. Several police officers stood outside the Trauma Center’s doors keeping the more eager of the press at bay.

They slipped behind the police line and entered the main lobby of the Trauma Center. Miranda looked around and spotted the admitting and information desk, which served as the security check for the main part of the hospital after hours. There were two people in what appeared to be a heated discussion with the clerk on duty. As she got nearer, she realized it was Douglas and Lily.

Greeting them, Miranda inserted herself into the discussion by asking where Andréa’s room was located. Apparently, this same question had prompted the heated exchange between her young friends and the hospital bureaucrat now confronting them.

“I don’t show an Andréa Sachs as a patient in the hospital. You must be mistaken.”

“I’m not mistaken; I watched them wheel her into surgery an hour ago! She was brought her by FDNY ambulance from Central Park. I was upstairs in the surgical waiting room until I came down here to get this woman and bring her back upstairs with me.”

“Can you prove she’s a patient here? Where’s her admitting paperwork?”

“I left it upstairs in the waiting room! Along with my briefcase and a change of clothes!” By this point, even the normally easy-going Doug was ready to commit a felony. “For God’s sake, this isn’t hard; just call upstairs to the surgical suites and get verification that she’s up there.”

The clerk reached for the phone. “What relation are you to the patient?”

“We’re her friends.”

The clerk set the receiver back in the cradle. “Then I’m sorry, but you can’t be up there. Only immediate family is allowed on the surgical floors after visiting hours.”

Doug’s anger threatened to boil over. “Look. I’m her medical Power of Attorney. So is this woman,” he barked, pointing to a surprised Miranda. “We need to be up there in case medical decisions have to be made.”

“May I see your Power of Attorney form?”

“Doug’s face flushed an even deeper shade of red. “It’s upstairs in my briefcase! In the surgical waiting room. Where I was – legally – until I had to come downstairs to bring Lily here up.”

Miranda cut in smoothly, “You do not seem to grasp the seriousness of this situation. Andréa was wounded protecting my child and I must see her immediately to insure her care is adequate. These two admirable young people are her best friends; no one in New York City has more right to be with her than the three of us.”

“Apparently you do not understand the hospital policy that states only immediate family members are allowed onto the surgical floors unless otherwise noted, and it’s not otherwise noted. You’re not in my system and until you are, you’re not going anywhere.”

Doug started to say something and Miranda touched his arm. Realizing any further discussion here would be fruitless, she pulled out her cell phone, scrolled back through her call log to find the number for the Medical Director and hit ‘dial’. “You have no idea with whom you’re dealing,” she said in that quiet voice every employee of Runway feared.

“I don’t need to!” snarled the angry clerk, pushing a large button on the wall next to her. Three good-sized hospital security guards walked around a corner to stand behind her. Sensing a threat, Doug stepped forward in front of Miranda and Lily.

Forty minutes later in the surgical waiting room, they were still talking about the incident.

“Damn, Doug; I didn’t know a human being had that much mucus in their head. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen an adult shed more tears. That pepper spray they used must have been industrial strength,” Lily laughed.

“You take a double blast at point-blank range and see how much you’re laughing. God, I was blind! My eyes were tearing so bad I could not see. Why would they use that stuff indoors? That’s got to be dangerous for the patients.”

“Douglas is right, Lily. He did get sprayed by two of the guards.”

“Miranda, you’re the one I don’t believe. Talking on your cell phone and you take out a security guard with your bag! Two rent-a-cops go down and you don’t even chip a nail. Lady, you swing a mean purse.”

“Well, it was one of my larger Prada bags,” sniffed Miranda.

“PRADA – When you care enough to swing the very best!” intoned Doug solemnly. The three of them looked at each other for a moment then burst out laughing.

“Andy is going to be so pissed she missed that!” howled Doug.

“It the hospital doesn’t get its records straightened out we may have to reenact it for her. It’s a good thing your security people are as quick as they are, Miranda. The hospital goons settled down real quick once your guys showed up.” Lily commented.

“I still do not understand why the clerk didn’t wait for me to make one phone call. Once the Medical Director arrived at the desk, it only took a minute for us to be cleared for access. She couldn’t have waited thirty seconds before unleashing her storm troopers?”

“Well, I for one am very glad you had your cell phone out and working, Miranda. I didn’t relish spending the night in jail. I’m just glad we didn’t miss Andy’s doctors with the extra time we had to spend down there.”

“Lily, it was important to flush Douglas’ eyes and sinuses before we came up here.”

“I suppose, but he still looks a little like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

“The ER physicians assured me that would pass fairly soon. Speaking of physicians, shouldn’t we have heard from Andréa’s surgeons by now?”

Doug glanced at his watch. “Any time now. They said the surgery shouldn’t take but around two hours. Listen, I saw a coffee machine down by the elevators. Anybody want some?”

Miranda cocked an eyebrow. “I think we can do better than that, Douglas.” She stood and walked to the door. Simon Hughes and another agent were standing outside the waiting room.

“Mr. Hughes? Is our driver doing anything pressing at the moment?”

“No ma’am, he’s not.”

“Would he be willing to make a Starbucks run? For everyone on the team? It’s getting late and I’m sure your men could use a pick-me-up.”

“I think that can be arranged, Ms. Priestly.”

Miranda got coffee orders from Douglas and Lily and handed Hughes a $50. Fifteen minutes later, two agents walked off the elevators with coffees for everyone and some muffins to keep blood sugar up. Shortly after they’d finished the muffins, three surgeons walked into the room.

“Ms. Priestly? I’m Dr. Sarazen and this is Dr. Pedersen and Dr. Wallace. We operated on Ms. Sachs.”

“How is she?”

“She’s going to be just fine. Drs. Pedersen and Wallace are the heads of Neurosurgery and Vascular Surgery respectively and we all examined the wound thoroughly.”

Dr. Wallace took over. “There was some damage to the axillary artery which was repaired and should have no lasting effects. However, the bleeding did put pressure on the radial nerve.”

Dr. Pedersen picked up the thread. “The radial nerve supplies function to the triceps and brachioradialis muscles which allow you to straighten you arm. It also supplies function to the extensor muscles of the forearm, which allow you to straighten your hand and fingers. There was some impingement of the radial nerve. We’ve relieved that and we’re confident that there won’t be any lasting damage to her hand function, but we don’t want to take any chances. We’re going to put her in a shoulder immobilizer for six to eight weeks. That will hold her left arm and shoulder in a neutral position and allow those nerve fibers to heal fully. Basically, this immobilizer looks like a very large, padded sling. She won’t be able to use her left arm at all once it’s on. But it’s the single best way we know to insure that her arm will heal.”

“So she’ll require assistance with almost everything?”

Dr. Sarazen answered the question. “We’ll discuss that with both of you when she’s fully awake tomorrow. Now, regarding the head wound. From the size of the laceration, I would have bet that there would have been a skull fracture and an intracranial bleed. Amazingly, there is neither and she doesn’t even have a concussion. She must have one of the hardest heads on the planet. We did have to suture the laceration; she has twenty-three stitches in it. But the worst thing she’ll suffer from it is that we had to shave part of her hair to get to it. She’s in the recovery room now and they’ll be moving her to a regular room in about half an hour or forty minutes. She’s going into…” Dr. Sarazen checked the chart in his hand, “…Room…876. If you’d like, you can all go there and wait for her. One of us will be by in the morning and go over all this with Ms. Sachs. What you need to remember now is that she will be fine. It’s just going to take a few weeks. Do you have any questions?”

“None that can’t wait until morning. She’s awake now?”

Dr, Sarazen chuckled. “I wouldn’t say awake, exactly. She’s pretty groggy. Once she begins to wake fully she’s going to be in considerable pain. I’ve prescribed some strong pain meds and she’ll be getting an injection of that when she needs it. That ought to knock her out for the rest of the night, which is the best thing for her. By tomorrow morning, she’ll be considerably more comfortable.”

Everyone stood and Miranda thanked the physicians. They gathered up bags and Doug’s clothes and moved into Room 876. Not surprising, it was a private room with a small loveseat and two comfortable chairs. Doug stowed his clothing in the closet and the three of them settled in to wait, talking quietly.

It didn’t take long. They heard the squeak of a bad wheel before they saw the gurney swing through the door. Andy looked terribly pale swaddled in the recovery room blankets, but her face was relaxed and she didn’t seem to be in pain at the moment. The orderlies transferred her to the bed and a nurse got her settled, tucked her in and took her vitals. Proclaiming that Andy was doing ‘just great’ she left. Douglas pulled a chair next to the bed for Miranda and he and Lily sat on the opposite side of the bed.

“Andréa? Can you hear me? You need to wake up now.” Andy made a small mewling sound and her eyes fluttered partially open.

“M’randa? Zat… you? Doug… here?”

“I’m right here, Six. So’s Miranda and so’s Lily. We’re all here.”

“I’m… okay? Surger’ done?”

“The surgery is all finished. You’re back in your room. You’re going to be just fine.” Miranda wasn’t conscious of fumbling to hold Andy’s hand, but somehow hers found it under the blankets and gripped it tightly. She pulled it to her cheek and blew a soft sigh of relief. Andy blinked her eyes again to focus and turned her head to look at Miranda. She managed a lopsided grin.

“Iz you. I’m glad… y’ur here. How’s Caro… Caroline?”

Miranda smiled at her and stroked the sweaty hair off her forehead. “She’s just fine. Asleep in my bed with Cassidy and Patricia. She’s very worried about you. They both are.”

“Side of…headzzz… cold. How come?”

Miranda’s fingers stroked through Andy’s hair and lightly touched the shorn area. “Darling, they had to shave some of your hair to close the gash on your head. I’m afraid you’re going to have to cut your hair.” Miranda was so relieved that Andy was talking that she never realized the endearment had slipped out.

“S’okay…you still love me wi’ short hair?”

“Yes, I will. I’ll arrange for my stylist to do it when you’re back on your feet again.”

Doug and Lily exchanged surprised expressions at this exchange but said nothing. If the verbal exchange startled them, it was nothing compared to what happened next. Miranda leaned forward and very gently kissed Andy. When she settled back onto her chair, her eyes were filled with tears.

“I’m so glad you’re all right. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t.” Miranda’s hand continued lightly stroking Andy’s hair as she whispered to her.

“Had to be all right… jus’ gettin’ to the good parts. Doan wanna miss that. Gon’ be fun.”

Miranda smiled as Andy mumbled. She glanced over at Doug and Lily and took a steadying breath. “Andréa and I were going to discuss changing the parameters of our…relationship… tonight. As you can see, she remembers. I hope… I hope that… “

“We just want Andy to be happy, Miranda. If you make her happy, that’s fine with us.” Miranda had expected Douglas’ support, but Lily’s statement surprised her.

“You guys cool wi’ ‘at? ‘Cause she’s M’randa an’ … an’’…” Andy started to fade out at this point.

Doug leaned over her with a grin. “We get it. It’s all cool. You and Miranda. Gotcha. Sleep now, why don’t you?”

“Nah, doan wanna sleep. Wanna kiss on M’randa s’more.” Everybody in the room except Andy laughed.

“Okay then. On that note, I’m going to head home and go to bed. Unlike Doug, I have to work in the morning. You get some sleep and I’ll be here just as soon as I get off work tomorrow afternoon.”

“’kay…promise?”

“I promise. I’m just so glad you’re all right.” Lily leaned over and planted a kiss on Andy’s forehead. “See you tomorrow, girlfriend.”

“’Bye…bye…Lily. I’m jus’ gon’ lay here an’ kiss on M’randa.”

“Then I think I’ll walk Lily down to the elevators and give you two some alone time. C’mon Johnston, let’s get you headed for home.”

As the two friends cleared the door of Andy’s room, Simon Hughes intercepted them. “You two need to give me a head’s up when you’re leaving. I’ll arrange transport to your residences.”

Doug was confused. “Why would you do that?”

“We don’t yet have enough data from the police to make a credible threat assessment for Ms. Priestly. Until we can ascertain the level of threat, we’re protecting anyone that might be used to get to her. You two qualify. So you get escorts.”

“Well that beats hell out of the subway. C’mon Lily, I’ll walk you down to the cars,” laughed Doug.

When they were alone, Andy looked back and Miranda and did her best to focus intently. “You sure Caroline’s okay?”

“She’s asleep. Cara is with them and has instructions to call me immediately if there are any problems. But Caroline was more worried about you. Once she’s certain you’re all right I think we’ll look at some counseling for both of them to deal with what happened. I was thinking I’d bring them by tomorrow afternoon to see you. They will be badgering me to death until I do. There’s another thing we should discuss. I sent the company plane for your parents. They should be in the air heading back here now.”

“Awww crap. Why’d you do tha’? Din’ wanna hafta deal wi’ them.” She grinned again and again both sides of her face were not working in concert. “’Sides… iz only a flesh wound. John Wayne woudda rode off… inta sunset…”

“Well, yes, I suppose he would have. But we don’t have a horse handy. Do you want your parents to come here tonight? Because if you don’t we’ll need to do something about it now. They’ll need to be reassured that you are all right.”

“Call ‘em,” Andy mumbled.

‘What did you say? Say it again, dear.” Miranda leaned close to try to catch Andy’s words.

“Call…th-em. On… plane. I c’n talk to ‘em. Gon’ kiss you now.” Andy puckered up and tried to aim a kiss on Miranda’s lips. She missed, but Miranda corrected for her error and their kiss lasted for a long moment.

“Y’ur a good kisser. Call ‘em an’ I’ll head ‘em off. I like kissin’ on you.”

“Really?” Miranda kissed Andy softly again. “Well, I like kissing on you too.” To prove it, she placed a long lingering kiss on Andy’s lips. There might have just the faintest brush of the tip of her tongue on Andy’s lower lip. Pulling away, she lifted Andy’s hand and pressed a kiss there too, then carefully placed it back on the bed as she reached for her cell phone.

Pressing a long numeric sequence, she accessed the phone on the corporate jet. In a moment, she was talking to Andy’s father.

“Mr. Sachs? It’s Miranda Priestly. I’m at the hospital and Andréa is safely out of surgery.”

“What did the doctors say?”

“In a nutshell, she’s going to be fine but it may take a few weeks. They’re going to cover her condition fully tomorrow morning, so you’ll want to be here then.”

“How long is the drive from the airport to the hospital? We’ll be there as soon as we can when we land.”

“If I might suggest, you should go to your hotel and get some sleep before you come here. They’re about to give Andréa an injection that will put her out for the night. There will be little reason for you to be here, and her friend Douglas will be spending the night as will I.”

“We’re her parents. We’re coming to the hospital!” snapped Andy’s mother.

“You’re certainly welcome to, but Andréa won’t be awake until tomorrow morning and I’m sure you could use some sleep.”

“You can’t dictate what we will or won’t do! She’s our daughter!”

Miranda sighed and tried once more. “I am not trying to dictate anything, Mrs. Sachs. It was merely a suggestion intended for your comfort. Regardless of where you go tonight, let me give the phone to Andréa now while she’s still semi-awake. Perhaps it will reassure you.” She handed her cell to Andy.

“Mom? Stop yellin’ at M’randa.”

“Andy, darling, are you all right? What did the doctors say?”

“Dunno. M’randa talked to ‘em, Mom. Hurts, though. They gon’ gimme a shot. Gon’ t’sleep. Don’ come here. An’ stop yellin’ a’ M’randa.”

Andy’s father apparently took possession of the phone. “Andy? Honey, you’re okay?”

“‘M fine, Dad. Tol’ Mom. Getting’ a shot soon…make me sleep. Come inna mornin’, ‘kay? Givin’ phone back t’M’randa now. ‘Night.” She handed the cell back to Miranda.

“Mr. Sachs? As you can tell, she’s still a bit under the influence of the anesthetic. But the doctors did assure me that she will be fine. They felt her sleeping soundly tonight would make a big difference tomorrow. If you still wish to come tonight, then by all means do so, but Douglas and I will be here and stay until you arrive in the morning if you’d rather.”

“She did sound like she wanted to sleep. All right, we’ll go to the hotel and come in the morning. You’ll call us if anything changes?”

“Mr. Sachs, your hotel is only blocks from the hospital. Your car and driver will wait there for you. If you need to, you can be here in minutes. I assure you, if anything at all changes I will call you immediately.”

Miranda looked at Andy and rolled her eyes, which made Andy break out in a fit of the giggles. Miranda smiled affectionately at her and Andy responded by trying to grab her boob. Unfortunately, her eye-hand coordination was still a bit off and she missed. Miranda swatted her hand away with a barely suppressed laugh. Somehow, she didn’t think Andy’s father would appreciate her explanation that his daughter was attempting to cop a feel.

“I…thank you, Ms. Priestly. I…what’s going on there?”

“Andréa seems to be getting a bit restless,” she said swatting the hand away again. “I would imagine that the pain is getting worse and she’ll need that shot fairly quickly. I’ll let you go now and call the nurse to tend to her. I’ll see you in the morning, Mr. Sachs.”

“Yes. In the morning then. Goodnight.” Miranda dropped the cell back into her bag and captured Andy’s searching hand.

“That will be quite enough of that impertinence, you. Behave yourself.”

Andréa’s goofy grin completely enchanted her. “Then kiss me, M’randa. ‘M wounded an’ I need comfort.”

Miranda kissed her softly. “There. Does that help?”

“Yeah, but only a li’l. I need… higher dosage…” This time, Miranda kissed her deeply and with an intensity that startled both of them a little. When they finally broke the kiss, Miranda rested her cheek on the pillow next to Andy’s and they just gazed at each other for a long minute.

“Wow, you really are a good kisser,” whispered Andy. “Don’ t’ink ‘m ever gon’ get ‘nuf of those.”

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where that came from.”

“Good… then do it again…”

Doug was as gay as a goose, but the kiss Miranda and Andy were sharing when he walked back into the room raised even his blood pressure a few degrees.

“Jeez, you two. Get a room!”

Miranda eased back out of the kiss and without breaking eye contact with Andy said smartly, “We already have one, Douglas and you’re intruding into it.” With an effort, she tore her eyes away from Andy’s, looked at him and said, “I think you should tell the nursing staff that Andréa is ready for her injection. She needs to rest now.”

Andy murmured in complaint but Miranda just stroked her hair and whispered, “No, you need to sleep now. Your parents will be here in the morning and you need to be rested. Besides, the doctor said that the pain will get worse quickly as you shake off the anesthesia. You need the shot, Andréa. Don’t be stubborn.” Miranda and Doug nodded to each other and he turned and headed for the nurses’ station.

“Wanna kiss on you s’more.”

“We have a very long time to do that, chère. But I promise I’ll kiss you right before you fall asleep and again first thing when you wake in the morning. Will that suffice?”

“You gon’ be here in mornin’? Stay all night?”

“Yes, I’m staying. I’ll be here when you wake.”

Andy giggled. “We’re gon’ spend our firs’ night t’gether…with Doug.”

Miranda smiled at her. “An altogether auspicious beginning, I think.”

As Doug stood at the nurses’ station chatting, the elevator doors on the other end of the hall opened and Nigel and Emily walked out.

“The Whitehall agent said Room 876; it’s this way.” They headed down the hall.

Doug glanced back toward Andy’s room and thought he saw someone going in the door. Nodding in agreement when the nurse said she’d be right down with the injection meds, he walked back through the door just in time to hear…

“Andrea Sachs! What on earth do you think you’re doing?” in an outraged upper-class British voice.

“Hey, Em…’M jus’ layin’ here kissin’ on M’randa…How you doin’?”

“I…I…Miranda! What were you doing?”

Miranda looked squarely at her first assistant and replied, “Just sitting here, kissing on Andréa.”

As Emily stood rooted to the spot and speechless, Nigel reached up to seat his glasses more firmly on his nose and quipped, “Well, this is news!”

Turning to Doug, he gave him a long, appraising look up and down and then extended his hand. “Nigel Kipling, Fashion Director of Runway. You must be Douglas. I see Banana Republic did a passable job for you.”

Doug laughed. “So I have you to thank for the new clothes? Thank you very much; they were a godsend.”

“My companion here is Emily Charlton, who has apparently lost both the ability to walk and speak. We wanted to run some things by Miranda and they told us at the house that she was still here.”  Turning his attention back to Andy, he shot her a wide grin.

“Hi Nige…how you doin’?”

“I’m just fine, Six. How are you is the question.”

“’M great, Nige. M’randa’s here an’ we’re kissin’ an’… an’ thass so neat…”

“Yes, I can see. Emily may never recover from the shock.” Doug tried to hold in his guffaw but failed miserably.

The nurse arrived then and prepared to inject the pain medication into Andy’s IV line. Andy turned back to face Miranda and said with a hint of fear in her voice, “You’ be here… when… wake up? Promise?’

Miranda kissed her and gently brushed her cheek with the back of her knuckles. “I promise, love. Go to sleep now. I’ll stay with you.”

She watched as Andy’s eyelids fluttered several times and finally closed.