Tragic Magic II World Tour

Chapter Forty Two

The surgery was a success and the bullet had been taken out of my leg with minimal nerve damage. My heart had stopped beating for over thirty seconds during the surgery but started again after couple of shocks to the chest.

I was told that because the bullet did not damage any major nerves or arteries, I would be able to walk again just fine in a few days. I didn't care about though, my heart ached to see Ronnie.

Nobody would tell me how he was doing or if he was alright. TJ stayed by my side for the few days I was in the hospital, but even he wouldn't tell me anything about Ronnie.

After a few days of rest and a heavy dosage of morphine, I was finally allowed to leave my room.

"Well, Mrs. Radke," the nurse explains to me, "you will need to use crutches to support yourself, but you should be able to walk around just fine. Take it easy and rest for the next few weeks. You won't be able to walk on your own for a few months, but physical therapy will help."

"Can someone please just tell me about Ronnie? I'm done, I should be allowed to know, I am his wife."

"He's been in the surgical wing of the hospital for the majority of his stay here. He is still undergoing surgeries to remove bullets and replace shattered bones. He's been in and out of the OR all week," she explains helping me into a wheelchair.

My heart broke deep inside my chest. Ronnie is hurting so bad and it feels like it's my fault.

"Can I see him?" I finally ask, hoping to hear her say yes.

"I'm really not supposed to do this, but I understand how much pain you both must be in. Could you get the door for us?" She asks TJ, pushing me towards the door.

TJ followed us down the hallways and into the elevator. He was not going to let me go anywhere without him by my side.

"Your husband isn't in the best shape right now, so please be careful," the nurse explains to me as we head down the hall of the surgical wing.

"I know, I will-"

I looked into the window of one of the rooms to see a horrific picture. Andy was shot too.

"Wait!" I ask the nurse to stop, "who's the patient in that room right there?"

"Patient confidentiality requires me to-"

"It's Andy," TJ interrupts her.

"Is it bad?" I ask.

"Andrew has an injury to his back and arm but he should be able to recover just fine."

I felt sicker and sicker as we pushed through the hall towards Ronnie. I saw Andy, Danielle, Vic, Ryan, Christian, Zakk, and Robert all in their own room. There were so many people hurt and it made me sick to my stomach.

In no time at all we reached the room Ronnie was in. He was lying in bed, sound asleep. He was pale and cold, almost as if he was dead, but the steady beat from his heart monitor and his heavy breathing reminded me he was alive and in pain.

"I'm not working on this case, but I'll find Ronnie's attendee and allow him to explain what's going on," the nurse says, leaving TJ and I alone with Ronnie.

I placed my hand on top of Ronnie's and wrapped my fingers around his palm. He looked so weak and so fragile. He was covered in gauze and bandages. I felt so hurt in my heart to see him hurting like this.

"Do you want me to-"

"No, its okay," I tell TJ.

"He loves you, Juliet, more than you'll ever know. I hate to admit it, but it's true," TJ says, trying to comfort me.

"He told me he wanted me to leave him alone," I remind myself, feeling tears start to well up in my eyes.

The slow beats of the heart monitor become the only sound in the room until the attendee arrives.

"Mrs. Radke," a dark woman in scrubs and a lab coat enters, "I'm Dr. Peterman. I've been working with your husband's case."

"What's going on with him?" I ask.

"Well, Mr. Radke has experienced heavy trauma to the chest and has had six of the seven bullets in his body removed. The final bullet is resting just below his collarbone and we are still trying to get more scans done to determine how to remove the bullet without cause more damage. He has a few fractured ribs and his collarbone is shattered. His left lung had collapsed, but we were able to do surgery right away to fix that. His heart rate is very high and his body is still in shock which is why we are hesitant to continue operating until his body calms down a bit."

It took my mind forever to process what the doctor was telling me. Ronnie is in really bad shape.

"Can he feel it?" I ask.

"He's heavily sedated, but even the strongest painkillers won't be able to take the pain completely away. He's been knocked out for the past few days."

"How many surgeries has he gone through?" I continue to ask question.

"Four. Like I said, his body is under a lot of stress. We will schedule surgery to remove the final bullet once we get the CT scan results," the doctor explains.

"Can I lay with him?" I finally ask.

"Yeah, of course, just don't put any weight on his body because he is very fragile. You need to be careful too, Mrs. Radke, you have an injury as well."

I immediately pulled myself up onto the bed with the help of TJ. I had to be close to Ronnie, I just couldn't stand it anymore.

The doctor and TJ soon left the room, leaving me alone with Ronnie. All I wanted was to be with him. Ronnie's breathing became a little more unsteady as time went by. He was starting to wake up.

"What are you doing?" He whispers to me. His voice sounded so weak.

"I had to be with you," I sit up and look at him.

"You're hurt too," he places his hand gently on my leg.

"You're literally dying and I can't do anything about it," I begin to cry. It was all too much.

"You need to get out of here and go home," he tells me.

"I thought you didn't want me to come home?"

"I don't," he says, straight up, "but maybe if I get through this we can work things out."

"I can't be by myself though," I say.

"Yes, you can. You never stay by yourself, prove to me that you can do it."

"But-"

"I can't be with you if you can't do this, Juliet. Just wait for me to come home."

I moved myself closer to Ronnie and lied down with him,"I'll wait forever if I have to."