A Time For Love (A Time For Love Series-Book 1)

Unchanged

It had been well over a few days since the horrific shooting that left Stef, Tess, Mike, and little Bird injured and admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Mike was fortunately improving and could get around a little in a wheelchair with the help of nurses. He would still need to remain in the hospital for quite some time to treat his gunshot wounds, and would need physical therapy as soon as possible.

However, Tess and Stef remained in critical condition, showing no signs of improvement, while little Bird remained stable. Despite the sadness and distress felt by everyone, including the NYPD, they made sure to closely monitor the situation around the clock.

The shooting made headlines, and La Donna's arrest became imminent with a warrant issued, particularly due to her escape from the crime scene.

Bird's progress was heading in a positive direction as she stayed awake for increasingly longer periods each day. She was still groggy and her memory was hazy, making it difficult to piece together the events that had unfolded. Emotions of sadness, confusion, and fear consumed her, leaving her feeling disoriented and unaware of her surroundings.

The nurses were very kind to little Bird and Lena visited every day to read to her, bring her little toys and items of comfort along with a little radio that played music. She felt awful for the little girl considering she had no one, and not one person had visited her.

Despite being barely awake most of the time, Bird always noticed Lena.

Social Services was now involved, along with Child Protective Services, because La Donna had gone under the radar and Bird should never have been in the home.

Although Mike shared some snippets of his memory with his fellow officers, it was Bird who held the vital information as the key witness. However, the event was so traumatic that it would require a considerable amount of time and extensive therapy for Bird to even begin to process and discuss.

Right now, the focus was hoping they would all recover from the horrible incident as the nurse wheeled Mike into his sister's room, leaving to give him the privacy he needed. Seeing her for the first time since that night, tears immediately welled up in his eyes as he reached over and tenderly clasped her hand.

His mouth felt glued shut, and he tried to process everything in front of him. But it was damn hard as he rubbed his sister's hand. Holding it as tight as he could, Mike hoped she would feel it and maybe squeeze it back.

It was no use right now as she was wearing a neck brace to keep her head still as it was still bandaged from the surgery. She had to release pressure in her skull, and a ventilator was attached to her to help her breath.

Her once pretty blonde locks were now gone, replaced by a shaved head, and her leg, arm, and torso were all covered in protective bandages. Despite the difficulty in discerning her identity, Mike would always recognize his sister in any situation. He just would.

One thing was certain was he hated that she was in a medically induced coma but had to trust that the doctors knew what they were doing, no matter how hard it was.

Coming to see his sister was no simple task, and he made the choice to visit Tess first. Seeing her was no easy pill to swallow because she, too, was in terrible shape and also on a ventilator. The bullet had pierced vital areas and even if Tess made it; it was possible she might never breathe on her own again.

Working as a cop would no longer be an option and her survival rate was about 5 percent, if not less. Tess' family was very small and her mother, whom the woman had not spoken to in years, was on her way up from Georgia.