THE LAST SHIP 7

HOME GROUND

"Hey, look who woke up," Connor said with a smile when Julia gave a groan and opened her eyes. All she could make out was his blurry outline and she blinked a few times to get her eyes adjusted.

"Connor?" She looked around the room and frowned. "Where am I? Why am I not on the ship?"

"You're in hospital baby."

"What happened?"

"You can't remember?"

"Not much no."

Mike was standing in the surgery lobby when the surgeon walked up to him and held his hand out to greet Mike. "I take it you are Mr. Slattery."

"Yes doctor."

"I'm Dr. Joshua Hart, the neurosurgeon."

"How is she?"

"Well the bad news is, she is going to need more surgery in the near future. The good news is that the damage might not be permanent after all."

"She will walk again?"

"Let me just say there is hope that she might."

"How am I going to tell her? It's painful enough to see her like that."

"You can leave that to me sir. My advice is to spend as much time as possible with your daughter and make the best of those moments."

"Thank you doctor."

Mike returned to Julia's room to find her awake and talking to Connor. "Well what a surprise."

"Dad!"

"Dr. Hart will come and talk to you later. How are you feeling?"

"Still a little fuzzy."

"You look like a train wreck," Mike replied with a slight sense of humor.

Julia chuckled and then winced from the pain of the bullet still lodged in her spine. "Ouch...I feel like one."

"When are they going to do the surgery?"

"She's scheduled for tomorrow sir," Connor replied. "We're just waiting for the doctor to come and explain everything regarding the surgery."

Mike turned his head to look at the door when Dr. Hart knocked on the door and stepped inside and walked up to the foot end of her bed. He took a look at her charts and the imaging inside the file he was holding. "So Miss Slattery."

"It's Levine actually," Julia interrupted.

The doctor looked at Mike confused. "Sorry sir I thought she was your daughter."

"She's my daughter. She's married."

"Oh sorry, my mistake. So how are you feeling. Pain on a scale of one to ten?"

"Twelve."

"Okay. There is still a little bit of swelling on the spinal cord. I was concerned about that. But now that it went down to a more manageable level I think it's safe for us to proceed with the surgery tomorrow. There will be some nerve damage, but I won't be able to access the damage until I haven't removed the bullet. Just a question..."

"Is that why I can't feel my legs?" Julia asked alarmed.

"That was what I was about to ask."

"Am I gonna be paralyzed for life?" Julia looked at her father alarmed. "Dad?" Julia asked with a tone of panic in her voice. "Please tell me. I need to know."

Mike looked at his daughter and then the doctor concerned. "Honey...Dr. Hart. Can I see you outside for a moment?"

"Sure."

Mike and the doctor both left the room. "Doctor, you said the damage might not be permanent." Mike said concerned.

"That's right."

"And there is a likelihood she might walk again."

"Yes."

"How big is that likelihood? Percentage wise."

"Right now, we look at a 50 percent chance she might. A 50 percent chance she might not. If she does she's going to need a lot of rehabilitation and she will be out of work for at least 6 months to a year."

**********

Mike was sitting in the lounge area in the lobby of the white house pondering over Julia's situation when Tom walked up to him with a cup of coffee in his hand. "You have a lot on your mind today Mike." Tom held out the cup of coffee in his hand to Mike. "I figured you might need this."

Mike took the cup from Tom who sat down next to him on the sofa. "Thank you. The president of the United States bringing me coffee. I feel honored."

"We're still friends Mike. Just because I am the president doesn't change that. Any news on Julia?"

"She's having surgery tomorrow. The doctor figures there is only a 50 percent chance she might walk again. Tom, the navy is her life. How is she going to be a navy seal if she is paralyzed. She can't fight. And that ship isn't exactly disabled friendly."

"I need a deputy chief of staff. Did I mention that?"

"Tom, you fired her from the navy. Remember that."

"I had my reasons. She broke the rules of conduct. This is different. The office of the president isn't the navy or the military. Leave it to me. I'll talk to her."