He walked over, sat down next to her, and rubbed her shoulder. “You know better than to think that way, Mom. It doesn’t do any good or change anything.”
Mantis looked up when someone came through the double doors, and recognized the charge nurse who had come out an hour earlier.
“Miss Mondreau is still in surgery,” she told him. “They were ready to close but then found more damage than they expected in the L1 to L5 area.”
“She’s recovering from a gunshot wound and subsequent surgery. I informed your team of that before she was taken in.”
The woman put her hand on his arm. “We were aware, Mr. Cassman. What I’m saying is, there’s more damage in that particular area than we expected.”
He studied her when she repeated herself. “Are you saying there’s something that was missed in her previous surgery?”
“No, I’m not saying that.”
Mantis waited for her to continue, but she didn’t, which told him he was on the right track.
“I need to get back.” She looked at her watch. “I’ll see you in an hour with another update.”
“Wait,” he said when she started to walk away. “Is the damage something that could cause plantar neuropathy?”
She nodded. “Possibly.”
“What did she say?” his mother asked when the nurse left the waiting room.
“They may have found something that would explain why her previous recovery wasn’t going as well as it could’ve been.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“I think so.”
“Miss Mondreau is in the recovery room, but she’s asking for someone named Mantis. Is that you?” a different nurse asked another hour later.
“That’s me,” he answered.
“You can see her now. Follow me.”
“Can you give me an update on her condition?”
“Didn’t the doctor come and talk to you?”
Mantis shook his head.
“Wait here, then. I’ll go get him.”
She wasn’t gone five minutes when the doctor came out the double doors.
“Mr. Cassman?”
He walked over to where the man stood. “How is she?” he asked.
“It was rough going initially. She re-injured her vertebrae before it had healed. On the other hand, we were able to remove bullet fragments that may have been giving her pain.”
“Could the fragments also cause neuropathy?”
“Potentially.”
Mantis followed the doctor to the recovery room. Seeing her on a gurney for the second time in only a few weeks shook him. The strongest woman he’d ever known looked weak and broken, something she wasn’t any more used to than he was.
“Hey, Flygirl,” he whispered, running his fingers through her hair.