Once You'Ve Touched the Heart (29 page)

“He’s in surgery,” she cried as her arms went around him.

“Shh,” James consoled. He brushed her hair away from her face. “JD’s going to be fine. Look at me. You can’t think anything else. He’s going to be fine.”

Ashley nodded her head and smiled. “I’m sorry. James, this is my mother, Martha Harrison.” James extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Harrison. I am truly sorry it’s under these circumstances.”

Martha smiled. “Thank you.”

James walked over to Tracy. “Tracy, how are you holding up? Are you okay?”

“No,” she smiled, “but I will be, just as soon as this is over.” She took a seat next to Martha in an effort to draw strength from her.

Pastor Smith came in to talk to the family. “He is a strong young man who has God in his heart; he will be fine,” Pastor Smith said. The pastor seemed so sure of his convictions that it actually put Tracy at ease. Tracy saw the doctor coming through the doors in his blue cap and coat. She stood up slowly; others joined her simultaneously.

“Who is Tracy?” the doctor asked.

“I am.” She stepped forward. Tracy began a silent prayer as the doctor spoke.

“We were able to remove the bullet. He is resting comfortably in the recovery room. He is not completely out of danger, but his full recovery looks good. He may have some difficulty with the left arm. But with physical therapy he should make a full recovery.”

Tracy breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.” She hugged the doctor. “Thank you.”

“Can we see him?” Ashley asked.

“Well,” the doctor answered
,
looking around at the many people in the waiting area, “not all at one time.”

“Mama, you go first,” Tracy suggested.

“Hold on,” the doctor said, “my life was threatened in there. I was told by a very big man with a gun to get you in that room ASAP. So if you don’t mind, would you come first and then Mrs. Harrison.”

Tracy turned to Mama. “Go ahead, child, as long as I know he is alive I’m okay,” Mama replied.

Tracy did not want to leave Mama there to wonder. She looked at the doctor with sad eyes. He exhaled. “Okay, both of you can come; but just for a few minutes.”

The media’s interest in this incident created a need for a news conference. The administrator set up a media center near the emergency entrance. Gavin handled the first press conference while JD was still in surgery. The crowd had grown to an uncontainable size. Every community in the city was represented. In one way or another, JD or his dad had helped them all. Extra officers were called in to handle the crowd. Most of the officers volunteered out of respect for JD and his father.

The little information that was available was slow in coming, and not satisfying the crowd that had gathered. They wanted to hear from a member of the family about JD’s condition. Once his condition had stabilized, Ashley took over the press conference. She handled the crowd with tact and humor. Some of the crowd recognized who she was immediately. As she approached the podium, one or two reporters called out: “How is your brother? Is he conscious?” “I will answer all of your questions in a moment. First, let me give you the latest medical information. Good evening,” she started, “I’m Ashley Harrison, Jeffrey Harrison’s sister.”

The questions started coming. Ashley listened, but did not respond to any until the crowd had calmed down a bit. “It warms my heart to see how many of you are concerned about JD’s well-being and I will be sure to relay your concerns to him. If you give me a moment I will try to answer all of your questions. JD is currently in the recovery room; he is not fully conscious; however, things are looking good for a full recovery. At this time, he is in guarded condition. Now, to answer one of your questions, JD is tough, always has been. It would take more than this to bring him down. Besides, he has to finish Mama’s backyard or she will kill him.” The crowd laughed a little. “Now I know you are all concerned about JD, and we thank you for that. But he lost a lot of blood. We are going to have to replenish the blood bank. If any of you could find the time and energy to donate a pint of blood, we would be eternally grateful. Now, I’m going back to my family and we will give another update as soon as we know more. Thank you.” Ashley said a few words to Gavin and Dan, then left the podium.

James watched the news conference in the waiting room along with
,
Calvin and Magna. He was very impressed with Ashley’s handling of the crowd. She calmed them, informed them and got them to donate blood, which made them feel helpful in some way. He was in awe.

Brian had been on his feet the whole time JD was in surgery. When Tracy and Martha came in to the recovery room, he went out to talk with his security staff to catch up on what had taken place in the interim. Brian had to debrief his superior on the events of the day. Everyone from the governor’s office to the press had questions on the security at the courthouse. They all wanted to know how guns got into the courtroom.
Brian questioned that himself. Was it possible that Juan’s control reached that far? Was it an inside job? Shaking off the thought and confident that his friend was on the road to recovery, Brian could breathe and concentrate on taking steps to ensure this would never happen to JD again.

T
racy sat beside JD’s bed for what seemed like hours and talked about things they had discussed privately as Martha listened and waited. “I am still not agreeing to twelve babies; that’s too many for me to handle while you are off in court somewhere. I think five children will be enough.”

Martha laughed. “JD with children; I can’t wait to see that day.”

Tracy smiled. “Not just children, Mama, he’s talking about twelve of them.” Then she exhaled. “It’s taking him so long to wake up.”

“Be patient, child,” Martha said, “God is doing His work.”

JD squeezed Tracy’s hand and she jumped up. “Jeffrey, do that again, please do that again.”

Martha stood next to her son’s bed just as JD opened his eyes. JD looked at his mom. “It’s about time you opened your eyes.” She smiled.

He turned and looked at Tracy; he squeezed her hand and firmly held it. She exhaled, with tears
filling her eyes
.
“Hey,” she cried out, smiling with relief. She pushed the button to get the doctor to the room. Tracy bent down, kissed his cheek, and whispered, “I love you.” JD blinked, not able to respond.

The doctor came in. “Well, Mr. Harrison, it’s good to see you awake. I am sure you are wondering where you are by now,” the doctor continued while checking JD’s vitals. “You are doing very well considering all you have been through today. Now, if you ladies would excuse us, I need to examine him a little closer.”

Martha said, “Sure.”

As Tracy started to leave, JD held on to her, and his heart rate started to increase when she tried to pull away.

“Okay, Mr. Harrison, she can stay, calm down,” the doctor said.

Tracy held on to his hand tightly. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said.

The doctor finished his examination and told Tracy things looked good. “He is going to be in and out for the rest of the night. But by mid-morning he will be more aware of his surroundings. We will move him into a room then.”

“Doctor, thank you for everything,” Tracy said.

He smiled and said, “You are very welcome. I am a fan of Mr. Harrison’s. I like what he is trying to do with the city. He’s a good man.”

“Yes, he is.”

“You get some rest now,” the doctor said as he left the room.

Tracy took a moment to be alone with Jeffrey. “You scared me.”

He whispered something, but she didn’t hear him. She put her head down to his mouth.

“Twelve,” he whispered, “football team.”

She smiled, kissed his cheek. “Five—you have to settle for a basketball team.” He smiled and went back to sleep.

Tracy said a small prayer and left the room. Ashley jumped right up. “Can I go in now?”

“Yeah,” Tracy replied with a smile. “The doctor said he will be in and out for the rest of the night. He’s fallen back to sleep, but he will wake up again soon.” Ashley went into the room.

“Tracy, is there anything I can do for you?” James asked.

“I have a pretty bad headache. Some Tylenol would help.”

“Well, this is a hospital; that should be easy,” he smiled.

Tracy walked over to Brian, put her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. Brian hugged her and laid his chin on the top of her head. “Thank you for being there for him,” she said.

“Always,” Brian replied. “That’s a promise.”

He rubbed the back of her head. “There you go patting my head like I’m a dog again.” They both laughed.

Gavin asked Tracy if she would do the next press conference since Ashley was in with JD.

“I’ll try,” Tracy agreed, “but I don’t know how effective I would be.”

“The doctor will be there to handle any medical questions. Any other questions you can’t answer you can refer to me.”

Victoria called out to Tracy as they entered the press area. “Tracy, how is JD?”

Tracy smiled at Victoria and stepped up to the microphone. There was a crowd out there and it took her a moment to compose herself. Tracy did not like crowds. She exhaled, and then began.

“Good evening; I’m sorry, morning,” Tracy started, “my name is Tracy Washington. I am Jeffrey’s fiancée. Jeffrey has regained consciousness and we did get a chance to speak with him. He is doing remarkably well, thanks to Dr. Canter and the staff here at MCV. He will remain in intensive care tonight, just as a precaution. Then they will move him to another room tomorrow, if all goes well tonight.”

“Will Mr. Harrison continue on this case now?” a reporter yelled out.

Tracy looked down, then back up at the reporter with anger in her eyes. “Knowing Jeffrey like I do, I know this only pissed him off.” She turned to Gavin and asked, “Can I say that?” The crowd laughed. Gavin nodded his head and smiled.

Tracy turned back. “Jeffrey gave his word to the Blackwell community that he would see this case to the very end. Those of you out there who know Jeffrey know he is a man of his word. I am sure that the district attorney’s office and the attorney general’s office will continue in their efforts to assist Jeffrey and his staff with bringing this case to a successful conclusion.”

Gavin smiled internally.
She is giving everyone their due
.

A number of reporters were yelling her name and a variety of questions at her. “Victoria,” Tracy called.

“Tracy, that’s a lot of blood on your blouse; are you okay?”

Tracy looked down. She hadn’t changed clothes. It all began to hit her. As tears began to fall, she turned to Gavin. He could see she could not continue. Tracy looked at Victoria. “I’m fine, thank you,” then stepped away from the podium. Gavin took over the press conference.

That scene was broadcast on every TV station across the state. The citizens’ love affair with JD and Tracy began that moment.

Al saw the news report and was very proud of his little sister but was afraid this news would reach other people who would cause her more heartache. He asked to make a phone call.

Carolyn saw it, and knew any chance of breaking them up just ended. But she also saw a chance for Gavin to increase his number of supporters if he announced while the news was good for the DA’s office.

Juan and his people saw the report and knew they had a more dangerous opponent in JD Harrison, now. They had to find a way to stop this man.

A
week later, JD was released from the hospital. Brian placed a 24-hour security detail on the house. One of the extra bedrooms was set up for Brian. For the first week, the house seemed to stay crowded all the time. Gavin came by to tell JD he was going to announce his bid for the governor’s office and his engagement to Carolyn. Once JD returned to the office, he would take over as the DA. This was fine with Tracy. It meant he would be safe in the office, handling the administrative and advising part of the job. JD agreed, with the condition, that he conclude the Cortez case and Gavin not announce until he returned to the office. Gavin agreed, which pissed Carolyn off. Polls showed the DA’s office had an 85 percent approval rating. Waiting could change that, but Gavin stuck to his agreement with JD.

Between Tracy, Ashley, Martha and Mrs. Langston, JD did not want for anything.

“If he wasn’t spoiled as hell before, he sure is now,” Ashley said one day when she was bringing a tray downstairs from JD’s room.

Martha was in the kitchen cooking dinner. “Leave your brother alone,” she said, “he’s been through a terrible ordeal.”

“I know that,” Ashley replied, “but the ordeal is over now and he is still acting like he’s dying.”

“I see you are still over here every day catering to him.”

“Well, that’s ’cause I love his big head,” Ashley said. Her cell rang. Recognizing the number, she responded, “Hey,” with a smile.

“How’s JD?” James asked.

“He’s doing fine; upstairs eating up all the attention he’s getting.”

“Any way I could get some of your attention?” James asked.

“That could be arranged,” she answered, smiling. “Where are you?”

“Heading to your place.”

“I’ll meet you there,” she said, then hung up the phone. Martha stopped cooking and was watching her daughter. Ashley looked up. “What?”

“That’s a very distinguished gentleman you are seeing.”

Ashley blushed. “Yes, he is.”

“Do you know what you are doing?”

Ashley sat on the stool. She exhaled. “I don’t know, Mama, but I’m in too deep, now, to care.”

“You are never in that deep. What are you expecting from this relationship, Ashley?”

“I don’t expect anything, Mama.”

“Why, is he married?”

“No, he’s divorced.”

“Does he have a family?”

Nodding, Ashley answered, “A son, James Jr.”

“Ashley, you are a young woman, he’s an older man. Are you sure you two want the same thing?”

“I don’t know, Mama, we haven’t really talked about it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to rock the boat, you know what I mean?” Ashley replied.

Martha sat down beside her daughter. “I saw his concern for you at the hospital, Ashley. Don’t sell yourself short here. I don’t think asking an important question is considered rocking the boat. You might be surprised by the answer.” Tracy walked down the steps hearing part of the conversation. She sat beside Ashley and waited.

“Okay, go ahead; what do you have to say?” Ashley asked Tracy.

Smiling, and shoving Ashley with her shoulder, Tracy answered, “I thought you would never ask. I think despite himself, James has fallen in love with you. He is probably gun shy from the first marriage, which did not go well. But I think you two can work through that.” They sat there for a moment in silence. “Can James really, you know, do the do?” Tracy asked grinning at Ashley.

“Yes, he really can,” Ashley answered, laughing at the question.

“I was just wondering. I mean James is a little older than us; can he hang all night?”

“Oh, honey, age doesn’t matter with sex,” Martha bragged. “My James was still going strong and I do mean strong until the day he died.”

“Mama!” Ashley squealed, “You and daddy? Oh, that is so nasty.”

“What’s so nasty about it? How do you think you got here?”

The doorbell rang. “Saved by the bell.” Tracy laughed as she went to the door.

♥

Pastor Smith came by to visit with JD. The two discussed his future with Tracy. Pastor Smith suggested JD take this time to talk with Tracy about her family.
It would be beneficial to know more about her family, but could be detrimental if he did not.
If he had any intention of going into politics, her background would be looked into. Better to do it now than later.

That night as they lay in bed talking, JD asked Tracy about her family. He could feel her body tense at the question as she became apprehensive and edgy. “Tell me about your family,” he said.

“What do you want to know about them?” Tracy asked.

“Anything you want to tell me,” he replied. She hesitated, so he pulled her closer. “Whatever you tell me will not change my feelings for you. I know the person you are, now, and I love everything about that person.” He kissed her forehead. “I just want to know how you became Tracy.” JD rubbed her temple as her head rested against his chest.

Tracy exhaled. “I have a mother who doesn’t like me very much; a sister who I believe loves me; a brother who’s in prison, which you know about; and a sister who died when I was very young.”

“What about your dad?”

She sat up. “Why are you asking me all these questions about my family?”

He pulled her back down to him, waited until she settled down, then said, “Because I love you and I need to know you trust me enough to tell me about your family. Besides, I need to know about my 12 children’s grandmother and aunt, don’t you think?” he said.

She smiled. “Five children.”

“Okay, nine, a baseball team; now you can’t argue with that,” he said as he kissed her.

“Okay, I’ll have five, you have number six, and then I’ll have seven, eight and nine.”

“Hmm, I will tentatively agree to that, but when the time comes for me to have number six I may need to renegotiate.” Tracy laughed. JD waited.

“My dad used to drink a lot. When he did he always got loud and would argue with my mom. One day, something happened with my sister Joan, and she died. That’s when Turk left and Valerie was sent to live with my aunt, leaving me, my mom and my dad, whenever he came home.”

JD held her a little closer; he had questions, but did not want her to stop talking so he remained silent and listened.

“My dad came home angry one day.” She shifted her weight as if preparing for a major blow. “He was arguing with my mom. His voice was so loud, almost booming. He and my mom were still yelling when he came into the room and grabbed me.” JD could feel Tracy’s body trembling as if she was reliving the moment. He rubbed her head as she continued. “My mom was fighting him, saying don’t do this again. She hit him from behind, he hit her back and she fell backwards out of the room. He went to her. She sat up and yelled, ‘Close the door, Tracy, and lock it!’ I didn’t know what was going on, so I ran to my mom. My dad grabbed me, yelled and threw me back into the room.” Tracy hesitated as tears ran down her face. JD’s heart was breaking from her hurt. “The next thing I remember was hearing Turk and another man’s voice in the other room. Turk came in the room and took me over to the neighbor’s apartment. When I came back home, my mom was different. She wouldn’t talk to me and barely looked at me. The older I got the worse home became. She would always yell at me for no particular reason. She let me know that I ruined her life because my dad went away. It was like that until the day I left for college.”

They lay there in silence for a moment. Her tears were dropping against his chest. He knew it was a difficult thing for her. “How old were you when this happened?” he asked in a comforting voice.

“Hmm, about eight, I guess.”

“Do you all have the same father?”

“No,” she replied.

“Do you remember who the man was with Turk?” She shook her head no. “Have you spoken to your mom or sister since you left home?” She shook her head again, no. “You were so young,” JD said, “who raised you?”

She exhaled again. “Books, mostly. I would go to the library at school and take out books; sometimes 10 at a time. After dinner, I would go in my room and just read. When I was 10, we moved into this house Turk had found. Our next door neighbor would look out for me whenever my mom wasn’t home, which was a lot. But I mostly stayed to myself.”

JD understood things with her a little better now. Her reaction to Turk was so strong because he was her protector, the only one who showed her any love; actually, Turk showed her more love than she even realized. Carolyn talked about Tracy not having any social grace or guidance. Now he knew why. No one was around to teach her the proper decorum in certain situations. JD made a decision not to ask her about this again. When she was ready to tell him more he would listen, but not until she was ready. He kissed her, laid back and pulled her to him.

“Thank you for telling me.”

Tracy lay there thinking about those days as JD’s breathing became shallow. He had fallen asleep. She eventually fell asleep thinking it might be time to contact her mother.

The next week, JD went back into the office, only working half days. The first thing on the agenda was rescheduling a court date for Juan Cortez. JD wanted to convict him on manslaughter charges along with his friends, but for now he had to settle for the tax evasion case. He asked Mrs. Langston if she would be his private secretary after the case was done and he became DA. She accepted. He asked her to keep their conversation confidential until Gavin made his announcement at the news conference. She agreed. JD then spoke with Calvin about taking over his position as lead prosecutor; he accepted. JD had one more thing on his agenda before he left for the day.

“Brian,” JD said into the phone, “will you be at the house tonight?”

“Yeah, I was planning on staying over. Why, what’s up?” he asked.

“I need a favor. Could you meet me at Maxi’s in about 30 minutes?”

“All right, man. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m straight.”

JD walked into Maxi’s. It was as if he had been gone for years and people were seeing him again for the first time. Everyone in the place came up to speak and shake his hand. They each wanted him to know they were glad he was doing well since the shooting. A few of the “street guys” offered to retaliate. “You know, we can take out the whole gang and be done with it,” one offered. JD thanked them and said, “No, man, I got this one.” Maxine actually came out of her office, which she rarely did. She looked him up and down, making sure there was no permanent damage on her childhood friend. JD assured Maxine he was fine, and when she asked about Tracy, he smiled and told her she would be invited to the wedding.

Brian arrived a few minutes later as JD requested. They sat in a booth and JD asked him to locate Tracy’s family. He wanted to know if the door might be open for Tracy to reconnect with her family.

“How soon do you want it?”

“Yesterday,” JD replied.

“Do I have time for a drink?” Brian asked.

A hand hit him on the head. “It’s too early in the day to be drinking,” Ashley said. She leaned over and kissed JD on the cheek, then sat beside him.

“Oh, look at this, he gets kisses and I get hits; oh, that’s going to stop.” Brian smirked.

“Thanks, Brian,” JD said as Brian got up to leave.

“I’ll be in touch,” Brian replied.

“See you, Brian,” Ashley said.

Ashley put her hand through JD’s arm and put her head on his shoulder. “I need some advice.”

JD looked at her; he knew this had to do with James before Ashley started. JD still was not sure about him. After all, it was not that long ago James was smiling at Tracy. “What’s up?” JD asked.

Ashley hesitated. “About James.” She put her elbow on the table, laid her head in her hand, then looked up at JD. “We are not officially together, together, but I’m in love with him. I don’t know how he feels about me.”

JD didn’t say anything; he listened. It wasn’t often these days that Ashley would come to him about her male friends. Before she went away to college, Ashley would share everything about boys with JD. At times it was too much for him to handle. Her talking about sex was not a conversation he looked forward to. But here she was looking to him for advice. JD had missed that.

Ashley continued, “Mama said I should ask where things are going, but I have this feeling if I ask that question I may not like the answer.”

JD didn’t know the story with James and Ashley, but Tracy mentioned the two together quite often. James appeared to be a very reserved man, not one to show emotions openly. He was a hard man to read, but JD did not take him for a player, by any means. He seemed to be the type to let only a few select people in to his inner circle. He wasn’t sure if Ashley was one of the chosen. JD kept the thought. “You don’t think he feels the same way about you?”

She hunched her shoulders, which made JD smile. That was her trademark when she was confused. “I don’t know. Sometimes he makes me feel as if I am the only person in the world. But sometimes it seems as though he keeps a certain part of him shielded from me.”

JD put his arms around her. “Why don’t you give it some time? It hasn’t been that long for you two. Be patient. If he is still around after a couple of months and you are still wondering, then,” he hesitated, “you might want to let him go.”

Ashley looked up at him with sad eyes; he knew that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. JD kissed her forehead. “Sometimes feelings are not as easy for men to express as for women, especially if he’s been burnt before. Don’t rush him; just enjoy the time you two are together.” In an attempt to make her feel better, JD said, “I haven’t taken you shopping in a while. Let’s take a ride.”

Ashley jumped up. “You paying?”

JD smiled. “Sure, why not.”

“Do you have your credit cards on you?”

JD raised an eyebrow as they were walking out the door. “Cards?”

♥

Juan Cortez was still being held without bond. He got word that a new trial date had been set and Harrison was still directly handling his case. “What in the hell is it going to take to get this bitch off my back?” Juan asked his attorney.

“JD Harrison is not an easy man to shake. The simple fact is he does not ask for a trial date until he knows for certain that he has a conviction,” she replied.