You're Worth Dying For Ch. 04

"While you were on the ground three policewomen had already gone in to calm everyone and make them cups of tea. The accountant with the head wound is here in this hospital having a sleep. He'll be fine. The only other injury was to our hero."

"Our fool, you mean."

"Maggie, I don't believe you understand. It was suicidal I know but in stopping them in their tracks head-on he probably prevented a lot of blood spilling. We knew this was our best bet at stopping them, where we had maximized our resources. He'd heard us discussing this -- he obviously thought he'd give you your best chance."

"But they would have let me go."

"Did they tell you that?"

"No."

"Maggie, they would have been desperate men on the run and if they had managed to break clear for a while they would have relaxed, taken off their masks and started calling each other by their first names. At some point they would have realized you knew too much so before they re-emerged from the forest they may have decided to solve that little problem. Alternatively had they stupidly chosen the motorway option they may have attempted to ram our blockage; no way would we have allowed that vehicle with three gunmen get past us."

"So I was doomed, either way."

"Maybe, who knows Maggie -- so is your husband still a fool?"

Maggie burst into tears and buried her face into the fatherly arms of the sixty-three year old policeman, a grandfather.

The senior hospital surgeon came out to them, smiling.

"Baring infection, which is unlikely, or one or two possible side issues, he should be fine but will be very sore for quite some time. I performed a thoractomy to insert a chest tube into the pleural cavity to provide your husband with relief in breathing and to aid recovery, then had to go in and removed bone shards and the bullet. Now he just stays on his back, doesn't move and breathes softly, softly."

"That great news," said Superintendent Joll. "Maggie, I'm off. I had no business being here as I should have been supervising the debriefings and taking of statements but as we've got so much on camera and you looked so alone I put my senior assistant in charge and accompanied you. Bye now."

"Thank you for your kindness, Mr Joll. Excellent police PR," Maggie smiled, kissing him.

"Maggie -- may I call you that? I'm Geoff," said the surgeon. "We were watching here on TV of you in the bank chambers and then out on the street. You were marvelous. So it's just a quick look at your husband, who's asleep in post-recovery, and then it's 'Meet the Press'. There's a mob of them and we need to do this quickly as they are threatening to riot."

"They should wait and talk to Ryan."

"No they want you, Maggie. Heroines today are as scarce as sixpences in Christmas pudding. The Aussie media people are screaming for words and footage of you because that young woman on your right in the bank chamber has been identified as Caroline Goldfinch, youngest daughter of the billionaire Australian industrialist Charles B. Goldfinch. She's already been on TV exclaiming her admiration for you, as has been that other young woman. The media love making instant heroes so be prepared for the onslaught. Well, here he is, our very, very lucky man. Look after him well Maggie, they don't make many like that these days. Try not to wake him, I'll give you one minute -- please come out with me, nurses."

Maggie trembled as she looked at her man and with the lightness of a butterfly stroked his cheek with her fingers. Ryan had this large tube coming from his chest, was still on a drip and wearing an oxygen mask.

"You saved my life, you foolish man," she smiled.

Geoff returned and took her in to face almost fifty media representatives including TV camera crews.

The distinguished cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon Geoffrey Smith introduced Maggie and said Maggie's heroic husband was a very, very lucky man, the small caliber bullet smashed two ribs, ruptured an artery, collapsed his right lung and punctured through to lodge in his back. "He'll be fine and please be gentle with this wonderful woman; she's been through a huge ordeal and this session is part of that."

A barrage of questions was flung at Maggie. She pointed to a thin woman with her lackluster hair in a severe bun.

"Liz Mackie,Courier Newspapers. "What was your worst moment?"

"Out on the roadway, believing I was looking at my husband's body."

"Paul James, representing theSydney Morning Herald. Miss Goldfinch, daughter of one of the richest men in Australia, was the young woman on your right in the bank kneeling beside you. She's been on TV expressing huge gratitude for you and then feared you were risking your life for them. She's called you a heroine. What do you say to that?"

"If we weren't live on TV I'd say bullshit, although without any offence to Miss Goldfinch. They were scared whereas I'm used to the rough and tumble of business life -- it was just like a bad day at the office with men trying to pulp me in negotiations, the only difference being these three looked stupid and had guns."

"Mavis Yarrow, Maggie, Active Women's Fortnightly."

"Oh, are modern women having them fortnightly now?

The room erupted into laughter and Mavis cringed in her seat.

"Mavis, that was a stupid remark. My mouth gets me into trouble at times. Hush everyone while Mavis asks her question."

"Maggie, what did you think as you rose from your knees and walked forward as volunteer hostage?"

Maggie blanched. "Oh Mavis, you don't really want me to answer that truthfully. Wouldn't it do if I just said I was wetting my pants?"

"Please answer the question Maggie, Mavis said sternly.

"I thought, given the chance Donald Duck I'm going to knee you in the nuts, catch one of the tins he drops and smash it against Mickey Mouse's head and catch his shotgun and try to get shorty Pluto before he pumps a second shot into me. It's terribly embarrassing answering you, Mavis."

The room erupted into a new volley of questions before Geoff assisted the hospital's PR woman to hush them up.

"Wendy Ash, representingThe Australian Maggie. Remember me -- we were at Auckland University together. "Why did you think like a man in dealing with these desperadoes in an attempt doomed for failure?"

"I said given the chance; I was not in suicidal mode like my husband. The truth was I was thinking like a woman, one of my favorite characters."

Wendy Ash asked who was that?

"Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame."

The women journalists cheered Maggie.

Maggie -- oops, Luke McSkimming,NZ Herald. "We've been told you and your husband are currently living apart -- is that true?"

"Yes."

"Why is that?"

"Ryan and I live together and work together. I'm chairman of theEcho newspaper and commercial printing company in this city and Ryan is chief executive. I took a big gamble to buy that ailing business with the support of executives and the bank that was robbed today who joined Ryan and me as stockholders. Then in come these Aussies from Melbourne offering us a huge amount of money and I just fell short by two percent of the seventy-five percent voting support I needed to reap the sale. Greatly upset by what he called my treachery, Ryan walked out on me three nights ago. My mother, who's one of these amazing women knows everything, told me his walking out was my fault that I should have been thinking community instead of money; I'd told her the Australians intended closing down theEcho and using the presses to print New Zealand editions of their magazines. I thought about it and realized I'd been greedy, too ambitious to get on to my next big thing. So for the next two days I walked around, seeing my community really for the first time; I liked what I saw and liked the people I met -- business people who support theEcho to the hilt, albeit for their own benefit. I no longer cringed at my folly, knowing I was going to make amends for my treachery. Unfortunately, my intention to meet Ryan and sob out my deep feeling of shame and apologize for letting him down was foiled by me visiting me bank. You know the rest. I'm sorry my answer was so long."

She stood at the rostrum, a lonely figure, wiping the corner of one eye, then the other. Someone clapped and most of the media clapped her.

"Mrs de Lacey. Thelma Johns,New Zealand Life. "What will you say to your husband when he comes around?

"What I told him when I saw him a few minutes ago when he was under the affects of anesthetic. "You saved my life, you foolish man."

"Fiona Gibson,Southgate Regional Echo. Maggie, you are the head of our publishing company and I know you are not stupid. But why risk everything you had -- you had no reason to be a heroine?"

"A good question, Fiona; little wonder we employ you. In tight situations I tend to experience an adrenalin rush that makes me feel bullet proof, my movements seem to slow while my mind races as if I'm on some sort of drug. I don't know it you heard the warning that they'd start shooting the fingers of one of us off one by one until one of us stepped forward. The guy making that warning in the Mickey Mouse mask appeared to be looking at that elderly woman to the right of me. She was calm and dignified and I thought it would upset everyone to see her maimed like that. My mind reacted and I thought it was better to move the crisis outside away from those good people and into an area cleared by the police where anything could happen. Somehow my mind shielded me from any thought that I might be harmed, perhaps fatally. I've heard myself being called a heroine, but I'm saying when your mind goes into overdrive like that, looking more for positives than negatives, it's so easy to be a hero. Bullets can't hurt you if you feel bullet-proof. It's perhaps a childlike explanation, Fiona, but there you go."

Another five minutes of questioned followed before Maggie called for the last question, picking Anthony Sims of Dominion. Maggie, you said earlier, quote: 'You saved my life, you foolish man', unquote in reference to your husband. Exactly what did you mean by that?"

"You best ask Superintendent Joll, director of operations, for the answer. But briefly, he told me had those men managed to get out of the city, cross the river and disappear into the forests, they would have began talking loosely, taking off their masks and eventually would have realized I knew too much. Alternatively, had they reached the motorway there were road blockages in either direction and he said to me if the robbers with me in their vehicle and had attempted to ram their way through there was no way the police would have allowed them to continue their journey. I'll let you read between on lines on those two scenarios."

Maggie cleared her throat. "That's all, except for these acknowledgements. Members of the news media, thank you for being so gentle with me. I wish to praise Superintendent Joll and his team for assisting to save my life; those of who saw the shotgun swinging towards my head will know what I'm saying. I am so pleased that only two persons were hurt -- the bank accountant who I'm told is fine and my husband. I am so pleased I managed to push my way into the bank and help thwart the robbery as the Northern Town & Country Bank has been such a strong supporter of me in my business dealings. Finally, my thanks to medical emergency services who helped my husband, including surgeon Geoffrey Smith and above all that quick-acting surgeon whose name I have yet to learn who operated on the road where my husband fell to stem the severe blood flow -- without that medic I would not have a husband to watch over tonight. Thank you."

Geoff the smiling surgeon led Maggie out to standing applause.

The surgeon was holding a sobbing Maggie in his arms when some of the media burst through the doors chasing Maggie for exclusive interviews.

"I'm sorry -- Maggie is exhausted and will be staying here for the next twenty-four hours alongside her husband," said Geoff. "Please leave now and see Jenny our public relations officer at the front desk and she'll allocate interviews from 9:00 in the morning. If any of you are from TV, Maggie has told me she'll be available tomorrow evening at the time of your choice for one live interview, that going to the highest bidder. That fee should come as a donation to the Children's Wing Renovations Appeal Fund. Now go."

"Geoff, we'd like to present Maggie live tomorrow night wearing that blood-stained dress she wore to this hospital. Can you find it for us?"

"Bugger off Carol and learn to be more sensitive. People like you give the news media a bad name."

"Fiona," Maggie called to theEcho reporter. Come with us."

Quickly confirming that Ryan was in a drugged sleep and there was no concern about his current condition, Maggie sat and was interviewed for over an hour by Fiona who had to shake Maggie awake at times.

"Thanks Maggie, you've given me a great insight to how those bastards behaved inside the bank. I now realize the cameras didn't show everything and those quotes from you about your whispering exchanges with those two women alongside you are awesome. I phoned the office telling you I have an exclusive with you, so we're letting the final edition run as in but will re-plate this as a Special Edition. Circulation is alerting all delivery personnel now."

"That's great. One more thing Fiona, find out who was that elderly woman was with me in the bank -- she remained so calm throughout but her eyes showed hate. My senses tell me there's a great story in her -- I think she looks East European; we didn't exchange a word and she spoke to no-one in my hearing."

* * *

At 12:11 as recorded in medical notes Maggie was awakened by a nurse saying softly to Ryan, "Hullo you lovely man; you're awake."

"Where's Maggie; am I going to live?"

"Yes you're going to live and ah, there's Maggie climbing out of bed now. She's been waiting for this moment; it's so exciting. I watched her on TV earlier today at the media conference and I know what's she'll say to you."

"They bother with that drippy stuff at media conferences?"

Maggie loomed over Ryan and kissed his lips softly, then said, "You saved my life, you foolish man."

"You told the media that?"

"Yes."

"Little wonder they used it on TV -- woman will cry hearing that, it is so...so..."

"Romantic?"

"Thanks nurse -- yes, so romantic my lovely darling. I did it because you've worth dying for."

"Oooh," cried the nurse, wiping her eyes.

A different nurse shook Maggie awake just before 2:00 am.

"May I call you Maggie?"

"Yes."

"I'm so delighted to meet you. You are the new Lara Croft."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, we can't believe we have you both in this hospital; it's so amazing."

"And you awoke me to tell me that?"

"On no, sorry. We are about to wake Mr de Lacey. The duty doctor authorized us to allow direct family members to visit him briefly. You mother and father and Mr de Lacey's parents are waiting outside. I thought you might like to see them outside and all the excitement over you made out there, lessening the stress on Mr de Lacey."

"He'll want you to call him Ryan, er..."

"Suzie."

"Call him Ryan, Suzie and be sexy, he likes his women being sexy."

"You're kidding me aren't you Maggie."

"Perhaps, but I bet I'm on to something there. Just be ever so feminine then. I authorize that."

Maggie went into the visitor's room and he mother rushed her, smothering her with kisses. "Calm down Harriet, my in-laws want a piece of me."

"Hello daddy," she said, kissing the surprised Max who probably wasn't too surprised to grope, but didn't.

"Oh, isn't that nice," cooed Harriet.

"Hello Mrs de Lacey," Maggie said, kissing her cheek. "Thank you for giving birth to such a tremendously brave son; I'll never forget what he did for me."

"Call me Molly," wept Mrs de Lacey, hugging her step-daughter. "My phone's been running red hot and so many people have been calling on us that I've had to send Harry out several times for more tea, milk and biscuits. I haven't known whether I'm coming or going."

"Keep calm, Molly. He's fine -- they'll call you in within a few minutes. Then after you come out I'll suggest mum and dad just pop in for two minutes."

She turned to Harry, who held out his arms.

"Hello Harry; is this an invitation to dance?"

"I couldn't put my body against yours, darling. If I did I might forget myself."

"Harry!"

"He's harmless, you know that," Maggie laughed.

"Don't you believe that..." Molly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"So who's the naughty boy then," Maggie whispered to him, Harry's eyes indicating he worshipped her.

"I was ever so proud of Ryan when I saw him go to rescue you and cried for you both when I saw his blood disfigure you then the camera on the roof showed a back shot of you with that swine's blood spilling on to you." Harry lifted up his glasses, sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"You're such a natural on TV Maggie," Max said. "You had us laughing and crying and your sincerity shone through. I couldn't believe you had the guts to tell the world that you and Regan had split, but then I knew everyone would recognize it as a lover's spat; young marrieds only every quarrel over two things -- sex and money."

"We didn't even know Regan had walked out on you, Maggie. I called Harriet and she put me straight I would think the enormity of finding that you both weren't on the same side was just too much for him and he over-loaded. But in the end he more than made up for that little weakness."

The night doctor came out of the room, nodding at everyone and giving Maggie a huge smile, almost of adoration.

"He's young, just puppy love," Harriet said dryly, and Molly agreed. The two men wondered what the women were talking about -- the doc hadn't said a word.

"Suzie came to the door and said, "He's awake and fine. Doctor Charles said no more than two visitors at a time."

Harriet hugged Maggie again and kept on holding her. "Darling, I phoned but your phone was only taking messages. I think I left thirteen of them. When I saw you get into the ambulance I rushed down here and tried to gain admittance to the media conference but because I couldn't show press accreditation as they called it they wouldn't allow me in. The security guard laughed when I said I was your mother and said I should make an appointment to see you. He wouldn't say with whom, the ape."

"Then why didn't you come up here after dark?"

"This wing is under full security alert. They showed footage on late night TV of media crews who'd flown in from Australia, and some of our own media, being ejected by security guards. There were fist-fights and when a film crew from Sydney came in with a cherry-picker and were about to step off on to a second floor balcony to go looking for your two, grinning security guards came on to the balcony and hosed them with a fire hose. The language was simply awful but the studio did warn language might offend some people but as it was after 11:00 pm the decided to let the filming run unedited as it caught the atmosphere.

"See -- we have our passports for ID -- we were told we'd not be admitted without proper ID. Earlier the surgeon who was at your media conference phoned me to tell me what a delightful and terribly brave person you were. If you want community involvement then he's your man -- he hinted to me he wants you to replace him as chairman of the fund-raising committee that is $3.2 million short of its target to renovate the existing ward and enhance the facilities in the Government-funded extension."

"But our newspaper ran an appeal for a month and raised from memory almost one and a quarter million dollars and our company donated $50,000 of that amount."